My day started off with a startle. I woke up in the morning to find Katerina sleeping next to me. I damn near pushed her off the bed. As I jolted awake, it awoke her too. She apologized for getting in my bed, but she said she wasn't comfortable sleeping alone in her room knowing that there was someone else right across from me. She said she tried to wake me to ask me if it was OK, but I was out like a light. She thought she'd be up before I was. I told her not to worry about.
To be honest, I don't like her being so close to me. It's not that I don't find her attractive or anything. She does remind me of someone I used to date in high school. It's just, my recent girlfriend is too fresh in my memory. I don't really want to go into detail, but let's just that it's been.... a long time since I've had a girl in my bed, even though nothing happened.
Of course, there was no running water in the hotel, so we weren't taking showers this morning. We ate more trail mix and Power Bars for breakfast, but our meal was cut short when we heard a bang on the door. Katerina yelped out of surprise, but I grabbed her and put my hand over her mouth, hoping it wasn't too late. It was. The zombie, hearing a response, began pounding harder on the door, moaning louder. That forced us to check out early, so I told Katerina to grab the packs while I opened the window. Good thing we took rooms on the ground floor. Lesson for the day. Always stay on the ground floor, because you don't want to be stuck several stories off the ground.
I was really hoping it would be easier with Katerina around, but now it seems to have gotten harder. She's OK with the feet draggers, but she isn't strong enough to handle the freshies. We came across two of them in the parking lot behind the Holiday Inn as we were trying to escape. It's alarming how animal-like the freshies are when they hunt. They sense weaker prey, so of course, the two went right after Katerina. I ran at one of them, shoulder ramming it knocking it over while I swung at the other one, which already reached Katerina knocking her down and falling on her. I only landed a glancing blow, but I had such force in my swing that it threw me off balance, and I landed on top of the zombie, which now grabbed Katerina's foot as she was trying to kick away. It bit at her shoe, she yelled out of fright and I yelled out of anger, as I raised the wrench over my head and let it slam down. Still on the ground, I rolled over and threw the wrench like a tomahawk at the other zombie who was just getting it up. It connected just off-center between the eyes, but was a lethal enough blow.
My attention immediately turned to Katerina, who now got her foot out of her shoe, still in the zombie's mouth. I looked at her, and she looked at me, and then I immediately grabbed her foot and pulled her sock off. Nothing. All the zombie got was the tip of the shoe. I pulled the shoe out of its mouth and was getting her ready to give it to her when she lunged at me and knocked me down, planting kisses all over my mouth and face. I told, "Easy, easy! This isn't the time!" and gently pushed her off me. What really worries me, though, is part of me wanted to start kissing her back.
Another survival tip. Manage your hormones. Don't ever give in to lust in the middle of a dangerous area. Don't make out; don't have sex; don't even spoon. If you aren't in a safe area, and you're paying someone else attention, that's attention that isn't going to your surroundings. There's a reason why most horror movies usually have teenagers kissing in a car or in a tent; it makes the predator's job that much easier. I know I saved her life, twice now, but now's not the time for thanks.
After we got up, we kept moving out of the parking lot, and the commotion drew the attention of just about every dragger in a city block. It would be no problem for me on my own, but I had to make sure Katerina was right behind me. I took her hand and practically yanked her along as we walked fast, not spending the time to kill any of them. We just let them shuffle along behind us and Katerina asked, "Shouldn't we kill them?" Not if there's that many. You only expend energy.
You know what I dislike most about zombie TV shows and movies? The unnecessary expenditure of energy and ammunition. Unless you're backed in a corner or trying to secure an area, you shouldn't waste your energy killing the slow moving ones. The fast ones, yes. Take them down by all means. They will pose a threat to you until you dispose of them. But if you're traveling and a crowd of draggers are following you, leave them be.
We made it back to I-81 heading south. While walking, I pulled out the map to look for the next point of interest, and I saw there was a Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, so we headed there. First, we had to ditch our fans. We broke line of sight by going into an office building, waiting until we heard their moans and then went out the back and returned to the interstate. We checked abandoned cars along the way, but the ones we found unlocked had no keys. Katerina found a truck that had the key in it, but of course, the battery was dead. We grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box from a minivan and I found a baseball bat in the back! I was so excited, because I wanted a real, trust worthy bludgeoning weapon, and they just don't come better than aluminum bats. I handed the wrench over to Katerina as it seemed to be easier to wield than the crowbar she hung onto. My excitement quickly dissipated after I saw a box of junior league uniforms along with kid size catching mitts. I don't want to think anymore about that.
We hit the medical center about two in the afternoon, and by now we're both getting sick of trail mix and Power Bars. We need some good honest food soon. The zombie population around the medical center wasn't that bad, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I grabbed a rock from the side of the road and chucked it at the most expensive car I saw. I missed as it hit the street by the front tire. I tried again, but hit the hood. I grabbed another rock when Katerina held her arm out in front of me and said, "Let me try." She hurled a rock and it hit the passenger side of the windshield putting a nice spider-web crack into it, setting off the alarm. I looked at her and she said, "Used to pitch in college."
As the zombies moved towards the beeping and honking car, we gave them a wide berth, moving in the opposite direction. When the number of zombies were sparse enough, we made our way into the medical center. I got to put my bat to quick use as I bashed in every zombie I saw. We systematically checked every room in the center, and we found no medicine at all. It was completely raided, except for bandages. They really wouldn't do much good without disinfectant but we took them anyway, about five rolls worth. We found a refrigerator in the staff kitchen, but power was out. Any food in there was spoiled long ago. Kat (going to start calling her that for short now, although she seems to hate it) found some grape jelly that appeared to still be good, so we took that.
After being rather disappointed not finding anything, we got ready to hit I-81 once again, but the car alarm stopped long ago, so the draggers returned to wandering around. We just ran past them. Just west of us was the Wyoming Valley Mall. It was getting close to five, so we headed there next. More zombies. More distracting them so we could get in. More finding just about everything useful already taken. That's the problem with not leaving with everyone else. You're subject to their leftovers, slim pickings. However, you are subject to get bit far easier if you're grouped with too many people. The less people you're with, the lower your odds. Something to keep in mind.
It was actually Kat's suggestion to hole up in the toy store just so that we're around things that looked fun. It sounded like a good idea, so that's what we did. After we got the shutter down, we went through the shelves browsing for anything that might interest us. She ended up taking a purple Care Bear and I took a wooden puzzle. She hugged her bear tightly and I opened the package of the puzzle, let the pieces fall out and went to work putting things back together. We talked more, and I asked her what she went to college for. She said she wanted to be a graphic designer, making websites and commercials and whatnot. She asked if I had a wife, and I said I was never married. I didn't bring up my girlfriend, even though she asked if I had one. Just not ready to talk about it now.
We're going to explore more of the mall in the morning and then just keep heading southwest. I'd like to try to make it to I-80 and start heading towards Ohio. I can't stop thinking about Katerina though. I honestly don't want to, because the more I do , the more I start to care about her. You know, the worst thing about this apocalypse is not the zombies. It's losing people you care about. All I want right now is to be back with my family. But... it is nice to have someone to talk to again.
Until tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment