I sit here in the darkness, Manni is sleeping and fidgeting on the bed next to me, over in the kitchen area in my small flat is my ex missus and Amca asleep, Amca doesn’t really understand what’s happening, and the truth is, neither do I really. Only a few days ago we were all going about our lives as usually, going to work, shopping, school and all the things that normal people do. But all that seems almost like an elusive dream now, I have a loaded .357 Magnum and a machete lying beside me on the nightstand, I can hear them moving about outside on the street, sometimes there is a gunshot echoing in the night or a vehicle engine, but by now, most wise people keep indoors by nightfall, it’s simply too dangerous to push your luck, most want to live to see another day.
The news and phones have worked sporadically, society is falling apart at the seams and most people are surprised and shocked over how fast the conveniences they enjoyed stop working, water in the taps, food in shops and all those god damn Zed’s! At any other time it’d be laughable and I’d happily sit there stuffing my face with popcorn and beer, because you know it’s just a movie, it’s not real. But this time it is, they pose a very real and unavoidable danger, this is not a computer game you can reload from your last saving point, if they get you, you are screwed, game over! Today we saw a gathering of Zed’s, a toddler and someone’s grandmother in their midst, the young, the old, the sick and the disabled are easy prey for the Zed’s and they seem drawn to light and life like a moth to flame, that’s why we have barricaded the door and have no heating or light on, we haven’t had a wash in a day but that doesn’t bother me much, when your survival is at stake, there are more important things to worry about.
After finding my ex missus and Amca back at the hospital, I managed to persuade them to come with me to my flat, which wasn’t far. It’s an awkward situation in the least, my ex is unhappy with the arrangements, she probably feels that she has to rely on me for their safety, and although there’s no bad blood between us, I frankly have no deep desire to be responsible for her safety, my priority is Amca, our little daughter. And Manni? She came into my life recently and we were getting on very well, now we are here in the same room, but none of us are interested in exploring the romantic possibilities, the situation is too sensitive and we have far more important things to think of, like surviving another day. There has been a fair bit of looting and pillaging, even rioting in town which has been upsetting to them all. Reminds me of things I saw on the Balkans all those years ago and I find it difficult to sleep at times, old half-forgotten memories coming forward and old skills resurfacing. I have told them all in no uncertain ways, that if we are going to have any chance for making it, they need to take some advice. Make as little noise as possible, under no circumstances go out alone, if we somehow are separated they must get back here because at the moment this is the only safe place we have. We have managed to save water in large containers and have some food left, luckily I went on a big shopping trip just before all this happened. According to some news, the “Zombiecalypse” allegedly started as a new designer drug came on the streets, it had some unforeseen side effect and humanity is now fighting for its survival as a species.
I pick up the Magnum revolver and turn it over in my hands, it has a comforting weight, and even though I haven’t fired a gun in many, many years I feel strangely confident that WHEN I have to pull that trigger, I will have no difficulty doing so. I always preferred a revolver to a semi-automatic, don’t really know why, maybe it’s my interest in the old west that speaks through me, I smile wanly at the thought and wipe my nose on the sleeve of my jacket, I shudder a bit because February is damp and chilly and there’s no heating on here, can’t afford to draw any unwanted attention to us.
Suddenly a noise startles me and I bring the Magnum up in a two handed grip, it’s all by reflex before I realise that it’s my mobile phone buzzing, I keep it on silent, with a thumping heart in my chest I lower the handgun and pick up the phone, a text just came through.
“Jebemti mate, there are Zombies patrolling the village and I see more of them every day! Don’t know what they had against it but they smashed my car a couple of days ago, and forget it, I’m NOT riding my bike!!! I might be able to help you out, but you have to come and pick me up then. Hope this reaches you in unzombified state!!”
The message was from my colleague, Bojansky. He grew up on Balkan and was a young man during the war there, he’s a bit of a player but pulled through the conflict thanks to his dealings in the black market, we always joked that he was a dodgy geezer, but truth is that he was my best bet for increasing our odds of survival, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had some stuff put away “for a rainy day” or an AK-47 in his basement!
When the sun rose and spread it’s rays over town, the others woke up and I told them about the message, we simply HAD to help him out, we couldn’t stay cooped up here for ever. As he lived in a village some miles away from Bedford we needed a vehicle to take us there, I didn’t have a car and my ex didn’t drive but Manni had left her Land Rover at the hospital and she fished the keys out of her pocket, there should be nearly a full tank on it she told us. After a simple breakfast we all marched down to the hospital, avoiding any Zed’s and as there still were police patrols around trying to keep us safe I stuck the Magnum at the back of my trousers underneath the jacket, despite the situation I didn’t think they would appreciate a civilian walking around with a gun! The machete I tied to the backpack so I could easily reach it and stuffed some things into it, water bottles, a couple of tins, two books and a toy or two for Amca. We reached Manni’s car without incident and we all got onboard. As she started up the engine, several Zed’s came gunning for us, the noise had invoked their interest, she threw the Land Rover in gear and drove us out of the car park, two Zed’s were shuffling straight at us but I made her drive them over with the heavy vehicle, after I’ve told my ex to shield Amca’s eyes, I looked in the rear view mirror, one of them was lying still, his head a pulp but the other one was still moving and tried to get up. If everything went well, we should be in Bojansky’s village in a little while, I pulled out the Magnum and placed it in my lap, you never knew and I took out a water bottle and took a sip, passing it around to the others.
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May 25, 2014, 07:46:27 PM