I lean over the table reaching for the box of tissues that's out of my reach. Adam, seeing what I'm reaching for, grabs the box and hands it to Sarah who takes it. Using a tissue she cleans her face off. Ending in a particularly disgusting wet blowing of her nose. I sneer disgusted by the sound as I settle back on the couch. after a moment I ask
"What do we do now? I'm already running low on food. I hadn't planned for a fucking apocalypse." I say as the full impact of the situation starts dawning on me. I continue "Sarah tell me your place is full of food?" The humming of a vehicle driving down the street interrupts before Sarah can respond. Quickly placing our mugs down the three of us rush to the window looking for the source of the sound. immediately we see the big tan army vehicle creeping down the road. Sarah flings open the door to the porch and starts shouting.
"We're here, help! stop!"
Adam and I join Sarah in short order on the porch. The vehicle doesn't look to have heard Sarah who is continuing to shout after them. She turns with the intention to run down and out of the building to try and catch the vehicle. Which is ambling down the street slow enough for this plan to work but I grab her arm as she starts to move for the door.
" Look, the vehicle is stopping!" I point it out to her.
The three of us stand and watch wondering why it's stopping. It couldn't have been for us. The Humvee is just sitting about a third of the way to the end of the street. But then out of nowhere two people come bursting into view. Chasing after the Humvee. For a moment I'm relieved and look away as I start moving toward the door myself in a hurry. Thinking Sarah had the right idea we need to get down there.
I'm at the front door unlocking it with Sarah beside me. Big smiles on both our faces thinking help is here.
"No! Those aren't people" Adam's shout echoes from the porch.
Hand on the final deadbolt I freeze in place as I look toward the porch's door. I stride back out to the porch looking toward the Humvee.
" Look, those things are battering the Humvee trying to get the people inside," Adam says.
I watch in horror as the opening in the top of the Humvee opens and a man in army fatigues rises out with a rifle. The soldier takes his time lining up the sights of his rifle. He fires one round straight into the face of the first zombie. He turns and repeats the process with the second. The two zombies drop on the spot. The gunfire seems to echo in the silence of the neighborhood.
The three of us weren't the only ones to have heard the shots as more and more zombies come running into view. The soldier with the gun looks around at them all dropping back into the vehicle. Closing the hatch the vehicle immediately takes off moving down the road. I guess they don't want to take on more than a few at a time. I watch as most of the zombies follow the vehicle down and eventually away from the street and out of view. At least a dozen that showed up to the scene late end up meandering around. Stopping any further notions of going outside.
Adam and Sarah go inside disgusted and not wanting to watch the zombies any longer. I, however, rush inside to grab a pen and paper and the rest of my coffee before settling into a chair on the porch. I don't know what to do but I say to myself I will at least try and watch these things. To gather as much information as I can about them. After watching them for half a day the only notes I've been able to make about them are.
1. They are fast. Not full sprint speed. far from actually, But they do not seem to tire. Obstacles like fences will slow them down it seems.
2. They attack and eat people.
3. Being bitten is lethal and will turn you into one.
4. They are attracted to noises, the louder the more likely they will respond
5. They are attracted by the sight of a person
6. They don't attack each other though if one makes enough noise it can draw others towards it
This is all I have after watching them for four hours. I'm tired, hungry and my anxiety is through the roof. After watching the corpses of people shambling about not being dead. I start to head indoors when one of the zombies out of the blue drops where it was standing.
"The fuck?" I mutter as I turn my attention back to the zombie. Vocalizing my thoughts "What, why did it drop for no reason." I continue watching that zombie in particular, occasionally looking over the rest of them . None of the others are dropping. Several minutes of analyzing the zombie on the ground later. I discover its head is moving around every so often. A s if the zombie is still alive as much as zombies are anyway, and looking around. Another half an hour goes by my hunger forgotten for the time as I watch this zombie on the ground. W hen off to the side not far away another zombie falls to the ground. Watching this new one I see the same type of head movements. This leads to my final note.
7 . The zombies will with no discernible pattern. Drop to the ground sometime after it's last stimulus . While on the ground they appear completely dead. Except for the infrequent movement as they seem look around them. Need to find out if they do in fact get back up upon seeing or hearing a person.
I head back into the apartment to share with Adam and Sarah what I've learned. Also to find something to eat even though I now feel sick to my stomach. I know I need to eat when able and keep my strength. This situation is only going to get worse from here on.
#
Chapter 5
It's late in the afternoon. I begin rummaging around the apartment looking for something that I can throw. Something that will shatter and create a fair amount of noise. To test the theory of attracting zombies from the ground. After a few minutes, I settle for a coffee mug. The shattering of it should make quite the ruckus and it has enough heft to cover a good distance. Not to mention I won't care about coffee mugs if this situation continues. and if it doesn't I still won't care. I can buy new ones after the zombie outbreak is handled. Guess I haven't quite given up hope on this all being a bad night yet. Even though all the zombie movies I've watched paint that as an impossible outcome.
Adam and Sarah follow me out to the porch to watch me. I unhook the vertical window and swing it open grimacing at the creaking as it swings open. I look around deciding to toss the mug as far up the road as I can. To get as much leverage and room to swing my arm I straddle the window frame. Half of me leaning away from the building. I take aim and heave the mug as far as I can manage at this awkward angle and position. I only manage to toss the mug a single house length away losing my balance in the process. luckily, Adam has hold of my left arm bracing me for such an event. The mug shatters on impact. immediately drawing the attention of the zombies in the immediate area. Four of them to be exact. They jump up and speed towards the sound. When they find nothing they move in small circles for a few seconds before slowing down to a walk. Hours later they begin dropping back to the ground. I don't stick around watching long enough to witness this.
"Alright, they're fast and persistent but they're dumb. we can take advantage of that." I say after a moment before heading back into the apartment.
It's about five-thirty in the evening. We only have another hour or so of sunlight left. In preparation for the night, I pull out all the batteries and flashlights that I have. Grabbing the one candle I own as well. an apple vanilla mason jar sized one that I keep in the bedroom for reasons. Sarah is in the kitchen boiling up some rice and beans. That I had on hand for a red beans and sausage meal I was planning on making soon. Just another casualty of this whole ordeal. Adam and I sit in the living room discussing long term plans.
"What do we do? We're already running low on food?" I say.
"We can check the other units in the building that should last us a few more days. And maybe in that time the military will do something," James replies with a shrug. "I don't know"
I sigh and shake my head before saying "maybe, but we need to plan for the worst. We need to be as self-sufficient as we can be. But you're right first thing to do is check the other apartments for food. And whatever else might prove useful. let's wait till we've eaten first though. I'm starving and
even some unflavored rice and beans sound amazing right now."
It's a few minutes past six. I note as I scarf down the last of my food and turn my phone off to conserve power. Power has been out less than a day and already it's down to thirty-six percent battery. Thinking I've only got about twenty minutes left of light I jump up and head out the front door to my neighbor's door. Of course, it's locked. I don't expect anything less but I was hoping nonetheless . I step back as I prepare to try and kick the door open. I've always wanted to try kicking down a door but I could have lived my life happily not finding out if I can manage it or not. I take a step and
"BAM!' I spartan kick the door as close to the handle as I can. Remembering that you need to hit near the lock for the best chance of breaking through. The door shudders but doesn't give at all. I step back preparing to send another kick at it when Adam grabs me.
"What the hell are you doing!" He whispers at me. "You're gonna wake up the fucking dead with all that noise!"
"Shit ok yeah" I mumble as I head back into my place and towards the porch to check if any zombies did hear me. We're clear all the ones in sight haven't moved. Sarah joins me on the porch while I'm considering trying to climb across the small gap between mine and my neighbor's. The fact they are enclosed by windows makes it all the more difficult. If the windows are locked I'll be forced to break them which is definitely going to alert the zombies. While thinking about the windows though the idea strikes me.
"The back doors have windows!" I exclaim. "Sarah stay here and keep your eyes on the zombies. let me know if any move"
"What? What are you doing?" She asks
I'm already in the living room rushing to the backdoor.
"I'm going to break the window on the backdoor, it'll be way quieter than kicking the door down." I say as I grab a tea towel off the oven handle and look out the back window. I make sure no zombies are around before heading onto the back stairwell. Adam follows me out and Sarah stays out on the porch. I wrap the towel around my hand as Adam moves over to the railing to watch around us. With my now towel-wrapped hand, I look over to Adam and quietly say "Ready?" He nods and I punch the small panel of the two by two grid. The window breaks easily. Much more easily than I was expecting. Suddenly realizing my own apartment wasn't nearly as secure as I had believed. I freeze for a moment listening and looking over to Adam's whose eyes are glued on the parking lot behind us. After several tense seconds, he whispers
"I think we're ok"
I breathe a sigh of relief and reach through the broken panel using the towel to cover the broken glass. I unlock the door and step into the unit which is a duplicate of my own only mirrored. Adam follows me in closing and locking the door behind us. He also closes the curtains over the window. We start searching through the cabinets looking for food. It doesn't take long before I remember Sarah is waiting in the other apartment.
"Keep searching I'm going to go get Sarah," I say.
Adam grunts in response as I head out. I unlock the front door and knock on my own door having locked it after the kicking attempt. I didn't bring my keys with me.
"Sarah let me in," I say at the door right before she opens it. "Any zombies wake up?"
"No. Didn't see any move" she replies "I barely heard the window break myself. The wind definitely helped cover it"
"OK great head over and start grabbing shit, I'm going to lock the back door and check again for zombies," I say.
She squeezes past me in the hallway going to help Adam. I head to the back door and do a quick scan of the parking lot. I see nothing of interest and lock the door and do the same from the porch scanning the street. Seeing no movement I hurry to rejoin the looting next door grabbing a flashlight. The sun looks to only have a few minutes left and it's already becoming more difficult to see.
"Jackpot on canned food," James says when he sees me walk in, hefting up two bags worth smiling.
With a big grin on my face in response to the food, I look around for Sarah who is nowhere to be seen. "Where is Sarah?" I ask.
"She's in the back grabbing blankets and whatnot," he replies. Sarah walks in carting an armful of comforters soon after.
"Hey!" She says excitedly. Seeing me in the room and dumping the pile of blankets onto the ground with the rest of what she's gathered. I make a move around Sarah and towards the bedrooms in general to search around.
'BANG!'
We all freeze in our tracks listening.
'BANG!'
'BANG!'
Oh shit! I think that sounds like it's coming from right out front of the building. I rush to my neighbor's porch as I'm already in the apartment and it's quicker than heading back to my place. As I'm opening the door to head out the banging happens again. Adam and Sarah right on my heels, all three of us are frantically looking around for the source. Zombies haven't moved, thank goodness. I open a window on the side nearest me and lean out to get a look at the building's front door. I'm hoping nothing or no one is there knocking. Everything is clear, no sign of where the banging came from. The only sound we hear is the wind rushing through the trees and forcing itself through cracks. a soft ' whooshing ' sound happens whenever a strong gust blows through the tiny gaps in the porch. Two minutes pass with nothing further happening. My heart rate is beginning to come back down to a normal level.
'BANG!' all our heads jerk to the right towards the source. The window we left open from throwing the mug earlier is being blown against the building.
"Fuck!" I say rushing in and over to my apartment. I make it to the porch, Meanwhile, the window slams two more times as I work my way over. I catch the window as it tries for a third time closing it and ensuring it's latched shut. I look to my left through the windows seeing Adam and Sarah staring down towards the street in horror. My eyes widen in fear knowing what is likely happening but my body doesn't move. As if it believes it isn't real if I can't see it. Only a few seconds pass before my fears are confirmed. I don't need to look. The zombies heard the window banging. Attracted by the sound they are pounding on the walls, windows, and the front door of the building.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit" I repeat to myself as if it's a personal mantra that can see me through this. I lean out the windows to get a look at how many are at the walls under and around me. I count seven.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
The zombies are banging on the walls and door continuously as I get Adam and Sarah back into my place. Closing and locking the door behind them.
"What do we do?" Sarah asks frantically as the banging from outside continues unabated .
I pace for a few minutes before responding "Nothing, we do nothing the main door will keep them out. After an hour or two they'll forget about us and drop where they are like they did after the army truck and the coffee mug." I continue pacing listening to the relentless pounding. Hoping that I'm right and they can't get in.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
It's close to nine now, over two hours and the zombies aren't stopping. In fact, the banging has attracted more. What was seven is now at least ten.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
They're relentless. I try throwing other items to distract them away from the building. But nothing has worked. So far though the main door is holding together at least that much is working in our favor.
'BANG, BANG, BANG,'
I move the camping pack and backpack that Adam and I packed up before. I move the duffel bag that Sarah filled with the blankets and canned goods next to the back door as well. As we prepare for what seems to be only a matter of time. The zombies are not going to stop until they get in. Then it's my front door which is much more flimsy than the main door on the ground floor. The plan is to try and make it to my car which so far we've seen no evidence of zombies behind the building. The problem is it's a dark overcast night. If we have to run for it before sun up the headlights will be a beacon for every zombie. Plus the car engine for anyone to hear. Though with the wind as strong as it has been tonight we may be ok. Except for
the immediate area around us. This is a last-ditch effort after all.
'BANG BANG BANG'
The time drags on as none of the three of us feels much inclined for conversation. We manage to go a full hour without a single word being uttered as the clock ticks over to ten forty-seven. There is no chance any of us are sleeping tonight . That constant banging is a reminder that death is coming for us. I have no idea how much longer that door is going to hold.
'BANG, CRACK!'
My head jerks up. "What?" I say looking at the door with panic-stricken eyes. Listening intently, hoping, praying that wasn't the door breaking.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
I get up and move towards the door as if I"ll be able to hear better for anything unusual. At least unusual as it pertains to the last four hours.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
I look around the room at Adam and Sarah. Both of them look terrified having heard the cracking sound the same as I.
'BANG, BANG, CRASH!"
My eyes widen. Adam immediately turns green. For several tense seconds, all we hear is shuffling footsteps. With the occasional thump as zombies fumble into the walls. It sounds like a dozen of them shuffling around the stairwell. They don't seem to be pounding on any doors or walls anymore. Perhaps they are content with getting in.
'BANG, BANG, BANG'
I jump out of my skin as the banging rattles my door that just a moment ago my ear was up against. In terror, I pull back away from the door and fall onto the couch across Adam and Sarah. Another round of banging on the door. Rattling in its frame is all it takes for me to regain my sense. I immediately jump up and start heading for plan B. I grab my pack as Adam and Sarah follow me and do the same. We head through the kitchen towards my back door. On the way, a moment of inspiration strikes. I grab a frying pan thinking for the first time we need weapons but have no time now to plan for something better.
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