Second meeting.

After a couple of days of unbearable anxiety I suited up and started on my way to meet Jan. As I rounded a corner I ran into a horde of zombies! There must have been twenty of them grouped together devouring the remains of something - or someone. I tried to make it back to cover but one of them spotted me and let out that terrible moaning shriek that they make. The others looked up and spotted me as well. I had to think fast as they approached. Luckily they were all draggers (the name I gave to the slower ones) and there were no Thorpe's (fast ones) in the group. I scrambled for a nearby van that had a ladder leading to the roof. I climbed up and took up a firing position on the roof. I started to pick them off one by one but they were soon shaking the van which made it very difficult to get a shot off. There were only four left so I decided to use an alternative means of dispatching them. I had started carrying along a small hatchet/pick as a back up weapon to my firearms and had not yet used it for such purposes. I pulled it from my belt and started hacking away at them from the roof. It was not as effective as I had hoped. I was just severing pieces off them. Fingers, ears, eyes. Very gruesome. I managed to get a square hit and sunk the hatchet deep into the skull of one of them but as it fell it pulled me off the roof! I struggled to my feet as fast as I could. The others were closing in. I had to step on the things face so I could pull the hatchet from it's skull. I spun as I pulled the weapon into action and just swung wildly. The pick end connected with the temple of the nearest one and went in deep, re-killing it instantly. Surprisingly the pick pulled free with ease. Bingo! I dropped the other three rapidly with this newly gained weapons knowledge. I don't know why I didn't think to use the pick initially. More focused force and less drag upon retrieval. I hoofed it out of there. All the commotion was drawing more zombies.

I made it to the meet with Jan. I was about thirty minutes behind. I caught her just as she was coming out of the camping shop. She screamed and swung her shotgun up to the ready!
"Don't shoot me! NO! Please!"
Her eyes widened. She lowered the gun slowly. "What happened?"
I looked down at myself. I was covered in gore. To here I must have looked dead. I explained what had held me up. We went back inside the store and barricaded the front door so we could relax somewhat. She sat me down. I didn't realize how shaken up I had been by the encounter. I was trembling. She got out some disinfecting wipes and cleaned me up while I told her everything I knew. I told her about the soldiers and Mitch. I told her about the draggers and Thorpe's. I told her about the announcements to not harbor the sick just before the soldiers pulled out of the neighborhood. She told me about a team she had seen collecting the zombies and transporting small groups of them in trucks. She said she had a young girl at her apartment. She had found her in a neighboring house bloody and frightened. She had been hiding in an air duct with a bloody kitchen knife and it took Jan several hours to coax her out. The girl has been at Jan's apartment for two weeks but still has not said a word. Then she told me about raiders. Groups of men who she had seen break in to other places where survivors were staying. That's why she was so cautious at our first meeting. She wasn't sure if I was a scout for them. She finished cleaning me up as best she could and she said she needed to get back to the girl. We grabbed some supplies and headed out with the plan to meet in two days time at a coffee shop a block from the camping store. Apparently the espresso machine still works.

Others.

I have been scrounging for fuel and food for a little over a week since my last post. I have had to go further and further each time. It has taken me into nearby neighborhoods. But last night I found another survivor during my search! She was in a camping store that I was scouring for useful items. I came around the end of an aisle and there she was...with her shotgun aimed at my head! "Not dead!" was all I could think to say. It worked. She slowly lowered her gun and asked me my name. Her name is Jan. She lives not far from the store where we were. She would not give me an exact address. I can't say that our meeting sparked an instant friendship. She was very cautious the whole time. I asked her how long it had been since she had seen a soldier. She said two weeks. So it appears they have left the city. If things continue I will have to try and make it out of the city to see if this has spread further. She gathered some things and began to leave. She refused to come with me or let me go with her but I did get her to agree to meet at that store again in two days. Our meeting is scheduled for noon. I hope to exchange information about what is happening with her. See if she knows anything I do not. I am very anxious about it. I didn't not realize how much I missed other people. We'll see what happens. Until then good luck.

Spreading.

The Power has gone out. The patrols of soldiers have all but stopped. The dead growing in number every time I look out my boarded windows. It must be spreading. It must have gotten beyond my neighborhood now. You are probably wondering how I am posting if the power is out. I had to acquire a generator. It took some time. I had to scout several different places to find one. I was finally able to get one and some kerosene to run it about a mile from my apartment. I used my cart that I constructed for the disposal of Mitch's body to haul it back. It was not easy. The city is infested. On the way I had to drop 5 of the shuffling zombies. Still no fast ones like Mitch. Luckily one of them was a former soldier and still had his gear on. I scoured the body and came up with three magazines for my rifle and two pistol magazines. As I moved further I came across a woman. She was injured badly. I tried to help her. I couldn't stop the bleeding. It was just pouring from a would in her chest. I tried every thing I could. I think she had injured her lung. She couldn't get enough breath to speak. She just bled more and more. She was - I couldn't save her. She died there in the street. I had to move on. I had to get that generator. It took me a while to load it securely onto my cart. And unfortunately I had to break the windows of the store to get in so there was nothing keeping the zom's out. They started to shuffle in just as I got the last of the kerosene secured. I had to put three more down on the way out. I was high tailing it through the alleys back to my apartment. The cart hit a pot hole and over turned. As I was righting it I looked up to see the women from earlier! She was stirring! Had I left her too soon? No. She turned to me and I saw those dead vacant eyes. Then she bared her teeth and sprinted at me! Sprinted! She reached me before I could get my rifle off the ground where I had set it down to right the cart. She was on top of me trying with full human strength to devour me. I struggled on the ground with her. We rolled toward a garage in the alley. I struck her head against the wall of the garage several times. The last time I struck the wall was slick from her blood and her head slid to the side and wedged between the building and a fence post. She was still struggling to grab me. I drew my pistol and shot her point blank. She was so fast. I got back to my apartment as fast as possible. I am still unsure of what transmits this plague so I disinfected myself and gear with a healthy dose of bleach. I have been thinking since I got back about the speed of her and Mitch's attack. I think that when first reanimated the zombie have all the speed of there human form but it must quickly dwindle because being dead they can not regenerate the muscle and connective tissues once they start to deteriorate from use. If the outbreak has reached your area please leave me a comment. Stay alive and stay inside.

Disposal.

I had to get rid of Mitch's body. I knew I needed to get it fairly far away from my apartment in case another patrol found it and decided to retaliate in some fashion. I'd hate to be killed by the living when there is a plague of the undead out there. I also needed food and other supplies. I was completely out. I wrapped the body-I don't want to think of him as Mitch any more- in my plastic shower curtain and some cellophane. I tried to seal it as much as possible because I am still not sure what the cause of this is and how it is transmitted. I believe the bite wound he had was the major cause but I prefer to be overly cautious these days. It's amazing how heavy a body is! In movies they just fling them over there shoulder and move on. It was almost impossible to lift it from the floor. And once I did get it lifted I realized there was no way I was getting down the steps and several blocks away with it. I do Pilate's and Yoga but flexibility and toned looking muscles didn't really help in this situation. You'd have to be the hulk to fling 6' adult male over your shoulder without help! I had to rig a contraption out of the top of my coffee table and the wheels from my desk chair. I tied an extension cord to one end so I could loop it around me and pull "cot" behind my while keeping two hands on the rifle. My rifle now I guess; along with his pistol and gear. I disinfected all of it as best I could with the little bleach and disinfecting wipes I had left before I strapped it all on. I rolled the body onto the "cot" and slowly made my way down stairs. Once there I brought the body to an alley two blocks away. I rolled it off the cot and turned to leave the alley and head a block further down to a grocery when I spotted a zombie (slow again unlike Mitch) coming down the street. I ducked back into the alley and looked down at the rifle. I gave myself a quick mental refresher on how it worked and turned back into the street. I raised the rifle and clicked the safety off and lined up the optic. I shakily pulled the tricked. I missed! I fired again and struck the zombie in the shoulder. The third round hit the head and put it down. Another thing they don't tell you in movies: head shots on moving targets are extremely hard! I heard moans from all directions. Other ones must have heard the shots and now they were headed this way. I turned and started jogging toward the store. I saw a couple more on the way but they were far enough off that I didn't want to risk missing more and wasting ammo since they didn't pose an immediate threat. I got to the store and of course it was locked. I almost broke the glass but then I realized if I did that anything could get in. I looked around and noticed the cart return that lead into the store. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled through the carts. In the hast to leave they had forgotten to lock the gate on the cart return. I was in! The store was a little torn up but not bad. they must have locked up early in the crisis. I filled my cot with supplies and tied it down with some rope from the home supplies section. On my way out I spotted a zombie on the farthest check out lane. She was just running a can back and forth over the scanner. Methodical and continuous. I climbed back out the cart return and pulled the gate on it down so it looked locked. There were a few zoms waiting for me out front. I got around most of them (again they were slow) and had to shoot two (it only took me three rounds for these two). I made it back. I am not sure why MitchZom was so fast and all the other have been slow. I have to get some rest now. I'm fading fast. The patrols are almost non-existent now but the zombies are growing in number. Stay inside unless you have no choice. Look back soon for more info.

Attacked but alive.

He-he-tried to kill me! Mitch attacked me! He was there on the couch under some blankets. He was so sick he could hardly move. He had just been getting worse since I let him in. He was there. Barely breathing--then he stopped breathing. He was dead. I checked. Breathing, pulse, he was dead. I covered him with the blankets. I turned to go to the bedroom for some rope to tie the blanket around him so I could carry him out. When I got back in the living room he sat up! Bolt upright! He looked at me with the same cold glossy eyes I've seen on the others...on Nick... Then he leaped to his feet and charged at me! He was trying with everything e had to bite me. He was so fast-not like Nick or Mr. Wong or any of the others I've seen. He was as fast as any normal person. I was able to catch his biting mouth with the rope I had between my hands. I swung him down to the floor and rushed passed him. I grabbed his rifle that was standing in the corner and turned back just in time to fire a shot into his head. He dropped to the floor. He was so fast-he was dead-how can that be? I was in shock. I almost didn't get the fire out before it got out of control. Mitch-that thing that used to be Mitch-was so close to the gun when it went off that his shirt and hair caught on fire. I had to pull the boards off one of my windows to clear the smoke. I can't deny it or explain it any other way any more. Mitch was dead. He wasn't breathing-no heart beat-nothing. Then he was back. "It" came back and it tried to kill me. There is no other name for them...Zombies. The dead walk the earth.

I'm making progress with the soldier. PFC Mitchell. "Call me Mitch." I convinced him to at least show me how to use his weapons so if something gets in we can both fight. He is not looking well. I still haven't gotten a good look at his wound. What really disturbs me though is what he's telling me about what's going on. He is saying--I can't even wrap my head around it-- He's claims-or rather the military claims-these people that are affected are--zombies. Yeah. I don't know. It seems unreal but-- I've seen soldiers shoot them multiple times to no effect until someone zeroed in on the head. It can't be real. What caused it? Why here? If it is what he says...God help us.

Sorry this post has been so long coming. The banging on my door turned out to be a soldier! His patrol was attacked by a horde of these things and he was the only one who made it out (so he says). He was injured on the arm. He won't let me see the wound but I will try to grab a picture of it when he's asleep. I am also writing this from the bathroom. I can't let him know I have a line of communication out. I don't know what he'll do. He's armed and seems very unstable. I am trying to get him to surrender at least his side arm to me. No luck yet. He still seem fatigued from his encounter. I will keep you posted on the situation. Stay inside--and try to arm yourself just in case something gets in.