Survivors

Another Town, Another Train

God, what I wouldn't give for a working music player to listen to some disco in this hellscape.And not getting kicked out of every group of survivors I meet. But mostly the disco.

I haven't seen a human soul for ages. Not uncommon these days. Big cities, anywhere with lots of travel hubs, those went shit-bananas first. Anywhere with lots of people got lots of zombies. So if you're way out where you don't see one, you don't see much of the other either.

Except humans hunker down and try to make a home if they can. Zombies just keep going, chasing whatever last stimulated their senses even if they don't remember it anymore.

I wonder if zombies have favorite songs. Hm.

I pretty much do the same thing now, looking for someplace new, something new. Lately I'm following a deer.

I catch up to it, try to sneak up on it. It looks around nervously at just the right time, spots me, bolts. I bolt after. I'm a good runner, but not deer-fast. It's out of sight soon, but I can still smell it, and hoof prints are easy to track in the snow. I slow down to a jog and keep that pace for days.

The forest breaks into hilly pasturage. It's pre-dawn, most of the valley in shadow, a line of orange cutting across the distant tree tops. The deer's trail leads through the fields.

You can tell which farms did better. If the farmer kicked the bucket, there are herds of skeletons in the snow. If the farmer wised up, or someone else wise enough came by, the fields are empty. Lotta people stole horses when the gas stations dried up. Lotta people took a cow or a goat here or there.

Either way, nothing else left hoof prints here except that deer. Easy.

The tracks are getting shifty. Looks like it stumbles, falls over sometimes. I feel bad for it. I don't like to torment prey, I just wanna get it over with, but I missed that opportunity.

I find the deer asleep in a cluster of trees next to a frozen creek. I hop the creek. The deer wakes up, tries to jump away, flings itself into the low branches of the closest tree and flails around like it's possessed. It's hopelessly exhausted and disoriented. I run in and go for the throat while it's kicking and bleating.

Just as I latch on, it pulls free of the branches and runs, dragging me after with my arms around its neck. Not for long. It goes down after a few moments, dead after a few minutes. I could leave it alive, but who knows when I'll get my next meal? Maybe coyotes'll eat the leftovers so it won't go to waste. I leave the deer's corpse behind as I head for the nearest farmhouse. Might find some lootables.

Sun's rising by now. The valley glows. The first house has its door broken in. There's not much left after whoever looted it already. Empty cupboards, dirty old furniture, framed family photos hanging on the walls.

As I pass by the dark barn, I hear something moving around inside. I stop, looking over. The morning light is coming through the hayloft at the back, casting a slanted silhouette against the wall, just barely visible through the seams of the wood.

"Hello?" I call.

Something snorts. The shadow shifts, then heads for the open barn door. I stand still, waiting. After a second, a cow peeks curiously out and looks at me. I guess not everything got stolen or eaten out here.

The cow eyes me over suspiciously before walking out, head bobbing, sizing me up, sniffing in my direction. Then it walks up and shoves its big snout right into my hand.

"Uh. Hey there." I let it lick my hand. Probably looking for oats or something. As I'm considering whether or not to eat it now or come back later, a tinier one comes out of the barn, a wobbly little calf. It keeps its distance, then skitters back into hiding. Must've been born after the zombies came, not used to people.