Chapter 2: Evacuation zones should be safe

Alex had to leave the car behind when it stopped with the engine smoking and set off on foot. 

After looking under the hood, he grumbled: "Walter... you have to look after a car like this."

He knew something about cars and a smoking engine block 

was a clear sign that the car was broken. After an hour's run in the sun, he arrived in Waldesch covered in sweat. He took a deep breath to catch his breath. The place lay peacefully before him and he saw no one. He cautiously entered the village. As he approached, he noticed traces of a fight that he had often seen on the way here. He approached a workshop whose garage door was wide open. 

He looked inside cautiously. Everything was deserted, apart from the body that had been crushed by a car on a lifting platform. 

Alex grabbed a large wrench and walked quietly through the garage. He needed a car. 

So his destination was the office. The garage was deserted, left behind in all the hustle and bustle. He found the office, went through the orders and found a finished car. He looked for the keys, found them and went to the parking lot.

There he found a blue Renault Clio IV, got in and started the car. He thought about it and pulled out the map to see where the nearest evacuation zone was. Koblenz was just around the corner. His stomach growled and the fuel gauge showed that he needed gas. 

He stepped on the gas, sped down the road, skidded to a halt when he found a gas station, slowly pulled up to a pump and got out. He checked the pumps, they were still working. After a quick test of what he needed, he filled up the car and went into the gas station with a wrench. A worried employee came running up to him. Alex took a swing and hit him in the head with the wrench. It cracked wetly and the infected man crumpled to the ground, wincing. 

"Hmm, it looks so easy in the movies..." thought the infected man as he slowly got up again. Alex struck again until brain matter flew against the lower side of the counter. He exhaled, panting.

"Whew, finally..." 

He took a basket and filled it with snacks, cigarettes and drinks, ran to the car several times to bring it in. He removed the fuel hose and drove off at full throttle. He passed a Norma Market and briefly considered stopping, but the bloody hands on the windows told him it would be better not to. He passed a Norma store and thought about stopping for a moment, but the bloody hands on the windows told him it would be better not to. He passed a Norma store and thought about stopping for a moment, but the bloody hands on the windows told him it would be better not to. 

He thundered towards Koblenz at top speed. He could see clouds of black smoke on the horizon. When he arrived on a bridge and looked out over the city, he saw fires and pure chaos. He looked at the map to see where the zone should be.

"Electoral palace... You couldn't have chosen a worse place... 

" He looked at the burning city.

"Okay..." 

The stench of burning flesh reached him now. His full-throttle tactics were attracting the infected. Cops weren't as empty as he thought. 

He filled up at the nearest gas station and replenished his supplies. After spotting a sign, he found a police station. He stopped in front of it and got out quietly. 

The street lights were on, which, together with the dark houses, looked spooky. There were no cars outside the station, he pulled on the door, it wasn't closed. He cautiously entered the station. It was quiet inside and he saw a mess of bloodstains and handprints on the walls and windows. 

He was wondering whether he should go any further when he heard the rasping breathing of several infected people pressing their faces against the reception window. They were policemen. 

He looked around, he couldn't go in if they were there. Maybe there were things he could use here, but his inner self made him head for the car. He looked for a secluded spot and slept. In the morning, he made his way to Cologne, which could be seen from afar with clouds of smoke.

After the brochure, the meeting point was at the exhibition center. He made it a little way into the city before something hit him. A muffled metallic crash was the last thing Alex heard before everything went black around him. 

He woke up in the water and looked around in panic. There were bodies floating next to him and he had no idea what had happened. He hastily swam towards the shore and arrived exhausted. Everything hurt. He had been stripped of all his equipment: Protective vest, gun belt with pistol and handcuffs. He got up with difficulty, trotted up the embankment and listened. He groaned and went in search of a hiding place or something similar. 

If he found a car, he would use it, or a bicycle or a scooter or something similar. It didn't matter to him.