The After Parade

5 (After)

This is a bad idea. This is SUCH a bad idea.

I stood in front of the vending machine staring at my reflection. I was holding a fire extinguisher; something that is meant to save lives could potentially cause the end of mine.

I had two choices.

Option A: I could abandon this plan and go on a quest for food that may either be spoiled or absent in existence.

Option B: I could close my eyes, break the glass, fill my bag with chemically cultivated non-perishables and some bottled water then, I run for my life.

This may be my only shot at something to eat for a while. All the other food is tainted and the fancy schmucks at the dining facilities don't serve anything out of a can.

I held my breath and counted to 5. I smashed the glass on 4. I gave myself fifteen seconds to fill my bag and then I ran off towards the next building over.

I really wish that I was a firm believer in doing cardio regularly.

There are 2 undead dragging their feet about a yard behind me.  In this instance, two is certainly a better number than ten, but I sure wish it was zero. They started to follow me about five minutes ago which is when I decided to save my energy (*cough* lungs *cough*) for any mad dashing that may need to occur.  Unlike in some fiction, the undead don't actually move that rapidly, they move as fast as you would expect something that's kind of dead to move.

I was speed walking at a determined grandma's pace for a good ten minutes before I saw it. The bridge that connects this building to the next is just a couple hundred feet ahead.