November 12th, 2007 (Day 1 Survival)

I was at the grocery store when it all started. As most of you know the infected had already reached here on the east coast but so far our small town was holding its own. We'd have signs of infected but they would be quickly taken care of by what was left of a local law enforcement or some hillbilly with a twelve gauge. Just to be extra safe people stayed home the bulk of the time. Seeing people outside or cars going down the road was almost a fluke it became so rare.

So why was I in a grocery store when the rest of my town was boarded up in their houses, guns at the ready? I needed some supplies... that and the thought of sitting around in my house made me nervous. It felt almost like I was waiting for them to come and get me.

Now I wasn't unprepared mind you, as I almost carelessly wandered the empty grocery store, up and down each isle. I had my father's handgun that I was still fairly new to operating (god rest his soul) and in case there wasn't time for my sidearm I had a three foot metal poll with a hook at the end. It was a tool I used when I worked as a bread man to pull stacks of trays around.

So anyway, I came to the grocery store for supplies, specifically water. I didn't quite trust the city water and the plumbing in our house had eventually stopped working. It all happened pretty quickly... and it kicked off like most horrific events do: with a scream. Startled and surprised by the fact that I wasn't the only one in the store, my attention was quickly diverted from the shelf to the end of the isle where I saw an older woman run past at full speed. I stood there stunned and confused waiting for something else to happen and there it was. I didn't get a good look at first but as it ran by after her it at first looked like a homeless person, dirty clothing and all.

It was mainly curiosity that compelled me to go to the end of the isle and investigate as opposed to getting the hell out of there... what I saw next was something I would find myself seeing a bit more often as time went on. This being my first time though I was a bit stunned and disturbed to see someone hunched over another human being, biting and ripping away at their flesh. Without thinking I made a noise... I can't remember quite what it sounded like... actually knowing me I cursed. If that's the case from this day forward I pledge to curse a little bit less. Whatever the case, the zombie heard me.

After making my presence obvious to the undead being in front of me he quickly stopped what he was doing... and turned his head to look back at me. The site of him wasn't something to behold, as a matter of fact, the site of his blood dripping face froze me dead in my tracks. I guess he was done with his current victim because now his eyes were set on me. As he started to come toward me he began with a slow walk, I leaned my metal hook against the end of the isle and quickly reached for my sidearm, fumbling my fingers over the handle and trying to pull it from its holster. It was stuck, just my luck. At this point he was getting way to close and starting to run. Pulling the gun from its holster no longer became rational. So without thinking I reached over for my pull rod and swung at his head.

With that one good swing the hook managed to catch onto the side of his head and rip clear off his shoulders sending it flying down a check lane. The body stood for a brief second after disconnection and then dropped. A bit shook up I dropped down to the floor and just stared in awe at the lifeless corpse in front of me, more specifically the ZOMBIE corpse in front of me. After sitting for a few minutes gathering my thoughts and shaking off the shock I got back on my feet and started to walk toward the exit, screw the water.

As I walked out of the entrance I saw them. At the end of the parking lot coming over a hill was a horde of the undead, slowly making their way in my direction. It was at this point I decided I was going to need to find out how to get my handgun out of its holster.

To Be Continued...