The Day of the report

You awaken, to find you are alone in the room thou it is not long before someone opens the door to see if you have waken up. You look up to see that Tracy has poked her head into the room. You just smile as you rub the sand from your eyes, and she nods and goes back into the room. You put on your pants and shirt since, it seems none of you sleep with clothing on because of the heater in this place requires that you guys sleep in underwear for the most part. That or you think it is the girls preference no idea.

You exit the room you had been sleeping into the center to find Max, getting ready to eat you sit down next to him and Ruth hands you food and says " I guess the best time for you to hear this is well you eat." You just nod, and listen as you eat.

Ruth looks at Max a second and he stops eating and says " I showed her the way to get around the town as safe as possible, a few of the patrols often wander with in a two to three block radius of were I took her. We dropped the messages as you had wanted her too. She altered a few of them at my request."

Ruth nods and says " It seems Max had been getting help from a few of the Colonels men, I mean it was not hard for us to guess this. But Max calls them Mr. Red and Mr.Blue, they have been helping Max at the request of his mother. And giving him reports on how she is doing. Mr. Red and Mr.Blue are in reference to flash lights that Max gave them, that have a more Red or more Blue style light filter on them. I am sure you have seen flashlights like that Right Alex." You nod and she says " Alright anyway, Max talked to him on the Street well I hid. He also heard them coming before I even noticed it, Which I got to say is really good. And from what I could hear being said. Max simply told The guy that he should tell his mother he is leaving the area to try and find better shelter."

Max nods and says " I think this is better shelter, anyway There are other area's of the town that the Colonels men avoid. They end up being **** to reflect on their behaviors in these area's and because of it they get reminded of dead family members and other brutalities they have committed. Places like the beach, and even the really nice houses the Movie Stars lived in. They also don't come this direction, I think it might have to do with smell of the sea air and the fact many of them might have worked around here before the world ended. Or at least that is the best on the information I got to explain it."

You nod and say " So Max, you think sitting here and just living are lives til the Military find us is a good idea then?"

Max thinks for a moment and shrugs and says " I know we should at least try to get some Beds or something I mean even the burnt out basement I was staying in had a bed." You look at the kid funny but you see Ruth smiling at him.

Tommie laughs and says " He has a point you know we could use a bed, and bedding." You just keep eating and thinking about it, you realize at least in this place your guys life is about what it was before all of this started.

You turn to Ruth and ask " Is it possible the Military might use your boat as a starting point for the search which should lead them in from the water which might mean, they might not even see the messages?"

Ruth thinks for a second and says " You have a point maybe I should have sprayed a few around the boat, or something."

You shake your head at the idea of near the boat and say " It is best to make the boat appear as if it is not there, so putting messages to close to it is a bad idea. I would say away from it a small distance, maybe you and Max can go out again tonight and put them down there?"

Ruth thinks for a moment and then turns to Max and asks " Is it safe to travel to the water during the day?"

Max thinks and says " I tend to travel at night, it just seems easier to tell what is going on around me. The sounds of other people walking is different at night because of the cold air and how sound travels I think."

You smile at Max and says " The kid has a pretty good point I think."

Ruth nods and Tracy comes over with a cup of water and gives it to you and gives you a kiss on the cheek and says " Tonight I am sleeping with you Alex, Tommie and Grace have first watch, we will take second." You look at Grace and she is just nodding that this is a good idea as she to eats.

You turn to Ruth and ask " Did you eat?" She nods and then you ask " So I take it Tracy came into get me because it was time to eat? and if I had not been awake she would have waken me up?"

Tracy just smirks and nods her head and says " I had plans for that but because you had awake I did not get to use them."

You shake your head and say " Tracy if your not tired, your coming with me in a little bit. Grace you get to go back to sleep, Ruth you are in charge of watching Max if that is ok. I mean I think he prefers spending time with you instead of us, and Tommie you get to decide if Max and Ruth watch the TV for updates or if you come with me. I figure so long as Grace is rested when it is her and Tommie's turn to take first watch, Tommie can nap a bit during it if need be."

Grace nods and says " I am a bit tired, so I will go lay down."

Ruth nods and says " I will watch the TV to see if the Military news broadcast gives any information, and switch between it and the Cameras."

Max looks at you a second and says " If you plan to go find beds you might want me to come with you, I already know a bed store is not far from here. And it is also one of the places I have been hiding because I had found a body behind it, that had been picked clean by animals but I did find the keys in the pants to the back door. And the front of it is pretty well barred up, meaning it is pretty safe for us to go into it and stay if need be should there be any patrols that for any reason are more down the wrong direction from where they normally go."

You look at Max a second and ask " Are you willing to kill or hurt these patrols? To help defend us? I mean you already said they are to treat you with gloved hands more or less. Or ignore you so this is of some benefit to us."

Max nods and says " Anyone but Mr.Red or Mr.Blue, I get the feeling either of them would hurt the guys with them should they hurt me, hell they might even kill them for us. Mr.Green is the one we need to kill on sight should he see you or me, in that area of his patrol. Mr. Red and Blue reported back that there scout partners have been killed by ambush in the past to keep them from hurting me or doing stupid shit."

You nod and say " Ok Tommie I guess you and Tracy are both coming along with with Max, Ruth you do what you like for the most part just keep a watch."

Ruth nods, and Tracy says " Mother I am taking your gun with me, it is lighter then mine and is designed for silence." Ruth nods again.

You check your guns in your gun belt as you eat, and pick up your other guns and stuff. Set things up as you eat, it seems your eating some kind of canned beef and gravy with some kind of simple bread as you had other days. It is pretty good, you grab a bottle of water and other things you have to take.

Then turn to Max and ask " How did you bring back a bed to your shelter?"

Max nods and says " there is a big flat cart in the back of the shop I brought it back there, it should still be there. It was quite easy with that and it made little to no sound."

You then ask him " Could it carry two mattresses?"

Max nods and you say " alright, that means one for each room."

Max looks at you and asks " What is the other room for anyway?"

You smirk and say " that is a good question and when your old enough to care I will explain it."

Max just shrugs and Ruth says " Don't give the boy a hard time, Max the other room is for sex. Because a mess is often made during sex, it is a good idea to not have it in the same bed you sleep in for hygienic reasons."

Max just nods as if he understands even thou he is to young too, then you check the ammo you have on you based on the number of clips you tape them and set them up as you thing they need to be. You got a Tommy gun, with a custom silencer you had found in one of the crates that it seems Uncle Frank had made. You got few hundred rounds of ammo .45 cal. You got quite a few clips of 9mm, and you have your two guns in your belt and the knife. You hand a knife to Max, as well just to make sure he has one.

He shrugs, and you ask " So how did you survive all this time without a gun or a knife anyway?"

Max shakes his head and says " Well, til people took my mother and no it was not Mr Red or Mr Blue. She was the one who had the gun and was defending us, there was only a few attacks. The last attack, they took her and left me at her request she told them she would go quietly if they let me live. And that is also one of the reason's they have left me alone for the most part."

You shrug unsure to what to say then you get it, and say " I heard it was rare for two people from the same family to survive thou."

Ruth nods and then says " Normally, if two people from one family survived they were mother and daughter not mother and son, at least from what I have seen. But most families had everyone die, or only one person survive from random mutation or something. It is hard to tell honestly."

Max just shivers at the idea, and so you ask " Max did your mother or father ever take you hunting to give you some idea how to use a gun?"

Max looks at you funny and says " What do you think? I played enough video games to take out an army."

You shrug and say " Well it is at least a start I guess."

Tracy finishes readying her pack, as does Tommie. And once they all have there guns set up and ready the four of you leave with Max in the lead yet again.