Authors note: How are you enjoying the book so far? My updates habe been a bit sporadic as of late but I'm still going to try to at least put up one chapter a week. Maybe if I hit on some inspiration or extra time I'll update more but for now expect one chapter a week. Thanks for reading.
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Waking up I hear chirping and rustling downstairs and for a breef moment I panic a little before memories of yesterday fill my head. Oh yeah the chicks are probably hungry. Making my way downstairs I see the chicks and rabbits moving about their cages. I grab a cup and scoop some food into their feed bins and check their water. Afterwards I move to the table and eat a bowl of cereal while checking the tv... Nope... Well today should be productive. I move out the back door after dressing myself and begin the long process of moving stuff around the garage. there is a side door on the other side of the pool table so I intend on making the pens enclosed outside that door. That way I can easily keep them contained and access them as needed. Plus if I cut a hole in the door I can make it an indoor outdoor pen. But for now I need to clear the doorway and then gather the stuff I need to make a pen from the farm store. This will probably take me a few days at least just to get the supplies I need. After all, I'm loading everything back on a buggy since I dont want to risk driving. After about two hours I manage to clear about ten feet around the door out. I moved most of the thing that were useless, magazines and ornaments, to the basement and only kept the stuff I could use in the garage. Now that thats done I head inside and begin looking at the print offs I made of chicken coop and rabbit hutch info. I can get everything I need at the farm store and thanks to this I might get this done by the end of the week. After making a list of things I'll need immediately I grab my bag and buggy and begin walking back to the store. Along the way I begin thinking about whether or not I'll be able to find anyone else around here alive. I mean surely if anyone was alive they would want to know what the loud explosion was and go investigate right? Maybe I'll see someone hiding around. Or maybe they'll see me? I make my way through the still streets and finally crest the hill. As I do I drop my buggys handle and just stare. There are zombies everywhere.... They are swarming the entire street and storefronts. I can barely see the road down there through them all.... Fuck. What the F.....oh. I did blow up a car..... It probably drew everything in town down here... But. How am I going to get in the store now... I can tell there are some wandering around the lightly wooded areas. Probably more on the path I used yesterday to get down.... I didnt think this through.... What kind of dumbass. No. I may have made a bad call for the short term but I did get the chicks and rabbits. They are alive because I managed to get inside the store. Yeah this is bad. But. If they are all down here, that means I may be able to hit a few of the other stores. Theres a dollar store down the road from the gas station that I didnt Risk because I wasn't sure if I would end up trapped. However, now I can see at least a thousand zombies down here. That makes it worth the risk. I slide my buggy off the road to the side so I can save time by not dragging it around with me. I quickly make my way back towards the house as fast as I can without making to much noise or wearing myself out. After all, I may be wrong. And if I am I need to be able to run without collapsing from exhaustion. After about an hour I make it to the dollar store and just like I had hoped there is nothing around here. I quickly walk up to the pull door and bang on the glass before taking a few steps back to wait and see. It doesn't take long before I see 2 zombies shamble towards the door. I grab my wrench and get ready. As soon as the first one hits the door I rush forward bringing my wrench straight down on its head as I slam my body against the door to keep the other inside while I finish off the first zombie. The hit wasnt enough to kill it but it is on the ground now so I quickly swing down on it a few more times as a sickening crunch sounds with each hit. After three or four hits it lays dead and now I have one more. I swiftly leap away from the door as the second zombie losing the resistance it was pushing against falls to the ground. I rush forward and bring my wrench down on its head. Again and again I beat it until it quit moving. I drag them off to the side and once again beat on the door. Waiting about 10 minutes just to be sure I finally enter the store. I see alot of things knocked off the shelves but its still decently stocked. I grab a cart from the interior corral and begin loading everything I think I could need into it. Realizing I will need another few trips I head to the office to see of there's any chance I can find a key or something to lock the doors just in case. As I approach the door I see that it's closed and after checking the door I see it is locked. I beat on the door twice and listen. I don't hear anything moving around so I decide to boot the door in. Stepping back I slam my foot into the door and as I do I hear a stifled gasp. What?. I approach the door and in a voice not to loud but not to quiet I ask "Is there someone in there?". After a moment I hear a reply "Are you a zombie?". What? "Umm. You know zombies dont speak right?" I replied with a touch of confusion. "I-I-I dont know that for sure though. How do I know you aren't a zombie?" Shaking my head exasperated I reply "Why would a zombie check a door before entering? And better yet why would you think a zombie would ask if someone was hiding inside?" My reasoning seemed to stump the voice on the other side of the door as it took a minute before the voice replied "You're right. I'm gonna open the door but but stay back. ok?". I agree and stand against the wall as the door opens and a short woman looks out at me. Our eyes meet and I can see that sge is wearing the store employees uniform. She's around 5"8 with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Her features are soft with the freckles across her nose and cheeks being the most eye catching detail. "My name's Penelope. Who are you? Did you come to help evacuate? What is all of this? Why are you alone?" Penelope quickly fires off questions back to back without giving me a chance to respond. "Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down a bit and give me a chance to answer here. Ok?" I interrupt. "Sorry" she says looking down as I reply "Its fine. But no I'm not here to rescue anybody. I came to get supplies since the store I was planning on hitting today was flooded with zombies." She looks shocked but before she can say anything I say "You are the first living person ive seen in a week. I have been trying to get thing to help me survive this crap." She looks at me and says "But what about the police? Or army? Or anybody else? Surely you cant mean that we are the last ones alive right?" "I never said that I just said I habent seen anyone. But the tv and net have been silent for the last Five days so our odds of finding anyone else alive are slim to none." After that I explain to her about my plans for the immediate future. "Do you want to come with me?" I ask hopefully. She seems to think a bit before shs answers "yes. If You don't mind me joining you?" I dont but we need to hurry as it will soon be dark and I dont wanna be out that late." We gathered up everything as fast as we could and the head out the door. As we do I hear a small voice come across and I turned to her. " What?" "What's your name"? I look at her before replying. "My name is Carter."