On arrival, I raised my fist to signal them to stop, the place was surrounded by a thick silence, so dense that even the sound of our breathing felt out of place.
The metal garage doors were ajar, which made it more likely walkers were inside, but at least reduced the chance they were humans.
"Wait here." I whispered, adjusting the shotgun and advancing carefully, Glenn took position to my left with his pistol ready, the others covered where they could to wait.
I pushed the door slowly with the barrel, the screech of rusted metal echoed through the building, inside the gloom revealed helmets strewn about, an overturned truck, a smashed handheld radio, and bodies, three, maybe four, still in uniform, they looked truly dead.
I moved forward slowly, my finger resting on the trigger but without tension, the light filtering from the entrance partially lit the garage interior, revealing dark stains on the floor that had long lost their color, the air smelled of old metal, oil and rotten flesh.
I bent next to one of the bodies, it showed no visible bite marks, only a blow to the head, a clean wound, it wasn't a walker who killed him.
"What do you think?" Glenn whispered nervously.
"They're dead, for real." I answered quietly while I pushed the helmet aside with the shotgun's tip, "No signs of reanimation, and rigor mortis has long gone, they've been dead several days."
I stood up slowly and scanned the entire garage, there was only one overturned truck and another without tires, which struck me as odd.
"Glenn, look closely, do you see anything strange?" I asked in a low voice.
He stepped forward a few paces, the flashlight on his pistol illuminated the empty compartments of the truck, "Yeah… hardly any vehicles, in a station this size there should be at least three or four units ready."
"I assume they left when it all started." I replied, looking at the open lockers in the back, "On day one the firefighters must have gotten calls all over the city, fires, explosions, chaos, they went out and never returned."
"And these… are the ones who stayed behind." Glenn swallowed looking at the bodies.
I continued with the shotgun on my shoulder ready to fire and moved deeper into the station, after walking a bit we found the lockers, some were open with little or nothing but folded clothes, it seems they left in a hurry.
On the incident board there was a notebook with sign-out entries marked the first day of the crisis, there were no return records, we didn't stop there and decided to sweep the entire facility before being sure.
We quickened our pace and searched the whole place, starting with the dorms, showers, kitchen, administrative offices and even the gym, we cleared everything and made sure all other entrances were secured.
"I thought we'd find at least one or two, maybe they'd jump out from a corner or something.." Glenn said with a mix of discomfort and relief.
"They probably didn't stay, the first day had to be hell, the staff wouldn't have waited for orders, they surely went out to find their families, wives, kids, parents and even friends." I said analyzing the situation.
"That makes sense, I would have done the same if I were them." Glenn replied nodding.
"Let's go back, the others are probably getting impatient." I said moving toward the garage.
When we came out, I looked at Andrea and the others with tense faces, at first they thought something had gone wrong, but since they heard no shots, they chose to wait.
"It's clear, let's turn this place upside down and get out!" I said barely raising my voice so they could hear me.
They let out a sigh when they heard my words and then moved quickly, Andrea kept the pistol raised while Morales and T-Dog covered the rear.
"Start checking everything, cabinets, offices, storerooms, anything useful." I ordered while I adjusted the shotgun on my shoulder.
Glenn nodded and headed to the back area with T-Dog and Morales, I took care of the administrative area with Andrea.
In the first office I found a small first-aid kit with bandages, antibiotics and alcohol, on the wall there was a map of emergency routes, I rolled it up and stowed it, it could be useful to move through the city without getting lost.
"So, what do those skills of yours turn you into, a superhero?" Andrea asked while she rifled the desk drawers trying to sound casual.
"No, someone who doesn't depend on luck to keep breathing." I answered without looking at her, while I checked a dust-covered desk I pulled out a tactical flashlight and an emergency lighter and stored them in the inventory.
"I admit, that's really useful, but that's it? I don't think that will stop a bullet." Andrea said attempting to provoke me.
"I don't need it to stop a bullet, I just need the shooter not to have time to aim." I said looking her in the eyes with a smile, the kind of smile that promises nothing but makes clear I'm not afraid of anyone.
"Wow, sounds like you're very sure of yourself or are you trying to seduce me?" Andrea asked with a teasing smile.
"Depends, do you feel seduced?" I answered without breaking eye contact, stepping closer slowly.
"Maybe a little." she said softly with a half-smile, leaning against the desk.
"Be careful, if you play with fire you'll burn yourself." I said placing my arms on the desk on either side of her, our faces inches apart, my eyes couldn't help but wander to her low-cut top.
"Maybe I want to burn.." she whispered, slowly tracing my chest, I felt her fingers through the tactical vest despite all logic.
In that moment I forgot all logic and decided to go for it, Andrea had always been one of my favorite female characters anyway, since I was forced to reincarnate here I won't miss my chance.
Just as our lips were about to meet, someone entered suddenly, my senses sharpened, I grabbed Andrea's pistol at her hip and aimed at the intruder.
"Oh, it's me, sorry, am I interrupting something? I can come back later.." Glenn said nervously trying to back away, I just watched him without saying anything until he left the room.
"Haha, seems someone has responsibilities." Andrea laughed sweetly.
"Yeah, too many." I said setting the pistol on the desk, I lifted my hand and cupped her chin,
Her eyes locked on mine without looking away, I could feel her breath mix with mine, our lips brushed, sealing each other.
When we finally separated we both began to breathe heavy, but neither of us looked away.
"If you keep looking at me like that you'll get distracted, Mr. officer." Andrea said pushing me with her fingertip.
"Ex-officer.." I replied, now that title is more a burden than anything else.
"Anyway, don't get used to it, this means nothing, I'm not that easy." she said standing up.
"Relax, I don't like easy things." I answered with a faint smile, taking the shotgun from the desk and securing the magazine.
Andrea rolled her eyes with a barely concealed smile, then she left the office without another word, silence filled the place again.
«Sigh, it's still not the time.» I told myself, the reason I didn't tell her about the system's other functions is because I'm still weak.
Saying it now won't bring anything good, the inventory is easy to accept if you're not in denial, it will be hard for people to try to take advantage of me if I'm not willing, but the shop is another matter, it's not the time.
I took my shotgun and left the office, the echo of my steps resonated in the empty corridor, when I reached the garage the others were still searching, they'd opened several compartments and stacked the useful items.
"We found piles of cans, water jugs, clean axes, handheld radios that run on batteries, tactical flashlights and first-aid kits, it's perfect!" T-Dog said organizing the haul into categories.
"We also found several backup generators and many fuel drums, they're heavy, but I think you can handle it." Glenn said grinning from ear to ear.
"I got it covered, alright, let's take everything quickly, in two hours it'll be night, you don't want to be here when that happens." I said and started storing everything in the inventory.
The others widened their eyes as surprised as the first time, but no one said anything, they just felt grateful, over ninety percent of what we found would have been left behind if not for this strange ability.
Half an hour later the whole station had been emptied, we even took all the clean clothes and kitchenware, except for some personal things like photos and keepsakes that wouldn't be useful to us.
When we left we closed the door to prevent other walkers from entering, that way we can return if necessary in the future without worrying too much.
We followed the same route we came with a slight detour to avoid ambushes, fortunately we didn't run into anything but a dozen walkers that we dispatched quickly.
[ Points + 6 ]
[ Points + 5 ]
Only after leaving the city did we allow ourselves a small sigh, but none of us dared to lower our guard, especially me, I know in this world walkers are the lesser of the threats.
When we reached the cars we made sure everything was in order and left quickly, the sun was setting more and more.
"So, will you tell the others?" Andrea asked with a furrowed brow, we all understood what she meant.
"No.." I answered but was interrupted before I could finish.
"Then how will we explain it to them?" Glenn asked, looking at all of us.
"Simple, we won't, they only need to know what is necessary, you know because I can trust you, I wasn't joking back there, as for the others, they'll have to earn it." I said and smiled.
I know generally the camp members are trustworthy, but I wouldn't put my hand in the fire for everyone, either way, I'm not afraid of challenges, If someone wants to pressure me, they'll first have to ask to my fist for permission.
«Sigh, it's a pity I can't gain enough points now, I'll have to go back a few more times before I can devise a proper strategy..» I thought resigned.