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  I open the back of the car and step away as he indicates me away from the car. He looks into the trunk space which is completely empty. Walking around he checks through the windows seeing the cabin and back seat are also empty of supplies as well.

  "Guess you really don't have anything. Car is better than nothing though" he says with a grin. "Hand over the keys" he slowly raises the gun pointing at me.

  I look around in desperation "It's all I have? I'm screwed without it." continuing I say "And all these cars around us. you have no need for mine!" He laughs "Gas is in limited supply these days. Easier to get new cars then find good gas." He lifts the gun higher pointing at my head. "Give me the keys and you can walk away without a hole in your head"

  I pull the keys out of my pocket slowly holding my hand towards him.

  "Toss 'em over," he says.

  I comply, tossing the keys at his feet.

  "Good now get out of my sight before I change my mind," he says as he stoops to pick up the keys.

  I look around at the three of them surrounding me and begin walking back up the street I came from. A road with fast food and other small business on either side. 'Fuck what now? I can make it to the house on foot but without a car how will we get around, maybe we won't need to. I can always try finding a new car.' I look around and begin checking the vehicles around me as soon as I am out of sight of the men with guns. The cars are all locked or unlocked but no keys. Too bad hot-wiring cars was never something I learned. I

  give up on finding a car and with the sun beginning to go down and with it visibility I make my way to the Wendy's. The place is locked down but the drive-through windows are easy enough to force open. The place is clear of dangers, The place denies my largest reason for selecting this place. It has been cleaned out of any viable food. It's going to be a long night I think as I eat my last running energy gel from my vest pocket. Tasty as the vanilla bean is it's not going to hold me over and I'm down to half a bottle of water, I estimate four ounces. I move a cabinet and block off the small cubby of the drive-through area settling in for the night.

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  Chapter 11

  "James has been gone since yesterday evening. I hate to say it but he isn't coming back. The zombies must have got him." Adam says after a sleepless night waiting up watching for James's return. He is sitting in the living room watching out the window for James. Still hoping he comes home after luring the zombies away.

  "No he's OK and he'll be back soon," Sarah repeats. The same phrase she's been saying all night.

  "I hope so," Adam says and nods as he gets up. "I'm going to check out the barn. It's been half a day we need to start preparing to actually live here."

  Adam leaves the room through the backdoor. He is heading to the barn now free from zombies. The doors are still hanging open from when James lured the zombies out. He starts with a walk around the perimeter. At the back of the barn sits a large white tank. On a closer look at the label on the side, it's filled with a bunch of warnings. Warnings about flammability and chemical stuff. But what sticks out to Adam are the words unleaded gasoline and the capacity amount of 550 gallons. Tapping on the tank it sounds full. 'Just need a new car now or for James to come back with his' Adam thinks. Stepping into the barn a large tractor sits in the center. Surrounding it are various farming attachments. Only one of which Adam can put a name to, a tiller. The rest of the barn is mostly empty space. Stepping back out into the early morning light. He looks down the driveway toward the street wandering once again, what happened to James. Distracted only by his growing hunger.

  Other than my ravenous hunger. And the uncomfortable conditions of the night on a cold tiled floor. I managed to sleep like a baby throughout the night. Now awake and feeling rested I decide the first plan of the day is food and water. I double-check the Wendy's and found nothing. Across the street is a jiffy lube and an idea comes to me. I'm hoping whoever is looting this area didn't think about the vending machines. I walk into the waiting area of the shop and my luck wins over. Two glass-fronted vending machines sit in the corner. One filled with snack foods and the other filled with drinks. Grabbing a hammer from the garage. I break open both cases and start pulling out honey buns and granola bars by the handful. Halfway through my second honey bun, I realize I need protein. Thankfully the machine is stocked with snack-size packages of nuts. After eating my fill. I search out a bag from the store to fill with food and drinks. I can carry much more in a bag than what I can hold in my hands. Ending up with a canvas messenger style bag I find in the back office.

  Now that I've finished eating. I fill my water bottles and stuff food into the canvas bag. If I eat sparingly I can make the food last a couple of days at least. Which means I can make it to the farmhouse on foot. Having settled my stomach and food plans I leave the Jiffy Lube. And begin to make my way down the street. Keeping close to the side it doesn't take long for me to get within eyesight of the roadblock. My car is nowhere in sight. Not that it matters if they have guns, I don’t. W hat would I do? Regardless I kneel down near some bushes and watch for a while. It takes about two hours but finally I see movement and someone slipping into a car near the roadblock. The car begins moving down the road toward me. 'Oh no!' I think, quickly ducking behind the bush. The vehicle drives pass and turns at the next intersection. The vehicle itself is a silver Toyota sedan. I don't know cars very well but I recognize the emblem on the back as Toyota. I make my way to the intersection and the silver car has vanished from sight. The road is void of life and movement. It only took me a few seconds to make it to the intersection. It couldn't have gotten very far so it must be sitting at one of the shops or businesses along this road.

  My mind made of up its own accord. I'm going to find where they're holed up at. I can live without my car but I'm getting some sort of revenge for them stealing my car. I move to the left side of the street. Working my way down, building by building looking for the silver car and or any other people. I find the car sitting alongside the building at the far end of the street in the corner lot. The business looks to be an office building. A four-story square cube of a building with front, side and back doors. I choose the fruit smoothie place across the street from the office as my stakeout location. I make myself comfortable inside and even found some bananas that were still good. Well good in the sense they are edible. A week sitting out leaves them more than a little brown. I settle into the shadowed corner with my banana mush. Settling in for a long watch of the office building across the street. The front windows of the smoothie shop gives me a great view of the building. Through the day I see men come and go twice and near sundown, a handful of them appear at once heading inside. Apparently done with their day's work of pillaging and robbing folks. I've still not decided what I'm going to do but after nightfall, I'm making my move.

  Sun is down in full now. Crescent moon casting only a minimal light on the world around me. I wait an hour after the flickering lights in the windows on the third floor of the building go out. I leave my position in the smoothie queen's dining area. Moving my way outside and circling the street so as to come up onto the office space from a more concealed route. Making it to the building I circle the perimeter finding a group of cars parked behind the building. Crawling up to the cars on hands and knees specifically aiming for mine. I find it unlocked but the keys are not inside of it. Of course, I left my spare key at home too. Looks like I'll need to go inside for the keys if I want my car back. Trying to be cognizant of windows. I end up crawling up to the building from an angle of the lot to the corner of the building. Crawling around to the windows. I try peeking in several of them but it's too dark to make anything out, giving up. I head to the back door. Testing the handle I find it's unlocked. 'These guys really don't like using locks for anything it seems. Hope they're dumb enough not to have a guard watching the doors too.' I think as I open the door, Opening it with a hand on the bottom of the door. I open it wide enough for me to slip in but don't go in yet. I wait outside the door ju
st holding it open and listening. Waiting for any sort of alarm. Hoping someone isn't there waiting for my head to pop into view before shooting. I peek into the opening and duck my head back away. all I could make out was a dark hallway with doors on both sides. It looks to be empty of people but with how dark it is, I can't know for sure. Swallowing the lump in my throat I move into the building gently closing the door behind me.

  In the building, I freeze with the closed door to my back. I'm still waiting for an alarm or person or really anything to happen. But nothing greets me and when my confidence is being undetected grows I move. I begin going room to room looking for keys, supplies and I don't really know. I know people are for sure on the third floor. I didn't see anything from the first, second, or fourth floors and If I had to guess they'd keep everything with them. But I search the first floor anyway to be sure. Finding nothing but empty offices I head up the stairs to the second floor finding more of the same. Back in the stairwell at the 3rd-floor landing, I stand with my hand on the doorknob. I can't help but Second-guess what I'm doing. I know there are at least three people and they all had guns. I have only the knife on my belt. What can I do? I hold my breath as I open the door, crouching low I poke my head up at the bottom and peek in. Again there is no one and it's an open area filled with tables and chairs. The room itself is lit well enough from the windows with moonlight. I'm able to make out items piled onto the tables. Looking around the large room there are several doors along my left. Presumably more offices but the entire right half of the floor is open space. I squat there overlooking the area. 'Could it be possible they're using the table area as storage. And the offices off to the left as impromptu bedrooms? And not having guards or locking doors.' I can't believe my fortune that these guys are this stupid.

  I creep into the room and hug the wall as I make my way deeper. The first three tables I pass are loaded high with canned food. I think real hard about taking some but I have only my hands to carry with and there is far too much for one man to hold. I keep searching hoping to find the keys. At the far end wall opposite from the stairwell I entered from, stands a counter. A counter that lines the entirety of the wall. On this, I find boxes of ammo and a bowl filled with car keys! I estimate seven sets of keys in the bowl. Recognizing mine sitting on top. I reach in grabbing them and sticking them in my pocket. I turn back for the stairs but hesitate before moving. 'fuck these guys' I think as I grab the entire bowl of keys careful not to jostle them. Passing the boxes of ammo on my way back to the stairs I try figuring out a way to take those as well. But there are a dozen boxes and I'm already using both hands for the keys. I continue on my way back. On my way across the room passing the tables with food, something catches my eye from this new angle. I get closer and make out what it is. Small canisters of lighter fluid and lighters. My eyes go wide with the shock of what I'm thinking of doing. 'No I can't set the place on fire, I'm not a monster. But fuck these guys. They asked for it when they robbed me and likely others too or they will. I'd be doing the world a favor. And with them this close to the house they may prove to be a bigger problem later.' I agonize over it for minutes longer before remembering the smug look on the man's face as he pointed his gun at my head. Narrowing my eyes, my mind made up.

  I quickly walk over to the door leading into the stairwell and place the bowl gingerly onto the ground. Rushing back to the table with lighters and lighter fluid. I stuff a couple of lighters into my pockets before taking up a bottle of lighter fluid in each hand. I begin dousing the tables of food and floor around with fluid. Including the carpet linking up the different tables and sections along the ground. Grabbing another two bottles. I move along the doors soaking a long line of the carpet the entire way leading to the stairs. Finally dousing the ammo boxes. And making sure all the different sections link up along the floor. I rush to the stairwell drying my hands off as best I can on my pants. I couldn't avoid getting some on myself. Now standing in the open stairwell door with a bowl of keys in my left hand and a lighter in my right hand. I kneel down flicking on the light and touching the flame to the fuel soaked carpet at my feet. I stay only long enough to watch it race along the floor and up the walls, tables, and doors. I turn and flee out of the building. Not caring about the keys jostling along the way. Making it out of the building and into my car I quickly speed out of the parking lot and away from the building. I don't stick around to watch, I just want to get away .

  Headlights appear suddenly behind me on my way up the ramp to the highway . "Shit" I mutter checking the rearview mirror. Either someone made it out and had keys for one of the cars. Or they had people stationed at the roadblock overnight. Either way, it doesn't matter. They're behind me now. The car catches up to me quickly as I race along. The small four-cylinder engine of my Mazda is not suited well to high-speed chases. I have little hope of outrunning them. They catch up to me in mere moments. They're driving a large beat-up looking pickup truck. I can see two people inside and as they get close the passenger side window rolls down. Out comes a man leaning with a gun in hand aiming at me. 'shit' I think. Swerving away from them toward the far right of the road.

  "Bang" The gun fires followed the back window shattering.

  "Shit shit shit" I'm yelling to myself racing down the exit ramp with them right behind me. More gunshots hit the back of the car and road around me. Coming up to the end of the off-ramp and reaching an intersection I make a sharp left turn. It's a one-way road and narrow enough that the truck is forced to stay behind me. For now, they seem content to follow as no more gunshots have sounded off. 'maybe they're out of ammo' I think.

  The road I turn onto is surrounded by forest on either side. It's a state park based on the sign just now reading Watson Grove State Park.

  'Pop, pop, pop' I think Their patience has failed them. they've been following me along this dark wooded road for five minutes now. Without warning the gunshots start up again.

  With the third shot, my car jerks left with what sounds like an explosion. They must have hit one of my tires. Nothing I can do about that. As the car jerks to the left of the road narrowly missing a tree before I manage to stop the car. I immediately jump out of the vehicle and run off into the woods with nothing but the running hydration vest on me. I hadn't taken it off in my rush to get into the car. The messenger bag of supplies, however, gets left behind.

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  Chapter 12

  I sprint off into the woods. The tree branches whipping and scratching me all over along the way. When I break my way through the growth I hear my pursuers behind me. They are following though from the sound of it not as quickly. During my mad dash into the woods, I trip and fall a dozen times scrapping my palms and knees in my haste. The moon is bright and high in the sky. Casting its faint light through the woods. Just enough to see my way through but the finer details are escaping my sight. I stop to catch my breath now that I no longer hear them behind me, hoping that they've given up. Looking back the way I came I see their flashlights inextricably working towards me. 'Alright calm down. Catch your breath. As long as they have the lights on, keeping track of them and staying clear will be easy.' I think while working making my way deeper into the forest more slowly and cautiously. I'm looking for a place to hide. Or a path doubling back to the road might be a good idea too. There are only two of them, it shouldn't be hard to get around to the road without being spotted.

  " We gonna git you!" One of the men hollers into the woods behind me. "Come on out now, don't make us chase you all night"

  I say nothing continuing to move further into the woods. I stumble onto a small footpath. Not sure what type of animal made the path but I take it at a quick pace anyway. It moves perpendicular to the path the men are following. The lights continue moving through the forest toward where I was. I go three or four hundred meters down and turn back into the brush towards the road. I can still see the flashlights off in the distance just rays of light bobbing between trees. I lose sight of the two and their lights around the same time a
s the road comes into view. Hurrying across the street and into the tree line on the other side of the road. I quickly make my way up the street towards the cars hoping they left their truck running. No such luck the truck shut off.

  Looking up and into the woods from the truck's driver seat, I consider my options. I can either take off on foot and try to make it to the farm without a vehicle. I have no idea how many miles we covered in the chase this option would likely take me hours. plus I don't want to travel by foot at night so I'd need to hide out until morning. My second option is trying to get the keys from the gun-toting lunatics. Definitely not the safest of options. But I don't want to spend what's left of the night out here and I'm pissed they shot up my car. I take my hunting knife off of my belt and into my hand. I walk slowly back into the woods. I've already likely killed a bunch of people tonight, what's two more, besides their hunting me. As far as I see it, It's me or them.

  I'm in the woods now moving up the trail the three of us made running into the woods. I stealthy move from tree to tree scanning through the forest looking for any sign of their lights. Several minutes later the lights finally come into view. They're moving toward me. Just my luck they must have given up and started heading back to the truck. What's more, they're together I'm confident enough to try taking them on one by one but together I have no chance. Thinking quickly I grab a small rock from near the base of a tree and toss it off into the woods near the side of them. They stop in their tracks. They stand listening and shining the lights in that direction but they don't split up. I don't know why I thought that would work. After only a moment they begin walking again.

  'Shit, what now' Thinking hard on how to separate them or if I should hide and let them go. The decision made for me as one of them spots me.