I wake up in a jolt after feeling small drops of water fall on my face. Some birds must be playing around on the branches on top of my head. This is why I want a roof over my head. So that I can sleep in peace without some horny sparrow spraying dew all over my face first thing in the morning.
I'm annoyed but glad they woke me up. I promised myself to wake up early right before sleeping. I start to remember what happened yesterday, it feels like it happened a long time ago. Exhaustion can do that to you apparently.
I opened the canned bean soup that's left from yesterday and lit a fire under it. It was a little hard to start the fire because some of the wood became wet overnight. But nothing a batch of dried grass won't solve. I gathered the things I scattered yesterday in my exhaustion and put them in my bag. Then put out the fire by stepping on them and threw some dirt on it just to be safe. Last thing I want is to start a forest fire and die suffocating for air in a dreadful heat. It's a fate worse than a zombie bite for sure.
Now that I'm all set, I start to head for the small city. Even if I make a small mistake while navigating I won't be far off from the city that much. It's 5AM by the looks of the sun almost coming out. It's still chilly but I stop feeling the cold after a few minutes of action. I also look out for small animal trials to hunt. But no need to look that closely and waste my time, there's always fish in the river.
I impressively walk 4 hours without any rest or water break. I sit down and rest for 10 minutes while sipping water slowly. It's never smart to gulp the water in one go. I also check my map and match it with my surroundings. According to it, I'm very close to the city, only about 10% of the destination left. Hurray! :) Maybe about one more hour then I'll start seeing the glimpse of the collapsed building and zombies here and there trying to eat my brain. Hurray! :(
After walking for a while I got out of the forest. There's a road right at the base of the mountain, most likely one that heads to the city. I'll have to start being cautious since there will be no trees to hide behind when there's, by any chance, a zombie attacking me.
I survey the best route to follow to reach the city from a high distance. I need to look for clothes first and then some bandages and medicine from the pharmacy. The most important is food supply and hygiene products from the mall. I spot the clothing store close in about a 20 minutes walk following the road from where I am. Afterwards, look for a small pharmacy and a store. Big stores usually always have one or two zombies roaming inside it, guaranteed. Lastly, if there are less zombies on the streets, then I'm thinking of heading towards the suburbs to find some nice house to crash in for the next day.
I got off the mountain and started following the abandoned road but kept my distance from it. I walk lightly half crouching so as not to be seen. Kept my knife in my grip, I'm getting close to the clothing store. The entrance door is half open, with the mannequin displays broken on the ground. "Sweater weaver" is the name. Great, I now have zero hopes in what style of clothes I'll find from here.
I peek inside quietly. The inside of the shop is dark, some of the clothes are on the ground scattered. Apparently other people didn't raid this place much either. There seems to be no one inside, so I securely close the door quietly and start to look for some clothes to change into. There's lots of unique sweaters, most likely hand made.
I browse enough to decide on a pair of jeans and a warm soft hoodie. Not a lot of choice on the jacket part, either a long burberry coat or a north face winter coat. I grab the winter coat to wear until I get to the next town. I'm fine with what I have on for the shoes, it stayed comfortable through the journey here so I don't see why not.
I grab all the things I chose and head for the mirror. I haven't seen myself in a mirror in a very long time. My hair is usually a mess, but now it looks like someone sweeped the floor with it and put it chaotically back on top of my head. "I better wash up since there's a mirror to see" I think as I start to strip down to my underwear.