# 37

The night was long and no matter what we did , it was like me and Lee were trying to outdo each other. If you are ever in a competition with a gorgeous brunette I bag you to make it a sex contest, there are no losers. We woke the next morning and it was nice to wake up when you felt like it and be in the arms of someone you were this close with. I still didn't know much about Leeanne but what I did know was good enough for now. As we got up we were both a bit too sore to start the attack mode so we had quick showers and made out a bit but I was thankful it ended there, and I believe she was as well. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing I guess but I still say no complaints here. We headed out and wandered a bit, Lee had not seen the entire bottom floor. The Lobby was nice and don't ask me how they did it but Fred and Unice made waffles for all of us. Hell I didn't even know we had waffle mix but they were very good. Lee was feeding me and I felt like a king lol it was a nice morning and I even tried feeding her but syrup fell on her cleavage and well we all know what went on next.

Fish was noticeably angry over the whole bit with us but hey we were into each other and what I had said the night before was true. If a hoard of "things" came in from the main entrance right now we have little options so why not enjoy each others company. If you aren't enjoying every moment you have for yourself at this point you are truly a miserable S.O.B. We all headed over to the pool area and Unknown to all of us Lee had indeed picked up bikinis when we were at the store and Lee,Linda ,Jenn and Deb were all making me and Fish glad to have picked this group up. Fish was a bit obvious who he had eyes for as anything Deb did Fish was on it. Sad to say she was cold on him for whatever reason , maybe even at the end of the world poor old Fish couldn't get laid. Jenn however was seemingly making some time with Brent who was the jock of the bunch and had pretty much everyone of us beat on the abs. Anytime he had a chance Brent's shirt was off , he was like the gay dude in that vampire movie.

Sitting with Fish and we had Fred and Unice right behind us they did truly look happy to have us here and the food as well. Just down the road was a humongous Wal-Mart and despite my hatred for the place if it had food we were game and maybe this afternoon me and Rusty would do a supply run , we picked up food but it was just for the road trip and being here partying we had burned through a lot of it. I just had to inform Rusty of this lol and Lee who I think would have a melt down with me out of her sights at this point. I do have to say watching her in the pool frolicking with her friends was surreal , thinking she was even into me. I wont get all low self esteem on you but she was the type to get whoever she wants and I wasn't the stud of this bunch.

Fish asked me about Lee and what the hell was going on. I just told him straight up she was younger and gorgeous but she was scared and whatever she sees in me got her going. I told him i would call it rape at Target but I was too willing , we both laughed at that and I even heard Fred giggle. I then talked to him about a run to the store and he agreed but he also said we had at some point had to go to Providence and see what was what. We worked out a plan where I would find another vehicle in the lot and take Lee to Providence and Fish and Rusty would run to the store and try and do a quick food and supply pick up.

We excused ourselves from the balcony and slipped outside to see what we had for options in the lot. I found several cars that ran there which shocked me, the people here never got far maybe a hoard came through or they just ditched the car and tried getting back to the hotel. Not many bodies in the lot for the amount of cars I thought but what can you do. I found a small VW Bug that was a stick and ran good with a half tank of gas and Fish had a little pick up that was a stick and ran good with three quarters of a tank, neither of us wanted to use the bus for a quick run anywhere. That was better for the whole group and saving it's fuel was a good idea.

I got grabbed by the back and spun around and the smirk on Fish's face was priceless. Lee in her bikini was pissed and started ripping me a new one. "Wtf where were you I look up and your gone!" Then she started crying, god dammit my soft spot every time. I calmed her down and promised to keep her on my side every inch of the way. She made me promise about ten times and then I explained the plan and she hugged me like a bear and thanked me for doing it still. I wouldn't back down now and besides I wanted to get to my brothers still and that was her chance to step up. We went back inside and got ready for the trips ahead. Fish made me promise we were coming back and I told him we were brothers in war and one way or another I was coming back. Then we would go to my real brothers and he agreed. We stocked up on ammo and weapons and said our goodbyes, and I told Fred if we weren't back by sun down do not unlock the doors. We will wait it out till the morning so if anyone or thing is knocking ignore it at all costs.

WE got in the bug and fired it up. Lee leaned into me and started kissing my ear, she was far too good at this I thought, a damsel in distress that was like an anime comic. We headed out onto route 6 and headed to East Providence then the bridge that leads to the big city we had a way to go and a lot to avoid but Lee had family near Brown University and although the area is very heavily settled  we would know soon how it would be. The clock on the VW radio read 1:23 pm and the stations were all static. I popped a cd in that was a burned one and instantly Pearl Jam's first record was on, It doesn't get much better than this I thought. Then a rock the size of a watermelon bounced across the hood and people were running from both sides at us. I leaned over and handed Lee a gun and said "buckle up sunshine were about to hit some turbulence".

I shoved the pedal down and we started moving at a good clip. I don't know who these insane people are but if they don't move they are gonna be like the zombies only screaming. The back window shattered and Lee started screaming herself, she really was afraid of what the world was becoming. I had a feeling these people wanted to loot us for whatever they could, I had feared these things were bound to happen but so soon? Shoot just go get stuff you need it wasn't that bad yet. Some people just lack imagination I thought to myself as I clipped a woman who thought she would get me to stop. Sorry lady in this situation I won't stop and have me and Lee get killed for a car and whatever is in our possession. The crowd quickly backed off after I whacked the lady, maybe they thought that we would stop but all rules are out the window, now you attack my car with me and Lee in it and your as good as a zombie. We came out the other side and I felt relieved and also feared that that group could head towards the hotel and our friends. I didn't dare voice my thoughts to Lee who was clinging to my arm sobbing. We headed down the road and towards the bridge to Providence, I just hoped it was OK to cross , the exit for Brown was halfway through it.

# 36

Fish decided to go and get everyone else inside with all the loot from the Target while I stayed and got to feel out the folks in the hotel a bit better. The man looked to be in his late sixties to early seventies and the woman was trailing behind by maybe a year or two. They were dressed like vacationing elderly people with Hawaiian shirts and visors the whole bit. As I walked up the staircase to the top balcony overlooking the pool it came into view the table they were both sitting at. It was loaded with pina coladas , smokes and what looked to be an alarm clock from a room that was playing a Cd from the forties. It looked like a couple taking it easy with no hint of what was going on outside the doors, except the giant gun he had by his side.

"My name is Fred and this is Unice were from here originally , where are you all from?" He asked with a caring voice. " We are from basically here " I said. Then added " we were just heading to Providence to check on other people in the groups family members then head up north to check on mine". The look on his face led me to believe it would be a hard day tomorrow when it changed at the mention of Providence. I leaned in and said " Look don't say anything about Providence if it's bad , my girl is trying to check her family there OK". He nodded and got quiet while Unice asked if I wanted some tea, it was after all fresh she said.

The crew came in just then and broke an uncomfortable silence between all of us. We had seen some real stuff the past few days and the way Fred had acted I wasn't sure how to take it. Lee ran up the stairs and bear hugged me...This trampy gal was getting awful clingy, red flag waved again, but I ignored it. I had to admit it was nice to have someone care about you even if it was what this was, I still felt good about it and as a matter of fact couldn't wait to find a nice clean bedroom to try some real odd stuff with her in a bed. But my perversions aside we did have a nice place with what looked to be a heated pool, possibly the last one we could ever see, and some gracious thus far hosts.

Fish cracked open a bottle of wine from i would guess the office because I know Target didn't sell any, and we proceeded to have a good party with food , wine , some old music and some good pool time. We were all jumping in and goofing around it was like spring break. Even Brent appeared to smile for a moment as well as Jenn, that was a rarity. Water fights, Marco polo, side to side races, who could hold their breath longest, it was like a vacation scene. I was up top looking down with my gun. Fred asked " why don't you go and have some fun with the others"? I just shrugged and said" I don't swim too well and I would rather keep a guard up on the place just in case". He responded reassuringly with " This place is tighter than a steel drum, I was a manager here and when this all went down we jumped in the bingo wagon and head over". I asked " Was there anyone here?" He nodded yes and said" not much left of them we killed the ones that were attacking and threw them down the incinerator chute , we haven't seen one since been a few days but thank god you showed up our food was running low." I told them we were happy to share and grateful for the place to sleep and sorry if we were any burden what so ever. Unice said we were welcome as long as we wanted they were riding it out here no matter what they were ready for it. Must be easier to just think "o well if it is time it is time", I bet there is less stress when you don't have to fight every inch of the way.

I also noticed almost immediately that Unice had a bandage on her forearm, a wound I had missed when her sweater was on. I think she noticed me looking at it because the sweater went back on over the shoulders with the sleeves covering it. Fred looked at me then her than smiled and not so confidently stated " Oh that she fell yesterday that was nothing she's fine, she's fine." But Unice wouldn't make eye contact with me or look in my direction. As they say the eyes always give it away. I knew there was more to this than they were letting on so I decided to keep this info to myself and an eye on Unice.

Fish climbed out of the pool and signaled for a drink so I started to pour him another pint glass of wine. As he came up the stairs for his drink I looked down and caught Lee staring a hole in me in her bra and panties, using them as a bikini. She was definitely easy on the eyes and that made me ask Fred if they had hot water in the place. He said of course like it was odd to ask, and stated the generator downstairs running emergency lights also ran the electric hot water tank. That was all the news I needed as I waved Lee to come on out and  told everyone I bid them adieu and took Lee and her clothes down to room 108 and locked it behind us, night night kiddies time for some alone time.

Lee was all for getting into a hot shower and smelling like chlorine and sweat I agreed, however she dragged me in as well and for what it is worth we had hours of amazing and odd sex , the type you have on vacation not in an apocalypse. We both lay there after a few hours looking up at the ceiling and then it happened , Lee broke down. Crying and sobbing I thought "great this is how I thought this would go" but it wasn't me it was her. She cried for a while and I asked her finally what was wrong and if it was me or us. She said " No, no ,no not you at all I'm afraid , afraid of tomorrow , afraid of everyday after that". I held her tightly and rocked her, that was all I could do without lieing. Then said in a soft voice " tomorrow is tomorrow , all we really have is right now". She turned and kissed me, saved I thought to myself and back to an X rated movie we went.

# 35

Holding up the box of condoms the young possible party girl wasn't fighting fair. We could possibly be killed today and eaten, we were likely two of maybe a few hundred people left in the area , let alone the world for all we knew. And I had not been with a woman in a long, long time. Contrary to what you think my line of work didn't get woman to fall all over me. As all of this was running through my mind my body took over the situation and like a couple of kids shopping with their mom we found the nearest coat rack that was full and went into the middle of it. Game was definitely on and if anyone was keeping score that was their own problem. I imagine we were not as covert as we had thought but luckily none of the other group was in the area to see it . I think the coat rack looked like it was having angry sex with the floor at some point, but I would digress.

Meanwhile the rest of the group was off on their own missions and who knows what they were up to. I would figure Rusty would be all about the weapons , he looked like the type of guy to hunt and fish and fix things like me so he wouldn't be swayed by too much in his quest. The other group who knows they seemed a bit lackadaisical in their attitude. I mean the world seemingly is over as we knew it and these zombie like things were everywhere trying to eat us. I don't know about you but I wouldn't spend day after day in that reality and still act like someone should pinch me it must be a dream.

Leeanne was unreal in that coat rack I must say. If there is such a thing as angry or make-up sex being good , well let me say end of the world survival comfort sex has it all beat hands down. Either that or she was a porn star/ stripper at some point in her young life, which ever way you slice it I wasn't bitching. After we were done I had a feeling she would act as if it never happened but I was way off on that one. She was all over me the entire time we were finishing up the shopping. Hands on parts that are not normal in public , tongue in my ear and trying to force my hand in various predicaments whenever I reached for anything. In a normal setting this girl had red flags everywhere, but in this one she was mighty cool.

We had enough stuff to fill the two carriages and started heading back and she was making up cute names for me and grabbing me down the aisle. I almost felt ashamed or embarrassed by it , thinking the group would look down on us or something for it. It was a different world you don't get congratulated on having a girlfriend you get slapped lol. We headed to the front end to wait for the rest and when we arrived there was no sign of them. Lee said we should head to the food and see if we can find anyone else. I agreed and we left the carriages and headed that way. On the way Lee grabbed me and dragged me into the customer service department area and then to the backroom. We started going hot and heavy and then I thought for a second and in mood kill fashion asked if the security cameras were still working. Lee assured me they weren't the place had no power and then proceeded to do something that made my eyes cross and her to only hum.

 A bit later we headed out to find the rest of the group waiting near our carriage. I said in a rather unbelievable voice " we were looking for security cameras but couldn't find them". Rusty started laughing and Brent said " did you find them in her bra?" I hadn't noticed but Lee was a mess and hadn't straightened up from our activities. She jumped behind me and started getting fixed up and Fish was standing there just shaking his head with that damn smirk on his face. Hey whats a guy to do it was what it was, and I wasn't the only party in this. After she had fixed herself up we headed to the front and started getting everything in the van. Rusty had procured a few arrows and bows and also a thing that looked like an evil lawn dart that he said he was going to sharpen up.

We got the van almost fully loaded and Lee came to the front of the bus as I was starting it up, and thank god it did. We hadn't thought about it not starting when we shut it down and it was on flat ground this time. The drive here must have charged it all up because it fired like a champ. She leaned into me and whispered "look what I picked up." Looking at what she was hiding under her shirt was an outfit made for a hooker to feel slutty. And i liked it , I have to admit. It wasn't like we were going to hold hands on the beach or get married and have kids it was physical and that outfit was as well.

We got the truck up and running and started back to route 6, the whole time Lee sat right behind me with her hand on my shoulder. I still didn't get why she was so into me, maybe she was deep down afraid and saw me and Fish could take care of things on a certain level. Maybe it was when she wanted to check her family I was the one to say OK. I was not too sure but whatever the reason it made me feel better about the overall situation. Fish piped up and said "It will be getting dark soon enough we should stop ahead somewhere, I wouldn't want to be looking in any neighborhood for your family in the dark". Lee shook her head in agreement, we were only maybe seven miles from the area she said to head to and it would suck in the dark. In my head I thought maybe the city was safe it had a bridge you needed to cross and for sure the army would hold up there and keep it all back from them right? Maybe it would be a tough one to cross for us but if so at least Lee would know her family was safe.

We headed up the road and came upon a giant Holiday Inn. Fish waved me to pull in and as we did there was one "thing" in the lot coming for us. Lee's hand tightened on my shoulder as I ran it down and we continued on. I pulled in under the overhang for airport limos and cars and we all started unloading. Me and Fish headed in first and left rusty with a gun to watch everyone else. We did a quick look around then headed to the rooms facing the lot the bus was in. We would have to check every room on the floor and then bar the doors for the upstairs so nothing possibly up could come down. In our travels I ran across a switch for emergency lighting in the office, I hit it and the halls at least had light. We moved in further and found a pool indoors with the lights on and heat going. My stomach was sinking this is no accident what the hell is this?

The lights in the pool room kicked on and I could hear a shotgun cock. We turned around and found an elderly couple standing on the upper balcony with a bead on us. The man said "Who the hell are you and why are you here". I responded"We were just heading to find family and thought we could stay the night ,me, Fish here and a few others, and we have food". The man lowered the gun and smiled " why didn't you say so send them in were safe here mi casa su casa". Me and Fish smiled finally people who I don't have to hate and run over.

# 34

The bus jumped to life and i smashed the pedal down accelerating like I was drag racing. Ripping it into second and sidestepping the clutch I had the bus rearing down on a huge group of the "things". There was a collective yell from the bus and i cranked the shifter into third gear while doing another tango on the clutch. The "things" were wandering up route 6 until they got a load of us heading their way. The group of "things" all started heading into our direction. I cannot stress enough how unsettling it is no matter how much I knew they were zombies it was to have them head into the path of a bus the size of the one I was at the helm of. At the last moment I was almost tempted to swerve the bus around them and avoid hitting, but I caught myself and hammered on.

The "things" were sent in an uncontrollable pattern, flying over the bus, to the sides of it, and underneath it. The windshield took a hit and spider web cracked in the corner. The people in the back were yelling as the zombie like creatures were flung against the sides of the bus, banging against the glass and side panels. The crowd of "things" continued trying to get to the bus, as if they could just bite it like a Twinkie passing by and get the creamy human filling inside. It was odd to say the least running down a crowd of people like an elderly person at a sidewalk carnival. Fish charged up to the front of the bus, he appeared to not want to miss a moment of the action and took a front row seat.

We all had reasons for that last second of my deciding to not go around the crowd of "things", some of us had seen things acted out by the zombies. Some of us even had the acts taken out on our own family and friends. To say that breaking through the other side of that crowd of "things" was like a huge sigh of relief would be an understatement. It was as if we had finally gotten some kind of control of the situation and said to them " look at us we aren't victims anymore, now you are". It seemed that way at the time anyway, but looking back we were still a long way away from being in the clear. It was a moment in time where we didn't feel so damn helpless , so directionless. We were going to finally start fighting the "things" and we were going to start now.

We headed up route 6 for a few more miles and finally reached the area of the state highway where it opened up into a new town and a humongous development of stores , restaurants, and such. I asked everyone to keep an eye out for something that would have a resemblance of food in it and we all kept a keen eye. Finally off in the passenger side distance we spotted the Target, and I turned off the main road heading in that direction. Linda said for everyone to hear " I worked at the Target in my neighborhood when I was in High School" , almost proudly. I guess in a moment like this, with the world being as it was that would be something to be proud of, and wish to still have. Fish sarcastically said "so were you the slow greeter?". We all had a laugh for a second and it was well needed.

Turning into the main lot of the Target it was a cluster screw of cars bodies and carriages. Really made me wonder what people were thinking to try and run from the "things" but not give up the carriage. Did they really think they could just run to their cars and load them up and leave? Did they honestly think the zombie type things would maybe help em load up? The last thought made me laugh a bit , thinking of a "thing" helping an elderly woman with her bags and then return the cart to the holder for her. man I needed food and sleep and my head was getting awful loopy.

I parked in front of the main doors and announced to everyone "no matter what is inside of there stay in groups with someone who is armed and do not reenter the bus thinking it is safe , I am leaving the doors open for a quick retreat if we need it and I don't want anyone jumping into a seat next to a thing".
Everyone shook their heads in agreement and then we all got off the bus and entered the building bu the carriage doorway. The main doors were electric and not working but the carriage loading doors were wide open and if you squeezed in right you got in no sweat.

The inside of the store was a veritable disaster, with clothes everywhere and things in all the aisles. I made it over to Fish and we devised a plan to have one group gather jackets and hate and gloves, another group to gather food that would keep and water if any, and the last group to go to sporting goods and see if there were any weapons left. It seemed like a fair plan but with only two of us armed and three groups heading out it wasn't a safe plan. I grabbed Rusty who seemed like the type to at least have a clue how to use a gun. We talked it out and I handed him the gun I had that was loaded and ready to rock. I had no clue what make of gun it was or size , all I knew was it went bang and things dropped if aimed correctly. If you think this story of what I am going through is going to harness stats about weaponry your talking to the wrong cat. All I know about weapons is they kill things that want to kill me , and that makes me a huge weapons fan at the moment, Rusty too.

I led a small group with Lee and Brent and headed to the clothing section. Rusty had a group going to the sporting goods and Fish had a group going to the food. At the last minute Brent decided to head with Fish because we needed food badly and all the help in the world is a good thing. We wanted to be in and out as fast as we could, we had no way of knowing if our arrival or talking or the bus would be a flag for the "things" to come out and play and to be quite frank, I would rather this have been uneventful. Me and Lee started looking for the clothing she had women's and I had men's. I grabbed anything warm and over sized and also anything that could be used later on for insulation. We both had carriages and mine was stacked. I looked over and suddenly there was no Lee and her carriage was basically empty. Crap how long since I last saw her, I thought as I ducked down and started skulking into the section she was last seen in. "Lee, psst Lee where are you"? I whispered. Then I was grabbed from behind and Lee planted a huge kiss on me. I backed away and she held up a box of condoms, "look what I went and found" she slyly whispered. This day was getting odder by the damn second.

# 33

We had the heat blasting and we were cruising down the road it was pretty sweet. If anything could kill the buzz we were all on it was the hoard of"things" smack dab in the middle of the road about a quarter of a mile up. I slowed to a stop and we all leaned forward to get a good look at the situation. Jenn said to me "just plow through them it wont be too bad will it?". I looked ahead and muttered " It's too thick with them , we could drive right into a car and not see it". None of us wanted to be stuck in the middle of a pack of what looked like fifty or so of the "things". Fish leaned over and asked me " is there a way around all of this"? I settled back into the seat and thought for a moment. " Yes , I could go down to 103 and follow that up to 136 , it's a long way around but doable". Everyone agreed and i started to turn left on Maple Street and head to 103. The only thing I hoped was that it was clear as it was mostly a one lane road, but ahead of us was no option either.

Heading down Maple we had a better scope of the magnitude of the epidemic if you will. Houses in various forms of devastation only being surpassed by the most vicious of tornado / hurricane effects. I swear i witnessed a car sticking out of a roof and with no hills around I was puzzled. Strange things can go down when it is a complete nightmare in such a peaceful neighborhood. Cars in various states of destruction with bodies pretty much laying everywhere. Some with mortal wounds prevalent and some with wounds that appeared inflicted post mortem. I was no expert as it may sound it was just painfully obvious to anyone looking. I could hear crying in the back seats somewhere and had a feeling one of the women was looking at what was here and projecting it to where she thought her family was. To be honest I thought the same about my brothers place.

" It may not be like this everywhere" I said reassuringly. "We have no way of knowing just how far this stretches so don't get too beat up" then I added " It could be fine just an hour out of this area we have no way of knowing". That seemed to calm the back of the bus down a bit and make the ride down Maple a little easier, despite the view out the windows. A mile down Maple street was the local nine hole golf course and in the back of my head I had envisioned a zombie in a golf cart chasing his last shot. My mind had a weird sense of humor and I had to smirk as I passed the parking lot for the course. Fish said aloud while staring out the window " Wanna go play a round?" Some of the guys in the back laughed at the comment, but I noticed Linda did not. It was hard getting a read on some of these new additions to the mix not to mention Fish who was his own book of oddity.

We reached the traffic light for Route 103 and I took a slow and sharp right. Heading down the road was not as bad as Maple Street because 103 is wide open. Not much traffic was on this road for whatever reason or perhaps the military had to clear this one as well at one point. It made me a bit uneasy and my stomach started to get vocal. It was getting later in the day and we had been going pretty hard so far on empty stomachs. I mentioned to Fish and everyone else to keep an eye out for anything that remotely resembled lunch. I knew this road pretty good and it was not exactly layered in diners, restaurants, or even a coffee shop. It was mostly a residential area and until I reached 136 we were going to have to tough it out. My stomach was making its point clear and my foot got a little heavier on the throttle. "Finally" Fish said as the bus broke over forty miles an hour and I had to admit it was a relief. The road was clear nothing around and we were trucking.

At route 136 we turned right and did the quick left then right near the package store and headed to the big intersection two miles up that i knew had a few choices for food. At this point I was just hoping they still had some form of food still inside of them and had not been cleaned out during this disaster.
We came down the road and passed yet another golf course only this one was a full eighteen holes and once again i smirked thinking of the zombie golfer searching out his last shot. We rounded the corner finally for route 6 and I slammed the brakes on. The entire intersection was covered in "things" the crowd we had seen that led us on this detour were moving in this direction and beat us to the route 6 exchange. I put the bus in first and let the clutch fly, there was no going around this anymore.

# 32

Walking down Route 6 was an arduous task. A few feet and then check a car. No keys in it , or keys in it but dead. A mile or so down the road and I found something I thought could work. It was a South Eastern Regional Transit Authority van bus. It had keys in it and a clutch , while facing downhill. It was perfect for what we needed. I waved everyone over and started piling them all inside. Bob and Lee sat in the front row right next to the seat I would be driving from. Almost instantly Lee started with weird flirtatious talk that had me wondering what was going on there. Meanwhile Bob seemed like he wanted to make sure he knew what was going on at all times, I liked that in Bob I would be the same way in his position.

I released the brake and stabbed the clutch in and the beast of a truck started to roll. Slowly it rolled and began to pick up speed I put the truck in second gear and waited. The speedometer was hovering at about 15 mph and i did a quick in and out with the clutch and the bus roared to life then sputtered. Everyone had gotten excited and then sad so quickly it was almost a funny reaction. On the second try it came to life and i dropped the clutch back out and let it run, we were finally mobile and rolling on a set of wheels. I felt a tug on my shoulder and Lee whispered in my ear " any way we can stop in Providence for a quick stop just so I can see "? I knew she was from there from talks before and while i understood her curiosity I feared everyone wanting to do the checks. I also realized we were all heading to check my brother and it would be selfish and hypocritical of me to say no and then bring everyone to my family to check. I nodded and asked for quick directions.

Bob instantly spoke up "i don't want to go house to house with everyone here on a giant lunch wagon for those monsters". I looked at Bob in the mirror and said " everyone should know whether right or wrong if they have family and they are OK". Then I added " wheres your family Bob?" He was very quiet and moved to a rear seat. It made me a little uneasy but then again  no one had asked me about my family aside from my brothers house , and if I was asked about my mother I may actually have the same reaction. It was food for thought and a possible sit down at a later date with Bob about what maybe he had seen or been through.

We moved slowly down the road, it was a four lane state highway but was more like a local route once the highway came in next to it. When life was normal people would roll down here doing damn near sixty miles an hour even tho it was littered with small business' and such. Once in a while they would have in the news an accident on this small road and it would be catastrophic what happened. Imagine a car doing sixty and another pulling out in font of it and you get the idea. Now the road was covered with such accidents everywhere you looked. These were accidents that happened for different reasons. These were accidents made more by people trying to do the right thing and not knowing that the right thing to do was keep going. I wondered how many peoples moral ethics actually got them killed and then looked back at the faces behind me in the bus and also wonder, how many people in this bus were alive because they lacked the morals that would get you killed at the onset of all of this.

Now wanting to make any snap judgements I did have an issue with Fish and the "dad thing" already so I was wondering about this rag tag group of college kids behind me. We made our way further down the road and started coming to the intersection of Route 118 and that meant the mall. One of the girls I think it was Linda said "lets go see what the mall is like". And then Rusty said on top of that " Maybe they have some things inside we can use". I responded with "No and if you watched zombie movies you would know how the mall thing ends". Fish smirked , he knew what I meant and we rolled past 118. A few "things" were visible every so often. Climbing in a car or over one or wandering in a yard or parking lot. No huge hoards of the "things" were anywhere to speak of and that was fine by me.

We got closer to the entrance ramp for the highway and I just went for it. I know asking would have gotten mixed responses but the small area of highway we walked to cross the bridge was open enough for a bus and at least this time if it got bad we could run to the side and through the woods. On the bridge the only place to run was off the edge and Fish showed us with a "thing" how that would go down. Halfway up the exit ramp and we had a major bottle neck. A car was on its roof and a good five or six cars after it had tried going around to mixed results of crashing , rolling over , and just plain looking stuck. I did a massive U turn in the median and headed back to route 6, everyone behind me just held on as the bus did an unusual maneuver and made itself right again. We merged back onto the roadway and headed up in the same direction as before. As much as I wanted to help Lee see how her family had actually made out in all of this, a small piece of me wanted to just keep going up route 146 and towards my brothers place. But I understood what she must be feeling no matter how hard she seemed earlier in meeting her about her families plight.

We motored on , passing random scenes of horror and carnage and just missing hitting the "things" that walked right into the bus' path. Bob eventually cam back to the front and sat with Lee and didn't make any conversation or attempt for it with me. I began to see he had a weird thing for Lee and it was clear she had nothing at all for him. Weird how even in the middle of all of this Bob had no chance, some guys are destined for it I guess, and Bob was that guy. At least in the world of Lee , I had noticed Jenn shine towards him when we were walking and Bob payed no mind to her. I guess it was Karma biting him on the ass. Rusty was in the back of the bus playing around with the spare tire kit and emergency breakdown kit, I didn't ask what he was doing and I don't think Fish did either. Rusty was the type of guy that got things done like me and if he was working with something it wasn't for a merit badge.

We headed up the cluttered roadway doing a total of twenty miles an hour if we were lucky . We had a half a tank of gas and no food so stopping was in the cards at some point. For the moment we were happy to be somewhat safe and have a working heater , for the moment life was good.

# 31

We started out on a long walk across the Bridge connecting our city to the small town on the other side of the river. Before we had headed out we made sure we were as bundled up as possible and that we had weapons at the ready. Not knowing what lay ahead we were determined to be ready for whatever came. Surprises can make you have mistakes and mistakes make you dead. Getting the group together and cohesive was a challenge in itself. Making sure they understood what we were trying to do and that anyone bitten would be removed from circulation was hard at first. The group of younger kids didn't want to accept the rules of travel with me and Fish at first. But after some discussion they were OK with it having realized we were the best chance for survival. Me and Fish were never much in the world but in the new one we were regular Mad Max type's.

We started out at first almost in an infantry like division. We would split me and Fish to the front and back of the group. One would lead then when clear wave the rest of the group to follow. I felt like I was in some classic military movie, at least until me and Fish switched and I was in the lead. Stress doesn't quite cover the feeling you get when your the eyes for the group and what you are leading them into. I would make a break for a small area but big enough for all of us to squeeze in. Then wave them over ,after that start looking for the next area to head to. Some times it would seem in the wrong direction to where we were headed, but it was all for the sake of our group. I knew halfway into the endeavor I could have covered the area in half the time but I didn't want to have anyone on the group give up where we were to anyone. All this responsibility added to the thoughts of what a wrong move would mean to my own personal safety made me about as stressed as I could get.

We made it to the edge of the bridges entrance where the on ramp would lead traffic to the right lane and cross over the river. The bridge was a long one and was all highway but in the situation we had found ourselves in it was abandoned with various cars and trucks stopped or crashed all over it . I leaned back once we were safely on the bridge and reminded everyone of the obstacle before us. " Everyone listen this is a bad spot to be in because if we run into anything we have a long way to go either way to escape and jumping is not an answer but an end." I then continued "Move quietly we need to be safe not make time, we have no idea what is in store for us and making a racket will only wave a flag to where we are". Then jokingly Fish added " yeah don't make us shoot you". It got a lot of stares but I knew he was kidding and broke it up with laughter.

We started across the bridge and moved one car at a time in the same formation as before. I would move ahead gun aiming in front of me and then wave everyone to follow. In the movies this always looked easy but in real life you got very tired fast from the stress of it all. Fish swapped out with me and started the lead which made it easier taking up the rear. He would run ahead and then wave us to follow and I would take the caboose while watching behind us and keeping an eye as each one of the group made there way to him. We were halfway across when Fish held up and then signaled for me to catch up to him. I ran past the group and told them to sit tight and made my way over to Fish. I got up to his side and didn't need to hear what the hold up was. A "thing" was feasting on a body in a car just in front of him and it didn't appear there was a way to get past it.

I said to Fish " I don't want to use guns here we have a long way to go and I don't want anything interested in the bridge". He agreed and then did something only in imaginations not in real life. He grabbed the thing from behind and heaved it off the bridge. I was in shock watching the "thing" flail and wiggle the whole way down off the side of the bridge to a thunderous crash into the icy water below. It was so surreal I didn't know what to say but the fast act of it all not only caught me off guard but the "thing" as well I suppose. It didn't fight back I think it was as shocked as we were. Looking back at all of us he said "O yeah Merry Christmas". We all busted out laughing at him. Sometimes a gift can be a moment in time and he gave us that. After a good hearted laugh that can only be described as creepy we continued on our way and to the small town bordering the river.

One at a time we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and traveled as a tight pack the rest of the way, I don't know if it was overconfidence after what Fish did or that we felt safer now, but we all stayed in a tight formation and shook each others hands and gave merry wishes. The rest of the way across the bridge was uneventful except for one "thing" that was pinned under a car and couldn't move. We walked by it and just looked down, the poor bastard was in for a long time of rotting and waiting. We made it to the other side and started into the woods off the side of the highway. Eventually we would hit route 6 and that leads all the way to Providence. If only we could find some wheels we could make up some distance with smiles on our faces. We pressed on trying random cars and trying to keep a positive outlook.

Number 30

We were awoken by a breaking window and it startled us to an almost instant panic. I hopped to my feet wiped my face off and tried to figure out where everything was. As me and Fish got the guns together we heard something in the building but it sounded like it was above us. I looked up and listened and then looked over at Fish who was looking up as well. It wasn't just me I suppose and me and Fish were staring a hole in the ceiling. My first thought when I started thinking what was making the noise was that , maybe while sleeping a "thing" broke in and went straight up never actually stopping at the floor we were on. If that was the case we were damn lucky or we would have awoken to the sting of bite.

We made our way down the hall to the stairwell and with our guns armed and at the ready we peeked into the stairwell. Nothing up or down so we started up the stairs. One step at a time was harrowing , in my head I was being tortured with what was waiting for us. I dreaded looking in the next floors doorway and seeing a hoard of the things. A few more steps and we would be right there at the door ready to see what it is ,was ,or could possibly be. My palms began to sweat and my lips were starting to dry up, I had no idea why I was getting this nervous but I was. Maybe it was all the crap we ate before going to sleep I don't know but I was getting the heebie jeebies. The snow had slowed to a flurry now and looking out the window I was in hope that nothing but a rat would be up there.

We reached the door and this time Fish took door duty and I got ready to blast anything that was either ready to attack or attacking. As Fish cracked the door open I peered inside and got a glimpse of the noise. It looked like a bad college horror film with a bunch of younger people arguing over what to do, and not one of them appeared to have more than a baseball bat on them. I looked at Fish and said "we better go check how they got in they do not look like they would be gentle about it, first let's introduce ourselves". We kicked the door in and yelled "on the floor" the kids all dropped and a girl started crying.

It's the little things in life you have to enjoy and this was one of them. A group of kids resembling newbies, trying to survive by being loud and obnoxious. I started addressing the kids "Me and Fish here have been fighting to stay alive among these 'things 'and how you numbskull's have made it this far is a damn miracle". I continued with " If you think stomping around and yelling at each other doesn't bring attention then please do it somewhere we are not in". Then I told them all to get up and tell us if they had been bitten or if they had any weapons. None of them had been bitten or armed aside from a bat and a few odds and ends. There were seven of them all together three men and four women and they were early twenties maybe. The three men were named Brent, Bob, and Rusty as he called himself he had reddish hair. The women were Deb, Jenn, Linda and Leeanne they all called her Lee. The seven of them somehow made it out of a hard party night and all fell asleep in the apartment the girls had rented next to the college and when they awoke they had what we all have seen.

They said they had managed to make it moving mostly at night but as they reached our city , coming from 20 miles up the way near the college the snow came in and they were dodging the "things" looking for a place to sleep. At some point last night because they moved in the dark they ran into this building and broke in and went as high as they could for the night. I tried explaining that if you break in you have to seal the way in off and if you just go up high and not inspect the building you are leaving yourself open for attack from whatever is in the building. They looked like deer in the headlights and it made me wonder how they had indeed made it this far. Bob who seemed to be the brightest of the bunch told us that it was a bit of a democracy and every time they decided something the best plan went by the wayside.

Fish looked at me and just shook his head with a look of complete disbelief. I talked with them a while and tried to explain that if they wanted to be a democracy by all means do it elsewhere. taking a vote on what to do is the way to get killed. You have to make a decision based on what will help you survive and do it but arguing over who has the best plan will get you all killed. They still looked lost , I then asked why traveling at night. They responded that they didn't want to be seen by the things and thought that night would be best. It confused me because the thought of traveling at night and not being able to see either was not the best plan. I apologized for the way me and Fish scared them but we didn't know exactly what we were dealing with and didn't want to have someone draw a hidden gun and get us shot, we had to act as police we had seen on cops or we would be in tough shape. Fish then explained to them this was what we meant by doing the best for survival. The girl named Linda asked if it would be OK for them to stay in a group with us, as we had weapons and a hard attitude for survival.

Me and Fish looked at each other then he whispered in my ear " It wouldn't be bad to travel with more people if they at least didn't give away our position by arguing and acting like idiots". I nodded in agreement and me and Fish told them it was cool to travel with us on two conditions. One not to start being argumentative and loud when we were trying to keep quiet and Two never touch our guns unless we hand them to them. Me and Fish fought to hard to be in the position we were in and we wouldn't be giving up the goods for the first pack of kids. They agreed and asked what we should do next . Me and Fish looked at each other and then I said "Fish here is going to lay it all out for us". Fish looked at me in a bit of surprise and then cleared his throat. He began to let them in on the plan to head to my brothers and see if it was safe there and if they were as well , after that it was to head to higher ground. Namely somewhere in Vermont where we could hunker down in a cabin in the middle of no where and just be ourselves until this all blew over.

Everyone agreed and then Jenn blurted out " my family is in Oregon is Oregon OK?". I looked at her and said" we have no way of knowing , but Oregon is a long way away so it is possible that it's fine on the west coast". She settled down and then Lee said her family is from Providence and she was almost positive they were dead she had called them and got a busy signal before the phones had gone out. She said her family never ever left the phone off the hook they were babblers who loved talking and when she heard the busy signal she had a melt down of her own. Everyone else was quiet and I asked them if they were from the area, apparently they had spent all this time going from one house of family members to another to discover what I had and so had Lee. We all stood there a moment and then Fish said"lets get this show on the road and cry later". We headed out into the snow hoping for a better day and many after it . We had a bridge to cross that was three miles long and covered in snow and then a long walk ahead of us.

Number 29

Despite all of our efforts the fire was not working out. The snow was falling at an unbelievable rate and building up fast. The wind was ripping across the rooftop now and if that wasn't enough to hold off our attempts to get this fire going the wood we had broken up to use as firewood was possibly non flammable. No matter what I did it would turn black and that was it. Fish was getting frustrated as well and was starting to kick the woodpile each and every time he thought he had something and then it would be gone. I finally became the voice of reason and told Fish through my chattering teeth I was going inside and trying to find a way to stay warm out of the wind and snow. He shrugged me off and kept on swearing and trying to light the pile of wood up but finally even he had to admit it wasn't going to work and headed inside. I told Fish that maybe the building had some form of heat somewhere, an electric radiator or something that we could hot wire to the emergency lighting. We went on our way each searching for something to benefit the situation.

I headed to the first floor mainly because despite Fish not running I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone else in plain view of a possible "thing " on the first floor. Maybe I was paranoid or just not very trusting but I figured I could look around on  the ground floor without being spotted but didn't want to hear someone else yelling and being trapped again. It's survival of the fittest and over the past few days I was learning the ins and outs of staying alive and I didn't want to become someone else's lesson of the day. I went to the first floor and immediately ducked down and moved very ,very slowly. The building was in a shambles as any would be from the battle that must have ensued here. I could almost imagine this place with people in suits feeling important and seeing the "things" out the windows and thinking the soup kitchen let out. Laughing and mocking them until one maybe strolled inside then it was the "get security" phase. I imagined security coming and trying to escort the "thing" out only to be attacked and that would be when hell broke loose. People in suits running to help and secretaries calling 911 or police or the girl on the 4th floor to tell what happened downstairs. Before too long they were all either running out the door or being trapped and eaten or turned into one of the fiends.

I half smiled thinking for whatever reason it was sort of funny that the people who looked down on people that would appear like the "things" were killed by them. Sick I know but it was a rough few weeks and we didn't exactly have a T.V. to keep us entertained. I found a small pack of M and M's in a desk downstairs and even though it felt wrong I started munching them while continuing the search for something to keep us warm. Wonder if Fish would want some? Nah he doesn't need to know about these little morsels from Zeus these are all mine, mine, mine,mine.The search was progressing as far as the search area but not in the inventory and I was figuring it was setting up to be a long , long day with maybe a chance for freezing to death in this forsaken city of dead people.

"THUMP , THUMP" Against the front door to the building I could hear something trying to get in to no avail. I tried to see if I could peek over the desk I was ducked down behind but my brain kept me from doing it thinking that whatever it was would see me and then I would become a supper for them. I tried to peek again but ducked back down before I could even get the door into my view. "THUMP, THUMP,THUMP" Again the door banged and my curiosity was getting the best of me. Finally I looked over the desk and there it was , a "thing" in a suit rapping on the door. I wondered again as I had done before if the "things" were still stuck in the useless ruts their lives had become and were trying to report for work still. Even dead we work our fingers to the bone I thought , a smirk crossed my face. I know the old me wouldn't be finding any of these remotely funny but the version of me left behind after everything I had seen and dealt with found a lot of things and "things" not only funny but down right hilarious.

I made my way around the desk away from it's view and towards the staircase, it wasn't going to get through that door and I didn't want to be the carrot dangling in front of the horse. On the second floor I had a little bit better luck, I found a blanket and a small pillow and a few bottles of Jameson Irish Whiskey. I don't know about you but if there was ever a reason to tie one on it was now and it would also keep us warm. I took the bounty up stairs to the fourth floor and Fish was already there with his chest of gold. He found flares , god knows why they were in here, a few more snack foods from vending machines and last but not least a quartz heater. We spent a while wiring it hot right into the exit sign that was lit from some emergency power from somewhere. I was not sure if the place had an emergency generator but I was pretty sure the power plant wasn't running so it was getting juice from somewhere.

Downstairs we could hear the "thump, thump" still and I explained to Fish what it was . He just shrugged it off like it was a moth bouncing off the bug light outside on a camping trip. After a while you would be amazed at what you can get used to and what you can get done when the only limits you have are in your own head. Me and Fish huddled up next to the warm glow and wrapped blankets around our backs to trap the heat in. After a big meal of slim Jim's , small bags of chips, and bear claws we curled up and fell asleep to the warm buzz of the over juiced quartz heater and the thumping of the flesh chewer below. It was like a Christmas story without any of the good feelings.

Number 28

I watched as Fish barrelled through the crowd of "things", they were flying everywhere. Over the roof, off the side, and underneath the car , it was quite the spectacle to watch them walk into the vehicle and bounce off. The car was sustaining heavy damage and just as I thought about it possibly happening "boom" the airbags detonated. The car swerved left then right and slammed into another car that was abandoned in the wake of what had happened here. I started a crisp run to the car and found Fish with canvas rash all over the right side of his face , dazed and a little incoherent. I pulled him out and said "Thanks for leaving me back there to save your ass and then total the getaway car." He was so out of it he said I was welcome, dumb ass . I reached past him while he leaned on the car and grabbed the bag he had full of everything we needed.

As we searched for another car I could hear someone yelling at us. Turning around I heard the crack of a gun and the car next to me and Fish took a shot from a bullet. Panning up to where it came from I spotted a man surrounded by 3 other people on the roof, the very roof me and fish used for a smoking area. I could faintly hear him and he was yelling " your not getting away murderers" and he took another shot. Damn too ,too, close I grabbed the bag and me and Fish ran off in the direction he ran the "things" down in. It was further away from target practice and the "things" in this direction were already compromised. Just as I had feared they thought that the nurse we shot was an act of murder, and if they continued with the thoughts that a bite didn't change you then they wouldn't be alive for long.

Me and Fish were a good quarter mile away when the gun fire stopped, I half wondered if they gave up shooting at us or if they realized they had brought UN-needed attention to the location on the roof. I know I wouldn't take more than one shot at a time from up there and lastly of all start yelling between bursts. They thought we were murderers , hell they might have just killed themselves. No one would want that much attention to a location they were at , let alone a location the "things" can just wait outside of keeping you trapped. I was now relieved I had left when I did, for all we knew the people upstairs were planning on either killing us or imprisoning us. Now we are free of that place and the people upstairs who obviously don't realize the weight of the situation.

We ran as best we could as far as we could trying every vehicle we came across. Half of them had dead batteries the other half had no keys. My hopes of ever getting to my brothers house were diminishing and so was my will to continue. The more we pressed on the more we both were tired. Each turn we would take would involve hiding from "things" shooting a few that were unavoidable and trying everything and anything that looked like a movable piece of transport.

We didn't have much luck for anything with wheels and it was getting colder and colder as the day moved along. Finally winter was settling in and with it was our chances to stay out in the middle of nowhere without some form of insulation. I talked it over with Fish and we started looking for a place to squat for a while with the end of the day approaching and the cold air coming in. The cold air was starting to give way to a raw air and then it started to snow. The snow started as a few flakes and then a light flurry, but after that it was getting heavy. As it grew heavier the air grew colder and me and Fish were scattering like roaches when the lights turn on for anywhere to go. Finally I found a building that had no "things" near it. We made our way inside and the front desk had the information surrounding it to make me understand that it was an insurance company.

We took a quick look around the building and then we made sure we didn't have any of the "things" hiding anywhere. The building was a good 5 stories high and as I walked the halls I recalled it being a bank when it first opened and then a few more, the banking crisis really had the banks scatter for a footing. But having not payed any attention to it never realized it was insurance. It was a building close to the City Hall and the river as well. I knew when we had the building cleared that finding a decent mode of transportation was next in the cards. The building afforded great views of the highway and their was no traffic on it. Finally a road that wasn't blocked with traffic and this neck of the highway was always a traffic jam. Maybe the military cleared it , I thought to myself as Fish interrupted my zoning out.

"We need to start a fire in here I'm freezing"he said to me in a chilled lip chattering voice. I agreed and we decided to go to the roof and light a nice fire on the top. At least that way it didn't light the inside of the building in the dark and if the top of the building was ablaze it would appear as a fire. The fire would have to be able to burn for a long time because being outside we would be freezing otherwise. Me and Fish carried a bunch of desks to the roof to make a small shelter and then broke up everything made of wood we could find for firewood. Then I did a recheck of every door on the bottom floor and made sure that everyone of them was locked and barred, I didn't want any surprises while soaking in the heat. Fish showed up after I did a door check with a hand full of snacks saying he raided every break room he found and we would be having a vending machine feast in front of the fire.

Entry 27

Being stuck in an office and unsure if there was a way out or if the "things" could overtake us made me get extremely anxious. I had not been this nervous in a while about my location but this was about as unsettling as it could get. The thought of the "things" tearing me apart or eating me live was now more real then ever , and ever single noise outside of the locked door was making me get more and more irrational. The worst thing you can be in this situation is unglued and I was almost there, fortunately with Fish in tow I was somewhat anchored and was already glad he was here. We looked at what the room we were in had in it and if there was any possible escape plan. No windows and only one door it was an office that was apparently built in the middle of the back of the counter and had no access other than where we came into it. My head started racing and thoughts of making a break for it filled my head. Just then Fish said to me in a low voice " I think I can make it to the door from here if I move fast". I said "what then I become supper?" He smiled and said " No I get a vehicle and you stay here they chase me and I run them down and get to the door then you run for it". Maybe this was a good plan but for now I thought it sucked bad.

Without as much as a negotiation or a conversation Fish busted through the door and screamed " c'mon you meat bags" and ran for the door to the parking lot. I heard a few gunshots but in his haste to do his plan quickly the door stayed open to the office I was in and I hurried to the door to close it. As I shut the door and locked it I could see a few "things" eyeball me and start coming. I looked around all I had was a desk and filing cabinet, I was screwed and to top it all off the way Fish hauled butt out of here I was pretty sure he was off like a prom dress leaving me to become the appetizer. I looked everywhere and finally up. The lowered ceiling was my only shot and as I hopped up onto the desk to see what was up there the door started banging, they were right outside of it and the lock would only hold for so long.

I climbed up finally to the top of the filing cabinet and was halfway into the ceiling when the door started to give way. I jumped on top of a heating duct and covered the tile back up behind me and that's when I heard the door pop open and the things crawl around just underneath me. I was stuck in total darkness and these "things" had me pinned down like Bruce Willis in Die Hard or some sort scene. I pulled out my flashlight slowly and clicked it on and looked for any sort of exit. In the far corner of the top of the office I could see daylight peeking through a small vent type of thing. I started to shimmy over to the light and the duct I was on top of was holding me very well.

As I got to the vent I could plainly see if was a vent for I was guessing excess heat and maybe the mildew that could form but otherwise it seemed out of place. I took the end of my gun and whacked the vent and it opened enough for me to see through it to the parking lot. I could see Fish way out in the distance with about twenty or so of the things in chase and he was still trying car doors and then running some more. Crazy bastard what the hell was he thinking I thought. I then did my best to try and pull the vents grated cover off and see if I could possibly get out thru it. I yanked it off and got my arm out of it then my head and as I got my head out I looked around and could see I was about ten feet off the grass with nothing and no "things" around me. I pulled my other arm through and then my legs and fell the ten feet on my back. Luckily there were no "things" around because it took me a good minute to get my breathe back , I did knock the wind out of myself and was gasping like a man drowning. I got back up from the ground and rounded up my things and then looked around me , at least I was out of the damn room Fish stuck me in and I was starting to feel a little guilty about taking off without warning the others. But it was every man for himself in this world and they had about 20 of the so called soldiers like myself up there. I don't think they would have came with us and with the looks they were giving us after the nurse we had to put down we probably would have been shot our damn selves.

I looked for Fish where I had last seen him but that area was clear now , no Fish and no "things". I started to wonder if he ditched me like we ditched the whole hospital and in a way I couldn't feel bad if he had , it was what we did to the people upstairs. I wondered if they were looking out the window at me and then wondered if they might shoot me. I gathered everything and started hauling, if they didn't see me they would assume I was dead and that is fine with me. I started doing some double time into the parking lot and that is when I heard the yelling. I looked in the distance and could see Fish that crazy bastard , yelling at the "things" and running them down with a car he got. Maybe he didn't run after all.

Entry 26

Finally sitting down with some warm food in front of me I dug into a big bowl of beans and a side of bread. It isn't the best but it has protein and it fills you up, not only that it's easy to heat up and has a pretty good shelf life. I wasn't about to complain but I wondered why we were already down to canned goods? Were there not any fresher foods available or did they already burn through it all. Maybe the refrigeration went out for too long, I wasn't going to criticize I was too hungry and judging by Fish he was too. Then one of the nurse's came by and dropped off some more bread and some bottled water. I could kill right now for some decent coffee....oh coffee , how I have missed you so. The little things you miss I guess but some coffee would hit the spot at this moment. I got up and took a quick walk over to the back of the cafeteria and looked around for a coffee pot, a percolator,or even a french press. Not a thing around but I did find a roll of Ritz crackers and grabbed them. Sitting back down I handed Fish half the roll and we had a miniature Thanksgiving feast of beans, bread, and Ritz . The simple things in life.

As we had our food I started getting to learn more about the man called Fish. He told me how he was a security guard for an armored car service and was trapped for a day or two he couldn't exactly remember by a hoard of "things" when it all went down. I asked if he saw anything out of the ordinary when it started to happen and he responded with a simple no. He told me a story of him and another guy picking up at a bank and when they came back out he climbed in the back and his partner handed him the bags of money and it was at that time he said they attacked the friend. He said he didn't even have time to get his gun out and the friend and coworker was done for. He shot a "thing" a few times and it came for him so he slammed the doors and that he ended up stuck in there for a couple days maybe. He said he woke up and the "things" were gone so he climbed out and wandered until he ran into the military who grabbed him and the people he was with when I ran across him. He said he wasn't sure how it all happened a few different stories were circulating from the people he was with , one involved chemical warfare and another was linked to an infection. He said no story he had heard ever sounded feasible but then again nothing we were seeing did a month ago.

We finished eating and then had the idea of heading up top for a smoke. I thought of the movie Stand By Me and the line "that's when a smoke taste's best , after a meal". We reached the top of the stairs and then proceeded to whip out the cancer sticks. We didn't have them lit for long when the noise from below had our attention. We moved to the side of the roof and looked down to see hundred's and seemingly hundred's of "things" trying to get into the main lobby. I looked at Fish and said" I'm not too sure if what we have in those stairwells can hold up to this many of them do you?" He looked back down and took a long drag then said " we can only hope". We ran back down to the floor and informed everyone what was happening down below and that anything they have and do not need to throw it down the stairwells into the doorways, my thinking as I described it to them all was if the doors cannot possibly open with all the stuff wedged behind them we are safe, but if they have room to squeeze thru the doorway they will not stop. If they think its just unable to be opened  then they will move on.

In no time we had everything from the second floor and our floor wedged in we made things fit that didn't. It was a masterpiece, I even had the stairwell we marked for escape wedged shut, with that many of them I didn't want to take a chance with a bar holding it shut and an armed guard. We then sat and waited, me and Fish told everyone to get to the third floor and we would wait on the second. Everyone else ran up and we told them unless you hear our voices do not let anyone in from the stairwell B, the rest of the stairwells are inoperable so do not open those for any reason. After it was settled and everyone had there positions we waited on floor two, not so much to kill any of them but to keep some eyes on the situation, we had found a few spots in the second floor where we could see the first and wanted to make sure the "things" moved on.

Nothing we had prepared was happening and me and Fish thought we had done the right thing for everyone. The "things" wandered around a bit then would go right back out some would seem to sniff the doorways some would lick things that were touched but they didn't seem to try any doors at all they just looked lost. At one point I almost thought that in the "things" subconscious they were trying to get to the hospital to get treated because maybe deep down when not trying to kill they knew they were sick. i started wondering if we were doing the right thing just randomly killing them if they had any humanity at all. Was I a mass murderer? My thoughts went back to survival and I wiped my head of sweat as I remembered my mothers house and what I had seen. I thought of Scrapper and the coffee lady and then wanted to kill the "things" all over again. I just hoped my brother and his family had gotten to safety. He lives in a close knit town and I would imagine everyone would try and help each other, I hoped they in fact did because around here it was everyone for themselves.

I started to head to the stairwell we had initially marked for emergency use when Fish stopped me. He said"where the hell are you going man?" I looked at him and said" I need to get to my brothers and sitting in this hospital playing mad max isn't helping me get that done. The people up there are safe now for how long who knows". I then added "It's time I move on if you want to stay just be careful with the people up there , they haven't stopped eyeballing us wince the nurse was bitten". He responded with " I noticed that too and don't feel too safe now, maybe I can kick it with you a while ". I nodded and then we set out to get to my brothers together, whether or not I can trust Fish is uncertain but he has had my back and I have had his so for now were good protection for each other.

We opened the door at the lobby slowly and took a peek out the doorway. I could see one "thing" trying to eat something from the nurses station and me and Fish squeezed out and made sure the door locked behind us. If those "things" broke through that door I doubt they would try squeezing thru what we just did. We slid across the floor behind the counter on the other side of the hall leading to the nurse station and stayed down. Not a moment too soon either as the door to our immediate right smashed open with a dozen things trying to run through the hall. Me and Fish crept backwards and into the office behind us we shut the door quietly and locked it then had to come up with a new escape plan.

Entry 25

We managed to get to the top of the building and had a good look around at not only the view but first and foremost the roof itself. It was clear with gravel and tar and had no real escape ladder of any kind which was fine with me. No way down means no way up and I was cool with it. Fish was in the middle of trying to light another smoke and appeared to be deep in thought so I let him be. I still was not sure what to make of Fish , whether of not to trust him and if he had all the bats in his belfry. Who is to say a complete nut job made it out of all of this and we handed the quack a gun? I was hoping it was just a personal conflict i walked in on but it seemed to be more. While he had his smoke I started to look at the landscape. I could see smoke far off in the distance , maybe 2 miles away. It looked like something was burning pretty good and it was odd to think that there is no one fighting the fire , no one there. It was just going to burn until it ran out of stuff to burn. Odd even more was the tower for retired and disabled off to the northeast. It had a bunch of windows knocked out and the top was burned out . The people in that place really didn't have much of a chance in all of this. Half of them need a few assistants and wheelchairs or beds with wheels and an elevator , just to get out of the building. I wonder how many of these types of situations were happening or had happened.

I rubbed my head and sat on my feet for a moment letting the entire scope of the situation sink in. It was another layer of sinking in I was biting into with the view before me. Sometimes in the moment you can forget what the whole story is and I just got the cliff notes. The world was taking a giant poop on everyone that was still alive and the thoughts of where to go and what to do were spinning wildly in my head. I tried to think who would be able to help us? The police are gone , the military is drafting people like me on the spot, the CDC? I don't even know where they are. I started to get a depressed feeling and hoped that it wasn't showing, the last thing I need is pity , the whole world needs it not me.

Fish woke me from my emo day dream and yelled " over here check this out". I ran to the edge he was at and there he was , the head of the hospital running to his car. "where the hell is he going?' I asked Fish like he had some magical answer. We watched as he ran to the trunk and opened it and started digging papers and things out and stacking them on the ground next to him. Just beyond the grassy area behind him we could see a few "things" making a B line for him, once he was spotted they wanted that dude. I yelled "hey they are behind you get inside". more pissed than anything because now he was bringing them this way. He looked around his trunks lid and waved me off like he couldn't be bothered. I yelled again loud as I could "THEY ARE RIGHT BEHIND GET IN THE DAMN HOSPITAL!" Once again he waved us off this time he didn't even look at us the hand just waved us off from behind the trunk lid. I looked at Fish and said "this is what you call Karma biting you in the butt....literally".

A moment later and he was screaming for help over and over. I just looked away, it wasn't something that can be helped now he was already bitten multiple times and by the time we got down there to help he would already finished off. Should have listened, but his position on the pecking order made him feel too important to listen to us. Why do people make the mistake of intelligence being more useful than street smarts all the time. In this instance whatever he was going to get in that car cost him his life and any lack of sympathy. he wanted it he got it simple as that.

Fish asked if I was hungry and my stomach was answering for me. We both started to head down the stairwell while the creams in the background slowly grew silent, it was time to get some grub and find out who was now in charge of the hospital. We were halfway down the stairs and we heard a nurse yelling, me and Fish started to move out fast and when we reached the third floor we found a "thing" climbing on a nurse in the middle of the station she was at. Damn head left the door wide open when he ran for his car. I put my heel to its forehead and then put the nozzle of the shotgun against the side of my foot , "BOOM". Head was gone and the nurse was covered in neck geyser juice. I helped her up and asked if she was OK and she pointed to a bite on her forearm. I hated to have to inform her but she was dead and didn't know it yet. I asked her if she was alone or had anyone here with her she said she didn't and then Fish blew her head off.

Everyone around us started screaming and one of the makeshift soldiers drew his weapon on us. He said authoritatively "drop your guns and get on the floor". I pulled my gun while he had his aiming right at Fish and cocked it and said without so much as a quiver in my voice "you drop the gun he did what he had to and I will too". we stood there trying to see who would flinch and to be honest I was getting tired of people being overly macho , the world was ending and if this guy shoots Fish I will remove his haircut from existence. Fish held up his hands and said to the man "do what you have to , I know I did , she didn't feel a thing, if we left her alone she would be biting us next". The man looked at Fish then me and said " how do I know you haven't been bitten?" I said casually "if we had do you think we would shoot her"? He slowly lowered his gun and as soon as he had it down Fish to his credit mauled him and started giving him a good what for. I pulled Fish off the guy and said " the head of the hospital just got eaten and left the door open for this attack , stop fighting each other or we all die". They both let each other go and the man looked at me and then away, I looked at Fish and said "lets go eat".

Entry 24

Having a smoke I coughed heavily and Fish smirked and remarked "not a smoker huh". I coughed a bit more then I said  with a little laugh to it "nope I wasn't a killer either things sure do change ". He got real quiet and it dawned on me that the comment may have hit him where it hurt after what had happened in the hospital and I felt that letting this sit would not make it any better. "Look I heard what was said up there and it is non of my business,  a lot of things that were wrong don't seem to be anymore and whatever was going on up there is non of my business." I hoped that would calm his nerves a bit and maybe it did his answer seemed to head that way. " It isn't what it seems , I know that looked bad and all but it is not what you may think". I looked back at him took a drag and coughed a bit then said sternly " OK but you should know that if you ever leave me hanging like that again I wont be as understanding you left me up there with a couple of those "things" and I damn near got, got". He looked at me shook his head that he understood and then sarcastically said with a hitch in his voice"so what did you do hide in the toilet?". We both had to laugh at that one then I responded "no I got dragged in the sewer by one and damn near got to be lunch but nailed em then sealed the sewer shut but upstairs after you left the "thing was taking a patient out then they both came for me". He apologized and then said he needed a minute and took off into the hospital. I stayed put with my eyes on the surrounding areas and finished the smoke I could just about handle.

Looking down at the pack of Luckies i remembered how they used to have green in the packs and during the war they used all the green dyes for military purposes and Lucky changed to white. All these years later still white, I wondered what color they needed now to fight this current war, camouflage was not a needed thing against these "things" they seemed to sense when yo were anywhere near them. I started to think of different zombie films while looking at the landscape, thinking about the movies and shows where the hero's would cover themselves with zombie parts and walk among them or just walk among them acting like them and going unnoticed. I thought jeez is any of the stuff they depicted over the years accurate at all? I wish something besides the head shot kill would be accurate but so far most of it was Hollywood's way of selling tickets. They didn't have the strength of you or me and they didn't have any ability to fear anything, I mean they would probably walk into a stream of lava if you were on the other side of it to get to you.

All the same I was fortunate to have a smoke I couldn't handle. So many people in their house's in their car's or just at work that were overtaken by these "things" and whatever cause all of this. I started to think about the military and how they seemed so hit by all of this so disheveled , so out of sorts. It made me wonder how if this was some sort of military thing or war thing they would have been better prepared or more apt to battle it. It looked like they were the keystone cops out here and didn't really know where to hit or with what. Like they were platooning and just shooting what they ran across. Then I started to wonder where the hell this all could have started? was it like Night of the comet, where something from space caused this? was it a chemical weapon in the food , water , or air? why was I fine and how did it spread so fast? And further more why the hell did Fish seemingly whack his dad in the hallway? I had even more questions today then I did yesterday and not a clue where this was all heading. I still needed to find out how my brother made out in his place with his wife and kids and I had hopes it was fine up there. But in the back of my head I continued hearing the General state they lost Boston and Washington and New York. It made me really nervous about the possibility of what was waiting up there and if I was actually letting it happen by being here and not there helping him.

Staying here at the Hospital and keeping the people safe who don't even know how to do basic things to help themselves seemed like I was waiting to not only watch them become victims but I would be joining them on the endeavor. If they stayed on the bottom floor it would be a matter of time before  some of the "things" got in somewhere. If we even went up just one floor it would be safer but it was like talking to a wall with the head of the place , he seemed ignorant to the facts. I put out the smoke , it was already my second one and headed back in.

I grabbed the nearest nurse and told her to spread word we were moving everything and everyone up one flight. If the head of the place wanted so badly to stay down here he was more than welcome to but he would be alone. I could not in good conscience leave these people down here with all these doors and windows when one flight up we had just 6 stairwells to blockade, we could jam 3 of them up with everything we could throw down the stairwells until they were impassible and then barricade the other three and guard them with our weapons , making one the main way up or down for other people and trips out for whatever we needed but if the things showed up and thought the place was empty maybe they would just move on. The nurse instantly started telling other nurses and heck maybe even they could see what I was saying because none of them were questioning anything about it they were all shuffling people up the stairs and packing things.

I told the head of the nurses to pack anything that they would need , anything at all and all the food , I didn't want anything down here that would cause the things to want to stay. Eventually one of the nurses must have went to the head of the place and blabbed because he came out of his office and started ordering everyone to stop what they were doing. Fish came over to me and I started giving him the lowdown and he was shaking his head agreeably. Then the head came to me in his prime and proper way and started barking to me about who I thought I was to make decisions around HIS hospital and blah, blah ,blah. I stopped him with my hand to his mouth and then started back at him with a ravenous yell."These people are not your property and neither is this Hospital, whatever you were in charge of is long gone, if you haven't noticed people are eating people and if you continue to think everything is fine by all means take a walk with me in town and then tel me what it is I don't know". He took a step back and fixed his tie. I then added " we are going up to the third floor not this floor not the second but the third. I don't want those "things" getting in here and having a buffet and I don't want them staying or hearing anything upstairs" . " You will help us get everything up two floors or so help me as soon as we are done getting everything up we will leave you down here to argue your point to the damn "things". The man turned and headed back to his office. A nurse cam over to me and said " I have wanted to tell him off for years". I told her to go ahead he cant fire her there is no more establishment to worry about.

We started the process of hauling everything we needed up to the third floor and in a few hours the task was done. I then instructed all the men guarding the outside of the Hospital to get to the stairwells and we proceeded to jam so much crap from the second floor down them the doors wouldn't even open into the stairwell from the lobby. Perfect I thought and we then went to the three stairwell doors we thought offered the best escapes and barred them shut , two of them we barred and blocked so it was impossible to open without a battering ram , but still could be accessed with a little work. The main stairwell we barred and blocked and the painted the unbreakable glass with a small peep hole to look through. That would be the door we would use in a pinch to go out of the hospital for whatever reason. This stairway was also barricaded on the second floor with a wall of crap we had to climb over. I haven't seen the "things" climb yet and figured if they cant climb but got in the stairwell they would go to the second floor or back down. Anyone who wanted a smoke the first stairwell we permanently blocked with everything and anything from the third floor all the way to the first lead up tot he roof and up there we were safe and had fresh air. For once I could relax even if just for a moment and me and Fish headed to the roof to see not only what it was like as a break room but if the view lent itself to and idea the scope of the situation.