End of the Suburbs

Chpt 21: Donnie: Outside Alone

??? Days ago

I lost track of how many days it's been since I left the township.
It's hard to keep track of the days.
Pete sacrificed himself to save me.
I can still picture his face when I close my eyes.
I'm still going west.
I move in the day and hide at night.
That was one of the first lessons we learned in survival training.
I don't know where I'm going but I know I can't go back home until I find food.
If I don't then all of this would've been pointless.
I follow roads and end up in a city.
There must be someplace here with food.
The buildings look old.
The place is quiet except for the sound of wind blowing the leaves.
I see a tall building in the distance.
If I can get up there and to the top I can find someplace that has food.
The building is about 2 miles away.
I kick off and let my skateboard do most of the work.
I have to conserve energy.
Even with rationing food I've only been eating one meal every other day.
I make it to the building quickly.
It's dark.
There's no electricity.
I pull out a torch from my bag and light it.
I have to find the stairs.
I walk the first floor of the building until finally I see the sign that says s-t-a-i-r-s on it with a man walking up stairs.
That's the door.
I kick up my board and rush over to it.
The door is jammed.
I step back and kick.
It opens.
The sound of metal echoes through the halls.
I walk in and shine my flare up.
The light won't even reach the top.
I have a long way to go.
I pace myself.
Alex taught me that if it's hard to get there then there's a better chance that you're the first one there.
Hopefully that's true.
I'm running low on everything.
Stair after stair.
It gets to the point where my body is moving on its own.
I'm mindlessly climbing.
I finally reach the top.
The door is open.
The halls look like they've been barely touched in years.
I slide my mask over my face.
There's a lot of desks and tables and chairs with wheels.
I hop on one and slide around.
I find a machine with a huge tank of water.
It's nearly full.
I fill up every bottle I have and there's still some left over.
I have to leave the rest behind for now.
I start to head back to the stairs when I pass a room.
There's a refrigerator inside.
Jackpot.
I rush over to open it.
I shine the light inside and it's filled with the most vile disgusting rotten food.
The smell was strong even through the mask.
It looks like it went bad before I was born.
I slam it shut.
I check the cabinet and fine a few cans of canned meats and bags potatoes chips.
This will keep me from starving for a while.
At least until I find a river.
Once I fill my bag with the food I head to the stairs to go up to the roof.
I still need to see where I'm going.
I have no map or compass.
I've only been using the sun for directions.
I look out over the city.
I can see in the distance theres water further west.
If I get there I can fish.
Hopefully that'll last me until I make it back home.
I go back to the stairs.
Going down is quicker than going up.
A could floors down the torch dies.
There's no point in lighting a new one.
I might need it later.
Alex taught me to never use supplies unless you have to.
All of a sudden I hear the echoes of a growl.
Something is here with me.
It's above me.
I'm in complete darkness.
Lighting a torch now would give away my location.
I have to run and hope it's far enough that I can get away.
I hold the railing guiding my hand across to know when to turn.
There's growls above again.
I can't really tell but this time seems closer.
I hurry.
I finally make it to the ground floor.
After being in complete darkness, the little light shining in through the windows is enough to see.
I hurry and slam the door behind me and run towards the exit.
Before I can get there the door to the stairs crashes open.
I duck into one of the rooms.
I peer back out to get a glimpse of the meanest most gruesome creature.
He used to be a man.
Now he's *infected*
His skin is blistered.
His teeth and nails are long like an animals.
His hair is wild.
He opens his mouth wider than humanly possible and lets out a roar that sends a shiver through me.
He starts to sniff the air like he's looking for something.
Me.
He's hunting me.
I slip back inside and close the door.
I hold the handle so it doesn't click.
I drag one of the chairs to block it.
When I move the chair I'm carrying it carefully to make sure not to make a noise.
It's heavy.
My arms give out just as I get it to the door and the chair drops making a quiet thud on the floor.
He heard it.
Everything turns quiet.
I press the chair against the door tightly and run.
There's a window leading outside.
There's a shelf near it.
I slide it away from the wall and tip it over
It shatters the glass.
In that same moment theres a pounding on the door.
It hold for now.
It won't last for long.
I climb over the shelf and out the broken window jumping down to the street outside.
I throw my skateboard down and hop on.
I pump with everything I have.
I have to get away.
If he catches me I'm dead.
I make it a few blocks before I hear a loud screech.
He's still after me.
I start to pump harder.
I hit gravel.
I fly off of my board and face plant.
The wind is knocked out of me.
I gasp and cough trying to breathe.
The roar gets closer.
I turn and see it leaping to the street sight.
I swings from post to post.
I get to my feet and run to my board.
It's only a block away.
I have to keep moving.
I'm back on my board pumping as hard and as fast as I can.
If I slow down then he'll catch me.
I turn of onto a side street.
Then something hit me.
It knocks me off my board.
I look and it's him.
The monster standing over me.
I start to beg and cry.
There's nothing human in his eyes.
I'm a goner.
All of a sudden something hits him.
It was a water balloon.
Immediately he starts to scream as if his skin is melting.
This is enough distraction for me to crawl away.
I rush towards one of the buildings.
The door is barricaded from the inside.
I turn just as the monster starts to come after me again.
Another water balloon flies and hits him in the chest.
It screams.
This time I can see it came from above.
I run past to grab my skateboard and hop on it.
The water doesn't stop him for long.
"This way."a voice says.
I turn and see a man.
He's wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and big heavy boots.
His clothes are raged.
His hair is long and beard bushy.
The strangest thing is his weapons.
It's a long thin stick.
On the end of it is a long curved blade.
I run towards him.
I'm not sure if I can trust him, they taught us that strangers on the outside can be even more dangerous than infected, but right now I have no choice.
I run behind him.
He grips his stick.
The monster charges towards us.
"Put your mask on."he says.
I raise my mask to cover my face.
The monster dives at him.
He dodges.
With one swing he cuts the monster in half.
It doesn't die.
Even with half a body it's still clawing towards us.
The stranger swings again stabbing it in the head.
It's dead now.
I stand in a safe distance.
The man raises his weapon.
He pulls out a cloth and wipes the blood off.
"That was....AWESOME." I yell.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" I ask.
"This isn't a game." he says.
He pauses for a second looking off into the distance.
Without saying a word he turns and walks away.
"Wait." I call after him.
I rush and catch up with him.
"What's your name?" I ask.
He walks forward barely acknowledging I'm there.
"I'm Donnie." I say.
"We have to get out of here. There's more nearby."he says.
He speeds up his pace.
I hop on my skateboard to keep up.
"Do you have a car?"
"Where are you going?"
"How far is it?"
"What kind of weapon is that?"
"Are you a scavenger too?"
"What township are you from?"
"Can I come with you?"
I ask a bunch of questions.
Partly because I want to know but also because it's been days since I've seen or talked to another human.
It's too bad this guy isn't much for conversation.
He finally turns and tells me to be quiet.
I stop talking.
I hop off my board and start to follow on foot.
We walk for what feels like 7 hours.
It was probably closer to 2 or 3.
We finally reach open land outside of the city. There's a river not far.
"Leo."he says.
His name is Leo.