31 days. I had thought I was getting low on food before, I just didn't want to eat the few things I had. Now I was living on packs of mixed nuts and fish. I managed to get a small propane stove, ya'know one of those people take when they go camping. It had come in handy, and the truck I found it in had a shit load of the little propane containers that hooked up to it. I thought I was prepared, well I wasn't. I didn't realize how hard it would be to get things as simple as salt and pepper without going into someone's abandoned house. Most people didn't have much in bulk, the bad part of living in a low-income area I suppose.
The small town I had gone to only had a corner market, one already pillaged. So I was forced to travel, I didn't use my truck because I was too fuckin' paranoid about people or deadheads hearing me. I didn't wind up going to the bigger city closer to me, I went around to the east to one of the smaller towns. This one is big enough to have its own schools, a few grocery stores, and even a damn Domino's pizza.
The combined middle and high school sits on one of the main roads just outside the city. The main road is south to north, I had followed it a majority of the way until a large cluster of cars on the highway got me paranoid. I turned east and started the loop around. The smaller road made a large sideways U shape and only had three houses - far from the school.
The rest of the land around the school is fields and forests, which secluded the large buildings that make up the school. And you know what schools have? Bulk shit.
There would be toilet paper, those big bags of soap, cleaning supplies, and food. Sure it all would be shitty quality, but something is better than nothing. Even if the school didn't buy enough canned and dried goods to supplement the school for a long period, it would be more than enough for me for who knows how long. Even one of those massive cans of beans, or large bags of rice would help bulk up all the fish and forageables I get. It would give me time to think about my next move.
It's still early morning, the sun had just fully peaked over the horizon. I wouldn't go out when it was dark, but I waited eagerly for the sun to come up just enough for me to start towards the city. Moving forward the large buildings loom over me and I swallow, trying to control my adrenaline that wanted to spike and make me jumpy. Deadheads didn't scare me that much, I could always run. What did scare me was people, people could be saviors, helpful, and caring. They could also be ruthless, and evil, killing you for something as simple as a scrap of food or the shirt off your back. People can use weapons, they can track, they can use a car to chase you down.
When war comes or disaster comes, humans turn into animals. Sure some try to help, but the bad people steamroll over those good souls. And I wasn't going to take any chances.
The school is larger than the one I went to as a kid, probably because it housed middle and high school. Easily two or three stories, multiple buildings. The main building is the biggest of them, the others look like little office buildings or storage areas. All are connected by the large track field and baseball field.
The extra detour takes me an extra 20-30 minutes but the top of the U ends on the road at the north end of the school. I peel off towards a side entrance I see before I hit the main road or even the parking lot. My goal is to stay near the building, hide along it, and not to be a sitting duck in the middle of an open area.
I dodge around the dry crusted blood smeared on the ground and keep my eyes out for any movement to either side of me. There seemed to be a lot of blood, body parts even but no deadheads walking around. Maybe some noise had drawn the ones outside to somewhere else. It just felt weird, and very quiet.
Something felt off, but then again it was the end of the world and the dead were up and walking around. Nothing was normal anymore, everything was 'off' so why did this feel even more wrong?