Jackson and I had packed up about a week's worth of provisions in what cheap excuses for backpacks the store had to offer, and made our way to the roof of the establishment. During our scavenging we managed to rustle up two more pipes almost identical to the one we had used previously to defend ourselves. The pipes had worked well enough before, so I figured; stick with what works. While on the roof of the store we could see almost all the way around the neighborhood. The zombies had filled the street in front of the store waiting for us to be their next meal. Luckily the creatures didn't seem too smart and their gathering in front of the mart left us plenty of room to escape in the back. The only thing we needed at that point was a plan.
I took a seat on the roof and retreated into myself, deep in thought. I needed to figure out what to do and where to go. There had to be somewhere secluded from all this mess, somewhere the zombies weren't everywhere. There was only one place I could think of. The only place these creatures weren't around every corner. Northern Canada. It seemed like a safe enough place to ride out this storm and yet still be habitable enough to enjoy. I called Jackson over to explain what we were going to do.
"Northern Canada." I told Jackson, "That's where we are going to be safest from these things."
"Alright dude but, Canada has to be, like, a million miles away." He responded. "And where are we going to get the supplies we need to make it there?" Jackson added.
He might have been a complete retard but he did have a good point. We were definitely going to need enough food to make it, along with a good vehicle. Among everything else I just hoped we could find a survivor to help drown out Jackson's idiocy. Then it hit me. There was only one place we could get all of that, the National Guard armory. It would have everything we would need.
"We'll hit the National Guard armory. We might even find survivors there." I stated.
"That's right man, I forgot about that place!" Jackson exclaimed almost too excitedly. "I don't know about taking anyone with us though, I think we make a pretty good team--just the two of us."
I shuddered at the thought of making the twelve hour trip with only Jackson to keep me company. "We'll see what happens," I said, pushing the notion aside. "Let's make our way while the sun is still high in the sky." I said as I started looking for a way down off the roof. "We'll cut through the back yards and take back roads; I think we might run into less of those things that way. Stay alert." I made sure I was looking directly at Jackson for the last part to ensure he saw the seriousness in my face. "Let's move out."
* * *
The day seemed eerie as we made our way down the back roads, towards the armory. I remained quiet most of the time. Jackson just rambled on about himself; the things he liked, his girlfriend, his ex-girlfriends, his friends, his friends girlfriends and his friends ex-girlfriends. It was like listening to a kid with A.D.D. We kept moving, only stopping occasionally, making sure no zombies were around. Sometimes we would catch sight of a small group of the unnatural things and make our way around them. One particular stop will be forever engraved in my mind. One of the creatures appearing to be a young woman was sitting on the ground. In her lap sat the decapitated head of a person, which she stared at, puzzled. She looked as though she was deep in thought. Suddenly, her dead eyes lit up and she began to search the ground, and grabbed a large piece of broken asphalt. She lifted the stone at arm's length and came down hard against the head, cracking the skull open and spilling brain matter over the ground around her. The sight reminded me of a show I had seen, on one of the educational channels, of a monkey breaking open a coconut. That was until she began slurping her decaying meal off the ground then biting deeply into the brain itself. Of course, Jackson puked.
Jackson and I pressed on from there, until we reached a large intersection directly in line with our path to the armory. The crossing was filled with zombies. We quickly ducked into an alley a few buildings away from the junction, taking cover in between some trash bins.
"What do you think we should do?" Jackson asked me in a worried tone.
I had never had to make large decisions like that before. Every time up to that point it had just been common sense or adrenaline making the choices for me. My head began to swim, keeping me from thinking. I wanted, suddenly, to be back at home wasting my life like I was yesterday. No worries and no care. Life had made its own resolutions, though, so I was stuck here now. If I made the right decision then we would have no problems, but if I chose wrong we could die. I had no Idea what to do. I needed somewhere to think. I saw a fire escape attached to the building we were taking refuge behind.
"Let's get to the roof," I said "we will be able to see a lot from up there. Maybe there is a way around."
We made our way onto the roof and looked off the edge down into the intersection. Zombies filled the streets, cutting off any passage across. I couldn't see a way around that wouldn't take the rest of the day, and we sure as hell weren't traveling at night. No ideas for crossing the river of zombies came to mind, so I assumed we weren't going anywhere.
"I guess we'll make camp here. Maybe they'll clear out tomorr…" I began but something hit hard on the rooftop before I could finish. I turned and looked at the ground. There sat a rope with a shoe tied to it. Puzzled, I quickly looked to the roof across the intersection from us. There on the other roof sat two men and a woman. A wave of relief washed over me like a warm rain. My worry left me not just because I was glad everyone hadn't been killed by those things but, also because I wasn't alone with Jackson anymore. I had to hold back the tears of joy.
