To Market, to Market...

The girl took quiet steps through what remained of the marketplace, pale jade eyes studying everything nearby. There was a vaguely familiar feeling that came along with looking at the empty streets. Nicole was no stranger to destroyed marketplaces. Stores were nonexistent by the time she was born thanks to the undead wandering about aimlessly. The teen always wondered what stores looked like before the apocalypse. The only things she knew were stories from the various members in her group back in Georgia. Her brows furrowed as she looked around, doing her best to keep quiet as she meandered through the abandoned marketplace. She had almost forgotten the reason she was even here.

It was a supply run. Nicole wasn't a stranger to foraging for essential tools by now. Sure, those were much harder to come by since it had been more than a decade since the outbreak back home started, but Nicole had learned that if you look hard enough, you can usually find something useful. Somehow, she was able to convince a younger male to join her on a scavenger hunt. If there was anything she learned from surviving in a terrible situation, it was that you never went alone to search for something. Going alone was essentially a death sentence. You needed to have someone watching your back, and in return you'd watch theirs. The only thing the girl was worried about was that her partner was younger than her, but age didn't seem to matter much around here. Nicole had yet to meet a single adult since arriving in Maplehill.

It was an odd sight for someone who knew only a few other children from home.

The faint sound of her name had distracted the girl from listening to the grunts of the undead. She was behind Ambrosius, not realizing she had fallen behind a bit. Her pace increased slightly to walk next to the younger male. "Ah'm here, Ambrosius. Ah was just lookin' a bit, tryin' to figure out where we're most likely to find somethin'," the girl responded in a hushed tone. "Haven't found ehnethin' promisin' yet."

The elder of the pair gave a nod when the boy mentioned better luck looking inside. The kid was right. They were going to have better luck by actually looking inside rather than observing from the outside. Her gaze flickered to the sack that the male possessed. Tools and a loaf of bread? "Not bad," she murmured, gaze lifting back up to the boy's face. "We can use what we can get, 'specially when it comes to tools and food." The girl continued walking, though stopped when her partner paused. Her light gaze turned this way and that, trying to determine whether or not it was safe to continue onwards.

Nothing but the far cries of the dead.

Her irises shifted over towards Ambrosius, then toward the miscellaneous shop signs. She gave a nod in the direction of a nearby store. "Yeah. That one looks like we might have a shot at gettin' somethin'." The sign was faded and barely visible, but it was enough that Nicole could figure out what it was. A small drug store. "It might be worth it to take a peek in there. Ya always wanna have medicine handy. Ah'm just hopin' we won't need special medicine for animals if we find leftover medication in there. If there's nothin', we can take another trip to the hospital lateh. There's some serious medicine there most times."

Her gaze returned to Ambrosius as she readjusted the pack on her back. "Medication, food, tools, we're gonna need 'em all if we're gonna survive and get ehnethin' done. Ah think we've already got a bunch of building supplies back at the junkyard, but if that's all we'll be able to find, take it anyway. It'll come in handy."

The Georgian approached the drug store slowly, careful not to attract the attention of any undead wanderers. A single eyebrow lifted when the boy said that it seemed like she had done this before, even though said eyebrow was covered by dark chocolate bangs. She stayed quiet for a while longer, contemplating on how to respond to the comment. She chewed at the corner of her lip in thought.

Her pale green eyes watched as the male looked around to ensure everything was safe. Or at least, as safe as it could get outside of the wall. She grimaced when she heard one of the few words she dreaded to hear. Locked. Instead of having to look for another way in, the kid was able to break open the door somehow. A puzzled expression crossed her face. Was that dirt he used, or was she not paying close enough attention to figure out what he used? One minute, she was trying to figure out how to break in, the next, there wasn't even a handle on the door. There would be time to ask about it later. For now, Nicole's priority was to get supplies.

As the younger opened the door, Nicole finally responded to the younger of the pair. "Yeah, of course. Ah had to learn to do this when Ah was 'bout your age. Around five wintahs ago, Ah think? Maybe more, maybe less. Can't remembah. Mom and Dad were teachin' me 'bout what to look for even before Ah was out on my first supply run, so Ah guess Ah can be called an expert with this sorta thin'." She lifted her shoulders upwards in a small shrug. Her voice was quiet while her eyes wandered around.

If the door was locked, there was a good chance there was something left behind in the store, you just had to look hard enough for the right stuff.

The girl stepped inside, careful not to let the door slam shut as she did so. Her gaze turned towards the shelves. Alright, this seemed promising. Nicole had never seen so much medication essentially untouched. Hell, she had never seen so much medication in general! It was partially because her former group kept their drug stash well hidden to prevent someone from taking more than their fair share, partially because resources in general were difficult to come by. Especially more than a decade after the start of the apocalypse. That's how Nicole knew this place wasn't experiencing the hardships of an apocalypse for more than a few years.

There were still tons of supplies to find.

"Yeah, maybe we will have a bettah chance of survivin' if we've got somebody who's dealt with this fo' a while," she said, her eyes glancing over the bottles of medicine repeatedly. The girl wanted to say that it would be better if they had an adult around, preferably one who had survived in the apocalypse as well. Perhaps it was just the girl longing to be with people she considered family again, or worry that she'd fail the tribe. She didn't voice her thoughts, reminding herself that there was a hefty stash of supplies nearby that they needed to grab. Celadon gaze shifted from the drugs to the pale haired boy.

"Sounds like a plan to me." She glanced back at the door, remembering that the handle was gone. That made it easier for the undead to walk right in if the search party wasn't careful. "Don't take too long. If we stay here too long, walkahs are gonna be crawlin' all ovah in here." The teen refused to call the dead zombies. Even though she was able to spot differences between the zombies near Maplehill and the dead in Georgia, she couldn't help but call them all walkers. The term zombies was foreign to her. Until arriving in Maplehill, she had not once heard the dead being referred to as zombies.

With that, she starting shifting through the different medications, squinting at names with difficult pronunciation. "Probably need painkillahs, ehnethin' that's gonna stop a fevah. There's gotta be more than that, Ah just have to find it." Her voice was hushed as she talked to herself, going over what would be needed. She raised her voice only to ask Ambrosius a question. "Ya don't got any serious conditions, do ya? Like diabetes or ehnethin'? Ah'm just wonderin' in case there's somethin' special Ah wanna keep an eye out fo', eithah now or whenevah Ah get a chance to head to a hospital."

Nicole's hand was wrapped around a bottle of painkillers when she heard Ambrosius' voice again. He didn't have any special conditions. That was a good thing. She nodded slowly in acknowledgement, stashing the medication into her pack as she did so. Mostly fay? Her hand reached out once more to grab acetaminophen, figuring it might come in handy at some point. The kid's words were stuck in her head. Fay. Was that a location? She remembered someone told her that she was Georgian since she was born and raised in the state of Georgia, or rather what was left of it. Maybe it was a race of people? The teen wasn't entirely sure.

"Nevah heard of a fay. If it's keepin' ya healthy, though, that's gotta be a good thin'," the Georgian responded, putting the bottle into the pack as well. She glanced through the medications once more. She needed the essentials before the little things. "The healthiah, the bettah. Ya gotta be healthy to get through somethin' like this. The unhealthy don't always make it." The healthy didn't always make it either. They could get bitten. They could turn. They could be left behind. Nicole knew that was completely possible. She was quick to change the subject as she gripped yet another bottle of medication.

"Find ehnethin' worth grabbin' yet?"

So it was a group of people. That's what Nicole had gathered, anyway. The boy's explanation seemed reasonable enough. If the people kept to themselves, then it was unlikely that Nicole would have heard of them. Of course, she didn't hear too many stories that were considered fairy tales. She heard tales of how the world used to be, though that didn't quite count as fantasy stories. Another bottle of medication went tumbling into the pack. "That would explain why Ah ain't heard of 'em," she mused as her hand released the bottle. She was relieved to hear that Ambrosius was able to locate some food. It was meat.

If there was anyone who was opposed to eating meat, or if they weren't capable of eating it, then Nicole hoped that the herbivore would be able to stomach bread.

The boy mentioned sugar. Her hand paused as she reached out for another bottle of medication. Candy, pastries, those were rarities she hardly came upon. Her hand closed briefly, thinking about if it was really worth it to get the candy. Her hand reopened and the girl grabbed ibuprofen. "Get 'em. It'll keep everyone's spirits up if we bring back somethin' like that. We need everyone to be in a fair mood to get ehnethin' done. Bringin' back candy should lift a spirit or two." The girl glanced at the collection resting in her pack. She could fit in more, she just had to aim for the most important stuff. There was surely more potent medication at the hospital, as long as it wasn't completely raided by now, so if she couldn't get everything the group needed in terms of medicine, there was always the hospital.

Nicole grabbed multiple bottles of medication and stuffed them all into her pack. That had to be enough until a trip to the hospital was made. She shifted her body to face Ambrosius instead of the shelves of drugs. Her gaze shifted from the window to the boy repeatedly. She had to be alert, just in case something came crashing in through the window or the door. If they didn't make it, this trip was completely worthless, and someone was sure to pry the supplies off their dead bodies if things went that wrong. Her gaze flickered to the drink bottles. Clear, red, green, blue. There were multiple colors to choose from. The group had to stay hydrated.

"Grab any ya can. We gotta keep hydrated somehow, so we could use whatevah we can find," the elder responded, glancing over at the contents in her own bag. "Ah can fit some in my bag too. Looks like we just gotta grab some drinks and run outta here. We eithah gotta run back to the junkyard, or check out anothah store or two when we're done here." The girl went up to the drinks, gathering beverages to shove into her pack.

"Make sure we grab some watah, not just the colahful bottles. Ah don't know if the crittahs in the group are gonna be able to drink ehnethin' othah than watah. Might as well stay on the safe side."