This morning's prompt is 'blackboard'.

The regulars sat at their booth in Tina's Diner and staggered up and out the broken doors when they caught sight of the four of them. Ben and Brenda switched off over-watch while Tom and Carol dropped half a dozen with sling stones. A heavy enough, dense enough, projectile slung with enough force smashed through skulls and quieted the vanguard. When they got too close, the four of them backed away, 'hacking and backing' Brenda called it.

This time things got very scary and they found themselves stuck between the small diner mob and a larger one which poured into the other end of a side street. Fortunately Tom got them into an open and unoccupied delivery van. They got the doors closed and even locked; the keys had been by the door along with bloodstains.

"Sound off," Carol sang out, over the noise. "I'm good, I have," she counted, "Eleven big stones left."

"Neither of us has touched our ammo," Brenda said for herself and Ben.

"Down to three," Tom said. He shrugged. "I got carried away."

"It was a target-rich environment..." his mom Carol allowed. She had set herself down in the driver's seat and decided she didn't care for the view. She hopped up on her crutches and relocated to the back, tried out a box, crushed it and had to be helped back up and onto a pile of blankets. They seemed mostly clean, not too dirty, someone's bed probably. She laid her crutches within reach and shook her head at a look from Ben, who was what passed for their doc.

"How are we set for water?" Ben asked. His canteen was half full and it turned out nobody else was doing any better, but there were what was left of a pack of one liter water bottles.

"Food?" Tom asked, sounding hopeful. Ben already knew that they were strapped, thus the need to to head into a town strangely packed with former occupants.

"There's an open box of jerky." Brenda told him. "I think our friend was going through his deliveries, not that there's anything wrong with that..."

"We hang tight, see if they wander off?" Carol asked. There were nods all around.

"Cover the windows as best we can, hunker down out of sight, get some rest, but stay alert for some over-achiever trying to break in," Ben said and got some more nods. "Worst case we can fill any holes with bodies-"

"I love your optimism," Carol quipped.

"And we can always fight our way out tomorrow," Brenda added, sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. She closed her eyes. "Ben?"

"Yes."

"Tag, you're it."

"Alright."