[b]Buck Bradley – Outside Methodist Emergency Center – Farren North[/b]

Buck accepted the hammer from Farren with a grateful nod.

He was glad that Farren had agreed to keep moving on with him. He really wanted to see what was up ahead and really wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving her and her son behind. Going through an experience like they had just shared together really created a bond between people. A horrible and tragic bond. He chuckled when Dean tried to pull at his beard. “Hasn’t been washed in a while, Champ. You just go back to sleep now. We’re safe again.” [i]For the moment[/i], he thought to himself. He tucked the hammer through one of his belt loops and the trio continued on.

The three of them made surprisingly good time after that. Buck was silently impressed with how well Farren was able to keep up, even carrying Dean. More than once he had to quicken his own step to keep up. [i]I’ve seen that look before,[/i] he thought. [i]She’s determined to keep the kid safe at all costs. A good mother.[/i] He smiled. It was nice to know there were still good people in this horrific world.

After some time they reached the building they had been searching for. The lights were still out, but Buck could make out the sign. “Methodist Emergency Center. Makes sense someone might try to hole up here. I wonder why they turned the lights back out.” The building looked to be in good shape. There were no signs of anyone around, but somewhere in the darkness Buck could hear the distinct sound of walkers approaching. “Lights must have drawn them in too,” he said to Farren. “Plus I heard what I thought were gunshots coming from this way earlier. That will draw them this way for sure.” There were several doors to the building, all of them locked. Finally they stopped in front of the main entrance – a set of big glass doors.

Buck looked at Farren. “Well what do you think? There might be someone in there, there might not. There might be some food and supplies in there, it might have been picked clean. Those are always the risks you take nowadays, huh?” He tapped on the glass doors. “One thing’s for sure, it’s not gonna stay safe out here for much longer. I think my new hammer could make short work of these doors but then that takes away the security of the place if there is any. Or we could just knock?” He laughed, unable to decide what to do. “I’m down for whatever you wanna do.”