Caitlin heard a sound in the distance, the shuffling of feet. She gripped her crowbar a little tighter and hissed to Carl, “Someone is out there, hide!”<br/><br/>Carl didn't let her tell him twice and he ducked behind some shelves. He cocked his old revolver as quietly as possible, ready to shoot at any threat.<br/><br/>Caitlin, wanting to take no risks either, dropped her backpack near Carl and scouted the area. She wasn't a fighter, but she was no coward either and if there was a zombie out there then she would make sure to get the first hit and kill it before it could bite her.<br/><br/>Just as with the good old game of hide and seek that she regularly played during childhood, she stalked closer to the entrance of the hunting shop, being careful to stay in the cover of shadow. Peeking over the top of the counter, Caitlin saw two figures staggering in a straight line for the shop.<br/><br/>“That's odd...” Caitlin thought, “It's almost as if they know we're here...”<br/><br/>Caitlin also noticed that one of the figures was obviously supporting the other. Looking closer she could make out a woman and a teenage girl. It was the teenage that seemed to be limping on one leg, while the other woman was supporting her. She was also holding a gun in her free hand...<br/><br/>However, they didn't appear threatening and they were in obvious need for support.<br/><br/>As they got closer the woman seemed familiar, Caitlin thought she had seen her before, but couldn't remember where. She noticed the police uniform the woman was wearing, however, and she figured she must have seen her at the hospital.<br/><br/>Taking a chance, Caitlin crawled as silently as possible to the door opening and half whispered, half spoke, “Over here,” waving the couple over.<br/><br/>Caitlin was observant of her surroundings, making sure the two hadn't brought any unwanted company with them, but the coast seemed clear.<br/><br/>“Carl, my backpack,” Caitlin insistently whispered.<br/><br/>The lights in the shop were all turned off, Caitlin and Carl didn't want to draw any unwanted attention and the zombies seemed drawn to light like moths to a lamp.<br/><br/>Carl seemed upset at the arrival of the women, but Caitlin ignored him and got her first aid kit out of her backpack. It was the one thing she never left without.<br/><br/>“Hi, I'm Caitlin and this Carl,” she whispered, pointing at Carl behind her.<br/><br/>The older man gave a short nod, but the concern was clear to see on his face. Caitlin supposed she couldn't blame his distrust of people after what happened with his church earlier.<br/><br/>“I'm Katherine and this is Samantha,” the police officer offered in response.<br/><br/>Samantha could only wince in pain as she laid down and stretched her wounded leg slowly.<br/><br/>“Crap... This is going to take me a while to stitch up,” Caitlin cursed, more to herself than anybody else, after seeing the big wound in Samantha's leg.<br/><br/>“Katherine, could you and Carl set up a defensive perimeter? We wouldn't want any unwanted visitors to disturb us and we won't be able to move Samantha for a while,” Caitlin explained.<br/><br/>“Please call me Kate,” Katherine whispered back with a smile, “I'll go take care of the defense yes.”<br/><br/>Caitlin offered Samantha a small wooden stick, saying, “Here, bite on this. It might sting a little.”<br/><br/>Samantha graciously accepted the stick and completely froze in pain when Caitlin poured the disinfectant in Samantha's wound. She was trying to be as gentle as possible, but she also had to be thorough. The poor teen had her eyes tightly shut and tears were billowing down her cheeks, while she did her best to suppress her screams, only uttering small sounds of discomfort.<br/><br/>Having only her flashlight to see by, Caitlin had to take some extra time to make sure the entire wound was clean. Grabbing a sterilized needle and thread, she started knitting the wound to close it. She did it in such an effective way that in a few weeks from now you likely wouldn't even see a scar.<br/><br/>“There, you're all done,” Caitlin breathed with a sigh of relief, happy that this was over.<br/><br/>“Thank you,” Samantha replied with a grunt, speaking her first words since entering the shop.<br/><br/>“Sorry about the pain, but I had to be thorough, least it starts to infect and fester. Your leg should be completely healed within a couple of weeks and you likely won't even see a scar. It's best not to put too much pressure on your leg for the coming three days though,” Caitlin explained, offering the teen a warm smile.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Kate had done her best to make the shop as defensible as possible. Caitlin gave the two women a candy bar and a single bottle of Spa Blue. Water especially was on ration, since she didn't trust tap water and she wasn't sure when they'd run into another shop that had bottled water, but at the same time it was clear to see that both Kate and Sam were very thirsty.<br/><br/>“I wonder what will happen next,” Caitlin thought, “With Samantha injured and exhausted it's probably best to rest for a while longer, while we come up with a plan of attack.”