Infection: Dying Days

"What's going on? Did he try to pull something?"

I asked upon arrival with my gun trained on Looter A's c.h.e.s.t. I was ready to shoot him if he tried to attack us.

"P-please don't' shoot me!"

Looter A trembled in fear and voiced. The patheticness he's showing now is a full 180 compared to how he was acting earlier. It's a little off putting to be honest. 

"No, he's not the problem it's them over there…"

David pointed his finger down the street. Following it, I saw a small group of infected slowly walking over here. They were coming out of alleyways, shops and from neighboring streets.

"They must be attracted to the blood and all the noise we made. It'll take them a few minutes to get here."

I calmly assessed as I stared at the infected in the distance. Now that I'm in an open area and no longer able to smell their rancid breath or experience their super strength first hand, my sense of danger towards an infected has dropped tremendously. However, that doesn't mean that I'm still not wary of them. All those close shaves I've gone through back in Pelican Soar Academy are still there, lingering deep inside my heart.

"Let's finish this up. Andy, go through this bag and see what we got. Oh and here David, take this bag of coffee."

I hand Andy the blue gym bag and toss David the bag of coffee.

"Why'd you take a bag of coffee?"

Upon receiving the coffee, David dumbfoundely asked. Putting on an 'isn't it obvious' expression I said.

"Because it was the only thing they had in there. It's a coffee shop after all. And besides, I'm not going to act like a saint and not take anything during a chaotic time like this. I'm sure you would do the same."

"True. I'd do the same as well. It's not like anyone's going to miss a bag of coffee anyway."

"I know right?"

Looter A: "Y-you guys are bandits!"

At his words, I crouch down near him and point the pistol at his face.

"You're just begging me to shoot aren't you? Just say the word and I'll do it. I'll put a whole right between those eyes of yours."

"No! P-please no! I'm sorry! Ouch!"

Looter A tries to move out the way of the pistol's muzzle but in the process of doing so, he aggravates his injuries.

"…Tch!"

Although I hate to say it, he's right. 

We maimed them, beaten them black and blue, and stripped them n.a.k.e.d. 

If one was to look at this situation from an outsider's perspective, it would look as if we're the bad guys and they're the victims.

Aren't the roles switched around?

"Oh sh*t! G-guys look at this!"

"Woah!"

"Hmm?"

Snapping me from my thoughts, I stand up and turn my attention towards Andy and David who were letting out voices filled with both shock and excitement.

And the moment I did, I instantly understood why they were so excited. Even I'm slack jawed.

Placed in front of me were ten 32 ounce jars filled with nothing but...

"Weed. A lot of f*cking weed! No wonder that bag was abnormally heavy, you guys robbed a f*cking dispensary! Is there anything else?"

"Yeah. Check this out."

The amount of THC here is so high that I'm sure not even Wiz, Snoop or Willie can get through all this without keeling over!

"Damn, there's a few good strains here. They got Sour Diesel, Northern Lights, Blue Dream, and Blueberry. Too bad there's no OG."

David: "..."

Andy: "..."

Looter A: "..."

"...Why y'all looking at me like that? Did I say something weird?"

Looking at Andy's and David's surprised expressions (while ignoring Looter A's), I asked. To which, David replied.

"Well, what else can I do? As soon as your eyes landed on the jars, you picked them up and started calling out names."

"Y-yeah so? They're labeled aren't they?"

I then showed him the jar that had been labeled 'Sour Diesel' on it. 

I don't get what's the problem here?

"That may be so but you didn't even glance at the names...You opened the jars,  took out a bud, smelled it and immediately knew what kind it was."

Andy suddenly interjected.

"..."

...Sh*t! I let my excitement get the best of me and now I let a secret out. 

"Sigh, all well f*ck it. It wasn't like I was hiding it. It wasn't a secret to begin with. This is California! Weed is legal here. There's nothing wrong with me learning about marijuana strains. As for smoking it and knowing the smell of strains on the other hand…Can you let a guy have a few secrets to himself?"

At my words, David said with a small nod.

"Fair enough. It's not like I was judging or anything. Every man has their secrets after all. And besides, we don't have any more time to talk anyway. Look."

Following his gaze…

Me and Andy see the group of infected getting close. Dangerously close.

Me: "It's high time we leave. Help me put the weed and edibles back into the gym bag. I didn't see another man's balls just so!"

Andy: "Same here! I'm not taking an L."

David: "I second that."

Having a unified mindset, we hurriedly stuffed everything back into the gym bag. We decided that once we find a place somewhere safe we'll smoke all this weed. It'll be stupid to do so otherwise.

"Okay, let's leave this place. Oh and hide the bag in the truck's tool box. If Sara or Big Sis were to find this we'll have to throw it out so make sure to do it nice and quietly. Hopefully, by the time they find out we'll be somewhere safe and high as a kite."

David: "Yeah, but the moment they catch us, there's gonna be hell to pay. You know that right?"

Me: "Hey, what can I say? It's not like we can turn the bag into the authorities. They got bigger fish to fry right now. Not to mention, it was offered to us. We can't let such good sentiments go to waste can we? Think about it this way, the moment they find out we'll be so high that we'll probably won't remember what happened."

"Well, I hope so. Sigh, I'll be in the truck."

"Alright."

I take the truck key out my pocket and turn around to walk towards the truck. But before I could get a step in…

"S-so what about me?"

Looter A suddenly asked with an uneasy voice.

"What about you?"

With my back still towards him I asked back coldly, knowing full well what he was talking about.

"You like what you found yeah? So in exchange for giving you that, you're going to let me live right? Y-your not going to kill me are you?"

"..."

Guys like these, I know how they work. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure everyone knows how they work. 

To a person stronger than them, they'll act all meek and submissive doing what the said person says while on the other hand, to someone below them, they'll act all high and mighty and treat the person like trash.

But that's not the worse part. The worse part is that these guys would hold grudges against you for slightest of reasons and scheme to the best of their ability to see you dead. Like this guy for example, the moment I let this guy loose he'll probably hold a grudge and try everything in his power to kill us the next time we meet.

...I can't take that chance.

Even more so when considering the fact that he'll probably go back to r*ping and killing just like before. What if he gets his hands on Big Sis, Sara or Amanda one day?

I turn around and face the looter. Although it's well hidden behind the facade of fear, I can see the fierce glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, I definitely can't take that chance."

To stop a future source of trouble from arising...

"Why are you coming this way? S-stay away!"

You must…

"Y-you said you weren't going to kill me! Please!"

Nip the problem.

"Nooooo!"

In the bud.

BANG…! BANG! BANG!