The night passes with sporadic gunfire throughout most of it. That, and the putrid air, keeps me awake. I feel my head drooping when I look at my watch and notice that dawn should be here.
Night runners and zombies? When does one sleep here? I think, pulling myself up.
My bones creak and my back is sore from sitting in an uncomfortable position for hours on end. My head feels a little better but is still sore from the lack of sleep. I pull the mattress back a little from the front and verify that daylight has come to this section of the world. However, what greets me on the other side of the glass is not what I wanted to be seeing. Shamblers…and lots of them. I look out the back window and see the same. The horde has caught up.
“If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” I say softly to myself, closing the window back up.
The one thing I didn’t want to happen has — I’m trapped. I can’t see out of the sides as they are now the floor and roof, but I imagine it’s the same. I have enough food and water to last for a while but not for an eternity. I can hole up here and hope they move on, but they don’t seem to want to do that anytime soon. They are just milling randomly, without any set direction.
I stretch and settle back in to think over the situation. I could create another fire block with my remaining grenades and clear a hole through them. That’s if there aren’t runners among them, which I’m sure there must be. I can’t climb on top to get a better picture and don’t even know the extent of how much I am surrounded.
This is majorly fucked up.
Thinking for a while, I’m not able to come up with a single option without knowing what truly lies outside. I was hoping the multitude would move on, but they appear to be content with where they’re at. I have to get a better look from up top. If runners appear, I’ll pop back in. I’d be in the same position as I am now, except they’ll know I’m in here; but I have to do something.
I quietly raise the ladder to the door and anchor it in place. Easing the door open, I use the rearview mirror I procured and make sure the top is clear. It is, and I pan around. To the best that I can see, zombies encircle the motor home, meandering in random directions. I poke my head out. Sure enough, I’m surrounded, but it’s not as bad in front as it is to the sides and behind. For whatever reason, the horde has chosen to stop here.
They all have the ravaged and decaying look that the shamblers I’ve witnessed so far have. The runners look, well, more fresh, if that’s even remotely possible. The mirror doesn’t give a very detailed look, but I don’t see any that look like runners. What I need is a distraction to draw them away and then make a run for it, creating another fiery blockade to slow them further. Easing the door shut, I climb back down and begin searching through the debris. I know what I’m looking for and hoping that whoever owned this house on wheels had one. Sure enough, I locate a kitchen timer with the turn knob for the minutes. Looking through the bedroom, I manage to find a wind up alarm clock — one of the foldable travel alarms. They aren’t the most accurate, but it will do for my purposes. Thankfully, unlike the compass, the numbers are readable. I also locate a couple of road flares in the glove box. I was hoping for a map, but I’m almost glad I couldn’t find one. Although wanting to find out where I am, I also don’t think I’m ready for what it might show.
I set the time for noon and the alarm for shortly thereafter. It’s hard to set an exact time for the alarm, but I try for ten minutes. I set the kitchen timer for the same ten minutes and climb the ladder. Opening the door, I toss both alarms as far as I can into the grass behind the motor home. Having them hit the pavement or another vehicle and shattering would really, really suck. I wait with the door partially open for the alarms to go off and see what happens.
It seems like an eternity. It’s so long that I think I broke both of them with the toss, but I finally hear a ringing. The shamblers immediately turn toward the noise and begin a slow shuffle toward it. The other alarm goes off and it draws more in that direction. Now is the one time that I wish the creatures could move faster. I don’t want the alarms to go quiet when the zombies haven’t cleared out of the way and start their ambling again. The alarms continue ringing and a path ahead opens up. I open the door quietly and try to minimize my movement as I crawl across the top.
Reaching the edge, I drop over the side to the pavement below. I need to minimize my noise as I don’t want to alert any of them to my presence. I have a clear route, but that could close in a moment if there are runners about. I notice a couple of night runner bodies on the ground with a fair number of the zombie runners lying tangled with them. It must have been a hell of a fight last night and I’m thankful that I wasn’t caught up in it. I edge past a few vehicles, managing to keep my presence as yet unknown. I would like to catch up to whoever was shooting last night.
I’m tired and need to find a place where I can hole up and rest; a place where I won’t be surrounded during the night. I used to be able to stay up all night and function the next day, but not now. First, however, I want to put a little distance between me and the horde.
The water tower ahead grows larger. It’s the only thing I’ve really seen on this miserable stretch of highway, and it acts as a beacon. It’s something manmade along this road and that means something — however small. I mean something manmade beside all of these bloody cars. A scream to the side in the trees halts my meandering thoughts. Runners appear from the woods slightly behind on the far side of the road.
Fuck, there goes Plan A.
They are too close to create a fire block like I did before and too numerous to take down before many more of them are upon me.
Time for Plan B…the water tower.
I just don’t have the energy to run all day and I need somewhere safe for the moment. Of course, that means I’ll be trapped again, but my choices are dwindling with each footstep. I take off running, maneuvering over and around the vehicles.
I’m quickly winded from the lack of sleep and exertion over the last day. The runners are gaining with each passing moment. I’m making for the water tower with runners on my heels…lots of them. During brief glances behind, it seems more have joined their ranks, emerging from the woods. I think about tossing my two remaining grenades over my shoulder, but the mass of cars would limit their effectiveness, unless I was lucky enough to ignite a gas tank. No, I’ll save them for a last ditch effort. I’m not there yet, but that moment is quickly approaching.
The side of the road opens up where the water tower stands. It’s much like a rest area with a couple of concrete brick buildings in the middle and the tower rising off to the side. I really hope it isn’t fenced off as I doubt my ability to scale a chain link fence right now. I’m barely able to keep moving and feel my breath shortening with each stride. It’ll be even odds making it to the tower as it is. I also hope there is a ladder leading upward without having to figure out some engineering marvel that makes it inaccessible. If that’s the case, well, I just don’t want it to be.