They left the waterfront area of India Point and headed inland on Gano Street. There were several small businesses along the way, including a donut shop and a convenience store. It was the same street that had been swarming with Xombies a few days earlier, when the boys had first come ashore seeking supplies. Bad idea. They didn’t have the Reaper suits then and were completely defenseless against the blue onslaught that wiped out over thirty boys in under thirty minutes. It was the meat-armored Reapers who saved their lives.

This time there were neither Reapers nor Xombies, and no reason to fear them even if there were. The boys were covered.

Todd and Ray checked the donut shop first. They were unsurprised to find the four-month-old pastries inedible, but were disappointed to find the drink coolers cleaned out and the sink taps dry.

“Look out-zombie donuts!” Todd yelled, pitching Munchkins at Ray’s flesh helmet. The stale balls exploded into crumbs.

“Hey, cut it out, man,” Ray said lethargically.

Todd threw a few more, but Ray could not be incited to a donut war, so Todd gave up. They went next door to the convenience store, heartened by the big Pepsi sign out front. Nothing-it was even worse than the donut shop.

“What the hell, man.”

There were not even any remains of food-rats, mice, and maggots had erased all organic matter. Anything canned or bottled had been efficiently looted; the shelves were empty. And the pillaging had happened recently, a few days ago at most; the mud tracks were fresh. This wasn’t the act of random looters in the heat of panic. It was Reapers.

“Shit, man, that’s right,” Todd said. “We’re not gonna find anything around here-the Reapers reaped it all. They stripped this whole area, remember?”

“Awesome.”

“But they couldn’t have gone through every house. Come on, we just have to go door-to-door.”

“You mean break into people’s homes, Holmes?”