Day - 6.

I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping nearby.

I rose sluggishly to my feet and looked over the railings.

About twenty feet away from me there was a large tree, oak I think, and it was in one of the branches of this tree there was a nest.

A mother finch was feeding her young. A small morsel dangling from its mouth, hanging over the open beak of one of her young.

As I watched the small piece of whatever disappeared into the chicks mouth. I felt a smile start on my face. Even in the middle of all this chaos, all this…death, life still found a way to eke out an existence. I watched as the mother bird bent low into the nest to get another scrap from the floor of the small twigs and dirt construction.

Before the scrap disappeared altogether I was sure that I saw a nail on the end of it. Then it was gone and another chick took the firsts place to be fed.

I turned away from the sight.

Time to go.

I gathered the supplies that I had left (the knife having gone, I tried not to think too hard on its loss), and craned my neck over the railings to see if there were any of the creatures in the alley below. Not seeing nay I slowly, carefully climbed down the rungs of the ladder and dropped as quietly as I could to the floor.

I stood and strained every sense that I had. I stood there almost five minutes before I was sure there was nothing around. I couldn't put it off any longer, I had to make a move.

I knew where I was now and knew that there was a major bridge nearby. Deciding that would be my best bet out of the city I decided to make a try for it.

Setting off I tried to look in all directions at once, not an easy task.

I made it as far as a few blocks without being seen before I realized there was no way that I was going to make it as far as the bridge. An old saying sprang to mind, something about the fires of hell and snowballs.

As I walked around the corner of the side street I was in I realized why I wouldn't make it. I had actually gone about ten feet into the street before I realized the danger that I found myself in.

I dived back into the next closest alley and put my back against the wall, trying desperately to forget the image that was seared into my brain.

The road was packed with the things. They stood shoulder to shoulder swaying gently from side to side as if in a light breeze. I didn't get an accurate count but there had to be thousands of them out there.

I started to softly bang my head against the rough brick behind me trying to think of another way to go. Going around them would take too long, and there was no way that I could make a run for it. One slip, one trip and it would all end in the middle of that street. Another happy meal for the dead that waited for me.

It was only a matter of time before one or more of them found there way to my hiding place. I didn't relish the idea of being caught in this narrow space without a weapon. I had to go back the way I had come and find another route.

Maybe I could get back to my perch and find a way into the building or even unto the roof.

I backed down the shadowed alley, keeping my eyes on the entrance to the street.

I tripped over my own feet and fell backwards, reaching out flailing hands for some kind of purchase.

It was all I could do to stop from screaming as my palm came down on something cold and spongy.

Snatching my hand back I jammed the other as far into my mouth as I could, trying to hold back the shout that was coming.

Knowing that there was no way I could carry on without looking I turned my head and looked at what was there.

The body, what was left of it, sat propped against the wall. The tattered remains of a police uniform clung to the corpse. There was a large gaping hole in the abdomen, a dry blood trail leading into the street. Everything from the cops mouth and up was spread in a dried smear behind him. What looked like a large patch of hair stuck to the wall held there by a grey jelly-like substance.

I looked quickly away.

The arm that I had touched lay several feet away, the palm up and open, dead for some time. The fingerless hand pointed skywards. (I knew where the bird had been getting its food).

I got back to my feet and turned to walk off in the direction that I had been headed.

That was when I saw it.

Half hidden under some split rubbish bags the gun looked huge and fearsome.

It must have flown from the cops fingers as he had pulled the trigger, the force of the shot throwing the weapon to where it now rested.

I reached out with trembling fingers and touched the cool wood of the grip. I was as sure as I had ever been that it would vanish as soon as I touched it. It didn't.

My palm slid across the smooth wooden surface. I closed my hand and lifted it into the air bringing it over to where I was. All thoughts of the creatures nearby disappeared as my mind grasped the concept of the weapon in my hand.

I wondered, not for the first time, if I had enough courage to do what the cop had done in those final seconds of his life.

Hugging the gun to my chest, I turned and ran.

I realized that I was sobbing quietly.

I made it back to the fire escape and reached up to pull myself to the floor above. As I hauled my body up the gun slid from my grasp and hit the concrete under my feet.

It went off.

The report of the gunshot was deafening in the confines of the narrow, confined space. I let go of the smooth metal under my hands and dropped back to the ground not wanting to lose the only weapon of worth that I had come across, and froze as the echo of the shot cleared and the unmistakable groan started close by.

One of the creatures appeared around the corner and stumbled in my direction as far away from the gun as I was.

What happened next undoubtedly save my life.

The creature staggered my way, the gun between the two of us. It was in a bad way, time and its worsening condition had not been kind to it. There was a large slit in its belly and from this rent a length of its intestines swung free. As it swung at me the organ got caught around its legs and tripped it. It went down face first, hard. Its nose popped like a balloon and teeth flew from its mouth clinking across the concrete with the same sound as dice made. Its jaw shattered and broke, skewing off at an impossible angle. The fall must have been worse than I thought because the creature stayed down, its body still on the floor.

I crept forward and gingerly grabbed the gun, moving slightly quicker as I saw a thick stream of blood appear from underneath the corpse.

As I stood it gave a low groan and started to move. I ran.

I didn't stop 'til I was out of breath. By that time I had travelled some distance and there was one thing that I was certain of; I was hopelessly lost again.

I spent most of the day hiding and running, staying as far as I possibly could from everything.

It was sheer luck that I ran across a place to hole up in. The warehouse was one floor, long ago deserted. The good thing was it was dry and warm. Not having the option of being too choosy I blocked the way I came in with anything that I could find and did a quick scout to make sure there were no open doors.

I found an office off the main floor and pushed the desk up against the door. I sat with my back to the door and made myself as comfortable as I could.

As I waited for the night I checked the gun that I had.

Now, being a teacher, and being from England, I knew all about guns. What they did, how they were used. In theory anyway. I had never held one before today, had never had cause to fire one.

The stock was, I assume, walnut (all guns in the movies were) and was surprisingly cool to the touch. The metal was steel slightly bluish. The thing felt enormous and heavy in my hands. You could feel the sense of security and, yes I suppose, power it gave.

After several attempts at opening the chambers I happened across the release. The cylinder swung out sideways and, because I was holding the weapon sideways, the shells hit the carpet with six muffled thuds.

So much for me playing soldier boy, I was more likely to shoot myself than anything else.

I bent down for the bullets and lined them up in front of me. Out of the six shells, four had been used. (One had been the accidental discharge in the alley, one for the dead officer, the others … who knew.)

The empty loads seemed to mock me. Their lethal loads gone. I replaced the two live rounds and clicked the cylinder back into place, making sure that the hammer would fall on one of them and not empty air.

After a small meal of water and a couple of candy bars I settled down for the night.

I had been just dozing off when I heard what I thought were gentle sobs coming from somewhere from behind me.

I wasn't sure what it had been at first and held my breath trying to get a proper fix on it.

There it was again, directly behind me. But that would mean, whoever it was, would be in the alleyway, in the deepening dark.

I couldn't ignore it.

I stood and silently slid the door up in its frame. At first I didn't see anything. Then I looked down.

Directly below me there were several trash bins throwing growing shadows in the gloom. Several large trash bags had split, their contents spilling out into the alley. I tilted my head more to the side and found myself looking down at the top of some-ones head. The narrow shoulders shook slightly with each sob and I knew instinctively that they were still alive.

There was no way that I could attract their attention without scaring them half to death, but I had to try.

'Hello?'

The figure below me screamed and pushed itself from the wall. They turned in the middle of the small space and I found myself staring into the shell-shocked, terrified eyes of a teenage girl, no more than sixteen.

I stared at her and she stared right back, neither of us daring to make the next move.

At one time she may have been pretty, probably still was under all that dirt on her face. Her hair was matted and stuck to her face with sweat.

So shocked were we that we failed to hear the sound of shuffling footsteps further down the alley.

I tried another approach and smiled. I'm not sure how fresh I looked but it seemed to have the desired effect. She tilted her head to one side and, with a slight raise of an eyebrow, smiled back. I held out my hand to help her up the wall, palm out.

As she walked towards me it happened.

As I sit here writing this, I still can't believe what I saw.

Or what I ultimately had to do.

She was close to me, almost within reach, when one of those … things lunged out of the shadows. It darted its head forward and its teeth clamped down on the soft flesh of her neck. She never had time to scream. Our fingertips touched as she was pulled away from me.

As the thing held on tightly it twisted its head violently to one side like a dog. The jaws came away from her, a bloody piece of flesh between them. An eruption of arterial blood burst out of the wound. Some of it nearly reached the window I leaned from.

The girl started to sag in the creatures arms. Its hold on her the only thing stopping her from hitting the floor.

As I watched another creature stumbled into view, bending its head, it clamped down on the unfortunate girls midsection. It bit through the cloth of her shirt and bit into the soft meat underneath.

With what must have been an extreme effort of will the girl lifted her gaze and looked into my eyes. I started to shake my head, helpless to do anything to help.

I remembered the gun still clenched in my hand.

I raised it so she could see it, a look of understanding passing between us.

I'm not sure if it was the tears in my eyes or if I actually saw it, but I thought I saw her smile. I think that she knew it was the only thing to do. I managed to control my shaking long enough to aim the gun, even remembering the safety, and pointed it at her. Even me, from that range, couldn't miss.

I didn't.

The explosion was deafening. The force of the shot pushed my arm upwards and swung me back into the room. But I saw what happened.

The bullet flew from the barrel and hit her just above the right eye. The entry wound was small, no bigger than a coin. The exit was something else entirely. It tore through her skull and exploded out the back taking a large chunk of skull and brain with it. The wall behind her was painted a deep crimson, almost black in the fading light.

As the bullet came out the girl it hit the zombie behind it in the shoulder turning it to one side. It didn't go down. The wound not even slowing it, it dropped the mouthful of flesh and darted in for another.

The stink of cordite and blood hung heavy in the air.

I slumped down to the floor and the gun fell from my nerveless fingers, thumping unto the carpet. I put my hands over my eyes and wept like a child, the tears for a dead girl outside my refuge. A girl that I had never known.

I didn't sleep, and there was no-where to go.

The sounds of feeding went on for a long time.