Entry 11

I slept! It was not perfect sleep like before this happened, but it was the best sleep I have had in weeks! I am not sure why I slept so well but the extra energy came in handy with all the work I did today.

As I was looking at the furniture I wanted to break apart, I realized the hole in the drywall was not nearly large enough to move furniture between apartments. I was able to remove the rest of the drywall between the two studs which gave me enough vertical room to move something as tall as the room but only about a foot and a half wide. I am not sure if I can take out one of the studs without weakening the wall, especially with apartments above me. I decided to leave the stud and just bring in furniture which fit or could be quietly broken down enough to fit.

I was able to get his entertainment center, coffee table, end tables, one small bookcase, and the nightstand though the wall. The furniture which was left was the large shelves which covered the window, a recliner, dining table, chairs, sofa, dresser, bed, and his desk. I ended up taking all the drawers out of the desk to see if I could take it apart and in one of the drawers I found something.

Underneath some papers I found a locked case! Any doubt as to what was in the case was removed by the small box of bullets next to it and the fact the case said it was pistol safe. I tried to open it but it was locked and the key was not nearby. I dug through the drawers and looked where I thought the key might be. Finally, a real weapon and I cannot even get to it. After spending almost half an hour trying to pry the box and searching for the key I decided to try to pick the lock tonight. I still needed to get barricades up today.

After trying to take apart the desk I just let it be, it must have been well made because there were no places where it obviously came apart and all the joints fit into each other with no visible nails or places to pry. If I tried to break it into smaller pieces I would end up without any usable pieces so I just left it and moved on. After grabbing my bookcase and computer desk I started to take apart all the furniture I could into the largest boards possible. I ended up leaving both nightstands alone as they had the same problem as the desk, yielding nothing worthwhile after being taken apart. I ended up with enough wood to barricade the doors and windows.

I put four boards across my front door and put screws through them into the door and frame. I was able to break down my bookcase into enough planks to cover most of the window leaving about a foot gap. A shelf from the shelves next door was enough to cover the rest. I wanted to be able to look outside quickly but still have the whole window boarded the rest of the time. I ended up putting a few blocks of wood so they held the shelf in place but did not put any screws through it. This way it was held in place pretty securely but I could simply lift it up and see out the window. With my apartment barricaded I moved onto my neighbor's.

For the window I ended up using the other shelves and put them horizontally, covering most of the window. I finished covering the window with the rest of the broken down shelving unit. The front door was the most complicated barricade. I wanted something I could open in a hurry but was still strong. All my ideas were either slow to open or barely better than just the door. I was about to give up and just put some boards across when I realized the floor was probably also wood. I confirmed this by putting a screw into the floor. After a bit of brainstorming I decided on a brace which was removable. I screwed a block the width of the door to the floor and to the door itself. I made sure to place the block on the floor far enough back so that the door could still open. Next I built a square frame out of wood with a

diagonal brace which would just fit between the two blocks. This way the door can only move an inch before hitting the brace. All I have to do to open the door is simply lift out the brace and then the door could swing free. I liked the idea so much I built another for the bathroom door. Now my inner ring of defense won't rely on a nearly worthless bathroom door lock.

By the time I had the second brace built it was starting to get dark. I was anxious to try and open the gun safe so I made some food and headed to my room. Once I finish eating I will spend the rest of the evening trying to open the lock. I have moved back to the bedroom now since I no longer have to barricade the window with the mattress. Tonight I can sleep in my bed!