The Trip West: Gun Shopping

Posted on Mon Aug 5th, 2024 @ 2:13am by Ethan Thompson & Lydia Dunham & Hale Stratton & René Rouen & Vienna Quinn & Reuben Baptiste & Timothy Reynolds & Ragnar Jørgensen & Timothy Cotton & Serena Reynolds M.D. & Thea Matthews & Chloé Rouen & Kimberley Hathaway & Edward Harrison Jr & Joshua MacCallan & Kelly Cardona

4,025 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: The Road Ahead
Location: Marv's Gun Shop, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Timeline: September 7, 2010 - 4:00 p.m.

The shop proved to be compact but untouched. A small showroom with a counter at the far end. Rifles in locked racks on the sides and in the center a double set of shelves with smaller items such as cleaning kits, straps and the like. A door on the left led to an office and bathroom. As there were nothing living, or even approximating living, in the shop, Hale let the others know that it was safe to come on.

Walking around Kelly looked for where the showroom’s first aid kit would be, they were there for weapons and ammo but it wouldn’t hurt to pick up extra medical supplies as well.

Putting her bow over her shoulder Vienna looked around, there was plenty available for them to pick up for the group. She didn’t really know much about a lot of the weapons so she left the choosing to those who knew.

TJ walked over the display case holding the pistols and ammo. He started pulling the pistols out, there were a number of 38s as well as a few Glock automatics and a handful of 357 magnums. There was 38+P ammo that the 38s and 357 could use. As well as standard 357 ammo. In addition, some boxes of 9mm ammo were also found. Along with ammo for 22s. "Kelly" He whispered "How are you on ammo for your pistol?" As he continued to pull ammo out and place atop the counter.

Kelly looked at TJ. “I could use some more if there’s enough to spare, but I won’t deprive anyone else if they need it.”

As the team entered the shop, Timothy made his way towards the rifle racks, grabbing a handful of canvas duffelbags that were also being sold. "Hey, Ed, you got bolt cutters in your truck?" He asked as he lifted the padlock on the first rack.

"Yes, Captain Reynolds," the big man nodded, hlad to be of help. He then turned and hurried back to his truck to get them.

While he was gone, Timothy started to empty the rifle ammo into two of the duffles, then cleaning kits, tools and all the spare parts he could find into two others. By the time that Edward returned, he had started to lay out the rifle cases that he had room for. Some were only bid enough to hold one or two, others up to four. After looking around at what was there, he thought that they could get the job done with what they had.

"Here you go, Captain Reynolds!" Edward rushed back inside, slightly bumping into Hale, though the bump felt like a fridge ran into the Major. "I'm sorry, Major Sutton!" The big man blushed, then moved as carefully as his bulk would allow, reaching where Timothy was, and then he started to cut the locks on all the racks. He then started helping Timothy load up the rifles and shotguns, following the instructions he was given, to the letter.

Once it was declared safe Ragnar slid his sword back into his sheathe, but left it notched loose in case a quick draw became necessary and he approached Tim as the bolt cutters were brought in. “I can replicate my trick with the locks on the doors in here…. How about you and I split the shop; anything we don’t end up taking will be easily available for any survivors that come in our wake that way.”

Hale, unneeded in the small store, had been keeping watch at the front door when he heard the sound of the not-dead-enough-by-half, that peculiar cross between a groan and a hiss, but from the way it was bouncing around, he could tell that it came from multiple sources. Had the vehicles alerted them, got them moving, or maybe the small sounds they made as they worked? Hard to say. He snuck forward, keeping low, and saw a ... what would call it ... group? assembly? ... herd ... mindless like sheep following the leader ... that worked. A herd approaching and crept back into the store. "Quiet," he whispered. "We've got company. A LOT of company."

Timothy heard Hale and reached out to Edward, putting a finger up to his mouth. The big man was smart enough to just nod and close his mouth. He also stood very still, not wanting to make any sound at all.

[Meanwhile, Outside in the Parking Lot]

Outside, Josh saw Hale move and then turned to everyone at the cars. "Down and lock the doors," he hissed as he darted for his truck.

Serena put the windows up, locked the doors and grabbed PJ from the backseat and lay on the floor of the backseat with him.

Kimberly put her windows up and scrambled into the back of her SUV as she locked the doors and hunkered down on her bed.

Chloe, slid down in the backseat of the Highlander and closed her eyes.

René hunkered down as best he could as he grabbed a blanket from the cargo area in the rear of the vehicle and covered both Chloé and himself.

Thea slid down in her seat as best as she could, in her condition she couldn’t clamber across the internal seats so all she could do was do her best to hide.

Reuben had gotten out of the vehicle with Kenny to allow Kenny an opportunity to stretch and relieve himself. Having heard the warning. He quickly made a decision and decided that trying to get himself and Kenny back in the vehicle was too much of a risk, instead he rolled under the vehicle and quietly coached Kenny under with him. Reuben then drew the pistol he had found at the dealership, ready to defend himself, Kenny and strangely Thea should the need occur.

The herd approached, slow and shuffling, drifting to a stop in the parking lot, milling about the vehicles, waiting for something to draw their attention, to feed the hunger that drove them.

[Inside the Gun Shop]

Henri had been standing outside the entrance to the gun shop and stepped inside for cover he held the handle of his cane in his right hand and slowly turned the lower part and slowly pulled, revealing a thin double blade sword.

TJ had gotten all the ammo out from under the counter and off the shelves were plenty of some calibers like 9mm and 38 and 22. Others were scare like 357 and 45. 44 calibers were in the middle not a lot but certainly not a little. "Throw me some duffel bags so I can break up this ammo in equal amounts," he yelled to no one particular.

Timothy moved over to him and clamped his right hand over the other man's mouth, a finger across his own loose in the universal sign for be quiet.

TJ nodded, he understood what Reynolds was telling him. "Shit." He muttered under Reynold's hand.

Timothy slowly removed his hand, as he turned his attention towards the open door leading to the parking lot. He could start to hear the shuffling and unnatural sounds that the dead-not-dead were making. It sounded like there were nearly two dozen our there, but he didn't dare make any more noise, for fear of attracting them.

Ragnar turned at the warning from Hale, slotting his hammer back into its thong on his belt and drew his bastard sword again; stalking quietly to the door and positioning himself opposite Henri while hand signaling anyone too close to the door that was armed with a ranged weapon to fall back a few steps so they could enable themselves room to fire if necessary. He carefully pressed himself against the wall, breathing steady and controlled as he waited.

Kelly quickly hid behind a high stacked pile of crates by the storeroom doorway, she drew her ka-bar hoping to hell that she wouldn’t halve to get close enough to one of the dead to use it. She did have the option of her gun but the noise from firing a weapon would cause more problems.

Vienna hopped over a counter using it for cover as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and prepared to use it.

The shout drew their attention and the crowd swarmed, heading for the store, for food, for the unmistakable sounds of life.

Hale, making a mental note to talk to people about keeping their voices down, turned toward Tim using hand signals to signify that everyone should retreat to the back of the store and circle around with the gear, to the vehicles.

Sering the message, Timothy nodded. He then started to quietly gather everyone on his side of the store. They all took ammo and weapons. While not totally evenly distributed, everyone would have something to carry. They would do a proper kit issue to everyone when they got back to the cabin. As he led the team out the back, he saw a rack full of old style, woodland camouflage field coats. He signaled that everyone, if they could, should take a few of them as well. When winter came, the field coat would be better than nothing in the freezing temperatures.

Staying low, Hale touched Henri and indicated by gestures that he should retreat to the back of the store and then moved onto the person standing next to him which happened to be Ragnar. He made the same indications and moved on to the next person and the next

Ragnar nodded, looking through the door at the dead and shook his head as he took a defensive posture and glanced at the others around him, checking to see that they were moving toward the rear of the shop as he himself began to quickstep backwards while keeping his eyes on the doors.

Vienna slowly started moving keeping her bow and arrow ready incase she needed to use it in a hurry.

Kelly motioned to TJ, moving silently from her position she started towards the rear of the shop.

Henri readied his cane sword. He glanced at Hale. "We can hold them at the front door while you get the weapons and ammunition out the back to the vehicles. Just leave me a pistol." He turned to Vienna. "Bring the vehicle up to the back with the passenger side to the door and honk twice. We'll retreat to the back door and into the waiting vehicle. Then, as you Americans say. We get the Hell out of Dodge."

TJ saw Kelly and saw her move toward the rear of the store. He saw Henri and Vienna whispering. "Go girl," He whispered get your car. I'll stay with your friend. Until you get back."

Kelly nodded and slowly started for the rear exit.

After signalling everyone on his side, Hale retreated to the back of the store and got the door open. Using a bag of ammo to keep it open, he dispatched a couple of annoyingly-still-moving-dead lurking nearby. He came forward enough to use his pistol and take out individuals trying to close in with precise head shots.

[ Outside in the Parking Lot]

The sounds made Serena shiver as she pulled a blanket over her and PJ as they huddled in the backseat, Serena braced above her son who lay in the footwell asleep as he had fallen asleep as they had arrived. It was a boon, she knew that he was out. He could not cry and lure the undead to them. She clamped her eyes shut tightly as she could hear the shuffling walking and the sounds the hungry dead made.

Thea lay as still as she could not wanting to draw the dead anywhere near her vehicle, right now she was wishing she was anywhere but here.

It was about then that Lydia had an idea. She had parked near the front of the lot and was in the best position to help. The numbers were increasing as more and more followed. Estimating more than a hundred and fifty, not that she dared staying above the window edge long enough to make a detailed count, and fearing for her new friends, she sat on the floor of the van, chewing on her lip and talking herself into a rather drastic course of action.

"I'm done hiding," she whispered. "Time to take action."

She crept forward and climbed into the driver's seat. Her hands were shaking as she turned the ignition, the engine sounding like a dragon's roar to her, scared as she was, and threw the van into gear. She drove out of the parking lot, honking her horn as she went, gauging her speed to keep them entertained and hopefully draw them away from people who deserved a shot at life.

Reuben heard and smelt the undead all about the vehicles. He gently stroked Kenny's ear as he worked on controlling his breathing and ensuring neither he nor Kenny made any noise to attract the undead. Suddenly he heard an engine turn over and a horn blowing. He watched the shuffling herd take off in their weird shuffling gait. Whispering to Kenny "Okay boy well just wait a few more seconds, perhaps a minute then get out from under here. You have been a good boy." With that Reuben scratched Kenny' ear.

And they followed. Not all of them but the majority out there in the street began that weird shuffling run that indicated interest. Hunger. Honking her horn, like a petrified pied piper, Lydia led them away.

René wondered what was going on, but his first concern was Chloe at the moment. He wanted to help his grandfather and Vienna, but couldn't figure out what to do.

[Inside Marv's Gun Shop]

Not all of them left, of course. Those who had heard T.J. remained, intent on the meal near at hand, and they pressed harder against the door, its broken lock falling to the ground, as the door itself began to shake under the pressure.

Ragnar stopped midway through the store, pausing and letting the others move past him as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and stared hard at the door, steeling himself for the rush of undead that was imminent.

Vienna could barely believe what was happening, so far she hadn’t faced the soulless at least not in a fight now, if nothing changed, she was about to face them head on.

Kelly re-drew her ka-bar, if she had to fight then it would have to be at close quarters, the sound of her gun would draw the other dead back again.

Henri went to the front door and began banging on it to get the attention of the not-dead-enough.

"You've got their attention." TJ whispered. "Move away from the door pronto and come to the rear of the store. We are leaving." TJ told Henri, his rifle up and ready to use if the situation arose. He looked for Kelly and saw her with her ka-bar in hand. He shook his head and motioned her back.

Tim suddenly stepped forward, armed with one of the AR-15s, with a thirty round clip loaded in. "Everyone, move, now!" He aimed the barrel of the semi automatic rifle and rotated the selector switch from safe to semi.

Then, the door gave out, splintering under the combined weight of the not-quite-dead.

Firing controlled shots, Timothy put down the first ten easily enough, as they were all trying to get through the door at the same time. As he did so, he kept backstepping, keeping at least five meters between himself and the rest of the not-quite-dead, as they started to enter the store.

Henri stayed close to Timothy to protect his flank just in case.

Ragnar leapt into action at the sound of the rifle firing, working his jaw to force his ears to pop as he slashed through any of the advancing undead that got ahead of the others in the advancing crush so that they could not get closer to the others. With each one he cut down he darted backward, fully utilizing the full length of his hand and a half blade to his advantage as he moved backwards toward the rear of the store.

Drawn by the weapon fire, the not-dead-enough in surrounding streets, clusters of one, two and three, turned their heads toward the sound and started moving. Forming. A second herd.

A quick search of the office desk turned up a spare set of keys which Hale inserted into the outside lock. Once everyone was out, he could lock the door. Slight deterrent but maybe enough to give them a lead.

Kelly retreated quickly but not before sheathing her knife and drawing her gun instead. The noise was already being made, it made no difference now. She made for the door she needed to get to her SUV ready to pick up TJ when he left the store.

Vienna wanted to cover her ears at the deafening sound of weapons fire as she retreated as well. Her bow and arrows were more or less pointless right now, instead she kept them handy incase there were any more dead outside.

Henri kept pace with Timothy as they made the tactical withdrawal to the back door and outside. He saw no reason to charge into the thick of things as the creatures breached and advanced through the store. Two had gotten close, but were easily put down.

As they moved to the rear exit, Tim called out, "Ra! Get behind me! We are leaving!" He fired again, putting down three more of the undead in quick succession. He made sure he was the last one out, before clearing the door, so Hale could slam it shut and lock it. As that happened, he performed a rapid reload, taking out the half empty magazine for a fully loaded one. "Everyone to your vehicles!"

Ragnar cut one final trio of the not-dead down and bolted for the door, sliding through it and giving Hale a thankful but weary look as he scooted past and then leaned against the wall for a moment to catch his breath.

TJ had his rifle up and was firing controlled shots in support of Tim at the undead that had flooded into the shop as the survivors moved to the back door.

Hale wanted to tell them to be quiet but he could already hear the sounds of gun shots in the parking lost so, no point in that. He'd grown to use to working with his team, people who knew him, knew the shorthand, knew how to work together. He pushed it aside; get to the vehicles with the guns and ammunition. Keep everyone safe. No matter what crazy stuff they did between now and then.

After only a moment supporting the wall Ragnar settled into a lope and headed back to the Highlander, signaling those nearby it to get back in once he was in sight.

Once outside, Henri partnered up with Vienna and pointed to their vehicle. "We get to our vehicle and get on the road and drive for one minute and stop until the others get to us. Walk quickly and I will keep up."

Vienna nodded. “Okay, the sooner we get the hell out of here the better!”

[Meanwhile, Outside in the Parking Lot]

"Well shit, that does it boy. Time to move." said Reuben upon hearing the weapons fire. He rolled out from under the vehicle, followed by Kenny. Kneeling and using the vehicle as cover, he began taking a quick look about to gain a sense of the tactical situation. He saw the undead crowding the doorway of the gun shop and could hear the gunfire. He also saw the undead chasing the van, unfortunately it appeared some were breaking off and heading back towards them. Reuben quickly opened the door next to Thea, "Kenny in and protect Thea, everyone prepare to move quickly, things are about to get hairy." Seeing Kenny gently jump over Thea and take a seat in the console area, Reuben shut the door and knelt down, he needed to make a quick decision, take the one's out by the door or the ones returning.

Thea breathed a sigh of relief at Kenny and Reuben being back in the vehicle with her. She stayed down so as not to distract Reuben.

Ragnar cut through any of the undead that were between him and the Highlander, careful not to slow his pace much and to stay out of reach of those that were outside of the arc of his sword. As soon as he hit the Highlander he jumped into the passenger side of the vehicle and called to Reuben. “There are a ton of them; we have to be ready to move! Cover the others coming behind me and then jump in.”

Reuben took carful aim at the approaching undead and fired off a round, it was a bit high and to the left. Damn off by a bit and wasted a precious round. he thought to himself. Retaking aim and making an adjustment he fired again, hitting the creature in the head. He quickly assessed the next threat and fired, again taking down the creature. Three rounds down out of fifteen rounds used, two down not good odds. We need to unass the AO now. thought Reuben, his concerns for Kenny, Thea and the overall group. He knew that Hale was more than capable, the others he was still getting a feel for. Just then the giant Norseman, Ragnar, came out jumping quickly into the Highlander, calling out “There are a ton of them; we have to be ready to move! Cover the others coming behind me and then jump in.” Reuben suppressed the snarky comment he was thinking No shit Sherlock. and instad smiled "Affirmative on that." and continued to drop the undead from the vehicle that were heading towards the Gunshop, a mental countdown in his head, One down, eleven bullets, one down, ten..." He was getting better aim with each shot.

René peeked out from underneath the blanket to see folks racing to vehicles or providing cover fire for those. His arm pushed out and prepared to unlock doors as soon as Vienna or Grand-pere arrived.

Serena, carefully put PJ back in his seat when she finished checking around the blazer. She slid, moving as slowly as she could, back to the drivers seat and braced herself.

Getting to her SUV Kelly quickly started the engine ready for a swift get away. The sooner they were all out of there the better.

Vienna jumped into her seat as fast as she could get, waiting for Henri to get in before starting the engine.

One down, three bullets. Okay save these last three for the most apocalyptic scenario. thought Reuben. He hated the thought of using the bullets left on Kenny, Thea and himself, but he would be damned if the undead got them. Sensing one getting close to him Reuben drew his survival axe and spun around, cracking it in the skull. He pulled the axe out, opened the door and quickly got in the vehicle. "What a LOVELY DAY FOR A DRIVE" he said in a mockingly fun tone of voice. "So, gang where should we go next?" Reuben stated trying to make light of the dire situation and hide the slight shake in his hands from the adrenaline dump his body always gave him during combat.

Hale passed the work as he moved up to his vehicle, 'time to go', and jumped into the driver's seat. He took off, taking the secondary route so that they wouldn't catch up with the herd, and drove out of Portsmouth. They drove for another five hours until Hale found a spot that he thought would be safe enough to eat, to distribute the weapons, to give everyone a chance to decompress a bit.

 

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