After a day and night searching the warehouse from top to bottom, the team and I had come up with some brilliant finds. I had managed to find a great lasso to attach to my belt, allowing me to explore the new-found rope skill. I’d also found a leather holster for my revolver and a compound bow and quiver. I grabbed a new brown-leather bumbag that matched much better with my cowboy get-up and had an amazing capacity; it allowed me to stash my sentimental goodies, the pup’s toys, some ammunition, the bow, arrows in the quiver, and also some emergency rations and first-aid.

  Rachel had managed to nab some new and powerful shotguns, a rifle and scope, and a small hatchet for throwing or close combat. She found a sling for the rifle which she threw over her back, pocketing a shotgun in the huge pouch of her overalls. We’d been on the lookout for parts of the police officer costume and had managed to find the black leather jacket and white trousers, but had yet to find the police badge and open-faced helmet.

  We’d also equipped all the animals as best as we could.

  Rat was clothed in his cowboy boots, bandana and bandolier, and I managed to get a small rope for him as a weapon and also a chew toy. In his small bandolier pocket, I had filled it again with dog food, treats, water and first-aid.

  Jagger was rather nimble in his cream Chuck Taylors, so he kept those. I found a cute brown suit jacket with blue pinstripes in the warehouse, which we tried on him for fun. Jagger seemed to like wearing it, as it almost functioned like a thunder jacket and seemed to calm him down – plus we had found that a level in charm was gained when he was wearing it. The suit jacket coupled with his sneakers and patterned collar, made him look quite like Doctor Who if he were a husky, so of course I had to find a screwdriver for him to carry around, giving him the ability to jab zombies with every ferocious shake of his head. I managed to stash some treats in his suit pocket as well as some water in a small flask and a bandage.

  Artemis was much less tolerant to clothing than the dogs, so all we managed to equip him with was a small pouch that he wore like a backpack and a thin reflective collar. Rachel stuffed his pouch with food and water also.

  We were now prepared to face the world once again, our recklessness tempered by the knowledge of permadeath.

  We had managed to grab a veritable library of books on every topic imaginable. We packed them into a bag and threw it in the van, knowing we couldn’t stay in the warehouse much longer before having to leave. We packed bags full of food, tools, first-aid supplies and seeds. I’d also managed to find several packets of blood-pressure medication for Rachel, so we got her health back up to 100% and put stashes of tablets in every viable place. Now that we had suited up and raided the building completely, we were ready to head out.

  “Bang, bang, bang!” The tapping I had heard from the roof previously had become quite loud.

  “I’ve heard this tapping for a while now. Do you think we should go and check it out?” I asked Rachel.

  “Sounds like it’s coming from the roof. Why not? Doesn’t sound like a horde up there, and we can scan the area and test out our long-range weapons up there too,” she answered.

  The team and I headed over to the stairs we had seen previously and went up to the roof. We reached a small door and I opened it a crack, peering out. There was a small room that functioned as an airlock. Everyone headed into the room, and once again I opened the second door, peering out.

  “This one goes outside to the roof. I can’t see any zombies, but I don’t think there is a railing. Let’s leave the animals in here, safe and sound, so they don’t fall off,” I said to Rachel.

  “Okay,” she nodded.

  “Stay here!” I said to the dogs as Rachel and I squeezed through the door. We walked out onto the roof and looked around the huge ribbed metal surface. No zombies in sight up here, so what was making that noise?

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  We walked cautiously around the roof, staying close to the door. I started to circle around the small box that formed the airlock room, and when I came to the other side I finally found where the banging was emanating from.

  There, by the back of the airlock, was a stout grey pigeon, thumping around on the iron roof panels. Occasionally it would stop for a moment and look around, but then it would begin pecking at a screw, starting softly but eventually rapping on the roof like a policeman with a warrant.

  “Rachel! I found the noise!” I called out.

  “Okay, hang on, I’m just trying something out!” she said.

  I approached closer to the pigeon, who was unphased by my presence. I unzipped my bag, closed out of the interface and plunged my hand inside, pulling out the box of Shapes I had stashed inside. I threw a biscuit to the pigeon and he waddled over to it slowly. He pecked once at the cracker, dismissively turning his beak up at it and walking away.

  “Oh come on! That’s barbeque! Everyone knows that’s the best flavour!” I said to the pigeon.

  I rifled around in my bag and grabbed out a Burger Man packet. I threw one over to the pigeon, who pecked at it ravenously. This was a pigeon of discerning taste, it would seem.

  “Bam!” The sound of a gunshot rang out from the other side of the warehouse roof. I jumped and the pigeon flew in the air, landing much further away on the roof.

  “Got him!” Rachel called after taking out a distant zombie before trudging around to where I was standing.

  “Hey! You scared my pigeon away!” I chastised Rachel. “He was the one banging earlier!”

  “Oops. Sorry!” she said.

  I shook the bag of Burger Man in my hand, trying to regain the pigeon’s attention. He was taken by the shiny red and yellow bag and started to cautiously trot back over. I threw another chip across to him and he started waddling faster.

  “Pigeons aren’t going to eat chips! Don’t you have a biscuit or something instead?” Rachel said.

  “This pigeon is special. He has a taste for man… Burger Man!” I responded, throwing more and more over to the pigeon until he was back to being only about a metre away.

  Crouching down, Burger Man in hand, I offered the snack to the pigeon, who calmly took it. I reached over and stroked his back; he cooed.

  “Oh I think he likes me!” I said to Rachel.

  “You can probably add him to your team if you want another pet to look after!” Rachel joked.

  “Really!” I exclaimed, zipping and unzipping my bag until I found myself in the menu again. In the team info section, true to Rachel’s words, there was an option to add the pigeon to the team.

  “Aww, his name is Cooper!” I said, putting a pigeon-like emphasis on the ‘Coo’. I added him to the team and exited the menu, pleased with the new addition to the menagerie. Back on the roof, I turned to Rachel, grinning. Cooper jumped up onto my shoulder.

  “This is our new friend Cooper!” I said.

  Rachel laughed. “You look like a confused pirate now,” she said. “I hope Artemis doesn’t eat him!”

  “He’d better not!” I said.

  Deciding to head back inside, we quickly scanned the surrounds. A small group of zombies were gathering by the rear of the complex fence, attracted by the gunshot earlier.

  “I guess we’d best leave. We can search the area and try to find somewhere else to go,” I said to Rachel.

  Unexpectedly, I found myself thrown into a menu screen. Apparently, as Cooper is a reconnaissance animal, he brings no skills to the team, however he could perform searches for us.

  Cooper the pigeon – reconnaissance task, a heading read.

  Search for:

  Shops

  Farmland

  Zombies

  Vehicles

  People

  Items

  I reached out and grabbed farmland, then the menu closed, Cooper flying off my shoulder and into the distance.

  “I think he can do searches for us!” I said to Rachel. “I asked to search for farmland.”

  “That’s strange. I’ve never had a pigeon companion; always had cats, so I thought I’d best not. I wonder how that works,” Rachel replied.

  After about five minutes, Cooper returned. I hadn’t noticed previously, but a small metal tube was attached to his foot. I opened the tube and found a small paper scroll within. It read Farmland – 2.5km north-west.

  “So apparently there is farmland not too far from here,” I said to Rachel.

  “Well let’s get a move on – our welcoming party over there doesn’t seem to want to wait much longer,” she said, motioning over to the group of zombies.

  We headed indoors and the animals were pleased to see us. Cooper – calmer than any pigeon I’d ever seen – jumped from my shoulder onto Jagger’s back. Thankfully our team had obtained the trait of ‘friends to all animals’, so we were golden. Artemis hissed at Cooper, but he didn’t spook. Rat looked over to the cat and gave a stern bark, almost as a warning to him.

  We all headed down to the van and loaded inside. With Rachel as the driver, we moved towards the garage door.

  “Oooh wait!” I said, jumping out of the van and running down a nearby aisle. I returned a moment later: “Just had to grab some bird seed!”.