Entry 19

Since I had already prepared to go into the apartment yesterday, at first light I was ready to start cutting. I checked outside the windows; a couple of them were down the walk a bit. I decided to risk it and go ahead with my plans. I started cutting, but cut very slowly. I hoped the people who lived here had gone to work like me and had shut and locked the front door and had the curtains drawn. It would give me enough time to get something to barricade the window.

The cuts went pretty quick without too much noise. I listened and did not hear anything coming from the apartment. After waiting a moment more I grabbed my barricade materials and slowly moved to the door and peeked into the apartment; the front door was shut and the curtains were drawn as I had hoped. I moved past the closed bedroom door to the front door and checked that it was locked. Then, I peeked out the window between the curtains. None were directly outside the window so I hoped they would not see me when I barricaded it. The only thing I noticed was the smell of the trash was already wafting into this apartment. I made a mental note to move the trash once the barricades were up.

There was a rectangular dining table which would cover half the door and a long coffee table which combined with the dining table would cover almost the entire window. I looked at how they were assembled and then ran into the apartment for the tools I needed to take them apart. They were similar in design and the legs of both came off with a couple of large hex-headed screws. I checked outside again to make sure it was clear before screwing the boards across the window. Next, I used the legs from the tables to build another door brace for the front door. I felt much safer with the door and window secured. As I finished I swore I heard one of them making noise from outside the door, but I checked outside again and could not see any. I made sure to keep my spear near me as I began to check out the food.

The refrigerator was a vile mess; even some items that might have stayed fresh looked like they had been spoiled by all the rotting food nearby. The freezer was much more encouraging as it had a day or two worth of lasagna inside. In the cabinets I found some nuts and snack foods as well as a few cans of noodles. As I was setting the food on the counter I noticed the phone. I tried the phone again, hoping, but of course it was dead. It got my mind off the food and reminded me to look for a radio. The front room and kitchen did not have one so I went to check the bedroom.

As I walked from the kitchen back to the bedroom door I was disgusted by the smell of my trash wafting into the apartment. The moment I opened the bedroom door, I realized how stupid I was. Not even four feet from the door was one of them. I froze in horror staring; it was a horrid sight of rotting flesh, the smell was almost too much to handle. It was not until it had begun to move towards me that I snapped back into the moment. As turned to leave I could see it was almost upon me. I panicked and instead of going left to the bathroom and back into the other apartment, I ran into the front room with it close at my heels. I had trapped myself in the apartment.

I fled to the kitchen, the furthest place I could get from it. Finally, I had a stroke of luck. I had left the spear against the counter. As it came around the corner into the kitchen, I brought the spear up. As it bore down on me, I screamed and attacked with everything I had. The first hit slammed into its chest with a sickening noise. Still screaming at the top of my lungs I wrenched the spear back and thrust it out again and again. I have no idea how many times I attacked it, but when I could not scream anymore and the creature stayed on the ground, I finally stopped.

I stood motionless, waiting to see if it would get back up. After what felt like an eternity, I carefully moved past it, pressing myself against the counter trying to keep as far from it as possible. I grabbed the food I had set on the counter and carefully retreated, watching to make sure it was not pursuing me. Once inside the bathroom, I set up the barricade and took a deep breath.

All I could do was drop the food and the spear and sit on the floor shaking uncontrollably. What had happened was so unreal, but the blackened blood oozing from my spear reminded me it was real. Finally I headed back to my apartment, shutting every door and putting up the second barricade. I put the food away but could not bring myself to eat. What could turn a person into such a horrible, undead monster?