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A/N: Thank you guys for the reads and ratings. I apologize for the delay, but its been a while in the works. I’m working on the third part of the series now. It will hopefully conclude the adventure. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 8: The Raid/New Friends

As I pulled the car into the gas station I saw Rusty’s Jeep sitting in the usual parking place at the end of the building. I pulled in beside them and stepped out of the car with both Rusty and Haley quickly in tow. "Well guys… I hope they don’t fuckin’ ID my ass this time… Cuz I left my fuckin’ wallet at home." I said to them as we walked up the side of the store. "Nah man… they know us here." Rusty said, continuing our joke.

We walked around the side of the store to the entrance to check on the situation inside. Within seconds of peering in, I saw movement. "What the fuck was that?" I said under my breath as I saw something scurry across the visible space inside again. Pulling my pistol from its holster, I tried the door, finding it locked as I figured I would. I stepped back a little and aimed at the lock. Right as my finger began to squeeze the trigger, Elizabeth slammed against the door screaming for me to stop. She unlocked the door and opened it, letting us in. As soon as the door was locked again, a hand smacked against the glass and smeared blood across it. It was Asma, the girl who worked alongside Elizabeth most shifts… and she was as dead as dead got these days.

Backing away from the door, we stepped over to the counter. "Elizabeth, why the fuck didn’t you let us in before when you saw us? She could’ve taken a bite out of my ass man! I didn’t even know she was following us!" I yelled mutely at her. "Sorry, I thought you were more of those people… well… til you pulled the gun anyway. If you remember correctly I let you in as soon as I saw you weren’t one of them." She yelled back. "True enough." I said, "So, I’ll take a carton of Pall Mall Menthol 100’s if you don’t mind". She flipped me off and handed me the carton. "Look, you guys can take whatever the fuck you want as long as you take me with you, because seriously, I’m not staying here anymore." Elizabeth said, finally calming down some. "Well, you can ride with me if you want. They’re heading off on their own trek for the time being. I’m headed towards the military survivor center up in the Mills." Nodding in agreement with me, she stepped around the counter with a few bags. She handed some to Rusty and Haley and handed some to me. "Lets stock up then." Elizabeth said, grabbing some drinks out of the cooler by the counter. "I’m pretty fuckin’ sure management isn’t going to take this very fucking well Elizabeth." I said mockingly. "Dude… fuck this job." Elizabeth said. She went about getting food and drink while me and Rusty went about stocking up on cigarettes. It was about ten minutes later, when our bags were full that we finally stopped. Everyone sat their bounties up on the counter. I set mine down and walked to the back of the store to the beer cooler, seeing a six pack of George fuckin’ Killian’s Irish Red, I grabbed it and walked up front. Taking a bottle out, I took the top off and finished half the bottle in one long chug. "God damn that’s fuckin’ good." I said. "You fuckin’ drunk…" Rusty replied.

"So… since Asma seems to be preoccupied on that side of the store, we should head out the other entrance and get our asses in the car. Actually… Fuck that. Elizabeth, hand me the keys to the store, go turn the pumps on. I’m gonna go take care of Asma. We need to fuel up before we head out. Considering we got ourselves enough cigarettes for a while, we don’t need to raid the tobacco shop… especially considering all they sell is low end shit, and they’ll be stale and worthless by the time we get to them anyway." At that I grabbed the keys and walked over to the door. I unlocked the door and kicked it open, spilling Asma on her ass. As she went to stand up, I shot her in the head and closed the door back. "Well… That’s dealt with… Now lets go get some fucking gas."

We grabbed our bags and headed out the door. We put the bags in the cars and jumped in. Driving over to the pumps we saw that the mob of zombies that had initially chased us in the first place had finally begun catching up, and there they were about a half a mile down the road. I told Elizabeth to pump, and I grabbed my rifle and stood watch. Looking in the opposite direction of the initial horde, we saw a straggling few zombies heading our way across the parking lot. I drew a bead and began firing. When the pump picked up that the tank was full, I reached in the trunk and grabbed the extra gas can I had brought from inside the store and had Elizabeth fill it up. As soon as she finished with it, we said our goodbyes to Rusty and Haley, and we all jumped in our cars and headed down the road. We all headed down 601 towards our own respective destinations. Rusty and Haley ended up taking Mt. Pleasant Road to avoid a lot of people, while me and Elizabeth took 601 onward into Concord.

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