CHAPTER 22 - Think Ahead and Be Quick

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It was almost about half a week that's gone and passed by since the previous week, in another fast blur of sorts, that Eden has gone through upon doing the tasks needed to be completed until the time comes on the very day she will be going and preparing for. Such as the goal of the tasks are scoping out the mall, gathering the necessary materials she needed for the operation, placing them in ready positions, preparing herself, and training to get ready for the mission she's been going through for the three-day break-time she spent in Safe Haven.

Even though Eden should have taken a break and rested for the moment, spending time to bond more with her children and pet dogs, she knew that she needs to train more, be prepared and be ready when the time comes for the mission operation she's going to go and do. But she will teach the kids and train the dogs in her spare time to do so that they will learn better how to survive through this apocalypse.

It was during those three-day resting time that she was busy training herself, teaching her kids and dogs too, as well as preparing the needed equipment and tool-kit she'll be bringing along for the incoming operation, and finally getting the vehicle ready for transport from the targeted building to bring it home into Safe Haven.

As it turns out, the kind of transporting vehicle Eden is going to use for the raid mission, was a semi-truck, that she also modified to put sturdy armor into its body and make sure that the tread of the big wheels was maintained well so that the large vehicle won't be tip-over if she ends up tangling with the Omega or Alpha zombie types.

Then Eden made sure that she meditated to be calm and composed when the time comes for the raiding operation, and make sure that her mind isn't distracted or unfocused so that she won't make any mistakes during the mission run she set her goals to so that the new stock of supplies and things will be able to provide for her group in the future later on and they can survive through this apocalypse as they continue staying and living in Z-city.

After the three-day break and the exact day had come, Eden had taken a deep breath, donning a completely dark and very deep black clothing ensemble with a long-sleeved hooded jacket with fitted-vest armor over it, tight-fitted running pants, sturdy-light shoes that are good for running and climbing, and lastly, head-strap night-vision goggles and cloth-mask for safety cover over her nose and mouth.

Then she put on the prepared equipment and weaponry onto her person, and following one of her survival rules, she made sure that she packs light so that she won't have difficulty moving around if she had a heavy load on her and it will slow her down or give her a disadvantage if something unexpectedly bad happens.

The equipment and weaponry, beside the head strap-on night-vision goggles already on her head, beneath the dark hood of her jacket, are as follows: two 9mm handguns strap on both left and right sides of the belt of her pants, one hunting knife strapped and hidden on her left lower leg, one fully-equip modern Swiss army knife on the other right lower leg, a quiver full of sharp arrows and super long-range sniper rifle gun strapped around her back in criss-cross positions, a Holt recurve long-bow sling on by its string over the right shoulder side, and finally, a carry-on shoulder string-strap small hand-bag over around the left shoulder side.

After she was done dressing up and equipping herself, she looked over the edge of the rooftop to make sure that the semi-truck vehicle is still there with gas cans ready for driving around with it on that day and transporting goods, and when done double-checking that everything is ready for her, she turned to her children, who are both worried for her, as well as Luna and her pup Archer who are whining anxiously by their side.

Eden just pulled Michael and Annie close into her arms and embraced them for reassurance that she will be fine and she rubbed affectionately the two dogs' heads before she gave firm orders, sternly telling them to watch over the kids. Then she turned to the little ones again, reminding them that she was only a walkie-talkie radio call away and she will call back when she arrives at the building she was targeting, also call when the job is finished on that day today, and call when she's returning home to Safe Haven.

It took about a minute of convincing and reassurances again for Eden to comfort her two children before they finally relent on letting her go, and Michael and Annie watched forlornly as Eden pulled the dark hood over her head to shade her masked face from the hot sunlight and went over the rooftop edge to climb down the ladder and get to the semi-truck.

Luna kept the little ones at bay by the side, not letting them go look over the edge to see their human guardian leave but they can hear the big vehicle as it left with a smoke-puffing sound from the truck's tailpipe up to the revving sound of tires driving down the street until there's only silence that can be heard among the four of them, except the small whines from the puppy Archer.

The female dog Luna tried to usher and herd the children to come inside the building and go downstairs into their rooms to wait for their guardian but both of them refused to do so and Michael pulled his sister Annie to nest themselves inside the big camping tent that Eden set up there on the rooftop and never packed it up since she used to do watch duties up there and both sat down inside the tent and settle themselves onto the make-shift sleeping cots so that they'll wait for Eden on the rooftop and be there when she climbs back up the ladder upon coming home.

It took almost a long while, between when Eden called as promised upon arriving at the target position she went to until Eden came home, returning with a successful mission in the end but when Eden called back to say that she was coming home, the kids missed the call as they were napping suddenly after playing with the two dogs' Archer and Luna to ease the time they were waiting for her on.

It was nearing sun-down as Michael and Annie woke up from their short naps after playing with the dog's Archer and Luna, and they were already eager and waiting by the edge of the rooftop side where the ladder is, just as Eden's head came up and then her whole person, which revealed that she went through the raid of her target, end up getting a bit dusty and ruffled.

The two kids surprised Eden a bit when they suddenly hugged her straight at her legs when she climbed over and got onto the rooftop, and both the little ones were very happy to see that she came home safe and sound and fully intact without any injuries on her but it's possible that Eden got some and they were hidden because the children didn't notice her wince and flinch slightly like they aggravated a few of her wounds beneath her clothes or something.

Eden sighed and went down to comfort her kids, accepting the sudden pushy dogs when they wriggle into their space and joining the group hugging and so, with Luna licking the woman's face with relief and Archer barking and yipping happily at her, and Eden smiled behind her mask. After the hugging and reassuring embraces, Eden stood back up on her feet, told the kids of the successful mission, and finally, she said that she and the kids will have a busy time the next day, transporting the new goods and supplies which are still down there in the big semi-truck vehicle and bring them inside Safe Haven.

For now, they'll just have dinner and go to bed as it's now night-time and Eden firmly made her decision over this but the kids didn't mind as they're already excited to help their adult guardian out for the next day since Eden went through it with a completely successful mission accomplished. It didn't take long for Eden to cook up and make dinner for them, clean themselves up, change to sleep-wear, and then settle to bed downstairs inside the building of Safe Haven.

Once Eden saw her kids easily falling asleep in deep slumber on their shared bed, with Archer and Luna doing the same, and then she reached out for her journal to write a new entry into it about the raid operation and how it went into ending up in success and completion.

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JOURNAL ENTRY: DAY UNKNOWN, 9TH MONTH SEPTEMBER, YEAR 2XXX

I'm back and still alive!

This is Eden, reporting and stating right here that I succeeded on the mission that I was planning on and completely managed to survive it!

During the raiding operation on the big mall building, I went inside and gathered up the new goods, supplies, and other kinds of useful stuff in there for our group and new stocks to put into storage, necessary for our survival.

Here's how the mission operation goes as stated here so.

I wore the suitable kind of clothing that can make me maneuver and move around easily without tripping up on my feet and getting caught by the dangers from the super-mall I'm targeting at. And I equipped myself with the right materials and weapons needed for this operation that I am going to act and run through.

Just by following the right rules on my survival list, RULE #6: Prioritize the important stuff, and RULE #8: Make sure to pack light.

And that is what I did.

Then after I comforted and reassured my group that I'll be fine and come back safe and healthy, I climbed down right to the vehicle that I'll be using and it was a semi-truck, big enough to transport the massive kinds of materials and goods that I might find inside the big super-mall. After doing that I drove the truck right onto the back of the mall, where the owners and workers would stock up there and I made sure to park it right with its behind at the back ramp already opened up but I didn't get it fully in there, since I haven't put on the first stage of the operation, which is the music-blaring distraction to lure the hidden dangers inside the mall out.

For the large speakers and the boom-box music players already set up and placed that I put into, you're wondering how I can draw any unknown occupants that are inside the mall and lure them out so that there won't be any hidden dangers inside I will be stumbling into. When I had already prepared and placed them before, what I have done is that I strapped them nice and tight into the back of jeep-cars or vans and I fueled them with battery power so that when they're turned on and the speakers release the loud blaring noises and such, they will keep being turned on all the while until the battery loses power. As for operating and driving the vehicles with the strapped speakers and boom-box music players, I won't be driving them upon luring the hiders in the mall out, I will be controlling them by a modified remote control that I already fixed and set up on them before.

The first phase of the operation worked, as I turned on the music and I can hear the loud noises blaring from the speakers, almost making me jump in surprise and my ears ring when they blasted so loudly, and then I swiftly turned on the cars by the modified newly-fixed remote control I have done and drove the cars from the mall's rooftop view when I climbed up there after parking the semi-truck in the back.

In honor of the music-star singers of Classic Rock, I had put in the most upbeat and loud-blaring kind of noisy music to lure the hidden threats and dangerous hiders out of the mall, and I watched with glee as this idea of the first part of the plan worked, when a zombie horde of Beta-Z came shuffling out from the opened doors and windows from the front doors of the big mall until there are a few handful-sized groups of Omega-Z sprinting at the end of it, coming out from the side openings of the large building.

Once they're all out and I remote-controlled the vehicles to drive down the streets and put them far away from the super-mall itself, I quickly went to do and act on the next part of the plan, that is phase two, hoarding and gathering all the supplies and putting them into the truck as fast as I can. I swiftly climbed down and opened up the back of the semi-truck first before I ran in with wheeled carts ready to load in the goods, starting from the top floors and to the bottom-ground one.

Fortunately, I had mapped up and scaled the mall earlier when I scoped it out upon discovering the building, and I knew the exact kinds of shops and spots where I need to go and gather up the stuff, without even stopping to stand by and look over it again, because I need to do this as swift as possible.

It took me in total about six to seven wheeled trolleys and carts full of goods and supplies to return to the truck swift I can be, and I was almost exhausted at the end of my successful findings and then transporting all the goods from the cart trolleys into the semi-truck until I'm completely done and finished.

Also lucky for me, that I haven't stumbled or gotten myself into any kind of skirmish or unexpected situation as I ran around the mall, gathering up all the stuff there since I had my night-vision goggles on all the time and I had my senses sharpened almost all the time so that I'll be alert and aware for anything. Thus, as the survival rules go like in my list: RULE #3: Don't ever relax, always be alert, and RULE #4: Always trust instinct.

After I was finally done, I shut down the back ramp and instantly got in the cab and drove the semi-truck right on out of there, before the possibility of the Beta-Z and Omega-Z coming back from following the music-blaring lead of the remote-controlled distracting vehicles, or maybe some Alpha-Z zombie kinds might come stalking by and search for prey, such as me driving away. I rode the truck and drove it with easy maneuver and less difficulty down the road, called on the walkie-talkie back to my kids that I'm coming and going back straight home to Safe Haven.

When I returned safe and sound to Safe Haven, I parked the slightly full semi-truck in a good hiding spot away from sight by the side of the building. Then I climbed up, greeted my kids, and then told them that on the next day, we'll be transferring and transporting all the supplies I obtained and gathered from the successful operation and bring them inside Safe Haven and put them all into the storage units.

And that's over and done with. Now onto the next entry about the next day, that my group and I will be busy moving the goods into Safe Haven here and kept safe and secure inside and so on.

Mission accomplished and onto the next one!

Until then, this is Eden signing off.

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After writing the entry and finishing it about the day's events, Eden sighed with relief and exhaustion, shaking her head a bit like she was trying to stop herself from falling asleep in that sitting position next to her sleeping children and dogs, as she put away the journal and then moved to lie down and go to sleep peacefully and content.

Eden needs to be fully rested however long she can sleep so that she'll be awake and alert for the next day upon transporting all the supplies into Safe Haven and then keeping them secure and safe in the storage units.

Then Eden wonders what kind of stuff she'll be equipping herself with next and new when she looks through them again, during the supply transportation, and also wonders how useful they will be for her and her group's survival in the later future.

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