The Protagonist System

122 Handy Dandy Part One

It wasn't difficult to find the large hardware store. It was also half-burned out and torn apart, as if there had been something valuable inside and someone wrecked it all to stop other people from getting it. Most of the wood was gone to ash or ruined, so I had to pick through it all to find some good pieces. I didn't have the time to search for somewhere else to get wood to build what I needed.

It wasn't until I was cutting through the fifth partially burned 2x4 with a hand saw that my eyes landed on the metal shelves I was using like a sawhorse and I noticed they were bolted together and had multiple holes to screw things together in many different configurations.

I laughed and cursed at myself for being so stupid to miss something so obvious and gathered the few pieces of wood I did harvest into my inventory and then ran for the tool section. I loaded up on everything, including different hammers and things, then I grabbed the biggest socket and wrench set they had and ran back to quickly and easily disassemble a bunch of shelves and stored them.

With a good portion of my inventory in the back of the moving van, I had lots of room for other things. I answered Carl's call when he checked in on me and walked back to the front of the store to check the fronts of the aisles where they listed which items were in which aisles. I found where the camping supplies were stored and didn't have high hopes, because anyone trying to survive would have raided there first.

To my utter surprise, the area was almost completely untouched. There were several tents of different sizes, blow up mattresses, sleeping bags, camp stoves, small propane tanks for them, portable heaters, lanterns, larger barbecue grills, and the larger propane tanks for them as well. Thankfully, they were all still viable and hadn't leaked or were empty.

I stored everything I could, especially the replacement parts, then went to the aisle with plumbing supplies. I grabbed everything I could that I might need, and a few extras, including tools, taps, hoses, fasteners, elbows, sealing tape for pipes, and plumber's glue.

My next stop was the electrical section and I grabbed wiring, plugs, light sockets, a small electrical panel, fuses and circuit breakers as replacements, and then went to the automotive section. I grabbed all the car batteries still there, hookups for them, spark plugs, tools for engines, a smattering of oil filters, all the different kinds of oil they had for engines, and a few spare parts that usually needed to be changed in a car after a lot of general use.

Just for the hell of it, I popped by the housewares section and grabbed several kettles, a coffee maker, a microwave, and a toaster. It might take me a while to figure out how to rig something up to run it all, since I still had all of my general skills in the back of my mind, only they were all reduced to minimal levels. It would take practice and time to get my skills back up to normal.

Then again, I could also cheat a bit and set something fake up and then magic up the inside of the electrical panel instead to generate power. I still knew all the runes and enchantments in my head and only had to get back into the habit of carving them instead of just waving my hand or a wand to form the runes automatically.

I really miss having my full powers. I thought with a sigh and left that area. As I was walking by the next aisle, I saw the bathroom section and had a really cool idea. I went down the aisle and it was only slightly messed up, as if someone shoved things out of the way to get at something else. That was fine, because the larger items were too heavy to do that and had been left alone.

The three things I had in my mind to check were at the end of the row. A toilet, a pedestal sink, and a shower cubicle. All three of them were in boxes and only needed to be assembled, which was perfect, because I could set up a full-size bathroom in the back of the moving van with lots of room left over for a normal bed, a small couch, and maybe a television or fake fireplace.

The shower was great, because it was formed plastic on three walls with a plexiglass door. It could be easily attached to any surface, especially in a corner, and the large square base that came with a drain had enough room inside for two people.

Another stop at the plumbing section gained me enough piping to run the drain out through the side of the van, if I used the wood pieces I had to make a small platform and a metal shelf for the shower to sit on. It was perfect.

I grabbed some quick-setting caulking and sealer, so I wouldn't have to wait for a day for the thing to set, and ran over to where the large plastic containers for water storage were. None of them were large enough to work as reservoirs, unless I stacked them and connected them with gravity-fed hoses and sealed them.

That gave me the idea to grab water filters and one of the smaller sump pumps, which should let me connect the drainpipe back up to the top of the water reservoir. With that idea mapped out, I could then hook the reservoir to the hot water tank for it to draw on, in which it boils the water for use and would conserve a lot of water if it was a closed system.

I would have to leave access points for the filters to clean them, though. Then again, if I put them between each container on the connecting hoses and added valves, it would be downright easy to pop the filters off and clean or replace them. I nodded to myself and grabbed more filters and other things I would need, then left the store.

Two businesses down was a bed store and it had been ransacked as well. I knew the good stuff was always kept in the back, so I made my way through the store, stepping on ruined mattresses, and kicking a few broken frames aside, then I used a sledgehammer on the doorhandle to the back room.

I almost laughed at the near warehouse that revealed and figured I could surprise the people back at the camp with a few fresh mattresses and simple metal bar frames that were easily assembled. That's assuming they cared about it and wanted to use it. They barely used up any space anyway and I stored a bunch of them.

While I was there, I loaded up on as many pillows and bedding supplies I could before I found and stored the largest and most expensive wooden frame and matching mattresses. The deluxe model was three grand and I didn't feel guilty about stealing it, since it was going to be put to good use and as soon as possible.

After I grabbed piles of tarps, my supply run was done. I loaded up what I could in the back of the moving van, filling up the rest of the space with the expensive bed frame, and I stacked the ten mattresses on top of the roof, with five at the front and five at the back. I tied them down and secured them, then drove out of the city and watched to see if there was anyone following me.

I drove off the highway using a different exit and backtracked a bit, checked again for followers, and then made the loop and went back to the camp. No one was following this experienced cop back to his hideout, no sir.

*

Amy was almost beside herself with excitement when Carl had yelled out from his tent that his dad was coming back. It was a bit later than Rick had told them, and that was okay, because Carl had kept them updated with where he was and what he was doing. She wasn't sure where they were going to put up a bunch of metal shelving or what he wanted it for, though.

She pushed those thoughts aside and tried to not think about what was going to happen when he arrived. If she did, she was sure she would be concentrating on the wrong thing and her expectations were going to be too high for anyone to meet, let alone a man that actually understood her. At least, she assumed he did.

Rick had bantered with her like a champion and Amy had a lot of fun just hanging out with him, even with all the other people around them and with his son on his lap, and wasn't that really weird?

Amy's eyes went to her sister and she felt adoration for her, because she had given her some really nice perfume that made her feel extra pretty in Miranda's borrowed dress. The blue color really brought out her eyes and highlighted her hair, making Amy's opinion of the Latino woman go through the roof for somehow keeping the thing wrinkle-free after everything they had been through.

The sound of tires on dirt gained her attention and Amy held herself still to stop herself from fidgeting or to run over to where she knew he was going to park. She didn't want to seem too eager to see him and she also didn't want him to think she was desperate, even if she was. She hadn't had a good time in so long that she was sure she would be dry as a bone down there before anyone else saw it.

Some of the others saw the moving van coming and also stopped what they were doing to look, then they were all surprised when the van turned near the end of their driveway-like road and then it swung around and backed up towards the camp instead of driving in.

“Are those full-size mattresses on the roof?” Juan asked. He and his wife Miranda had walked over to watch Rick's reaction to seeing Amy all dolled up.

“They are.” Dale said and walked over too as he dropped his binoculars around his neck. “I wonder why he put them on top with all the room the cargo area should have in the back?”

That comment had a few of the survivors at the camp wonder as well. What could be in the back?

The van's driver's side opened and Rick carried out a handful of tarps. “Can I get a hand spreading some of these out? I need to unload a pile of stuff to make enough room in the back to set up my bed.”

“I love you!” Amy shouted and blushed a little in embarrassment.

Rick's eyes went to her and he took in all of her as he gave her a very warm smile. Amy's heart started to pound in her ears at that look and she blushed fully, because she knew he really liked what he was seeing. It was definitely worth the price of doing all of Miranda's laundry tomorrow to borrow the dress.

“I'll give you a hand if you hand over one of those mattresses for me and my family.” Juan offered.

Rick looked over at him and nodded. “I've got the metal frames and some shelving for braces buried under the shower stall and toilet box, so we need to move those first.”

“Honey, don't get mad if I tell him I love him, too.” Miranda joked and her husband looked surprised, then he barked a laugh.

Rick chuckled and tore open the tarp packages and put one down at the side of the road. “Where's a good spot to store things temporarily and out of the way?”

“Right over there.” Dale said and pointed to a relatively flat area past the parked vehicles. “How long are you going to leave the stuff there?”

“Maybe a day or two while I work on making the van livable and put up shelving.” Rick said and handed half the tarps to Juan and they both walked over to the spot. “Who wouldn't want a tiny apartment on wheels with proper facilities inside?”

Dale chuckled, too. It was his RV everyone was using for washing up and it was a small apartment on wheels. He helped them spread the tarps out and the three of them walked over to the moving van. Rick didn't warn them before he pulled up the rolling back door and everyone gasped, because the thing was packed from floor to ceiling with stuff.

“Don't ask me how I got it all in there, because I don't really know myself. It just ended up this way.” Rick said and started handing a few of the smaller things out. “Try to keep the boxes of plumbing supplies and the different pipes and taps separate. I need those to set up the full shower tomorrow and to hook up the hot water heater.”

“What about power?” Dale asked and let them pile the smaller boxes in his arms.

“I have a pile of car batteries, wiring, and electrical things I need to figure out. I'll do it quick and dirty at first, just to get the thing up and running, then I'll make something that'll last a lot longer and fix it.” Rick told them and pointed to where the batteries were stacked up.

“Goddammit, we didn't have half this amount of stuff after the raid and we had a whole crew.” Juan said and pulled out one of the long pieces of wood bed frame.

“Leave that right here.” Rick said and pointed to the tarp beside the road. “It's part of my bed frame.”

Amy watched as they unloaded a ridiculously expensive looking bed that needed to be put together and two very nice mattresses were put on them. One was a half box spring and the other had a padded top that looked both firm and comfortable. Yep, yep, yep! It was definitely worth getting dressed up for a date if she could sleep on a bed like that!

A few of the other men came over, including Shane, and the unloading happened much faster with Dale directing them at the drop-off point. Of course, the two men also asked for the same payment as Juan and Rick agreed, if they could find a ladder, because he forgot to bring one. That made them all laugh, because he had pretty much brought everything else from the hardware store and forgot that.

When they had cleared out a good portion of the cargo area, about halfway to the front, they saw the things Rick himself had said he raided from other places. That included the dry foodstuffs from the cafeteria as well as all the different propane tanks stacked together off to the side. No one mentioned the small gun rack or the nice shotguns and rifles hung there.

“How the hell...” Shane started to ask when he saw the huge water tank and propane tank from the police station at the far front of the cargo area.

“Don't bother.” Juan said and clapped him on the back. “He doesn't know how, either.”

“I won't need help moving them around, since I'm going to build them in place.” Rick said and the men gave him odd looks. “It'll cut off some room; but, I'm putting the bathroom and shower there anyway, so keeping it all at the front makes more sense than trying to do it here at the back and having it all in the way.”

“Ha, I didn't even think of it that way.” Juan said. “If you need a hand with it...”

“...call someone else?” Rick asked and he laughed.

“You're going to fit in just fine here.” Juan said and picked up the four metal pieces to his bed frame. His wife Miranda called over their two kids and they helped her carry several metal shelves. “I'll be back for some tools and the mattress.”

“And a ladder!” Rick reminded him and his chuckle echoed a little.

The other two men also grabbed the metal frame pieces and promised to come back for the shelves and mattresses, too.

Shane stood there and didn't say anything for several seconds, then he took a deep breath.

“Don't.” Rick said without looking at him and Shane sighed. “I don't want to know.”

“Rick, I...” Shane started to say.

“It's only been a few weeks and you both moved on already.” Rick said and looked at his best friend with as blank of a face as he could. “I know where I stand and I know where you stand.” He said and tried to not smile. “Lori chose to stand with you. Whether I was dead or not, doesn't matter. She chose you.”

Shane tried to keep his face as blank as Rick's and he couldn't. His smug smile flickered to life before he could stop it and he didn't try to fight it anymore. “I really did think you were dead.”

“I know.” Rick said and turned away. He didn't comment that it took almost no convincing on Shane's part for Lori to spread her legs for him, probably because she wanted to make a more stable environment for Carl to grow up in. Being a single mother in the apocalypse was a daunting task.

“Do you need a hand with that?” Shane asked as Rick picked up one of the large bed frame pieces.

“No, thanks. I got this.” Rick said and slid the heavy wood into the back of the moving van. “Let me know what the watch schedule is tomorrow and I'll try to take a shift or two this week.”

Shane nodded and walked away, very happy with how things were turning out.

Amy watched in anticipation as Rick spent a short amount of time putting the huge bed together properly. He added the mattresses on top of it in the right order, the half box spring on the bottom, and then pulled out the pillows and bedding from somewhere. Had he hidden them or something?

Rick hopped down from the van's back and closed it, then walked right over to her. “Hi, Amy.”

“H-hi!” Amy squeaked and tried to not look nervous with him so close.

Rick gave Amy that warm smile she was really starting to like and her heart sped up. “I'm a bit gamey, so if you can wait for a few minutes while I get a quick shower, I'll be ready for our date.”

“Okay!” Amy said, excitedly. “I mean, sure. No problem. I can wait a bit longer.”

Rick chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek briefly. “I'll be right back.”

Amy nodded and watched him walk across the camp and over to the RV, her mind racing at all the possibilities the night might hold for her.

“Steal one of the pillows for me.” Andrea said from beside her.

“AH!” Amy nearly jumped out of her skin at the fright. “What the hell!” She exclaimed and smacked her sister's arm. “Don't sneak up on me like that!”

Andrea gave her a deadpan stare. “I've been standing here the whole time.”

Amy blinked her eyes at her, then blushed to a deep red from embarrassment. Rick had been so distracting that she had completely forgotten that her sister was right beside her.