S1E3 - Cleaning House

After eating a pepperoni pizza MRE and drinking half a bottle of water, I decided to go ahead and clean up the house. For now, I think I'll use this place as a base. It's small, defenseable, and clear of walkers. It also beats sleeping outdoors. I have no clue where Rick's group is at, and I don't even know if they'd actually welcome me. I have no clue how long it's actually been since the start of the outbreak.

The house itself is already pretty clean, minus the thin layer of dust coating just about everything. Picking up a couple of knocked over chairs is about all I have to do. As I walk out of the bedroom, I finally take a good look around the house. It's a one story, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen and dining room are attached, with a separate living room to the side. The kitchen and dining rooms are at the back of the house, giving me a view of the backyard through a pair of blinds. The backyard has a tall, wooden privacy fence. I'll take the walker body back there later.

The dining room is pretty basic, if a little old. Same with the kitchen. One thing I notice is the amount of pictures up on the wall. It seems like a family had this house before, because there's plenty of vacation pictures along with pictures of kids and two adults.

Overall, it's not too bad a place to set up for a while. I go to the bedroom with the dead walker in it and grab it by the ankles. Luckily, its head stays to the side without the hole in it, so I'm not trekking blood throughout the house. I crack open the back door, and am once again thankful for this family's use of WD-40 as the door opens silently. I drag the corpse down the stairs and off to the corner of the slightly overgrown lawn. Looking around it, I spot a small barbecue grill, as well as an entrance to a cellar. The cellar is locked from the outside, and considering there was no car in the driveway, I'm gonna assume that key is gone.

If I can find a pair of bolt cutters, I'll have to get that door open. I head back inside and find a broom in the corner of the kitchen, stuffed away beside the fridge. I don't find a dust pan, so I leave the back door open to sweep the dust out. This doesn't take too long, as most of the house is carpeted, and there's no way in hell I'll be able to get the dust up from that with a broom. Looking outside, I can see that within the next hour, it'll be night. Marking a rather uneventful first day.

I head back inside and head into the master bedroom, just relaxing for the next little bit. As I plop down on the recliner, I finally check something,

"Status."

—----------------------------

[Status:]

[Name: Penny Miller]

[Age: 19]

[Health: Healthy]

[Stamina: Tired]

[Points: 120p]

—

[Stats:]

[STR: 8]

[AGI: 9]

[DEX: 12]

[INT: 11]

—

[Skills:]

[Knife Fighting 1, Pistol Shooting 1, Psychological Strength 1]

—----------------------------

Ah. Not too bad… I think anyway. Assuming that the average stats are at level ten, that puts me at being rather balanced. Though, I dunno if intelligence is really useful in a zombie survival situation, at least when alone. Ah! Now that I think about it, Sera did say that I have access to a store.

I jump as a blue screen suddenly appears in front of me.

—----------------------------

[Store:]

[Scavenging 1 - 100p]

[Crafting 1 - 100p]

[…]

—----------------------------

Ah, it seems I can't afford much. To be expected really since I've only killed two walkers. I click on Scavenging 1 to get a better idea of what it does,

[Scavenging 1 - Increases your likelihood of finding food and water when searching locations likely to have said items.]

That seems pretty useful. I imagine trying to find water will be a big issue for me, should I start being mobile. It would be pretty funny to search a gun store and find a full home cooked meal, to be honest. Next up, crafting.

[Crafting 1 - You have basic knowledge on how to make stuff and things. Basic arrows, shivs, sterilized rags, etc.]

That seems like it would be pretty useless right now, but eventually would probably lead to makeshift weaponry. Probably bows and stuff. Honestly, they both seem really useful, but one is much more useful at the moment. I press on Scavenging 1 again, purchasing it.

[-100p]

[Scavenging 1 purchased!]

Alright. That seems to have everything sorted out. I do a quick search of the bedroom, trying to find a watch to set up a quiet timer to wake up, as well as tell the time.

I end up finding a cheap all black digital watch. I look at the glowing green screen,

[8:34pm]

Pretty early, but since it's summer, the sun will rise earlier. I search the room for some pajamas and find a set that's just a bit too big, but it'll do the job. I store my clothing, slap on the pajamas and plop down on the bed. I use this time to think,

'So, I really died, huh? Well, fuck. I'll never see Regina again. Now I'm gonna have to fight just to survive every single day. Killing is gonna be part of my everyday life…'

I start to feel anxiety building up inside of me as I remember the feeling of shooting that guy. He deserved it, for sure. And it was either him or me and several other people. But still…

'Funny, I thought I would feel worse about killing someone. Maybe it's because he was trying to kill me? Yeah, probably. I remember hearing that a lot of people who have killed in self defense say that they don't actually feel that bad for killing someone. It's probably just instinct.'

I sigh and roll onto my side as the last bit of sunlight leaves the bedroom painted in an inky, black darkness. The sole source of light in the room being the low glow from the digital watch on my wrist.

My chest tightens as I think of Regina. Tears start to well up in my eyes. As memories of us fill my mind, I slowly drift off to sleep.

----------------------------------

AN: The first 20 chapters are up on the Pat.reon. You can join for as little as $1 a month.

https://www.pat.reon.com/sorrestwriting