Zane gathered the survivors who were just starting to wake up. To say that this week had been lousy for them all was an understatement. Many of them were on the verge of a complete and total mental breakdown.
The only ones among the group of eight survivors who seemed to remotely have their shit together were Zane, Olivia, and Elena. Despite this, Zane knew he needed to gather more equipment for the group, specifically the two women by his side, and because of this, he was quick to make an announcement to the already demoralized survivors.
"Listen up. I'm taking Elena and Olivia out to gather supplies. I have done my best to make sure we have what we need to survive, but I need more hands. And since I don't trust any of you not to get yourselves killed out there in the city, I'll be taking those I can rely on. We should be back in a few hours, so just make sure to keep this place secure. That is all… "
After saying this, Zane motioned for Elena and Olivia to follow him, which they did, without even saying their goodbyes to the other survivors. Once outside the safety of their camp, Zane made sure to give the women some warnings about the dangers that lurked outside the high school campus.
"Alright, we have to be extra careful. Normally, I can maneuver through the dead well enough at night on my own, but now we are going to have to be on the lookout. Not only for spotting Walkers and higher-level undead, but also for other human beings.
You can't trust anyone out here, I've already had several violent encounters with outsiders, so the rule of the land is simple, if you find another human being who is not a part of our group… shoot first, ask questions later, got it?"
Elena nodded her head in understanding of Zane's warning. She herself was carrying a rifle looted from one of the marauders who attacked the school. As for Olivia, she was equipped with a pump-action shotgun. After all, she really did not know how to shoot a gun, and thus could not be relied on to hit anything without the use of scatter munitions like buckshot.
With the three of them locked and loaded, Zane led the two women through a pathway of the school while observing the walker's movements. When he was alone, he could simply walk by the undead and they would ignore him, but now that he had Elena and Olivia by his side he had to be careful not to get within range of the Walker's senses, or else he and the others would be in for a fight.
---
It took much longer than Zane expected just to get out of the high school campus. Having been forced to quietly and covertly stalk through the school campus, avoiding the undead wherever they were spotted. They were required to make several detours on their journey.
But eventually, Zane and the others escaped from the high school campus and entered the city. It was apparent that his words had the intended effect, because both Elena and Olivia were visibly nervous. Their heads were on a swivel as they looked around for any sign of potential hostiles, whether they were the living or the dead.
And after a long and treacherous journey, the trio finally arrived at the outdoor shopping mall, where the large sports store was located. It took some extra careful maneuvering to gain entry to the facility without alerting all the Walkers who wandered about the grounds of the shopping mall, but in the end, they managed to achieve it.
Of course, once they entered the sports store itself, Zane and the others were forced to retrieve their melee weapons to quietly take care of the few Walkers who still resided inside the store. Luckily for them, the massive horde had cleared out after the events of the previous night, and had clearly scattered about, wandering off to god knows where.
Because of this, Zane and the others were able to effectively dispatch the stragglers and claim the blood crystals that a few of them had. Once they had done this, Zane led the girls up to the tactical section. Where he told them to grab whatever they could find that was a practical choice of clothing.
All the while, he kept watch. However, because Olivia and Elena were females, they perused the section for well over an hour before deciding on a choice of attire. All the while, Zane smoked while looking over the edge and keeping an eye on the store's entrances.
Once Elena and Olivia had chosen some underwear, pants, boots, knee pads, gun belts, chest rigs, and a choice of top, outerwear, and other accessories. They had wandered off to the changing rooms, completely unwilling to get naked on the spot like Zane had done.
Zane, of course, continued to keep a lookout, while silently brooding about how long the girls were taking, until he heard an audible scream coming from the changing rooms. Which immediately sent the man onto alert as he put out his cigarette and ran off towards the origin of the sound, all the while with his rifle in hand.
Before even realizing what had happened, Zane burst through his door, aiming down his rifle. Where he found a peculiar scene. A walker who they had missed was lying dead with a knife in its brain. All the while, both Olivia and Elena were dressed in their underwear.
Not the practical sports underwear that they planned to change into, but the stuff they had been wearing since the apocalypse began. Elena's underwear was rather innocent, simple white attire, nothing extravagant. Despite this, it was still greatly enticing to any man, considering the girl's sublime figure.
But Zane was surprised to find that his former homeroom teacher was wearing something more… erotic. The woman was dressed in a black lace pushup bra, with a matching thong, garter belt, and stockings. Zane may be a rather emotionless individual, but he was still a young man who had just barely ventured into the years of adulthood.
To say that he was not excited at the sight of the two beautiful women dressed in nothing but their undergarments was an understatement. Yet he was also smart enough to know that he was about to get the shit slapped out of him.
Thus, while he could, he examined every curve of Elena's and Olivia's body, while performing a sign of the cross, and thanking God for this one beautiful sight in a world gone terribly wrong. There was no expression on Zane's face as he closed his eyes, bracing for the impact of the incoming double slap, while at the same time voicing his thoughts aloud.
"Thanks for the meal…."
And just as he expected, in the very next moment, the two incredibly flustered women slapped Zane's face as hard as they could muster, leaving a red handprint on both cheeks.