I had always asked myself if I would ever be able to go to a city without having to worry about the crowds of people and the overwhelming notices of heavy construction machinery, the honks of cars full of people desperate to get somewhere. And the answer is yes, you actually can. You just need to release a virus that turns people into a flesh-eating monster and all those noises will stop, being replaced by the eerie moans of the once-living-now-dead-and-flesh-eating monsters that roamed the streets bellow.
It had been about 5 months since the apocalypse had begun, and only a few weeks since I had been at the rooftop camp by myself ever since the last two people here left. The rest? As far as I knew, they've probably been dead for a while now. Maybe they were now one of the monsters, or as we called them, Walkers.
My supplies weren't critically low, or at least not yet. We had stocked up a good deal of canned food and non-perishables. We also had water bottles, gallons and even five of those giant blue water jugs you'd see at a doctor's office. But to be honest, I was probably never going to eat that much food or drink that much water. When the other survivors used to be here, we were required to go on supply runs at least once or twice a month. I never went on these runs though, my dad said it was "Dangerous", with the gangs that occasionally roamed the streets as well as the walkers and feral dogs. I was always posted as a lookout, I had a fairly easy job, use the sniper rifle to look for any nearby threats and keep a watch on the returning runner team to make sure they weren't being followed or just to take down a walker that was following them. It was boring, for the most part, because things like these never happened with the runner group, and now that there was no runner group, I just aimlessly looked down at the streets from the scope. I don't know why I insisted on doing this every day. Maybe it was just a habit, or maybe it was some foolish hope that I would see someone and I would no longer have to be alone.
I chuckled at myself when I remembered the time I tried to go on a run. I found a dog, I offered it food, and in exchange, it decided to almost bite my handoff. I continued looking through the scope, watching curiously as a few walkers approached an alley nearby. I dismissed it as nothing special.
What if someones there? a part of me asked
After a couple of minutes of trying to tell myself it was probably a rat or a feral dog, I finally gave in to the curiosity. I grabbed the rifle and went back to the edge of the roof, positioning it towards the alley, and to my surprise, someone was there, huddled beneath a trash can. From this position, I could just barely see them, just some black hair and the movent of arms from the edge of the trashcan. About two or three walkers lay dead on the ground with what looked like stab wounds. I saw a walker approaching, and whatever the person was doing, they weren't noticing. I hesitated for a couple of seconds, watching the walker creep closer. A small part of didn't want to fire, in fear of giving myself away, but as the creature moved closer I pushed that part of me away as I aimed for the head. I saw the person move away from the trash can as the walker fell nearby, looking around for a couple of seconds before moving closer to the wall taking cover. "Sorry about that!" I yelled over at them without thinking as I stood up. Then I realized I might as have given myself away.
But maybe they didn't see me.
Without the scope, I couldn't see the alley up as closed but I could still make out his figure as he stood up, waving at me "Stay put, I'll be over in a second" he shouted from the alley. Okay, so he did spot me.
I watched as he made his way inside the building. We swept through the building once but I was pretty sure we didn't manage to clear out some floors. I waited by the door that opened to the roof, and sure enough, I heard a metallic clang as it was unlocked and I aimed at my gun at the guy that stood in front of me.
He seemed about the same age as me and was wearing a dark green shirt and some navy blue jeans. He had a hunting knife in his hand, but what caught my attention was the bandages on his arms. He must've seen me staring or noticed I was aiming the gun because he immediately blurted out "It's just me, not one of those things". I immediately lowered the gun as he reached out a hand for me to shake.
"Dominic, and you are?" He asked as I took his hand, giving it a light shake "Ian" I responded.