The Protagonist System

129 Moving Day

Merle laughed his ass off when I asked him for permission to borrow his motorcycle. He didn't admit to anything and only looked like he pulled the wool over my eyes as he tossed me the keys.

“Fill'er up before you bring her back.” Merle said and kept laughing as he walked away.

“Everyone's a comedian.” I commented and he laughed harder.

I went over to where the motorcycle was and gave it a quick check-up. The fluids were fine and the tank was almost empty with only dregs of liquid at the bottom. Since the engine was fairly fuel efficient, I would have enough to make it to where I 'parked' my police car for the gas cans I stored in the trunk. The ruse was easy to sell because the town was only twenty minutes away.

Glenn debated going with me until I started the larger motorcycle up. The loud rumbling turned him off completely and he cringed away before he asked me to reconsider the plan. I patted my walkie-talkie and waved to Carl, whom waved back, and I kicked the motorcycle into gear and rode out of there as quickly and safely as I could.

I spent a few minutes doing laps on the highway, just to see if there were any strays attracted to the loud noise, and nothing showed up. I nodded and poured on the speed and drove towards Atlanta. It really didn't take me long to get to a good spot to take out the police car and I emptied the trunk into my inventory, so I wouldn't have to keep pretending to travel to get things from it.

I drove to where the moving van lot was and saw that it was still intact, with the fence still closed. I took Glenn's advice and climbed over and hit the button, just to see if the generator was still running. It wasn't. It didn't matter to me, since I was taking the other four vans with me anyway. It really was an ingenious idea to make more and I didn't berate myself for not thinking of it myself. I was kind of busy getting things done to think too far ahead.

In any case, 30 extra feet in my inventory on top of the 30 feet extra I already had, gave me plenty of room to store three of the vans and the motorcycle. I drove the last van out of the lot and through the fence. The bumper wasn't even dented from such a soft hit and I drove back to where the department store was. It really did have a good store of appliances, much better than the hardware store.

I took out the three vans to leave in the back alley and opened the backs, then loaded in a refrigerator and a stove into each of them and several lamps each. I also added a toaster, a coffee maker, a teapot, a microwave, and several other things that would make an apartment complete. Was I going a bit overboard? Probably. Did it matter? Only for aesthetics. You see, even if they are never used, it gave people a sense of normalcy that you couldn't get while living in a tent.

I stored the other three vans again and drove to the street Glenn had pointed me to before. It really was a shame that it was as wrecked as it was, because some of the other stores could have had some great stuff for survival... which was probably why they were ransacked a long time ago.

I chuckled and gathered more electrical things I would need to fake adding the right setup for lights and plugs, filled a shopping cart with light bulbs and sockets, and grabbed more plumbing things to set the other bathrooms up. That reminded me that I didn't have any more easily installed shower stalls and only the larger display models were available.

I was really glad I had magic, because it made moving and installing them into the four vans much easier. I did not do the heated floor thing again, even if I did raise it for the plumbing to fit. That was a comfort only Amy and I were going to have. I did grab a few space heaters that used propane to add to the piles of materials, just in case.

How cold did it get near a rock quarry during the winter, anyway? I had no clue. At least the makeshift barriers should cut down on both the heavy winds and blowing snow, assuming we had any of that. Maybe I could make a run to grab some firewood and dry it with magic? The newer stuff at the camp made a thicker smoke that might give us away during the day if we weren't careful.

Since I had magic, I easily harvested the kitchen setups, even the damaged ones, and added them into the vans. They were coming along at a really fast pace and it was almost too easy to replicate my work the second, third, fourth, and fifth time. My skill levels really were rising unnaturally fast and I was glad for it.

I had to leave a door in the bathroom walls to add in the propane tanks for the stoves to use and I would need to raid a few of the houses in the suburbs to find working water heaters. Why didn't the hardware store have any for sale? Was it an order only item that they didn't carry? That was kind of shortsighted of them and it sucked for me, because now I had a lot more work to do.

*

Amy was slightly worried as she waited all day for Rick to come home. Carl kept them all informed as his dad worked and talked to him, giving the people at the camp a few laughs. He really was a funny guy and Carl basked in the attention, much to his mother's chagrin, probably because she thought it should have been her using the walkie-talkie to talk to Rick.

Surprisingly, Amy did not feel jealous of Carl in the same way. Rick had somehow balanced his time to not let either of them feel neglected or marginalized, which was impressive, considering how much the man had done the last few days. Now he was doing that much more and the whole camp was waiting in anticipation for him to return with his latest creation.

“He's on his way and he said he has bunk beds, too!” Carl shouted and the other kids cheered.

“Bunk beds? What for?” Carol asked.

Amy turned to the woman and wasn't sure what to think about her. She almost seemed happy that her husband was incapacitated and could only eat the gruel that Rick had made for him. What had happened in that tent and where did the fading bruise on her chin come from?

“That was my idea.” Glenn said and everyone turned to look at him, making him shrink slightly from the attention. “He said it was a great idea and that the kids could have a sleepover occasionally to give their parents a break.”

“Okay, I was kind of joking about saying I loved him before.” Miranda said and hugged her husband. “But, that just earned him at least a kiss on the cheek, wouldn't you say?”

“I'm not doing it!” Juan immediately shouted in protest and everyone laughed.

“I meant me, you lovable fool.” Miranda said, her giggles cutting off as he kissed her.

“Oh, I wouldn't mind kissing him in thanks.” One of the other women said, her voice a bit deeper than usual. The man beside her chuckled and put his arm over her shoulders.

Amy decided to stay quiet and not comment on that, because they were one of the swinging couples that wanted her to share in the experience. Hell no was she going to have another man inside of her when she could have Rick all to herself. Why would she go from fantastic to disappointing? There was no way the chubby guy was going to perform anywhere near as well as Rick could.

Her thoughts stuttered at that, because she just realized the other woman knew that as well. She was stuck with the chubby guy and wanted a chance with a newer handsome one, because goddamn did Rick look completely tasty when he walked around camp wearing just shorts.

Didn't he realize his forming muscles had them all wanting him? Even her sister? Amy thought. No, no he didn't.

Rick wasn't arrogant enough to think other women would want him, just for his body, even after what she did to him the night before. Amy's face burned with embarrassment at remembering it and she wasn't sure what she had been thinking as she commanded him to show her how much he loved her. She really had claimed him like he had joked about and she absolutely loved that he went along with it.

The rattling of tires on gravel gained her attention and Amy stood up from beside the campfire, as did everyone else. They all turned to look and saw a nearly identical van to the other one coming down the road and their spirits rose at the sight. Was it just the new van or that it was Rick returning that had them all excited?

The van came to a stop where the motorcycle used to be parked and Rick climbed out of the driver's side.

“Hey, everyone.” Rick said and closed the door and he looked sweaty for some reason.

Everyone rushed over to greet him and to see what else he brought back with the bunk beds as they gathered around the back of the moving van. Amy hung back a little, mostly because she didn't want to crowd him, and she held back the kids, too.

Rick saw them all there and he laughed a little. “You need to make room enough for the ramp. I can't get the motorcycle out with you all in the way.”

They quickly parted and started whispering about how smart it was to do that instead of leaving the motorcycle behind.

“It was Glenn's idea.” Rick said, throwing Glenn under the proverbial bus as a distraction, and then he unlocked the back sliding door and slid it up with a light push.

The gathered crowd made surprised sounds, because there were two sets of bunk beds set up on either side of the wide space and the motorcycle was wedged between them. They watched as he pulled out a double length metal shelf and he bolted it to the back of the opening, right under the back tire.

To their surprise, he then climbed up into the space above the motorcycle, using the top bunks as braces, and carefully slid onto the seat. The thrum of the engine made them all take a step back from the ramp and Rick laughed as he cut it and kicked the motorcycle into neutral. He then grabbed the handlebars and pushed with his feet on the bottom bunks and the unpowered motorcycle easily rolled out and down the ramp to the ground.

“That was damn slick.” Merle said in appreciation from behind the crowd and his brother nodded.

“Thanks.” Rick said and put the kickstand down and left the motorcycle there. “I brought both bunk beds this time and we can transfer one out when I finish working on the next van.”

“Finish working? What do you mean?” Andrea asked, her voice betraying her confusion.

Rick gave her a warm smile and she blushed. “Why don't you go up there and see for yourself while I grab the propane tanks I need to install for the water heater and the stove?”

No one moved or said anything for several seconds, then there was a mad scramble as most of them tried to go up the ramp at the same time. Rick laughed and walked over to where the piles of supplies were on the tarps and grabbed two of the medium-sized tanks, which would work perfectly.

Rick casually walked back and set the two tanks on the ground by the back of the van because the inside of the van was full of people and they were all talking about how nice everything looked. Nothing was powered up or working, though.

“How did you do it?” Amy asked him as she hugged him from behind.

“I told you I was working out the bugs. Once I do something once, I get better and better at it the more I do it.” Rick said and turned around to see Amy's epic blush. He smiled at her realizing he meant her as well and he kissed her deeply to distract her. No one was looking at them, so their hands went a few places they probably shouldn't have in public.

*

The next few days seemed to let me fall into a calm routine. A day working with the tractor to make the camp safer for everyone and the next day going to retrieve another van and converting it. The only problem was that I really was getting much faster doing them, so after I finished the third moving van, I had also spent a lot of time making noise and clearing out more of the walking dead from the city.

I had an odd thought of blocking all the streets off and then building a barricade all around the place, except I knew in the end it wasn't worth the time or the effort. There was no possible way to supply a place that large or support many more people than were already at the camp. I did make a concerted effort to look for more people that might need help, finding none, until I reached the Center for Disease Control.

As I knew from the original story, the rest of the people working there had abandoned their posts over a month ago and left a single man behind, because the man wanted to verify his results. It took him that long to run every experiment he knew, and some he created, to come to the conclusion he had suspected all along.

There was no cure for the virus. Once you were infected, that was it. Being bitten only hastened the spread and killed you faster. When you died, no matter the cause, you would rise as one of the walkers and hunt for the only food available... other humans.

Just like in the show, Dr. Jenner refused to let me inside, even though I had cleared all of the walkers from the area and stripped off naked to show that I wasn't bitten. I didn't bother trying to tell him I was immune, since it was based on my Karma system and not gained in-world. Not that it mattered, as he still refused to open up and talk to me.

I let out a sigh and dressed in my clothes again, then had an odd thought. I had gained access to some potions and I wondered if they would have any effect on either the people or the virus, especially the Pepper-up Potion. It was the cure for the common cold in the wizarding world, also an easily spreadable virus, and the ingredients were simple and easily grown.

Maybe it could help the man's research? I asked myself and prepared what I wanted to say.

Unfortunately, when I tried to offer the potion and the plants, the man laughed for several seconds and then cried. He kept saying it was contaminated like everything else and there was no hope for anyone. He told me he was going to save his research onto a portable hard drive and would let me take it, since there was no one else to give it to.

Several hours later, I heard a thunk near the door and looked up to see the blonde haired man wearing a full hazmat suit. He waved to me and pointed down at the wrapped bundle. I nodded and opened the door to grab it and pretended to tuck it behind my back as I stored it into inventory.

“I'm enacting quarantine protocols when I'm back in my lab.” Edwin Jenner said.

I opened my mouth to tell him not to, then sighed. “It doesn't matter what I say, does it?”

Edwin shook his head. “The world is dying, Rick. Slowly, agonizingly, and inevitably. My wife, she already... I want to be with her and... and not...”

I nodded and stepped back, knowing he didn't want to become a walker. I waved to him and turned to climb into the driver's side of the moving van, then I paused and looked back at him.

“Before I go, can you tell me if there's a museum or something about planes around here?” I asked.

Edwin nodded. “It's about five blocks that way.” He said and pointed. “The historical aeronautics display is in the back past the neanderthal display.”

I laughed at the mix of subjects. “Thanks, Doc.”

I hopped into the van and drove off with a smile on my face. The next step in my secret plan was going to be fulfilled soon and the last moving van I would pretend to go retrieve in 2 days was going to have crates of plane parts in them for me to assemble in front of everyone.

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