Chapter 5: Week Three: Tuesday

I ransacked 2219's kitchen and found some goodies. First was the peanut butter. Though, it was about halfway eaten. Next were the cans of Chief Boyardee which numbered 3. Then came, alcohol. I've never drank it and probably never will. The reason I was excited for it was because I wanna make molotovs and burn shit down! Always been fascinated with fire...

Anyway. They were unopened so that's a good sign. Last was some rice. I remember reading somewhere that rice can be stored for years or something like that. Although there wasn't a lot left in the container. Everything else was expired or moldy. Maybe some things in the fridge or freezer might be salvageable, but certainly don't want to risk anything.

All in all, I had enough food for either 8 days, or if I really rationed it, 2 weeks. If I wanna keep my strength and energy up, I need more food. Especially with my big 'boned' body.

Something else was the bedroom door. It was broken down. She must have locked it behind here after it bit her, and after it couldn't find her it just stayed near the little hallway.

When I was home I found a little teeny problem. There's no water. What's in the cupboard is all that's left. Two bottles of water a day are gonna go fast. But for now it's fine, considering the mountain of tupperware in stock. The most tragic thing about the lack of water is that I won't be able to take a shower. Will need to clean myself someway though. I was thinking of taking a little rag and wetting it with some water to clean my body with.

Another problem were the scratches on my arm caused by the Infected. Although they aren't too deep, they look narly and hurt like a bitch.

"I won't turn, right?"

Luckily, after going through both apartments I found enough bandages and ointment to keep me going for a few more injuries. Except, I don't have a clue on what to do. It's not like I'm a doctor or something. I put some ointment on, wrapped up the wounds, and taped it shut.

"My genius never ceases to amaze me." It looked awful, but it'll have to do.

Now what to do with the bodies? Should I just toss them out the balcony? But what if that attracts more infected? Definitely can't just leave them here to rot. Although I'm fine with the smell, it doesn't mean I want it around me 24/7.

Ah fuck it. I went back and opened the balcony doors before going back to the bodies. Ain't no way in hell am I dragging them across and dirting my floor. I started with the dog, seeing as he's the lightest. He was only about 65 pounds so it wasn't hard to pick him up and throw him out over the railing.

*SQUELCH*

There doesn't seem to be anything around at the moment, so I should be good. The other two bodies were... harder. Nonetheless I picked them up, threw them over my shoulder, and gave them the same pancake treatment as the dog.

I was about to continue with the apartments when, I saw something. It was for a brief moment but I could have sworn I saw something down an alleyway, and damn was it quick. Wasn't able to get a clean look. Well, whatever.

Back into the hallway, I went to the door where the hell hound probably named Cupcake or Princess emerged from. Inside were a pile of bones with barely any flesh attached. The dog's owner? But why was the door open?

Doesn't matter, not like I'm Sherlock able to find out if a man has cancer based on the amount of hairs on his ballsack. As for supplies I'm kinda just looking for food and medicine, don't know what else I need. After searching all I found was some vegetables and such. Was this person... a vegan?

"What a well deserved death."

Luckily they had the sense to keep some water bottles, bringing the total up to 21. Ignoring the vegetables because no real man eats plants, I went to the bedroom just to find more bones. Based on the size of the bones and the skulls, cats.

Hm, no wonder there was so much cat furniture in the living room. Inside I found some batteries and a ton of pills. A certain black man would be in heaven right now. I just grabbed them all and headed back to my place.

Now for the rest of the apartments. All were locked except one. Should I just break them all down? But noise would attract more I think. Just as I was about to open it and get ready to tumble, someone... spoke.

"H-Hello? Are you there?"

What's this? A plot twist! The voice came from 2220. I think I remember seeing him before.

"Hello? Who are you? My name is Jason."

"I-I'm Zach."

"Nice to meet you Zach. Mind opening the door?"

"Are they d-dead? What about you, are you... bitten?"

"Yes they're dead and you're welcome by the way. And no I'm not bitten, just a little scratched is all. Now open the door please."

"B-But-"

"Just... open the damn door."

He's startin to get on my nerves. I already asked politely, and saved his ass from being mauled to death. Ungrateful.

After a few moments of silence the door unlocked and opened. What greeted my eyes was a big fat guy. Although he didn't look like a discord mod, he wasn't too far off.

Black unkempt hair, about 400 pounds, shorter than me being about 5 feet 9 inches, clearly hasn't showered in a while, glasses on his face, and... a shirt featuring Gon? A HXH fan? All is forgiven for having quality taste. Anyway, I brushed past him into his apartment.

Gotta say, being a fan of anime and the works, I like his style. He's got posters of anime on the wall, his couch is one giant Itachi with his Sharingan eyes which looks super cool, and he also has a massive map of Tamriel on the wall which increases my favorability of him by 2 stars. There's a few other things from games and anime, but what I really like is his shelf of manga which numbers at least a few dozen.

"Nice shirt."

"Thanks! Hunter x Hunter is one of my favorites! W-wait, you can't just barge into my home like this!"

"Sure I can. If you don't like it you can call the police. Though, I got a feeling you won't get very far with that. Cut the shit, how much food do you have left along with water?" Gosh, it feels good to not have to give a shit anymore about being civilized.

"Uhh, about that..."

When I reached the kitchen, I know why he said it like that. A garbage bag on the floor stuffed with mostly food and water bottles, along with... tissues.

"I-I can explain!"

"Please. Don't."

I went through his cabinets and found jack with just a tad of squat. Thought I was bad at rationing. Judging from the trash bag, he had a ton of food.

"So, what's with the ramen? I know it's good and all but this is a lot. And did you not think to ration all this at least a little?"

"I had a week off work so I was gonna go through a bit of a binge watching some stuff and play games. I grabbed a bunch of food and was gonna just stay inside, but then everything happened. I was really scared so I hid in my room and didn't make a sound. Then, I heard you fighting out there."

Basically just like me. Hide out and pray the military resolved this mess. He would've ran out of food and gone out. Though, he's not a badass like me so I could imagine his fate.

"Do you want to join me?"

Normally I wouldn't do this. I'm not a group kind of person, and there's not a lot of supplies to go around. But... he reminds me of myself, back when I was 13 and suicidal. Anime saved my life as weird as that sounds.

"Y-Yes! Definitely!"

"Okay well, if you're gonna join me there's a few rules. First you need to pull your weight. Second, I'm in charge from food to making decisions. And third, will be thought of later. Got it?"

"Got it!"

After that I took whatever was left in the cabinets. It was just 2 water bottles and 3 packs of ramen. I showed Zach around my apartment and told him the rules of 2 meals a day, 2 water bottles, and workouts.

"Workouts?"

"Yup. Let's be real. You're fat as fuck and are nearly worthless in a fight, not to even mention running away from the infected. So you're gonna join me for my morning workouts."

He looked a little distraught but he doesn't have a choice. It wasn't dark yet but lighting was starting to fade so I decided to rest for the day. No way was I about to go in the dark, not yet at least. Gave me a chance to think about what happened. Although I was terrified fighting those things, it gave me a rush! It felt so good! Like I was free, like there was color in the world for once.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm thinkin of clearing the last open apartment on this floor. I am hoping there will be another infected in there so that Zach can get some experience.

As for the locked doors? I want to break them down, but I don't want to cause that much noise. Who knows, maybe when I'm busy knocking a door down some infected come from the stairs and rushes me. Can't trust Zach to beat them off, just walking from his apartment to mine took some breath out of him.

Until bedtime I organized what I had and would go into the cleared apartments whenever I thought I needed something, for example a lighter. Food needed to be cooked and the things like microwaves, ovens, stoves don't work.

My way around this is to make a fire and cook our food there. Honestly, I'm thinking of taking some wooden furniture and starting a fire with that. I have no clue on what I'm doing but hey what's the worst that can happen? Burn down the building?

I also took a look out on the street just in case but the strange thing is, there's nothing there. Usually I'd see at least one or two infected but now it's barren. Weird.

It was finally night time and I was about to go to sleep when I heard a knock on my door. Opening it revealed big boy himself, Zach.

"Um, can I maybe sleep with you? N-Not like that! Just, just sleeping!"

"Stop whatever nonsense is going through your mind man, but sure. I could use the company."

I wasn't lying about that. Although I like being alone, it's gotten lonely being by myself. Zach went back to his place and returned with a futon. For real? He placed it next to my bed and got into it. It kinda looked comfy to be honest. I closed my eyes and tried sleeping, but not 5 minutes later...

"You awake?"

Eyes still closed, I reluctantly replied.

"Trying to change that Zach."

"I can't sleep. Can we, talk maybe?"

Sigh.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"How did it feel, to you know, fight those things?"

"Scary. Real scary. They come at you fast with no thought towards themselves. Even when beating them down they still came at me, just trying to take a piece of flesh like a rabid animal. But, it sure is exciting."

"Oh. I-I see... Do you watch anime?"

"Yup. Anime and the 3 Ms."

"Cool! What's your favo-"

*RAAAAHHHHH*

What in cold hell! That roar sent shivers down my spine!

"W-What wa-"

"Shut the fuck up!"

After silencing Zach I came to my bedroom window and looked out, with him trailing behind me. Out in the sea of darkness I could vaguely see figures running down the street. I count at least 4 of them. They were fast, very fucking fast. I would see them suddenly stop and look around, seemingly searching for something.

When they did so I brought the both of us out of sight. Didn't know if they could see me, but no way am I taking the chance. After a few seconds I went back up and saw them running towards another building. There was a light on one of the floors.

They started to climb the fucking building parkour style. They broke through the window and even from here, we could hear the screams. They lasted for a few seconds before stopping.

"Let's go. And get away from the window dumbass!

It was a sleepless night.