A Shred of Hope (The Walking Dead) (The Final Season Retelling)

28. Journey to Delta

The armory was housed in the same building that the three of them had seen the East supply run group exiting from. It didn't look any special from the outside, blended in with the other buildings along the streets. Jared opened the door and walked inside.

The general layout for the building was the same as Jonathan's house. A few guns lay on a mat in the living room as a thin, bespectacled man cleaned them. He only gave them a momentary glance before resuming his work. The stairs in front of them ended at a door.

Another man sat at a table in the area where the kitchen would have been, a book open in front of him. "These three the new kids?" he asked Jared.

Jared nodded. "We need to arm them for the supply run."

The man took a look at the three. "I thought you wouldn't go without Gareth, may his soul rest in peace."

"Yeah, it was tough. But we need it done," Jared replied.

"Were you at the burial yesterday? I heard Sasha was all broken up about it."

"Don't know. I didn't go."

The man was silent for a second before he pulled a key out of his pocket and laid it on the table. "Return them when you're leaving, please."

"I know. I'm not new." Jared grabbed the keys and made his way to the top of the stairs. "Right behind this," he told them as he unlocked the door and let them in. The room was naturally lit by the windows. Tables were arranged all around. The rifles and other larger weapons were placed on racks along the walls, while the smaller guns sat on the tables.

Louis and Violet looked in awe. They had never seen anything like this before. It seemed like all kinds of guns were present in that room. Neither of them was a very good shooter though, having never worked with guns before.

"This took a long time to get together," Jared said, pride in his voice.

Clementine looked around. She had seen armories before and had learned to only take what she was sure she could use. Picking up a rifle and realising in the midst of a firefight that it too much for her to handle the recoil was not a very survival-friendly idea. She walked to the handguns, inspecting them. Something that could fit into her hand was ideal. Finally settling on one, she picked it up.

"Good call," Jared said, eyeing the weapon. "What do you two want?"

"You have anything sharp? Like a machete?" Violet asked.

"Really? You want that?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Your choice. There," he replied, pointing to the corner where the melee weapons were. "Don't get yourself killed before we even get there."

"Do you have something like a baseball bat?" Louis asked as Violet ignored Jared and stalked off to arm herself. He was experienced with Chairles and could definitely be useful with a weapon similar to that.

"Uh... not here. But I can find one if that's what you what you really want. I'll bring it to the gate."

"Yeah... I'm not really great with guns of any kind. Only Clem is."

"Suit yourself." He looked at Clementine before he spoke. "Get your bags and meet me at the gates. I've put out some cans of food on the kitchen counter. Take those with you."

*

The cans sat on the counter like Jared had said. Violet opened her bag, throwing a few of them in. "Take the rest," she told Clementine and Louis. Louis moved forward. Clementine didn't. "Clem?"