I next came to with a gasp. I lurched up in bed, grasping my eye as residual phantom pain steadily disappeared and I caught my breath. Confusion soon overtook my panic. What happened? Was it all a dream?
I was leaning away from the possibility of it being a dream, seeing as currently my power is out, judging by the lack of my fan running or the window A/C blowing cool air in the room. Light is filtering around the foam board covering my window that I installed to block the light and keep it cooler in here. It's not too hot though so I'm guessing it's probably morning.
Much more eerie is the silence. Assuming it wasn't a dream, last night sounded like a war zone, but now it's completely quiet. What is going on? Also why am I in my bedroom, when my last memory was of me in the bathroom with the door being busted down by zombies?
The only way to find that out is to get up and open my bedroom door. But… I'm afraid. What if it is real? What if I open the door and the zombies are waiting?
I can't let fear dictate my actions though. Swallowing and pushing the fear down, I carefully reach up to the top of my shelf and, as quietly as possible, unhook and bring down the spear I picked up from the Renaissance Festival a few years back. It'd be of limited use in the halls and turning corners, but for the initial opening of the door, it would work to keep any zombies out of biting range and hopefully kill them permanently.
Taking up position near the door, I willed myself to stop shaking and silently took a deep breath. Normally I'd prefer to use my sword for this, but I checked for that first and it's not here. Which makes sense as I'd taken it with me to the bathroom.
Steeling myself, I held my spear at the ready, and quickly opened the door, leaping back and ready to stick anything that came through.
Nothing came though. Just more of that unnerving silence.
Carefully, I edged forward and looked both ways up and down the hall. What I saw made my eyes widen in shock.
Compared to the seeming untouched state of my bedroom, the hallway is an absolute wreck. There are gouges in the wall and a a stale stench that reminded me of last night, but it's a lot weaker now, which makes sense if any zombies had already left.
My eyes followed the devastation towards the bathroom door, which is in so many pieces all over the place. I can hardly see anything inside though. It's too dark to make out much.
I have a decision to make. With the power out, I need light. I can either remove the foam board to uncover a window and risk something outside noticing the blinds moving as the board is pressed up flush against them, along with the risk of something potentially seeing inside around the cracks in the blinds, or I can make my way towards the living room in the dark where my flashlights are, and something else could be waiting for me.
I'm torn with indecision, waying the pros and cons of both and liking neither of them. Eventually though, I forced myself to move after the more logical side of my mind had me getting frustrated with myself, and I picked through the time honored tradition of eenie meenie minie moe.
Slowly, forcing my legs to move with a near herculean will, I stepped out into the hallway. I wished at that point I had a double bladed spear, as I didn't fancy putting my back towards the gaping maw that is the dark bathroom, nevermind the kitchen door directly across from my bedroom door that also has a secondary entrance into the living room near the back.
It's not all dark though. There's light spilling into the living room. Enough so that I'm almost positive the front door is wide open. Probably busted in. I nervously crept forward, my eyes darting every which way as I slowly approached the living room, nearly giving myself whiplash the way I kept turning my head back and forth to keep an eye behind me as well as in front.
Finally I reach the living room. While the back half is more or less untouched, the front half is a wreck. I was wrong in my assumption that the front door is open. It'd be more accurate to say that it's not even there anymore, along with a good chunk of the wall next to it with the main window smashed in. The large screen TV that had been in front of it was now mostly on the floor, held up by what's left of the couch and arm chair nearest it. The shelves on the walls didn't escape unscathed from its fall either.
Through the hole in the front of my apartment, I can see a small snippet of the outside, along with the apartment directly across the way. They're not in much better shape, with their door also busted in. I can also see what I think are bullet holes in the walls, which isn't very surprising. I once again cursed the fact that I hadn't gotten ammo for the rifle my friend was letting me 'borrow'. But then, guns are actually not that good to use in this scenario, as the noise would likely draw more zombies to me.
With great effort, I turned my back to the giant hole in my apartment and went towards the back wall. I'm still wary, but feeling slightly better with more room to maneuver in the far larger livingroom.
Reaching towards one of the shelves on the back wall, I pulled down my flashlight and turned it on, quickly flashing the light into the kitchen and confirming what I'd already seen in the low light. Nothing.
Going back to the hallway, I shined the flashlight into the bathroom from here. With the light shining inside, the destruction is thrown into sharp relief. From here I can see that the shower curtain and the rod are hanging in tatters over the toilet, and the shoe organizer I had hanging on the bathroom door is likewise in tatters on the floor.
More telling though is the dark splotch of blood against the back wall of the shower stall, with a hole in the middle letting light through from the next apartment, along with blood smears on the floor and lower part of the walls. Speaking of, there's some putrid green smears on the hallway walls as well. Were those from the zombies? They did have an alarmingly gangrenous green tinge…
Making careful note not to touch the walls, I took a deep breath and headed down the hall. Just before the bathroom door, I turned right to peer into my roommate's room. His door is also off the hinges, but it seems more like side damage to what happened to the bathroom door as aside from the door, his room is untouched much like mine.
Just to be thorough I turned to the door across from my roommate's room and opened that door to peer inside my laundry room. Nothing but the washer, dryer, waterheater, and lots of boxes. I think the only reason its door is still intact is because it's further from the bathroom door at the end of the hall here than my roommate's door is.
Closing the laundry room door, I stepped into the bathroom, trying to ignore the blood and ruin with an ease that made me worry that I might be in shock, to examine the hole in the wall in the middle of the dark splotch that I'm pretty sure is my blood. And probably some brain matter too come to think of it.
Close up, I can see that the hole isn't perfectly round like I'd thought. There's two slits on each side of the hole, making it more diamond shaped than round. Judging by the shape… well it's either the weirdest bullet I've ever heard of, or I got shot through the head by an arrow.
Shaking my head, I filed away the two seemingly ridiculous possibilities and retreated from the bathroom and entered my bedroom, closing the door and sitting on my bed to give myself some much needed time to try and process.
I'm alive.
Despite all evidence pointing towards the fact that I was murdered by an arrow in my bathroom of all things, I'm somehow alive. I absentmindedly touched the left side of my face over my eye. The same area where I'd woken up to a phantom pain. Had I died and come back to life? Regenerated maybe? But then how did I end up in my bedroom? Why didn't I go to heaven or to a spirit world or something? If this is my afterlife, I'd like a refund please!
I shuddered. Oblivion would be preferable to this. A zombie apocalypse is literally hell on Earth, and my life as I knew it is now over. Nevermind how many others must've died. How many zombies are out there now? Did any of them regenerate or whatever like I did?
And what do I do now? Try and find survivors? Every bit of conjecture and speculation about apocalypses of the zombie variety tend to agree that in the early start of it, if you're not careful, you might get saddled with someone who will wind up getting you killed, either through fear, incompetence, or raiding.
Outside of any official attempts by the government and military bases to maintain enclaves of order, most everything else is going to be wild loner survivalists and tribal like raider groups. Of course, the reality could prove to be far different, but until I see otherwise, it would be best to see to my own survival first rather than seek out survivors.
Which means finding a place to hole up for the night along with scavenging for food. I'm pretty sure I can't stay here. Eventually the heat will bake me out of this enclosed room, and while the plumbing may still be working, I can't be sure of how long it'll remain that way.
Which means my best bet will likely be heading towards… Well. To be honest, I don't know. I'll need to do some scouting, maybe pick some targets of opportunity. With that in mind, I need to grab some gear and head out.
Grabbing my backpack/camelpack that I was issued during my time in the Air Force and was allowed to keep, I up ended the paper work and folders still in there from a time in my life now a decade long gone. I'm not likely to need my old discharge papers anymore, though on the extremely tiny off chance I do, it's not like I don't know where they are.
With my backpack open and ready, I started loading some essentials to start with. Non perishable food for starters. I had a bucket of MREs stashed away for emergency preparedness that I shoved into the backpack along with some smaller snacks. This is Florida after all, and being prepared for hurricanes is second nature for any native. I grabbed a few spare batteries for my flashlight, which I planned to carry in my pocket while I strapped my scuba style K-bar knife which I'd gotten from the on base commissary years ago to my belt. I also grabbed two spare sets of underwear and socks for emergencies, along with a towel. On the tiny off chance I can't make it back here. A spare shirt gets added as well.
Along with a few other supplies, including a bottle of aspirin and my other meds, I put on my hat and took a wary look outside, spear point first. I had misgivings about taking it with me, but the only other blades I have aren't necessarily ones I'd trust to use against an actual target as I'm not sure which of them, if not all of them, are show pieces that wouldn't stand up to actual use.
Granted I'm not sure about the spear either, but it'll serve as a good walking stick and will help me attack zombies while out of their range, even if a spear isn't a very good weapon for keeping a low profile. I have to be careful as I can't just thunk it down either if I want to keep my noise to a minimum.
Once outside, I took in the devestation with no small amount of horror. Signs of fire and smoke are everywhere. Crashed cars are common. All the doors are destroyed, and in some places look like the entire front of the building was simply blown in.
I don't see any bodies thankfully, though there's plenty of blood and bits of body parts here and there. And the stench! I gagged as that smell in the ruins of my apartment increased once I stepped outside, though it came and went with the wind.
Stepping back inside, I grabbed a bandana and tied it about my face to get some relief, contemplated using my motorcycle helmet instead, then discarded the idea as I didn't want to have my senses muted or deal with the tunnel vision involved. Armor would be a plus, but aside from the helmet, I don't have riding leathers unfortunately.
Sparing a glance towards my scooter, I lamented that despite it seemingly being spared the destruction, I still couldn't use it as I'd never gotten around to getting the darn thing fixed after that accident a year ago. Not that I'd want to use it right now anyway without a destination in mind and no idea as to what kind of numbers I'm dealing with. And push comes to shove, I'd probably be better off taking a car anyway.
Putting the useless bike from my mind, I took a closer look around, searching for any hint of movement or sound of zombie moans or shuffling. Like before, the silence is eerie. It's like whatever horde had shown up to cause everything to sound like a warzone last night had just up and vanished. Or maybe they'd moved on as group. Maybe horde migration is a thing? Or maybe they're smarter than they look and are waiting in the dark of the ruined buildings to swarm me after I've left my guard down?
Shuddering, I pushed myself to move. For now I'll stick to the sidewalk, as I don't want to be caught unawares while hugging the walls and get snuck up behind. I know nothing about my enemy after all, beyond them being zombie like, gangrenous looking, and able to leave smears of themselves on walls. How fast they move and how they hunt will see me altering my tactics accordingly.
For now, I have to assume they aren't bloodhounds as if they could sense me via smell from miles off, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have woken up in bed at all. That leaves sight and hearing, though they might only smell spilt blood like a shark. Thus I would take care to avoid injury where possible, more than I already would anyway.
As for if they run or walk or shamble… I didn't get much beyond the door exploding last night… Last night? Was it last night? Or maybe it was several weeks ago? I don't know, so I'll just have to assume it was last night until proven otherwise.
Anyway, if they run, then it doesn't matter how 'sneaky' I try to be as once they spot me it's pretty much all over anyway. I'd be better off in the open where I can see them coming and hopefully have a chance to line up my spear for them to stick themselves on. If they walk or shamble, well… so long as I keep a brisk walk speed, I should be safe so long as I don't get surrounded.
As for my destination… about a mile east of my apartment along the main road is a river. I don't know how clean it is, but it's as good a destination as any as I look around. As for my surroundings, it reminds me disturbingly of Fallout, only without the nuclear fallout or any sign of monsters, wild life, or people.
Seriously, where is anything? I expected to have run into something by now, but this place may as well be a ghost town!
And a hot ghost town at that, I thought grimly as I wiped the sweat off my neck. I cursed the fact that I live in Florida for the umpteenth time. Maybe I should head north? Trekking that far on foot sounds like a bad idea though considering that despite everything I'm still disabled. Can't run for crap, but at least I can walk. Though after years of taking it easy, my stamina is pretty shot. I'm actually surprised I've made it this far and still feel pretty fresh and ready to go. Would've thought I'd be feeling it in my legs at least by now.
By the time I reached the river it felt like an hour had passed. I cursed the fact that I no longer had a watch anymore. Maybe I'd find one later I could keep. For now, I had to judge off the position of the sun, and that wouldn't really help me much beyond guesstimates of the time.
Stepping onto the overpass, I looked out into the water. It doesn't look or smell bad. No algae overgrowth thankfully, as that can cause quite the stink and I doubt the water would be safe to drink if its chock full of algae.
Still, I don't relish trying to drink straight from a river. Push comes to shove, I could probably raid one of the grocery stores for their five gallon jugs, assuming any are left. A lot of looting went on leading up to the 'end of the world' after all.
Well, now that I've seen the river, I considered what to do next. Well, technically I'd been considering what to do next for a while now after my paranoia had cooled a bit on the latter half of the trip here. Aside from the damage, occasional fire, and what seem to be a liberal amount of bullet holes and craters (did a group of the looters last night have a surplus of grenades or something? The sheer amount of craters and debris from said craters is kind of disturbing.) nothing seemed to be stirring at all. Even the local wild life had gone quiet. Perhaps all the birds and bugs were dead too? I hoped not. That would suggest a pandemic on top of everything else and there's nothing I can really do if I've already caught an apocalyptic super disease.
Pushing the horror of that possibility from my mind, I considered where to go. On the way here I'd spotted several buildings, none of which really screamed 'pick me!' in regards to potentially surviving the apocalypse in. Especially considering nearly every single one had holes smashed into them. Between the zombies and the looters, I'd have to be careful in where I pick to establish as my safe house.
Something high up would be nice, but the only buildings with multiple stories in Florida tend to be apartment complexes with many many rooms, and most houses tend not to be higher than a single story. Its times like this I wish I still had my old apartment. It was on a second floor and fairly isolated, only sharing a balcony with one other apartment and only accessible via stairs in the front and back. Tack on the fact that it was one of the older style buildings that were made almost entirely out of solid concrete, and it was a hell of a grand place to live.
It's just too bad the owners evicted the lot of us with barely any warning so they could tear the place down and raise up a multistory complex in its place. I was actually tempted to pick the place as my base camp in a fit of spite, but it wouldn't make for a good choice either. No easily defendable or controlled access points, and plenty of rooms that could be hiding just about anything.
That's when I had a bit of a brainwave. The airbase! Of course! Macdill isn't exactly close, but if there's any place that would likely have weathered out the horde last night it'd be that place!
But that caused me to pause and consider. Macdill really is pretty close by their standards. And it's an airbase. Why aren't there any aircraft doing fly by's looking for survivors? Why aren't there any aircraft period?
Glancing at the sky at that revelation, I added it to the growing list of disturbing things that I really didn't like about this situation. What must've happened to cause that there are no air forces in the sky? Is the base compromised? Or maybe they're all at the base trying to fight off all the zombies attempting to overrun the place? If that's the case, then Macdill is the last place I want to go to, at least for now.
Besides, I don't have near enough supplies for a trip that far. I'm going to need to scavenge for supplies myself as time passes, and I still need to concentrate on making sure I can stay alive before I start planning expeditions to not-quite-so-close-when-on-foot air bases.
Deciding that I've spent way too long in one spot, I made a snap decision to follow the river. I wouldn't bother heading north. Nothing but swamp and forest up that way. But south? Well, maybe I'd find some river front property I could hole up in for a bit.
From here I can see a Holiday Inn across the river and over the trees. I had to sigh as I considered my options.
Wherever I stay, I'd prefer it not be ground level, with only a single easily controllable access point. The only place I can think of like that is my old apartment building though, and that's long gone. But maybe the place next door is similar enough? They have condos, and with some work, I could probably settle on a second floor apartment and take out the stairs and just use a ladder to get up to the building.
If I do that though… I'll need a ladder in the first place obviously, and tools to take out the stairs. Or at least a sledge hammer… I'll have to figure that out as I go. Now where to go to get either of those things… Home Depot? Lowes? Both of those are just up the road and north a ways, but it'd be one hell of a walk.
Trying for closer… There's the Target and Walmart I passed by earlier. Assuming they haven't been looted down to bedrock, they might have the things I need.
I would've preferred some place closer to the river, but if I can get a cart and some five gallon drums, I can make water runs as necessary. Turning my way back west, I followed the road back towards the local college. My old apartment is just north of that, with the condo I'm thinking might fit the bill just a few buildings down from that. Theoretically I could try for something that's actually on the campus, but I've never actually been there, and I'm on limited time. I don't know where the zombies are, and it'd be best if I've hunkered down come night fall, assuming I survive that long. It's just common sense as I won't be able to see them coming in the dark.
Hurrying back down the road, I find the condo in question. Or at least where it used to be. It takes me a bit of walking back and forth in confusion until I realize the empty field of grass and trees is exactly where the condo was.
Cursing to myself, I consider what to do now. I'd already passed my old church building twice, but it's in just as bad a state as everything else. The sun is about midway through the sky now and I still haven't spotted anyone or anything. I'm almost tempted to make a bunch of noise to see if I attract something's attention, but I quickly discard the rather suicidal idea.
Right then. Plan B. Camp out on a roof and hope for the best. I know just the spot too. My Grandma's old nursing home has a tall apartment style building on its end. It definitely falls under the criteria of a place I DO NOT want to get stuck in, as it would be ridiculously difficult to climb back down, but short of climbing the college water tower… that can be seen pretty much everywhere… and that I use for a landmark to orient myself in this entire area…
Feeling a bit dumb, I finally head onto campus. I've wasted a lot of time. Hopefully I'll find something along the way that'll suit my needs for the night.
Lucky for me, the tower isn't actually that far off. Roughly three to five blocks into the interior of the campus. Unluckily for me, I had to maneuver around several buildings and fences to find a way to actually get inside.
Once at the base of the water tower, I paused and shined my flashlight through the opening into the water tower, where a door used to be. I'm not too keen on going in there as it's rather dark. Plus something's giving me the willies. After I moment I realized what it was. It's the smell. The stench I'd blocked off with my bandana over my face is coming from the tower strong enough to be noticeable even with the face covering.
I nearly jumped out of my skin as there was suddenly movement in the doorway and a moaning gargling sound as a zombie suddenly appeared in the doorway. It fixed its eyes on me and without any hesitation started shuffling towards me immediately.
A moment later, it burst into flames, shrieking and groaning as soon as it hit the light, and yet it still came towards me.
Horrified, I backed away from the heat and eye watering stench it gave off as the fire slowly brought it to a halt, seemingly crumbling and melting away, until eventually all that was left was a smoking pile of raw flesh that stank so bad, I had to stumble away so that I could throw up.
Panting, I took a small sip from my camelpack and swished before spitting, and taking a longer pull of water. Calming down slightly, I turned back towards the sizzled and burnt flesh on the ground and my gorge rose, threatening to make me throw up again. I backed off a ways as I considered what just happened.
It burst into flames as soon as the light touched it. Even my flash light, just before it stepped out, had caused its flesh to smoke very slightly. Is that why this place is seemingly a ghost town? All of the zombies just burst into flames and withered away into nothing with the rising of the sun?
Even now, the flesh on the ground is still sizzling, though not nearly as spectacularly as it had before. At the rate it's going, I figure in about an hour it'll be completely gone, with no hint of the zombie having been there at all. Not even the clothes it wore had survived the sudden immolation.
Feeling slightly better about my chances of survival, at least during the day, I tapped my spear against the edge of the hole where the door used to be. No groan or sounds of shuffling greeted me, so I cautiously went inside the water tower.
I'm not honestly sure what I was expecting. An office maybe? I'm more used to water towers having a ladder on the outside. Unfortunately this one actually has an interior full of pipes and ladders instead, and a truck door for some reason.
My first stumbling block was in the form of two separate ladders up to the top. Which one do I pick? And why two? Does one go into the tank itself while the other leads out to the roof? Climbing them both and counting rungs, I found one to be much taller than the other, but both are blocked off by hatches, both of which are locked. It's just as well though, since I don't know if there's still water in the water tower and I don't want to risk getting killed via flooding if I force the hatch and it's not empty. Assuming I can even open it with all the water pressure holding it closed anyway, so it's moot point. Climbing back down and examining the pipes and other doodads didn't help either.
It's not completely a bust though. I now know what to do for easily dealing with the zombies during day time, and right next to the water tower is a radio tower that's nearly as tall as it is, and I've climbed radio towers before as part of my training in the Air Force.
Of course, as I stood at the base of said radio tower, looking up… and up… and up… to the tippie top, I had to note that that was with a safety line and the tower definitely turned off. At least that latter portion should be fixable. Following the wires, I traced them to a junction box… which was locked.
Sighing, I turned to the nearby office building I'm reasonably sure is the control station for the tower. Do I have the time to go hunting for keys and dealing with any more zombies in there? Considering I still need to find some place to hunker down for the night? No. No I don't.
Sighing, I turned back to the tower. Potential death by electrocution, potential death by fall, potential death by drowning, potential death by blunt trauma via getting smashed by that much water, or potential death via zombies. My life sure has gotten cheery.
Either way, I'm reasonably certain that I won't get electrocuted. The power's out anyway as far as I can tell. Still, better to test, so making a fist, I bump my knuckles against the tower with a wince. Nothing.
Slightly relieved, I set my backpack down at the base and tentatively started the climb. Not even ten feet up I had to willfully control my breathing and heart rate as I fought for calm, as panicking would surely kill me as much as the fall would. Did I mention I have a fear of falling? Because I do. It's slightly different than a fear of heights as I'm perfectly fine with any height if there's no danger, but the moment I'm not secure in some fashion ie. With a belt, harness, or with solid glass in the way, the fear can be absolutely crippling.
Unfortunately I need the intel afforded by the height. I can't waste any more time randomly searching for a building. I need shelter now.
Gritting my teeth, I deliberately focused on my hands and feet in making sure to have a firm grip. It's slow going, especially once I hit the halfway point and I become aware of how much the tower is waving about in the wind.
…Maybe this high is good enough? I take a look around as best I can, then shut my eyes and focus on nothing else but what I'd seen. Unfortunately it's not much. I saw several buildings, but they're all fairly squat and wide.
Honestly if I could reach the top of the tower and pitch a tent there, that would honestly be my safest bet. Or maybe if I drained the interior of the tank I could set up shelter in there. That doesn't sound like a half bad idea. Certainly sounds much better than climbing the rest of the way up this thing.
Getting back down was harder as it involved actually looking down to see where to put my feet. Eventually though I did reach the ground and nearly gave into the urge to bend down and kiss the pavement. I settled for merely patting the ground with my foot, grabbed my backpack, and moved on from the awkward moment. Who was going to judge anyway? Everyone's dead.
Stepping back into the water tower, I re-confirmed that the place is clear, then re-checked all the knobs and dials, reading everything I could see. While I did so though, a thought occurred to me that had me pause. While the tower's still working, the college should still have water pressure, at least for a while. If I did find some way to purge the tower, that would be gone.
Biting my lip, I realized that I had an important choice in front of me. Potential shelter, or a water resource that would likely last me a very long time with it just being me using the water. Well, me and any other potential survivors around here.
Do I even have any alternatives though? What could I use for shelter? There's plenty of buildings, but unless I'm willing to spend who knows how long trying to tempt zombies out of one of them, I'm stuck! I can't use a house. From what I've seen so far, all of them have already been breached and without a way to fortify a place, I'm stuck. I can't even use a tree as I can't confirm whether the zombies can climb or not!
I can't guarantee they won't find me anyway, so hiding's out. The more I think about it, the more I realize that they'd pretty much beelined for me in my apartment while I was well hidden in the bathroom. While that zombie earlier didn't come out until I was nearby, it's entirely possible that they behave differently at night without the threat of the sun to fry them. Bottom line, I was well hidden and they found me anyway. I need some place they can't get to, no matter how awkward it is to get there.
The tent on a roof idea is looking more and more tempting as time goes on. I have a tent back at my ruined apartment but where to put it? Any single story building may be too short to prevent them from climbing up. But then I have to climb up too and my best bet is still a ladder.
Or maybe a crane? The hospital nearby is still under construction, and I saw two cranes still on its property. Climbing that will be just as bad as the tower though, and unlike a ladder, I can't guarantee I'll be able to move it once it runs out of gas. Assuming cranes don't require external power hook ups to run in the first place. I don't actually know. I've never used a crane before.
Scratch that then. I need to come to a decision soon. I'm burning daylight. If nothing else, I guarantee I need a ladder, so I head back to the main road and start in the direction towards the local Walmart. If they don't have a ladder, I suppose I can try Target right across the street. And if they don't have a ladder either… Well at that point, I may as well head for Home Depot and hope I can secure the roof there, cause I won't have time to go anywhere else.
Actually, setting up shop on the roof of Walmart doesn't sound like a bad idea. I mean, they're guaranteed to have roof access, but if I can find a way to block those off so that the only way up is by ladder, well… they're fairly tall so I can be reasonably certain zombies won't be able to just climb up them.
Plus there's whatever might be left in the store to consider. And if I could find a way to clear out and then fortify the building itself, I'd have plenty of space. Though I'd still likely stay up on the roof for safety's sake.
Once I got within sight of the Walmart about an hour later, I stopped and studied the building for a moment. From vantage point here, I can see the front and one of the sides of the building. I can't see a way to climb up from the side at all, though I might be able to do so from the front.
Following the edge of the parking lot, I continued to case the building and paused at the back corner and cringed. I don't know what kind of machinery it is. Perhaps an A/C or something for the freezers. Either way, it wouldn't be all that hard to climb up the multiple tiers it has and wind up on the roof. Difficult maybe, but certainly possible. And there's no way I can move that to stop anything else from climbing up that way either. So Walmart is out.
Perhaps something smaller? There's a strip mall with a Subway across the road. Heading that way, I paused as I looked at the Walgreens nearby. Perhaps that would also work? Resolving to check both, I skirted around both buildings to scout them out, starting with the Walgreens first as the area around it is more open.
As with everything else, all the entrances of the place are wrecked. Most of the glass display windows on the front of the building are destroyed and the interior is all dark. There's a roof overhang held up by pillars over that. They don't look climbable. Likewise, the next side of the building is more of the front, as the main entrance is at the corner of the building facing the four way intersection it sits on.
The next side of the building is mostly smooth but for a drive through for the pharmacy, with another roof overhang held up by more pillars I don't think can be climbed. With three out of four sides looking clear, I can't help but start to feel hopeful as I round the last corner to see what would officially be considered the back wall of the building.
Once in sight, I paused to stare, and hummed thoughtfully. There's five drain pipes connected to the wall spaced evenly from each other. They don't reach the lip of the roof, but if I stood on top of where they connect to the wall, I could reach the edge of the roof and hoist myself up. That's a bit of a problem, but not nearly insurmountable depending on how fragile the drain pipes are. If I can remove them then this place is perfect.
Approaching the wall cautiously, I examined the drain pipes closely and found that they were connected to the wall by brackets screwed into the wall. If I remove those, I could probably pull them from the wall. I can't imagine that would be silent though, and I might end up attracting zombies from inside the building, though considering it's still day time I'm not too worried on that front.
Thankfully, now that I have a place I can go, now I can go across the street to the Walmart and hopefully get a ladder. And maybe a tent. My one back at the apartment is kind of small, and it would save time to get it here.
Going across the street, I stopped in front of the hole that was the main entrance of Walmart. Now how to get the attention of the zombies that are inevitably inside? Stopping down, I picked up a hunk or rubble the size of my fist. This oughtta do. Rearing back, I chucked it as hard as I could into the darkness, and nearly winced at the clatter. Shining my flashlight inside, I couldn't see much from this distance, but it wasn't long before I saw movement.
I screamed in pain as I grabbed my chest. I looked down and stared in shock at a black arrow sticking out of my body. A second arrow soon joined it and I tried to scream again, only for it to come out as a wet gurgle.
Punctured lung, I noted distantly as the pain began to fade and the outer edge of my vision turned black. I almost didn't notice as I fell to my knees as a third arrow joined the other two. I never saw the fourth arrow coming before everything turned black.