Stranger:z

I lost so much weight during the first year and kept my figure since then. I'm very skinny with a hint of small muscle bulges on my top of the skin and bone figure. I take out the water bottle and wet one sweater with good absorbing material. I wipe down my body while checking with the mirror to see if I had missed a spot.

Then I hear a small "thud" from outside. Surprised, I hide behind the cashier's counter while gripping my knife. I feel cold now that I'm closer to the floor with naked and wet skin. Shit, this is the worst time to run into a zombie with no protection layer at all! I wait behind the counter and look up any outside movement from time to time. It's been 5 minutes. Maybe it was small animals or birds making noises outside.

I relax and go back to changing. After wearing dry and soft clothes I feel brand new. I make small headbands from the elastic sweaters and tie my hair up in a bun. I organize my backpack storage and checked what I'll be needing for my next trip. Now that clothes are okay, I won't be cold or uncomfortable. I'm thinking the winter coat is a little too much but I can just use it as a blanket or a pillow at night, or lose it if it gets a little annoying.

There is no town map inside the "Sweater weaver". But I'm hoping like all the other cities, there will be at least one supermarket or grocery store in every block. I gather all my stuff and prepare to leave the store. My stomach started to growl violently for some time now since cleaning myself. I have to find canned food, nuts and packaged water bottles. Other stuff probably went bad since it's been 2 years, and mostly they're very noisy to keep in my bag.

I head out to the abandoned street and head towards the city center following the road. I encountered a small grocery store on the next block. But the inside is all empty and ominous. After checking another 3 stores all of them were in that state. Must mean that there was a permanent resident who lived here before or living here now. And I just can't shake the feeling of being watched since leaving the "Sweater weaver". I know it's not zombies, they're not usually the stalker type except john. When they see flesh, they attack. Hope it's not the worst case scenario. Another human.

" I better be ready in case", I thought as I was approaching my last hope of finding any food. A large supermarket located near the empty parking lot, very visible from a distance. I usually avoid wide easy to spot spaces but I know I won't survive on water alone for another 3 days. If this doesn't work out I might raid the suburban houses, even though I know most are empty.

Unlike in the movies, houses are usually empty of any sort of necessities like food and weapons. There were many many survivors in the early days, lawlessly raiding fancy looking houses. Who can blame them? It was the end of the world as we know it. But those sorts of violence just accelerated the fall of humankind. Now after 2 years, I haven't encountered any living human beings in 9 months. If we do the math in these last 3 rural cities I've been to, there might be less than a ten thousand people surviving somewhere in this country.

I know for a fact that any sort of harmonious community will crumble right away or in maybe half a year max. It happened in the first year where some leaders were trying to preserve the community as a society as we know it. I have talked to survivors from that place. To keep order people got more brutal, the act of sharing the resources turned into taking or stealing. People actually started to kill each other because that would mean that there will be more for the rest. Not that much different from before. We sacrifice our life to fit into this society, pay fees monthly, buy things daily only to get a fraction of the things we deserve. Now it's all about individual survival in the god forsaken world. I don't owe anybody anything. And I'm damn sure nobody will expect anything from me. I've lost everything I had, but gained my ultimate freedom back from the world. Not in hell I'm giving up the only thing I have in this world.

Now that I've motivated myself on the crucialness of my survival, I slowly peek through the window of the large supermarket. There seems to be no electricity, so the inside is all dark and quiet. I take out my flashlight and press the button to turn it on slowly. I quietly click the switch, and light the inside through the window. The light travels from shelf to shelf through the glass without interruptions. I head towards another window for a different view. I see some canned foods and drinks. Thank god!

"I will not starve" , I think as I grip my knife ready and head towards the entrance door. I try not to make a sound as I open the door slowly. I keep on lighting the flashlight to the floor, away from my eyes to get a better look of my surroundings. I check each aisle, and head towards the back door. Carefully I open the back door and so far there's no one. But there was one strange thing I noticed. I light up the floor near the back door. There was a mud footprint on the floor heading from the back entrance to one of the aisles. I compare the shoe size to mine and it's clearly way bigger than mine. A man! I touched to check if it was old, but it was fresh and wet! But after looking closely, the rims of the mud were a little dry, meaning someone was here this morning just before me!

I started to panic but kept silent. I need to take some food and quickly get out of here! Only fucked up people can survive in this world, and I want to keep my distance from them. I pack some canned soup and fruits into my bag. I'll have to find water later from a river or something. Oh hey! They have pastas! And honey! I grab one of each and check the other aisles. Something smells rotten from the refrigerators so I keep my distance.

Right as I was closing my bag and heading towards the exit, the door opens and someone hurriedly walks in. I jolted in surprise and looked at the person. It was clearly a she but the messy hair made me question it. Her height was similar to mine, but weight wise she was big. I could not see her face clearly because the daylight was on her back.

- "Hello!" she says in a low tone. I let my guard down a little after confirming that she is a woman.

- "Hello", I greet back in a wary tone. My one hand is holding my bag and the other is gripping the knife on my belt. I can feel her looking at me from head to toe, assessing me in some way.

- "Look, I'm just passing by. You don't need to worry. I'll be leaving the town right away now", I say. Letting her know right away that I'll be out of here as soon as possible and won't cause trouble felt like a good idea. She relaxes a little bit after hearing it.

- "When did you get here?", she asks.

- "I got here just this morning. I'm looking for a new place to stay, heading towards the south from here." I answer. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

- "Where else did you stop by in this city?", she asks. I don't understand why she's asking me but I answered.

- "Clothing store near the road, and few grocery shops in between. And here right away". She was getting impatient somehow.

- "Okay. Leave the city now in the way you came here. It's for your own good. If you meet with someone else, run away as fast as you can. I'm warning you!", she says in a low voice. Even though she said that to me quietly I could clearly feel the threat in her voice. For my own good I listen.

- "All right. Thank you", I say as I walk towards the front exit.

But then I hear the backdoor opening and someone else's footsteps. I looked back and saw another person coming in through the back entrance with sharp lights illuminating from behind him. This one was bigger than her. I tense up and looked back at her.

- "Is that person with you?", I ask.

Instead of answering me, she lunges at me with her body at full speed.