Five Seconds Later

Chapter Ten: The Walkers

"Katharine Dixon." She stuck her hand out to a surprised and wary Dean, who hesitated a moment before decidedly shaking it. "And you are?"

"Dean Winchester." Dean glanced at Cas, narrowing his eyes. "Is this a friend of yours?"

"An acquaintance." Cas kept his knife in his hand, twisting the handle around against his palm.

"I'm coming back with you guys. I have a couple of friends with me. They'll be coming too." Katharine told them matter-of-factly, wiping a splatter of nearly-dried blood from her earlier kill. It turned into a bloody smudge as Cas and Dean stared at her in amazement.

"You can't just come with us." Dean protested, pulling his loaded cart away from her grasp. "Unless you can give us something in return."

"Loads of ammo. Enough clean water to let a small country drink for a week." Katharine cocked her head, giving Dean a slight smirk. "I'm guessing you're going to take me up on it?"

"I'm guessing I don't get a choice." Dean crossed his arms in front of his chest in irritation. "Go get your friends and bring the supplies. Cas, keep an eye on them. I'm going to get as much gas as I can from the station outside."

Cas nodded and stayed behind to guard the carts as Dean headed toward the door and Katharine headed for the back of the store. About two minutes later, Katharine came jogging back with two women and a man in tow.

"Castiel, this is Mandy Emerson. Mandy Emerson, Castiel Novak." Katharine indicated the closest woman to her, a muscular and lean creature with shortly cropped blond hair that sported a great deal of curls.

"Lacey Shire." This was a tall and very thin woman with buzzed black hair and a massive hatchet in her belt.

"Ron Thomas." The last was the man, a surly and drunk-looking fellow with vaguely yellowed skin and hair so orange, it was nearly comical.

"Relations?" Cas asked, observing the wary glances among the small group.

"Mandy is my sister." Katharine smiled sadly. "Her husband, Peter, is no longer with us. Ron is my unofficial husband - we were about to be married before all of this started. Lacey is a close friend to Mandy."

"We're dating." Lacey interrupted, the sass in her tone blatant.

"O.. okay." Cas straightened his tie uncomfortably. "Dean should be here any minute. Let's take what you have to the truck."

"Oh, that was a load of crap." Katharine threw back her head with a rusty, hearty laugh. "We barely have a gun, a bottle of wine, and a can of chicken noodle soup between the three of us."

"What?!" Cas stepped backwards, Dean's cart in one hand and his in the other. "We can't afford to feed all of you, I'm sorry. There won't be enough as it is."

"We'll help you." Mandy promised, batting her pretty brown eyes and twisting one blond curl seductively around her finger, which earned a worthy nudge from a glaring Lacey.

"And we-" Cas turned around, wheeling both carts with him. "Won't help you."

"Please!" Katharine's voice broke, and she placed a tentative hand over her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

"You don't look pregnant." Cas replied dubiously. 

"I swear I am." Katharine cried desperately. She reached for Ron's hand and interlaced her fingers with his tightly. "Bring us back to the bunker; don't tell Dean about the supplies. Please. You're our only hope." 

Cas couldn't help but be concerned that the woman was being honest, in which case, condemning her and her small troupe to death in the midst of the apocalypse would not be the Godly thing to do. He shook his head at her silently, and against his better judgment, led them outside. 

The parking lot was vacant aside from the Impala and Dean by the gas station, struggling with one of the containers as he watched something in the distance worriedly. His movements were frantic and worried, and Cas found himself concerned for Dean. 

"Dean?" Cas called, pulling out his pistol instinctively. He tried to follow Dean's gaze, but saw only where the woods that hid the bunker began.

"Cas!!" Dean nearly dropped the tank he was struggling with, straining to carry the other two he had filled. "One of the dead, in the trees!"

"Dead?" Ron squinted, pulling out a gun that Cas had forgotten to check for. "That's what you guys call them?"

"Yeah. It's kind of our unofficial term for 'them' to avoid referring to them as human." Cas broke into a short jog, leaving the two carts stranded next to the car. Katharine stayed there with Mandy, while Lacey and Ron followed him. "What do you call them?"

"Walkers." Lacey pulled out a knife that had been stashed away in her boot and brandished it firmly in her tense grip, a stern and focused look on her face. "We call them walkers."