NOVEL WEB S3E74 – Heavy Machinery
Our way to Mighty Rentals was pretty unremarkable. Ever since I took care of that ambush party, it's been pretty smooth sailing around here. I've been trying to not let that get to my head and become something I'll regret, but it's hard not to settle down. I see why the group ran into so much trouble all the time. If you don't actively see walkers, it almost feels like the world's gone back to normal, just with less people.
Mighty rentals is a big warehouse just off the highway. Several large excavators are situated outside and have gotten covered in a thick layer of some moss, overgrowth, and just a layer of nastiness. The bulldozers they have are also covered in the same thing. The flat beds are sadly also covered in a layer of grime, but we can work with that. At least they have them.
I stand looking at one of said flat beds, seeing how absolutely massive this thing is. Dale walks up beside me, just having finished off one of the wandering walkers around. I turn to him, seeing a splatter of blood on his beard and giving him a motion to clean it. As he does so, I speak to him,
"These things are pretty damn big, huh? I think we could fit a full-sized excavator on it if we needed to. And probably a bulldozer as well."
He shakes his head as he finished wiping the dark crimson from his face,
"Nah, we'd never get this thing down the dirt path. It'd get stuck in the mud quicker than you'd realize. I'm honestly a little worried about how it'll do with just the compact and a skid-steer."
I nod my head. Yeah, we hadn't thought this through all the way. The road leading up to the prison was only dirt, and it had just rained yesterday. Luckily, it wasn't too hard, but it was enough to leave a layer of frost that made us be careful when crossing bridges. Dale shrugs his shoulders and chokes down on his baseball bat before motioning for me to follow him, as we spot Glen standing just outside the front door to the rental office, peeking inside.
As he notices us, he starts telling us what he's seen;
"So, I haven't seen anything walking around, but I'm a little skeptical about just walking in there. I tried knocking on the door to get a reaction, but nothing answered."
Dale jokes back,
"Well I'd imagine walkers aren't exactly the best at answering the door."
I chuckle and say,
"Maybe the door has a bell that'll go off or something when we walk in. I doubt it, as they'd most likely not be powered, but if they do, take up a defensive position outside."
The two men nod at me as I slowly reach down and pull at the door, surprisingly finding it unlocked. As I pull it open, I notice a slightly foul stench inside. A stench we can all recognize. I motion for the two men to be quiet as I feel the presence of multiple walkers beginning to pop up with [Walker Sense].
There's one to the right, but most of them are in the wide open warehouse further in. I motion, telling them there's only one walker inside, and start walking over to where it is.
The front office space is actually pretty cozy, if you ignore the giant blood stain painting a section of the carpet. I can see the dust in the air as the sunlight beams through the open blinds of the window. Just past a small seating area, I see a woman whose hair is falling out, staring into the corner. I start to breathe through my mouth slowly as I sneak up behind her, drawing my bowie knife to get rid of it. I get right up behind it, smelling that foul stench, before driving my knife up into the brain stem from the base of the skull.
Immediately, the thing drops to the ground fully dead. I bend down and wipe the blood off the knife before sheathing it.
[Walker killed]
[8050p]
Dale comes up to me with his gun drawn and whispers,
"See if she had any keys. They'll have kept the keys to the machines inside of a lockbox of some kind, and the back door is locked."
I nod my head and look over her body, finding a dangling set of keys hanging from her waistband. I take out my switch blade and cut the little cord keeping it attached before motioning to Dale. He comes over and takes the keys from me as I whisper,
"Here, I'll take point while you get the door."
He nods his head as we both stand up. I draw my pistol, and stand guard for him as he starts to unlock the door. Using [Walker Sense], I try to see if I can get an accurate count of how many walkers are on the other side of the heavy steel door that leads into the actual warehouse. I can't really get an accurate sense of how many there truly are, as it only gives me a feeling. I can; however, tell that there are at least ten.
Glen takes his pistol and stacks up behind me as we get ready for what's behind the door. I whisper to the two before Dale opens the door,
"There's gotta be quite a few in there, be ready for anything."
Dale nods his head and slowly opens the door, revealing a tall warehouse with various machinery scattered throughout in a controlled chaos. Also scattered throughout, is twelve walkers. To our right is a grouping of five, of which, one has already spotted us. To our left is a small group of three. In front, four. We immediately move to take out the large group on the left, moving closer before taking shots with our suppressed pistols.
Glen and I manage to drop two each, while Dale drops the last.
[Walker killed x2]
[8150p]
Despite the suppressors, the noise from the guns causes my ears to ring as it reverberates throughout the warehouse. I feel a slight headache beginning to form as we turn to our left to face the group of four. I manage to take out another two while they get the other two.
[Walker killed x2]
[8250p]
With the group of three, we each get one.
[Walker killed]
[8300p]
We take a second to breathe and calm down before Glen talks while rubbing around his ear with a pained expression,
"God, we really need to get something quieter."
I nod my head in agreeance,
"Yeah, like some bows or something. We could probably stop at a pawn shop or something, see if they had any."
Dale nods his head,
"Either that or a hunting shop. If there are any around here."
I nod my head and start looking around the warehouse trying to find the machines we'd need. There's a ton of different machines, most of which I have no clue the use for. Dale begins explaining the different machines around, telling me which ones we would have a use for and which ones we could leave. He points out a large mechanical thing with a long cylinder with nubs on it,
"That's a mulcher head for an excavator. Once we've finished with the wall, we could use this to cut back the smaller trees and brush to have a clear section like you were saying before."
I look over the thing and think about some of the plans I've had.
First and foremost, we need to have at least a quarter of a mile cleared around us. I'd want to have more, but a quarter will do for now. This will serve two purposes, protection from forest fires, and a better way of spotting approaching people. Plus, I don't want the governor to somehow sneak up on us with his tank like in the show.
Second, I want us to start getting bows to kill walkers with. Using up our loud and not so reusable ammo supply on them is just a waste and a security risk. Bows would allow us to clear out walkers much more efficiently and quietly.
Third and lastly, I wanna start inviting people to the prison. We'll have to have them strip searched for bites, and it'll always be a risk, but it's gonna be necessary. I assume the governor is gonna get wind of us at some point, and start causing us a bit of trouble. I mean he already has with Tony.
Luckily, Tony pulled through. He does have certain things he can't eat till his liver's fully recovered, but he's at least up and walking. We've gotta force him not to do any manual labor, though.
The fact that the governor's men are doing all this already means that they're already on a collision course with us. I don't think they were doing all that on the governor's orders, after all the governor only really targeted groups that could threaten his authority, but it doesn't change the fact that they were his men.
We're gonna start putting up signs about the prison, Terminus style. We still haven't come up with a name just yet, but we've had a few ideas floating around. One I really liked was recommended by Shane.
Valhalla.
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