Ten minutes of awkwardly shuffling across the street with a variety of groceries and supplies and Andy conveniently finding the dolly at the very end later, I was about ready to pack it in and go home only to remember I still had my stuff from Gertie’s to collect as well as some groceries.

I allowed myself a few minutes to sit in the open back of Monster Mash though, if only to give my spine some time to realign after all the weird shifting it had done the dozen or so times I’d nearly tripped.

Once again, I was deeply regretting my point allocation.

I knew the best way to fix that was to level up again though, and that sitting around moaning about my low strength and whatnot was only going to depress me further.

So, with a stretch, I got up and closed the van and prepared myself to head back into Gertie’s, stopping as Nolan’s truck pulled up beside me.

“Hey!” Nolan exclaimed with a surprising amount of enthusiasm as he stepped out of his truck, “What you got back there?”

“Just a delivery I’m doing for Andy,” I replied, still slightly taken aback by his arrival, “what about you? Got yourself a good haul?”

Nolan smiled widely at that, walking around to his tray as he did, “You could say that.” he said, pulling something from the back and using his large body to hide it.

“Is this why you were being so weird before?” I asked with a smile as Nolan turned to face me, somehow managing to keep what he had in his hands out of sight, “You know you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“You say that,” Nolan replied, “but the way I see it, the better off you are, the better off we are.”

I furrowed my brow at that, maintaining my smile as I did, “What did you get?”

“Close your eyes,” Nolan said firmly, “trust me, you’ll like it.”

I’d been conditioned by my sister to expect a punch after following that command, but I managed to fight past the dozen or so years of programming and closed my eyes, putting my hands out preemptively as I did so.

“Alright…” Nolan muttered, clearly making sure my eyes were actually closed, before putting the weighty gift into my hands, “Open.”

“Woah…” I trailed off as I looked over the black rifle in my hands, “I… Why? I mean, thank you, but… why?”

“Felt like you could put it to good use,” Nolan replied with a grin, “besides, it really isn’t all that much. Probably won’t down anything bigger than a whitetail without some work.”

“Still though,” I said, pulling the rifle’s tab out, “you have no idea what kind of a difference this’ll make.”

“Oh, I have some idea.” Nolan chuckled while I read over the rifle’s stats.

Rifle

.308 Hunting Rifle

A largely synthetic reliable budget rifle designed for civilian use.

Handling

4/10

Damage

5/10

Fire Mode

Bolt Action

Ammunition

.308

“As an added bonus, we’ll be able to go ‘hunting’ hunting again,” Nolan remarked eagerly after backing towards his truck and reaching into the tray, “nothing better than putting your own meat on the table.”

“I’d probably put it another way, but yeah, I couldn’t agree more.” I said as Nolan pulled a black gun bag from the tray and handed them to me, “So, speaking of hunting and food, I’m looking at getting a fridge today. Bed, too.”

“Um…” Nolan trailed off confusedly, “Are you sure that’s the best idea?”

“Sure,” I replied with a confident nod, accepting the gun bag as I did, “why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life,” Nolan clarified, “but don’t you think it’d make more sense to, you know, wait? Just ‘cause with the whole house and everything?”

“The house and ever-oh… Right.” I scoffed embarrassedly, “Yeah, I s’pose. We kind of need a fridge, and a washing machine, and a dryer… Come to think of it, we kind of need everything I got today.”

Nolan visibly thought on a solution for a few seconds after that, occasionally coming up with something before swiftly discounting it, until finally smiling and gesturing to Monster Mash, “Could put a mattress in there?”

“True,” I replied, “but then I’d have a bed and a shower the girls can’t use.”

“I actually have an idea for the shower,” Nolan said, tapping his head with his finger, “we get an umbrella.”

“An umbrella?” I chuckled, “I don’t know if they’ll go for that.”

“It’s strictly temporary,” Nolan assured me, “my thinking is that having to run out at dusk with an umbrella to shower is better than no shower at all.”

“It’ll be a tough sell…” I muttered, still smiling at the thought.

“Yeah, but if anyone can do it, you can.” Nolan replied with a reassuring clap to my shoulder.

“Easy for you to say.” I jokingly grumbled before turning to look at Gertie’s, “What should I do about the fridge and that though? The girl in there’s already writing it all up.”

“Could still buy it?” Nolan suggested with a shrug, “Make sure no one else can grab it, then, in a few days once the house is finished, have it delivered.”

“You think Gertie’ll go for that?” I asked.

“No reason she shouldn’t,” Nolan replied confidently, “as long as you’ve got the money for it. The only reason she doesn’t hold stuff normally is because people would just let it sit there indefinitely and then not buy it.”

“Good point,” I agreed, “alright, well, do you want to get a head start on the groceries? I’m good for buying, but I figure I should get these supplies up the mountain sooner rather than later.”

“What supplies?” Nolan asked.

“Just some stuff for the Reformed,” I explained, widening Nolan’s eyes, “pay’s good.”

“It’d have to be,” Nolan scoffed, “you need some backup?”

“Nah, I should be fine,” I replied assuredly, “you could help me get the groceries back home though? There’s no stress if you can’t-”

“I got you,” Nolan interjected with a smile, “just make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

“I’ll do my best,” I half-joked as I finally put the gun and bag in the back of Monster Mash, “see you in a few.”

“Sounds good.” Nolan replied before heading over to the grocery store without bothering to lock his truck.

Have to say, it was nice to have that reminder of just how much trust there was in our little town as I walked into Gertie’s.

“Heya, Gertie,” I said after spending a few moments looking for Emma, “where’d Emma go?”

“Emma?” Gertie asked confusedly from behind the counter, “Oh! That nice girl who watched the shop. I sent her home, she had a bus to catch. Don’t you worry though, she gave me that list.”

“Good, good,” I replied, somehow managing to hide my disappointment, “what was the total there?”

“Just figuring that out now.” Gertie said as she read over the list in front of her, “Fifty for the refrigerator, hundred for the washing machine… Let’s say an even 400 for the lot.”

“That includes the mattress?” I asked.

“And the frame, yes,” Gertie replied affirmatively, “I’ll also have one of the boys drive it out for you.”

“That’d be a big help,” I said while Gertie, having seen I was happy with the cost, began the process of sending me the bill, “would you mind holding onto it for a few days though? I’m happy to pay now, but I’m doing some… renovations.”

“Suits me just fine,” Gertie murmured distractedly as she finished up on her phone, “have you got Nolan helping you?”

“I do,” I replied with a near-inaudible seethe after accepting the bill, watching the ‘-$400’ and panicking I’d get hit with a ‘OVERDRAWN’, “he might actually be the one to put the call through about the delivery.”

“Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Gertie sighed, “Anyway, I’ll be here, be sure to give me an hour or so’s notice though. As happy as I am to help, the boys have a habit of heading home early.”

“You got it.” I said as I made my way for the door, hoping to stop Nolan before he went too crazy with the grocery shop, “See you soon, Gertie.”

“You too. “Gertie replied, evidently slipping into a daydream about something or another.

Thinking about it now, I realize it probably had something to do with Nolan.

Yes, I regret thinking about it.