Leaning over the paper, I could tell how much diligence and effort she had put into it. Escape routes were marked with different colors, openings and potential weaknesses signaled with annotations pertaining to possible ways of reinforcing them.

  The massive storage depot in the back, that covered almost an entire third of the mall’s bottom and second floors, was highlighted in green with a page’s worth of notes scribbled all around it.

  Most curious of all, an arrow pointing up at the right hand side of the “map” with an all too large “IMPORTANT!” written in red marker.

  “Alright then, color me impressed if nothing else” I muttered, turning my eyes back to the, almost smug smiling, little lady. Clearly she was proud of how in-depth she’d been with this particular endeavor.

  Mina tapped the big red spot on the right-hand corner.

  “Know what an APC is?”

  “Yeah. An Armored Personnel Carrier. It’s basically a tank…” I began, only to immediately stop. Was she heading where I thought she was?

  Mina’s smile never left her face as she continued.

  “Old APCs are like tanks, true. But the modern generations? They’re like mobile bunkers. Or bases of operations on wheels. Ever heard of the Ironclad-Mark 8?”

  I slowly shook my head, my attention fully engrossed.

  She drew in a deep breath, like an orator about to perform a heart-lurching speech. Or a salesman… woman… whatever.

  “Framed on the larger bases of Armored Personnel Carriers like the Buran and Huron, and heavily modded, the Ironclad-Mark 8 is the top of the line when it comes to modular APCs that can serve as rapid intervention vehicles, personnel carriers, fast moving tanks and even as mobile command centers.

  All-territory. Maximum speed, 100 km per hour. Maximum weight tolerance, 10 tons. Armor tolerance, impervious to small, medium arms fire and any explosives under 8kg. Deployable and retractable blast shields on every window. Modular storage space on every inch.

  Best yet, all interior electronics are powered by batteries that can be charged by the engine’s own torque. And, and….”

  “Okay, okay, calm down” I snickered, holding my hands up against her verbal fusillade.

  “I get it, they're good. Cripes woman, are you sponsored by them? How the hell do you even know all of that?”

  Both sisters giggled and Mina took a second to catch her breath.

  “Right, right, I was just putting you through what the two of us have been hearing for the past seven months. Told you, our dad’s a lieutenant in the Army. And an absolute military tech-aficionado. He’s been nerding out about these things for months now. It’s why I know so much about them.

  It’s why I know that the Outpost near our city commissioned ten of them for rapid-intervention in cases of hostile or terrorist attack. So they're always stocked with equipment in the event of an armed conflict.”

  I sighed, all enthusiasm cut short.

  “How’s that help us? The Army Outpost’s miles away, beyond that Mist Wall that’s still surrounding everything. Dunno about you two, but I’ve seen enough horror movies to know better than to plunge headfirst into a wall of possibly-eldritch mist”.

  The little lady nodded frantically.

  “Correct. But that’s my point. There’s two of those Ironclads in our… territory… I guess you could call it?”

  This immediately got my attention and I leaned in, motioning for her to continue.

  “I saw it when we were on the roof” she said, popping out her night-vision monocular from the purple little fanny pack slung to her whipcord-thin waist.

  “Four military vehicles, two standard Humvees and two Ironclads, stationed a mile and half away from the mall, couple of yards past Big Mac’s Mechanics…”

  Her smile quivered and fell, eyes going downcast as though she was ashamed at her thought process.

  “... and I think we can take them, since… the only signs of soldiers I saw were… remains… I’m thinking they got swarmed by rotbloods or Orcs or Goblins… I dunno… but I only saw remains”.

  “Wait? What? Why would there be military vehicles stationed there? Isn't the Army Outpost like twenty miles down the freeway? That shouldn't be in our… territory.”

  She shrugged.

  “No idea. Could have been they were on routine patrol, a mission, or something as simple as them stopping to get lunch at the diner next to the mechanics shop when this “apocalypse” hit. Best I can do is speculate.

  But whatever the reason, they’re here. And those two Ironclads are no good to anyone, just gathering rust there. Bottom line, all me and Mina need is one of these Ironclads and we can transport everyone safely to the mall in a couple of trips. It seats twenty people, so we'd be golden. And after that, it'll be an indispensable tool to have. Not to mention all the guns and ammo inside them.”

  A picture was beginning to take shape in my mind. An image of a mobile shelter that would make gathering Aether Stones a hell of a lot easier.

  “Got it. You two need one. But there’s two of them.”

  Mina winked and smiled at me.

  “That's the deal I'm proposing. If we can get our hands on those bad boys, you get one. And I do mean yours and no one else’s. No strings attached, no problems. Me and my sis will take care of ferrying the people from school, you can go your own way. But you’ll be doing so in a spiffy, new, top-of-the-line mobile bunker.

  And believe me when I say, you want one. It's basically a shelter on wheels, has great autonomy, even retractable blast shields on all windows so you can just deploy them during the daylight and watch your surroundings via the camera screens.”

  Cupping my chin and leaning onto my haunches, I considered the proposal.

  It wasn’t a bad idea. An APC like that would immediately take away all my problems regarding shelter. I could just drive to a location, hunt for Aether Stones and then retreat to the APC come daytime. It’d definitely cut out a LOT of wasted time for searching. Moreover, considering what she’d described, there’d be no way Orcs and Goblins with their primitive weapons would be able to do a thing against a tank like that.

  I wasn’t no military-tech-nerd, my passions lie more in the realms of gaming, comics and anime, but I knew enough about APCs to understand their utility in this situation. Engine strong enough to cut a swathe through a rotblood herd, so I wouldn’t be pinned in place. All territory mobility so my shelter would be wherever I damn well pleased. Hell, even the tires on such machines were usually made of a special compound that made them essentially cut and puncture proof.

  But, there was one problem.

  Mina’s plan had a flaw. A fairly obvious one. There was literally nothing stopping me from just taking them, now that I knew where they were.

  This wasn’t a trade. As of yet, she wasn’t offering me a damn thing.

  “Alright, it all sounds nice and fine. I got a question, though. Let's say I had just up and left last night and started doing what I had intended to do. Y’know, go my own way and all that. Sooner or later, maybe not tonight, but tomorrow or the day after, maybe even later, but eventually I would’ve probably stumbled over the place. So I could’ve gotten the things without you even telling me where they were. What I’m saying is, this still sounds like I’m doing you a favor” I murmured, keeping the edge in my voice and face. I wasn’t angry, mostly because I knew Mina Miller wasn’t stupid enough to try and play me in such an obvious manner.

  More than anything I was curious.

  “Yeah sis, I gotta agree with him. We said it’s not a favor we’re asking for, so… I mean… there’s no tit-for-tat here, he’s taking all the risks and for half the prize, it’s…” Tina began but stopped herself when Mina tapped her head with a finger.

  “The tit-for-tat is right here. Like I said, these are rapid intervention APCs, modded to be as hard to compromise as possible. They don’t have keys, but key codes. The codes are randomized every week. If you don’t know the key code, you can’t unlock it, can’t start the engine, can’t even open the equipment cases. And that code is in this brain of mine” she ended with a wide grin.

  There was no malice there, no sense of superiority, she was simply, genuinely enthusiastic.

  I tilted my head.

  “Are you telling me that a lieutenant of the US Army entrusted the code to what amounts to a bunch of tanks to his barely-adult daughter? Cause I find that hard to believe. No offense.”

  “None taken. And you'd be right. But about three minutes before that earthquake hit and everything went to hell in a handbasket, dad sent me an alert message that included a digital map, shelter locations and multiple codes”.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “You telling me Uncle Sam knew the apocalypse was coming?”

  Mina shook her head quickly.

  “Doubt it. Message was vague :

  Don’t know what’s happening, Homeland Security sent immediate evacuation orders. Seismic readers are off the charts. I think a big quake’s heading our way. I’m in the city, going to pick up your mom and then make my way to you girls. Stay put. I’m sending you everything I can to make sure you two’ll be ok. Please stay safe. Daddy’s on his way.”

  “Yeah, I got it too. But you don’t think the code is for…?” Tina started, eyes wide.

  “No, of course he would. Dad’s the kind of guy who’d do that for us. He’d want us to have every advantage possible. Even if that meant sharing sensitive information.”

  The corners of my mouth twisted into a grimace.

  “Yeah, sounds like they were assuming that some sort of natural disaster was incoming. But this is way more than that.”

  “Jon, trust me. If Dad would have known anything, and I mean anything, about this? He would have taken me, Tina, mom and ran for the hills. To hell with army and hierarchy.”

  My face softened slightly.

  “Your dad sounds like a good man.”

  “He’s awesome. Family man, through and through. He’s the kind of guy who’s loyal to the country and army, second and third. Family first. Always.” Tina gushed with a proud smirk and I couldn’t help but mirror it.

  “You still got battery on your phone?” I asked, remembering that my own had ran dry hours ago.

  “Nope. But don’t need it. Eidetic memory” Mina answered, bapping her temple.

  “Once I read something, I never forget it. Code is safe up here” Mina answered, tapping a finger against her temple once more.

  I nodded.

  “Fair, fair. So, to cut it short, you want me to go there, grab the two trucks, drive them back here, and I get to keep one right?” I summarized, leaning against the wall once more.

  Mina nodded enthusiastically.

  “Yep. And it’s your choice how you wanna do it. Want us to join you on this expedition? We will. Wanna do it by yourself so that you don’t gotta concern yourself with our safety? Fine that way too. Either way, as long as it’s a success, one of those tanks is yours.”

  I shrugged.

  “Would prefer the second option. No offense, but if shit hits the fan I can haul ass out of there much faster if I don’t gotta worry about you two.”

  Tina pouted but nodded as Mina spoke again.

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  “Alright. In that case, all you gotta do is punch the code in both Ironclads, unlock the wheel on the second and daisy chain them with the tractor cable. Trust me when I say that these beasts have engines strong enough to pull two buses, even on a hill…”

  She clamped her mouth shut as I held a hand in front of her.

  “That’s all fine and dandy Mina, but it still leaves one problem. If I go at it by myself, that means you gotta give me the code beforehand.”

  Her smile wavered and she tilted her head.

  “I mean, how are you going to open the truck? Not like you can crowbar through that armor and even then, the engine is hard-locked until you…”

  “No, no, I get that, but, really? What’s to stop me from taking one of them and just leaving? Maybe even take the equipment from both before I leave”.

  Tina sighed.

  “This again? Tough guy, we've already been through this. You helped us more than once, and you…”

  “No” I interrupted the young woman's spiel.

  “No, see, you're equating me not being an out and out psycho with being a good person. Two things aren’t mutually exclusive. The world's changed, Tina. Best bet is to assume everyone’s out for themselves.

  I'm no different. I'm just some guy. And when push comes to shove, who do you think I'll be looking out for? A couple of girls that, no offense, I haven't spoken to until 24 hours ago? Or myself?”

  Silence dominated the room as the reality of my words sank in.

  “He's right. At end of the day, when the poop hits the fan, pardon the language, human instinct defaults to selfishness” Mina muttered, all trace of joviality gone from her face.

  “No, common sis, I don’t think he’s…”

  “We don't know him well enough to know what he's like. Yes, he helped us, but he said it himself, didn't he, he's just some guy we haven’t interacted with up until today. And people by and large are selfish. I'm not even being cold-hearted here, selfishness is hard wired into our animal brain. Self-preservation instinct.” Mina interrupted her sister and I gave a curt nod of approval.

  “Didn’t me and you do the same thing before, Tina? Andreas and the gophers. We knew it was wrong, unjust, cruel, and yet we didn’t do a thing to help them. Because we were selfishly afraid of any backlash falling on us. It’s simply the reality”

  By all rights what I was doing was counterproductive, especially considering that I wasn't enough of a scumbag to do the things I had said I could do.

  But these two—way too trusting for their own good—needed a wake-up call. If those endless zombie flicks I’d watched had taught me anything, it was that there’s no shortage of scumbags ready to exploit the good in people. And that went doubly so for a pair of beautiful women like these two.

  There were far worse fates than death out there. Especially for women.

  No. A wake up call was in order. They’d have to get their head in the game, and quick, otherwise after I left, these two were headed for something horrible.

  Mirroring the little lady's nod as I saw realization and understanding dawn in her eyes, I sighed. Message sent and received. It was better that they understood that now than find themselves back against the wall. In our situation, advantage and leverage were worth more than gold.

  Fortunately for them, I wasn’t the type to double-cross them like that. Had my rules after all. If the mission was a success, I had every intention of bringing them one of those Ironclads. Now it was time to figure out a way for me to get the codes without compromising their leverage…

  “1347738900” Mina’s words echoed in the quiet room.

  Words caught in my throat and my face fell into a deadpan.

  “Seriously? That’s the code isn’t it. After all that spiel, you just up and say it?”

  When Mina Miller looked back at me, it was with a gentle, genuine and painfully warm smile.

  “All that I said in my spiel was the truth. Self-preservation makes the human being a selfish, self-serving animal. But we’re not animals, we’re people. And the first step to break that selfish streak and be better than before is to offer a little bit of trust.

  After all, doing anything other that would mean I hadn’t learned anything from what I did with the Andreas situation. And I’m a smart cookie, I always learn” she ended with a chortle, quickly mirrored by her sister.

  Pushing my fingers against the bridge of my nose, I couldn’t help but chuckle myself. What’s it called? Wearing your heart on your sleeve?

  Dammit, these two wholesome beans almost made me not want to leave after all this was done. Almost.

  Either that or they were really good at playing me. Who knows.

  “Alright, whatever. I gave you my warning and that’s that, but suit yourself if you wanna take the risk. I’ll get it done”.

  “And we’ll get our part done. The coast should be clear, I didn’t see anything around the convoy, not even any zombies, but be careful. If it’s too risky, I’d much rather you retreat and we’ll plan something else” Mina said and, moving her gaze to regard her sister, gentle expression melting away to reveal the serious, determined look she always bore whenever she discussed something important.

  “Meanwhile, Tina and I will continue with our original plan.”

  My eyes flicked from the two girls back to the poster splayed on the floor.

  “Gonna go out on a limb here and assume it’s got to do with the cargo depot, right?”

  Tina nodded sharply and tapped the paper.

  “Yeah. Mina thinks this is our best option in this mall. Cargo hall’s basically an isolated space. No windows, metal doors that are easy to barricade and only one entrance for the trucks. Plus, since all the mall’s supplies are there, the cargo door’s bound to be durable, right? It’s basically a bunker if we fortify it. Me and Mina wanna head out and scout it. See how many deadheads there are and if we can clear ‘em out.”

  Mina shifted closer to me and circled around the blueprints.

  “The way I see it, our group’s current situation is dire. Supplies aside, the old campus is not a good long-term option. There’s too many openings and entrances to properly fortify. The mall however, different story!

  If we can secure the cargo hall, we’ll have a base of operations to work from. Once you bring us one of those Ironclads, me and Mina will start ferrying people from the old campus back here. Save as many as we can… after you’ve left, of course. You don’t have to do any of that or have any interactions with Andreas anymore. All we need is an Ironclad. And, and, don’t worry, we’re not gonna push our luck and ask for any help with the cargo depot. That’s on me and Tina…” she added quickly.

  “So, you still aim to help that lot?” I murmured, more to myself.

  The quiet droned on between the three of us, oppressive and uncompromising, until I broke it again, all too bluntly and unapologetically.

  “I’m gonna level with you two, I think it’s a mistake on your part. You’ve seen what I’ve seen. Andreas and his goons are taking over and everyone else, save maybe Miss Evans, is all too happy to let it happen. All too happy to condemn us gophers to an early grave just to save their asses, too. Mark my words, the fucker’s a textbook liability and you’re gonna regret saving his worthless hide.”

  Mina shifted uncomfortably as I bore into her, refusing to meet my eyes. She knew I had the right of it. Tina was the one who answered, her tone apologetic but nonetheless determined.

  “I… you’re right Jon… but me and Mina… we’ve talked about this. We can’t just condemn so many people to death when there’s a chance to save ‘em. It’s… just not right… y’know? Even if they’re dumb enough to throw in their lot with Andreas and his ilk, that doesn’t mean we can just let them rot. It’s not how we were raised, it’s…”

  I shrugged, raising both hands in mock surrender.

  “Hey, you don’t need to justify shit to me. Hell, believe you me, the last 24 hours have been nothing if not a cascade of my own bad decisions and the repercussions.

  Saved a chick? Became a vampire.

  Didn’t rip Andreas’s arms off and beat ‘em to death with them? Became a serf.

  Saved you lot? Got shot.

  Any input on my part would be just pot calling the kettle black. I’m just saying, make sure y’all don’t go making the same fuck-ups I did. At least, not for free, y’know?”

  The tall woman smirked like a giddy gremlin.

  “Oh come on drama queen. Can’t be all bad. Look at it this way, one of your decisions was to save me and Mina. The repercussion is that you’re now friends with two gorgeous twins.”

  “Wait! Gorgeous twins? WHERE!” I snickered, turning my head quickly.

  “Wooooooowww….. prick!” Tina laughed, arms crossed over her chest in mock offense.

  “Yeah, yeah, I kinda am sometimes. But, either way, you two do as you want, as long as you do it after I’ve left alright? ‘Cause if I never meet with Andreas again, it’ll be too soon. Apocalypse is bad enough, I’d rather not deal with his uppity bullcrap,” I added, pushing myself off the floor and heading to start rummaging through one of the pharmacy cabinets.

  “What’re you doing?” Mina asked, craning her neck.

  “Making another possibly stupid decision. But getting paid for it” I answered, finally finding what I was looking for, and returned to my original spot to dump two empty, unused blood bags and an unsealed blood transfusion kit onto the large A2 sheet of paper.

  “... Ummm… J-Jon….?” the smaller of the twins started, her complexion growing as pale as the wall varnish.

  “Price I’m asking for” I began, pulling one of Bill’s cigarillos and lighting it.

  “I’ll get you the Ironclad. Price for that is, as we’ve already established, that I get my own tank. And this…” I added, tapping the two empty blood bags.

  “...will be the price for helping you two scout out the cargo hall AND clear it out if there’s rotbloods inside. One unit of blood from each of you, to be given after the depot’s been cleared. Easier on you and a lot more hygienic than biting your throats, no? Just like a blood drive.”

  The twins shifted their gaze from me to the bags then back to me as long seconds passed. Until finally Tina smirked and turned to her sister.

  “Told you. Good guy. I’m a great judge of character.”

  Mina scoffed but nodded in thanks to me.

  “Thanks for… everything, Jon.”

  I shrugged with what I hoped was well feigned indifference.

  “What for? I’m getting paid for it. Plus, not like I can go for the Ironclads until tonight. Dawn’s almost here and I have to find something to occupy the next twelve hours. Otherwise I’ll go crazy with boredom.”

  Tina’s smirk was like a chafing pebble in my shoe.

  “Sure Dracula, suuuure. Truly, you are a cruel and callous opportunist. Oh, the humanity of it all,” she added theatrically.

  “Alright then Skippy, you just increased my retainer fee” I sneered, taking a little malicious pleasure at her sputtered “wait, I was only joking”.

  “On top of the two units of blood, you, Tina Miller, have to teach me a few wrestling moves and advise me on a training plan to work all my muscle groups.”

  Her deadpan, confused blinking was enough to make me outright grin.

  “Wait, that’s it? My dude, I’d do that for free.” she began and, with a smug and proud huff, flexed her arms, showing off that finely crafted, yet still magnificently feminine, figure.

  “I’m always up for helping people get cut, brah.”

  “Then, I guess we got a plan” I said, actively trying not to cringe at her imocking interpretation of a gym bro. Puck’s words still rang in my head. Training, any sort of training, would yield immediate results for a Vampire. Soon, I’d be able to put that to the test.

  Mina snickered at her sister’s antics and looked back at me, nose a little red.

  “Then, let’s get to it, right?”