Entry 51

It was not as rainy this morning but dark clouds filled the sky. I was still sore, but not sore enough to stop me from continuing with my plans for the day. The possibility of rain also was not a problem as the walkway served as a cover. After getting ready I headed out to make sure no zombies had wandered nearby. As with the days before the streets were completely deserted. I still cannot help but wonder where they have gone. At least I can capitalize on their absence.

As I was climbing down into the laundry room I considered everything that could go wrong. Entering from the front door makes it easier and safer to figure out if there is anything in the apartment, as I can see quite a bit and have time to react if they come out of a doorway. But, on the first floor, I have to worry about zombies on the streets attacking. If that happened I could end up trapped in an apartment. For that, I brought along my trusty drywall saw. If I did get trapped I could at least try to cut through apartments to get back to the laundry room. It would still be risky but better than being trapped in an apartment and cut off from all my supplies.

I had originally planned to bring the shotgun with me as I explored. However, in my apartment, by the time you got past the kitchen it started to get too dark to make out anything clearly and the bedroom was too dark to see at all. The clouds had forced me to bring the pistol so I could also use a flashlight. I was not really sure how to hold a handgun and a flashlight so I simply mimicked what I had seen in movies. I left the shotgun in the laundry room so I could easily reach it if I was retreating.

As I left the laundry room I carefully searched for any nearby zombies. I remembered watching a show once where they said when searching by eye to pretend there was a grid and search methodically using the grids. Still, I found no zombies. My relief was offset by a growing uneasiness as to where they had gone.

The few times I have been out of my apartment I had never looked closely at the lower apartments. As I was carefully looking over the apartments I realized how much more damaged they were. Of the apartments on this side, only 107 still had an intact window and the door to 106 was somehow missing. There were blood stains on some of the broken glass and all over the sidewalk. It was an unsettling sight to say the least. In movies this is when the people in the audience yell at the person not to go inside.

Instead of going straight through the door I took advantage of the broken out windows to peer into the apartments. I looked into each apartment to check and see. Apartment 107 was easy as I could just look in through the missing doorway. I stopped a moment to examine where the door had been attached. The top hinge pin was missing and half the hinge was still attached. The middle hinge was completely missing and had been unscrewed. The bottom hinge was also completely missing but it looked like the hinge was ripped out as there were chunks missing from where the screws were ripped from the wood. I moved on to 106 but the curtains were pulled so I decided to make it the first apartment I actually entered.

I opened the door in a quick but quiet fashion and quickly searched the room. The apartment had thick curtains so other than the weak light filtering through the door past me my flashlight was the only source of light. Forced to only see such a narrow slice of the room at any one time made it much more terrifying, I could not watch the hallway at the same time I checked the kitchen. I found myself moving the flashlight around almost frantically trying to check everywhere at the same time. I was fighting to stay calm by the time I had finally check the front room. The hallway was even more menacing as I had to try to watch opposite doorways. When I finally reached the doorway to the bedroom I quickly scanned the room and then moved to the bathroom door. Once I knew the bathroom was clear I then carefully entered the bedroom. The bedroom was also empty and I almost collapsed with relief.

With the apartment clear I began to sift through and gather anything that looked important. I was much less picky than I had been on the second story. I figured it was better to grab everything that might be useful and sort through it upstairs. I quickly had filled my bag with food and other supplies and headed to drop off the first bag from the apartment. As I opened the door and looked forward I found myself looking directly at a zombie.

I stifled a gasp and froze in place. It was standing not maybe fifty feet away and staring directly at me. Even though it must have seen me it was not rushing towards me. Instead it just stood there motionless with its unblinking gaze fixed on me. I noticed its eyes looked hazy. It must have heard the door but been unable to see me. I started to raise the gun as I took a step and realized I was stupid.

Within a split second of me beginning to raise the gun it charged towards me. I did not even have time to stop myself from finishing my step before I realized what was happening. I fought back the panic as best I could and fired. As the first shot ricocheted off the asphalt I tried my best to keep the laser dot on the zombie as I fired again. It had already halved the distance between us as the second shot failed to hit. I panicked and began to fire, I tried to aim but pulled the trigger as soon as I could bring the gun sight back onto it. One of the last two shots managed to hit it in the leg. It fell to the ground and I ran.

As I looked over my shoulder I could see as soon as it hit the ground it was already getting back to its feet. The shot must have merely caused it to stumble rather than crippling it. By the time I turned the corner it was back in hot pursuit. I tore open the laundry room door, bolted through, and locked it. As soon as I turned the lock I threw my bag up through the hole and scrambled through. I threw the plywood down and drug the desk over the plywood. I turned to grab the shotgun and realized I had left it down in the laundry room. I decided it would just have to stay there. Instead I reloaded the handgun and waited quietly.

I could hear the zombie viciously attacking the laundry room door. It would switch between trying to rip through it and smashing its body against the door. After I felt somewhat sure it could not get through I headed back to my apartment and peeked outside. I could see several more zombies heading towards the door. Apparently they had been nearby all along.

I locked up all the doors and retreated to my room for the rest of the day. I suppose my adventures on the ground have come to an end for awhile. I just wish they would stop attacking the door so I could get some sleep.