"I don't have a good explanation. I just have some urge that I can't cleanly put into words. And I'm dragging you along into whatever it that I'm going to crash into."
Josh looked calmly at Dave. "Don't worry about me. I might have my reservations, but I still think that this is the only real option available to us. And that brings me to the question: what is our next experiment with Charlie?"
"Oddly nothing. I've noticed that walkers only come out during the day and disappear at night. I'm wondering what will happen to him at night. Will it go asleep? Will it panic? Will it die? Before doing anything else I just want to watch it. And while we are watching we need to beef up this base of ours."
"Good point," said Josh. "If you'll give me a hand I'll finish our attempt to block of access to the supermarket."
"Let's be quick. I'm expecting more visitors."
"Will you try to tie them up too?"
"Not for now. I'm hoping that when more appear that we'll be back on the roof and taking it easy. I'm not used to days of long physical labour and I need more breaks to rest than I'd like to admit to."
Together they climbed down from the wall on the opposite side to Charlie and then clambered up the wall that defended the south.
"Not seeing anything," said Dave.
"What we did was only the basics. Look at what they did with the wall that we're standing on right now. Whoever built it did what we've being doing and then wedged all sorts of junk in all the gaps making it impossible for a walker to get through. We'll need to do the same for our new additions."
"I'll jump down and hand up all our stuff."
Josh nodded and Dave jumped down. For a little while Dave would pass the previously looted items from the Arts and Crafts store up to Josh who would then carelessly drop them over the wall. Once he finished lifting everything up, Dave clambered up the southern wall. While Dave was climbing up the southern wall Josh was climbing down the southern wall. Then while Dave climbed down the southern wall, Josh climbed the western wall. There was more lifting of the items over the western wall and onto the ground near Charlie. When done Josh climbed down western wall while Dave climbed up and onto the western wall.
"That's a complete pain," said Dave.
"After I seal up this space between the supermarket and the fence , I'll try and find some boards to set up walkway across the corners in order to link up the tops of the inner defensive walls."
"You'll be a hero if you do."
"It shouldn't take long to fill the gap first."
"And while you do that I'll keep an eye out. I need to catch my breath and I can't believe that Charlie is alone. Being surprised right now would ruin a successful day. There are probably others around here and we've just not noticed them."
"Let build this," said Josh turning towards the gap next to the supermarket wall.
It didn't take long to make. It was a simply a few planks nailed horizontally across the gap between the supermarket and the fence that ran along the western side of the supermarket. The planks were placed on the street side of a fence post and the supermarket building and held in place with nails into the fence. This gave the improvised fence mechanical strength if something pushed from the street side but little of anything if approached from the other side.
"That's bloody rough," said Josh looking over his work. "But we'll hopefully we'll block of this street just like we did with the other one. If we do that then that should give us a buffer around the entire supermarket."
"That will definitely give us some peace of mind."
"And when you start messing with Charlie you'll have less chance of being surprised."
Dave looked up at the sky. "We've still got plenty of light. You want to find something to block this street off now?"
"No rest, eh?"
"Safety first."
"I agree with that. In these times safety is sexy as all hell."
Together they started walk along the western road. There were still many vehicles parked on the road.
"They didn't put as much effort into clearing this street than the southern one," observed Josh.
"That matches up with how I heard vehicles heading south."
"Do you think that they cleared the streets all the way to their base or whatever they have?"
"That would make finding them really easy if they did."
Dave pointed to an SUV and headed to it. Josh continued walking towards a truck. These vehicles had just been left right in the middle of the road so there was little chance of them getting bogged in the neighbouring fields. However, all the extra vehicles on the road made driving a challenge.
Dave got into the SUV that he picked out and was again surprised by the way that the keys were still in it. How had this chaos hit them so suddenly? Dave started the SUV and drove it back to the intersection. To the west of the cafe was a fenced off house. Dave drove close to the house's fence and parked right over the gap between it and the cafe. Dave turned the engine off, locked the doors on the passenger side and got out.
Dave had barely started walking west along the road when he saw Josh coming back with a large truck. Dave stopped and watched Josh park the truck across the street just west of the houses on either side of the road. There was a small road giving access to some of the back houses and fields. Dave was impressed both by the size of the truck and Josh's driving. The truck made a tight fit and blocked the entire street. Josh turned the truck engine off, got out of the truck and came over to Dave.
"That's not a great wall," said Josh, "but I think we're doing pretty good."
"No complaints from me."
"Now what?"
Dave looked at the sky. "Even though there is still a good amount of light left, I think we should stop for the day. Firstly, we've made a lot of noise so I'm expecting visitors. Secondly, I don't want us to wear out and get injured. Finally I want to do some reading while there's still some light."
"That sounds great. I think I'll join you with that reading."
"But while going back let's take a detour to the camping store. If we grab a few things every time we go back to our base then we'll eventually get ourselves really set up nicely."
"Anything you're looking for?"
"I'd love a barbecue. I'm sick of cold food."
"That could be heavy."
"A portable camping version might be doable."
Josh waved towards Charlie. "I know Charlie will miss us but let's go. I could do with some food, and I'm getting really thirsty as well."
* * *
It was late in the day and the sun was starting to sink below the horizon. It wasn't daytime bright but one could still read a book by that light. Dave and Josh were sitting on some foldable chairs near the hut where they had set up their makeshift new home. Dave closed a heavy book on human physiology. Josh noticed and closed his own book on camping. Dave sighed.
"You sound exhausted," said Josh.
"I can't help it. I've never studied anything medical before. I've not even done a first aid course. Every time I read something I just find myself realising that there is yet another field that I have to learn right from the very beginning."
"That makes sense. Back in the day we respected doctors precisely because they studied so hard in order to build up their skills. If they had to spend several years studying both in university and then a hospital then I can't see anyone else just picking up all that knowledge in a hour or so of reading."
"I get it. I feel like I'm being chased by the clock so I'm frustrated by how slow I am."
"How about this? It's getting late. Let's have some dinner and watch the sunset."
"That's a hell of a subject change you crazy twat."
"And somehow you have the nerve to say that to me after what you've got planned."
"I've not told you about my plan," pointed out Dave.
"I can guess enough of it. At least enough to agree that it needs to be done."
"Keep in mind that I'm still trying to figure out this p
lan. I want it to be flexible so that I can respond to any discoveries."
"I'm there. I'm also starving as fuck."
Dave laughed and stood up. "I'll go grab some cans. Anything that you want?"
Josh stood up and handed his book to Dave. "Maybe something with meat. I'll fire up the barbecue so that we can warm them up."
"Don't forget to try out the billy as well."
"What do you want? Tea or coffee?"
"I'd like to have a good sleep so I'll go with a tea."
"Tea it is."
Dave walked into the hut and looked down at the spare stretcher. The contents of his backpack had been taken out and spread over the surface of the stretcher. Dave put the two books that he was holding into a pile with his other books on the stretcher. There were some cans on the stretcher but Dave left those as a part of an emergency stash.
On the floor next to the stretcher was a card board box filled with soup cans taken from the supermarket shelves below them. The supermarket had a significant stock of soup cans and Dave felt confident that himself and Josh could live a whole year on this roof top. Although winter might be a bit severe.
Dave picked out two random meat-based soups and walked out to the barbecue where Josh was lighting it up. Back in the hut there were some fancy fuels that they could have used, but that was a very limited stock. Instead Josh had found a lot of loose wood around - just as expected for a semi-rural area - and was burning those. Dave placed the soup cans on the foldable table next to the barbecue.
"Anything that I can help with?" asked Dave.
"Getting the fire started is the only tricky part. The rest is just a matter of putting a can on the hot plate and waiting."
"I'll go check on Charlie and see if he wants dinner."
"Say 'Hi!' from me," said Josh chuckling. Josh didn't look up as he worked intently on the barbecue.
Dave left Josh and walked to the northern edge of the supermarket roof. He leaned onto the half-height wall. Dave was somewhat surprised by what he saw. When they had tied Charlie up during the day he had a classic walker appearance: grey skin with palm sized yellow patches. Right now Dave could see that the yellow patches were in the process of fading and would soon disappear.
Dave looked to the horizon where the sun was mostly below the horizon. There was really only one conclusion: the walkers and dashers were the same. They just changed appearance and speed depending on the time. Did that mean that the day form of walkers was somehow weaker than the night form? Is that why they hid during the day because the day form was weaker? And what was this weakness? Was it something that they could exploit?
Josh joined Dave and looked down at Charlie. "Is it me or is his skin rash fading?"
"Skin rash?" said Dave startled.
"What else could it be?"
"I never thought of it as a disease. I had just thought there were two groups. One for the night and one for the day. I didn't even think that they might be the same, so I'm actually having to adjust my classification a bit."
"To be honest I didn't know that it was a disease either. It's just what leapt into my head."
"Well, keep saying anything that leaps into your head. Even if it sounds crazy. These are crazy times and any idea that describes it will also be crazy while at the same time oddly useful."
"Don't the night versions also get faster and stronger?"
Dave frowned. "Are you worried about the ropes breaking?"
"Of course. But those were some tough ropes. If they break then I have no idea what would be a workable way to restrain these guys."
"Charlie looks like he's going to teach us a lot."
Dave pointed to Charlie who was starting up at them. "He also seems a lot more alert as well. Look at that stare."
"We better move away. I don't like the idea of testing out if the ropes holding him will break or not."
"Dinner should be ready soon. Or at least it won't be in the same realm as disgusting as cold soup."
Together they walked over to the barbecue and tapped at the soup cans. They were warm but not hot.
"Not ideal," said Josh.
"We should just eat them anyway, it's going to be night soon."
Dave picked up a spoon from the foldable table and picked up the nearest soup can. He then walked over to the foldable chair where he had been reading earlier and sat down. Josh repeated Dave's actions in his own way.
"Once we finish eating this," said Josh, "the billy should be boiled. I've got it over the hottest part for now."
Dave nodded and focused on eating. Josh looked momentarily at Dave and ate at his own soup in silence. Josh didn't want to disturb Dave if Dave was thinking out some issue. Josh was okay with waiting. As they finished their soup they got up and placed the empty cans and dirty spoons on the foldable table, leaving them to be cleaned up tomorrow.
"The sun is going down fast," said Josh using a stick to lift the billy to a cooler part of the hotplate.
Dave picked up some tough looking camping mugs. "We should probably have stopped reading and made dinner sooner. That way we could clean up better."
"A tea and then bed doesn't sound bad though," said Josh flipping up the billy handle which he grabbed.
"Don't you have to swing that around your head to make the tea leaves settle?"
Josh lifted the lid off the billy. "Tea bags."
Dave held up the two mugs while Josh poured the tea into them. With both mugs filled, Josh put the billy back on the hotplate and vaguely placed the lid back on it. Josh took a mug of tea from Dave and together they walked back to their chairs. They looked up as the stars started appearing in the night sky.
"Should we talk?" whispered Josh worried about Charlie eavesdropping.
"We really expanded our walls today so I doubt that anything will get close enough to hear us," said Dave in a hushed voice.
"So why are you whispering?" asked Josh.
"It doesn't hurt to be overly cautious," whispered Dave while grinning.
A silence came over the pair as they sat back and stared up the sky as the night fully took over. Seeing stars in a crystal clear night sky was an unusual sight to a pair of men who had always lived in the city. Periodically a faint sip could be heard until all of their tea was gone. Maybe a hour had passed when there was a loud crunching noise.
Josh made to stand up, but he was held back by Dave who had a finger over his mouth in the hope of hushing Josh. Josh stared at Dave for a moment and jerked his head in the direction where Charlie was tied up. Dave strained his ears. It sounded like someone was walking on the bonnet of the SUV that he had parked near the cafe.
This meant that their new walls weren't as effective at defence as they had thought. What's worse was knowing that there was something that could climb onto the bonnet of a SUV. This was what caused Dave to not go and take a look. If what was down there spotted him and that thing could climb then that was not something that they would want to deal with.
For a moment Dave panicked and couldn't think what to do. Then he quietly stood up, put his empty mug on the chair and slowly snuck into the hut. He wanted to make as little noise as possible and hoped that Josh would copy him without needing whispered instructions. Dave had got into the hut and was slowly lowering himself onto his stretcher bed when he noticed Josh also sneaking into the hut.
Dave sat and watched Josh slowly get to Josh's stretcher bed and sit in it. They hadn't made much sound while walking, but when they sat there was a bit of a rustling noise from their sleeping bags. Dave hoped that nothing had heard them. And for a few moments there was nothing.
"I hear you," said a voice from Charlie's direction.
Dave and Josh stared wide-eyed at each other in near dark. Both were frozen in place with terror.
"Why did you do this to my servant?" asked the voice.
Neither Dave nor Josh dared to answer that question. It was likely that they weren't in any state to answer any questions at that point.
"Come to me,"
spoke the voice. "I just want to talk."
For a few more minutes the soft voice called out and was then silent. Dave and Josh didn't dare move. There was a crunching noise that sounded like someone walking on top of a car. A loud thump that sounded like someone jumping onto the ground. More silence. Then silence upon silence.
It might have been ten minutes or it might have been a hour. Neither Dave nor Josh spoke. Eventually Dave took off his shoes and slid into his sleeping bags and struggled with falling asleep. He didn't expect a peaceful sleep. He just wanted any sleep. Hopefully a sleep to ease his razor sharp nerves.
Josh also took his shoes off and then seemed to spend a few moments thinking. Then he got into his sleeping bag.
* * *
The next morning Dave woke up and noticed Josh sitting on his stretcher. Dave stood up and walked out of the hut. Josh followed. The sun was peeking above the horizon as the pair walked to the northern end of the roof and looked down at Charlie. Yellow, palm sized marks were forming on the skin of the tied up walker.
"What a night," said Josh.
Dave looked worn out. "It's going to be tough getting anything done today."
"I'll make up some walkways for getting around the walls easier."
"Don't forget about setting up some ladders out the back."
"Is that still a thing?" asked Josh. "I like what we did with our current setup. This roof isn't all that high up - if we need to escape just lower yourself over one edge of the roof and drop down. After last night I don't like the idea of having a way for anything to climb the walls. That why I want to veto a ladder that can reach us up here."
Dave rubbed his face. "Those talkers are something else."
Josh looked thoughtful. "I never really encountered them before. At least not close enough to hear them like that. It was really easy to make out what he was saying."
"I can't say that I've confronted one myself. I've only seen one from a distance, and that was certainly enough to do me in."
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