Entry 5

The sound of a footstep jarred me out of my sleep early this morning. I jumped to my feet expecting one of them about to attack and found my bathroom empty. Worried they had gotten into the apartment, I carefully moved to the door and listened for footsteps. I heard nothing and finally decided it must have been in a dream. When I finally was calm enough to lay back down I heard the footsteps again. I realized they were not as close as I had thought and were simply being carried through the floor. Whatever it was, it could not have been too far away. I moved the knife within reach but feared if I needed it, it would be too late. I needed a better weapon.

Once there was enough light to see in my apartment I went back to the pile. I don't think I could survive getting close enough to use the knife. The best I could do without a gun was find something with reach. The broom caught my attention as being rather long, but it lacked the weapon part. I decided I could try to make a spear using its handle. I once watched a survival show where the host made a spear using some sharp metal and a stick. All I needed was to attach something sharp to the end of the handle. The kitchen knives were my first idea but then I examined the drywall saw. It was actually much sharper than my knives, with a razor sharp tip and two staggered rows of knife-like teeth. It looked like something you needed to be careful with, hopefully that makes it good as weapon.

I was able to remove the handle from the rest of the broom by cutting and unwinding the wire, letting the broom fibers fall free. The problem was how to attach the saw to the handle. Tape was my first thought but all I had was the flimsy clear stuff you use when wrapping a gift and the electrical tape; neither seemed strong enough. I tried holding it next to the stick and wrapping it with wire but that ended up being very flimsy as well. I could not come up with any better ideas so I decided to take a break.

I was actually getting hungry and decided food might help me think better. I happened to check the freezer and found a few fish sticks which would probably be the first thing to go bad if I lost power. My oven was electric so it still worked. I nearly died when the oven beeped to tell me it had reached the right temperature. Everything was so quiet the noise of the beep seemed more like a car horn. I listened outside, worried the sound had stirred the one I heard last night but never heard any sign of it.

While I was eating I was able to remember more of the show where the man built the spear. He had split the wood and wedged the metal into the split. While splitting the broom handle did not seem like the best idea, it gave me an idea. I moved everything into the bathroom and shut the door to muffle the noise. Then, I took the saw and cut a slot in the end of the broom handle. I was able to take out the screws holding onto the saw's plastic handle leaving only the metal underneath. I test fitted the newly exposed metal and after widening the notch some it fit quite snug in the broom handle. I spent awhile trying to figure out how to hold it inside the slot until I came up with the idea to hammer two nails so they went through the broom handle through the two holes in the saw handle where the screws had gone and back into the broom handle on the other side of the notch. It held the saw blade in pretty well but it still wiggled around some. I tried wrapping it with wire again, first pulling the wood tighter around the metal and then up onto the saw. The wire seemed to do the trick; the saw was held in quite firmly.

By the time I finished the spear it was already starting to get dark. I cleaned up my mess and tied off my trash bag. The foil from the fish sticks still made the apartment smell and I was scared the smell might attract them. I feel much safer tonight with the spear in reach, I may even sleep better.