Chapter 7

Maps, Radios, and Bullets

The clock now read 12:45. It had been 45 minutes since the news station stopped broadcasting. No other T.V. stations were broadcasting now, so Bill was cut off from the outside world. Bill had bought an emergency radio, but it had broken, so he sent it to a repair shop before the dead rose, and now it looked like he wouldn't be getting it back. Not wanting to waste his time, Bill had taken stock of his equipment. He had 96 rounds for the PSG1 rifle, and 90 for the TAR-21, his axe was too dull to be much use against any zombies, but his crowbar should be good for at least twenty, if he really needed to use it.

He pulled out a map of the city out and examined it. He had two choices, stay here and fight off the infection until help arrives, or evacuate to a safer location. He believed that the second choice was smarter, so now he had to figure out which way he was going to leave the town. Going west was obviously out of the question, and heading straight west would mean heading towards the police station, hospitals, and other places of danger. The police stations would be where everybody would be headed, and Bill didn't want to become a part of the panic. As for the hospitals, that would be where all of the dead bodies would have been brought, and he didn't know how many of them would reanimate. He was down to four possible directions, South towards the highways, Southeast towards the desert, Northeast towards the city, or North towards a nearby small town. At first he thought that heading south was the best choice, so he began to ruminate on that option. He thought to himself "It will be tough getting past all of the cars," and then the full meaning of that harbinger hit him. He still didn't know what way everybody was evacuating. If the highways to the South were choked with cars it would be better to choose a different option, and yet if they were not crowded, they would be the best choice he had of surviving. It became clear to him that he needed more information, and that he currently was unable to attain this information. His thoughts turned to his emergency radio, it was supposed to be fixed by today, and the store was nearby. He had already paid for the repairs, why not drop by and pick it up? The only problem was getting there.

He took out a fire ladder and strapped it to the balcony, then grabbed his TAR-21 and two magazines, both of them filled with 30 rounds of ammunition. He loaded one into the gun, and placed the other in his left pants pocket, making sure it was secure. It was now 13:10 or 1:10 p.m. and the shop was about twelve blocks away from his house. Even if he moved at a facile walk he could be back at his house by 13:45 or 1:45 p.m. Bill quickly checked the streets and then tossed the fire ladder down so it hung a foot off of his driveway. He climbed down the ladder holding the rifle under his arm. As soon as his feet hit the ground he swung around in a circle with his gun raised, checking for any movement. There was no sign of anything alive or dead, so he began to walk down the street, only briefly noticing the dead zombie next to his house. Pretty soon he was standing outside the shop. He had encountered no resistance, the only thing that he had seen moving was a van that quickly drove past him and then turned south and drove away. He was pretty sure that it was planning to run him over until he had turned around and calmly waved to them. That was apparently what had gotten rid of the drivers enmity and convinced him that Bill wasn't a zombie.

Refocusing on the present situation, Bill walked up to the store and loudly knocked three times. A rasping noise came from the inside of the shop along with a rhythmic pounding on the door. Bill quickly swung open the door and raised his rifle, but not fast enough. The zombie, which had been leaning against the door stumbled out and almost fell on Bill, who quickly backed away, with the zombie clutching at Bill's shirt. Bill brought the TAR-21 swinging around towards the zombie and smashed it against the zombie's head. This seemed to jar the zombie, who's grip slackened for a split second, but then tightened again pulling Bill closer to the zombie's head. Bill swung the TAR-21 the other way and as soon as it connected with the zombie's head, Bill ducked and rolled to his right, then quickly ran backwards as the zombie followed him, still uttering a horrible moan. Bill raised his rifle and shot the zombie through the middle of the forehead. After the zombie fell on the sidewalk, Bill checked himself and saw that, thankfully, there was no blood, or anything else on him. However, that brawl came close to disaster, it was a combination of luck and quick thinking that had saved Bill's life. It was almost incontrovertible that Bill wouldn't be that lucky again.

Bill entered the store through the open doorway. He quickly and quietly moved through the store with his gun raised, listening for any movement. He saw several bloodstains on the cash register, but other than that there was no indicator that anything had happened in here, which made Bill wonder, "Where was that zombie bitten, and why did he stay by the cash register until he died? Unless the manager was so imperious he didn't call an ambulance when the infected man collapsed, or else nobody noticed it, which they should have if he was lying there for hours." Bill examined the rest of the store, and found the doors leading to the back. He knocked on it, and when he heard no noises, walked through it and looked around. Then he casually strolled around the shelves, and saw his emergency radio placed on the third shelf from the bottom. He picked it up and tested it. To his relief, it was fully repaired and looked exactly new, except for the tag attached to it that read "Successfully Repaired" and showed the date.