Mr. Jones rushes towards the commotion at the news of people. As the crowd surges out the door, I veer off the path, edging my way to the fence. With my fingers interlaced in the mesh, I pull myself up and over, landing on a car's hood.

Stealthily, I traverse the cars to reach the gate's forefront, taking cover beside a vehicle and peering through its window at the people outside. Five suburban cars are parked on the road, flanked by four large trucks. Approximately 40 individuals roam in clusters, examining the painted inscriptions on the stores.

The group is comprised of various ages, from teenagers to adults in their thirties, with a handful of children mingled within. They are armed with spears akin to those we fashioned in our first week; some have large hunting knives fastened to their belts. They move cautiously, sticking near the trucks while a group of zombies, previously positioned in front of the stores, inches closer to them.

They eye the weird fence we erected; all of them conceal themselves while observing the group emerge from behind it. Mr. Jones peeks out, waving to the onlookers. The group's hearts flutter as he appears. Mr. Jones then cups his hands and calls out to the group. "Are you alright over there?"

They flinch, edging closer to their cars. A woman cups her hands, shouting in response "Not great, could you help us? Our cars are nearly out of gas, and we have children with us."

Mr. Jones pauses to think, and as Jim appears beside him, they engage in a brief discussion. Turning back to the group, Mr. Jones shouts, "If you mean no harm and have no ill intentions you may come in."

"We promise you we mean no harm," the woman shouts.

Mr. Jones gestures frantically, "Then come in quickly!" He signals to the people at the gates, who have been awaiting his cue to open them.

The group hurries, seizing their belongings, and the children are scooped up as they dash, swiftly covering the half-mile distance. The gate swings open, allowing the breathless individuals to enter safely. Jim leaps from the watchtower, meeting with the people below. "Was anyone bitten or injured in any way? Was any blood ingested?" He asks skipping right to the point.

The woman comes to the front shaking her head "No one was bitten or injured. Thank you for letting us in."

Jim nods "For safety, we'll have the medical team examine you. Kaitlyn, please escort them to the medical room." Kaitlyn nods running over to lead them away.

The woman stays by Jim's side watching as the people follow Kaitlyn inside. "You have a lot of people here, and the setup is...interesting. How long have you been here?"

Mr. Jones joins the two on the ground "He has been here from the beginning; we joined them a week later," Mr. Jones states. "Did you retrieve everything from the trucks?" he asks.

The woman shakes her head. "No, we were in too much of a rush; anything we couldn't carry we left inside the cars."

Mr. Jones nods waving for Neil to go over. "Could you retrieve the items they've left behind? After that, you may proceed with your raid."

Neil nods. "Sure," he says, turning around and cupping his hands before taking a deep breath. "MY TEAM, GRAB THE PEOPLE'S THINGS AND THEN HEAD OUT FOR THE RAID!" he bellows.

Covering my ears, I sigh and climb to the top of the car, waving to Neil. "Sure thing, boss, just don't shout so loud next time," I call out before jumping off the truck to the ground and dashing towards the five cars on the road. The rest of my team swiftly follows suit.

The ten of us swiftly unload the vehicles until they're empty. After four trips, all five Suburban's and trucks are unloaded. The women observe as we efficiently complete the task in 15 minutes, having led the zombies away without any issues. Her eyes widen as the final member of our team sets down the last bag, panting from the effort. "Children going out without worry, what about the zombies that were there," she breaths watching us catch our breaths.

Jim smiles, patting her on the shoulder. "They're not children but young adults contributing their part. Most of the people here are teenagers who have come from school."

"School?" She asks.

Mr. Jones steps forward. "Yes, I was a teacher there. We were in school when the zombies attacked, we were trapped for a week before we escaped. We lost many people," he says, his expression somber.

The woman's face drops at his words.

Jim claps his hands, gesturing towards the store's entrance. "Let's get you checked up and settled, then we can carry on our conversation."

She nods, following him and Mr. Jones inside. Neil steps forward, taking a quick swig from his water bottle as his breathing steadies. "We should probably head out; it's already ten," he says. We nod in agreement, and our group, along with two others, leaves the safety of the fence to raid some houses.

Today marks our first time raiding houses. Over the past three weeks, we've methodically emptied large stores, leaving the shelves to gather dust. Our group of thirty moves deliberately as four trucks linger for five minutes before trailing us. Navigating the few miles to the initial cluster of houses, we shove aside the forgotten cars to clear a path for the trucks.

With hearts racing, each team assumes their position. As usual, our team raps on the front door, listening for zombies before circling to the rear. I snap the door's lock and whistle, stepping back as four zombies shuffle out of the house. We draw them away while the other teams scour the house for any remaining zombies, which they are unlikely to encounter.

Four zombies are confined behind a fence as I make my way back to the house, accompanied by the other two who led the zombies following us away. Entering the house, the faint scent of long-dried blood greets me, warmed by the house's interior. I wrinkle my nose and subtly direct the air toward the open front door to ventilate the house more quickly.

As we move through the house, my team heads to the basement, forming a human chain to transfer items upstairs. In no time at all, with the efficient work of thirty people, the house is thoroughly scavenged.

Neil meets with the other team leaders to plan the strategy for the next houses. Shortly thereafter, he returns and begins to say, "The others have agreed that we can divide our efforts, with each team taking a different house to raid. Does that work for everyone?" We all nod in agreement. "Alright, our team will take the house next door. Let's move out."

After dividing the raid so each team is assigned a house, we shuffle some roles to bridge any gaps. Five members approach from the front, and five from the back. I remain the initiator, tasked with drawing the zombies' attention to lure them out of the houses. The smaller teams necessitate extra caution, but weeks of practice have honed our process, allowing us to adapt to our new roles with ease.

We progress from one house to the next, filling the four trucks with supplies throughout the day. Our haul includes minimal food but an abundance of pots, pans, and seeds for future gardening. After securing ten houses, we decide to stop as the sun begins to set.

Climbing onto the rear of the trucks, each of us grips the sides firmly as we journey back, weary from the day's exertion.

Clearing the trucks goes smoothly and faster with the extra hands from this morning. Brushing the dirt and dust from my face I smile as Jen, Kaitlyn, and Liam come over. "Long day?" Liam asks.

I shrug "Not much longer than normal just more running, but I've done more."

Jen giggles "You are dead so something like running around all day should be nothing."

Kaitlyn shakes her head smacking Jen with her hair stick "Shh Jen, secret."

Jen rubs her head sticking her tongue out at Kaitlyn. Liam scratches the back of his head brushing his hair out of his face "Those two," he says.

I chuckle "Those two." Slowly we follow behind them, spotting the entrance to the showers I tap Liam on the shoulder "I'm going to clean up before dinner."

He nods, quickening his pace to catch up with Jen and Kaitlyn. Slipping into the women's showers, I shed my dirty clothes, tossing them into a laundry basket outside the stall before stepping into the shower. The water is cold and scarce; Jim mentioned that if we use it sparingly, it should last a month before we run out and need to find another source. That's one reason why we take cold showers—no one enjoys lingering in the chill.

The icy water cascades over my deathly pale skin, which is indifferent to the temperature. A minute later, I'm dressed in clean clothes, my hair still slightly damp, and my dirty clothes packed away in my backpack. By the time I enter the cafeteria, dinner has already begun, I grab some bread and a bit of soup.

Sliding into my usual seat at the window with my friends I let them talk well I eat. Jen grins grabbing something from her plate and hiding it behind her crossed arms as she leans against the table. "Hey, Kain, do you know what the special treat was today?" I look at her sipping the soup from my spoon shaking my head. Her grin widens as she leans towards me "This," she says holding up a piece of bread in my face.

Starring at the bread my eyes widen as I grab it. Jen grins evilly watching my reaction. Flipping the fresh piece of bread in my hands I inspect it closely "Garlic bread I never even noticed this on the counter."

Jen cackles jumping in her seat "And vampires don't like gar..lic...huh," her sentence trails off as I take a bite of the bread pushing my plain bread towards her.

"Thanks," I say between bites.

Jen's eyes widen as I finish off the bread cleaning my fingers with a napkin. "How? Aren't you not supposed to be able to eat that?"

Shaking my head I finish off the last spoon full of my soup as she gawks at me. "Whoever came up with that silly myth is stupid, were they trying to make vampires seem like a comedy act with a silly weakness like that? Like come on." I shake my head leaning back in my seat.

"What about mirrors?" Jen asks.

I chuckle "You've seen me walk by and look into mirrors a million times even though I'm dead, I'm not a ghost, I still have a physical body."

Liam spits out water coughing as he looks at Jen's face. I pat his back gently as he catches his breath "Oh, Jen, think about it, over the past year how many silly weaknesses that society has come up with have not worked on Kaindra."

Jen slumps in her chair pouting like a child "She can walk in the sun but that can kill her apparently."

Taking pity on her I stick my hand under the table creating a snapdragon flower in my hand. As I pass the flower to Jen, I shake my hand, recoiling from the hiss of pain caused by the burn the flower inflicted. "This flower is poisonous to vampires. I don't know why this one specifically, but it can kill us if given in large doses or cause severe pain and weakness." I show her the burnt skin as it stitches itself back together "Touched directly it burns us."

Jen eyes my healed hand holding the delicate-looking flower in hers.

Kaitlyn looks from the flower to my hand "No one knows why it's this flower?"

I shake my head putting my hand in my lap "Everyone I know has no clue. The books or scrolls are either lost, hidden, or destroyed so we can only make half-hearted guesses at most."

"Huh," Kaitlyn hums taking the flower gently from Jen's hands and inspecting every corner.

Tapping the table I grab my bag from the floor taking my dirty dishes into my hands "Well, I have laundry that needs to be done so I'm off."

"Oh, I do too," Liam says grabbing his dishes as he follows after me.

"Me too."

"Me as well."

The three of them stand up, the flower momentarily forgotten. We toss paper plates into the trash and make a quick stop in our room to pick up the dirty laundry before heading down to the laundry room on the first floor.

Back in our room, settled on our beds ready to sleep, a knock at the door startles us. Liam opens it to reveal Mr. Jones, with a fiery-haired girl about our age standing beside him. "Sorry to disturb you before you rest, but this girl needs a place to sleep, and every other room is full. Do you have space here?"

Liam nods "There's room here, currently only a couch but we can switch it out for a bed tomorrow if that is alright with you?"

The girl nods "It's alright with me, a place to sleep that is not in a car is welcome."

Liam smiles stepping to the side to let the girl in. She walks in looking at the three of us in the room. We wave as she examines the old showroom. "Thank you, goodnight."

"Night," we say waving to Mr. Jones as Liam closes the door.

The girl's red hair has a slight gold tinge to it under the faint light of the fairy light's making her look like a goddess bathed in gold. "Hi, my name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam," she says waving at us.

I stand up looking down into her brown eyes "I'm Kaindra, nice to meet you," I say shaking her hand.

Jen hops down from her bed giving Sam a tight hug "I'm Jen, nice to meet yeah roomie."

Kaitlyn stays in her bed head in her palms as she waves tiredly at Sam "Kaitlyn."

Liam waves coming up from behind her "And I'm Liam, welcome."

Sam waves grinning "Nice to meet you," she yawns rubbing her eyes.

"Let's get some sleep it's late and the day has been exciting," I say leading Sam over to the couch. "We'll get you a bed tomorrow."

Sam waves me off-putting her bags on the floor and flopping onto the couch "This is more than enough, thank you."

I nod, taking the extra blanket and draping it over her as she quickly falls asleep. With the lights turned off, we all settle in for the night. Owing to the new arrivals, I decide to stay at Ikea throughout the night rather than venturing out to scout. Fortunately, the night passes by calmly and quietly without any issues.

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