In My Blood (Completed)

CHAPTER 7: Moving On

“Dibs on the master bedroom,” Amy called as she emerged from the driver's seat of Jesse's Corolla. The seven hour drive was a bit livelier than the first leg earlier, with Amy leading some sing-alongs and telling stories to the lucky passengers in their car. She was mostly trying to keep herself awake, though, and she yawned on reflex as she stared up at the two story house she'd parked in front of after following Beca.

The house sat off the main roads, quiet and dark in one of the thousands of abandoned neighborhoods across the country, a strange combination of eerie and peaceful. Beca set her helmet atop her bike and led the way inside, too tired to roll her eyes at Amy’s claim. “You're sharing it with at least two people. Looks like we've got…” she pulled a flashlight from her bag and headed upstairs, peeking into doors to assess the situation. Natural moonlight provided more visibility through pulled back curtains, and she tried not to think of the family who'd left and what probably happened to them. “Three bedrooms, an office with a small futon, and a bigger couch downstairs. Let's do… three hour watch rotations, two people per shift. One guards the front, one in the back.” She continued her self guided tour. “Not surprised it's already been looted, but it seems like there were some clothes and stuff left behind. Take what you need, nothing more.” That had been Beca's rule of thumb in her stealing for survival lifestyle.

*

There were various relieved groans and murmurs among the group as the rumble of engines died off and they started to pile out of the two vehicles. The rest of the day had been a long haul, but it had been made more manageable by Amy's antics and the rest they'd all been able to get around midday. As vital as that pit stop had been, the girls were all grateful to see a house looming up out of the darkness before them, glad to be somewhere that would hopefully feel a little more secure for the night.

While Beca disappeared into the house to investigate, the girls fished out flashlights of their own and started pulling things from the vehicles that they would need overnight. They all trudged into the house and lingered a bit restlessly in the large, open entryway for Beca to return. As Beca called out the setup of the house and their sleeping options, the girls murmured throughout their little cluster.

"I don't mind taking the first watch on one side," Stacie volunteered. "And I can take the couch downstairs, so hopefully it won't be disruptive when we change rotations and I go to bed."

"Yeah, me too. And I can take the futon in the office when my watch is over." That offer came from Jesse, and no one seemed keen to dispute it. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding that he might want the space to himself after everything that was going on, so they let his offer stand.

"Okay, ladies, if you wanna look through the stuff that was left behind, go ahead. There's no guarantee if we'll have to clear out in a hurry later," Aubrey spoke up, sounding more like herself with her brisk tone. Perhaps that was a pessimistic outlook, but they had no way of knowing if any threats would stumble upon this house overnight.

There were vague mumbles of agreement from the girls as they started to disperse through the house, splitting up accordingly to look through the clothing that had been left behind and to start distributing themselves around the house to figure out the sleeping arrangements that Beca had mentioned.

*

“If anyone finds a pair of boots around size seven please let me know,” Flo said quickly before they broke off into individual rooms.

“Chloe, Stacie--make sure you check the bathrooms for any medical supplies we can take, too,” Beca called out to their resident field medics. While everyone else moved about the house to claim bedrooms and clothing, Beca headed to the kitchen and began rummaging through drawers and cabinets. She managed to recover a few small boxes of matches, a roll of duct tape, a can opener, and a few other random items that might be useful for survival or trade. As Stacie claimed the living room couch, Beca dropped her bag onto the adjacent loveseat, her shorter stature having no problem in curling up on the smaller sofa.