You grin back at Britney: "Wouldn't you like me to do something pleasant for you too?" There are signs of internal struggle on Britney's cute face. Finally, she seems to make a decision and leans closer to you.
"Babe, if we did everything I want to do with you, we would not be done until midnight," she whispers with a grin. "But we've got things to do today, don't we?" She pecks your cheek and ruffles your hair, smiling. "You can return the favor later," she winks and stands up to go wake up her sister.
You spend half an hour eating and getting ready to go, then step outside once again. You are exceptionally lucky today. Within the first hour you find a car in perfect working order. It's a small SUV - ideal for your needs. On one hand it's quite spacious and has some decent off-road capability, but on the other it hardly consumes any more gas than a passenger car. There is even an extra gas canister in the trunk, along with the spare and all the other usual accessories.
Everyone knows how much easier it is to shop with a car than on foot. Surprisingly, it's also a heck of a lot easier to scavenge with. Now that you don't have to use your muscle power to haul everything you find to the basement, your efforts progress much faster. You get some fishing gear, clothes and blankets, non-perishable food and other cooking supplies.
You are exploring a small mallstrip when you suddenly notice that the girls are nowhere near to be found. Of course, you immediately drop what you were doing, draw your gun and carefully start searching, your nerves sharp like the razor's edge.
"Erin! Britney!" Your heart is pounding and your reactions lighting-like, ready to spot any threat as soon as it pops up and fill it up with lead.
"We're OK!" Erin's voice answeres from somewhere.
You run towards the voice and see Erin come out from one of the boutiques and head towards you.
"Relax, realx, we're fine. There's noone here," she says, blocking your way further.
"Where's Britney?! Damn it, didn't we say stick close together?"
"She's coming, , relax. We just needed some privacy," Erin says.
"Privacy! Fuck, Erin," you say sternly, not forgeting to keep looking out, "we're in the middle of the jungle here. Privacy can get one of us killed, I thought you'd have figured it out by now!"
Britney shows up hiding two small plain bags behind her. She hugs you tightly and whispers that she's sorry. You are very relieved to see her alive and well.
"We're going back," you announce. Although there are still a couple of light hours left in the day, you just can't continue on like this. Besides, you've already found pretty much everything on your list. The ride home is silent. Britney attempts to speak, but you tell her to wait till you get home and keep on the lookout instead. You hide the car near your hideout in such a way as to not attract attention of any passer-by. Only after all three of you are in the small basement and the thick door is closed and secured behind you, do you feel somewhat relaxed again.
You take a deep breath and say: "so what was that all about?"
", we're so sorry," Erin says hugging your forearm. "We shouldn't have gone off like this, even if we wanted to make you a surprise, we should've told you and asked you to wait outside for us."
"Please don't be mad at us," Britney says. "We'll never do something this stupid again." Her eyes suddenly light up and a mischievous smile touches her lips. "How about we make up?" |