Speedster In The Apocalypse

Chapter 7 : Supply Run

The rest of the night went by without incident, so the group set out early in the morning.

"We'll forget about heading to the base today, we need to spend the day finding food." Andrew suddenly said.

"Why?" Dina asked and Andrew pointed at Philip.

"His speed is our biggest advantage right now, and we need him to be at peak strength if we want to maintain that advantage. To do that, we need to get him food." Philip's eyes widened when he heard this.

"You're holding yourself aren't you? You probably expended a lot of energy fighting the infected from last night, and I doubt those canned meals were enough to sate you. Am I wrong?" Andrew said and Philip pursed his lips.

Andrew was spot on. Right now, he was actually super hungry and the canned food he'd eaten the night before was barely enough to keep him on his feet.

"Yeah, you're right." Philip conceded and Andrew nodded.

He gestured them over to a car and dug out a mp from his backpack before laying it out.

"The closest mall is about three miles from here. If we keep moving at our current pace then we should get there in an hour and a half or so." He said while pointing at a large square away from where they were.

"Hm. A mall would undoubtedly be filled with people though, a lot of which were probably turned into infected." Philip pointed out and Andrew shrugged.

"We'll run out of food eventually. Might as well do it now while we're still strong. Besides, we have you." Philip gave a smile when he heard this.

"Weren't you trying to kill me just yesterday? Why do you trust me all of a sudden?" Andrew looked at him strangely.

"Saying I trust you is quite generous. It's more like I'm using you as much as I can before you either betray us or lose control and try to kill us." He said it without any hesitation which led Philip to believe that he wasn't joking.

Still, he didn't get mad. In a way, he was using them as well, both to get to the camp and also their knowledge.

"Well, lead the way." Philip shrugged and they began walking once more.

***

"How is it?" Some distance away from a large shopping mall, Andrew, Dina, and Philip could be seen hiding behind a car.

"I don't hear anything near the entrance, but there's some activity inside the mall. I'll have to get closer if I want to pinpoint their position." Philip said.

"It shouldn't be difficult for me to lead us away from the infected though." Andrew nodded when he heard this.

"Okay, let's go." They all got away from the car and bolted towards the entrance. While Philip said the coast was clear, who knew how long it would stay that way? So they took no chances.

When they reached the entrance, Philip who had gotten there first ushered the siblings in before closing the door.

The instant he did, he held the two of them and dragged them to a corner hidden by a cardboard sign of a large cell phone.

The siblings were smart enough to know that he did that because something was coming.

Philip moved and peaked over the corner. An infected that looked like its limbs had become stretched exaggeratedly with sharp claws crawled along a side wall, fluids dripping from its mouth.

Philip watched it until it went around the corner, and even then, he still didn't move. Only when he went out of earshot did he look at the siblings and nod.

They all stood up and walked briskly with Philip in the lead this time.

He listened for any sounds as they quickly found a map of the mall. Dina brought out a pen and a small notebook from her bag and began sketching the map.

Not even ten seconds later, Philip heard something moving towards them.

He bent down and picked a rock before throwing it across to another part of the mall. A moment later, a growl was heard followed by the skittering of feet.

Andrew was impressed by Philip's quick thinking. He had no idea that Philip was actually thinking at inhuman speeds allowing him to form proper plans on the spot.

Soon, Dina finished copying the map and she held it out to them and tapped a spot that said Food Court.

The two nodded and Philip took point again as they started heading towards the food court.

It was on the second level, so they'd have to be extra careful.

Philip moved and sometimes paused to listen and he checked to see if a monster was coming near them. When he was satisfied it wasn't, he kept moving.

Soon, they arrived at the not working escalator that led to the next floor. Then, Philip's eyes widened as he suddenly pushed the two of them down and dragged them under the escalator.

Not even a second later, the long limber infected suddenly jumped down from the upper level where they were. It looked around, its mouth foaming like it had rabies.

Philip resisted the urge to gulp as he waited for it to leave. Soon, it seemed to get bored and decided to go somewhere else.

When it was out of earshot, he sighed. That had been far too close.

He looked at the siblings and was surprised by how calm Dina was before gesturing to them that the coast was clear.

They came out from behind the escalator and quickly climbed it to the second floor. They squatted and checked the map again before confirming where they needed to go.

As they moved, Philip suddenly spotted a shop that seemed to be selling all sorts of sharp things, from knives to swords, machetes, daggers, and so on.

His heart leapt. He'd been after an actual weapon after his baseball bat broke. Even more so when he had to use his fists to kill the giant.

He debated telling the siblings but was scared that they would object. However, he was surprised when Andrew tapped him and actually gestured for them to go in.

He smiled and they quickly entered the shop.

The place was a mess with all sorts of blades on the ground. Though they were clearly well made as they had no rust and we're just dust covered.

Philip glanced around and his eyes instantly landed on a sheathed katana that was still being hung on the wall. He went and picked it off before carefully sliding it out of its sheath.

The first thing he saw was his reflection against the well polished blade and felt a little excited. He'd never even wielded a sword before, but felt that him and the blade would get along just fine.

He hung it on his waist and looked at the two and saw Andrew giving Dina a sheathed dagger and there was a machete hung on his waist.

Philip went up to them and confirmed that they were done before they all left the shop feeling a little satisfied.

Soon, they saw a bunch of tables and a counter with food options. They had arrived at the court.