July 24th, 2026
We finally went out into the world after being holed up at my parents' house, well I guess it's our house now, for so long. I am not sure about Lucas, but I was a little nervous, both about leaving the house unattended and just what we would find, but we couldn't very well go alone. Generators can be heavy.
We decided to go at least 5 miles or so away from the house before we picked the first place to enter. We wanted to make sure we were far enough away that someone wouldn't just stumble on our place in revenge if we happened to go into a house that wasn't as empty as we thought.
Personally I wanted to go further away, but Lucas didn't want to burn the gas. I guess I can understand that, but I think we should have gone further, but oh well, can't do anything about it now.
The first place we picked was a ranch house that a tree had fallen on. I assume it happened during a spring storm. Surprisingly other than the damage to the roof the rest of the house looked to be in good shape. There was a huge crack down the outside wall where the tree landed, but we gambled it wouldn't fall in on our heads while we were in there.
It was also a good bet that no one was living there. We both thought it would be nuts to stay in a house with that kind of damage; there were plenty of empty houses that were still in good condition. You could pretty much live anywhere you wanted as long as you were the first one there.
Once we were inside we actually did find a few things. Whoever these people were, they must have had some bad issues with headaches. We found enough tylenol to kill 30 people. The other thing we noticed was the place reeked of stale smoke. It didn't take long for Lucas to find several cartons of cigarettes stashed in a closet. We decided to take those. Neither of us smoked, but we thought we might be able to trade them. I will always believe you will never go wrong betting on the vices of others.
We also found some small propane cans and propane camping lanterns, these were good finds. We had one at home, but it never hurts to have more. An added bonus is these things actually throw off decent heat. We also found a few small LED lanterns, also useful.
There were a few canned food items and several large bags of dog food. I hoped whenever they left they took the dogs with them and just didn't throw them out into the cold. We decided to take the dog food. I am not really sure why and neither is Lucas, but it seemed like a good idea. Maybe we can trade it too.
We got skunked on finding any generators or larger propane tanks. We also didn't find any weapons, but we did find an empty gun cabinet. I guess maybe the guns were more important than the dog food.
All in all we didn't find anything too earth shattering, but at least it helped to ease our nerves to have some additional supplies to add to our horde.
As funny as it sounds, despite the fact that most people on the planet were dead it somehow still felt like breaking and entering even though those laws were all but pointless now.
We checked a couple of cars that were wrecked along the road and didn't find crap. Well, that's not entirely true I guess. We did find a 5 gallon can of gas, so that's something that will replace what we used to today.
Then we decided to go a little ways down this offroad. There were not hardly any houses at all, the one we did find seemed like it was in good shape, too good. When we pulled in we were worried that someone was living here. Afterall we didn't want to steal from someone who was just trying to survive. We weren't that desperate, yet. Still, it was too good to pass up.
When we got out of the truck we kept our guns pointed at the ground. Lucas even called out to the house several times. We hoped we wouldn't be shot outright. Obviously we weren't
Since no one answered us and we didn't see any movement we went to the front door. It was then we realized that it wasn't closed all the way. Lucas noticed that the latch had been broken. Someone had gotten here before us, or was still here. The guns went up.
Lucas pushed the door open and I went in with my shotgun up. Lucas was right behind me with his rifle. I bet we looked like some sort of half-assed S.W.A.T. team. After we searched every room we found exactly what we thought we'd find and what we hoped we'd find, non one. The place had been trashed, but there was no one there.
One thing we did find that kind gutted me was a room for a baby, a new baby. A baby that had not yet been born. It was dressed up just waiting for the little bugger. Whoever was here before us left this room alone and so did we. Somehow it just seemed wrong to disturb it. It was almost like a monument to a time when things made sense.
Once we realized we were the only ones there we relaxed a little, but we were sort of pissed off. We risked our lives for nothing. Though later we both admitted the excitement was pretty fun.
We were about to just cut our losses and leave when Lucas spotted something outside. He thought he saw what looked like a hidden basement window. That was weird because we never found a basement door. When Lucas took a closer look we moved away some rocks and other junk and sure enough there was a window, this place had a basement!
Whoever stacked the stones there did it in such a way that they could still see out but the window was pretty well hidden. It was just dumb luck that Lucas spotted it at all. So back into the house we went. If they took the time to hide the windows then it made sense that there might be some good stuff down there.
I am not joking when I say we searched for like 2 hours for that damn door, and we never found it. We finally decided to break out the window and go in that way. We figured the door would be way easier to find from the other side.
Lucas broke the window, and since I was the scrawny one of us it fell to me to be the tunnel rat. I went in head first and hoped I wouldn't drop in on my head. I didn't, but not by much. Once I was inside I pulled out my handgun and raised a flashlight. I am not skilled enough to fire a shotgun one handed. I shined the light around and saw some furniture then suddenly a person sitting in a chair facing me.
Before I even realized what I had done I fired two shots at them. Lucas was outside freaking out. He got on his belly and pointed his rifle through the window. The person never even moved. Once I got closer I realized he couldn't move. The poor bastard was dead and had been for a while. He had rotted to the point that there wasn't even much of a smell. He kinda looked like dried meat. I bet this guy, I think it was a guy, died before Lucas and I even left town. In case you are wondering, yes I hit him. Both headshots. Since he was dead and no harm was done I felt like I could brag about it. That's right Lucas and I are military geniuses.
It would seem that this guy was living here and had all intentions of staying out of sight, but death had other ideas. Of course there is no way I will ever know if he died of the virus or something else, but I have to admit it worked out in our favor. His basement was the mother lode.
Food, water purification tablets, weapons from guns to knives and even a bow. We also found candles and batteries. You name it he had it. He was just as well stocked as we are. But what made it worth it was the generator and the 10, yes 10 large propane tanks. He even had a case of chips and several cases of Mountain Dew. We hit the jackpot! It was fortunate this guy had such a big house with a big basement.
Once I discovered the haul I had to find the stupid door to get it the hell out of there. It was at the top of some stairs where I expected, but when I opened it I was met with a blank wall. Well, the inside of a blank wall at least. I pushed on the supports of it and after a little effort it fell over right next to the kitchen.
Whoever this guy was, he was a genius. He moved his whole life into the basement and then hid the basement. Even with us looking for it we never did find the to the basement in the house.
It took forever to get it all out. For a while we thought we might have to make two trips, but we managed to get it all loaded up. Of course during the drive home we were nervous as all hell. We were a pretty sweet target to be robbed. Clearly that didn't happen.
Once we got home and got it all unloaded we rewarded ourselves by hooking a generator and firing up a Playstation. Man, I forgot how much fun video games could be. Lucas griped because we didn't see any women. I just let him whine. I wasn't going to complain. This is the first time in I don't know how long I was actually in a good mood. It was a terrific gift.
So, here's to you mister mummy man that I shot in the head. You planned well, but it didn't work out. Well, it didn't work out for you.
I am not sure he should be proud of the two headshots, but I guess he can brag considering he fired them in a panic. At least he didn't kill the guy. That won't hold though. The next chapter is coming soon.