The next morning, the team met back up at the parking garage and Tom extended party invites to DeeDee and Graham. Getting their first look at the now larger GS2, the vehicle appeared to not only be longer making it more of a Suburban than a Tahoe, but it was also slightly taller and wider, making the room inside more spacious for the passengers.
"Damn! I'm not touching people on both sides of me anymore. Though, the back row is still going to be a bit cramped" James commented on the inside, sitting in one of the captain chairs in the second row that had replaced the bench seat originally there.
Hopping back out of the vehicle and opening the tailgate, Squirrel hopped up into the more spacious trunk and wagged his tail as he stood happily with his mouth open, tongue lolling out staring at the team.
"Squirrel fits nicely with room for someone else back here too. These storage spaces are great so we don't need to take equipment with us in the vehicle taking up space." James commented again.
Reaching up and scratching Squirrel behind the ears, DeeDee looked into the trunk as well.
"I've brought along some blankets and pillows for the ride so it should be quite comfy for me and this good boy here," DeeDee said.
Squirrel leaned into the affection and beamed with happiness.
"Hey, you're my pet you little fucker," James teased Squirrel.
Squirrel gave James a look and then licked DeeDee's face as if to say, I like her better now.
"Fine, be that way. See if I give you any treats on the way." James said in mock offense.
"Everybody has water and food stocked?" Tom asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Good, then we can load up and start the journey. The drive used to be about fifteen hours, but with vehicles stalled on the road and other unknown dangers, I'd expect the journey to take several days." Tom said, getting the team's attention. "Brian was able to get us enough gas to get there and back which Derek and I have in storage as well. Does anyone need to use the bathroom before we go? Speak now or forever hold your pee."
No one moved and several shook their heads.
"Alright, then load up, and let's move out!" Tom said.
Climbing into the vehicle, everyone got ready to depart. Graham had to sit in one of the captain's chairs because of his armor, but no one minded having him along as they would stop in the evenings for some training sessions with him to help them learn to fight better. Taking up defensive positions as they had been, with the exception of Graham leaning out a window now, the team prepared to drive through the city.
As they exited the garage, a large group of people were waiting out front with the security team standing guard in front of them. They all waved and called out their wishes for success in the mission. Some yelled their thanks for the efforts they had put in to keep them safe.
"Wow. Is this what celebrities feel like?" James asked.
"I don't think we are celebrities," Derek replied.
James stuck one hand out in the air and proceeded to do a princess wave to the crowd as they drove by.
"Is he always like this?" Graham, his southern drawl coming out a bit.
"He is. You get used to it." Jay said.
Once clear of the crowd and building, the team began to keep an eye out for any monsters as they drove through the downtown streets. Looking like something out of a warzone, the streets of downtown Dallas were nothing like they used to be. Trash now littered the streets with vehicles left parked where they had been abandoned. The guild had worked to move as many of them out of the way as they could, but there were still some that needed to be driven around.
Bodies also still lay lifelessly around the city. Some couldn't be avoided as they drove through and had been run over multiple times. Without the resources to deal with them, scavengers had taken to eating off of the corpses, so it was common to see buzzards and coyotes knowing on parts or bones.
Finally hitting Highway 183, the team was able to make a slightly better time. Unable to hit highway speeds because of the vehicles left on the road, the team made slower time than they would have before the apocalypse. Several times they had to get out of the GS2 and move vehicles that had crashed and blocked the road completely.
The journey opened their eyes to how bad the devastation truly was from the events that had taken place. Bodies lying in the sun for more than a week had begun to rot and smell. Many had burst from the gas build-up in their bodies postmortem, and some had been eaten and left mostly skeletal remains.
"Feels like a zombie show out here. Hope none of them come back to life and start walking around trying to eat us," James commented.
"Is that a possibility?" DeeDee asked from the trunk, concern sounding in her voice.
"Honestly, if you had asked me two weeks ago I would have said no way. But now...We haven't seen any indication it happens, but magic makes impossible things possible. So just keep an eye out." Derek said. "I'm sure we can kill any zombies that pop up though."
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"Yeah! Sweet XP and fat loots!" James said excitedly.
"Seriously dude? Is that all you think about now?" Jay said.
"I mean, why not? We need to get stronger. Killing things is the best way I know of so far to do that." James replied.
"But if they are zombies, those are someone's friends or kids or parents," DeeDee said.
"Were," James corrected. "Now they're loot bags!"
The collective eye roll was so strong it could practically be heard at this comment.
"I don't know if I could kill someone," DeeDee said.
"You might have to," Derek replied.
"What?!" DeeDee exclaimed.
"This world isn't like the one we lived in before. There will be people who survived who want to be the strongest or might even just like killing people. You'll have to be ready for that because it will be you or them." Derek said.
Silence reigned in the car for a long minute as this thought permeated the party.
"What did Shandra say, Tom?" Jay asked, trying to change the subject.
"She said they are sending a team to investigate the quest as well. But, she didn't want anything to do with working with us so far." Tom replied.
"What a bitch," Kiera commented.
"Well, what did you expect? It's who she is. We can't change that. We can just be as neighborly as possible and work to show them we are just trying to be good human beings in this new reality." Tom said.
"I expect people to be decent human beings and help out when something big is on the line like this," Kiera replied.
"You wouldn't know a decent human being if I was sitting right next to you," Jay teased.
"If one were sitting right next to me I could point them out. Too bad they aren't." Kiera shot back.
"Come on, you can do better than that," Jay said.
"Fine, you smelly sack of shit, if you want it you can have it. You probably fucked your mom and cat-called your sister you backwoods vag-drying old ass dick carpet. I'd call you a cunt, but you lack the depth and warmth." Kiera said.
"There she is!" Jay said excitedly while chuckling.
"And you all talk to each other like this all the time?" DeeDee asked.
"Yup. Everyday." James smiled at her.
"The power of friendship," Graham said.
"Don't you go all my little pony on us, Graham," James said.
"Oh come on, it's better than being known as the dick guy," Graham shot back, a big grin on his face.
James paused for a moment. "I like this guy, can we keep him?" He asked turning to Tom.
Tom laughed from the driver's seat. "You're gonna fit in great Graham. DeeDee, you gotta let loose a little. It's the end of the world after all."
"I'm good. You guys can keep at it. I don't feel comfortable using that kind of language." DeeDee replied.
"What a goodie two shoes," Kiera said.
"Sorry, I just never was like that. But feel free to keep going. It is amusing." DeeDee said back.
Continuing on like this for quite a while, the team made progress down 183 until they came to a blockade in the road they couldn't pass. Cars were lined up across the highway in a manner that didn't seem like an accident and on the side of the cars were spraypainted the words SURVIVORS MEET AT IRVING MALL.
"Think we should check it out?" Tom asked looking at Derek.
"Might as well. They could need some help." Derek replied.
Turning off the freeway, they took the exit that led down to the mall. A path had been cleared straight to the parking lot. Once in the lot, they drove around until Graham called out.
"Someone just ducked into the Macy's. There are definitely people here."
Pulling over to the entrance, Tom brought the GS2 to a stop. They sat there for a moment trying to decide what to do.
"Should we just go in?" Tom asked.
"I don't like that idea. There could be an ambush waiting." Derek replied.
"We could knock," James offered.
"Still gets us too close," Derek replied.
While discussing options a man exited the building wearing what looked like chain armor and carrying a greataxe. He was a little over six feet tall and had red hair with a full beard. He walked to the edge of the sidewalk and stood there looking at the party in the vehicle.
"Friend or foe?" The man called to them.
"Hopefully friend," Tom called back. "What is going on here?"
"The fucking apocalypse you twit," The man replied.
"I mean with the mall. Why are you all here?" Tom said.
"Not a bad place to hole up. We've been working to get people safe." He replied.
"I'm Tom, we are coming from Downtown Dallas. We are heading to the Grand Canyon to check out the quest and see what we can do." Tom told the man.
"I'm Kedron. Good to know others survived. We haven't seen many others. Was beginning to wonder if most of the world had died off." Kedron said.
"How many are here?" Tom asked.
"A little over thirty. We found that these department stores had many creature comforts we could make use of so we moved here to make use of the facilities. These monsters have been a real bitch though. Always showing up at inopportune times." Kedron replied.
"You form a guild yet?" Derek asked from the passenger seat.
"No, haven't been able to get enough people to agree. You have one?" Kedron asked.
"We do. It's in the Trammel Crow Center back in Dallas. If you have transport you could all head there and would be welcomed in to use the facilities we have there." Tom said.
"That would be most appreciative. But I'm not sure many would want to leave. Most of the survivors here had their spirits broken when this all started. They weren't ready to deal with such loss and horrors." Kedron said. "I will bring it up to them though. See if any want to head that way. you say you are headed to check out the quest?"
"We are. The vending machines acting up has been a huge disruption to survival. We need to see if there is something we can do." Tom replied.
"I have some people with me that wanted to do the same. Would you mind if we joined you?" Kedron asked.
"If you have transportation, you are welcome to come along. We just can't take anyone else with us in the GS2." Tom said.
"GS2?" Kedron questioned.
"Oh, right, the Goblin Slayer 2.0. It's what we call this vehicle." Tom replied.
Kedron chuckled at that. "So you use this to slay goblins?" He asked gesturing at the vehicle.
"Quite a few actually," Tom said smiling.
"Hadn't thought to do that. But now it seems so obvious." Kedron said. "We do have a vehicle, though not as nice as yours, and I'm sure the others could find some that would still run to take to Dallas. Let me go in and talk with them. You are welcome to come in for a time if you like."
Looking to Derek, then back, Tom replied, "I think we will wait for you here. But we would love the additional help in finding out if we can complete the quest."
"Suit yourselves. I'll be back in a few minutes." Kedron said and turned to go back inside.
The team turned off the vehicle to conserve the gas and got out to stretch their legs in the parking lot. Kedron returned about twenty minutes later followed by another large red-haired man, a shorter portly balding man, a woman who looked to be in her late fifties, and a man who looked to be about six foot six and well-built. All of them wore leather armor and carried various weapons except the woman who was wearing a white set of garments and carrying a staff.
They walked over to the team and Kedron addressed them, "So, who's ready to go save the fucking world?"