Starting the next day, everyone's schedules became more structured. In the mornings, Alan taught them how to shoot with bows, while another group did physical exercises using the training tools available at the mansion.
After the first group finished their training, they rested for half an hour and then returned to Alan, who taught them how to move properly.
Claire taught them about firearms, and Tommy covered everything about stealth.
Joel didn't take part in these training sessions—he believed he didn't need any of it because he basically thought he already knew everything.
Alan didn't care about this kind of attitude; he wasn't someone who would beg anyone to participate.
During the mornings they had lunch, and in the afternoons, they went out to explore the surrounding areas in search of food. Yes, there was enough food, but if they didn't preserve that inventory, it would run out soon, and there was no guarantee they would find more later.
Alan even taught them how to fight physically. He imitated the infected, and the others practiced killing them. Once night fell, they ate something warm and went to sleep.
Time passed quickly after days of intense training. After having emptied the nearby houses of food, they realized just how quickly supplies could run out.
After three days, Alan decided to clear houses farther away and allowed some companions to start eliminating infected on their own.
This was the perfect scenario. Besides, most of the infected they encountered were Stalkers.
Alan had told them that this type of infected combines speed with stealth. They hide and attack by surprise. Spotting them is simple—the fungus starts protruding from their heads.
At first, both Carlos and the pair of brothers quickly mastered the necessary skills. After receiving guidance from Alan, Claire, and Tommy a few times, everyone became capable of killing infected on their own.
That night, after being out for hours and returning with more supplies than expected, everyone was excited to feel that they could survive on their own.
Of course, Raj and Eduard were the most demanding. They knew that if it hadn't been for Alan's help—who constantly corrected their mistakes—several people would probably have died.
The other reality was that the hospital where his sister used to work was probably completely abandoned by now.
Claire, on the other hand, knew nothing about what was happening outside their area. The chances that millions were already dead were becoming more and more certain.
This left them with only one idea in mind: stay united and search for more survivors to grow stronger.
As the days passed, the tacit understanding between Alan and the others grew stronger. They worked with all their hearts for their future.
Killing infected with knives became easier, and using firearms and walking tactically was something they learned quickly. Each of them, in their own way, showed they were ready for more.
…
Texas, Midland, near the temporary base.
Alan walked through the streets wearing a mixed combat uniform that allowed him to move freely and fight more effectively. As always, he carried a backpack containing a bow with arrows, a machete, and various supplies.
Behind Alan, Claire held a recurve crossbow that resembled an assault rifle. For her and many others, this crossbow was much better than using a conventional bow like the one Alan or Joel used, mainly because it could be held like a rifle.
Behind her, Joel and Raj advanced, and the group crouched down carefully, avoiding the Stalkers surrounding them. The group was out hunting infected again and was also trying to chart a route clear of vehicles for when they decided to head to the military base.
No one really knew what had been happening lately, but a strange fog was rolling in from the mountains, getting denser during the day.
Along the vast expanse, people walking in the fog could only see two or three meters ahead.
This fog was unlike any they had ever experienced. Because of the infected, no one could tell if they were walking straight into a horde of Stalkers—and that was genuinely unsettling.
The fog had just cleared. Leading the group, Alan raised his hand and looked at his quartz watch. It was 9:15 a.m.
The fog had lingered much longer than it had the previous day.
The group set up a perimeter and took down all nearby infected one by one. Their crossbows gave them an advantage in this environment since the Stalkers couldn't detect where the attacks were coming from.
Alan felt it had been worth going back to retrieve all the crossbows Tommy had left behind in that store. They had also brought everything essential in case they needed to take shelter in the forest.
As the group's confidence increased, so did the chances of making mistakes.
This time was no exception.
Raj, who was with the group, spotted a new target farther away. He'd heard a sound coming from a store inside a nearby building.
Killing infected in this kind of area was a good way to find food supplies too large to carry back to the temporary shelter in one trip. They had been focusing on gathering other supplies these past days, and hadn't brought much food back.
Full of confidence, Raj walked alone toward the building. He paused but couldn't find the infected. Based on the sound he had just heard, the infected should have been inside the store.
After thinking for a moment, Raj looked around carefully. Alan had warned them many times that the infected weren't truly frightening, so one should never panic when fighting them.
Raj scanned the area, holding his crossbow, and even turned around to check behind him carefully. "Should I go in there?"
He was about eight or nine meters from the store in that building. As he turned his back to the hallway and looked around, he heard infected footsteps. The sound was slightly different from what he was used to, so he quickly turned around.
All he saw was an infected walking—not running—out of a dark hallway in the store and now following him.
Raj wasn't afraid. He had killed many infected before. So, he raised his crossbow, stayed calm, aimed at the Stalker in front of him, and fired. The arrow hit the infected right in the forehead.
Crack!
The zombie fell backward, dead.
Raj walked up, stepped on the infected, pulled the arrow from its head, and reloaded his crossbow.
Something felt off.
Wasn't that infected a Stalker? Then why, if it was being stealthy, didn't it hide when it saw him?
Thinking about this, Raj entered the store to look for food. He didn't lower his weapon; he simply took three bottles of water, put them in his personal backpack, and got ready to return—realizing he had been separated from the group for too long.
The feeling that infected had given him was strange, so Raj wanted to report what he found to Alan.
Since his mind was filled with thoughts of infected, Raj didn't notice some small fungus patches on the aluminum shelves, window sills, and exposed metal surfaces of the store.
Some of them crumbled when he touched them casually, their interiors still intact, while others had penetrated deep into the metal.
Raj remembered what Alan had once said—that he should always prioritize his own safety and come back whenever something didn't feel right.
Alan wasn't interested in food at that moment; he was searching for gun stores near their location. They had already looted two of them, so they were looking for more.
When they regrouped and rested, everyone listened to what Raj had to say.
When Raj mentioned that despite being very careful not to make any noise, the infected had walked toward him on its own initiative when it was still ten meters away, Alan frowned.
Everyone who had been waiting for Alan's reaction noticed the change in his expression and waited for him to speak.
Alan thought for a moment before saying, "I once told you I cut off an infected's limbs and used them for experiments."
Then he added, "Even though I'm sure that an infected's weak spot is the head and that they're very sensitive to sound, due to their limitations they evolve and learn to hide. I'm not surprised to see changes in their behavior—like observing what we're capable of before launching an attack."
When Tommy and the others heard Alan say this, they thought about it and realized that it really was hard to feel safe, so they let the matter go.
They simply reminded Raj that it would be better not to go out and kill infected alone in the future.
"We better keep moving," said Tommy, who knew a lot about infected abnormalities.