Chapter 12: Chapter 12
[Another chapter, holy shit, I'm on fire!]
(Poul POV)
After moving the things away from the front of the door, I finally could pick the lock.
"Watch how a pro picks a lock, baby," I tell Carley.
She sighs while facepalming, "Just do it already."
I laugh but get to work.
I get on one knee and start examining the lock. The lock is a deadbolt lock. It also isn't very complex since the store is low-security, so it won't take a long time. As I mentioned, it is a low-security store, so this lock's weakness is pretty easy to figure out; it has a weakness for picking and can snap easily.
I take out the tension wrench which I had on me (yes, yes, a bit of a plot hole and armor) and the hairpin I got, and gently insert it into the lock.
As I begin to explore the internal pins in the lock, I apply slight pressure upwards on each pin and can feel pins that resist movement - these are called binding pins.
I systematically lift each binding pin to the point where it reaches the shear line. The shear line is where the lock separates between the locked and unlocked positions.
While keeping the binding pins raised, I continue to apply tension on the lock's cylinder using the tension wrench.
I repeat the process of feeling for binding pins, lifting them one by one, and holding them in place with the tension wrench.
While I'm working on the lock, I can feel Carley's stare, but honestly, I don't care right now as I'm concentrating on the lock.
Meanwhile, Carley is looking at me...kind of amazed.
While she knows that having this kind of experience might mean that I'm a criminal, which isn't wrong, she can't help but admit that I'm good in her mind.
She can't lie to herself that I look good while working seriously.
Back to me, though...
As all the pins have been perfectly aligned at the shear line and held in place, the cylinder turns, and the lock is perfectly picked. I carefully rotate the tension wrench further to unlock the door.
And, it is open.
I look back at Carley and wink. But before she can say anything about that, the alarm, just as I expected, loudly starts sounding.
I can see the panicked look on her face, but I put my hand on her shoulder lightly and tell her, "Hey, we're fine for now. All the walkers near the store have been taken care of. We can take our time putting these stuff in my duffle bag."
She looks into my eyes, and I can see that she starts to calm down. She didn't even push my hand off her shoulder. As she goes inside the storeroom, I smirk, knowing that having my dear waifu fall for me will be easy.
We jog inside the storeroom, and we pack everything that fits inside my duffle bag next to the cans of food. Carley looks surprised at the amount of food but doesn't say anything. I know that she wouldn't plot against us (Me, Lee, and Clem), but it may be that she's scared of me a bit. I mean, her gut feeling did tell her that I'm dangerous. Anyway, the only thing that Carley doesn't put away is the medication for the old guy's heart.
As we get out of the room, we are welcomed with chaos.
Everyone panics. Lee, Kenny, and Lily are holding the front doors, and Doug is trying to keep the window intact.
Carley looks at me but doesn't say anything. I can tell from her face that she's thinking, 'We'll have enough time, huh? And you guys took care of the ones near here, huh?'
I sigh, 'Where did these fuckers come from?!' And I take out the steep pipe from my belt loop.
Carly gives Lily the medicine and tells her to make a way in the back alley way, where the backdoor leads to. That's where we're gonna escape.
Carley sees that some walkers pushed down the barricade, so she heads there and starts putting them down with her pistol.
I go to the door and put the steel pipe in between the door handle. I see that Lee and Kenny sigh in relief. It seems like they couldn't hold on any longer.
But the relief doesn't last long because we hear Doug scream in fright as walkers grab him and pull him out the window.
Seeing this scene, my heart beats out of my chest. 'No! Carley!'
I instantly run to where Carley is, and I can see that her leg has been grabbed. She tries to reach for her bag.
I run there as fast as I can. When I get there, I stomp on the head of the walker that got her leg, then I grab a pencil from one of the shelves and stab it into the head of the next walker 6-7 times before it drops limply on the ground.
Then I push Carley toward the exit while she grabs her bag. I can see the gratefulness in her eyes, but I don't have time to care about that for now.
I see that Lee, Kenny, and his family, Clementine, Lily, and her dad have already left the store. It's only us left now.
We run out of the store from the back alley and run toward the Mercedes-Benz M-Class. While running, we can also see that Kenny is filling his truck's tank with the gas I got at the gas station. Not that I mind, Kenny is also one of my favorite characters.
Carley is gonna go and join Larry and Lily's car, but I pull her by the arm and, to be honest, without realizing it, toward mine.
I get in the driver's seat, Lee next to me, Clem and Carley in the back.
Weekly Power Status
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