There she is, she is such an angel, with her beautiful blue eyes and short bouncy strawberry blonde hair. Those adorable dimples that just beg you to pinch her soft cheeks. I carry her picture with me every where I go, and the end of the world is no different....
I woke up today knowing that each breath may be my last. Today I continue slowly to the bridge, and tomorrow I cross. The biggest problem I see in this journey is that the bridge only has two exits, a mile apart. I can easily become surrounded on both sides with no way to go. I can only imagine how congested with abandoned vehicles and the walking infected the bridge will be. The only choice I have in the matter is upper or lower level. But i'll leave all the decisions for tomorrow. Today I have to figure out a place to spend the night close to the bridge. Hopefully its not like last night....
After another short travel yesterday, I had a run in with a few infected. I found my way in to the local grocery store to pick up a few essentials: water, jerky and bread. I don't have a checklist like most other survivors. There would only be one item on it, which is "get in and out as fast as you possibly can."
Getting in was not a problem, just picked up the most durable tool I could find and I smashed the lock repeatedly. The big problem was getting out. Apparently, the loud "ping" of the metal to metal contact attracted a group of three nearby infected who were now in the way of my exit (happens to me far too often). Luckily, the supermarket i found myself in carried more than just food, they also had garden tools. The obvious options were weed scissors or garden hoe. Garden hoe seemed to be the better of the choices, knowing that the length of the tool would mean that i could keep my distance. Moving quickly, I circled the three infected and kept swinging for their heads (killing the brain seemed to always do the trick). These three were slow moving, so the task was not as difficult as i thought. Standing proud, over their lifeless bodies, I felt invincible, like nothing could go wrong after that swift victory.
Grabbing the duffel bag, that I stocked with my essentials, I ran for the exit to continue my journey. Great, more infected, I guess next time I should be a bit more careful with the amount of noise I create. These were not like the ones I came in contact with moments before. These infected were clearly more advanced, their motor skills appeared to be better than the newly infected. And, unfortunately, I was greatly outnumbered, fourteen to one. Was this going to be it? Were all my previous efforts just a waste? How could I possibly get myself out of this predicament?
Suddenly, a loud horn could be heard in the nearby streets, followed my several car alarms. I noticed that all of the infected were greatly distracted and this was the perfect opportunity to make my escape. I decided to run back into the supermarket and lock the doors until I could find a safer moment to be back on the street.
After about a minute or so, the infected began to move toward the sirens. And, like an idiot that I swore not to become, I followed in curiosity. Was the creator of the distraction protecting me? Or was this just a completely lucky coincidence? Slowly creeping behind the infected who recently surrounded me and always looking behind me, I continued in the path to find my savior. One after the other, the alarms turned off and the infected began to lose interest. Just when I thought they would turn around and notice me once again, a tall man, built like an ox, came out of nowhere and attacked. The man carried an axe in his hand and appeared to wear a costume covered in blood. The axe was double-sided and looked like a medieval weapon. His eyes were as white as snow, his shoulders at least three feet wide, quite possibly scarier than any infected I have come across.
The man killed all fourteen infected with ease, and I noticed that not a single one of them fought back or were attracted to his scent. After the final deathly blow, the man caught me in his sights, he ran towards me like a bull seeing red and i yelled "I'm not infected!!!" He then stopped, removed his face mask, and said only five words that were very odd to me. He said "Grab one and follow me." I wasn't about to argue with him, especially after seeing his handy work. I grabbed a body and followed him to his place of shelter. His home was well boarded up and protected with several locks and chains. I could tell from the inside that any light source given off, within the shelter, would not be visible from the streets. This man was well prepared for this.
We made several short trips back to the street to collect the dead. Every time we entered his shelter, he would bring the infected to his yard and toss them in a pile, except for one. The one that he kept was chopped into pieces and placed in the freezer along with several, already frozen body parts. I'm not going to lie, I was both frightened and curious. I didn't have the mind or the stomach to ask why he was keeping these parts in the freezer. Although, i knew exactly why there was a pile in the yard, their stench was masking the scent of the living. Smart tactic.
He told me his name, and I shared mine. His name was Isaac, a suitable name for a man with a size of Biblical proportion. He apologized for his hideous appearance and explained that the blood on his costume was infected blood that hides his scent ( I assumed that is why he was not attacked by his infected victims). He said that his white eyes were contact lenses used to make him look as lifeless as the infected and his axe was his prized possession. We didn't exchange much dialogue, probably because I was still shaken by everything that i have just witnessed. He fed me and offered me shelter for the night. But, he said that I would have to be gone in the morning because he did not want to have anyone holding him back or distracting him while he attempted to survive the end of the world. I didn't mind much because I already had plans for the next day.
He fed me beans from a can and stale bread. He had something different on his menu, something in the meat group. I noticed that before cooking, he went into his freezer, the same freezer that was stocked with arms, legs and the torso of one of the recently killed infected. Freaked me the fuck out! I could only imagine why he was doing this and where he got the idea from. But, once again, my nerves got in the way of asking any questions that I probably didn't even want to know the answer to. I waited until he fell asleep before i could even shut my eyes and, before I knew it, it was morning and I was still alive. As I awakened, I noticed that he was still snoring. Now was my chance to leave without his noticing, I didn't want to spend another minute with him while he was conscious. Leaving unnoticed didn't seem like a hard task. If his snoring didn't wake him up, the sound of my footsteps wouldn't either. I left him a note, informing him of where to find the keys for his locks after I was done using them, and I left. There were no signs of the Infected anywhere nearby. I guess Isaac's pile of dead was doing exactly what it was meant for.
After a two mile hike, there it was, the G.W Bridge (a two mile hike takes me all day because i take every precaution and i move extremely slowly, so not to attract any group of infected). Just over that bridge is the town of Leonia, where i planned on raising my angel, Elora. I found shelter just a few blocks from the bridge in an abandoned factory, and when I say "abandoned" I mean that I actually searched every inch for survivors and infected. When I wake up tomorrow, I know that there is just one final task, the home stretch. A mile's worth of bridge to cross and a mile of highway and I'll get to see her again. I'll get to see those beautiful blue eyes, that soft, bouncy strawberry blonde hair And those dimples, those adorable dimples.......
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