Day 4: Bulletproof III

The survivors were again transported by the vehicles. It had already started to rain again. The group arrived at Grand Mont Plaza where they could see on the upper floors a large amount of dead bodies, apparently the group took some of their time to clean the area to make it safer.

By the time they reached the fourth floor, Damien was greeted by some members of the group.

"Damien Fucking Daniels."  Clark Kennedy approached the cop and winked. Clark extended his hand to him.

"Mr. Kennedy..." Damien shoved his hands in his pockets and remained serious. "It's a... pleasure."

"Aren't you glad to see the best salesman in the whole mall alive, Damien? Come on! At least give your buddy a big smile!"

"It's impossible for me to do that after... never mind. Glad you're okay, Mr. Kennedy."

Damien was being watched by other members of the group who were staring at him.

"What's wrong with all of them?"  Damien approached Matthew.

"They're just tired, they've been busy all day cleaning up the square. Besides, you're new, so they don't know you, it's normal." Pockett put his hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.

"Is there somewhere to rest? I could barely sleep and now I'm dying for a comfy bed. Hell! It doesn't matter if it's just some sheets on the floor and a pillow" Damien implored the people who rescued him, clasping his hands together over his chest and spreading his palms, as well as leaning in slightly. "I just want to rest knowing someone isn't going to rip of my intestines".

"We have a place" Matthew invited. "You need to go up the stairs leading to the roof. We'll give you directions."

As they had a pleasant conversation. George Tennyson approached Damien as he was informed of a new civilian as part of the shelter.

"Good afternoon. I am George Tennyson, the group medic. I have been informed of your arrival and as is my duty, you must go through an inspection to make sure you are not injured or hiding any bites"

George smiled at the security guard. Damien nodded and told him he agreed, he would do anything to get a good place to rest.

"Then follow me, you don't have any trouble climbing the stairs, do you?"

"Not at all, doctor! You tell me where I should go and I'll follow you."

As he made his way to the stairs, Damien could tell men approached to try to get a closer look at him, however no one would say anything to him.

"Is there a problem? Everyone is looking at me... strange" Damien whispered to George, the doctor smiled at him after looking him up and down.

"It's because you look like you're bloody."

"How do you know I'm not?"

"I'm not stupid. Blood doesn't smell like that. Is it ink? Some kind of paint?"

"Ink. It's a long story."

The duo reached the rooftop and entered the small office that served as a sort of infirmary.

"Take off your clothes" George put on gloves and a mask.

"Excuse me?"

"Take off your clothes. It's an inspection."

"But... I'm fine, doctor. I don't have anything."

"Get your fucking clothes off." Michael spoke from the doorway, holding a rifle. "Or get your ass out of here and get back to the shithole you came from."

"Michael, there's no need to..."

"The new guy has to understand that. No one has refused to take their clothes off. Shall I repeat that twice?"

"Okay! Okay. All right, I'll take my clothes off, even though I don't agree with your means."

"In the future wearing clothes probably won't even matter to us. You must understand that we don't live in that old world anymore" George tried to comfort the security guard. "And if you're worried about showing it, don't worry, I've seen more penises in the hospital than you could have seen at the academy showers."

Damien laughed.

"Fine, fine. Okay."

Damien agreed. The inspection didn't take long as Damien only had a few minor injuries, scrapes from some fall, however they were not serious. Michael seemed angry about something, but chose to calm down and keep quiet.

After the inspection, Damien was able to enter the safe zone after changing his clothes, both his shirt and t-shirt reeked of ink, so it didn't take long for them to offer him a black t-shirt and one of those police shirts they sold at the gun store, maybe they gave it to him because the police look suited him very well, and maybe it was good to make people feel safe in some way.

By the time Damien entered he could see Stacy walking in the company of Bessie who was taking her to the cafeteria since she was sick of staying in the infirmary.

"Stacy?" Damien's eyes widened in surprise to see her alive. He walked over to her and hugged her as soon as he could.

"Damien? Oh, Damien! I thought... I thought... When I heard the gunshots I thought the worst!" Stacy kept hugging the mall officer. "You're alive!"

"I'm so sorry I didn't protect you! I couldn't save you... I couldn't rescue you from those monsters... I should have..."

"Take it easy, Damien! You did everything you could, and for that I thank you. These people saved me, rescued me from my family... Matthew and Richard won't be able to hurt anyone anymore because they're dead. I'm finally free!"

"Stacy... What happened to you? Tell me... How did that happen?"

"It was an incident... but let's not talk about that, let's talk about my recovery. The doctor said I probably won't walk again for a long time, but if with my therapy and exercise I aim to get better..."

"Let me help you, then!" Damien told Bessie that he would take care of it then.

As the duo went to the coffee shop they could tell how much they really appreciated each other.

A couple that got back together despite the bleak circumstances.