The grocery store was empty, there was no point in any further scavenging, he was just burning valuable time- and energy. He will have to do with the expired milk. Mark looked back, the pickup halfway through the store, Rachel gasping in the distance by the dead body of the gas station's owner- Monty. He took out his wrench and walked out, feet steeping on empty bags of chips and empty cans of beer. The sky was turning purple, the sun was setting, the night approaching and slowly spreading its black cloak upon the skyline of Salt Lake City.
"Rachel, are you alright? Found anything useful on poor Monty?" He asked, a subtle chill in the air as the sun slowly faded behind the trees and buildings.
Rachel had a shiny thing in her hands, it was stained with blood. Mark inspected the logo on the key and figured it was the pickup's, things started to make a bit of sense. Or maybe got a bit too complicated- none of his current concerns.
"Keep those, we won't be moving that pickup anytime soon. Or throw it away, your call. It's almost dark, we need to head somewhere safer." Mark said, with a neutral tone, his anger faded a bit. He wasn't always this irate person, in fact he never was a person of fury and anger before he lost his wife weeks ago. It was more frustration, bit of desperation, than mere anger. As the night came closer to the city, the growling of the undead increased, the screams of the hungry, animated dead.
"Rachel, we will have to get to the city, we have better chances there than here. But you must understand, I am here to find my people, my relatives. My wif-- A person dear to me might be here. So as soon as we get to a safe place, as soon as I get you to safe shelter we will split up. I'm sorry, but I really have to find-- this person on my own. Make haste girl, the sun's setting." Mark said, he waited for Rachel to respond, his eyes on the horizon as she spoke.
Mark walked into the city, picking up pace, Rachel catching up to him. The two reached the first block of the city, it was quite a mess. Abandoned cars, burnt cars, and a lot of dead bodies. Headless remains of once human figures. Suddenly the attention of the two was captured by the approaching noise of shambling footsteps, lots of footsteps and growling. It was a sizable horde, a bloody big horde of hungry demons. Hungry undead. Hungry walkers. Mark quickly crouched behind one of the burnt cars and pulled Rachel close to him, he probably pulled her too hard.
"FUCK! It's a damn horde of them, one wrong mistake and we are done." Mark said, sweating, head boiling. He scanned around for an open space to run to, somewhere to hide. He spotted a clear way to an alleyway nearby, a couple blocks behind it was a remarkably tall building- Salt Lake City's tallest building. Mark looked at Rachel, she said something to him, he didn't catch her amid the approaching noise of the horde.
"Rachel, there, come on." Mark pointed at the alleyway as the two dashed for it, attracting a couple of the walkers leading the horde.