The morning light hit me like a train. Gray was already up, half-ready to go.
“Eat something and get your boots on. We’re going to head over to the warehouse and see if we can get some of the stuff they left behind.”
I nodded and did as she said. Protocol says that we should have radioed in, but I figured she’d already called. I don’t want to sound like I’m deflecting blame or anything, because I’m not. It had been a rough night, and I just didn’t think to check with her. That’s on me.
The air hadn’t warmed up by the time we left. The fog was thick, like a curtain hanging over everything. Made it hard to tell what was just around the corner. We didn’t have a map, but one survivor came along with us as a guide.
We made good time. The crawlies were hiding from the humidity and anyone else out there couldn’t see any further than we could. The warehouse wasn’t far, and he seemed to be in good spirits.
The door made an awful noise as I pushed it open. I caught Gray wincing out of the corner of my eye. I lingered for a while, letting my eyes adjust to the dim light and listening for any sign of crawlies.
Nothing. Pallets of boxes were stacked up to the ceiling in places, so we moved slowly to avoid being caught out. Every time we rounded a corner, I could feel a fresh dose of adrenaline kick into my veins. Figured if the other survivors had found this place, then someone else could’ve, and they might wait for us with a gun leveled. But there was nobody.
We gathered up as many of the supplies as we could. MREs, spare clothing, a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher. If nothing else, they could bludgeon someone with it.
But when I turned around, Gray was gone.
“Where’d she go?”
The survivor shrugged. “Thought she was with you.”
I didn’t bother to give the obvious reply. “Gray?” Nothing. “Gray!”
Still nothing.
“What should we do?”
I sat down on an empty pallet. I messed around with the dials on my hand-held radio, talking into it as I hopped across the frequencies we used. Maybe she’d hear me. Nothing.
“Guess we’ve got to look for her.”
It would’ve been a lot easier if she had wanted us to find her.