[b][h3]March 15, 2018 - Framingham, Massachusetts - Walmart[/h3][/b]

By the time he had put the batteries in his bag Grant was fairly worry free about being in the store. He had been all around the place, no scent of rotten flesh, no groans, no moans, not even blood (dried or otherwise), and probably most importantly he hadn't seen any signs of people. The more he walked, the more comfortable he got, the more he started to think that this might be a good place to camp out for a while and maybe help Bri relax a little by giving her a safe place to sleep and be herself again. He hated seeing her so on edge all the time, constantly in a state of fear and uncertainty. She used to laugh [i]a lot[/i], and now she barely smiled.

As he passed by the last register he glanced over to the magazine rack and laughed to himself about the things that people used to think were important. 'Heidi and Brad: Will they? Won't they?' 'Dedra's 100M divorce check!' 'The President is from Outer Space?!' All of it pointless now, and even then really, especially that last one. The things people would keep up on to somehow try to add something missing to their boring lives. He wondered if any of the people in those magazines were even still alive or if they were walking among the dead like everyone else. Was there a society out there that hadn't been touched by Terminus? A paradise that still resembles their former lives? It was musing like that that made him keep going, it may not be out there but as long as there's hope he would keep looking.

He would have to come back for some of those magazines for burning, but not now, he was already late enough and Bri was probably wondering what happened. He was, however, tempted to check the candy and see if there was anything left but he doubted it. Something like that is currency now, those indulgences people used to take for granted and then beat themselves up about it later. If they could get their hands on things like that they would be good for trading if there were people out there still actually doing that sort of thing, it had been a few weeks since they'd seen anyone to trade with.

Grant's mind was wandering as he drew nearer to the pharmacy, he wondered if he had forgotten to grab anything and went over the list in his head of what he had picked up. So when the edger came down he had no idea what had hit him or that it was even coming. An audible 'tink' rang out as the metal hit his head and he fell forward trying to catch himself before he hit the ground until he ran into a shipper of tin Christmas bakeware and knocking it over with a loud crash as he hit the ground dazed and confused.