Chapter 67 - Johnny and co. - Im the best there is. (1/2)

He seemed taken aback from the simple response.

”I can debate for you for hours on how I can do things but, in the end, it's all just words. A man of action like yourself would be more convinced if you could see the place yourself.” I said.

”What's your situation on food?” he said.

”What about yours? I believe Thelma manages a store near the gas station. How come you're worried earlier to prepare some with us? I left her a note too.” I counter-asked and he was speechless.

”Thanks to that note, I managed to place supplies on the trucks though one of my workers took off with one of the trucks that I was supposed to bring here. We're left with one truck and it's all we have. Johnny is contemplating on going outside to loot a few places but we decided to ration and avoid going out at all costs.” Thelma explained.

”I knew that something happened.” I said to myself.

”Even though we have a few guns in here, we're not really sure if that is really what it takes since we haven't gone outside yet. The news said a shot to the head is all it takes but I still think it's too dangerous to go out so I convinced him to stay put for now.” Joanne added.

”Your problem will be solved if you choose to follow me. We have people, we have supplies, and we have guns. What we need now is more people. You'll have a place to sleep and food to feed your family. All we need from all of you is to contribute and follow my lead.” I said earnestly.

”Will you still accept me even with this?” he said as he showed me a prosthetic leg on his right side.

I just smiled and said, ”That's it? I have a friend there who can't walk since birth and has a more positive outlook than you, no offense. He traveled from Cavite and left his house just to be here.”

”Dear, I think we could help each other and survive together when we come with him. We could start packing our stuff, we could always come back here if we don't like the place.” Joanne said to his husband.

Johnny rubbed his glabella and he gave a long sigh.

”Fine. We'll check your place first and we'll decide if we stay or not, is that acceptable?” he said.

”Sure.” I said.

”Can we make a stop for my shop at the 2nd floor of the funeral home first? We still left a few when the thing started.” Joanne said.

”No need. We already went to your place, that's why I found this address.” I said.

Her eyes widened. She said, ”Oh! Are the guns still there?”

”Yes, all of it is in our pickup. To be fair with you and as a sign of good faith, we'll split it in half. Sounds good?” I said.

She was taken aback though she seems to mull over something.

”Wait! That is ours!” Johnny exclaimed.

”Was. Last time I checked, the world has gone to shit and everything is fair game now. Do you have the luxury to go back there now and get them back? We cleared a lot of them to get those and I'm being generous letting you keep half of them. You already got half of them in this place so technically we're keeping a quarter of it. You did say you planned on looting other places; will you give them back what you took if they asked for it?” I said flatly.

”I ah-” he was taken aback.

”Dear I think that it's more than generous.” Joanne said.

He grumbled for a bit though he relented in the end.

”I'll wait for an hour for you guys to pack up. You could place some of your bags in our truck if you need more space. I'll be in it splitting the guns and ammo.” I commanded.

”Thank you.” Thelma said to me while I nodded.

They started on packing their stuff so I went back in the pickup. We have two long rifles and 18 handguns with 36 boxes of ammunition. I smiled a bit since it's an even number and could be split evenly. Their family has two vehicles here, a minivan and a coupe. They started on placing their bags on their vehicles at 3:26 PM. We would be a bit late for the broadcast but it would repeat so I did not urge them to hurry.

”It's a lot of them.” Kaley said.

”Yeah, we got 10 people in one go.” I said.