Medicine p2

Posted on Sun Nov 16th, 2025 @ 10:17am by Cassandra Lennox & René Rouen & Albert 'Bert' Smith

1,711 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Safe Harbour
Location: Dunsbrough, Docks

Cassandra glanced up and down the street as they loaded the car until it was packed of medicine but still allowed one of them into the front seat to control the car once they got it rolling down hill. The streets were quiet again which was eerie when the light snow was covering their movements as the sight was not so good. The only thing the snow helped with was it was easy to hear their foot steps when everything crunched under foot. “Anymore for anymore?” She wondered back into the chemist to the two men as she pulled her newly acquired scarf up over her mouth.

"I think that's the basics for you." Bert commented with a shrug.

Cassandra looked at the strange man. “And what about you?” She demanded. “Are you wanting to come with? Settled down and … rest.” Cassandra knew what the travelling did to a person. It broke a little bit of them with each step.

René glanced at Bert and wondered if he would accept Cassandra's implied invitation. The man had the [em]look[/em], one he (René) all too often had. Uncertainty. He glanced briefly at Cassandra and then back to Bert. "Mademoiselle Lennox is a good person and her community can offer you safety."

"You're inviting me to join you?" Bert asked with a confused frown. "You don't know me. I could be dangerous. Hell, you could be another one of those groups that prefers to kill over help. Probably got one of the others waiting for me to come out of here and kill me."

René gestured at the rifle on Cassandra's shoulder and he patted the hilt of his rapier. "Monsieur, if Mademoiselle Lennox wanted you dead. She would have killed you already."

"In my experience, not necessarily." Bert replied.

Cassandra just smiled calmly. "It is okay. You do not need to come with. We can share some of the supplies with you and you can go on your way." She was not the type of force the subject or force someone to come with. Some people just liked to be lone wolves.

René looked to Cassandra. "Mademoiselle, we should get back to the boat and load the medical supplies. We can then see if the others have found food." He looked at the gray sky. "More snow is likely to fall tonight. Probably heavier than last night too."

Cassandra rolled her eyes at the formalness of the young man as she turned her way to look at the road down to where the ship was. "It is likely we are going to have to find somewhere to stay the night here." She admitted quietly. "The snow will hit us and make visibility next to none." It was the worst part of the ocean and winter, snowstorms brought low visibility.

"I've been staying in the church bell tower. It's not 5 star but it's high and has good visibility of the whole town." Bert suggested.

René remembered seeing the bell tower upon their arrival. He turned to Cassandra. "It would give us a good vantage point."

“It’ll be too cold.” The woman said softly as she glanced around at the buildings around them and then the keys in her hands. “I bet these keys will let us in to a building around here.” Cassandra pulled out the purse that she had found in the bag in side and soon found the licence of the body that the bag had belonged to.

René considered Cassandra's words and nodded in agreement. There was only a few hours left of daylight. Temperatures would drop rapidly after sundown. He turned to Cassandra. "We need to leave now if we're to get the boat loaded, especially if the others found food supplies." He glanced at the door to the store room where the body of the chemist lay. "Then get to shelter for the night."

"You're really going door to door with those keys?" Bert asked, surprise evident in his tone of voice. "We don't know if they even lived round here."

“Driving licence has her address on. It’s local.” Cassandra assured as she put it all back into the bag, pocketed the keys and license and flung the bag into the car. “Bert get in the car and drive the car.” She instructed.

"Sure." Bert replied as he headed for the door. 'Who died and put you in charge?' He thought as he headed outside.

René followed Bert outside and positioned himself on the farside of the car. He glanced about cautiously, looking for any signs of the walking dead before glancing at Cassandra and giving a thumbs up.

Cassandra moved to the other as they made their way slowly down the hill. It was hard work as they went down the hill in the snow; there were a few zombie moments, but they barely stopped until they got close to the dock. "Good job," Cassandra said wiping the snow off the front window again so Bert could see inside better, even as they slowed.

Smith brought the car to a gentle stop before carefully lifting the hand brake up. He opened the door and got out. "That was weird, not really driven anything since this started." He commented.

“I drove a 100 miles before fuel run out.” Cassandra admitted with a sigh as she looked around the dock area for something to use to haul stuff alone. “I am going to go to that building and grab a pump truck.” She said pointing to the damaged area they had passed on the way in that had alerted them to zombie activity.

"We go together then. Noone should move around or be left alone." René glanced at both Bert and Cassandra. He knew he wasn't in a position to enforce the idea, but hopefully the other two would realize it made sense.

"I am fully capable of looking after myself." Cassandra did not want to say it and blow her own trumpet but she was leader of her community for a reason. "But if you want to then come along." She said quietly as she made her way to the pump trunk and slowly brought it back, thankful that the snow was dampening the stone beneath the truck so there was very little noise.

René remained silent and watchful. The town was quiet. He looked up the road towards the supermarket and wondered when the others would arrive with their haul.

"Safety in numbers." Bert commented as he gently closed the car door as to not make too much noise and attract unwanted attention

“Come on let’s get this on the ship and keep an eye out for the others.” Cassandra commented as she started to open the boot of the car and start transferring stuff to get it to the boat.

René stepped up next to Cassandra and started loading up his arms with bundles of supplies. He carefully made his way down the pier until reaching the boat. He stood there for a moment before placing the items on the pier and returning for more. "I think it best if we get everything next to the boat. One person can hand things across the space to someone. We an then move things below to the cargo hold."

“Sure. Fill up the truck and it’ll only take a couple of back and forths.” Cassandra commented as she looked up the road hopeful that the other group were not going to be long.

René turned to Bert. "Shall we Monsieur?"

Bert nodded, "Lead the the way, frenchy."

René returned the nod as he grabbed an armful of supplies and began loading the pump truck. They would be able to load supplies with one trip and then top off the boats fuel tanks for the return trip to Thirstledrift. He glanced at Bert. "Monsieur, you might wish to reconsider returning with us. Mademoiselle Lennox and her community are good people. She really is kind. She provided me with food and shelter two days ago after I delivered her a package from Oxford."

Smith followed suit and loaded himself up with supplies. "I've not ruled it out but I'm understandably cautious when it comes to new people and groups. One can't be too careful these days."

Cassandra sighed as she went back and forth before she stopped seeing the harbour or the lack of harbour if she was honest as she took in the fog. It was hard to see the harbour walls let alone the distance. That was going to make things difficult.

René came up on the deck after he stowed the last of the supplies below. He looked around, but it took him a moment to spot Cassandra standing near the end of the pier. Fog was moving in off the water. He jumped the rail back onto the pier and turned to Bert. "What is Mademoiselle doing?" He asked.

"Staring at sea." Bert replied with a shrug.

“I am looking at the lack of harbour wall and sea.” Casandra revealed as she pointed to the ocean and the fog seeping across like an old fashioned film. “We can’t leave today.” She sighed and climbed into the boat to contact Thistledrift and alert them to not worry about them not coming back that day.

René looked out to sea. Waves of fog were rolling in and visibility was dropping quickly. He turned to the town. He wasn't fond of the idea to remain in the deserted settlement. Something felt off about it. He just wasn't sure about the cause of his unease. He busied himself by checking the mooring lines. Juliet was the experienced small vessel sailor. She would know what needed to be done before finding shelter for the night.

"I'm no expert but I wouldn't risk that." Smith commented, adjusting the bow on his back. "Mi castillo es tu castillo."

“We shall see what happens when the others get here.” Cassandra said softly. She did not want to sleep in church tower but she would see what the others thought when they finally arrived. She turned away from the fog and watched the way the other group should be coming.

She just hoped they weren’t long.

 

RSS Feed