“Am I dreaming right now? Did we really get through that shitstorm?” Chris voiced the thoughts going through the heads of the majority of the members that were scattered on the floor.

After crossing the walls, the group collapsed on the ground, feeling the soft grass on their backs and in utter disbelief that they had managed to get out of that perilous situation pretty much unscathed.

“Yeah, I guess we did” Carl grinned.

Carl could no longer keep up with the rollercoaster of emotions anymore. First, he went through one of the biggest scares of his life when Janice got thrown to the ground with a zombie on top of her. He had dreaded the worst at the time and each following second felt agonizing as he was sure that her fate was sealed.

After that, he barely had any time to rejoice the fact that she was not directly bitten when they found themselves surrounded on all sides by enough zombies that by all means it should have been game over then and there. However, in a miraculous turn of events, they had not only survived but paid almost no price to achieve that.

He was still processing his own incredulity when Chris, his best friend who could barely hold a conversation with people he was in good terms with, was actually the first one to speak after all that chaos went down and was actually making up a conversation without anyone prompting him to do so!

Carl was in equal parts happy for his reclusive friend getting out of his shell and in disbelief of it all. He could not help but smirk doubting his own sanity after the successive surprises. If zombies weren’t unreal enough, Carl might start looking for pigs flying given the unlikelihood of it all.

“I don’t think I ever enjoyed the feeling of laying down on the grass so much my whole life. To be able to lie down under the sky and see the clouds cruising by is… truly a blessing.” Donovan interjected in a trance. He could barely complete his thought given that he was breathing heavily from the exertion of the sprint and bag carrying.

“I never took you for a poet Donovan.” Danny said, sitting up and leaning his back against the wall that offered them safe haven. The previous clerk wonder was contagious and Danny could not help but smile at his remark.

“I guess… I missed my calling…” Donovan answered heaving in good humor.

The yard got silent for a few seconds before all of them burst laughing. No one knew who was the first to laugh, or even if they were laughing at Donovan’s humorous statement or if they were just releasing the accumulated tension, happy to be alive, but it didn’t matter. Some things did not need an answer.

They laughed for a few instants and enjoyed the stillness and peace of the moment. The serenity of it all was only disturbed by the few groans and growls that came from the other side of their protection, but they did not feel bothered at all.

Much like someone living in a city would eventually get used to the hums of cars in the background or the cries of crickets and cicadas if one slept in a forest, they were already getting used to the surrounding cacophony of sounds. Humans were very adaptable creatures, so the noises coming from outside the property were slowly losing its fear inducing nature after a while.

Danny stood up a few minutes later. He felt reluctant to break the tranquil mood that permeated the air, but they had to move on sooner or later.

“Come on Janice, let us take a look at your arm and see what we can do about it” Danny said plainly. They still had yet to assess the damage done.

“Oh, right. I forgot for a minute about this damn thing. The pain is not so bad anymore, it is just an annoying ache that keeps throbbing on and off now but it’s probably nothing serious.” Janice said dismissingly.

“Even so, we should still check up on it in order to make sure everything is all right. It is best to be safe than sorry. Thanks Danny, we will be right behind you” Carl stated assuredly, and decided for the both of them. He would not take any chances with Janice’s injury and immediately agreed with Danny’s suggestion to verify the status of the wound.

The only reason he did not said anything before Danny did, was because he knew Janice was still pissed with him and did not want to get caught up in an argument with her, which would undoubtedly follow if he was the one to bring up checking on her wound.

Given that she already felt he had acted out of line by being overprotective of her, it was best if he took a back seat this time and let someone else suggest it to her.

He was not too concerned with the urgency of doing so either, since he had already taken a look when they were outside and knew that the bite did not manage to pierce her jacket or her skin, which meant that Janice would not have been in direct contact with anything the saliva of the undead might contain. Even so, it was best if they did not delay treating it for too long.

Danny then took the couple to where he had stashed the medical supplies. While they went their way, the rest of the gang also slowly got to their feet and got busy taking all their bags inside. They would have to go over their gains in detail later and also assign each one the proper equipment while also learning about how to use them of course.

Most of them had never held a gun on their hands their entire lives so, now that they were temporally safe, it was a good opportunity to teach the basics on how to use, maintain and operate a firearm to those that knew nothing about it.

Danny in particular had no idea how to use a gun. When he was younger, him and his mother did get their hands on a firearm and tried to use it against Tutu, but she was the only one handling the weapon the whole time, never allowing him to get near the thing, afraid an accident might happen or that he would do something stupid. Nonetheless, it did not matter in the end, as the weapon proved to be totally incapable to cause any harm to the demon.

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Danny also did not have any time to go over any sort of weapon’s training during the course of his preparatory week. His time was limited, and since he knew that firearms were utterly useless against the only demon he knew, he dedicated his time to other endeavors and preparations he deemed more likely to have an impact on his survivability.

“Okay then, take of your jacket and show me your arm.” Danny said as he returned to the kitchen, where Janice remained together with Carl, while holding a first aid medical kit and some other creams and pain killers he had available.

Since there was no electricity anymore, the kitchen which was well illuminated and still had running water was the best place in the house to assess the injury and administer treatment to it.

“Jeez, how aggressive of you Danny. Ordering a lady to remove her clothes without even paying her dinner first.” Janice complied to his request, though not without taking the chance to joke around. Carl on his turn merely rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s jab. He was long used to her impish ways.

“What are you talking about. Not only I paid for your food at the cafe, didn’t I also paid for everything you had eaten since?” Danny replied in good humor, allowing himself to be dragged into Janice’s pace without missing a beat while also paying attention to her revealed forearm.

Janice’s skin was already showing signs of turning purple on the bruised area, but it really seemed that no blood was spilled, thus any chances of the supposed infection affecting her should be almost non-existent.

“Oh Danny, if that is what you call a dinner, I feel sorry for the poor sucker that falls in love with you. I am positively sure that you can do better”. Janice responded, keeping up with the charade.

“Hmph. It’s just that you are too much of a tasteless peasant to be able to see the majesty of my refined tastes… how does it feel when I press here?” Danny kept their back and forth of sharp remarks going before asking her mildly about her arm while pressing the marked area.

“It hurts a bit, but nothing I can’t handle.” Janice answered seriously before continuing their game “I will have you know that I am used to the finest delicacies of the land, and my refined taste is praised by many.” Janice stated adopting a fake arrogant tone.

“It seems it was really just a flesh wound. The bone appears to be intact, so you should be as good as new in a couple of days. The mark will take a bit longer to disappear but it won’t get in the way of you doing anything”. Danny concluded his analysis before turning around. He then opened a kitchen cabinet and retrieved a chocolate bar from there.

“My apologies my fair lady. I had no idea of your high standing in the community of food critics. Please, accept this offering of chocolate cuisine as my humble apology for my misconduct and as a token of my utmost appreciation of your fine palate” Danny said in mock fear, while performing an exaggerated bow.

“Hmmm. I shall accept this tribute, but be warned that no further transgression shall be tolerated!” Janice said while taking the chocolate bar Danny had presented her with both hands, while pointing her nose to the ceiling and declaring in what she thought was an overbearing tone and putting an end to their enacted play.

They both laughed at their silliness while Carl shook his head in disapproval, but without hiding the smile on his face.

Danny then proceeded to apply an anti-inflammatory and pain reducing lotion on Janice’s forearm before they returned to the living-room.

At this moment, Chris, Jane and Donovan had already moved all their loot there and were resting on the couches while talking excitedly about their next steps. Danny and the couple then joined them, each selecting their seat among the ones available.

The room was fairly big and could easily accommodate more than double their numbers sitting comfortably. Thus, there was no reason for them to squeeze together if they did not wish to.

After reassuring the rest that Janice was indeed okay, they resumed the previous discussion on what they should do next, now with all the relevant people present.

They had a few options available to them. Aside from the gun shop which still had the leftovers they could not carry, there were still two more obvious spots they could hit in order to place themselves in a more secure position: the mini-market and the medical clinic. Both were solid options that brought something to the table, food or medicaments respectively.

They also could spend some time around the house and start looking into the weapons they had just acquired.

Of the whole group, only Carl and Chris ever handled a gun before. Of the two, Chris also only had a single prior experience which consisted of him going to a shooting range by Carl’s invitation. On the other hand, Carl had a little bit more experience with shooting, since he enjoyed going to those kinds of places.

Carl could not exactly pinpoint why he enjoyed the experience though. It was not that he was obsessed with guns or anything of the sort, but there was something profoundly cathartic about unleashing your accumulated stress onto a distant target in the form of bullets.

Be that as it may, it was still early in the day given that the sun had not even reached its peak yet, so they could still go do something outside if they wished.

In the end, however, they decided that their previous outing was enough thrill for one day. Despite the fact that they all felt more confident after their initial success and ready to tackle any challenges they might face, caution still prevailed.

It was true that time was ticking and the sooner they acted the better, taking into account the possible competition they might encounter in the near future. However, there was also wisdom in the saying: haste makes waste.

Although Janice’s injury was not such a big deal and would not impair them significantly, it was still a stark warning that anything could happen while going outside no matter how good of a plan they had, and consequences could be dire if they did not take the risks seriously.

Also, she was still incapable of putting too much weight on that arm given the pain, which would compromise her carrying capacity and fighting capability somewhat, even if not by much.

On the other hand, if they waited until the next day or even the day after for Janice to make a full recovery, they would be able to make full use of her abilities. In the end who could say for sure that they would not miss that small difference?

No matter whether they would wait one or two days, they still figured it was best to remain inside for the rest of that day. Of course, that did not mean they would be doing nothing.

Carl took the role of an instructor for the rest of the day. Telling them everything he knew about guns and how to operate them. From the differences each one had in terms of power, advantages and disadvantages in each scenario, what ammunition to use, how to properly aim and what to pay special attention to.

They would obviously not become professional marksmen in a single day, but at least it was good enough to make sure no one shot themselves on the foot.