Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night - Chapter 49

Looting Some Much Needed Gear
After running off in the opposite direction from the Howler, Zane found himself searching for a store. More specifically, a sporting goods store. Luckily for him, this shopping mall had one of such locations within it.

The sporting goods store was the largest store in the outdoor shopping mall. It was a two story building with a roof so large that it could and did fit a Ferris wheel inside of it. Like most of the city, the store appeared to have been ransacked already.

Windows were shattered, and dead bodies were scattered throughout the building. Some of which were killed by the hands of the living and others were picked clean by the myriad of undead that were currently stalking through the store.

Interestingly enough, the Ferris wheel was still turning around, while music played across the entirety of the building, an almost haunting reminder that just a few days ago, this was a place to be enjoyed by the public.

Zane, of course, treated the area with caution, as he made his way to the second floor, in hopes that some useful items would still remain. After all, that was the section which was dedicated to firearms and outdoor equipment.

After taking the escalator to the top, Zane walked around, flashing his weapon light around, looking for any potential hostiles. Yet all he saw were the dead who walked across the area without a slightest bit of conscious thought.

After a swift search, Zane found that all the firearms that had been out on display, whether openly, or behind class, had been stolen by the lotters. Normally there would be hundreds of guns, of various different types, for sale in this second store area, but now there was nothing.

Not only had the weapons been stolen, but so too had the accessories. Whether it was magazines, spare bolts, optics, or even stocks, pistol grips, and rail attachments. Pretty much everything was gone, aside from the most worthless of such devices.

But Zane didn’t come here for weapons. Instead, he came to this mall in search of clothing, and thus he headed to another part of the second floor, where they kept such things. Luckily for Zane, the crowds of rioters appeared less concerned with looting clothing than they were with guns, accessories, and ammunition.

Leading Zane to find quite a few items to choose from. Zane quickly placed down his rifle, after finding a set of clothes, which he found to his liking. For his underwear, he found a pair of merino wool thermal underwear. It was specially designed to wick sweat, and to make the cold winter comfortable. While also being capable of venting excess heat in the summer.

Thus, Zane immediately stripped out of his attire to the point where he was absolutely naked. Once he had done this, he put on the long thermal underwear. Which went all the way up to his chin via a half zipper style turtle neck.

After donning the long underwear, Zane scavenged around and found some matching socks, which he placed over his feet, and the lowest part of the long underwear. Sealing up his ankles and even shins with an extra layer of protection against the elements.

Zane looked in the mirror, and found that his long underwear clung to his now chiseled boy, in a way that managed to show off his abs. It was almost as if he were wearing a skin suit. After inspecting his figure for but a moment, Zane found a pair of black stretchable jeans which were manufactured by a popular tactical company, which sold primarily clothing and body armor.

After putting on the jeans, Zane fetched a pair of hiking boots, which were as black as the rest of his attire. Zane then strapped his inner belt and outer gun belt onto his kit, while also fastening the mid ride strap which stabilized his holster to his hip.

Zane also found a pair of knee pads, which he equipped onto his lower body. These were definitely a godsend, as the last thing Zane wanted was to injure his knees by slamming them on the concrete, or worse, some form of jagged rubble when he was engaging in a firefight.

Once he had done this, he was about to reach over and grab the body armor he had scavenged from the National Guardsman who he had killed a few days prior, when Zane spotted something else that caught his interest. It was a slim, minimalistic plate carrier, which was compatible with the ESAPI plates which he normally wore.

Knowing that this plate carrier was lightweight and could be worn beneath a jacket rather than exclusively over one. Zane quickly pulled the body armor out of his carrier and put it in the new low profile one, where he then placed it over his chest.

Interestingly enough, this plate carrier had built in pockets which could hold the three magazines he normally kept on his chest. Thus, he placed the STANAG Magazines in the pouches before looking for the last two items of clothing that he needed.

Zane quickly found a pair of half finger tactical gloves sitting on one of the shelves, which he pulled out of the packaging before placing them on his fingers. Where he eventually returned to his rifle. Grabbing hold of it and slinging it over his chest.

Once he had done this, he began searching for the last piece of clothing he needed, but not before stumbling upon an interesting find. The standard issue GI sling to the m4 carbine was in all honesty a piece of shit, thus it came as a surprise when he found a much more modern option and in a matching black color nearby.

This sling came with QD attachment points, which he was quick to replace his current sling, that was wrapped around his M4 Carbine. Finally, after doing this, and having a better sling option, which would allow him too much more rapidly bring his rifle into action, Zane went back down to the first floor, where he searched for a jacket.

Zane quickly found the jacket he wanted, which was a sporting style synthetic leather jacket, with a built in cotton hoodie. Which he wrapped around his torso, allowing him to sport off a fashionable, yet functional kit.

While Zane was collecting his new gear, he was entirely unaware that he was being watched from a nearby building. After all, while his rifle light was excellent for spotting and disorienting potential hostiles. It also completely gave away his position to anybody within visible distance.

Thus, a group of survivors had quickly spotted Zane and begun to encircle his position. Whether they intended to rob him, kill him, or negotiate, Zane could not be any more aware.