Free Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies by Jo Lee Auburne

new unopened one. Let your Mom know.”
    “Roger that,” Sam said. “Come on, sis, you’re with me.”
    Both the dogs seemed to be glued to the girls, following them. Maybe they sensed that food might be forthcoming if they paid attention and worked alongside everyone.
    Amanda put a foot on the back tire and swung into the bed of the truck. From there, she handed Roy a five-gallon plastic bucket, which he set on the ground. Next she uncapped the metal drum and stuck a length of chopped hose into it. The height of the truck bed and gravity would send the water down into the bucket. She handed Roy the other end of the hose, which he rested on the bottom of the bucket. Water began to flow.
    “Should you be carrying that?” Amanda asked, speaking of his injured shoulder.
    “I’ve got a good arm left,” Roy said, “now, don’t emasculate me completely. I feel bad enough that I didn’t come along for the run.”
    Amanda handed him another bucket to fill once that one was finished. She could see the beam of a flashlight bouncing their way.
    “Here, Sam,” Amanda said, passing her a medium-sized red duffle bag with black straps. The bag had a medical symbol on the side of it. “Take that to your mother, she’s going to love that. Found it in an ambulance that was still locked up in a storage lot.”
    “An EMT bag?” Roy said and then whistled.
    “It’s better than that, because I stuffed some extra stuff in it from the ambulance,” Amanda said.
    “Whoa, too cool,” Sam said. “Wish you could’a just brought the whole ambulance. That would be the bomb to drive around out here.”
    “Give me something,” Tammy asked.
    “You’re carrying the light, you don’t need anything,” her sister answered.
    Tammy scrunched up her face in thought for a second and then smiled. “Okay,” she said, turning to light the way.
    “Find any batteries?’ Roy asked. “The heat’s been giving us only about half the normal battery life for those flashlights.”
    Roy switched the hose to the empty bucket, being careful not to let any of the water spill to the ground. Amanda handed him another empty bucket.
    “Found packages of four Cs and two Ds,” Amanda said, speaking of the batteries. “Found those inside the ambulance, of all places,” she continued. “But I didn’t find any more anywhere else that I looked. I was in a hurry, though, trying to get in and get out unnoticed.”
    Roy nodded, familiar with how the runs worked. He looked like he had a question, but he didn’t say anything.
    “Thought maybe it’s time to try that home improvement store again,” Amanda said. “It’s probably cleared out some now.”
    She and Roy had attempted to check that store out a couple of months ago, but it was like creeper central in there, and they had decided not to risk it. The good news was that others would have thought the same thing, and that meant that it had not been looted much, if at all.
    “Mom is so excited about that bag,” Sam said, returning with her sister in tow. “You’d think it’s like Christmas or something.”
    “I like Christmas,” Tammy said.
    Amanda handed over three plastic bags filled with canned food to Sam.
    “Now, I’m excited,” Sam said. “I am so hungry.”
    “I want to carry one,” her sister said.
    Sam dug into one of the bags and handed her sister a single can to carry.
    “Gotta teach them while they’re young, am I right?” Sam said.
    “What’s gotten into you?” Roy asked of Sam. “You’re in a good mood now.”
    “You should have seen these two thirty minutes ago,” Roy said to Amanda.
    “I can believe it,” Amanda answered. “Can you blame them, angry at the world for changing, hot, displaced, and hungry?”
    “Maryanne’s been at her wit’s end all day,” Roy said, shaking his head. He moved the hose to the third empty bucket and then looked behind him to see if the girls were returning. “And then we almost lost Jason today,” he said, shaking his head