My heart jumped into my faster than I could roll out of the bed as a loud bang went off outside. My heart pounded in my chest as I reached for my pistol, feeling relief as my hand squeezed the grip. I scanned the room and found it pitch black until a flash of light went off outside followed closely by the boom of thunder and I began to laugh as i holstered the pistol.
Thunder, I was scared by a bit of thunder like some toddler that still wets the bed. Am I really that on edge? My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and I stood up, peeking out the window to see the downpour of rain and felt my heart ease just a little more. As a kid I had always loved rainy weather, the pattering of the drops and even the echoes of thunder.
Deciding to not sit idle I go through my workout routine to get warmed up and then begin snooping around the house. I see frames of a family hung up on the walls and placed on the dresser that I ignored originally. It was your average suburban family in my opinion. Husband, wife and 2 kids a daughter that looked a few years older than her brother.
They had sports pictures, school photos, and family portraits hung up. I began pilfering through the drawers of the dresser and chuckled at some of the rather naughty pieces of underwear the rather straight laced looking wife owned. I found a small bag that held a couple hundred dollars in it, but that was it for the clothing dresser.
Moving over to the nightstand, I let out a full on hearty laugh it seemed not just her underwear choice was risqué. Inside the bottom drawer of the nightstand underneath various chargers and books was an assortment of sex toys. I'm not judging, but I just always found it funny when you find something like this in a house of some goody 2 shoes/church goers.
I did find an unopened box of condoms in there that I stashed into my bag, I wasn't too keen on having any babies during an apocalypse after all. Searching the other nightstand I did find something of a little more value, a handgun. It was just a small .22 caliber handgun, but guns are guns. Sighing a little deeper I found a half empty box of ammo.
I never understood the "half empty is a negative outlook" while half full is positive. I always saw it from a pragmatic perspective, if you were filling it up then it was half full. If you were running out of it then it was half empty. No need to bring all this pessimistic and optimistic outlooks on to such trivial things.
I tucked the pistol into my pack along with the ammo box, and continued my snoopage. The bathrooms were looted of soaps, toilet paper, toothpaste hair care products and razor blades for shaving. Now that I think about it I should hit up some hotels for their tiny soaps and shampoos, not to mention their toilet paper.
Yes I'm a little obsessive about toilet paper and hygiene which may seem surprising how I lived in my past life. But I still washed and kept myself clean daily if not twice a day. I'm not ready to be wiping my ass with leaves or raggedy clothes just yet, and if I can at least smell decent compared to everything else then I'll take.
Though I definitely need to up my food supply. Grabbing an extra large suitcase I found in their closet I headed for the kitchen. What I saw made me thank everyone Karen, couponing soccer mom I'd ever gotten annoyed at before. It was a gold mine.
I'm the kitchen was door next to the fridge that had the word "Pantry" scrawled in a fancy cursive font. I was not disappointed. Inside the door was a 12foot by 12 foot room with shelves taking up the walls and then a chest freezer against the back wall with shelves above it as well. The left wall was stocked to the ceiling and to the edge with canned foods.
Veggies, fruits, soups, anything canned. The back shelf above the freezer had more bathroom products, tens of boxes of toothpaste, soap, hair products and the like. The right wall covered in snack, such as chips and other packaged foods.
Though I was ecstatic to find all this I still couldn't help but curse in frustration. I didn't have my damn humvee and even then I didn't know if I had enough room for all of this, and I haven't even opened the freezer. I will say I was he sitting open it considering everything was probably expired by now and thawed.
Exiting the pantry I look out the window to see the rain having eased up, I could make out some walkers standing in the street just ambling around in the rain. Then I remembered the show where Rick and Glenn had to run through the rain when it started washing off the walker guts.
"Shit." I was behind schedule, it hadn't crossed my mind when I was just trying to survive but I had still wanted to stick close to the story. Now what's going to happen to the Atlanta group without me causing the walkers to trap them in the store. Running my hand through my hair I also realized I didn't have the sheriff hat anymore, I must have lost it when running away in the store.
Pushing that out of my mind I grab some bags and suitcases and began to fill them up with the supplies I had found and set them near the door, I'd come back for them after I got the humvee. All of the sudden I heard a faint scratching sound at the back of the house where the door to the back yard leads.
Unsheathing my kukri machete I creep my way to the back door heading the scratching getting louder as I get closer. The door had a sunlight glass pane at head level covered by a curtain. Easing the curtain out the way I peer out the glass expecting to see a walker in the backyard, but I don't. Carefully sliding the glass shards out from in front of the door I unlock and crack it open leaning into it with my foot propped against it at the bottom to keep it from being pushed in on me.
The scratching turns to a soft mewl as a small furry head peaks through the crack of the door. Looking down I see the head of a cat sticking through the crack, it was a small tabby cat that I could tell used to be bigger. Now that I think of it I did see cat food and a litter box in the house, but since I didn't see the cat I just assumed it escaped. I let it all the way in and mewled pitifully as it rubbed it wet fur against my pant leg.
I picked it up and stroked its fur, it's head pressing into my hand as I held it.
"Let's get you some food and dry you off." I said softly as I locked the door and pushed the glass shards back in front of the door. I quickly found a towel and dried the cat as I got him.. uh? Her? I could never gender cats so for now he'll just be Cat the Tabby cat. Cat chowed greedily on the dry cat food that I mixed with some wet cat food I found in a cabinet. I poured some water into a bowl beside the food and he drank it but with much less enthusiasm than he ate the food.
Once he finished his food he walked back over to me and rubbed against my legs purring softly so I picked him up again.
"We'll I guess I can take you with me. After all if I fatten you up enough you'll make a decent survival meal if I ever run out of food." Most likely my imagination but it seemed like he stiffened, but when I laughed he relaxed and I continued petting him. I wasn't able to have pets in my last life due to my condition, the risk of an allergy attack was too much for it to be worth having a pet.
So I enjoyed the feeling of holding Cat in my arms stroking his fur and watching as his back arches when my fingers trail down. I was finding more and more reasons to be thankful for this change of bodies. Sure there were brain eating zombies that wanted to eat me just out in the street getting rained on. But I could run, I could leave the house without risking a respiratory infection, I could hold animals I was healthy like I always dreamed of.
Even just 2 days as Rick and I could feel the strength slowly returning to his-my weakened body. I'll take mindless walkers over what I dealt with before coming here.
Before I knew it the rain had completely stopped and gave way to a full moon shining through the scattering clouds. I stood up disrupting Cat's sleep in my lap and he voiced it with an annoyed meow as he stretched.
"You can come with me or stay here, but I'll be back soon." I said to Cat who looked up at me before trotting over and weaving through my legs.
"Alright stick close then Cat." Strangely he meowed when I said that, but I just ignored it as I climbed out the window near the kitchen. I didn't move the glass this time so that if someone entered while I was gone, since I was leaving the window open, I would know.
I pulled out my machete and creeped down to the street, with my left hand staying on my pistol holstered stop my hip. I was wishing I had my axe now, but I had to drop it back in the store while fighting my way out. As I got closer I decided to try my new plan, I snuck quietly behind it and once in range I brought my kukri back and then slashed hard aiming for the neck.
The blade sunk deep but got stuck a little over halfway through, tried to force it through but I didn't have the leverage. The walker now snarled and began to turn around, but I held it firm by the blade stuck in its neck. I spun with it noticing that the closer walkers had noticed our struggle, and clicked my tongue in annoyance.
"Damn they make this look much easier in the movies." I said through gritted teeth. Thinking on my feet I swapped hands that held the machete handle so that I could grab my KA-BAR knife with my dominant hand from my vest. In a fluid motion the blade pulled free from the sheath and gripping firmly I brought it straight up and into the back of the walkers head.
This proved much easier as I was nearly dragged down with it as it began to fall dead to the ground. The force caused my knife to come out and I swapped it to my left hand and immediately tugged on the still embedded machete handle. Thankfully with my foot pressing into the back of the corpse and pulling with my all it came free causing me to stumble back.
Cat yowled and I thought I stepped on his tail until I saw a hand swipe past where I had just been. Not thinking a lashed out with the knife only slashing the arm of the walker and scold myself mentally. 'That's not gonna do shit, dumbass.'
Following my backward momentum from the stumble I take several steps back before getting my body under control. This time I kick out heavily with my booted foot colliding with the chest of the walker making it fall on to the ground, seizing the opportunity I leap at it and drive the KA-BAR into its skull through its eye socket.
Even just this little bit of fighting had my breathing become heavier as I looked around, seeing only 2 more walkers making their way towards me. I sidestep until one is behind the other and kick at the knee of the front one hearing a crunch at the knee joint and it fell to its right side. The sudden obstacle caused the one behind it to fall over it. I quickly stabbed the knife through their skulls and once making sure no more were coming I stood there catching my breath.
This needed to get easier. I needed something made for piercing bones or a heavier blade that with the right force would carry through the spinal column. In a more dangerous battle that mishap could have been deadly. Where can you even find swords nowadays or a maybe a pick axe.
Having caught my breath I looked down when I felt Cat rubbing against my leg, I bent down and scratched behind his ears.
"Thanks for the help bud." It honestly wasn't even sarcasm, I had been lost in thought while fighting that first on that had he not made that noise I would be in a much more precarious position. Straightening up I turn towards the direction of where I had originally ran from, where the hunting and fishing store was.
It was time to get my stuff back and take out a few walkers along the way.
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Yup I think this will be my schedule if I can help it.
I'll try to write Tuesday-Thursday and then be off Friday-Monday.
Hope you enjoy.
Also bless all of you for reading this because I was looking back through last chapter to make sure I didn't forget something and just the little I skimmed I either forgot a word or it autocorrected to the wrong thing lol.
Sorry for not proofreading. Maybe when I hit chapter 10 I'll go back through and fix any mistakes.
Lastly while I appreciate the power stones I'm not the kind of author who will mass release when a milestone is met, so feel free to save your stones for someone else! I'm happy just seeing the collections grow and people commenting.
Though if we still somehow get over 100 stones I'll start proofreading chaps before I post them. No promises though.
Thanks for reading.