Taylor is a college student home alone when the outbreak hits her small town. One minute she is working on a project, the next she is hiding away from the monsters outside. Taylor will have to find it in her to survive until her parents can -hopeful...
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There were too many people. The firehouse wasn't meant for 30+ people to be living in it. The kitchen, dining, and break area seemed just barely big enough, but the sleeping area was not. Hendricks and a few other of the single men had to put bunks in his office, allowing the rest of us the main sleeping area. It didn't help my claustrophobia when that tween - Jason - and his sister Jessica had decided I was the person to follow around. His mother is a sweet woman, but she was a great cook so she was almost always too busy to watch them. Then their dad was a great hunter, so he had taken guard shifts.
With the police station and gun shop, next door to it cleared, we had guns and ammo. It allowed us to put sharpshooters on the roof, then a few people on the perimeter of the fence. That's the first priority, to fix the fence to hold up against zombies. Because now the fence would give away under the weight of three or four bodies pressed to it.
It's only been a day since we help the people at the church and police station and everyone is in high spirits. Even though a lot of them will take some time to get back to a healthy weight. And sure, we had food, with this many people though, it was going to run out quickly.
Walking out into the parking lot of the firehouse, my body tenses up at the sight of someone taking out a zombie on the other side of the fence. They still scared me even though they seem to not notice me. Taking a deep breath, I set my sight on Hendricks, and walk over to him. Trying not to turn around to hide out in the firehouse.
"Hendricks?" I ask.
"Yes, Taylor?" He asked back. He doesn't look down to me, his focus is on an approaching zombie stumbling from the apartment complex. It was clear those grenades had the town's zombies riled up, now they were wandering more.
"I want to go out," I tell him. My voice is unsure, but I keep my chin up. He looks down at me with a furrowed brow. He had become the impromptu leader of our group, so I went to him most of the time for things. He hadn't directed me towards anyone else, so I'd keep doing it.
"For what?" He questions.
"I want to look for food." And to get some space from the large amount of people in that building. I wouldn't say that part out loud.
He looks back to the world beyond the fence that surrounds us. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he considers. "Hmm, and how would you get the food back here? Cars are loud."
He hadn't wanted to take any cars yesterday for anything. They make too much noise and would just alert the rest of the town's zombies where we are. He at least wanted the fence up before we put out a signal like that. And I agreed with him. The quieter we could be, the better off we will be.
"I can find a truck, load it up and park it near the apartments," I suggest. He hmms again, thinking about it. "The guys can pick it up and I can grab more."
"There's a van in that parking lot." He nods over to the apartments. "See if you can get the keys, load it up and drop it off on the corner. Grab a second truck or van, load it up, and then drop it off, we should be done unloading the first by then."
"Cycle them." I clarified and he gives me a dip of his chin.
"Do you want to take some people with you?" He asks me.
My immediate reaction is to accept his offer, but I couldn't. The men who went with us yesterday had almost overheated while fighting in their fire suits. Then the police officers were trying to get their strength back. Everyone else either had kids, or I was unsure how they would act out there.
So I shake my head no. "I think I'm just going to go through some houses, gas stations, you know small buildings."
"I'll get you a radio, I'll have someone on the other end the entire time. If there's an emergency, let us know." I give him a nod of acknowledgment and begin to turn to go gather my things. When he puts a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. When I look at him again, I could see the sadness on his face. "I knew your dad, he'd kill me for letting you out on your own. You have proven to be capable though. You are smart, you are fast and you are immune. You can do this, and you'll help a lot of folks by going out."
His mentioning my dad makes my throat close up. Every day that passes I felt more dread settle inside of me.
