locked and loaded

The old man fell deep into thought when he heard what Cei said. But he wasn't one hundred percent sure, so he took Cei's advice and went onto the PC on the counter and began to search online what he was told. And different to what Cei saw no less than thirty minutes ago there was a lot more information online. With several titles such [did I just see a real-life zombie!?!], but what really caught his attention was the video of the young man killed by the police [Young black man was shot multiple times to death in downtown City X].

When the old man watched the video he paid close attention to the young man who seemed to be extremely disoriented at the start of the video but despite being asked by the police to stop resisting he continued to move closer to the officers. Eventually, the police opened fire, but shockingly the boy seemed fine and instead began to rush towards them and so they fired multiple shots and eventually the boy had been killed. But the old man's attention was on the boy because he clearly didn't look all there, at first he seemed confused but when he was shot for the first time the old man clearly saw no feeling of pain on his face. But what was worse was the look he made as he began sprinting towards the police, the boy looked as if he had found his next meal in the police officers his eyes were locked on too.

The old man was almost convinced after he saw the video but he continued to search and the more he saw the more he was sure that Cei was right. After finishing another video he looked up at Cei and said.

"You've convinced me. Take what you want and leave I'm going to lock up as soon as you've got what you want." At this Cei smiled knowing that he could finally get some firearms.

"I want that AKM on the display case as well as that long revolver in the pistol display case." said while pointing to a long-barreled revolver.

"Oh, pretty good choices. You got any gun knowledge, lad." said the old man.

"No, but I know enough. Anyway, what ammo do you have for them." Responded Cei.

"Well the AKM assault rifle runs on 7.62x39mm ammo and I've got 20 rounds a box and about 40 boxes. How many are you looking for?" Said the old man.

"I want about 300 rounds so I'll go for about 15 boxes. But how about the revolver." Responded Cei.

"Well, this baby is a 10.7" Smith and Wesson model 29, a pretty nifty piece of gear. Anyway, this bad boy runs on 44 magnum rounds and each ammo box holds 50 rounds and I have about 20 in stock. How much do you need?" said the old man with an amused smile.

"Well, I don't need as much ammo for this so I'll go for around 200 rounds so I guess I'll take 4 boxes." Responded Cei.

After hearing Cei's demand the old man took a look at the girl next to Cei and asked.

"What about you little girl, you looking for any guns?" After hearing his question she was slightly startled as she had been almost entirely ignored while she was in the store but regathered herself.

"Can I take that pistol over there as for the rest could you help me as I have no idea what to get." responding with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Oh, so you want the Glock. Not many people buy it in my store. As for what you asked. Sure, I'll help you out. Wait for me to get the ammo for the guns and I'll help you make some good choices." The old man responded with a warm smile. Before he took one last look at Cei and then walked into the back door.

Cei didn't waste any time, he straight away walked towards the changing booths and swapped his clothes and although they were a little tight, it was what he was going for, he didn't want any loose clothing that may potentially be grabbed. The next thing he did was grab two magazines and strap them around his wrist and tapped it to his wrist with the utility tape he grabbed earlier and repeated the same on his other wrist creating some rudimentary arm guards and although he wasn't sure if it would work well or even at all it did give him some peace of mind. Next, he placed his small bowie knife and hatchet on his tactical belt before placing the large bowie knife in his backpack.

After he was prepared he covered his belt with his shirt and walked towards the old man who was helping the girl find some suitable gear. He ignored what they were doing and grabbed the two guns that were laid out on the counter and straight away loaded the AKM and turned on the safety before putting it inside his backpack. He couldn't carry about a large gun like before the city had fully descended into chaos so he had no choice but to put it away. But he could still carry the Revolver on his tactical belt and so he loaded the gun and holstered it on his belt, before placing one box of 44 magnum ammo and one box of 7.62x39 ammo into two of the pouches on his tactical belt.

And with everything that was done Cei was fully prepared and sat down and looked at the scene of the clueless girl listening in awe to an old man who was smiling warmly while explaining what equipment would best suit the girl. Watching the scene Cei thought for a moment before asking the girl.

"Excuse me miss, seeing as you're so intent on following me, then I think it might perhaps be appropriate to learn each other's names. Mine's Cei." Healing Cei speak to her the girl was surprised but after she heard him speak she couldn't help but to break into a bright smile as she responded.

"My name is Aeni, Aeni Orlena. Let's get along Cei."

Her smile was almost overwhelming as she spoke. Cei felt a little uncomfortable while looking at her, but he didn't allow it to show as he smiled back at her.

It took almost 10 minutes for Aeni to finally get sorted. She was dressed in a similar red flannel shirt that was a tight fit on her body and highlighted her curves. With a similar pair of cargo pants that were black in colour, and although the clothes themselves were kind of basic, Aeni still seemed to glow. Her 5'5 petite frame highlighted in the clothes and her long flowing black hair resting gently on her shoulders.

As Aeni saw him looking at her face turned a little red as she blushed slightly and her lips curled up into a slight smile. And as her mouth curled up into a smile it highlighted her cute button nose and enhanced two dimples that formed, and her eyes looking like blue sapphires that sparkled with energy as his gaze met hers.

Cei had to admit that Aeni was indeed beautiful, but now wasn't exactly the time to appreciate it so as soon as he saw that Aeni was finally prepared he looked at the old man and said.

"Thanks, old man, I won't forget what you've done." The old man smiled slightly at this and responded.

"Shouldn't you stop calling me old man, call me Mathew. And I should be the one thanking you if it weren't for you I might have been caught unawares, so you have my heartfelt thanks." Cei smiled at his response as he nodded at the old and turned around towards the door before saying.

"Wish you the best Mathew, hope I see you around someday." The old man hearing this watched Cei exit the store as he whispered.

"Maybe."

Hearing the door lock behind him Cei took in a breath of fresh air as he took in his surroundings before his eyes turned serious as he set off with Aeni in tow for the next stage of his perilous journey.