Reminder: this story is not mine, I found it on dev
I will give credits in the end(?)
Travelling this late at night in a zombie apocalypse probably wasn't the best idea, but with my supplies dwindling down to a mere half bottle of water and a handful of bullets, I wasn't going to last much longer. I had no choice. As long as I used stealth, watched where I was going, listened for booming footsteps, choking noises, and that disembodied, obnoxious crying, I would be fine. I have to be careful with how much water I drink, too. Who knows how long it will be before I find another source? It could be at my current destination, for all I know. Or it could be three days after I run out, ya know, when I'm dead or dying.
Luckily, the store I was headed to was just at the end of this block. I slowly stood up to look over the roof of the pitifully abandoned car and down the street. There was no noise besides the sound of the wind blowing between the desolate buildings, carrying light debris such as paper and dust. It was hard to see, but the remaining lit street lamps didn't reflect any movement. I looked back to where I came from, and the limping undead I got past were already off the streets. They probably wandered back into alleyways or something. As long as they weren't there, I felt so much better.
With my surroundings mapped in my head, I began making my way towards the establishment with a flickering, neon sign that used to say "open", but the "e" had long been burnt out. I made sure to stay close against the buildings, as well as crouch when there was too much open space, like the emptiness between each structure. The buzzing of the electric sign got louder and louder as I drew closer. It was such a nice sound, considering what supplies could await you here. Convenience stores always had essentials like canned food and jerky. Things like that could keep for years. Water lasted forever. Literally. But places like this in big cities also kept material things that could be found handy, like batteries, hand tools, and bags.
I was finally at the door. The place looked almost untouched by looters. The virus must have hit this place hard. It was almost unreal. My [e/c] eyes widened with excitement, but I didn't let it get to my head. I had to stay vigilant on my surroundings if I wanted to stay alive. My shaky hand reached for the door handle and I pulled it very cautiously. This place was so run down, I couldn't risk the hinges squeaking or a loud scraping sound from it running across the ground. The glass door was wide enough for me to fit through, but I didn't want to get ahead of myself just yet. I only waited a few more moments, maybe three at the most, just listening to make sure nothing was inside. As luck would once again have it, there was nothing but the sound of my own heart beat in my ears.
As silently as I could, I made my way into the store. To my left were a wall of broken refrigerators. No murmur of a machine running to keep its contents cold. No lights. Just dust covering the glass, but not so much that I couldn't see. At the first one I walked to, bottles of soda lined the shelves of the box. Those weren't going to get me anywhere energy wise. Plus they were most likely flat. The next fridge had energy drinks, and the two after that had beer. I was of age, and one might be nice to take the edge off before I go to sleep back at my shelter. It just wasn't worth the extra weight and bag space. I had my old, school backpack and pockets. That was it. I was here for food, water, and whatever ammunition I may or may not run across. So, stepping over to the last fridge, I finally found water. I pulled the bag off of my bag and opened it, then set it down and loaded up what I could. This was quite a ways out, but there seemed to have enough here for a few more trips. I only filled the bottom one-third of my bag just for the sake of weight. If I had to run, I needed to be light enough to do it.
Next, I went down the isle just in front of the water fridge. Canned things sat on one side, so I grabbed a few canned meats and soups, bringing the bag to a little over half-full. Now I really needed some lighter things to take back. So, to the next isle I went. Thank god there was jerky here. There were only seven packs left, so I went ahead and grabbed them and filled up. I could save those for hard times, like if I had to go find a new shelter.
