27 July 2014
Location: Apartment 0
Reflections: Do not assume, for it makes a potential zombie out of you.
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I went on a perimeter patrol this morning: securing the various entries and sweeping the courtyard. I was reasonably confident in my shooting now, though practice had left me with a mere 56 bullets; not much to take on the world.
Much to my shock, one of the elevators showed it was at 20. Remembering the close encounter I had when securing the stairways to that particular floor, this left me feeling nervous. I had barely survived my previous run in with two zombies.
It was doubtful that the zombies retained any higher brain function to use the elevator. Of course, here was a possibility of them accidentally pressing the button...
Well, there was no way I could ignore this. I brought the elevator down to me and it was...empty. Curiouser and curiouser. I then made my way to the eastern stairwell (the one nearest to the parking lot) and climbed up to the 20th floor.
Stopping to catch my breath, I listened as hard as I could for any signs of "life" on the other side. My previous experience placed the zombies on the western entrance so it was a calculated gamble on my part. I pried the shims out of the gaps of the door silently, readied my weapons, and turned the knob.
I was ready for an immediate onslaught of attackers. Mercifully, it was a peaceful and quiet entry. I peered cautiously down both ends of the corridor before shutting the door behind me. There was a curve in the corridor between the eastern lift lobby and middle to western, so I had to advance to reconnoiter the whole walkway. The sun was in my eyes, but I managed to glimpse two upright figures standing at the far end of the corridor.
My heart stopped for a beat before I realised they were unaware of my presence. I was leery of confronting two zombies simultaneously again, especially with a lack of an easy retreat. However, it was inevitable that I attempt to secure the complex and stop having to worry about these two clowns sneaking up on me at a later date.
Gritting my teeth in determination, I drew my pistol and walked towards the two figures. About 15 yard out, I shouted at them to get down if they were human. No luck, both started sprinting towards me. I took careful aim and took one of them down with 6 hits, all of them body shots though. Nevertheless, it went down. I holstered the pistol and braced for the remaining zombie.
I took the impact on my riot shield and shoved back at it, dropping the zombie to the floor. I stepped on its chest and swung my 9 iron against its head once, twice and thrice until it stopped struggling. Satisfied it was dead, I saw the one I shot limping slowly towards me, teeth bared in a morbid parody of a smile. I took its jaw out with a well-placed swing of my club. This was deliberate on my part, as the zombie was slowed enough by its wounds for me to take my time. I watched it trash on the ground, blood leaking from the de-jawed face. It took a good 5 minutes for it to die, presumably from blood loss.
The danger over, I reloaded my pistol calmly. I had both gun belts on, with the other pistol positioned slightly behind the one I drew. There was no point in me keeping it on the right, as after repeated practice found me abysmally unsuited to a right-hand draw. I was down to 50 shots now. Gotta be careful with how I spend them.
The corridor secured, I walked to the elevator which I had found to be on 20 earlier on (it was the middle lobby). If the zombies were at the end of the corridor, then it stands to reason somebody, or something, operated the elevator. I checked the apartment units near the lobby. All but one were padlocked and shut. The exception had the grill wide open but the inner wooden door shut.
I walked into the doorway and knocked loudly and shouted through the door. No response. I tried the knob but it was locked. Not wanting any surprises, I closed the grill behind me and went to work with my crowbar. On my third heave, the wooden frame gave way and the door slipped open.
The apartment looked very homely. A well-worn sofa dominated the living room, facing a smallish tv set. I stepped inside, and saw a gruesome sight. Two bodies were in the bathroom: a woman and child. They were fresh, not yet decomposed. The floor of the bathroom was stained in the dark brown of dried blood. Cautiously, I handled the bodies and found bite marks on the arms of the child. His neck was slit open, explaining the blood. The woman, his mother, I assumed, hung from the wall in a home made noose of cloth sheets.
Sickened, I surmised that the child must have been bitten by a zombie somehow and rather than risking him turning, the mother killed him and committed suicide. They must have been the ones who used the elevator. Guilt hammered at me as I wondered if I was the cause of their death by blocking off the stairwells and forcing them to use the lift. Healthy human life was so near me, yet I only found them when it was too late.
I staggered from the bathroom and found myself on the floor outside, sobbing quietly. In remorse? In self-pity? I do not know.
Minutes later, I pulled myself together. What was done was done. I had to be practical. Since I was already here, I decided to scavenge the place for something useful. There was a shopping bag filled with food stuff in the kitchen, obviously they had been on a food run when the attack occurred; I piled the food into my backpack. I felt guilty, but there was no sense in putting things to waste.
I checked the store room and found nothing much of use. The middle room looked slept-in. This was obviously where they spend their nights. Why not in the master bedroom? I opened the door of the master bedroom and let out an embarrassing yelp of surprise as I saw the body of a dead man lying near the door. I suppose this was why they had not slept in the master bedroom, and who could blame them?
There was not much to look at in the master bedroom, but I did find a set of car keys. These went into my pocket, they will come in handy. Something nagged at the back of my mind, there was something wrong with this picture, but I could not quite put my finger on it. Lost in thought, I neglected to watch my step and tripped on the corpse at the doorway. Cursing angrily, I thought I saw something, but dismissed it from my mind. I must've disturbed it when I tripped.
I found my feet and returned to investigate the living room. The sound of feet scuffing against the floor made me whirl around. I stared in shock as the "dead" man slowly got to his feet, shaking himself as if to clear his head.
What the hell?
The man caught sight of me and grinned at me. Except the grin was accompanied with a growl. Shit!
He charged me, closing the distance between us quickly. I had stupidly left the golf club near the grisly bathroom when I thought the place was safe. Thankfully I still had my shield and I used that to catch the creature's charge and flipped him over me into the tv. I sprinted towards my golf club but the zombie somehow recovered and had its hands curled around my ankle. I went down.
Bared teeth sought my foot and I kicked at it frantically with my other foot. My crowbar had slung forward and I somehow managed to untangle it from the shoulder strap. A sharp swing caught the zombie at the side of its skull and the tip dug into its ear. I pulled with all my strength and the zombie's face just...parted. It continued its grasping at my leg for just a few seconds before going limp.
My breath came in gasps as I sought to recover from the shock and adrenaline rush. It all came back to me now, my uneasy feeling. I had assumed the man was dead and the family was avoiding his dead body. Except, the body was not at all decomposed. Somehow, the zombie had went into a dormant state while being locked in the room.
In fact, he seemed to have been hibernating...
Things just got weirder and weirder.
I eyed my crow bar in disgust. I took my leather gloves off and used the plastic ones to wash the crowbar thoroughly at the late lady's sink. I applied detergent generously and decided I will soak it in boiling water when I returned to my HQ. Probably a good idea to grab a spare too on my next shopping trip.
Deciding I was done with the place, I let myself out and walked through the whole corridor of the 20th floor, all the other apartment units were securely locked. I re-jammed the door that I entered from and got back to my floor.
I disinfected myself and my equipment thoroughly and worked on an idea that this "home visit" had given me: I will honour the woman and child's memory by living well and to start a search for other humans who might have survived the Problem intact and healthy.
End log.
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