Preparation

[Part 2 of....]

I could almost taste the metallic sting of iron with their blood pooled at my feet. I looked over their bodies one last time, as I tried to ensure myself they would stay dead. The police would not come. All over the city those less fortunate than myself were succumbing to the undead. I was alive, but I was alone for now.

Underground websites posted suspicious videos, horrifying pictures, and dark tales of the dead rising. The images filled my dreams for weeks prior to this day. When my neighbors started getting ill was when I decided to take action. In my apartment complex, I had six allies. For the sake of my sanity, I made them promise to a pact. When I send out the distress text we all meet at my place. In my mind we were under siege already. While they went about their business for the next few days, I stopped sleeping. I spent my time buying all the food I could. I started identifying which of the tenants were removed to quarantine, so I could break in to their houses and take whatever supplies were to be had. At work I spent most of my time pretending to do work, so that I could have access to their machinery.

I was 5 miles away from my stronghold. While my comrades awake from their slumber to my mass text, I will have to make the trek. While they panic, I will fight.

The cache I stored away at work was going to have to get me home. I had shoulder length Kevlar sleeves from the welding crew. I had a surgical mask and goggles from the painters. The riggers had a weapon suitable for me after minor adjustments: a 6 foot long pry bar with a sharpened flat on one side and a spike on the other. Most of my work that week went into crafting a riot-style shield out of a half-inch thick polycarbonate sheet. I put a generous number of steel bands into it with rivets for extra support. As a back up weapon, I took the fireman's axe from the pump room.

I strapped the shield to my back and made my way into the night on foot. As I quietly walked I actively worked on getting accustomed to the weight of my new gear. The pry bar was not as balanced as one would hope for, but its titanium alloy was light and cut through the humid air. My preparation did not go as deep as my sleep deprived paranoia led me to believe. I had fought one of them...Jim...How many would I encounter in the next few hours? The weight of this new arsenal on my large frame was nothing compared to the fear shooting through my nerves.