Steve, Billy, and James lowered their arms and all gave a heavy sigh of relief. Clyde lowered his hands, removed the sling, and placed it on the table Steve made next to James and the laptop they were borrowing. The sling made a heavy thud. It distracted James. James closed his laptop and reached over the sling's sack and opens it as Clyde spoke, "Alright, guys. I'm sure James told you, but we got an allowance now!"
Steve glanced at Clyde and grinned lightly knowing the first thing he was going to buy was a large, delicious hoagie sandwich. He saw a WaySub in the town when he went exploring for shelter. Billy gave no interest in the words Clyde spoke as he started to walk out of the tunnel.
Clyde Gently gripped the old man by his arm as he protested, "Take this before you leave," in Clyde's hand was a gift card, "It's plenty of money to get you food and supplies for traveling. You've helped a lot here. I can't leave you empty-handed."
Billy's sharp eyes glanced down and saw the card. He gently took it and gave a soft nod as he spoke honestly, "Thank you..." Clyde nodded back before Billy turned to face everyone, "I can't say that any of you are exactly in good hands..." He chuckled at his joke before he saw that only Steve gave a grin. He continued, "... But you're all good people, and good things happen to good people." Every single one of them had visibly disagreed with that statement. Billy gave a wave as they waved back.
They watched the oldest man in their group walk past the sheet and exit the tunnel. There was a moment of silence between all of them. It took a few seconds for everyone to reel in the fact that their numbers just got lower. It was hitting Steve the hardest, knowing that Billy had saved his ass several times. If it weren't for Billy, Steve would have died. He can not screw this up anymore.
Clyde turned back to James and handed him and card as James was pulling out gun by one by one, guns out of the sling's sack. Clyde glared at James, "I had to get all of you a gun you can shoot with."
A gun, in particular, caught Steve's eye. Steve rushed over and grabbed the Uzi. It looked sleeker and newer than his old rusty Uzi's. It was all painted black. This was not his Mac 10. Steve looked at Clyde as he pointed at the Uzi, "What kind is this?"
"It's a Mac 12. Unfortunately, it's semi-auto and takes nine-millimeter rounds. The good thing is that it with..." Clyde searched inside the sack and pulled out two extended magazines for it, "...These guys! They each carry thirty-two rounds. Don't go all crazy with it. We only have a few hundred rounds of nine-millimeter," Clyde watch Steve as Steve gave a soft puzzled look at the Uzi. His hands examined the exterior of the gun. Clyde looked somewhat ashamed with Steve's confusion, "Sorry, it's not your antiques."
Steve shook his head lightly, "Don't worry about 'em. A gun is expendable. I just need you two by my side and we'll survive anything. After all, you two are what I rely on most nowadays. You're both closer to me than any gun."
James glanced at Steve shocked that Steve even saw him that way. It was obvious how much James saw himself as baggage. His eyes left Steve as he focused on the laptop, this time with a soft, appreciative grin. Clyde gave a soft nod before he spoke, "I have no intentions to disappoint," he then handed Steve a gift card in Spanish. Before Steve could ask Clyde answered him, "It only has two-hundred, fifteen thousand and six-hundred pesos so use it wisely."
Steve put the Uzi back on the table as he stared at the card somewhat bewildered by the large number, "Only?" Steve questioned Clyde.
"It's a little under three-hundred in the US currency," Clyde clarified knowing Steve was going to see that large number as nothing but a large number. Clyde gave a grin as he saw Steve's look of excitement quickly melt to a sobering glare at the card
"Oh..." Steve huffed with disappointment. He did not expect Clyde to keep the majority of the money for himself. Steve trusted Clyde and knew him well enough. Steve expected that mercenary work would be much more than this, however.
Clyde Glared at Steve and spoke, "Hey don't go gettin' all melancholy over a card. It's plenty of money for at least two weeks. A whole month, if you stretch your meals out," Clyde then pointed at the tarp where Billy walked out of, "There's a grocery store with fresh food out uphill so don't go wasting it on a sub, like you been saying you would. Get all of us some food to eat, kay?"
Steve glances at James who also was holding a card of money in his hands. Steve did not understand why he had to pay for food for all of them when all three of them supposedly had money to spend. Steve gave a silent nod as he walked out of the tunnel.
Once past the sheet, Steve glanced around. Billy was nowhere in sight. That old man moved fast. Steve saw an uphill. Before that was an intersection. To his left was a small, wooden, red school. It looked to be an elementary school. Young kids were just walking out and heading into their buses while others walked up the hill road. To his right was a construction site of a building being built right next to the beach. Steve assumed it would just be a hotel or something.
He started to walk up the hill road's sidewalk opposite to the children's path. He wanted to avoid eye contact with the children.