Flame on

I have a dim shadow of a hope that one day I’ll crack this journal open and write something really happy and positive.  Today is not that day.

Well to start the shit storm off right, last week we hit a horde of ghouls.  They were all inside a church nearby a gas station we were scraping for supplies.  Sticky was outside syphoning gas when they spotted him.  (Now, this is where movies and video games get people into trouble with zombies.)  Sticky sees the horde and launches a bucket of gas at them, followed by a zippo.  I can’t fault him for it, I think most people would have done the same.  However, a hungry flesh-eating zombie cares about fire the same way he cares about what you’re wearing when he bites you.  The only difference in the bitter end: instead of a mob of zombies you now have a flaming mob of zombies, hungry as ever.  Good for you.

I imagine Sticky saw that scenario playing out differently.  We got back to the truck in time to get a few shots off, grab about half our supplies and run.  The two dozen flame-engulfed zombies overran the truck and gas pump, igniting everything in their path.  The truck went up in a blaze along with the whole fucking gas station.  We managed to get a distance between us with the fire slowing them down, looking back only to shoot the ones still pursuing us.  So now we’re on foot, starving and running out of ammo – again.  We’ve been on the run until yesterday; we found an abandoned bank and sealed up in the vault for the night.  Sticky still can’t get over the fact that his fire tactic didn’t work.

When you stop to think about it, fire is a slow acting weapon.  If there’s a horde unaware of your presence and you lob a molotov at ‘em from a safe distance, they won’t have any idea they’re on fire, much less where it came from.  Then you sit back and enjoy the musky smell of burning meat-heads.  And plan to be there for a bit.  Zombies don’t cripple over and die when on fire.  They don’t feel pain, so they retain the ability to move until the muscle is complete jerky.

Like flowers at a funeral

What a fucking week.

First off, Sticky was proven wrong about his “zombie cloak” protecting his scent from flesh-eaters.  What a crock of shit.  We were about to check out this grocery store that looked abandoned when Sticky suggests the tar again.  We hadn’t seen so much as drop of blood for days, so I had to consider it.  So here we are all lubed up in this shit, sticky and smelling of burnt coal while we do a perimeter check.  The place was deserted, no electricity, so we go and crack open the sliding glass doors.  What a cluster-fuck.  The in the back of the store stood about fifty lifeless bodies.  Wall to wall ghouls oblivious to the world, and in walk three juicy humans ripe for the picking.  No zombie cloak.  As far as the zombies were concerned, we were dipped in chocolate.

Ya know, there’s a nice little moment you have with a zombie the first time you lock eyes.  It takes about 3-4 seconds before he’ll realize you’re human, especially if you startle one of them.  And in that moment, you have the slight advantage to plan the last minute of your life.

Those doors slid open, and we opened fire into the lot of ‘em before they had any idea.  Tamara was at the truck with the sniper rifle picking off any that got through the door.  After a minute or two, the street filled up and we made a run for the truck.  Thank god that thing has some power, we mowed over half of them driving away.  I still have that fucking tar on my clothes.

I give Sticky shit for using a shotgun, but honestly, it does the job in situations like that.  In close quarters with no need for stealth, the shotgun has the stopping power you need.  Not saying I’m giving up my Desert Eagle, but as long as we’re a team I feel better knowing he’s standing close by.

A Sticky Situation

Now that we’re on the move, the ammo has been draining fast.  It’s like I’m a fucking shit-magnet.  Three separate hordes in the past two days alone.  Food is running out, ammo is finite, sleep is a distant memory…but plenty of Zombies!  That should even everything out, right?

All sarcasm aside, we found another survivor.  I think his name is Steve or Sam or something like that.  We all call him Sticky.

So we stop at a gas station just off I-75 around Valdosta, and as we’re checking the joint for supplies and such…here comes Sticky.  I swear he scared the shit outta Johnny and me.  The guy had (and still has) black tar slathered all over his clothes.  I mean from head to toe.  Guy thinks it keeps the zombies away.

“Man, I’m telling you, it screws with their senses.  They ain’t used to no tar when they be looking for fleshies.  Mock me now but I swear, I ain’t seen a ghoul in days.  This is my zombie cloak. You all best get it good and on ya ‘fore they pick up yer scent.”

This guy cracks me up just by talking to him.  A little paranoid, but lets face it, the paranoid ones are pretty much all that’s left.  I guess you can’t be too safe.  Not saying I’m gonna go bathe in tar, but i like him.  Sticky is kind of a klutz, though.  If he makes it a week without a scratch, I’ll try the tar.

Johnny and Sticky are two peas in a pod.  Or I should say, Johnny likes Sticky.  This morning Johnny went over to Sticky while he was sleeping, grabbed his shoulders and pretended to bite him.  Sticky nearly shit himself when he felt the bite.  I’m surprised we didn’t have a handful of ghouls on us, he screams louder than any girl I’ve ever met.  And he nearly blew Johnny’s head off in the process.  Not something I’d do to a guy I just met in all this shit, but I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.  I can’t remember the last time I had something to really laugh about.

On a technical note, the Desert Eagle has saved my ass over the SMG’s tenfold.  It all boils down to accuracy and stopping power.  The SMG’s use too much ammo; they’re spray ‘n’ pray guns.  The single shots are treated with more precision, hence less ammo is wasted and a headshot is more likely.

God bless rednecks

Finally a break!  Came across a F250 with a full tank of gas, 20 extra gallons in the bed, and last but not least, guns!  This guy had a couple M-16′s, a few SMG’s, a few handguns (including the Desert Eagle), and a sniper rifle.  The Desert Eagle I found in his hand.

His body was propped up against a nearby building, and he had a bite on his left shoulder.  I guess I’m thankful he didn’t blow his brains out all over the truck.  He must have thought someone would find his supplies eventually.  If his face wasn’t blown away, I’d remember it forever.

We got in the truck and the radio was tuned into Jason Parker droning over the Survivor Code.  Johnny thinks we should check it out.  He’s never one for a positive attitude, but he seems chipper now that we have weapons.  If they’re still alive and only a 4 hour drive away, we have to try to find ‘em.  I feel uneasy about this.  We’ve got a vehicle, weapons, and ammo, but something tells me we’re gonna need a lot more.  I hear the zombies are bigger up north.

This Parker guy better be the real deal.

Scarce resources

Dave really screwed us over when he left.  He took nearly half of our supplies.  We’ve hit a few abandoned houses and a gas station since, but nothing to recover the loss.  Only surviving.  Hell, I’ve been defending myself with an axe lately to conserve ammo.  A sword would be better, but I can’t find anything stronger than those decorative ones in the mall.  Might as well use a piece of broken steel, as dull as they are.  What I wouldn’t do for a high-carbon steel katana.  Maybe one day.

To be honest, I can’t blame this all on Dave.  I mean, he took a shitload when he left, but we haven’t had a surplus of supplies since the very beginning.  I remember shooting off round after round not giving a shit about ammo.  Robbie used to shoot anything that moved, then shoot it again for the fun of it.  Then he’d play target practice with the dead ones.  We’d go searching for ghouls just to hand ‘em a lead shower.  We’d toss grenades off the roof just to see how many kills we could get at once.  Yeah, things seemed easier then.  We got into some shitty spots, but it was cool.  It was almost fun.

Sooner or later we’re going to have to head through more populated areas.  Everyone is edgy, cause they know it’s coming.  We need food, we need everything.  I keep having dreams about strolling around a grocery store with a train of carts filled with nonperishables.  I can’t wait ’til we come across an army surplus store or a gun shop.  Shit, I hope I live that long.  Wouldn’t that be something?