Things That Go Bump in the Night

We all had trouble getting moving today. Lack of sleep and lack of food have been getting to us. And I guess a zombie apocalypse has a way of getting a person down.

We breakfasted on a bag of chips we found in a desk drawer. Carl and I gave the last half of an apple to Ellen. She chewed very slowly, all the time staring at the floor in front of her. I wonder what is going through her head, but I am afraid to ask.

Yesterday we discovered that finding food along the way (the way to where?) will be difficult. Every shop we came across had been looted. Only a little food remained on the shelves. Carl said he thinks we should spend the morning scavenging for food and water.

Fortunately, we've been lucky with water. We all drank our fill last night and again this morning from the toilet tank in the manager's office. We had two small bottles, and we filled those. We washed ourselves as best we could with what remained. If food or water runs out before we find others, we're doomed. We're all wondering, though, if there are any others. Are we alone now?

Though none of us slept well, we had a relatively peaceful night. We didn't hear any zombies except once. We could hear it coming down the street. Its deep growls echoed off the empty buildings. Occasionally, it gave a shriek that caused me to start. My heart began to thump.

After awhile, we could hear it very near the toy shop. Then, a shelf inside the shop toppled over with a crash. We had no lights, but I could tell Ellen and Carl were awake, waiting, hoping the creature would go away. There were more sounds out in the shop, and then we heard it sniffing around the door. There was a single thump on the door. I almost cried out and clamped my hand over my mouth instead. I tried to hold my breath, but my heart was racing so fast I couldn't.

There was a softer bump on the door, then heavy breathing from outside, and finally a few light scratching sounds on the door. The growling started up again, this time at a quicker pace. The zombie seemed to be getting excited. It beat on the door again. I edged closer to Carl. I was sure he had the shotgun pointed at the door.

I thought I heard a scream in the distance. It was a scream just like we heard from our friend at the door. Apparently, he heard it, too, because he stopped scratching. Then, there it was again. Our zombie gave an answering scream, and I thought my heart would explode. There were more sounds of a commotion in the shop, and the noise seemed to recede. In a few minutes, it was quiet again.

We heard a few more shrieks in the distance a little while later, but never again did the zombie come near.

By the time daylight arrived, none of us were too eager to leave the office, but we did. We followed Carl's advice and poked around all morning trying to find food. What little we did find was in pretty bad shape, but it was good enough for our empty stomachs. We even saved some for the next day.

Everywhere we went, though, we saw chaos--dead bodies, dead zombies, burned out cars, smashed up stores. The police station was the worst. It looked as if a hurricane had blown through, and that was followed up by a tornado.

Eventually, as the sun got lower, we looked for a safe place to hide for the night. Ellen found a sturdy room in the back of a bookstore. We piled up tons of junk in front of the door, and now we're all just waiting for sleep.

Carl wants to turn the light out now (we found a block with electricity!), so I'll sign out until tomorrow.