The Snipers of the Apocalypse

Misadventures Part 7 (Part 3) ...And the Ugly

"Then thank you." I could see him cast his goofy grin down on me in the last rays of the sunlight, causing me to smile right back up at him.

Not many things bring light into the apocalypse, but this man? He's one of those rarities.

We were just making our way past the tree line, right behind an hold house, when we were taken by surprise by what looked like the main road into town suddenly lighting up a dim, pale yellow.

Apparently, the few street lamps on the main road still worked, and had switched on when the town had been cast in enough of a shadow.

"Well that's handy." I grinned as we made our way to main street.

"Which buildings were ours again?" Tommy looked around at the 20-ish structures scattered around us as we stood in the rough center of the town.

"Uh, did we ever section them out? We weren't really able to get a good visual from the creek."

"You're right, we didn't. So, how are we supposed to know which of these houses they've already been to?"

"You could ask?" Doc's voice startled us as we both whipped around, guns raised and aimed right at his head. He had Cassandra, Warren, and Murphy behind him. Ugh.

"Woah, kids, put the guns down." Warren's calm voice was the next to be heard as she held her hands up.

"God dammit guys, you don't sneak up on people in the apocalypse! How many times do I have to say this?!" I huffed and the two of us tossed our guns back over our shoulders.

"Sorry, kids." Doc smiled sheepishly as he smoothed out his beard.

"I thought we were all gonna stay apart?" Tommy questioned as he crossed his arms.

"We are, but I wanted to get everyone together one last time before we split back up."

"Why?" The lamp flickered slightly before staying consistent as I asked my simple question.

"The town is smaller than I thought, and by the looks of it most of the houses have already been raided." She was right, just about all the doors were wide open, and judging from the buildings I could see into from where I was standing, the furniture inside was in complete disarray.

"So what now?"

"Here are my thoughts; 10k and Alrrami in that house," she pointed to the house to my right, "Murphy and I in this one," the house to my left, "Cass and Doc next to us. That way we're all still close by each other. When morning rolls around, then we'll see if anything's left. Any concerns?"

"I have one." Of course he does. "Why aren't we all in the same house again?"

"Because nobody wants your general presence stinking up the place?" I retorted. Warren cut off whatever sad comeback he was about to shoot at me with.

"Because, if all of us get pinned down in one house, it wouldn't be pleasant. This way, every house is covered."

"But Alrrami and 10k would be on their own side of the street." Cassandra seemed bothered by that fact.

"Yes, but we're also the most covered over there. The houses on each side are close enough to jump to if we have to, and the woods bump right up against the back of the house. Over there you guys are more in the open and farther away from the other houses, an easier target. In case anything goes down, we can cover the four of you easier from across the street."

"What she said." Warren nodded. "Alright, split up. I'll see all of you in the morning." She and Murphy walked towards their house, Doc and Cassandra theirs, Tommy and I ours.