Isaac jolted awake, looking up at the sun. It was pretty high in the sky, and a little more west than he would've liked.  "Shit, what time is it?" he asked himself as he twisted his wristwatch back the correct way around and read it. "Shit."

He'd meant to nap for an hour or two of the morning, just to get his head right.  It had been a long and tiring night.  Unfortunately the alarm clock on his watch hadn't been loud enough, and somehow his instincts had told him that he'd been asleep too long.

His instincts were right.  It was 3pm.

He climbed down the tower of the broken bridge, where he'd decided to take his nap, jumping down the last 12 feet and landing cleanly.  He stretched, feeling a little refreshed and started heading in the direction of Grasscroft.

***

Outside the town, there were a few bodies - a merchant and his bodyguards, a town shopkeeper and the gate guards.  Isaac asked the guards about Zara, but they told him that they hadn't seen anyone come in as they'd just got on their shift.  He'd have to inquire at the barracks if he needed more information.  Inside the town, he headed to the barracks, but ended up passing by the gun store to grab some ammunition.

"50 caliber rounds ain't cheap, young fella," the shopkeep said, eyeing Isaac suspiciously.  "You got the caps?"

Isaac was scanning the shelves behind the man, looking at the guns on display.  He didn't look at the old man, but he smiled.  "Probably not," was his reply.  "How much for two cartons...? and that .38 snub nose, right there?"

The old man turned around to spy his product, then turned back to look at Isaac, a little confused.  "Well, if you ain't got the caps, what's the point of all this?  I ain't taking scrap or goods for trade, right now. Caps only."

Isaac pulled out a fat roll of pre-war money, held it up next to his smiling face.  The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, which made Isaac smile turn into a full, teethy grin.  "Two cartons of 50 cal.  And the 38."

Isaac left the store with replenished ammo for his gun, aswell as his new .38 pistol complete with its own ammo and holster.  He;d put it all in his rucksack, for now.  If he found Zara, then it would be better if she had a gun on her, but even if he couldn't find her, having a backup weapon was always nice.  Against Tasha and her crew, he ended the chase low on ammo.  If things had gone another way and he'd ran empty, things could've got very ugly.

At the barracks, a man not much older than Isaac himself, named Paul, told him that a girl had come through just this morning.  Apparently she'd gotten some work at a local tavern.  When Isaac asked for a description and got 'skinny, brown hair, green eyes,' Isaac was overjoyed, thanked Paul for his time and headed to The Three Legged Dog.

Pushing through the batwing doors, Isaac strolled into the tavern...