Jinx had been stumbling around for a few weeks, her backpack had fallen apart and her supplies ran out. Jinx had a rake handle that she had sharpened to a point and a kitchen steak knife. She was on her own.
The bell jingled as she pushed open the door. She stood with her back against the wall, pulling her hand back quickly and letting the bells jingle again as it shut. Jinx adjusted her grip on her steak knife and held up her free arm, a boys' soccer shin guard strapped to her forearm. The noise was faint at the first, as the creature was simply stirring without knowledge of Jinx. It pressed its face against the door and Jinx waited to hear any others. It was alone, it was a she. Standing before her at that moment it was a sad shell of its former self. A long pink dress hung off it in pieces, stained by dry blood and rotting flesh. She stunk of decomposition. Jinx pushed open the door and slammed the woman into the wall and trapping her behind the door. Jinx drove the steak knife into her blank glazed eye and it fall limp. She dragged it outside.
Inside there were a set of stairs that led up a little ways and then parted into two separate stairways. Jinx found out it was two apartments, one was empty and the other had been lived in. Jinx found another corpse in the backyard. She could see it was the woman that rented the apartment.
"At least this girl didn't see it coming" Jinx laughed. She had thought of raw survival needs when she first got on her feet after the outbreak and missed these fine moments when the pleasure of the old life could be savored again. Jinx threw down the panties she didn't think were very comfortable and threw a few others onto the bed. She then pulled out the treasure that had first caught her eye. A small baggy with a grinder and a few rolling papers in it. She sat down on the girls bed a laid everything out then searched the apartment for bookshelves and solid dressers. She blocked off the exit and the windows.
Feeling safe at last Jinx searched through the smaller places in the apartment, where small things could be hidden. She found what she was looking for, the stash. She sat cross legged on the bed and opened the small baggy. She pinched out some of the tobacco and spread it in a paper. She rolled it, turning out alright. She licked it with pride, examining it.
"Not bad" She hissed to the shadows. She rolled another five and packed up the rest and stuffed it into her bag. She moved the curtain of the bedroom window so she could peak outside. There were a few stray zombies roaming around but the sun was just setting. She went into the bathroom and found a new toothbrush under the sink and brushed her teeth. She combed her hair and used some face creams the girl had sitting out. Jinx made herself at home, making some ravioli from a can and heating it over a small fire she had in the hallway on the concrete floor. She liked the apartments build, how easily she could barricade it and scrape up some creature comforts.
Jinx found the drug hit her harder than usual and found herself staring at the full length mirror in the bedroom. She was naked, examining herself. Her feet were bruised and her ankles were rubbed raw from her boots. Her legs were black and blue from being thrown around in fights with the dead, a cut zig zagging down her side and across her stomach. She remembered her short visit to the Headingwood refuge as she traced her fingers over the scar. She looked over her breasts and ran her hand over the line her sports bra had left on her skin. She frowned when she gazed into her own eyes. Jinx could see the pain and secrets she had locked away was displayed in her eyes clear as day. She wanted to break the mirror, or just look away, but she could only stare deeper into her eyes.
She awoke on the floor naked with a bottle of wine. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the bottle for a moment. Where did this come from? She took a swig of it and stretched. She roamed into the bathroom and sat down to pee. She missed this, toilets. It was hard to do her business on her own, to pull down her pants with danger and death around every corner. She wandered out and looked over the clean and soft bed. Why did I sleep on the floor? She looked down at the wine bottle she had left at the foot of the dresser.
"You" She hissed out loud and snatched it up "I don't know where you came from but this is all your fault. Just showing up in my life, making me lose my mind!"
"Oh, what's that?" She laughed. She took a big gulp and smacked her lips "Oh I just can't stay mad at you"
She made her way into the second apartment to block up the windows. She used the dresser from the first apartment to block off the stairs leading down to the entrance to the whole building. She felt the building was a perfect place for her to crash for a few days. She checked out the second apartment, taking the last gulp of her wine. She opened the window of the apartment, keeping hidden. She peeked out at the dead, they hadn't noticed her. She took aim and threw the empty bottle out. It hit one of them in the head and made it stumble sideways. She closed the window quickly and laughed to herself. The windows were blocked off, the door was secured. Jinx got dressed in her armor first, the forearm guard, the chest padding, the heavy boots and neck scarf. She then put on her bra, shirt, and pants. She rolled her shoulders and swung her steak knife around for a bit, jabbing it into heads of zombies she visualized.
She moved the dresser over enough to slip past and walked down to the door. She got out swiftly and made her way along the hedges and lawns toward downtown. She killed a few that spotted her, but didn't have to worry too much. She left her pack back at the apartment and was free to move more quickly. She brought a laptop bag she found in one of the closets. As she got closer the number of zombies increased and forced her to go back. It wasn't worth it. She had to pick a different, equally dangerous, way of getting what she needed. She began going from house to house and searching them. By the end of the day she had filled her bag and picked up two more. When she got back she found the door was open. She slept in quietly and after a quick search she found nothing was taken and no one had been there. She locked the door and pushed the dresser back in place.
That night she ate peas while storing the cans neatly in the closet. She laughed and talked to herself about things that didn't matter. She sung pieces of songs she knew and tried on different clothes the girl had in her dresser. She was so consumed by her thoughts of keeping herself company she didn't notice the knock at the door was real. When it echoed through the apartment a second time she grabbed her steak knife. She stood staring at the door for a long minute. The knocking came again. She threw open the door and held up her knife. A man stood before her with a bat above his head, at the ready.