I snuck out this morning. Right as the sun climbed up over the tallest trees. I scaled the fence and landed on my feet on the opposite side. Glancing around and steadying my nerves I notice only one visible zombie and he was on a balcony in the apartments across the street. He too was soaking in the sunrise. If he had held a cup of coffee in a hand it wouldve been picturesque. Instead his head was tilted toward the sky and his entire body seemed shifted to one side in an unnatural manner.
I kept low and scampered along the edge of the field peppered with skinny trees. I paused when I noticed the small body of a child sitting at a picnic table on the edge of the playground. It was slumped over, motionless. The ripped up, dirty clothes instantly reminded me this was no longer a child but a mindless ghoul. Kid zombies are the worst. No matter how decayed they seem to be they remain more limber and agile than the adult counterparts. There seemed to be far more children undead because people can't see past their small faces into their milky undead eyes.
My first experience with the undead was a small child. The grisly scene in the hotel I worked at pre-apocalypse flashed behind my eyelids with each nervous blink. My body ached and my jaw clinched. My nervous system was on overdrive. My feet pointed themselves back in the direction of the gated apartments.
No. I can do this. I quickly and quietly leveled out my crossbow and squinted to get a better grasp of depth. With a slow exhale my arrow whizzed through the air and sunk deep into the skull of the small shambler. She barely flinched. I waited a beat. Zombies tend to travel in packs like elephants or stray cats. I slowly took in the horizon and when I was satisfied there wasn't any other undead I made my way over to retrieve my arrow. As I pulled the arrow out I heard the moans coming from around the corner. A fence and a house blocked my vision from my position. I slowly moved to where I could see around the blockage without giving my position away. There was a young looking shambler pushing a baby stroller down the middle of the road. Two more children zombies were sitting together, mouths open, staring into the sun. A bigger male zombie was bumping, full bodied, into a garage door a few doors over. I did a few glances behind me and noticed the little girl had fallen backwards off the bench of the picnic table. Her body stiff from sitting for so long made her finger straighten out and point in the direction of the sky.
I looked back in front of me to see all the zombies look in the same direction at once. Toward the sky, facing true north. They heard it before I did. A helicopter. Low flying. Fuck.
I doubled back, quickly. I wasn't too concerned with making noise because the helicopter was moving very slow and creating much more noise than I was capable. By the time I had got back within the gates everyone was on top of the perch with binoculars.
We are split 50/50. Some think we should chase it others think we should barricade ourselves for the herd that is most likely to follow the noise past our little homestead. I voted to barricade and be smart. Jeremy, Davis and Krista on the other hand... they jumped in Jeremy's truck with their bug out bags and drove off into the distance.
I estimated we had an hour, if we were lucky, before the herd reached us. We would be lucky if it doesn't rip down our barricades. There has been estimation among us that a herd could apply enough pressure to bring down a house... just by pushing and bumping up against it to get past it. After much quick debates we are now held up in my attic. I had some food stored up here already and the group each brought more supplies with them. We have a chemical bucket toilet and a lot of naps are being taken by all to help curb the crazies. We can hear the shuffle of feet and the moaning. We all are wearing ear plugs and speak by writing letters to each other. We are hoping the gate holds. This has got to be how it feels while waiting out a vicious tornado. We have planned on staying in this tiny attic for a week and then moving down into my actual apartment for a few more weeks before actually accessing the possible damage. I'm on edge about being with an infant. Even the smallest amount of noise could turn the herd towards us. I would hate to kill a baby.... but its my life or theirs. I will always choose me. I keep thinking about the hummer I had commandered. A couple days ago I had moved it just beyond the fence closest to my apartment. I purposely moved it about an hour hike from the apartments toward the highway that should be a feasible escape. The hummer has six months of food supply in it and it already had some water stored in it as already from when it was meant for the military. I had the vehicle its self stored in a very unnoticeable location. I had already stashed random locations with food and water along the way. If I need to cut ties and bolt I have the means to do so. Oliver has been hovering over me with John closely in tow. John and Avery have apparently become a couple at some point. How did I never notice that before?
Krista, Jeremy and Davis are assumed dead at this point.
We have a very small vent we are using to keep peeking out to see if we should run or wait it out. I won't be able to charge this phone with my solar charger in this hot attic. I will try to check in often until then. I shut it off in between posts for obvious reasons... I only dream of this phone ringing and it being help. O, if only.
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