CHAPTER 17 - Mapping and Defending Territory

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It was another two weeks later that gone and passed by in Z-city, and Eden returned home to Safe Haven after driving through another run-around in the zombie-infested city and was finished with her task, that is either mapping out the city routes and area or gathering and hoarding more supplies for her small group, or something else.

It looks like she was doing the combination of all three, as she climbs up and reached the rooftop of Safe Haven, and her kids Michael and Annie were already there waiting for her, eagerly greeting her and helping her out to unload the new supplies and other stuff she just brought in to their secure home.

Eden indulged in letting them help her, but she made sure that she was the one who was carrying the heavier goods or big load that she got on her. She nearly tripped over her feet and almost dropped the heavy load over the kids, when the puppy Archer scampered about below her, barking madly until it quickly stopped when his mother Luna nudged the pup to be quiet and behave.

Eden held back an amused smile at the sight of the mother dog being stern to its pup before she breathed a relieved sigh when she takes off and drops all the heavy things she had carried on her and put them down on the ground, which she'll be sorting them out later.

After she put down the things with Michael and Annie doing the same, she swiftly went to work on making dinner for them, and she brushed off the children's efforts when they wanted to join in the cooking and help her out with the chores but Eden stopped them from doing so and directed them to help out by setting up the outdoor table and chairs instead.

They obeyed and did what she told them to do and Eden gave a relieved sigh again inside her mind on watching them do the chore before she turned to focus on the dinner she was cooking for them.

It didn't take long for about a few minutes later, Eden had cooked and made up a simple dinner of heated noodles and vegetable stew for them, and they ate with leisure as Eden looked at little Michael and Annie like she was making sure that they're content and happy with their meals.

Even though she can see that there was no complaint or protest on their faces, it looked like Eden was expecting that sooner or later, they might choose to be picky with their food, but it will be difficult to give them what they want, considering the kind of apocalyptic state they're living in right now and then.

Still, Eden was glad that the kids are taking in and accepting the nutritious food she's been getting and retrieving with all her efforts for them. And she's glad that she doesn't have to worry about food for the dogs since she went out more to do supply runs in the city, she found vast storage of dog food at one of the pet stores and brought it home to Safe Haven.

After they had their dinner, Eden cleans up with Michael and Annie eagerly wanting to help her again and she lets them before they all went downstairs to clean themselves up, change, and get ready for bed, even though Eden was the only one exhausted and tired from the long days she's gone through from the ride around and runs in Z-city to do the tasks she needs to do.

When they settled into the bedroom comfortably, the children fell asleep first and quickly like they just played and run around in Safe Haven the whole day while Eden was gone, along with their favorite puppy Archer doing the same, nuzzling against Annie who wrapped her arm around it cutely like a stuffed doll.

Luna the mother dog is doing the usual routine of staying awake and guarding them, despite that Eden deciding to stay awake for the whole night to watch over them, at the same time, she reached for her journal to write the new entry over the events she has gone through and done during the two weeks and anything else that happened which she experienced through.

Eden placed the same battery-operated baby monitor she set up before, putting it near and close beside her while she writes in her journal before she takes the night watch with her loyal dog Luna.

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JOURNAL ENTRY: DAY UNKNOWN, 8TH MONTH AUGUST, YEAR 2XXX

Hey, it's Eden again.

Wow, I am amazed that it's been two weeks already since the last entry I have written in this journal, and it's already nearing the end of the month and on to the next new one then.

Anyway, you're wondering what I did and have done during the weeks I've been gone, with the kids Michael and Annie staying behind all the time in Safe Haven and the two dogs Luna and Archer looking after them and keeping them busy and distracted while I was gone and out in Z-city.

Here is everything that happened during that time and the tasks and chores I have completed so far.

When the first day started the week later from the previous entry before, I went out and managed to find a gas-running motorcycle that I can use to drive and ride around Z-city, in easy maneuver through the streets without being blocked off by the traffic that was heavy and crowded more on most of the downtown highways and roads in the zombie-infested city.

It was also a good thing that I stocked up on fuel and gas to fill up for my new-found motor two-wheeled vehicle to drive around at the time.

First, I had to stock up and gather more supplies and other necessities for my group to survive and live longer, staying in Z-city. Also, I need to hoard more battery-operated devices, such as walkie-talkie communication devices and baby monitors.

You're wondering the reason why I need those kinds of devices. That's because it's for tightening up and rising more on the security and safety in Safe Haven as well as watching out for any threats and dangers around Z-city.

With the walkie-talkie communication devices, I can leave one for the children and have one for myself, so that while I'm gone on my runs and such, I can use it to check on them from my end or the kids can contact me on theirs, so there won't be any concerns and worries for each other if something had happened and we'll notify what did or anything else that's going on.

But then again, I'm thinking that I might regret giving them one shortly, when Michael or Annie call or cry to me that they want something that I should get during my running trips out in the streets and bring it home, like chocolate, sweets, and such.

That didn't happen yet, but I won't be surprised if it might happen soon.

As for the battery-operated baby monitors, the only reason that I need these types of strange devices is that they're useful for me to know and listen in to any kind of dangerous threats that are lurking about in Z-city, and let me know of any other possible living survivors that might come into and through the city.

It works when I have already placed so many monitors in hidden dark spots on streets, buildings, and other various places in Z-city, and they're all equipped and linked to one device on my end and I just turn them on as long-lasting time the batteries can last as they can do so.

After gathering those important devices, the necessary supplies, more food and water, and other stuff for my group and Safe Haven itself, the next tasks of the mission that I need to do in Z-city, are mapping out the entire area, pinpointing spots, and marking dangerous zones or borders of the city territory I'm in.

Luckily, I already went out and found an exact match of Z-city itself, and it wasn't hard to map them out as I drive and ride around on my motorcycle and pinpoint or mark the spots and routes that I need to know about the city.

With the help of permanent 'glow-in-the-dark' bright spray paint in various colors, I have marked and pointed out all the spots and routes that I could in the entire area of the city and noted them all down on the city map I have the lone copy on hand for myself.

The most important spots that I need to point out and mark in Z-city, are the places where the three types of zombies mostly frequent and roam, also where their nesting zones are exactly.

The 'Gray Zones' as I call, spray-paint, and mark them as such, are the spots where the Beta-Z type of zombies roam about or wander, or stand still living there like a gathered mob of sorts.

The 'Blue Zones' are the roads or spots where Omega-Z zombie types frequently lurk or roam about in shadows, ready to pounce or lunge at anything as their prey, or stay and live in an area as their home-nests of sorts.

Lastly, there are the 'Red Zones'. Those spots or streets are the ones marked thickly with the red spray paint and also shine bright in fierce red at night, to show that those are the exact locations where the most dangerous zombie types of the 'Alpha-Z' lurk about and eerily hide in the shadows for their prey, or in specific small or big areas that I can point and watch out easily that it is their nesting places.

I have to admit, it was a little difficult and heart-wracking for me to mark out and pinpoint the Red Zones, but I managed to get all the info that I need to watch and look out for.

As well as mark and spray-paint in other colors to show off the various streets or spots that I need to watch out for, be prepared for, and know very well. Such as remembering and memorizing which are the exact locations or places where there are safe and secure escape routes in and out of Z-city, the dead-ends, the heavily-blocked roads, and under-construction areas.

It sure had taken almost the entirety of the two weeks I've been busy going out and around Z-city to do these tasks, but I managed to complete it all so far that I could do with all my efforts and come back home safe and sound in Safe Haven, without a scratch or painful bruise on me.

On the later note at the next time in the future, the last and final tasks that I need to fulfill my mission at the time are increasing the security in Safe Haven and ensuring the safety of my group, staying and living in Z-city.

I will be writing down the next entry once I'm done with those last tasks, but I'm not sure how long it will take. However, I'm not worried that something will happen to me, because most of that work will happen in Safe Haven as I set up the homemade or man-made urban traps I'm going to be making and creating inside and outside the very building my group is living in.

As I finish this entry, I change my mind and decided to sleep for the night, so that I'll be fully alert and prepared to do the work on the traps for the next few days and how long will that take as such.

Until then, this is Eden signing off.

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Eden finished writing the entry on her journal after she added in the decision change she made up for herself, just as there was some slight static noise through the turned-on baby monitor near her, tensing still like a statue like she's expecting something bad or preparing herself for something worse that might be coming near the Safe Haven.

The static noises continued a bit before it stops into an eerie still silence, that almost got Eden and the mother dog Luna nervous, when it sensed her master's tension. But it didn't take long for Eden to relax when a few seconds later, no more noises were heard through the monitor, and she deemed it safe for now.

However, Eden is going to have to check it out later on the next day, and see what has made those noises in the first place from what she heard on the monitor and double-check to see if it was a malfunction or if there is some hidden threat that's lurking about, and getting itself ready to pounce at her or something when she goes to take a look.

Hopefully, it's not as bad as Eden thought or fear to be, for she knew that she had already set up a few traps all around Z-city to take care of those threats and hold the dangers tied up until she came to deal with them and take them down. But it seems that she'll need to be faster in working and making more traps for the safety and security inside and outside Safe Haven, just in case.

Eden relaxed a little, settling in comfortably on the bed, and wrap an arm around the kids and pup sleeping quietly beside her before she surrendered to deep sleep. So that she wakes up ready for the next day to focus on getting the jobs done on making the traps and then deal with the matter of the possible intruder or threat that might be out there, almost lurking near the vicinity of Safe Haven. Before Eden closed her eyes, she prayed internally that it was not the case as she thought it would be in her troubled thoughts.

As Eden fell asleep, her consciousness fading to darkness and slumber, the only thing left she heard or felt, was Luna staying awake and standing guard near and beside them.

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