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.
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.
Maybe they should have let the others know they were leaving? And I wonder how that brother and his family made out... zoinks!
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