Day 11

The noise at the fence made Scrapper sober up fast and he made a fast yet silent move towards the window. He quickly had the same realization I did , you couldn't  see out any part of it at all. I said in a whisper " If we kill the lights maybe we can crack the door to take a peek". He nodded approvingly and made his way to the fire and smothered it out , then put out the two candles by the couch. As he was doing all of this I was Getting the guns ready in case of complete and utter disaster outside the door. I handed him a shotgun and got mine ready we both made quick checks at the weapons and then I put my hand on the door and looked in his direction and nodded. He nodded back and lined his barrel up to the door. I leaned into the door and pulled it into my weight to control the opening and hopefully the noise. Centimeter by centimeter the door slowly cracked open and as my eyes fixed out the small crack of evening air I could not see a damn thing. While I was leaning into the door I felt Scrapper directly underneath my head pressing to look out as well and we both were staring into complete darkness. "Ching ching" the fence rattled and we both looked to the left and saw...a skunk rubbing against the outside of the fence.

"Jeez that will take a year off my life" I sort of joked . Scrapper had a half hearted smile and we both had a sigh of relief. Then we heard a moan another bang against the fence and we quickly peered back out to see three of those things all attacking the skunk. I shut the door and we both put our backs up against it." shoot that blocks our way to the truck" I exclaimed. Scrapper was staring straight ahead and said"we can go out the back way its woods for a good five miles, nothing back there". I was reluctant to do so I had worked so hard to get the truck out front the thought of walking again was not sitting well with me. The noise outside was getting louder, and we were both starting to eyeball the back door of the shed/garage we were hold up in. I asked him if the 12 foot fence was in any particular order back in the woods and he told me the fence was a good 75 yards around the shed and there was no gate in the back but it did have a few spots where it had huge gaps between it and the ground , we could probably roll under it. As much as I didnt want to do it I also didn't want to become supper for the "things".

We finally had to bite the bullet and make a run for the back , hating myself for leaving a vehicle that would get me to my brothers sooner I had to make peace with the fact that in the dark out here not knowing how many are out there taking the chance with our limited weapons and places to run we were doing the right thing. Same as before Scrapper unlocked the door and I put my weight into it while opening it and he made the security stance with the shotgun. Nothing was behind us and we had a brief sigh of relief." Lets go"  he said and went thru the doorway into the night. I was right behind him but luckily I wasn't too close because as soon as he made it into the night a "thing" jumped on his back, Scrapper yelled and went down , and I took a hard aim at the "thing".

Scrapper and the "thing" were rolling and scuffling and I couldn't for the life of me get a decent shot to take. I finally grabbed the thing by the shoulder and tried prying it off of him and as i did I realized he was teeth deep in Scrappers neck. "aaarggggg" Scrapper yelled in a very high pitched helpless way and threw it off as I pulled. As soon as the thing was clear of us I took aim and leveled his shoulders, to be honest I don't even know where the head went or if it was whole it was just gone in an instance. I looked over to Scrapper who was holding a garish wound on his neck and losing blood fast. " Man you OK what can I do here" I said in a helpless Oh crap way. He just looked up and shook his head no and then he collapsed. I grabbed his wound and put pressure on it pressing hard as I could, I didn't know squat about medical things but I knew pressure is what they always say. He wasn't going to make it both he and I knew it , he was losing a-lot of blood and who knows what a bite does to you anyway, these "things" came from somewhere and it wasn't the mall.

Scrapper tried to say something to me but he was gasping for air and making a weird sort of N noise. It came out as something like " get to somewhere high up " and he was gone. To my west was the front of the shed and the area of the fence now covered in "things" how this one got in I don't know and now I was on my own again, too bad Scrapper seemed like a decent fellow , one more lesson learned I guess , never assume anything is safe.I made my way to the back of the lot and started looking for the gap in the fence and when I found it I almost slid right into one of the "things " coming in from the other side.

I almost jumped out of my skin but between this and Scrapper getting eaten right in front of me I harnessed my inner child and shot over the fence like a champion. As soon as my feet hit the other side I was off like a cannon fired me , I was going to make as much distance in the woods as I could and fast.

Day 10

The man talked with me while we drove to the food and had some interesting things to tell me. His name was Scrapper he was into demo work mostly junking cars as of recently he said and ran into the whole deal at a junkyard when he was the only one there and a few things in the office that went after him. He told me how it was a sad dream for him because finally the things he did through out life were helping him exist while everyone who had gone for careers and professional lives were being eaten or had become one of these things. We both went back and forth about things we had seen and done to the point we were at and neither of us had much of an idea why things happened the way they had, no answers as to why just more questions.

Just a few miles up the road it didn't seem far but going slow and being quiet as we could made it take longer . We made it to the house past the shopping area and he told me to turn into the driveway. Going past the house into the back yard he said to keep going but to stay to the right of the tree in the back. I kept on moving in the direction he told me to and we rolled right thru the back and thru some overgrown weeds. He said "kill the lights and engine and let it roll". As the truck came to a stop we listened, I guess we both have learned testing the waters is always best before jumping in.

We got out of the truck and I followed him a bit further into the overgrown weeds to a 12 foot high fence. He felt around for something and I heard a lock unclasp we went thru the 12 ft gate and he locked it behind us. "we should be safe in here, I've only seen one of those things this far in and it hit the fence and kept going". A safe place to stop I was totally stoked, I learned with some eyeballing this was his yard for towing work but looked as tho it had been unused for a while with all the overgrowth, a small out building was in the center of it." Cm on man lets gets some food" he said and we headed for the door.

Inside it had the feel of a large Home Depot shed with a small wood stove and a few lights and a couch and two old lazy boys. "I painted the glass with black paint you cant see the light were good to go man" he said.

Settling in on one of the lazy boy recliners I think I heard him say he had Dinty Moore stew but that's all and i was asleep, it had been a hard run and caught up to me, the man left me be and went for some grub I guess , I dunno , I was back at the beach in my head.

When I came to , Scrapper was out like a light , I guess it was his turn to black out. I looked over the pot on the wood stove and finished off the rest of the stew. It made me feel like the dog in The Road Warrior with the can of dog food, but I was too hungry and it was finished quickly. I made my way around quietly and found some water and took a bottle tearing off the cap and guzzling half of it down. My attention then drew to the windows and I slowly staggered over to the near one and tried my hardest to look thru the edge where it was painted. I gave up on there being any gaps and cracked the door open a hair to see if the coast was clear. Nothing just woods , the outline of the house out front in the horizon and the fence.

I moved back over to the lazy boy and sat back down, if it was safe to stay here I might as well rest up as much as I could. Closing my eyes I went back to the beach and had a moment in the sun. I dreamt I was on a beach in Cancun , the sea was true blue, the sand was white and the sun was dazzling. To my right were beers sticking out of ice in a cooler and to my left was a giant swimming pool that was full of people partying. Music was playing in the background and everyone was having fun. Then I heard a loud scream , people running everywhere in slow motion , diving over chairs and into the water, and "things with rot and blood on top of them everywhere. The whole time I say there in my chair looking back and forth not thinking of much more than "wow that is a bummer". In the background I heard someone yelling " hey , hey man cm ere". It was my buddy from as far back as I could remember and he was waving me to come closer. I walked over to him in slow motion for what seemed like five minutes and put my hand out to shake his.

He looked at me confused and when he put his hand out it was rotting and covered in blood , he looked down at his hand and as he looked up he slowly started to turn into a rotting bloody mess , he was breaking down like a corpse right in front of me at some fast rate only in time lapse. He said to me just before he fell into a pile of bones,"better get moving or well be hanging out again". I woke up instantly and said to Scrapper"wake up man we gotta get moving". He came to and was a bit dazed and shook his head yes, just then the fence started to rattle outside.

Day 9

The road was desolate and sporadically littered with various things , and people. Time and time again driving I would see a thing either coming towards the truck as I drove by or seemingly feeding on a body, it made me wonder if all of the zombie movies from my past were accurate, and if these were the actual equivalent to a zombie. What did happen and why? How did it spread so fast and is the whole zombie thing whats going on or is this an infection or flu type of thing a bug if you will. It was hard to imagine a sudden cure and then trying to just go back to life as we know it with everything that had already happened and so fast. How do you go to the drive-thru and get a happy meal when you remember the things I had seen in just the past few hours.

I just kept on driving and heading to my brothers house in hopes everything was safer a bit farther away from my location. No matter how bad of a day I am having I had to imagine maybe things were better just a few miles further. Mile after mile and it was one bad scene after another, cars on fire, houses burned out, people laying in various states of distress. My hopes were diminishing as I made progress to my destination.

Rounding a turn the roadway was getting narrower and no matter how slow I was going the truck made attempts at running off the side. Wrestling the wheel was becoming tiring, the tires were starting to bite the debris off the road and I was realizing having huge tires wouldn't pay dividends tonight. As the turns started to get smoother and the road got wider I started to relax , maybe sleep deprivation was catching up I wasn't sure but I knew the road opening up was making it easier, as my head nodded.

Mile after mile ticked by and the rural area opened up into a bigger more open situation with big box stores, apparently the route I was on had hit a point next to a major highway and I was in shoppers land. Not being used to seeing all the neon signs there but not glowing was strange but then again not much lately wasn't strange. Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Toys R us, the stores just went by and some of the lots had plenty of cars still in them, making me think about the poor people doing their early Christmas shopping and being caught up in whatever the hell this was.

Coming to the middle of a huge intersection there was a lone figure standing in the middle of the road,my eyes caught up to him and I locked up my brakes . In front of me just past the headlights was a man walking towards me, and unlike the past few things I had seen this was something , something different. He had a way about him , as if he was walking to a store in one of the malls no hurry, no panic , just a casual walk, I sat there awe struck almost at the calmness of the figure.

His shadow seemed to move as his hand searched behind him and as the shadow returned to normal a sonic boom echoed thru the night. "BOOM BOOM BOOM" he was shooting at me, at least I thought he was until the things started collapsing into the side of my truck , mortally or immortally wounded I wasn't too sure.I had my gun out and aiming right at him but he didn't waiver he just kept walking calmly towards me but the gun stayed locked on one of the things that still had some movement. He was close enough now to see his face, he had a straggly goatee and long hair almost biker like or metal head from the 80s. He spit on the thing and unloaded a final round into it. "blam" its upper body and head took the shot.

"They were sneaking right up on ya" he said casually and turned like he was going to walk away. "woah, woah, woah, where are you going" I said loudly, "who are you man and thanks". He turned back to me and said "I am the mother effin President of the world, least at this point I am". He was a bit dirty and had the look of a guy who had been thru as much B/S tonight as I had. "well hell man where are you headed Mr President" I fired back . He smirked and said "you hungry man I got some eats a ways off if you give me a lift soups on". I leaned over and popped the door on the passenger side, and the man got in. "Be my GPS and lemme know where I am heading" I said, and we both rolled off the path into the darkness.

Day 8

Looking thru the rubble of the house for the keys and thru various occupants of the houses pockets was taxing. Not much can be said for this task except it hardens you digging thru the pockets of someone who hours earlier was watching Jeopardy or having dinner. Now just something in my way from getting to my brothers, and possibly safety. As I searched frantically thru the house I wondered if I had a time machine and went back into time to warn everyone if they would even listen. I mean if someone came up to me saying this would be happening yesterday I would have thought them crazy. Funny how life can completely upend you and leave you on your head, looking for keys in a strange house.

I had all but given up on getting keys for the truck out front and was heading to the door to leave when I noticed it......the keys hanging next to the front door on a key hook. Dam in my haste to find them i passed on the obvious answer and first place I look when I am in my own house. Snatching the keys off the hook I made my way thru the door to the front and walked right into the middle of a pack of "things" . They must have heard the gunshot I assumed because they were everywhere and as soon as I came into view they made a B line for me. I stepped back into the house and made sure the gun had a full helping of ammo. Then I took another peek out the door crack as if they hadn't seen me and tried to get a decent head count. 12 heads is the count and it made me nervous, I had fired a gun once and damn near blew my own face off in doing so , to top that off I knew I wasn't a good shot and the icing on this cake was that I didn't have 12 rounds. Simple math and I was screwed, A plan was what I needed and fast.

Without much time to make any decisions I kicked open the front door and yelled "c'mon you dumb sums a beeches" and fired a round into the first walking thing in my path putting him to the ground like he was hit by an asteroid. The other things didn't even flinch and continued towards me and the open door. Cocking the gun I took aim at the next one closest to me and squeezed a round into his head removing it and most of the neck. The gun was getting easier to handle I thought as I pumped in another round and squeezed it off into the next thing heading towards me. The things were all converging on the door little by little and having 3 down meant 9 to go and I knew at some point I would be out of ammo.

I pumped another round into the chamber and leveled the fourth thing then started to move to the back of the house. The things made their way thru the door and towards me and I slipped out the hole in the back of the house. As soon as I went thru the back of the house I started hauling butt to the front via the side of the house and went for the truck. I fumbled for the keys and shoved my way into the front seat and jammed the keys in the ignition. I didn't have the truck running for a second when the things were all over me, apparently I was in a hotbed for activity and woke the dead....literally.

Firing up the truck I ripped it into gear and stoved the accelerator running down at least two of the fiends. One troubling thing was on the hood of the truck hanging off to the side and not giving up it's grasp of the wiper arm. Swerving left then right as I motored down the small rural road and the thing stayed on , not looking upset , nervous, or afraid, just looking at me. The most surreal thing you can have is a moment like this everything you know is out the window as the thing keeps coming, I wanted to slam a tree to shake it loose but already fought to get this vehicle and wasn't about to do anything to subject the truck to damage to make it unusable.

Further down the road and the thing was actually trying to make it further towards the windshield and claw at it trying to almost paw at me. I was far enough away from the rest of the things and decided to make a little situation easier, by jamming the brakes on sending the thing flying out in front of the truck. "bam boom boom " and another one flew off the roof onto the hood and then into the roadway in front of me. "Jesus I didn't even see that guy", I said out loud. Both of the things started getting back to their feet and as soon as they had a bit of balance were heading to me. I released the brakes and sent the truck in motion rolling right over the things. A gnarling snapping noise made its way into my cab and a growling yell came from the things as I rolled over their bodies.

I made my way about 20 yards ahead and then stopped and turned to look out the back window. The things were twitching and trying to get up from the ground, I put the truck in gear and started to head to my brothers.....

Day 7

I was in the middle of nowhere and my truck was basically done. Having met the three men with the jeep was an interesting side note, but did not help my situation with a vehicle. Worse than the whole event I had just been thru was the location I was in, I half wished I took them up on the offer and gave myself a moment to tag along and not have to do so much pushing. I was tired , getting hungry, and time was wasting. Putting a hitch in my step I started making better time walking with a brisk pace while keeping my ears, and eyes open for any unsuspecting unpleasantness's.

It was the perfect setting for what was happening in the dark on this back road between house's. The area was desolate without much settlement and I was beginning to wonder if this was the wrong street to be on looking for wheels. Funny how certain areas are so undeveloped and others so over, I mean the area was rural and scenic I imagine in the right instances but tonight I just wanted a sign of life.

I was halfway down the winding part of the road where I remembered the trucks tires starting to fail when I heard trees moving off to my left. I stopped dead in my tracks and squatted down hoping that would help me be a little discreet as to my location. "crunch , crunch  , crack , pop " it sounded like a wounded deer fumbling thru the woods towards me, and I immediately had full attention to the noise and its location. I could feel the seat on my back getting cold as the chills crept over me and my hands starting shaking half with nervous energy and half with fear.

The moonlight was giving enough of a glow to the treeline for me to see where the noise was being made, I could see trees wiggle as whatever was moving approached me. Slowly I reached to my gun and made sure it was ready to fire. Aiming the barrel into the moving tree I imagined the noise would draw attention but the choice to not fire would be even worse for me. The trees before me started to wiggle and move and just as I started getting a dry mouth the figure emerged from the trees. "Don't shoot.." was all the woman managed to get out as she fell thru the last spot of brush and landing directly in front of me. Cringing it was a mere flinch and I would have blown her head off, fortunately for her my lack of gun experience saved her, because thinking back now she shouldn't have gotten a word out in the situation.

Quickly looking at the spot she emerged from I scanned all around the area for a "thing" in chase or maybe a friend in tow , but saw nothing. My goodness what a sight she was , she looked like a teacher from a school in Germany , with her blond hair cut short and sweater with reindeer on it , the type of sweater you get from someone as a joke or punishment. She was out cold with a small patter of blood near her mouth, like she ran into something or had to face butt someone, her condition was a bit confusing because aside from this she looked fine just a bit thru the mill but fine.

I threw down my sack full of food and weapons and layed her on top of it, then using the shotgun strap as a handle I started pulling her down the street. Even if she is OK I cant just leave her here can i? I pressed on and figured when she comes to shes on her way as well, in the meantime I needed to keep heading to my brothers and that could only happen with a vehicle.

Miles moved and I had only seen about 3 houses worth a crap and not one of them had a car that was even usable. For some reason they were all either crashed or still burning and I started to wonder why. Are the people doing this or the "things" ? Why would you take out your only source of transportation? It just didn't make any sense.

The fourth house was my jackpot for a vehicle, I had finally found someone with a taste for the overindulgent and the vehicle was the winner of the lottery on it. The truck in the driveway was everything the jeep was for the situation and I could not have been happier, A hardtop with four wheel drive and some stiffness, game on.

I dragged the unconscious woman to the back of the truck and tried the door. Click click, damn it was locked , time to go into the house in search of keys. I placed the woman somewhat under the back of the truck as a bit of protection and put down the pack . Then i made sure the shotgun was full tilt ready and made my way to the front of the house. Pitch black and no one around was the best description to make it had all of it's glass and doors so maybe it wasn't an easy truck to grab. I know I wouldn't be knocking like last time so I made my way around the house very slow and kept on sticking my eyes into the windows looking for any signs of life.

The back of the house was where the action had been, it was half burned out and there were bodies every couple of feet. It had the appearance of a bomb going off the way people were laid here and there and the small fire crackling in the living room. Whatever came here the people inside waged a war and it looked like there were no winners.

Making the best of the situation I did something that if you aren't in the position I was in sounds bad but I went thru the bodies pockets looking for keys and ammo. I found two hand grenades and one flare but no keys. I turned my attention to the house and made my way inside of the opening where the dining room wall once was, the house was shell shocked from the backside bad and the house reminded me of a dollhouse for a little girl with the back missing.

Looking everywhere I thought someone would keep keys to a truck and finding nothing I had the feeling this was an empty handed stop aside from some mean ass grenades, then I heard something try the front door. "Click clunk click clunk" ....my eyes were bugging out of my head , something was trying to open the front door and all I could do was listen to the door rattler move to the side of the house and slowly make their way to the back where i was standing. I didn't even want to breath heavy it was shallow breaths as I waited for eye contact to see what was indeed trying to open that door. Moments ticked by and it was a seeming eternity as the noises came by the side of the house closer to my stand. I wanted to duck down behind the couch or end table just to have a little cover and maybe make visualization before it could but I was frozen. Like a child caught in the cookie jar i dare not move. A figure emerged from the darkness into the opening that was the back of the house and as the moonlight made the face visible it was ....the woman I left under the truck outside.

My relief was very short as she started towards me and made her intentions all too obvious , she had been infected , bitten, whatever it took to make them what they are, she had it. I stepped backwards thru the rubble of the family room into the dark abyss that was the backyard as the beast followed. Slowly bringing my gun to the head of the "thing" I made a small gesture to stop with my empty hand . The "thing" didn't stop its forward progress and without so much as a sneeze I let my trigger finger yank, and without knowing how to fire a gun missed the beast and slammed my face and shoulder with the butt of the gun. Falling backwards over remnants of the rec room I was stunned and the gun was at my knees while I tried to get my stuff straight, and the "thing" was right on me. The blond haired German teacher type was almost at my feet when I got enough of my thoughts together and with nothing more than reflex and reaction to the panic moment I grabbed the gun off my knees and blew the things head and most of its left shoulder out into the parlour.

I sat there bleeding from the mouth and nose , with my shoulder throbbing covered in debris thinking "where the eff are the keys". I got back up and started searching for the keys again, this night wasn't ending with me walking again , no way.

Day 6

The man led me inside of his house and I have to admit I was a little leery of entering , I mean he did just have a gun in my face and unless he is onto whats happening around us he may just be crazy. Two steps into the house and "SLAM" something or someone hit me in the back of my head, I remember falling to the ground and the man leading me into the house looking back at me as I fell but that was all until I started to come to.

When i did start to wake up my head was killing me , the side of my scalp had a small throb and the entire side of  my head had a pretty major one. I tried to moan but had a rag in my mouth that tasted of dirt grease and water , and no matter how hard i moved my mouth , jaw , and tongue it was only make it's fitment more uncomfortable. Legs were tied to the chair and my hands as well and i was in a very stiff old chair that was nailed or screwed to the floor, because it was not  budging . Looking down I could see red duct binding my legs to the chair and from what I could feel I imagined it was the same holding my hands behind me.

Looking around and taking stock of where I was and what the predicament was I realized the people I came to the door of weren't taking any chances with me. The room I was in was small and wooden and full of various yard care tools and I assumed I was either in the shed or the garage. Everything was fine and dandy sitting there waiting , thinking that if someone comes in I will explain it all and get untied, hell I would've done the same thing in these circumstances so how can I be mad. Then I heard the moan behind me.

Apparently I wasn't the only thing they had caught that night but being stuck in that chair not being able to see who or what was behind me or if I had the benefit of it being as tied down as me , I was beyond skittish. I started to make as much noise as I could to get someone , anyone to come in here and by moving my feet and hands as much as I could while trying some form of a yell I alerted my hosts I was active.

The door to the small room popped open and 3 men all armed with guns , possibly even mine were standing there taking full aim on me. For an instance I thought it was game over I had this gut feeling I was done , the men were staring a hole right threw me and had no expression on their faces at all....nothing.... "boom boom boom"  3 shots from the man standing in front and my heart stopped. It took me a second and then I realized I wasn't hit, I kept waiting for a pain a dullness a burn anything , , but they plugged the "thing" behind me. The man who fired stepped back a bit and one of the other men stepped forward and looked right into my eyes. Staring into my eyes he said "you ain't one of them things are ya?" . I nodded no and fell into myself , wake up calls are one thing but this was a complete mind scrub .

The man furthest back stepped between the other two , he was a mid 30s man with flannel and jeans and a look of a guy I would work with a regular do it or get out guy. He puled out a buck knife that would make Crocodile Dundee proud and started cutting my legs free. He said in a nervous voice, " sorry man but if you knew the night we were having , that thing behind you damn near ripped my dogs face off". He proceeded to cut my hands free and I spun in my seat to see what was behind me . A giant brooding thing it was curled on the floor now with most of it's head missing. The "thing" was tied down as well.

Pulling the rag out of my mouth I said " sorry about all this I wasn't trying to get killed I am just looking for a vehicle that will get me to Worcester". Then I added " if that thing killed your dog why did you tie it up?" . The man who shot it said sheepishly"we didn't know what was happening but after the past few hours we were coming in here to get rid of the both of you, luckily we could see your eyes". I would have been wasted if I was blindfolded apparently, and this was my first lesson in trusting no one and no situation, getting tied up i could have been bitten by that thing or blown away by the guys in front of me.

I asked them if they had my guns and the second man with red hair handed me them saying " no hard feelings right?" have smiling. I ignored this blurb I was not into making friends to go fishing with I needed to get back to moving and it appeared the jeep wasn't in the cards. They took me into the house and I made them all go in first, once bitten twice shy so to speak and asked them what happened on their end. The men all told a story and added to it each bit by bit making it obvious there was no b/s making it worse than it was.

Apparently they had no idea about what had gone down or what happened to people that were things they were hunting all day. When they came in they found this "thing" eating their dogs face , they were heartbroken as it was the dog is usually with them but today he wouldn't get out of bed and they left him there. Sick as a dog one guy said was his attitude , but he had wished he forced him to the truck. They said they beat this thing with all the anger you would have to someone broken into your house killing your pet but the thing kept fighting back and biting at them. One guy dragged him to the shed by his foot and the others tied him down and left him there. He said one of them and wouldn't acknowledge who shot him in the leg after tying him down and they were all in shock when it didn't even react.

After that they said i came to the door and since they never have visitors they assumed I was the "things" partner in whatever messed up crime we were into. I started telling them about my day and what I had seen and been thru and the men all looked like air was coming out of their sails. It was disheartening but I had to lay it out for them, I didn't want anyone thinking it was just a full moon.
The men all said they had a shack in the middle of nowhere that they hunted at in Maine, it was an old place no utilities and no one around and they were heading there if I wanted to tag along. I had to say no thanks , while in another situation this could be a way to have each others backs and start out in a safe haven, it wasn't what I was after, I had to see if my brother and his family were OK, and that would be where I hunker down and watch backs not here , not with them.

I wished them good luck on their voyage and told them get good maps and use back roads the highways were a parking lot, and I also told them to be wary of crowds of people. They didn't want to get a ride but they would hold you up. I started back down the driveway by the jeep I had envisioned getting me to my goal but knew I had air in my lungs and guns on my back , it wasn't perfect but it was better than the alternative in that shed.

Heading down the road I got a thought of Bill Bixby walking and that piano music and sort of smiled an uncomfortable smile.Almost made me feel guilty to have humor on a day like today. I headed down the road into the darkness and knew somewhere out there I would find another vehicle and be on my way....

Day 5

Heading away from the mini-mart my attention quickly was diverted back to the task at hand. I didn't want to get caught in that situation again and having a weapon would be a huge plus at this point, any weapon for that matter. If the people in that backroom had decided to bust out shooting I'm dead to rights done, but with a weapon whether I'm right or wrong with my head in the right place I'm at least still alive. With the evening turning out the way it had without any chance of thinking just acting and for survival , it was becoming more and more clear that whatever it takes to survive is what I would be doing. The middle of the road is a place for the dead , and I just ran another one over .

The way to my brothers was littered with many bodies burnt and overturned, or just plain wrecked cars, and on a few occasions i had to use the bumper to push things aside. But as the night was progressing it was less and less the amount of survivors I was seeing in states of panic , attack , and fear. I tried stopping a few times to help people out but not a one wanted to come near me. Kept on wondering to myself,"am I dead?" sheesh people don't want any help .

miles from the 7-11 and I was getting tired very very tired, and it was eye tired not body tired which is the worst kind driving in the dark with all of your attention staring into space. Passing roads and houses on the side roads was giving me the idea that if the stores are ransacked and the shelves start emptying then people were hoarding and trying to hunker down in these houses I was passing. My head started making me second guess passing them and I was finding myself looking for houses that were shelled or blown out, no windows, maybe the front door kicked in. These were houses that may have food ammo weapons , something I could use besides a chunk of reebar and a slim jim.

On the top of the hill was a mansion of a house. It was huge and white with chimneys and no front windows with a side driveway full of cars. Best part for me not the owners was while its windows were all blown out and the front door somewhat separated from the frame it had no lights on. To me this spelled no one home , either they left in a damn hurry or they were not in any shape to run at all anymore.I pulled into the driveway and idled there for a minute flooding the front of the house with my lights, figuring if anyone or anything was inside it would get their attention good or bad.

After a few minutes of waiting and looking left , right, back, forth it was obvious to me nothing and no one was startled or surprised I was there and that was my invitation, I just hoped the house had something for me.I killed the trucks engine and lights and slowly crept out of the drivers side. The house was a fabulous one, the type a guy like me only goes to when I'm called for service of some sort or maybe to deliver a pizza. A marvel alright but it looks as tho the marvel was a little too off the beaten path for the owners own good.

I swung the mag light from my truck out of my pocket and shot a beam into the window frame that once held glass. Nothing to see but a ram shackled house here, I continued to the busted out door and pushed thru with my foot. The smell of dinner was in the air only very faint , it was after midnight now and I could only assume that meant it was in the kitchen or on the table and whatever happened here was a few hours ago, bonus again for me I didn't want to interrupt any ones dinner.

Heading to the kitchen i found the dinner still half cooked but when they lost power they lost ovens, at least the electric ones the gas range was still charring away on something and I clicked it off. No knives no knives anywhere.....To the next room the dining area and nothing some busted table settings and nothing, no one. To the next room and so on , one room after another nothing in them but destruction and debris but no bodies, no things, nothing. Heading to the stairs I found a body of a middle aged woman in well to do clothes , without a head just a neck and body. No one else around no gun no weapon just a headless body. I moved past her to the top floor to find the rest of the family in the main bedroom , nothing I can talk about but a father and seemingly 3 kids that didn't fare well in the final stand he did have a hand gun on him and a shotgun on his side . The handgun was 3 rounds shy of full the shotgun had not been fired and I was thinking "at least I have this going for me" poor schmuck he didn't have a chance." Whatever was in here looks to have been in the master bath and got him from behind while he was fixed on the door to the hall his I guess wife's headless body lay.

Grabbing both guns i searched his general area for ammo and found a box of shells for each weapon on the floor next to the unfortunate souls body. He had the right idea but didn't have the right location. Being barricaded in the bedroom on the second floor wasn't a great option either and i quickly realized it was time I move on as well before I hand these weapons to the next guy finding them in a dead guys hands, moving is winning in my head and I planned on moving right now.

Back in the kitchen I rounded up a few things that were in the fridge, i didn't know where i was going to find power that left anything cold again for a while and these things were only in a dead fridge a few hours so some cold cuts a few odds and ends some bread and a 12 pack I was right like rain. Back in the truck I did my usual sit and listen for a bit making sure not to hear anything from any direction and then, I made a sandwich and cracked a brew. Throwing the truck in 2nd and launching the clutch I ripped out and started down the road, filling my stomach and smiling at the thought that with some guns I had an off chance of making it a bit farther.

I never made it to my brothers that night , I made it about 12 miles further and had a good 12 to go when my truck decided to remove itself from service via a tire blowout. I would love to say "shoot I'm in a tow truck changed that tire and moved on" but tow trucks don't have spares they are too big and once a front tire is launched you are in a world of hurt and i was. The thought was in my head that I could remove a back tire and swap it out and then limp with a flat on the back dually but that would take time and make noise and being on a dark road I wasn't having any of it. I started scanning the area for a suitable replacement hoping it wouldn't me a Yugo or something as useful, and preferably with all of its glass.

My eyes glanced back and forth and I spotted it a Jeep with a rack and alot of off road doodads, it was perfect. Only problem is its in a driveway and now I'm going to have to remove the keys from either the key holder  inside or the owner, and neither way was sitting well with me, how much luck will I have tonight with empty houses full of what I need?

Walking by the jeep I could see an alarm light blinking, definitely don't want to try the door and see what I wake up. I had both guns my mag light a backpack full of vittles and the reebar, what can I say I'm a sucker for old favorites. The door to this particular house was locked and I started to wonder if the people inside even knew what was happening . Maybe they went to bed early and I will seem like a screw job at 2 am banging on the door with my stories of hell on earth. I peeked in a window and saw a dark empty house and figured I would try my luck, and rang the bell. Yep you guessed right no power no bell, I hauled off and started banging on the door hard. I heard stumbling, banging ,swearing and then the door opened and a gun as big as mine was shoved into my face.

"what the hell do you want ?" was all the voice said wearily. Actually had to regroup because with the gun in my face my story would probably get me shot so I said " my truck just blew up and I need a ride". The man looked at my guns and said " alright c mon in".........