Entry 8 ~ Visit to the Past

OOC - This post may be a little self-indulgently dark. I apologise in advance.

19 July 2014
2130
Location: HQ Alternate, Cheras, Selangor, Malaysia

Reflections:
Everybody has problems, some roll over and die, others tackle them head on. I choose the latter path, with a golf club!

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I spent the 18th securing the middle stairway and being lazy. After tackling 20 floors twice in two days, I felt I was due some down time. The shimming activity was relatively uneventful, but tension-filled as usual as my imagination continue to run away. A quick inventory showed I had insufficient shims to complete the project for the final stairway, so today would appear to be yet another shopping day.

Strapping myself into my usual equipment, I made my way to The Mines early in the day. I startled some crows from the corpse as I pulled into my usual spot, and went in. Finding the shims again was easy. My backpack filled, it was time to leave and get the last of the stairways blocked off and enjoy a less stressful existence back home.

I got into my car without further incident this time, thankfully and pulled out. Deciding to take a drive around to sight-see what's became of my city, since there was some time to burn, I drove down the MRR2 highway and made a turn off into Ambassador Row where all the embassies were located in KL. The streets were empty, of course. It just felt weird to me, as most of my life was spent being stuck in traffic right here. It felt like a ghost town now, which of course, it was.

My wanderlust sated, I started on my way back. Two things happened at once: one of my tyres blew, sending me careening on the empty road; and something bounced off the front of my car and smashed into the windscreen. Spiderweb-like cracks formed immediately, and I pulled the car to a stop with my heart beating like a freight train.

Misguided instincts took over and I got out of my car to assess the damage. The left rear tyre was flat, and somebody in a pink shirt and bermudas was groaning on the ground behind my car. I snapped back to reality and grabbed my weapon from the car in a hurry. I had not had time to put my helmet on so I had to look around to view the perimeter. Approaching the groaning figure warily, I called out and asked if he was okay. No reply, just more pain-filled grunts. I was within spitting distance when I prodded the man with my club.An animalistic snarl greeted me from the downed, obviously Problematic human.

It feels pain!

This was interesting though, it was in enough pain to prevent it from coming after me. I nudged it again and received an eerily human-sounding scream from it. Nervously, I glanced around. I picked out movement coming from the west. Deciding there and then that discretion was the better part of valor, I ran back into my car and stepped on the accelerator, I made my way bumpily on my flat tyre away from the scene. Hundreds of meters away, I stopped as I had trouble believing what I saw in my rear view mirror.

What appeared to be a pack of zombies descended on the scene of my mishap, and instead of coming after me, fell unto the fallen one with gusto. Sickened from what I saw, I drove off, slowly and carefully. Visibility was very poor with my cracked windscreen, and driving on the flat could not benefit my car any. There was no way in hell I was stopping and changing the flat. I considered my options and decided to make a try for another place with which I was familiar with and nearer to my current location instead of driving home. If I was lucky, I could get a replacement vehicle without needing to smash any windows.

Half an hour later, I pulled up where I once told myself I would never return again. The neighbourhood was quiet and I saw no suspicious activities. The house had 3 cars in residence: a Toyota Vellfire MPV in the porch, a Proton sedan outside the gates and a Korean SUV on the curb. This was surprising. I had expected the Vellfire to be gone as the family made their escape. The fact that all vehicles were home told me the house might not be unoccupied. Drawing a deep breath, I rang the door bell. Five times. No frantic barks greeted the doorbell. I guess nobody's home after all?

I grabbed my club and climbed over the wall beside the gate, not the first time I had done so. I knew where the spare keys were stored in the event the son forgot his keys again. Letting myself in on well-oiled hinges, I entered what had been my second home for nearly 3 years, 2 years ago. I was wrong, there was something home. The carcass of a dead pomeranian laid in a playpen in the living room, lying in its own waste. I was saddened, he was the only thing I missed from this place, even if the little chump was overly fond of biting.

I crept around the living room, reliving my memories. I finally made my way to the staircase and found the various car keys in a container, where they were always kept. Smiling to myself grimly, I took the keys and pocketed them. I had to move the sedan out of the way before I could take the MPV out. There was no doubt in my mind which vehicle I was taking with me. Why drive a dodgy Proton when you can have an improved Alphard?

Caught up in my nostalgia, I went into the kitchen and marveled at how neat everything was. Obviously they had not left in a hurry. Noise came to my ears from the second floor. Perhaps they had not left, after all. I hefted one of the sturdy wooden dining chairs with me and walked to the stairacse. A scene reminiscent of The Ring greeted me: an unkempt female figure with hair thrown forward to cover the face, in an unsteady gait on the platform above the first flight of stairs.  I gasped in bewilderment and the figure ran forward...and promptly tumbled down the stairs. That was the noise I had heard earlier.

I reacted quickly, slamming the chair onto the torso of that thing and holding it down with both hands. The hair parted, and the face of the woman I had once loved, the woman who made my life a living hell for nearly 3 years, snarled back at me. She, it, shrieked at me furiously and tried to buck the chair off.

The sight of her face had utterly shocked me. I did not know what I had expected to find when I chose to come here, but I was definitely not prepared at all for this. I let her up, and tried to talk to her, breaking Zaph's rule #8: If you meet someone you once knew, it's no longer them. They're zombies now, kill them, or be killed.

The Problematic ex (yes, I'm rather proud of myself for this one) responded by snarling at me and rushing at me. I backhanded (backchaired?) her with one of the legs of the chairs, and slammed the whole chair down on her again. Then I leaped over her and grabbed the club I had left in the living room and turned to face my nightmare ex-girlfriend. She had thrown the chair off and made a noise that sounded like a whine. 

My realisation that feeling pain was not limited to the zombie on the streets gave me a few extra seconds to act while she whined in self-pity. This was not somebody I know anymore, she's a zombie. I swung at her head with all my strength and heard her neck snap. The body flopped to the ground, lifeless.

I dropped with it, gasping. Two encounters in a day! It was enough to drain me. But her appearance made me comprehend that this house was not secured, and another thought hit me: if I could secure it, I would have an alternate escape point!

Climbing the stairs quietly, I found myself on the second floor. I need not have worried, both her parents laid in different places in the master bedroom, both horribly decomposed and obviously feasted upon. Swallowing bile, I scanned her bedroom and her brother's. Empty. Made sense, he had gone to Singapore for his career. I wrapped both bodies in the bed covers and pushed them down the stairs. If I was taking over the place, I did not want their bodies being a constant reminder. I checked the ex's body, no breathing and no blood.

I dragged all 3 of them and dog into the garden next to the SUV, and set the sheets alight. Goodbye. I felt oddly relieved, as if a heavy burden had lifted from my shoulders. Deciding I did not need to pursue THAT particular train of thoughts, I checked my watch and realised that dragging the bodies around was time-consuming. It was already 6pm. Deciding not to risk dusk befalling me if any other delays occurred, I made "camp" at HQ Alternate for the first time.

I cleaned up the place with a mop and cleaned myself up in the shower. Feeling hunger gnawing at me, I raided the fridge and freezer. Much to my amazement, there was frozen food that I thawed and enjoyed; my first "home-cooked" food by someone who knew what she was doing, in over 2 months. I savored the meal slowly, knowing it was in all likelihood to be my last. 

Emotions that were buried deep overwhelmed me and I let myself be consumed by it for the night.

End log.