2 Hours Ago, Three Towers Apartment Complex, Fifth Floor, Unit 507

“I’ve been watching all the videos online showing these...zombie things. It’s...gruesome,” Sylvia winces at the memory before continuing, “It seems like they’re pretty clumsy and attack people by biting or grabbing a hold of people. Do you think… you can handle that?”

“Of course. As long as I don’t get surrounded I should be fine.” Austin says confidently.

“I’m... scared. What will happen to us? Are we going to die?” Sylvia asks shakily.
We’re going to die we’re going to die we’re going to--

“No, we aren’t going to die. We’re smart, healthy, and have things we can use to survive.” Austin says calmly.

“We have those bins filled with water right? Just in case the power goes out due to some freak accident? And all that non-perishable food that I blew my debit card on ever since we even heard about this?” she looks at Austin with wide eyes.
Somehow I don’t really believe we’ll survive. We’re pretty powerless. It’s not like we could wave a hand and all the zombies would be magically gone. And they’re just going to keep coming and something will give and it’s certainly not those zombies.

“And all the portable batteries that we’ve fully charged, we’ll be fine.” Austin says reassuringly.

“Do you think I should go around buying food off of people? Or bartering? I don’t think they’ll part with it as easily anymore now that well, those things are around. Of course, there might be one or two that would be willing to part with it if they think this isn’t going to last,” Sylvia remarks.

“Trying to buy more food could be a good idea. But if we ever need to leave the building, we won’t be able to carry it all with us.” Austin points out.

“Why did this happen? Because of China’s selfishness of wanting to preserve its reputation and secrets, this has spread too far and too wide! And we all know how devastating viruses are now with easy travel and densely populated areas,” Sylvia wails. Stupid society.

Still leaning against the window, Austin turns to placate his friend. “Shh, it’ll be okay. As long as I’m here, you won’t have to worry about anything.

“Hold me?” I want to believe that. I really, really want to believe that.

Austin hugs Sylvia.
She closes her eyes and falls asleep, exhausted. Nightmares had been plaguing Sylvia’s dreams lately and preventing her from getting a good night’s rest.

Austin leans his head back on the glass, looking out the window down at the street. A crowd of figures, almost certainly zombies, had gathered outside the apartment. If he looked closely, some figures appeared to be moving much faster than the others. Some of them... can run? This could be harder to deal with than I thought.

He leaves the window, walking back the the dining table where he was busy crafting protection for himself. Heavy duty electrical cable, the kind one would use to power a TV at an event, was being meticulously cut into differing lengths, ranging from over a foot to eight inches. He cut a few and laid them side by side. “This should work.” He says with satisfaction. He puts on the jacket he was going to improve and starts laying the electrical cable onto his left arm.

Austin had prodded her awake earlier, so now Sylvia was working on it as well, modifying her own jacket. She glanced over at Austin’s progress, “Am I doing it right?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Here, can you help me with mine first? I don’t have the hands to do it on my own.” Austin asks.

“Sure,” Sylvia goes over and helps attach the cable on his jacket, “Do you think this’ll slow me down a lot? Because one of my strengths is dodging with my speed.”

“It might be too heavy for you yeah. This might be for me only then.”

“Bleh,” Sylvia removed the modifications she made on hers.

“I told you that you shoulda gotten stronger.” Austin teases.

“Urghhhhhh. No one really expects to have a zombie-virus-apocalypse-thing pop out of nowhere. Well, from China technically. Because everything is made in China and apparently this virus isn’t an exception.”

“Best to be prepared, right? Anyways, lets finish this as fast as possible, we might not have that much time.” Austin inspects his left arm. Sturdy loops of electrical cable was wrapped all the way down his arm and secured with duct tape. As the cable was side-by-side but cut into individual lengths, they didn’t constrict his movement.

“Do you think we should glue it down as well?” Austin asks.

“With what glue? I doubt Elmer’s glue would help you, unless you wanted glue sticks?” Sylvia looks at Austin with a side glance.

“Don’t you have like a glue gun or any stronger glue? “

“Well… I believe I have a small glue gun from the time I had to make a project for...something,” Sylvia mutters.

“Great! A thin line under each loop would secure it much better.”

“Alright, while I go hunt the elusive glue gun down, can you think of modifications I could do that wouldn’t slow me down too much?” Sylvia asks as she searches around the apartment.

“Yeah sure. Oh! From this one novel I read, they used carpet coats. They taped sections of carpet around their arms and legs to stop zombies from biting through.”

“How effective is that in real life though?” Sylvia finds the glue gun and hands it over to Austin.

“Heck if I know. At least we have carpet?”

“What about cardboard then?”

“They might be able to bite through that though.”

“What if I weave it then? Like take long cardboard strips and weave them over and under one another?”

“I have no clue.”

“The problem is I don’t have enough information on them, such as how hard they can bite, what senses they’re using to perceive us, etc.”

“We should at least be able to stop a full-strength human bite. I mean, this is protection against other people too, like baseball bats and knives and stuff.”

“Ha. If I have to fight someone directly, I’m screwed.”

“Well then you can run away without dying on the first hit.”

“One of my problems with carpet is that it’ll absorb all the blood. All of it. Like, why?”

“Turn it inside out then? Besides, it should be covered with duct tape anyways. No blood would get in.”

Sylvia sighs and stares balefully at the carpet, “How are we going to get this stuff anyhow? Knife a section of it out?”

“...I don’t see how else.” Austin gives a blank look to Sylvia.

“...I’ll just help you finish yours first so you can help me get this carpet stuff. I don’t have the strength to get it out most likely.”

“Alright.”

Austin and Sylvia continue working on modifying the jacket, glueing and taping down electrical cable all the way up his arm to the top of his shoulder. Longer cables went from his back over the shoulder and to the middle of his chest. Weaved into the cables along his chest and back were horizontal loops about his midsection, while around his neck went more loops, attached to the jacket’s high collar. This is going to be really hard to take off...But hey staying alive is more important than staying clean, and I don’t sweat that much anyways.

Austin’s jeans underwent a similar treatment. As the knees needed full range of motion, he had to make do with extra strips of duct tape instead. Once done, he put on his hiking boots, ensuring that his pant leg overlapped his boots so no space was exposed even when crouching. He put on his gloves and attached them to the sleeves with a strip of duct tape as well. All the cables and tape made him feel weighed down, but it was a comforting feeling. He felt protected.

Black electrical cable covered in dull grey duct tape covered every inch of the jacket’s back, arms, chest, and neck. The only exposed areas were the armpits and the crook of the elbow. Exposed patches of cable were left on purpose to allow for a pseudo clip system, where Austin had slid two small flashlights, his trench knife, and two other kitchen knives. A flashlight and a knife was on each side of his thighs, and reversed by his boots, on the inside of his legs. On his chest was the trench knife, within easy reach.

“How do I look? Any gaps?” Austin asked, bouncing lightly. This was some heavy stuff. He liked the added weight he felt when he punched the air a few times experimentally.

“Not that I can see, no.”

“Great. Now for your armor.” Austin smiled.

“I was thinking, it probably would be a very bad idea to wrap carpet entirely around my arms. My arm strength would give out quickly. So how about making arm guards instead using carpet, and then an added layer of woven cardboard?” Sylvia asks.

“I’m not sure the cardboard would do anything, but sure. Just around the forearms right?”

“The outside part of my forearms and upper arms.”

“What about your legs?

“My legs are much stronger, so they could handle it without a huge decrease in speed,” Sylvia replies, “But the lighter the better when it comes to me.”

“Okay. Let’s get to work then.” Austin grabs a boxcutter and carves out a large square of the carpet. “I’m sorry about your carpet...”

“It’s fine. You can always replace carpet but you can’t replace lives. I’ll go grab some sturdy cardboard and begin working on that,” Sylvia comments.

Sylvia obtains some cardboard and starts meticulously cutting them into strips. Placing a column of strips on the table, she starts threading the other cardboard strips under and over while making sure her handiwork was as tight as possible.
Austin cuts the carpet to length and closes it around Sylvia’s legs, cuts it a bit more, the wraps it snug with duct tape. He does the same with the other leg , then both of her forearms.

“Did you want this for your torso too?”

“Whatever you think is best. My torso can handle the weight too,” Sylvia says while adding duct tape to the cardboard construct to make sure it didn’t fall apart.

“Maybe just your shoulders and neck, they are the easiest to bite besides your arms and legs.”

“You said that this was also protection against other people, right?”

“Yeah, but nothing will stop a bullet, and carpet won’t stop a knife either way. Maybe stop a knife slash, but you could just dodge it.

“Alright, true.”

Using thinner strips, Austin tapes carpet along Sylvia's neck and shoulders, layering them so that it didn't impede movement. Just by looking at the silhouette, one could mistake it for real armor.

While Austin was doing that, Sylvia securely attaches the cardboard to the carpet on her forearms and upper arms with a combination of hot glue and duct tape. Tapping the makeshift arm guard, Sylvia states, “Feels sturdy.”
She moves her arm around, “And not too heavy.”

“Perfect! Hopefully we’ll never have to see if it works.”

Sylvia shudders at the prospect, “I’m going to rest a bit more, I’m tired. Sit near me? I’ve always been bad at falling asleep but this is an all-time low.”
She takes off her jacket and lays on the bed.

“Of course.” Austin sits on Sylvia’s bed, resting her head on his lap.

Her muscles relax and she soon falls asleep.

Austin watches over her sleeping form fondly.

Present Time, Three Towers Apartment Complex, Fifth Floor, Unit 507

Where is that helicopter...” Austin mutters, peering out the window, trying to angle his head to get a glimpse. He’d been craning his head to get a better look at it ever since he heard the unmistakable whirring. If that’s a rescue or supply helicopter, we can’t afford to miss that.

A bright light whizzes past his field of view, shortly followed by a massive shockwave that Austin could feel shaking the entire building. Austin presses his forehead up against the glass the moment the shaking ended. Did the helicopter just drop that bomb-missile-whatever the fuck?!

“Fudge!! What was that?!” Sylvia exclaims while jumping at the noise.

Screeching noises, like a firework in flight, followed shortly after. This time, Austin was able to follow the rockets with his eyes, watching as the horde of bodies on the street were torn apart by the continuous explosions. A muted buzzing sound accompanied the torrent of bullets the cleaned up the remnants of the horde.

“Auuugh,” Sylvia says, covering her ears. Is the world ending or something?

“HAHAHA YESS!!!” Austin exclaims as he looks down at what was left of the street. “Sylvia, a military helicopter just destroyed everything down there!! We should go see if the lobby is secure now.”