The Rot: Book 3

Chapter 1

Two weeks. I've been stuck out here all alone for two weeks. Well, At least I think it's been two weeks. Since the world ended and the dead started to return time kind of, sort of, stopped. But, I'm pretty sure it's been two weeks. I don't know. What I do know is that I miss my friends.

You might be asking, "Reid, why are you stuck out in an undead-filled hell world all by yourself? Where did your friends go?" Well, let me tell you.

I was part of a group. There were six of us holed up in an abandoned dentist's office. It was yours truly, Cynthia, Angela, Janice, Nicole, and Mick. After fortifying the building as best we could, we were bothered by this guy named Carter. Real charmer that Carter was. Carter had been following us around, trying to get our supplies, then when he discovered we were hiding out in that office, he wanted that place, too.

Carter was actually luring the dead things to our location. I guess Carter hoped the stenches would take us out, and then he could have the whole place to himself. I don't know why he wanted our shelter so damn bad, either. There are close-out prices on real estate nowadays, so Carter could have had any place he wanted.

My friends and I developed a plan to take out Carter, and it worked. Well, kind of. The plan worked in the sense that Cynthia, Mick, and I dealt with Carter, but in the process of doing so, we alerted a bunch of dead things, and we had to take off from Carter's hideout right away. The problem that the three of us had was that it was pretty much pitch black outside, and we got all turned around by the undead. In the escape, I became separated from Mick and Cynthia. I managed to find a home to hide in for the night, and I planned to head out at the first sign of daylight to try and find them. That's when everything went from shit to shittier.

I had to spend the night in the basement of the home I broke into. I can remember the rest of that night vividly. Sitting on the cold cement ground and listening to all the eaters around me. I kept thinking there were some stenches in the house I was hiding in, but nothing came charging down the stairs to feast upon me, so I could relax for a second or two.

That morning, I was all ready to leave to try and go find Mick and Cynthia. I planned on finding them, and get back to the rest of our group. It all seemed so simple, but of course, the undead assholes had to ruin it like they ruin everything else.

"Damn, it's cold," I grumbled when I stepped back outside. I lost my jacket and axe when we escaped from the dead things the night before. It was just me in my black t-shirt and jeans. I didn't mind being cold too much, but unless I could kill the undead with pocket lint, I needed a weapon. I went back into the house to see what I could find.

I was able to find jack shit in the house. Whoever lived there packed up and took off. There wasn't anything useful left behind at all. Upstairs and down, nothing. There was a couch in the living room to sit on. Sure as hell beats the basement floor.

I sat down and sighed, "Well, this sucks."

The situation out in front of the house wasn't very ideal either. More than a few stenches wandering around out there. I sat and looked at the dead things for a little bit. I really didn't want to, but I was trying to tell if any of them were Cynthia or Mick. Luckily, I didn't see them in that particular group.

I started to think about where I should start looking for Mick and Cyn.

"I don't even know where the hell I am," I thought.

Double-checking the rooms before I headed back out, I noticed that the home next door had a broken side window, and I could see directly into the place.

"Maybe I should try there?"

I mean, the window was already shattered. It was probably broken by the stenches, but that was beside the point. I opened my window just enough to slip outside.