Chapter 8: Week Four: Wednesday

It had been a few days since the whole Bolter fiasco. The first thing I did was rename all the apartments. My room was number 1, for obvious reasons, and the door to my right was number 2. Across from 2 was 3 and next to the left of 3 was 4, which was in front of my door.

The rest is obvious, except for Zach who begged to be... Zero. When I asked him he started acting all mysterious. I know that phase because I lived it before in my youth. It was a dark time in my life, known only as... The Edge Lord Saga Part II.

Anyway, apartment 3 was where we took care of business. As the toilets ceased to work, there was no way we were going to be using our own bathrooms.

My knife throwing training arc was not going as planned. This shit is way more difficult than I thought. My aiming has improved but the knives rarely stick to the walls, and even when they do there's no joy because it felt like luck more than skill.

Zach's training arc is really no different than before. He asked me about his progress and I rightly scolded him saying that this takes time along with dedication. 

The food and water depleted as follows, 10 bottles of water, 2 granola bars, 1 and a half bags of jerky, and some of the peanut butter.

It's gotten busier these last few days as well. There were some helicopters and jets that flew hither and yonder. Gunshots and explosions were going off as if they didn't care how many infected they attracted.

Guess the military wasn't out of the fight just yet. It makes sense though, wouldn't be logical if the military lost in just 2 weeks. There was even a few that went down our street and attacked from above. Zach wanted to try signaling them but I shut him up quick.

Night times were, scary. Even from afar you could hear the roars of the Night Crawlers, and the screams of their victims.

Because of all the noise going on we didn't dare leave our floor. Even on our own we limited the amount of sound we created to a bare minimum. The streets down below always had infected running across them, heading towards the nearest battlefield of flesh and lead.

I could both hear and see them breaking through the windows of our apartment building, along with others, and dropping onto the streets below. The sheer number of them... Are they never-ending?

I had no idea there were still so many left in the building. Made my arrogance from before disappear. Thought I was tough shit just because I took down a few of them. But this was a good thing. With all of them gone we could clear the entire apartment building in probably just a week or two.

I just hope there isn't anyone else here, I can already feel the stress on supplies just having 2 people. Well, it's not as if I'm gonna take them in anyway. Zach was just a special case.

I was thinking of staying here and fortifying the building, using it as our base. If you ignore the windows on the first floor, then the only way into the building was by the front door. Technically there were two other ways to get in. One was by jumping from the roof of the apartment next to ours, or by using the fire escape ladder and then go up the stairs to the door. But I'm just going to treat them like my numerous problems and ignore them.

The most important thing during these crazy times? I never saw Usain Bolter again. Hopefully he's warm, cozy, and safe. With lots of long pig to keep him fed. I wanna study him some more. Wonder if there are even more like him and the Night Crawlers. Hopefully there are more of them, they are just so interesting!

Things finally started to simmer down. No more gunfire or explosions, and no more hordes roaming the streets. All was quiet. Except for the whining of Zach as we moved towards the elevator.

"We don't have to do this right?"

"Hmm, I guess we don't have to..."

I gripped his shoulder with the strength of Thor.

"But we are going to do this. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Ah. I loved seeing that expression on his face. It could be seen whenever we worked out together. I act as though we were going to be taking a break or something. He visibly gets happier, as if he's rising towards the heavens! Only for me to drag him into the Pits of Despair. 

"Y-You're sadistic!"

"What? Little ol' me? How dare you slander my good name?! Now shut your mouth and keep following along, or I'll start 'reluctantly' teaching you how a punch in the face feels."

All I could hear were the grumbles and mumbles of a sad man from behind. Yet he still followed me. Sort of reminded me of a puppy... a very obese puppy. He was kinda adorable in his own weird way.

The elevator wasn't on this floor and it's doors were closed. I didn't think it'd the wisest decision to open the doors so we opted for one of the stairwells. The door opened with a slight creak that echoed throughout the darkness. Creepiest shit ever.

It was pitch black in there, and there was that smell. The smell of death. Unfortunately, we never found a flashlight which still baffles me. Not a single person in this hallway kept a flashlight?

I took a step inside and looked around. The very slight light from the hall made almost no effort in defeating the dark in the stairwell. As my eyes started to adjust to the dark I was able to see just a little bit. The stairs going up and down came into view. Our objective was to go up and clear the last floor before the roof.

I motioned for Zach to follow me and he did so, with some slight shaking. He was scared, but this time I didn't tease him or make fun. I could understand, I was scared too. No matter how much of a confident front I put on. But with the fear came the weird feeling of excitement and adventure, like we were exploring unknown territory.

It was silent. Eerie. We walked slowly up the stairs, careful not to make a sound. Even though the majority of them escaped, we have to be on the safe side. Especially in a place like this where we could barely see in front of us. What would usually take a few seconds felt more like an hour, but we finally made it.

There was a door in front of us, and a gate off to the side preventing our journey from going to the roof. I think it was added because some kids kept breaking the locked door to do drugs up there. Pretty sure the cops were called once and gave the landlord a nasty headache.

You know, we never did find the source of that smell...

I pushed the door open, and stepped inside. It wasn't too different from ours. Blood on the floors and walls, doors left open, doors left closed and most definitely locked which also means no loot. The only difference was the lack of a headless body that was present in my floor. I still wonder about him. How did he lose his head? Why was he not eaten? Why was he missing a shoe and 2 toes? 

Well, that wasn't important. What was important were the 10 apartments we have to clear out. I had to think about this smart. I told Zach to peek his head into the open doors on the left while I did the same on the right. There was only 3 locked doors, 2 on his side and one on mine. After looking through a few of them, there was a tap on my shoulder. 

Zach was pointing towards a door on his side. I snuck up to it and looked inside. There it was. It was standing in front of the broken bedroom door. Not moving except for those weird twitches I've seen them do. I moved closer, making sure I hit nothing on the floor. It was a slow and tense process. Kept imagining that he'd turn around and jump on top of me. But he never did. When I was right behind him-

*BOOM*

Was that thunder? Scared the piss out of me. He turned his head to the side and saw me. It was too late. I swung my hammer and cracked his melon open. He fell over on his face and tried to get back on his feet. A few more swings and he was dead. Looking inside the bedroom I didn't see anything. It was obvious that he broke down the door, but there had to be a reason. If they weren't here, then...

I opened the bathroom door and was hit by the smell. Here they are. The dead corpse of a woman was huddled in the bathtub. She probably ran from him, and closed the bedroom door behind her. When she saw him breaking it down she hid in the bathroom. Then she just, starved to death. Alone and frightened. It was a tragic scene, and made me feel awful inside. I don't like this feeling...

I closed the door and left her there. I had the strange feeling of wanting to give her a proper burial, but I can't. Not at the moment anyway.

"Go back down into my apartment and fill all the empty cans and empty water bottles with rainwater."

It was raining so hard that even the old man would have a hard time snoring. This would be the perfect time to replenish our water!

"You know rainwater is unsafe right? I read somewhere that it contains a lot of chemicals, or something like that. Even if I'm remembering wrong it's better to be safe than sorry."

What? Was that true? Why wasn't I aware? He read it on the internet, the most reliable source of information that's never wrong. Even if it's not true, can't take the chance. 

"Of course I knew stupid! I was just testing you. You passed with mediocre colors."

He looked at me strangely and had a small smile on his lips. Ah. I'm suddenly filled with the need to torture him. As if sensing my hulk-like rage boiling within me and about to erupt, he wiped that smile off his face and started acting like he was busy by picking up random junk on the ground.

I just ignored him and we got back to looking through the rooms. Just as we finished, we heard a crash coming from a locked room. It was one of the doors on Zach's side. That was definitely the sound of glass shattering. I got Zach to pick the door open. He's gotten a lot better at this. Turning into a true thief at this rate. He got the door open and I went in first. 

Nothing was inside except some glass on the floor. Does the thunder excite them or something? I looked past the window and down into the alleyway. There was a fresh dead body on the ground. She wasn't the only one there either. Guessing that these ones broke out of the confines of their prisons and freed themselves by jumping out the window. 

"This mystery is solved. Come on Velma, let's get the other doors open then we'll loot this floor."

"I-I'm not Velma. More of a Scooby if anything..."

I ignored the heathen behind me who dared to compare himself to The One True God Scooby-Doo. Another door opened, and another room explored. Nothing dangerous, but this room was a little special.

"O-Oh god!"

Zach ran away and threw up somewhere else. I could see why though. On the couch in the living room sat three bodies. A man, woman, and a child. All 3 of them had their brains blown out and a gun could be seen in the man's hand. They had been sitting here for quite by the smell of it. On the table next to the couch was a note. Always enjoy a little suicide note reading session. 

'So much craziness was happening. Was this what Christ meant by the resurrection of the dead? This must be God's punishment for all our sins! The halls were unsafe. Going down to the streets was even worse. 

But we saw something about a refugee camp not far from us, maybe a few miles away. We were going to make a break for it.

Running through the halls was hell. People were... eating each other. We somehow got to the elevator and squeezed inside. One of the demons charged towards us! It was so fast! It was going to reach us before the doors closed! Then, the kind old Mr. Hagert ran out of the elevator and tackled the demon to the ground! He was quickly overpowered and had his throat ripped out!

Then the doors closed, and we went down to the first floor in silence. If I remember correctly, Mr. Hagert used to be in the military. But it doesn't matter anymore. The doors opened and we returned back in Hell.

The first floor was even worst than ours. A blend of bodies, couldn't even tell who were the evil ones. We were able to rush into the street. But not 5 minutes later, I was knocked down by something. Then pain! Such horrible pain! One of the demons had ripped a piece of my arm off. My wife and child were to the side screaming for help. No one came. They all ran to save themselves.

I thought I was to die, I couldn't even reach my gun to defend myself. It was knocked away when I was thrown to the ground. It was then, when I had prayed to God for help did help arrive.

A police officer grabbed the demon off me and tried to hold him. He was bitten and fell to the ground. I am ashamed to admit it, but I grabbed my wife, son, and my gun and ran back to the apartment. I still feel the guilt. But God will understand my decision... I'm sure of it.

I don't even remember how we got back home. Everything is so, dizzy. I hear them banging on the door trying to get in. The shadows of evil can be seen coming beneath the door. I took the cross off the wall and placed it by the door and by God, the cross started to shine with light! The Light Of Christ!

It beat back the darkness! But a voice was heard, saying it won't last forever. They gave me instructions, such... odd orders. But this was God giving me His plan, so all I had to do was follow it!

I took hold of my revolver. I never wanted this thing. The protection of God was all I needed. But all the school shooters and random murders made me think twice. I see now. It was His plan all along.

I came before them and told my wife and son not to worry for it will all be over soon. We will be in Heaven with God and His angels! My wife looked at me with a certain face. She believed in me! I'm sure of it! She wanted to get up and give me a hug, but there was no time. The light was fading. We can hug plenty later.

I shot both of them in the head, but no blood came out. From their bodies came a transparent figure of themselves. They looked so peaceful. They smiled at me and a light soon came down from the Heavens. It carried them up into the sky. I started writing this to warn others. I had to hurry, the light from the cross was nearly gone.

The only way to survive is through God. Let His holy light fill your insides, then you will be saved!'

Wow. That's something alright. Guess when you get bitten you go through all kinds delusions and hallucinations. Good information for my diary. As for the gun, it seemed like a revolver. I don't know my guns though.

After tinkering with it I finally found how many bullets were left. There were 3 missing and 2 left inside. I put it inside my waist and left the room with the note in my pocket, I'll let Zach read it later.

I was really happy finally getting a gun, even though I can't really use it. Guess I can save it for emergencies only. Although, I wonder why he didn't try shooting the infected that ran towards the elevator?

When I left I saw Zach standing to the side. He looked worse for wear. He saw me and started working on the last door. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'll handle that room."

All he did was nod. I can see how much this rattled him. Maybe it was the dead kid? Anyway, I was really excited for this room! From the note I read this must be Mr. Hagert's room. There's gotta be a gun in here. When it was unlocked I charged inside and started ransacking it. It was then I realized something. Why didn't he have a gun on him in the story? Don't tell me...

We searched everywhere and found nothing. No guns. There were some medals and pictures but no guns. Out of spite I threw the medals out the window. Little petty maybe but so what. How could a marine or whatever not have a gun in their home?

I guess this is life. Getting rammed up the ass by Lady Luck's massive cock. We started searching through all the rooms, laying everything food related out before us.

We gathered 7 water bottles, 5 cans of vegetables, 4 cans of beans, 10 MREs, 2 bags of dried blueberries, 1 jar of honey, 3 days worth of rice, and a bag of M&Ms. Seems pretty good. Never had MREs before but I heard they taste bad when unheated.

Also found some more alcohol so that's greats. Reminds me of a great song about settting the world on fire. As for medical supplies it was more of the same really. Pills here, with bandages and ointment.

Finally found a flashlight and some more batteries. I let Zach carry all the bags containing our loot while I lead the way as usual. This could be considered a workout for him, based on how much he's struggling to carry them.

Going through the scary stairwell was a lot better with a light. Although I really wanted to shine the light over the edge and down the stairs I refrained from doing so. Who knows, maybe they react to the light or something like that. Better to be safe.

I left Zach to organize the food and such while I went back for the bodies. I put the flashlight in a corner of the wall to light my way for me as I bring the bodies back. Need to feed Usain Bolter after all.

The bodies landed on the ground and I laid on my couch. I was done for the day. The rain was so nice to listen to, so peaceful. I love the action, I love the blood and guts, I love the fear I feel, but sometimes... it's nice to have a little rest.