Maggie had enough of this boredom and went up to Jacky without waking her up, there was no point in waking her up, Maggie starts to clean the room like requested from her father using some spray to finish off and leaving the room smelling fresh, though this was only an hour or so and it wasn't enough to keep her busy.
She wakes Jacky and explains to her that she wants to go and turn on the generator in order to watch some movies and listen to some music on the DVD player Jacky happily agrees that it was a great idea. She gets up and both walk to the barricaded door, removing the planks Jacky takes guard just outside the door, wide awake while Maggie runs to the back.
She struggles to get over the wall that divides the house behind them, she manages to get on the wall slipping falling over it, injuring her knee slightly, but it was nothing, she got up fast, crippling to the generator, she starts it up, as she walks back to the wall she pauses and look behind her.
She looks at the door, knowing that no one will be inside and that she could have a fast look to see what they have with some guilt of invading another one's home she walks over and opens the door crouching as she moves into the house. The first thing she does is grab a black bag in the kitchen searching each cupboard and each drawer, she finds many useful items 20 packs of noodles and others pastas she also takes some rice and grab some of the tin food stored away.
She leaves the bag in the kitchen and move toward the lounge as there is really something she wants, some new movies to watch, she find an entire collection of movies and grabs all of them and behind the TV stand there is few more she looks at the cover disgusted as these was obviously someone's secret porn stash. She packs it nicely on the floor and go straight upstairs, she opens the first door it reeks of death she can see from where she is standing there is people under the blanket she approaches and makes some soft sounds to see if there is any response but there was none.
She pulls the blanket staring down at the bed with heavy tears in her eyes, both the mother and father was in bed with their baby in the middle, the father had a revolver in his hand, it looked like he shot his wife then his baby daughter and then himself they probably couldn't handle the fact that their child will grow up in a messed up world like the one they are living in today. Without looking further she takes the gun and pulls the blanket over them and returns downstairs grabbing the movies placing that with the food in the black bag before leaving.
Arriving at her home Jacky was angry and tired of waiting but cheered up real fast when she saw all the new movies to watch she takes the bag and look through the wide range of movies While Maggie is barricading the door wondering where her dad is.
Jason sitting under a tree taking a fast break he is covered in sweat and blood, he stares up to the sky the sun will go down soon better finish up here, his backpack is full of gathered supplies and a lot of fuel that was scavenged from all the cars, filled in buckets and bottles all along the pavement, Jason grabs what he can carry and heads back home extremely exhausted he walks slowly with a crooked kitchen knife.
Arriving home he calls out to Maggie she starts to remove the barricades happy to see her father but also shocked in the condition he was in, his throat sounds dry, she rushes to fetch him a glass of water while he was sitting down on the floor staring at the new movies and things they went to go find he was angry and upset but was way too tired and couldn't waste more energy he just wanted to relax. He takes the water from Maggie and in one sip it was all done, he walks up the stairs leaning on the railing, closing the bathroom door he runs some bath water and he sits in cold water, the cold water making his muscles, even more sore than what it is, he lays down trying to relax.
Maggie starts food and boils water to take up to her dad, while the water boils she scouts the house to make sure everything is in decent shape and everything is well barricaded. She knocks on the door and closes her eyes as she enters reaching out with the warm water, until she feels her father take it she turns around and closes the door behind her.
Jason appreciated the hot boiled water it felt really good, he hadn't worked like this in a long time, but he was very sure that it was worth it, every second of it, he dries himself and gets dressed in clean fresh clothes, feeling much better he goes downstairs and sits down on his bed with a warm plate of food.
He tell both girls that they can sleep next to him for the one night though candles and other lights must be out before dark, with so little time left until dark they all forgot to switch off the generator and leaving it overnight to run, wasting a lot of fuel, it could also lead to unwanted confrontation.
Jason pulls out one of his pistols tired and angry that he has to go do this now, and then he gets up completely putting on his sandals and removes the barricade to go to the back of the house he jumps over the wall with ease and stops the generator.
While he returns still on the wall he hears a woman scream, he feels terrible for not going to help them, at that moment he even wished it was during the time he was still busy but for now, he can only hope she will be ok, it's too late for a search and rescue he jumps down and return to his home listening to this person as he barricades the door once more he can hear her screaming until the final nail, the screams faded away, Jason knew that person was lost and will only be seen dead or infected.
Jason relaxes himself on the bed hiding his gun, his head firmly planted on his pillow he think of all the people he killed today, so much for new beginnings he thoughts to himself he turns staring at his daughters. Twenty one the amount of infected he killed just for the day, he reach to his pocket and writes it down and mark down 4 streets covered it's not the best but it will defiantly slow them down.
He also writes down under the high priority page to find a wheelbarrow to fetch fuel faster and find more wood or planks anything to improve the messy road barricades, he draws a smiley face, an indication of a long day but the requirements were met and everyone was happy before he closes his little book and goes to bed for a good night's sleep.
With a bright new day Jason wakes up way too late feeling immense pain in his shoulders barely able to lift his arms higher than his head clearly an indication of tissue damage and with an injury like this it can last at least a week if not longer.
Jason tries to stretch out a little but the pain is relentless, he knows in his condition barricading the remaining gaps and maintaining the roads will be slow and tiring job, knowing for a fact he won't even be able to defend himself if something was to happen.
He walks to the kitchen to get a glass of water, opening the tap he realizes the water is running a lot slower, it won't be long until there is no more water at all, at least the weather looks good it might rain a river is a few miles from where they stay and, of course, the first option before adventuring out to far is simply to get water from the supermarkets. Jason quickly writes down, water will soon be needed probably sooner than estimated.
He drinks his glass of water and walks back to his bed without following his daily routine, he didn't even think to check anything or if everything was ok, he figured to himself that everything was really quite last night after the screaming and that his lazy plan of a barricade helped to some point. He stares down to both of the girls still sleeping before he gets back into bed knowing when they wake up the generator will need to be refueled and started, Jason can only hope they sleep a few hours longer, remembering the few pain killers he packed away in his backpack he unzips the front and takes two, he lays down completely closing his eyes, not able to fall asleep for a while, eventually the painkillers knocked him out.
Chapter 2: The Hunger
All the running and hiding have made me sick I can’t go on like this, it’s impossible, these things are driving me insane, I can’t even stop for a break, as soon as I stop for too long everything goes to hell. They are getting more and more by the day, while I am suffering more each day that darn carnival we should have never come here in the first place.
Hopefully, our next destination will be
safer than here it’s still a few miles but I can do this, we can do this we can’t give up here there must be better ways and other survivors. I miss home so much it’s hard to believe how much I’ve changed. I changed for many reasons, though anyone can change at any time that must be very clear to everyone by now. I will be turning 24 in 15 days hopefully I will be home by that time.
Danny turns around, flat on his back he covers himself with old flat boxes its rather soft due to overuse at least it protects against the cold breeze, it’s not much, but it will just have to do.
William Anderson one of the best real estate agents in the country, a real professional in the field and really knows all the hotspots in town and, of course, the areas that might be the safest of them all, he has high hygiene standards and this will probably have him freaking out by now that’s if he's still alive, his not very fast or healthy after a few meters and you really start to hear his breathing. That’s what smoking will do I guess at least he doesn’t drink or do any of the epic things like drugs. He has always been there whenever I needed him, it worries me dearly every second and it will continue until we are reunited again, yet I have a strong feeling that this journey will still be long but until then I have hope.
Danny turns around trying to get some rest, but the distant moans are extremely frustrating knowing that you don’t have any protection especially in a small apartment like this, with broken windows making the sounds even louder. It’s not the best place to stay but making too much noise by breaking in, will just lure my death closer and closer.
Screaming in the distance is getting louder and louder, they are getting closer it’s too much they all will be killed alongside with me, there is nowhere for me to go I need to get out but they are everywhere in the street and going to the next building, anything can happen it might be full of them. I might not get in what can I do, mmm the only hope I might have is to get on the roof and hope they pass it is my only hope.
Danny leans out by one of the side windows, this gutter might be able to hold my weight I will just have to climb it slowly and watch my step, Danny stands up and pushes his body slowly through the window carefully not to get cut on the broken glass, some noise is made when he reached the ground laid out in paving stone, it’s too soft they won’t hear it unless they were significantly closer. One step at a time, one step closer to the gutter, Danny grabs firmly and starts to climb trying to focus not to put too much pressure on it, reaching the roof he pulls himself up crawling to the middle laying down so that no one sees him, it sure is freaking cold up here he thought.
The night is still young, only 10:58 pm I have to find him even if it cost my own life, after all, it’s my fault his here in the first place just because I wanted to go to the carnival that wasn’t even good or as big as a carnival should be. It was no fun at all, I have no doubt that he is fine but the faster I find him the better, I can only hope his doing all right and read through the guide I gave him.
Florida is a pretty dangerous place especially with the wildlife, I can’t think that we are that far apart I should maybe try and backtrack to where all the screaming came from. That could be very risky there must be a lot of them by now and the screaming stopped, it can only mean two things they are dead or hiding.
William quickly turns around and starts walking back to where they split up in the first place 54thSt it’s his only shot in finding Danny. William sticks to the left in hoping he will manage without any confrontation from these things roaming the street, reaching the end of 17thAvenue, William stares surprisingly down the street as there is little to no activity. They must have been lured away due to all the screaming at the same time he notice a dim light in one of the houses with movements behind the curtains it’s easy to see when its dark outside, William wondered if he should approach the house or just avoid it, shaking his head relentlessly.
I better check this out only Danny can make a stupid mistake like this I will just have to be careful, I will just have to move slowly and try to avoid the ones that are in the streets they are far so it might not be a problem for me to cross.
William bends down slightly it’s hard for a man of this size to crouch and walk, he walks over slowly. The gate is only closed with a piece of wire hooked around the palisade, he approach the house trying to stare through the window to see if it’s actually a person. He can hear two voices whispering and that’s his queue to knock on the door, knocking on the door softly William can only hope they open the door soon, they are approaching slowly, stressing William opens the door busting it into an object blocking the door one thing William can brag about is his strength. Once inside everything was dead silent William close the door softly and walks into the lounge where 3 candles sit on the coffee table he knows he's not alone, walking over to the small table at the far end of the lounge William put his hand against the cup of tea that was still warm.
Who are you a person asked in the background William gets a freight and turns around fast before he could open the closet he was staring at, he sees this old lady with a steak knife freezing for a split second he tries to explain to her, that he is only looking for his friend, the old lady wants to know nothing about it, William tries to describe Danny to her before he feels a sharp pain behind his head.
It was fast he only felt seconds of pain before everything went pitch black, “is he dead” the old lady asked her daughter “no” she replies, he will wake up soon he is just unconscious, the mother approach the body of William and grabs industrial tape, that’s strong it should hold him down, its best we don’t take any chances with this man he can be anything, we can get more information later and then set him free. Emma starts to roll the tape around his arms and she isn’t shy to use a lot, she then does the same to his legs and finally one strip covering his mouth.
We shouldn’t make so much noise we don’t want your daughter to get up, we can’t afford to make noise this time of night, Susan walks over to the door and makes sure its closed she pushes the table up against it and the rest of the objects it’s not that heavy, but it has kept three of them out before.
Damn it I am freezing out here its 3:46Am I haven’t been able to get any sleep, it’s impossible in this cold the screaming have stopped hours ago I need to do something, I can only hope for the best, I need to go look for him, he can’t be far from where we split up.
Danny crawls to the edge of the roof to inspect the street, it’s clear and nothing can be seen, if I go look for him now then there might be no return, all consideration was taken I can leave now and he might arrive or we can pass each other with as much as one street without me or him knowing of one another’s where about or he is in trouble and if I go now I might be able to save him, even worse he could be dead.
Danny crawls over to the gutter and slides his legs down first his feet firmly pressing down he starts climbing down slowly, reaching half way he thinks to himself if it’s a good idea, he continues with his plan and climbs down, he crouch down close to the fence and starts walking to the street, double checking that the street is clear before he continues to run down 49thSt until he reaches 27thAve before he can make the right turn he pauses in shock and fear the hundreds of them roaming the streets.
The airport is close by and so is Miami Springs that must be it, the airport must be infested with them, infested with all the people that tried to escape, I can try and slip by to at least reach 95thSt it looks fine from where I am standing but anything beyond that, they could be everywhere. I can’t waste any time thinking about this if I can go down 95thSt I can take 17thAve all the way to the street where we split up in the start.
Danny crouches and moves fast between the cars seeing that there is more on the corner where 17thAve meets with 95thSt it will be impossible to give them the slip without it going unnoticed. Danny sneaks to a house where the door is left wide open even knowing that it could be dangerous it’s the best option he has to avoid both groups.
Staring through the window for a few minutes, Danny
can see this will take some time, time he doesn’t have, after closing the door he moves freely in the house looking through some of the other windows in hopes there might be another way through but there is some roaming at the neighbor’s and three more in the garden, taking the chance is too risky, there is nothing to do but wait.
It's 6 Am and those things just got more, least there is a gas stove and a few packets of minute noodles, still for some reason it feels like I am starving, it’s a pretty irritating maybe it’s because it’s a cheaper brand of noodles mmm it is noodles after all. I will just get food as soon as possible or at least after I find William maybe then we can have a good meal together, we’ll first have to find some that won’t be a problem there is still a lot of resources here and there. This is everything left that people couldn’t pack up or what thieves didn’t steal before everything went really bad. Least it’s nice and warm in here it's a very comforting heat its actually making me tired, I could possibly sleep since it’s not getting better outside, yes that sounds good since I can’t do anything else, it's horrifying outside.
I will grab a blanket and sleep in one of the rooms, will have to take some objects and cover the room door as well or, at least, to some extent, don’t want to make too much noise, don’t really know what grabs their attention the fastest, though better safe than sorry.
It looks all good I used the headboard of the bed it’s not heavy but with the bed against the door as well with my weight, not like I can say anything, at least, its heavier and will be harder to move, it’s so relaxing and warm, after some good sleep maybe then I can make my move and continue the search for William.
My head hurts even my neck I feel so drowsy what happened, what’s this, why am i tied up, Emma responds in a friendly calm manner but talks fast like she was in some stress, morning, you will be ok and the pain will be gone in three or four days give or take one. All this is a simple safety precaution, besides you should know not to just bust into a strangers home like you did, of course, there would be some type of consequence. You should be more careful next time you never know what might be on the other side of the next door you break open.
The End Page 2