My name is Chris, Ive lost track of time. It feels like years since I first started running, but I think its only been a few months. Days turn to weeks, and the weeks drags on, such is the new way of life. And yet, despite the violence and chaos, I dont really miss the old world...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Scrounging

     The suburban street is relatively empty, daylight flooding from behind me.  The silence is unnerving.  Occasionally I will hear a grunt from behind a fence or gunfire in the distance.  These are the sounds of a hellish new world.  A world I really need to get used to.  Armed with a metal rod from yesterday, I sneak down the street.  Scanning the houses and trees for signs of movement, I realized I knew where I was.  This street let to one of the main roads in town, but looking towards the distance I could see little plumes of smoke, dotting the skyline.  But there was also human noises coming from that side of the road.  Organized, well armed, living humans.  Brisk walk giving way to a jog, I started thinking.  What if they are just on a shooting spree?  Should I just go running blindly into a firing range?  "No, Just walk away.  This is about you surviving, not about making friends" The voice again.  So familiar yet unable to place it.  I took my internal advice and walked on.
    Coming to the bottom of a hill I froze.  The church up ahead was literally surrounded, but none of them noticed me thankfully.  The air was heavy with blood,  no need to even imagine what the inside of the church must be like. In spite of the present danger I had to chuckle inwardly at the irony of the thought of hell on earth being inside a house of God.  Turning around I spotted several of the undead coming to join the slaughter at the top of the hill, unfortunately they noticed me.  Spread out a good distance I took a moment to think about how I would go about this, the best option being to run past the one in the middle, try to knock him down as I ran.  Legs feeling rubbery, I began to sprint towards the middle man.  Mid thirties, left eye hanging out of his socket.  I jumped towards him, hoping that the extra momentum coupled with the swing would take him out.  The pole connected with the side of his neck, the ghoul slamming into the concrete headfirst.
     Primal fear again took over my every fiber.  Running through sidestreets, winding past crowds of the slouching masses, and across the main road I so desperately wanted to avoid.  I stopped in the middle of the four lane road, taking in the sight of the main strip.  Wrecked cars, the culprits of the smoke I spotted from the neighborhood.  Bodies still in the car, strapped in as they were burnt alive.  Death was everywhere, but at least the death here wasn't shambling towards you, trying to tear you apart.  The stores up and down the street had been looted, glass peppering both the inside and outside of each store and the shelves stripped bare.  "Looks like I wasn't the only one who scrounged up supplies."  muttering in a somewhat surprised tone as I looked in the windows, hoping to find something I can use.  After looking through stores for what seemed forever I found something worth the search and wasted daylight.. "A little heavier than my pole, but much sharper." Grinning like a fanboy at a midnight release, I picked up the machete.
     Looking around after leaving what remained of the hunting store, I realized it was getting dark fast, and I didn't want to be out on the streets when I cant see very far from my face.Going through my memory I remembered there was a restaurant down the road, if there was no food I could at least load up on steak knives .  Heading up the hill, I see that the parking lot is packed, looks like it was busy before the shitstorm.  Which also means theres a possibility that someone in there has a set of keys on them.  "But first, lets get something to eat."  Grinning as I headed towards the entrance.  Looks like things are finally coming together.
     The front door was locked, but was also mainly glass.  One good crack to the door with the machete handle fixes that.  No shuffling or any other noises from the inside.  But there were bodies strewn all over.  "Now comes the utterly disgusting part.  Oh joy."  Sighing, I began to flip bodies over with the machete.  Cautiously checking each corpse before I begin to pocket through them, not taking any chances.  No keys, but several police officers.  One gun and two clips  between five downed officers.  Not complaining, better than nothing.  Looking out the window, the last traces of dusk were leaving the sky.  I needed to get on the roof fast.  Darting in the kitchen I saw the first undead in the restaurant, lazily chowing down on what looked to be a woman in a server uniform.  All I could get from her nametag was da-.  Not important.  Taking my new gun  out I carefully aimed, and squeezed the trigger.  Nothing.  Luckily the ghoul was more interested in his meal to notice me behind him.  I looked for the safety, flipped it off and fired a round into his head.  The kick more that what I was expecting and the gunshot echoed loudly in the restaurant.  Panicking I jumped over the two corpses and found what I was looking for, a ladder leading to the roof, climbing up I unlatched the door hopping towards the roof.  slamming the door down I looked for an exit for the morning.  There was a dumpster under the lip of the roof, just the right height.  Taking the backpack off I looked at my map, the pale moonlight was just enough to take a look at the map, Too dangerous to go straight north, Major metro area there, my best bet was to go southwest.  After putting everything back in the bag and putting on the holster for the gun taken from the fallen officer. I layed down, but sleep was far from obtainable.  My mind was racing too fast for me to keep up.  Who was alive?  Was this an isolated event or was this just another point on a map?  How long would I survive?  The last thought bothered me, so I tried to focus on the stars.  So many, much more than I usually see.  Counting them was quite impossible, but it calmed me down and somewhere after 300 I fell asleep.  The moans louder than last night, far less gunshots.  This is only day two.  Hopefully I find more as the days stretch on...

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