Dead Earth (old version)

Chapter Twelve - Martin

Martin thought he'd reached Ohio by now, but he couldn't be sure. Apparently road signs are extremely fun to steal, there were random empty posts sticking out of the ground in multiple places.

Oh, it's the apocalypse, better steal road signs and beer!

That was another thing that astounded him: People would steal beer and ice-cream, but not water. He'd found several stores that had unlooted water supplies. It also had an entire rack of sour gummy worms left, which weren't healthy, but had made him quite happy. 

He wasn't even sure where he was going, to find other survivors? He'd thought about holing up in an abandoned school he'd found. It had fences, barbed wire, plenty of space, and a bunch of dead people. He would've need at least five other people to clear it out, and he was in short supply of the living. 

There were, however, plenty of the dead. 

He sighed to himself. It'd been several days, and he had no one to talk to. At least with Sophia he had a human, living human that is, to converse with. Even if it wasn't much of an engaging, intelligent conversation. Maybe he should doodle a smiley face on a volleyball and start talking to it. 

As his little blue car bounced down the road, Martin spotted another gas station. He turned, even using his turn signal before remembering he didn't need to, and thumped into the parking lot. 

Broken windows, shattered glass glinting in the sun. Little animal tracks mixed with leaves and dirt. He checked the back storage rooms and started laughing. 

Water and pringles for dinner it seemed. Smiling, he scooped up some chip containers and water bottles into a duffle bag. There were some pre-packages candies as well, but he by-passed most of those for a large collection of batteries, duct-tape and bungee cords. 

Yet again, people went for their favorite perishables and left behind all the true goodies. 

After making several trips and filling the trunk with water and food items he started down the road. He'd found a map and, with the help of a You Are Here! sign from the gas station, he'd figured out that he was in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

'Only a half hour from Indiana,' He thought to himself. Maybe if he got to Wyoming he'd be safe. Wyoming was the least populated state, after all. Or maybe it was Wisconsin. Washington? 

Whatever. It didn't really matter, as long as he was headed somewhere. Canada could be a good option too. He'd find something in Indiana, he supposed. Maybe even another group, or at least somewhere to stay for a while. 

If he fenced off a building, then built a second fence around that, then another fence, he could expand the third and second fences out. He could potentially take over an entire town! Or, at least a small one. But he'd need help. 

It was decided. He would find other people, ones who could help, ones who could push the tide of the war back into the hands of living. 

They would get rid of the Undead, for good.