Now that we made it...

Jake knew she was taking glances at him. He knew because he was taking glances at her. Was she checking him out? Nah, she wasn't like that. More likely, it was a rising suspicion. Perhaps, waiting to make a real move would be better.

His hair puffed up a little. It wasn't much but it was enough to notice a difference. The skin started to revert back to a non wet state. The prune in his hands disappeared. Redness in his feet changed. Certain muscles returned to their former glory.

"Anything you need me to do?" he offered.
 
Sam was almost done with the clothing now, she would have find a place to hang them now. The best scenario would be if she could place them near the fire on something, they would dry faster and wouldn't be paying on the floor where they could get dirty all over again. When he offered to help she turned to him, looking at him a moment before nodding her head.

"Yeah, if you can find something to hang these on I can place it near the fire and they can dry faster...well, fast then they would on the cold floor." She said as she started to pull out the garments from the soapy water and wring them out as best she could, they would have to air dry the rest of the way. "Also, see if you can find some pots for me to use...I'll go grab some food and see what else I can find to throw in the pot."

With that said she stood up and went over to her back pack. She pulled out her last clean garment of clothing and pulled it on over her head before grabbing a piece of burning wood from the fire in the center of the store.

"Just start putting stuff on it once you find something and keep it near the fire...but don't actually set it on fire..."
 
"Sure thing. Be right back."

Wrapping the towel around his shoulders, he trotted off to item hunt. The pots and such were easy. Jake just grabbed a couple random pots, ladels, etc. Something to hang clothes on was on the other side of the super store. He had to drag it but it was what Sam needed.

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Carefully, everything was placed. Jake organized the pots by common use. Next, he set up clothing rack. Flashing a smile, the young man walked over to Sam. He felt rather accomplished for doing what she asked. Confidence seemed to fall from the sky, onto him.​
 
Sam had wandered off towards the food, using the burning wood to light her path. The storm had taken out all the light now, in fact it was probably evening at this point. She grabbed random can and collected them in her shirt, making it into a mini hammock for the cans. She grabbed some cans of soup and canned vegetables. It wasn't a large grab but she also only had one hand to grab things with. She carried them back just in time to see Jake approaching with a smile on his face. He seemed to be a little chipper for one reason or another.

"Hey, take these from me...I want to grab a few more things before I start to cook." She said to him quickly.
 
He took the cans, nodding. The darkness was starting to take over. Soon the temperature would be dropping from the lack of sun. Good thing they had the fire. Food was going to be made and that made Jake rather hungry. What was Sam going to cook?

"Be careful."

Turning to the fire, he raised his hands to feel the heat. It was good. Rather quickly, Jake drifted off into his conscience. Thoughts of camping entered his mind. Suddenly, his appetite waking some marshmallows to roast over the fire. He never actually camped that much, besides with his friends family. The funny thing was that Jake lived in the most wild environment of his friends. Any given day, he could open up the blinds and see a deer eating grass.
 
Sam turned and collected some still closed boxes of crackers, a gallon jug of water and a few cans of corn. She also grabbed something she found along the way, looking to be a grill grate designed to be put over fires. At this point, Sam wished she shopped at Costco more before the end...she might have been better prepared for it all. She walked back over to the fire and placed the burning wood she had been carrying back into the fire. She also set of the grill like thing and grabbed the pots he had set on the ground.

Almost as if she had done this all before, she grabbed onto her fishing knife and then to some of the cans. She placed the can on the ground and then put the knife tip near one of the edges. She started to tap lightly around the whole edge of the can, getting stronger in her taps until there was a subtle sound of the can opening. From there, she used the knife as a lever and opened the can completely, pouring what looked to be tomato soup into the pot. She repeated this process several times, opening all the soup she collected and also tossed in a can of beans, a can of corn and a can of carrots.

She let the mixture heat up slowly on the fire as she grabbed one of the cracker boxes and pealed it open, pulling out a sleeve of saltines and opening. She also popped open the gallon jug of water and before passing him the sleeve of crackers.

"Here, have some as the soup heats up..it might be a bit since it's on a fire and not a stove."
 
Wow, she was a better cook than he was. Not for lack of effort. It was so bad that Jake used to eat a lot of things raw. Those were some nasty times. They could make a good team, the more he thought of it. Sam could make sure they were fed and Jake could make sure anything dangerous had a hole in it's head. It seemed very efficient too him. Though, it helped that he had the honor of watching her move every second. A quick dirty entered his mind. Then logic kicked when he thought about how they could get burnt. Scars are only bad-ass in certain situations. This was not one of them.

"Thank you."

Jake bit half of a cracker and chewed. It wasn't stale. Actually, it was on of the freshest thing he had in a while. Which was weird because it was assumed that it was over 11 years old. He ate another and it was just as fresh. A look of confusion over ran his face.

"Here try these. Shouldn't they be a little more stale?" he asked
 
Sam was currently stirring the pot of mix match food items, letting them warm over the fire as she reached out for other nearby scraps to toss into it and feed it. The last thing she wanted was their only light source to go completely out on her. It was hard to start fires in the dark. She turned to him as he asked his question and took one of the crackers before biting into it.

It wasn't stale...

To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Now she new that some foods lasted long past the date stamped on them but for crackers to be this fresh after eleven years was...well, impossible! She finished off the cracker before grabbing the box and examining it. It looked just like the other ones of the shelf nothing was off about it at all...accept.

"...The date!" She said suddenly with surprised eyes, that being the most expression on her face in a long time. There on box was its expiration date...

Feb 30 2013
 
Jake raised an eye brow, at the date. Back and forth, his gaze went from the date to Sam. How was this going to expire two years from now? This was very strange.

"Hmm. What about the cans? Are they going to expire in two years? Maybe, it was a misprint."

He stood up, knowing that it was one or the other. Honestly, he hoped it was a mistake. Anything else, might just make him faint.
 
Sam reached over to a can, it seemed to look like it had some wear and tear but the printed date was very similar to it as well.

"It's the same thing on this can...and this one...and this one." She said as she picked up can after can.

This was strange...very strange. It was impossible for this kind of thing to happen! Food production companies hadn't been working in eleven years! Why would they suddenly pop out now? More importantly, who could afford to run a full company then half the world was dead and currency did not exist? There was something funny going on...they would have to be a little more observant as the took cans off of shelves.

"This can't be right...The world ended eleven years ago!" She said, still a little shocked.
 
Jake shook his head, in disbelief. How can this happen? It was almost as if everything had just a glimmer of hope. His blue eyes seemed to light up, in the reflection of the fire. A huge smile appeared on the young man's face.

"It did end. Now....maybe it is starting again. This means the world is climbing back up into existence. This is great!" he declared

This meant a possible return to normal life. No more hiding, killing, or just scrapping by. Hope was still alive and well. Jake laughed and hugged Sam.

"Hope never dies." he muttered

 
Sam blinked a bit, still rather surprised by all of this. The mere idea of the world coming back together was both frightening and welcoming. Welcoming because the world would return to normal but frightening because people who were once killers might walk amongst them like regular people and never get the punishment they deserved.

She blinked a bit more in surprise at the sudden hug and turned to look up at Jake strangely, this news apparently made his day.

"I don't like this..." She stated simply. "Where could food companies get the work force and money needed to do all this?...It's suspicious to say the least...More importantly, if the world is coming around why are companies only putting food in abandoned places like here? Why aren't they trying to help us out by actually finding us?"
 
Jake took his hands off of her. Perhaps, he was a little over excited. He stopped and pondered what the possibilities were. It could have been anything really. People could have somehow rebuilt machines that do the job. Maybe, people just volunteered to get the world off its ass. Who really knew?

"What if they want us to do it ourselves...so that we sustain it when these people aren't needed. Saving the world would be enough for me, to get up. Hell, I saved you just because I wanted to. What if they are being secretive because they don't want to be taken down by raiders? I mean these people can't be that bad if they supply us with food. I am not even sure I want to question this. Personally, I am just happy it's happening."

 
"Still....It's weird." Sam said as she looked over to the pot and stirred it again. "I find it strange mostly because of the lack of humanity there is. You're the first person I've seen in years...well, the first friendly person. I've had my fair share of run ins with raiders."

She looked around the Costco in thought before she stirred the soup one more time. It was just too strange...Who had the time to run a canning factory? Who had the tools and food to process? Where was this supposed land that was born anew and allowing people to reproduce packaged foods once again? She wasn't sure why...but she wanted to find this place. If anywhere was safe, it had to be where there was the ability to package food...If she was gonna improve the world again she had to know who she was working with and what their motives were.

"I suppose I know where I am going next..." She said lightly as she looked over the box once more, finding the printed address of the processor.
 
"Maybe that is why, they try to stay out of everyone's face."

This whole thing was bordering on the best thing to happen since Y2K. What could be better than bring the human race back on top? He thought that maybe he could follow her. It wouldn't be to hard. Just follow the pack of dead wolves.

Jake sat near the fire. Waiting patiently, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Sam's body--cooking was worth the wait to heat up. He was quietly scheming to see if she won't give in. Would she? Not having intimacy can be brutal on some people. The trick was timing. Though, Sam didn't seem to have a weak spot for anything. He wouldn't be able to pick that up after less than a day.

"So where are you from originally?"
 
"I was from up north, Minnesota to be specific...I started heading south as soon as I was able too, I didn't want to get caught up there during winter. Especially not after Y2K. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the northern states were grown over by now, no one sane would have stayed unless they knew how to survive the winters." She said as she peeked into the pot. "It looks done..."

With that said she grabbed two of the cans she had opened and grabbed her knife again. This time she used the handle and pressed the sharp cut edge down as much as she could. Getting a cut on the mouth was anything but pleasant. Once that was done she grabbed the pot and started to poor the soup into the cans, handing one to him before pouring one for herself. The soup was hot and the added veggies gave it enough body to keep them full for while.

"Hmm...so good." Sam mumbled after swallowing her first gulp of soup.
 
"Really? Where did you go from there?" he asked.

Jake smiled at her, when she handed him the can. It made him happy to know that this was fresh. The first sip made him gasp at the taste. It was so delicious. The veggies felt so good, going down his throat. Looking down into the can, he was just stared at the chunks of food in the mixture.

"Please stay forever. A cook is such a help to happiness in life."

Softly, he chuckled and smiled at Sam.
 
"I headed through Chicago, though only on the edge...The city was full of gangs and such. After that I just walked old highway roads anded shut down gas stations for Twinkies. I caught wind of this Costco after my last run in with a group of raiders, luckily I had a gun and they didn't so things were in my favor. So now I'm here...learning that the world might be coming together again." She said as she leaned back, taking another swig of her soup.

She looked at him when he asked her to stay, finding it a little surprising but also an understandable request. Not only was he a man but he was alone and in a world with not convenience food...It was a miracle he survived as long as he had. Also, he was a wonderful shot and considering she could barely fight off those wolves any assistance she could get was welcomed.

"Alright...I suppose I could stay. She said softly as she looked at him, smiling back a little for the first time.
 
He nodded to her first answer. Quite fearless when she needed to be. Truth is, people needed to be out here. No one would survive, alone, without having some sort of tenacity.

Her smile made him smile. Blushing, Jake decided to move closer to Sam. He wanted to close to her. Hopefully, she would not be to weird-ed out. They were now a few feet away from eachother.

"Great. That would make us a pretty good team. Don't you know?" he asked
 
"I guess it would...Probably be easier to carry stuff as well with two back packs instead of one. You're a good shot as well so I won't have to worry about the next wolf pack that comes my way." She said a little jokingly as she looked towards the.

She didn't seem to notice him move closer, and if she did she didn't mind it. It had been a long time since she had any human contact...well, any positive human contact. He seemed so nice and so far showed no interest in wanting her dead, quite the opposite actually. If they teamed up they'd be able to make it in this word not weather or not it was coming back again.
 
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