A sugary smell erupted from the display case. After a momentary consideration of a pastry, Evan selected a ripe banana instead. He returned to the table with the others and sat, gazing out at the business across the street. Leon polished off the last of a beer while Minoko nibbled on the remains of a pastrami sandwich.
Leon was in the midst of a story. "...holding it all wrong, like he doesn't have any clue what he's doing. So Ernie just says, 'Give me that!' and just grabs the guy's wrist and wrenches the knife free. Then he grips the knife properly and points it right back at him and says, 'No! You give me your wallet.'"
Minoko laughed. "Oh my!" Minoko almost took a drink of her bottled tea, but halted once a fresh giggle broke free. "What happened then?"
"What do you think? The guy threw his wallet at him and ran off." Leon laughed and made a bending motion with his hands. "Then Ernie broke the knife and tossed it in a bush along with the guy's wallet. Then he just staggered back home and passed out."
"No way! That's too crazy."
"When Ernie told me the next day, I figured he made it all up. But later on when I went out drinking with a few of the other guys, we happened to pass through the same area. I actually found a bush with a wallet and broken knife."
Evan chuckled along with Minoko as they finished their selected meals. Other than the carefully selected fruits, the food was a bit stale, but the drinks and the idle banter led to a pleasant morning. After the laughter settled, Evan took a drink from a bottle of water and gazed at the business and lot behind the showy, but short fence across the street. Now that they were finished, thoughts began to return to plans and goals.
Evan tossed his refuse, then approached the windows for a good view of the street layout. A slow inhale led to quiet contemplation for a moment. "Everything looks okay out there. Is everyone ready to head out?"
"I'm good." Leon tossed an empty bottle into a nearby bin as he walked past, then hesitated in mid-step and changed course. "Oh. I guess I should've recycled that."
Evan turned back towards Leon with a quizzical expression as he dug the bottle out and tossed it into another nearby bin. Minoko laughed at the effort.
They collected their various weapons and gathered around the stairway leading back to the entrance. Evan descended after everyone indicated they were prepared, and while the others watched the doors, he pushed aside the overturned tables and chairs to clear a path. Glass crunched underfoot as objects were rearranged to accommodate the bypass. Beyond the immediate, the eerie distant sound lingered.
Leading the way with his hands tense, Evan stepped through the broken doorway and into the nearby intersection, keeping watch along the streets. After the others emerged and took grip of their rifles, he led them towards the building opposite, moving around the open gate and into the lot. They proceeded slowly, carefully squatting to check under parked vehicles and peering around the cars dotting the area.
The path was clear. The building, featuring more of the locally common wide windows had a broad but shallow front room with chairs lining the window spaces. In the back there was a desk with an assortment of signage nearby. Evan knocked on the chilly glass doorway, waiting for any kind of reply to materialize. Nothing did. He stepped aside for Leon, giving a silent nod. Everyone was familiar now with their break-in procedure.
Leon let his weapon hang from his shoulder strap, promptly approaching and nudging the door. He looked back at the others as it opened without difficulty and shrugged, then went inside. As Evan followed, he was careful to remain vigilant. "Looks like the lock here is by key only." Leon said once they were all inside.
"Someone left it unlocked on purpose, then?" Evan inquired as he walked the length of the room and eyed the few doors leading elsewhere into the building. He didn't trust the unexplored chambers.
"Looks like." Leon stood by the doorway, surveying the street.
Minoko disappeared behind the desk and rose to her feet a moment later holding something. "Hey, the safe is open! There's a bunch of keys here. It looks like they're all numbered."
In that moment, Evan felt a bit of happy kinship with whoever had left this place. "Get one for each of us and let's get out of here then." Evan backtracked cautiously, still wary. Glancing outside he observed the vehicles all bore a license plate with two letters and a double-digit number.
"Already on it."
They retreated quickly enough, Leon returning outdoors ahead of the others with Evan trailing. Minoko eagerly distributed keys once they were all together. Performing a quick count of the remaining vehicles, Evan attempted to recall the number of refugees requiring transport. It seemed adequate.
"So, I guess we head back now and get ready to leave." Leon ventured as the trio walked into the lot. A click emanated from a black, boxy SUV not too far away from the front entrance. That strange, persistent sound still lingered from somewhere unseen.
"Okay, that one's mine." Minoko said as she approached, swinging the rifle onto her back. She opened the driver's door and jumped inside without hesitation. Soon, the window was rolled down just far enough to exchange words. "Are we going back together?"
Leon took a step towards the SUV and spoke. "That's probably a good idea."
Evan glanced at the key in his hand, his thumb lingering over the unlock function of the fob. He found himself barely vocalizing a thought. "We're going to need to come back here."
Surprisingly, Leon replied to his thought. "Yeah, I think so."
Evan spoke at a more even volume. "Actually, you two go on ahead. I should go check on something."
Heading towards a click, Evan confirmed the identifying plate of a typical 4 door red car. Leon followed after, speaking out with a delay as if he had to consider his reply. "There seems to be a popular idea that the zombies do their moaning to attract others."
Evan paused beside the car door to look at Leon. "We haven't seen any zombies out here."
"But we have been hearing something." Leon finished. After a moment, he added. "There was a rumor going around that they only make that sound when they see someone."
Recalling his own encounters with the monsters in the dark, Evan nodded. "Yeah. I've been wondering about that..."
Silence followed between them while the eerie babble lingered in the air. The smooth, almost uniform sound of that peculiar ambience implied a considerably more sizable threat than any he had seen before. Even as escape for everyone was on the horizon, Evan felt like he had to know if there were yet more people who needed assistance. He couldn't turn away from that kind of possibility, especially considering the safe.
