A few minutes before hearing the gunshots, Claire was watching over the truck that her group used to travel long distances.
She was taking inventory of the supplies they had gathered so far. In addition to weapons and medicine, there were work tools that would later be impossible to find.
Alan had proposed a plan: they needed to prepare to survive without the comforts they once had, knowing that everything would slowly become more difficult.
That's why they had to gather all kinds of resources, so they wouldn't be caught off guard in the future. In the truck, there were also thick clothes, in preparation for winter.
Alan wanted to make sure that, in difficult times, they had what they needed to keep going, and everyone respected that. Given how things were now, preparation was no longer optional—it was mandatory.
At that moment, the rest of the team came running, carrying large backpacks full of supplies. "This is everything we found useful in the nearby buildings."
"Have you contacted the rest of the group?"
"No, there were too many infected where we were a moment ago, so we turned off the radios."
But just then, without warning, several gunshots rang out in the distance, followed by some shouting.
"Joel's group!" Tommy wanted to run toward the noise, yelling, but Alan stopped him. He climbed into the back of the truck and, looking at Raj, ordered, "Drive!"
"Switch to automatic weapons!"
"That'll alert the infected…"
"We're saving our people. Just drive," Alan shouted, unconcerned with the consequences.
Raj swallowed hard. He remembered his brother was also with Joel's group, so he quickly did as Alan commanded.
Since the fog had cleared significantly, driving back was easy.
On the way, they ignored a few infected who tried to follow them. Tommy and the others shot a few arrows with their crossbows to take out some of them and avoid future trouble.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"It's them. They're in trouble."
"How do you know?" Raj had no idea how to identify allies without seeing them.
"The sound of the gunfire is identical to the weapons all of you carry, so it's very likely they're in serious trouble." Alan was now using weapons modified to make the least noise possible, but even so, the gunshots were still considerably loud.
He didn't want to use firearms, but if his friends were in danger, nothing else mattered.
The roar of the truck echoed through the deserted streets of Midland, and Alan regretted traveling so far. Now, avoiding the infected would be much harder.
Tommy, unable to see Joel, grew extremely anxious and even considered doing something reckless to find him.
Soon, Alan and his group saw a horde of infected entering the lower hallway of an apartment building. Hearing the sound of the truck, many of the infected turned around and ran toward them.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Only Alan, Claire, and Tommy were shooting. They were the ones with the most combat experience and never missed a shot.
Argh!
"Careful, it's Joel and the others!" Raj suddenly shouted, alerting the group.
Only then did they see Joel, Eduard, and Carlos running toward them.
"Were you bitten?"
Joel, who had just jumped into the truck, replied, "Of course not. Let's get to the other truck—we can't lose the supplies."
"Let's get out of here."
Within minutes, they reached the abandoned truck where Joel's group—or what was left of it—had been before. However, just as they were about to leave, they saw numerous infected attacking Emily, who was fighting desperately.
"Emily's still there! We can't leave her behind!"
"We won't," said Tommy, holding a rifle and aiming at the infected, taking them out one by one.
Claire and Alan ignored the infected coming their way. Both of them fired as they advanced toward Emily.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At that moment, Emily was catching her breath, surrounded by infected very close to the building entrance.
She couldn't move, but after seeing the infected being taken down, she ran through a gap created by the gunfire.
"Hurry, we have to get out of here." Alan approached with a machete, cut down several infected along the way, grabbed Emily, and pulled her away as fast as he could.
Claire, aiming at the rapidly approaching infected, skillfully took them all out, showing off her impressive marksmanship.
Once they returned to the trucks, they sped away from the area.