#cars to make a barricade while the zombies are still weak and distracted

[rust-bearer]

Thank Primus the clinic had a backup generator. First Aid counted himself lucky for finding it in the storage room, and quickly moved it into position for later. No fuel inside it, but that was alright. Plenty he could scavenge for when he’d need to turn it on. Not yet, at least.

How long until power ran out? He didn’t know. It was still online for a little bit, but that would change soon. Two days… maybe, max. Probably less. He shouldn’t- he really shouldn’t shelter in this clinic, of all places, but it was surrounded by big stone walls and only had two entrances. Entrances that he’d already blocked off earlier, sealing the gates and pushing abandoned cars in front of them, and then piling barricades behind. It would have been easier to defend the clinic with more people. Faster. But he’d…

First Aid’s eyes flickered to the outside again. Through the window. And he could see the throngs of zombies filtering through the streets. Could still see people, rarely, run out into the street screaming. Sometimes being chased by other humans too. Sometimes right before being shot. The tires tracks of the army convoy were still visible, and the same was said about the bodies they left behind. Some still human.

No. First Aid didn’t need anyone else. Couldn’t risk it. He already had four mouths to feed- if he even managed to find someone, how could he trust them? How could he trust to leave them around the kids? As of now, everything was- fine. Okay. The oldest, a teenager named Cliff Racer- who’d been at the hospital for her broken leg- she could take care of the younger ones when First Aid would go out. She knew how to shoot a gun, knew how to take care of the littler kids. Of course it wasn’t ideal. But it was what they had.

How much fuel did they have stored? If power went out tonight, First Aid could run it. Should he run it? Maybe not. The windows weren’t covered yet. The fridges all had perishables, though- he’d need to clear them out first. The blood bags. The milk. How much baby formula did they have? He needed to get more. Shit- the vaccines- were all the kids up to date? The babies, certainly not. How many months old?… DTaP, IPV, HepB-

Breathe. First Aid took a shaky inhale in, and out. He hadn’t slept last night and he wouldn’t sleep tonight, either. Just naps through the day. Like night shift work. But it made him exhausted still, and he was panicking. Of course he’d panic. How could he feed all of them by himself? Take care of all of them? If both of the babies needed twenty cans of formula per month- finding that alone would be difficult. Nevermind feeding a growing child and a growing teenager. Even if he could do the most basic of food, rice and beans, how long would that even last? Before-

…Before what?

He didn’t know. He glanced back outside, and this time, towards the edge of the mountains that flanked the city.

Maybe it would be a good idea to move out soon.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Twenty-Three: Flip a Coin ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Hanabi, Uchiha Itachi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: When Dead Walk ] [ AO3 Link ]

Well, it’s official: they’re no longer two pairs. They’re a group of four. A team.

Sasuke’s still not entirely sure how he feels about it. On one hand...he still can’t help but remain a bit wary. While Hinata and Hanabi - the two girls he found while scavenging for supplies two days ago - hardly seem a threat...you can never fully trust anyone. Not even family. But he’s hoping that their mutual goal of survival will allow them to build at least some kind of understanding.

On another, he’s worried about having more mouths to feed. He and Itachi had been going through enough supplies as it is. But with those mouths come hands that can help make lighter work. They’ll have to do more, find more...but doing so should, in theory, be easier.

And finally...he’s not sure he wants the liability. It’s clear the pair of them are decently skilled in staying alive if they’ve made it this far. After all, Hinata saved Sasuke’s life when they met quite by accident. She’s pretty damn good at wielding makeshift weapons, if her shovel skills are anything to go by. But having someone else around means having someone else to lose.

...and he’s not exactly eager to go through that again after so long.

But, they’ve made their decision. They all talked it over yesterday after the female pair stayed the night, and it was unanimous. They’ll stay.

Now they just have to get used to what precisely that means.

“All right...I think it’s high time we start fortifying this place,” Sasuke offers, tossing a notepad he’s been scribbling in on the dining room table. “There’s a hardware store in the town to the south. We can raid it and beef up our defenses a bit. We need to barricade the windows, make it so light doesn’t escape at night. Once it gets cold enough to use the fire, we’re going to have to focus on using it mainly at night so the smoke isn’t too noticeable. During the day, we’ll have to make due with extra clothes and blankets. We look to have enough wood for a few months so long as we’re smart about it. We should find supplies for the chickens if we can. They’ll likely be a main source of food. Which means protecting them, too. Any seeds we can find would be good for a garden next year. There’s a cellar under the house we can store some of it in.”

“Leave all that sort of thing to me,” Hinata offers. “I had a focus in flowering plants, but I know quite a bit about edible ones from my botany degree.”

“Perfect. Most of the food has likely already been looted from stores, so we’ll have to try houses for that. We can form teams and split up to get things done faster.”

“Is splitting up a good idea?” Hanabi cuts in, a skeptical brow perked. “I mean...isn’t part of being in a group safety in numbers?”

“We won’t be too far apart, and it’s already pretty clear there aren’t any other survivors living in town,” Itachi counsels. “We’ve been here for quite some time, and you two are the first contact we’ve had. And you were not in town, were you?”

“No...but still...there’s another pretty obvious threat in a zombie apocalypse…”

“I’ve got a plan for that,” Sasuke offers. “We’ll first go to a part of town we don’t need anything from, and find a car with a working horn or car alarm we can rig to keep going while we go back around to our hits. That should make it a lot easier to evade them.”

“...guess that makes sense,” she admits, leaning back in her seat with folded arms.

“I suppose all that’s left is to decide who goes where,” Sasuke then muses. “How should we split up? Sibling pairs?”

“...perhaps I could take Hanabi with me,” Itachi offers. “We could go to the hardware store, which has inventory in the rear in a warehouse. I could lift her to higher places to reach things we need.”

The younger brother’s brow furrows. “...are you sure?”

“Why not?”

“You’re not as strong as I am, and Hanabi is young. We should cover each other’s weaknesses.”

“True, but you and Hinata are both quick and strong. It makes more sense for you to go to the residential streets and move through the houses. I might not be able to get very far. And most of the walkers seem to be in the residential areas rather than around the businesses. We’d likely be safer.”

Sasuke nibbles his lip. “...I don’t like this.”

“...flip a coin. Heads we go by siblings, tails we go Itachi’s route,” Hinata offers.

“...all right. Anyone got a coin?”

“There’s a piggy bank in the room we were in last night...I’ll go get one.”

Watching her go, Sasuke turns to his brother. “You really think this is a good idea?”

“Technically speaking, leaving this house at all is rarely a good idea,” Itachi gently counters. “There’s danger everywhere. Humans, zombies, animals, the environments themselves...you can’t protect me forever. Besides, I won’t be alone.”

Sasuke wants to counter, but gives Hanabi a glance. He’s not so sure she’ll be as helpful as Hinata has shown to be...something tells him she hasn’t had to pull much weight as of yet. “...all right.”

When the elder sister returns, Sasuke balances the coin - a regular old quarter - atop his thumb. After a pause, he gives it a flip, catching it and holding open his palm.

“...tails,” he confirms, tone a bit edged.

“...all right, then. We’ll set up the noise distractions on the other side of town, and then come in from this side to get our supplies. We’ll load up whatever we find into the car and go from there.”

“Okay…” Still looking unsure, Sasuke flips to another page of the notebook, tearing off a page. “This is all I could think of that would be useful. We have some tools from the shed in the back, but a lot of them look pretty old, so...whatever we can replace, do it. Maybe grab doubles if you can in case something breaks. Otherwise, whatever we can get to beef up this place and make it more solid, grab it.”

“Too bad we don’t have a truck…” Hinata muses. “It would be nice to be able to haul more. Maybe some fencing, or sheet metal.”

“...well, maybe another time. We can hunt for a truck another day. We’re just getting started today, all right? Consider it a test run of the new team.”

“Understood.”

With that settled, the four of them make their way to the car, parked around the back to keep hidden further from anyone who might happen upon the house. Hinata takes the driver’s seat, revving the engine and checking the gauges.

“Hm...might need to find some gas while we’re there. It’s, um...getting a bit low.”

“All right...we’ll do that before we start the horns. Got hose to siphon with?”

“Mhm. I’ve done it a few times. That and a gas can are in the trunk.”

And with that...they head toward town.

The ride is mostly quiet. Hinata keeps her eyes on the road, Sasuke doubling the watch for trouble from the passenger seat. As before, Hanabi leans in between the front seats, looking bored. Itachi merely watches the scenery from his window beside her.

Taking a roundabout road, they approach the town from the back, going slow to help minimize noise.

“...here’s good. You three stay with the car - I’ll find one to set up. Get some gas and pull back around here. I’ll meet you, and we’ll all take off once we’ve got enough noise going.”

“Right. Be careful.”

“Careful’s my middle name,” Sasuke mutters as he slips out of the car and crouch-walks to a cluster of abandoned vehicles in a parking lot behind a tire shop. Keeping a hunting knife gripped in one hand, he decides to check out the shop itself first. It looks untouched - not like tires were anyone’s first thought upon the zombie apocalypse. Inside he finds little of import. Stale popcorn, a half-empty water cooler, and the cashier’s station behind the counter. Managing to pry open the tray, he takes the money - might as well. Some people might still place value in it for trade someday. After a moment of thought, he then takes a shelf out from the back of the counter - it looks about the size he’ll need to wedge into a seat and keep a horn pressed.

...he always liked the smell of these places.

Lingering for a bit, he heads back out upon hearing the hum of the motor. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are. Tank’s full.”

“Good.” Moving to the nearest empty vehicle, he opens the front door, fiddling with both the seat and the steering wheel. With the latter tipped down, he moves the former forward, the wooden shelf wedged into its crux. As soon as enough pressure is applied, the horn begins to blare, and he bolts back for the car.

Carefully, Hinata makes her way back around. In the distance, they can see walkers heading slowly off toward the noise.

“All right...that’ll work for now. Hinata will drop you two off at the hardware store. Gather what you can out front so we can pack it up quick. We’ll head to the nearest residential street and start raiding the houses. Ready?”

Hanabi gives a curt nod.

“Ready,” Itachi affirms.

“All right...good luck. And be careful,” Hinata impresses, watching them slip out the back doors. Once they’re inside, she glances to Sasuke.

“...let’s get going.”

                                                             .oOo.

     (This is a sequel to days 197 and 270!)       More zombie AU! Haven't done this one in a good while and for some reason it just seemed to fit the prompt well lol      We have an official squad! Two pairs of siblings, now a little group. It's going to be an...interesting dynamic. And I know I cut off before much action, but it's VERY late and the drabble was getting long, so...hopefully I can do more soon. I already have another cliffie I need to remedy, whoops xD      Anyway, it's late, I'm...very tired, so I'll call it there. Thanks for reading!