An offer

When they stepped up to the front door they found it barred from the inside. Mason stepped forward and tested the door before putting force behind the push and breaking the chains that were holding the door closed. He turned to address the two groups before stepping in.

"I'm going to take that as a sign that there are people here. Keep that in mind as we move forward and try to not shoot anyone. Don't put away your guns, unless you don't trust yourself with them, because we also don't know if they're hostile or not."

Mason did not turn around until he got confirmation from everyone. Darcy was the only one who put their gun away and Mason made a note of that. He turned back to the door and opened it. Everyone filed in behind him two at a time, spreading out as they moved forward. Saunders was the last in and made a point of closing the door behind them.

The supermarket was all one level, but it was large. It held a grocery section and a non-grocery section that held camping supplies, toys, household goods, and other essentials. They separated into three teams. Vaughan, Bates, Darcy, and Joel took the left. Mason and Gabriel took the center while Saunders, Moss, Ashton, and Grady went right.

"How many are there?"

Gabriel whispered as they walked, eyes alert to any movement.

"I thought you didn't like it when I did that?"

Gabriel frowned and punched Mason's arm, "It's weird, but it's beyond helpful out here."

Mason smiled, "I'm getting five distinct smells from the back."

Mason stopped moving and closed his eyes, he took in a deep breath and slowly released it. He cocked his head to the side as he took another deep breath. He moved his hand to point toward Vaughan's team.

"Their team will come across two here shortly."

Mason opened his eyes and turned to look to their right and started to walk again. Gabriel did not say anything as he followed, gun raised and finger resting against the trigger guard. He had seen where Mason had been looking and knew that meant someone was near them. Mason had stayed quiet to help them sneak up.

As they moved forward the aisles to the right went from bedsheets to toys. To the left, it was children's clothes. The shelves to their right were set up so that the ends faced the path they were walking. Mason motioned for Gabriel to move forward two aisles and walk down the aisle that had a hanging sign saying it held stuffed animals and baby toys. Mason took a right and separated from Gabriel.

Mason found himself surrounded by dolls and doll accessories as he moved to cut off the human's escape route. For some reason, the sight of all those doll eyes watching him creeped him out. He had the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all. He had seen enough blood and gore and death to give him a lifetime of nightmares, but it was the dolls that really bothered him.

Mason matched his pace with Gabriel's as he came out of the aisle of dolls and moved toward the plush aisle. He let Gabriel turn down the aisle first, giving the person hiding their time to see him and turn to run, then stepped in.

The person that had started to run away from Gabriel nearly ran into Mason before they stopped. They lost their footing and fell on their ass with an 'oof' and a curse. Mason was surprised to find that it was a girl who did not look much older than Rick, Gabriel's son.

"We mean you no harm."

"Says the man with a gun."

She spat out and she crawled away from Mason and stood. She put her back against the shelf of stuffed animals, her eyes moving from Mason to Gabriel, fear clearly written on her face. Mason raised his hands, showing off the fact that he held no gun.

"I don't have a gun. I won't have Gabriel put his away until we're certain no one is going to jump us."

There were shouts in the direction of Vaughan's group and the sound of items hitting the floor. She jumped and looked in the direction of the noise.

"Are you going to hurt us?"

She turned to Mason, eyes shining with unshed tears. He could only imagine how rough her life had suddenly gotten. There were a few scratches on her face and her hands were visibly shaking. Her clothes looked clean, but that was an easy enough fix while inside a building that held a decent selection of clothing.

"Only if attacked first. I'd prefer to avoid any injuries if at all possible. Now, I'm going to ask nicely that you take us to your friends in the back. Having you with us will help keep them from making bad choices."

She nodded and hugged herself. Mason walked up to her, placing a hand at her back to guide her forward. She shivered at the touch but did not say anything. He felt bad for the distress he was causing her, but would not let it stop him from his mission.

Their pace to the back was brisk and they made it in no time. There was only one door, a set of double doors that were more like flaps with no doorknobs and square windows. Gabriel moved to the side, next to the wall, while she stepped forward to knock on the doors. It was not a loud sound but it was assumed to be enough to get the attention of the five behind the doors.

"It's Becky."

Becky pushed open one of the doors and walked in. Mason was visible to her left while Gabriel, gun ever ready, was hidden coming up on her right. Mason caught sight of a woman in her early forties kneeling with two young children who held tight to her. There was an older gentleman standing to her side, eyes wide as he caught sight of Mason.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mason saw movement to his left and raised his arm in time to stop the metal bat that had been aimed for his head. He pulled on the bat and ripped it from the man's grasp, he kicked the man away in the same move. Mason had caught the man by surprise and managed to knock him down.

The girl ran to the woman and crouched down to wrap an arm around the children. Gabriel walked into sight, gun lowered, and pointed at the largest group of people. One of the kids started to cry and the man on the floor raised his hands in surrender.

"Keep an eye on them."

Gabriel nodded and Mason stepped back out, looking in the direction that Vaughan's team had taken. He was not worried about the third team, he knew that they would not come across anyone.

"Center and back clear."

Mason called out then stepped back through the door. He took a second look at every one. The old man and the one who had tried to hit him were both wearing uniforms, marking them as employees. The one that had tried to hit him was blond with grey eyes and looked like he was barely twenty.

The old man looked near fifty but was in better shape visibly than some younger than him were. He had more muscles than the lanky kid who had been swinging the metal bat. Mason motioned for the kid to get up. He did and moved to stand with the others.

A few minutes later Vaughan's team appeared with a man and a woman who both appeared to be in their thirties. The man had started to sport a black eye and kept giving dirty looks to Bates, which made it clear who had hit him. The woman had kept some distance from the man and Mason took that to mean that they were allies but not together.

"Left side cleared."

Vaughan reported when they stepped into the back room. Joel directed the two they had captured to join the others.

"Right side cleared."

Ashton said as the third group joined them in the backroom. If you looked at the numbers they were almost one-to-one, but if you looked at the fact that two were children and one was barely a teen then the supermarket group was outnumbered. They were certainly outmatched when it came to weapons. One metal bat means nothing against eight guns.

"We aren't here to hurt anyone. We are here for supplies and to extend an invitation to the sanctuary that we call home. You will not be forced to come with us, and you are free to stay here. However, your staying here will not stop us from taking what we want from the store.

"We have a lot more people to feed than your little group."

Mason turned to his people and motioned to the door.

"Go and start gathering everything."

There were a few nods and grunts of acknowledgment then everyone but Mason and Gabriel left. Mason turned his attention back to the group.

"Now, who's staying, and who's coming with us?"