Dannie struggled to fall asleep; the wind beating against the window kept him from finally achieving a well-needed rest. The seasons were beginning to change, with autumn creeping away, allowing winter to slowly take its place. The snow had yet to come, but the short days and longer nights hinted its inevitable arrival. He laid in his room on his mattress, which had now become stained and dusty. A single candle in the center of the room with a flickering flame was all that held the dark at bay. Dannie was huddled into a ball, holding onto as much heat as possible. He began to wonder about the difficulty that lay ahead. His heavy clothing was enough for now.
But as the temperature continued to decline, its sharp sting would soon begin to bite at his body. Scavenging for wood to burn would be dangerous. But the alternative was freezing to death. He sighed at his prospects, but this was his reality now. His 26th birthday was coming up, and it made him sad for a moment. He thought of his family; they all died during the start of the infection. The world had come to an end, filled with the living dead. And those like Dannie, fighting every day to avoid becoming apart of the mindless hordes. In the morning he would make the perilous journey to the hardware store and look for any useful supplies. If he could only fall asleep.
As the sun began to rise, Dannie was awoken by the light coming through the window shades. He forced himself to stand up and stretch. On his way to the front door, he grabbed his pack and some more items. He opened the door and stepped into a pitch-black hallway. Dannie lived on the 15th floor of an apartment building. But without power, the stairwells he used to move around were always void of light. He turned on the flashlight and made his way down the stairwell to the front of the building.
When he was finally outside the hardware store, the sun had finally set. Dannie did not like going into buildings at night, but it was safer than staying outside. He walked up to the entrance, took a breath, removed his knife from its sheath, pushed the sliding door to the side, turned on his flashlight, and entered. As much as Dannie tried to control his breathing, his nerves made it difficult. This was a new location farther than his normal store, which no longer had what he needed. He could already hear the shuffling footsteps and moans of zombies inside. He hoped it was only a few, because any more would be trouble.
He started his hunt; he passed the checkout kiosks, making his way to the aisle. He thought he might as well start with the aisle closest to him. As soon as he entered the aisle, his flashlight revealed two zombies roaming in the narrow space. There were no obstructions on the floor. He approached slowly, making as little noise as possible. When he was within arms length of the first zombie, a petite female with half her face missing. He plunged his knife into her skull. This caused the other zombie, a tall but slender man, to take notice and begin to attack Dannie. He quickly removed the knife and closed the gap. He sidestepped the zombie and kicked the back of its knee. In an instant, it fell to the floor, and Dannie plunged the knife into its skull. He removed the knife and looked around for any zombies that may have approached unnoticed. Nothing appeared as he pointed the flashlight from one end of the aisle to the other. The next five aisles were empty on both sides, but the sixth was a nightmare.
On the left and right, zombies crowded the aisles. Dannie counted at least twelve. Shiiiiiit! he thought to himself. How am I going to kill twelve zombies without causing a swarm? No way I can do this without light; I am dead if I try. He quietly distanced himself and began looking around and saw that this store had a small second-floor office. He had to get up there to camp the night away or risk death. He went up the stairs slowly to not make noise. When he reached the top, he grabbed the door handle and hoped it was not locked. His hand rotated, and to his luck, the knob began to turn. He smiled and almost laughed out loud. He slowly opened the door and pointed his flashlight inside. After inspecting, he froze when his flashlight lit up figures cowering in the corner. It was a girl pointing a gun at him, with another girl hugging her tight. Shiiiit! Dannie thought.
Dannie stood still as he stared at the terrified girl pointing a gun at him. Even though he was worried she might fire at him and alert the zombies down below. He was also shocked, as this was the closest he had been to a girl in years. She was dirty, but he could still see her strawberry blonde hair, grey-colored eyes, and soft facial features. Dannie knew he had to be careful or he was going to get shot. The girl was breathing heavily, and her hands were very shaky. She spoke to him with a broken voice, filled with fear. "Le--av--e, I'll kill you. I won't let you hurt us." Dannie stayed silent for a moment before he replied, "I don't want to hurt you; I came up here to hide from the zombies down stairs. I had no idea you were up here. Please don't fire. I promise I don't want to hurt you. Can I put down my flashlight so the light is not in your eyes?" The girl took a moment before she responded, "slow--ly, I will sho---ot you; I swear I wi---ll."
Dannie slowly put the flashlight on the floor at an angle between them so the light could fill up the room. Now they were both visible in the light. He put up his hands to show he was not holding a weapon. Dannie spoke, "I am not armed; I am just trying to hide like you; all I have is my knife. Also, if you shoot me, the noise will bring the zombies here. If they surround the stairs, no one is getting out of here." The girl looked at Dannie; she had a look of uncertainty. Her breathing had calmed a little, but her hands remained shaky. She replied, "Go somewhere else, please; I don't want to hurt you, but I will to protect my sister." Dannie looked at the other girl that was hugging her; she was shaking; she must be terrified.
He could not see her face, but her hair matched her sisters. So Dannie responded, "If I go back down there, I will die. What can I do to help you calm down so that I can close the door behind me?" The girl shook her head and replied, "I can't trust you; I have to keep my sister safe; please leave, or I will." Before she could finish her words, a zombie in the store nocked over something heavy because it landed with a loud bang. The sound startled both Dannie and the girls. That's when Dannie heard the gun click. He looked shocked at the girl, with her finger having pulled the trigger. Empty, the gun was empty.
The girl began to shake, and tears started to run down her face. She dropped the gun, hugged her sister, and looked at Dannie. "I swear I will take you with me; I won't die like a dog. I will bite your dick and balls off, and you will bleed to death. I will fight until my life has left my body." Dannie moved into the office and shut the door behind him. He turned to look at the girls when he heard the younger sister say, "Katie, I'm scared." Katie looked down and replied, "Don't worry Sarah, I won't let anything happen to you." Dannie kept his distance from them as he sat in the corner near the door. The distance between them must have been ten feet. He took a deep breath and signed with relief. One problem down, one more to go, he thought to himself.
Dannie spoke to Katie, "I really don't want to hurt you; you don't have to be scared. I just need somewhere safe to spend the night, and in the morning I will be leaving." He needed to build some trust with these girls, or they may try to kill him in his sleep. He could now see the younger sister Sarah's face; she shared many of the same features as her older sister. He tried breaking the tension by saying hello, but she did not respond. After sitting in silence for what seemed like hours, just staring each other down. Dannie took out a bottle of water and began to drink when he noticed both girls fixated on the bottle. Upon closer inspection, Dannie saw that both had chapped lips. He spoke to Katie, "Are you thirsty? I have some more water in my bag." He took out another bottle and rolled it to the girls. "Drink; you look thirsty."
Katie and Sarah both looked at the bottle with suspicion, refusing to drink it. Dannie motioned for them to roll it back, which Katie did. He opened it and took a sip, then rolled it back to the girls. He replied, "If it was poisoned, I would have to be really stupid to drink it." Katie and Sarah both looked at each other, then Katie picked up the bottle and slowly drank some. She instantly started to breathe heavily; this was probably the first drink she had in days. She gave the bottle to Sarah; she started drinking in gulps, hardly stopping to take breaths. She gave the bottle back to Katie, and she proceeded to finish the water in seconds. Dannie motioned for Katie to roll back the bottle, which she did. As Dannie was putting it back in his bag, Katie looked at him and simply said, "Thank you."
Dannie awoke suddenly. He did not remember falling asleep; the trip must have exhausted him more than usual. He looked around franticly, as if danger were just inches away. But all he could see as his vision cleared was Katie and Sarah still in the corner. His sudden movement must have scared them, because they both hugged each other suddenly and looked at him with concern. The flashlight was dead, but the light from the office windows lit up the room enough to see. He relaxed after a moment and checked his bag. Everything was still in there. Katie and Sarah had not tried to steal anything during the night. He drank some more water and then took out some jerky to eat. As he was chewing, he looked to the girls; they watched him with eyes wide open. He had a good amount of jerky at the apartment, so he was okay with sharing some.
