The Dead Frontier (11)

Glen and Ezekiel were looking at the general store with shining eyes. The place had not been looted yet!

Don't tell me you guys expected him to risk his life to save a bunch of strangers?

Of course not!

Even if Glen did something like that, he needed to get himself some sweet loot first!

He already had two busts. He was not going to be altruistic without earning something first. If you don't like it, you can sue him. Oh, wait! You can't! Because the government already went in shambles.

Looking at the intact dishware and the jars Glen felt like crying. Never in his life, Glen thought he would be so happy to see kitchenware.

"Okay kid! Take whatever you want as long as you can carry it." said Glen as he went towards the back where he assumed there would be something like a freezer. Or at least a room where they stored the meat.

People living in this age stored their meat either by smoking it first or they would put it in a barrel filled with salt which would drain all the moisture from the meat.

For meats that were stored inside the barrels, you had to soak or at least wash them with fresh water. Otherwise, once cooked the meat would be too salty to eat!

He had learnt it from experience so you could trust him on this.

However, the reason Glen was searching for meat was not for looting it... sure he was also going to loot any meat he could find but that was not the main reason he was searching for it.

Glen opened the back door to walk inside a room filled with jars. It, seemed like they brined whatever they could to make it last longer. Which makes sense since, you know, the apocalypse.

On the back Glen finally found his target. A perfectly smoked venison that was hung on a meat hook.

Yes!

They were going to eat like kings tonight!

Ugh, wait, that was not the point.

Glen carefully put down the venison on top of the barrels he saw. This was the reason why he came here. Not the meat, but the meat hooks!

Meat hooks were 'S-shaped metal hooks that were used to hang meat to the roof so that the butcher can work on it or at least make it harder for pests like ants from reaching them. Not to mention how helpful it is while draining blood from the meat.

These things were stronger than you think. They could carry meat up to 90 kilograms without bending.

Still, one meat hook was not enough to fulfil his needs. He searched around and managed to find two more in a cupboard.

Well, it was still lesser than he would have liked but three would have to do.

Then, he found a very long rope from the store and used some planks to make the hooks have a claw-like shape and sawed off the excess wood.

I bet you can see where this is going.

Finally, using the very long or at least the longest rope that he could find, Glen attached the makeshift claw to the end.

You guessed it!

Glen made a makeshift grappling hook!

After all, it only made sense to go in from the roof since the whole building was surrounded by zombies. And he even had a perfect vantage point that he could use.

This was going to be fun.

If there were survivors, that also meant there were still bullets inside the ex-bank. If he could get his hands enough bullets it wasn't impossible to get rid of all the zombies in the town.

The problem was what to do with the survivors. Glen certainly had no intention of letting them tag along with him.

However, maybe aside from himself, they could be the only people still alive that knew the Church of Night's treachery.

So what if he saved people like them?

Then what if these people united and made a settlement and started interacting with the other survivor settlements.

That would make everyone know of Church's true face.

Now, it wasn't a lie to say that Glen was somewhat of a coward. Despite what they did, he never even considered going on a revenge spree against the church.

His only goal was to find a way to get out of this cursed continent and make his way through to the Dominez Empire. Then lead a slow but fulfilling life.

Still, that did not mean he wouldn't do anything to help people who might become a wrench in the church's plans.

***

Leaving the backroom Glen finally saw the mess that Ezekiel created inside the general store. It felt like a twister passed through the place!

Seeing that Glen didn't say anything. At least this meant the kid had turned the place upside down to find anything that was important.

"Want some licorice, sir?" Ezekiel asked and offered him a strip of licorice candy. However, seeing the black mouth of the kid Glen decided not to bother with it. He just picked it up and put it in his pocket for later.

"So what did you find? Were there any good loot?"

"There were a lot of rations that I already packed. It's not much for a group of 5 or 6 people. But for a single person, it's enough to last a month! Oh! I also found 21 pistol bullets and a lot of tobacco"

*Gulp*

"Did you say tobacco?" Glen asked. His hands were shaking from his expectations. Even in his past life, he was a heavy smoker let alone when he reincarnated in this damn place where smoking was even hailed as something healthy for the body.

However, he hadn't found any tobacco for the last 2 years.

"Here you go" Ezekiel handed 6 packs of Marlie, a tobacco brand.

His hands reached to take one out but stopped himself.

No!

These were all money!

Most importantly, there were still zombies around. He didn't want to draw attention to himself with smoking... then again there were already half-burnt buildings inside the town, mostly resident houses, so it wouldn't draw much attention.

No, he really shouldn't

"*Ahem* Any cough drops?"

Ezekiel searched around and give Glen a jar full of them.

"Anyway, you remember the plan right?" Glen asked after starting to suck on one of them. He needed to keep his mouth busy if he didn't want to think about smoking.

"Yes, sir! So are going to be leaving our packs here?" Ezekiel asked.

"Yeah, only take essentials that wouldn't weigh you down. If everyone goes according to the plan we will return back to get our booty after taking care of all the zombies at the town"

***

At the top of the water tower, Glen looked towards the ex-bank. It didn't seem that far away.

He should be able to throw his grappling hook at the rooftop and if it holds on they would get themselves a makeshift zip line!

The only problem was they didn't have anything to slide with so they would have to make do with their belts.

*Woosh*

Glen started to spin the hook. After gaining enough speed he threw it towards the rooftop and it... didn't stay.

*Woosh*

Glen started to spin the hook again. After gaining enough speed for the second time he threw it towards the rooftop but this time a little closer to the sign and it... didn't stay.

F*CK!!!

The hook didn't grab anything for some reason two times in a row. Maybe his plan was not going to work... impossible!

*Woosh*

Glen started to spin the hook more ferociously this time. If he couldn't get it to grab on to anything naturally he would stab the goddamn hook there!

Finally, he threw it and it... stuck! Or rather grabbed something.

Hahahahahaha!

He was so happy that, if it wouldn't ruin his mysterious and cool image, he would already be dancing.

Glen tied the other end of the rope to the water tower.

*Grab*

He pulled it twice and the hook didn't budge. So it should be enough to hold them.

"Ready kid?"

"Ready sir!"

Ezekiel untied his belt buckle and used it to hang onto the zip line. Glen made sure to tie the ends of the belt to his hands to make sure the kid didn't accidentally let go and fall on top of the horde of zombies.

"Go!" then Glen gave a big push towards Ezekiel and then he started screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Ezekiel's scream drew the attention of every zombie down below and Glen could see movements inside the bank too.

*Thud*

Thankfully, Ezekiel arrived at the rooftop without any hijinks. After untying his belt he waved his hand towards Glen and made an OK sign.

"Phew, here goes nothing"

Glen untied his own belt and did the same as Ezekiel.

*Rip*

WTF!

Glen could see the rope starting to tear from the ends. What the hell was he supposed to do in the air, on top of a goddamn zombie horde. Jump down?

Allah, Jesus, Buddha, whatever deity the church of night believes in. Please, have mercy and let me cross safely.

Glen was so distraught that in that split second he even wanted to cry.

*Tear*

Finally, the rope ripped for real and Glen suddenly found himself flying in the air.

Seeing a window he tried to aim himself towards there and...

*Crash!*

Hahahaha! He survived. He f*cking survived. F*ck you god! Who needs your help anyway.

*Thud*

Suddenly the door to the room he crashed through opened and two big burly men with rifles walked inside.

"Hands up in the air stranger!" said one of them as he pointed his rifle at Glen.

Glen got up and put his hands up in the air. He didn't come here to fight. But if he did he was sure that he could take them down before they could fire so he was relaxed.

*Thud*

The door opened once again and another person came inside. Someone Glen recognized. It was Ms Wright. She still had that bundle on her arms... it was a baby.

"Is everything okay gentlemen?" She asked.

Glen was about to say something but -

*Falls down*

his pants suddenly fell off.

He felt like crying.