Entry 47

It is hard to tell if the fire is closer, but it is twice as wide as it was before. It is still quite far away, but who knows how quickly that could change. Throughout the day the wind would shift and bring the cloud of smoke straight to me. The lingering smoke was a constant reminder of how important gathering nearby supplies might be.

Due to the pressing urgency of getting out and getting supplies I figured it would be better to simply climb up and down using a washer and store any supplies in the laundry room until I had time to move them to the second floor. Even though I had a key to the door the best option was to leave it unlocked. I hate leaving it unsecured but I doubt any zombie would walk up to the door and try to see if it opened. If I did lock it I might end up getting killed while I fumbled with unlocking the door if I was closely pursued. Instead leaving it shut but unlocked was the best trade off of security and speed.

Where to go first was a tricky decision. There was a large grocery store and gas station around a mile away. They would have more supplies but I would be further from safety. The nearest stores were more of a nice strip mall with quite a few clothing stores and collectible/novelty type shops. They catered more to visitors heading to the big mall a few miles up the street than locals. I remembered that around the corner and just out of my site was a hole in the wall restaurant that had opened earlier this year. It never looked very appealing to me so I had not set foot inside, but they would likely have some canned or dry food. Best of all I could see almost to the store from the walkway and it was clear. It seemed like the obvious first stop.

As I was getting ready I realized the clothing shops might be a good stop on the way after all. I had a small backpack, the type you threw a water bottle and snacks into for a couple hour hike, but nothing which would be useful for hauling around any quantity of items. I also had no easy to way to carry the revolver or especially the shotgun. The best I could do was wear a jacket with a pocket to hold the revolver and leave the shotgun sticking out of the backpack. I walked outside to check that the coast was still clear then headed to the laundry room.

I was not quite sure how to move from where I was to the store. A dead sprint would get me there fast but would be noisy, easy to spot, and leave me tired. Sneaking the whole way there would take a very long time but I could potentially sneak by any zombies. In the end my method was something of a sneaky hustle. I used any sort of hiding spots to at least partially hide myself as I moved quickly. I remember a friend once calling it moving with a purpose. Not so fast to be uncontrolled or unaware of your surroundings but at the fastest pace where you were still careful and in control. The parking lot had quite a few cars I could use as cover. The street was a much different story. Since it was not a route people had been using to try and escape, there were only a couple cars still on the street. It was four lanes of empty space where I was extremely in the open.

Once on the other side of the street I headed towards a small sports store. I figured it would be the best place to find some big duffel bags and it was from what I could tell from outside the shop. But, the door was locked and the windows and door had those large pull down metal grates. As I moved onwards I realized most of the shops were locked up. The owners must have been ill or decided not to bother opening. The only shops I found open were a place that sold purses and a place that sold statuettes and glass figures and the like. I gave up on those and headed to the restaurant. I could at least get as much food as my backpack could hold.

When I reached for the restaurant door I expected it to be locked like all the others. Instead I found myself opening the door without really being ready. I quickly pulled out the pistol since it was the fastest to grab and finished opening the door. The smell that was wafting through the place was rather awful, but it failed to even compare to the one apartment so I was able to move in without it impacting me much.

There was a small wall behind the reception area separating it from the dining area. From the dining area the kitchen visible. As I explored further there was a small office and storage area down a short hallway which led to the back door. I happened to glance at the floor and saw reddish-brown streaks coming from the back door. I followed the streaks and saw they ended (or more likely started) in the office where there was a big reddish-brown spot on the carpet. I stopped myself from wondering what had happened and began my search for useful supplies.

The short version of what I found mirrored the apartments. They had quite a bit in refrigerators all of which was bad or so coated in mold I would not dare try it. Power here was also out so the two large chest freezers had turned into rotten swamps. There were apples, potatoes, and onions by the box in the back but they had molded enough I would not risk eating them. They also had quite a bit of dried and canned food. They had cans of tuna and other meats, a variety of canned vegetables as well as soups. They also had quite a few dried items which only needed water. I am sure it was a horrible restaurant when it was open with so many prepackaged foods, but for me it was a treasure trove. The problem was my backpack held about a fifth of what was there. I searched around for a bag and ended up with some paper bags like you get at a grocery store over by the leftover boxes. I doubled up one bag and got another fifth of the food in there. I thought about grabbing a second bag but I wanted to at least have one hand free in case I needed the gun.

The return trip was much slower and more clumsy thanks to the weight and extra bag. It was uneventful other than a couple of times I stumbled watching for zombies and missed a curb in front of me. I considered a second trip since it was not too late, but I was paranoid I could get held up and not end up in the apartment before dark. Moving the supplies up was rather easy, I just pushed a washer under the hole and was able to set the bags up there. After organizing the new food I grabbed a mostly defrosted pot pie from the freezer. I figure there is not much that really needs to be cooked in one.

Tomorrow I will need to make another trip to the restaurant to get the last of the supplies. I also wonder if there is some way I could get into the other stores. There is one thing that troubles me above all others after going out today. Where have the zombies gone?