For the rest of the day, Alan spent time wildly thinking about the group's chances of survival. Only Claire, Joel, and Tommy had combat experience; Raj and Edward weren't beginners, Carlos had courage, but the rest were dead weight.
If they didn't learn quickly, they would die.
That's why he suddenly got up, stretched his limbs, walked into the room where everyone was chatting, and dropped several burlap sacks onto the floor.
The noise startled everyone. They looked at Alan, wondering what he was planning.
Raj was speaking quietly with Edward when Alan suddenly pushed the door open, making them jump.
Edward looked at Alan and asked, "What do you need?"
"There's a basement. That's where we'll teach you how to shoot, but to be safe, we need to reinforce the walls with sandbags. We'll take advantage of the night—we'll use the garden soil to fill these sacks."
Alan wanted to soundproof the basement by surrounding it with earth-filled bags to prevent sound from escaping and alerting infected nearby.
This would also allow them to use the generator inside the mansion.
They needed electricity to recharge flashlights, use the radio, and preserve food that required refrigeration.
No one complained; after all, they wanted to be useful to Alan so they wouldn't be abandoned by the group. "What everyone needs now isn't just to survive, but to learn how to do it with ease."
Upon hearing his words, no one objected. Claire, now dressed in a tailored SWAT uniform, even stepped forward to help. "I can teach them everything about weapons."
"If you've made your decision, then let's get to work." Alan didn't want to waste more time—there weren't many tasks to do right now, so he would invest their time in training those who didn't know how to handle a weapon.
Claire and Alan left the room, walked to the kitchen where Tommy and Joel were, and began pulling out all the non-canned food.
Then, they gathered all the high-calorie, easy-to-carry foods. Wherever they went, they always had a quick escape plan in case they needed it.
Shortly after, Alan brought out bows—all of which had been recovered by Tommy from a hunting store. Seeing Alan's performance with the bow, Tommy believed it would be a very useful weapon for both hunting and killing infected.
"They're good bows."
"Yeah, they'll be useful," Tommy said with a smile, seeing that his brother wasn't complaining about the new decisions they would soon have to make.
Apparently, Joel had come to understand the difference between FEDRA and the soldiers who hadn't massacred his people. But with Texas divided, it was almost certain they would clash over resources later on.
Less than two hours later, the basement was ready and filled with sandbags covering the walls. Though ventilation was limited, tests showed that no gunshot sounds could be heard from the outside.
During that time, Alan took stock of the food they now had on hand, not counting the extra supplies and weapons stored in a block not far away.
The inventory looked good. They had enough resources for many days, so they wouldn't have to worry in that regard.
Everyone was dressed in SWAT gear they had found at the police department, so at least they looked well-equipped and trained.
Once the equipment was distributed—except for Emily and her son—everyone was learning everything about weapons.
Joel, who had been keeping his distance, approached Alan and said, "This won't make them survive."
"I know," Alan replied, "but at least half of them will. And I hope you're in that half." He looked at Joel for a few seconds before adding, "If they're a burden, they'll be left behind."
"I was hoping to hear that." Joel didn't care much about these people—he just wanted to be alone with his brother—but he realized Alan could teach them things they didn't know.
Besides, traveling across the country in the current state of things was a serious mistake. For now, the best option was to stay in areas where bombs wouldn't fall.