[b]March 15, 2018 
Night
Framingham, Massachusetts – Walmart Interior
[/b]

Bri stared blankly at the towering stands of mascara and lipstick in front of her, untouched and left behind, frivolous monuments to a different time, the dust settled thickly on the plastic wrapping. She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn makeup, although she'd never been one to doll herself up in the first place. Odd, how so many things the world thought were so important just didn't matter now.

[color=7bcdc8]"Let's stay a while,"[/color] she said, breaking her gaze and grabbing a discarded shopping cart near the wall of brightly colored eyeshadows. The wheel squealed as she pushed it, so she abandoned it in favor of a basket instead. [color=7bcdc8]"I don't like splitting up, but… it'll take forever if we don't."[/color] She gave Grant a tight smile, stuffing her flashlight in her armpit so she could free the machete from the sheath strapped to his leg. [color=7bcdc8]"Grab the essentials? Water and food first, maybe some new socks, yours have holes and mine are getting crunchy."[/color] She tucked the weapon carefully in her belt, scrubbing at her nose. [color=7bcdc8]"I'd kill for some of those tissues with the lotion, too. Meet me in the pharmacy in twenty?"[/color]

And the two parted ways quietly.

Aisle by aisle Bri moved quickly, swiping things off the shelves, never pausing for too long, checking off the list in her mind as she went. An odd assortment of items it would seem to the outsider, but years of studying homeopathy and holistic healing had given her a broad foundation of knowledge to work with, and she'd learned a trick or two working with the homeless of Boston. Newspaper made great emergency insulation on cold nights. Honey, for its antibacterial purposes and wound application properties. Vaseline, for like, everything. The sides of her basket were lined with dried herbs from the grocery section. Basil, cardamom, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric… all had massive healing benefits, as did the few boxes of teas she picked up, and because they were dried and ground, they kept longer than their fresher versions. Not that there was any fresh food to take anyway.

A small sewing kit, tapes and sterile bandages, two little bottles of antiseptic wound cleaner, three bars of soap, salt packets, a small coil of thin, stiff wire probably used for fishing, scissors… She'd made good time, her basket full as she lugged it back towards the pharmacy, still rounding every corner with care. So far, so good, but if it's one thing she'd learned during this apocalypse, it was never get comfortable and never trust the darkness.