Free Infected Series (Book 1): Mission: New York by Jack Walker

scattered after the nights rest. Everyone had already been to the toilet to refresh themselves ready for the day. He reached the door and knocked, wanting to make sure that nobody was inside. He waited a second or two then opened the door and went inside. He splashed water on his face to wake himself up and strode over to the toilet; relieved himself and flushed. Returning to the sink, he washed his hands, dried them and made his way back to the rest of the group.
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
    Breakfast was a reasonably modest affair with their supplies, but they whipped up a reasonably tasty breakfast for everyone in the coffee shop. The dishes were quickly cleaned, and everyone was just looking to get the day started. Simon had wondered if they should try doing a bit more exploring today, and see if there was anything else they could salvage or scrounge. They had decided to split up into two teams to do some exploring and assess the damage that their area had suffered overnight, if any. They still had on the same clothes as the day before, so Judith had been making notes of what sizes everybody was; so that they could go and get some more clothes for the group. Simon was starting to realise that Judith was indeed a very resourceful and vibrant woman, who would not be satisfied until she could help out with the group and their survival. Judith had been teamed up with Dawson and a few of the others to go and scavenge for clothes. Dawson had been a bit gruff this morning, but that could be attributed to the fact that she had not had much sleep. She had been on watch most of the night and Simon had reminded her of her promise to wake him up to do a shift, but she had not done so. Simon had appreciated the sleep, and had tried to be hard on Dawson but she had just said he had needed it more than she did. He had just smiled at that and nodded as he had slept right through without stirring. She had said that she had gotten some sleep, as there was nothing happening so she had dozed in the chair for a while during the night. She had woken at one point, but that was due to a fire that had suddenly flared up way uptown.
    Dawson had also pointed out that she was used to this sort of routine due to her days in the army, where she had gotten by on very little sleep at all. She had grumbled and had drunk two cups of coffee to perk herself up properly. Once she had drunk the coffee she was more awake indeed, and ready to get some action. She had blustered and tried to make excuses as to why she could not go on the ‘shopping trip’, but had eventually conceded that Judith would not take no for an answer. Simon meanwhile had also sorted out his team and they were nearly ready to get going. George had approached Simon as well earlier, mentioning the boats out on the dock that they had visited the night before. He had said that if they needed a backup plan, then it might be worth their while to see if there were any boats that they could utilise as a floating city. Simon looked at George in amusement, and then had seen how serious the consideration was. Agreeing to go back and investigate today was a good idea he realised; if the shop became overrun, and they needed a better place to go to; to be safe. George said that indeed, it was and if needed then they could stay safer on the water if the boat had a decent desalination setup on-board. Simon looked quizzically at George, wanting to know more and asked him about how he knew so much about boats. George had said that his uncle was a fisherman and owned several boats that were more luxury cruisers that were used for sport fishing, and he had been on several trips out into the deep sea to fish. Simon nodded appreciatively at that and decided that indeed it was a good idea to investigate.
    Gathering everyone together in a rough semi-circle, Dawson went through basic gun safety with everybody in the group; to get them more familiar with the weapons they had on hand. Ella was used to illustrate how