Meanwhile, Team Two's supply run is going well with Sergeant Zhang on the pharmacy...

A/N: And we are back with Team Two and their supply mission while the MC and Team 1/Lion are setting up the next stage of their new, improvised plan with the newcomer Laurel Rodriguez. Now, what's next with this trio away from the relative safety of their base? Read to find out!

Sergeant Zhang's POV

"Aaaaand...yet another jackpot," You commented, feeling in a great mood as you packed the next round of boxes of medicines in the large SUV that you were able to get from the Supermarket's pharmacy. "It truly does look like this supermarket fell in day one of the outbreak and with a couple dozen zombies locked inside, no one had been willing or able to get close enough to loot more medicine."

"Lucky for us, I guess," Jonathan Carter muttered as he helped his father organize another batch of canned food they were lucky enough to find in large quantities deep in the trunk of the car.

"It is what it is, son," Jeremy said as they soon closed the car again before heading back to the building. "Given the circumstances, we can't be picky, especially when she is right and we got lucky here."

"I know," The former football highschool star said with a sigh. "I guess it just feels...a bit unfair that we are taking so much of this food and medicine when other people will have a harder time making do later. It's not like we can be the one and only group of living humans in a city as large as this one, you know."

You nodded, feeling empathetic to his point of view. "I know what you mean. As you know, I am a soldier and that means I have the training and the will to protect people from danger, if need be, which you were able to see firsthand when I took out most of the zombies wandering this building by myself in under 2 minutes. Add in the fact that I am also Medical Staff Sergeant when it comes to my specialization and that desire to help people when I am able goes double for me.

"But the reality is that, at the end of the day, we can't help other people that may need it if we can't help ourselves," You stressed. "Right now, with society collapsing at the state level, we need to focus on ensuring that our group is as self-sufficient and well-defended as possible, and as quickly as we can too. Once we are in a better position to help others without screwing ourselves in the process, we can cross that bridge when we get to it. And besides, the more medicine and food we have in reserve for the long term, the more valuable goods we could have to trade with other groups of people in case we need to negotiate something, now that paper money has become useless."

"So," You went on, "that's another way we can help other people in the future that we may come across: by providing them with the opportunity to get something they really want from us and can't get elsewhere in exchange from other goods or services they may be able to offer us in return. After all, there is strength in numbers, so establishing good relationships with groups our master does not own by establishing a trade network across the area could secure the beginning of a mutually beneficial alliance. And I can assure you that in matters of war and crisis, having allies can make the difference between life and ****," You explained in your most serious tone. "So, we are taking the most useful things that we can carry back to the apartment building as our boss instructed and that's final."

Jonathan was quiet for a few seconds as he analyzed your points and you assumed he was sufficiently satisfied by what you said because he did not argue back. He still looked a bit grim as he thought of the enormity of the situation they were facing though. And as you looked at the obviously conflicted young man that was able to save you from being bitten by the final zombie of the supermarket, your expression soften.

"If it makes you feel any better," You added, "we are almost ready to leave, which means I am almost ready to execute Plan 88," You reminded them. "So, if things go our way and the rest of the members of our Special Forces Squad are able to see the coded message, our group will get some extremely skilled and valuable reinforcements when we are reunited in the coming days. And that will mean that with a larger number of veteran soldiers to protect our group and our territory, we will probably be in a better position to afford helping people from other groups before long."

Jonathan paused at that, considering your words for a bit before smiling slightly.

"Thank you, Sergeant Zhang," He said with a nod of respect. "That does help."

"Happy to help then," You said cheerfully. "Now, let's see what other useful things we can find that will still fit inside the SUV before we are ready to leave."

And with that, the three of you split off to cover more ground, walking through the hallways as you stared carefully at the racks and thought deeply on what to pick. Soon though, your face broke into a grin on your way back to the pharmacy when you spotted a section of the hall with several dozens of red-colored, pocket-sized flashlights with energy-efficient LED lights. Rubbing your hands at the invaluable find, you hurried to pack 60 of them in your cart so that they had at least 2 for everyone back at base and with even more to spare, in case they needed more later or to trade with other groups. And, after verifying the types of batteries they used were indeed a single AA battery each, you went ahead and packed well over 400 batteries from the hallway that had them. There were still some more to be found in the building but you didn't think you were going have enough space for much more than that, large as their SUV was.

Soon, you regrouped with the father and son duo and they congratulated you on your find, while you congratulated them on their own find of about 100 small boxes of matches, and of a couple dozen lighters. You didn't smoke yourself, and no one from your team did but even if the same was true of everyone back in the building, those mechanical lighters that produced a flame with friction will be most coveted in the future, so you were certainly not going to complain at their addition to their list of findings.

"Well, I think that will be enough for now guys," You said with a nod of a approval. "Well done. Now, let's head to the SUV and get ready to execute..."

You trailed off when you noticed an unexpected noise up ahead in the pharmacy...that of a door opening and footsteps approaching.

And so, you grabbed your sniper rifle on instinct while Jeremy decided to make himself useful by turning one of their new flashlights on and aimed the bright light at the new wild card ahead.

A/N: Any ideas as to who or what that was???

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always, please remember to review, as that tends to fuel my interest to write faster. Until next time and happy reading to you all.