I never thought all that much of Mom before things went to shit. She made dinner, made me brush my teeth every evening and shower in the morning, even if I wasn't going anywhere. Hell, I have no idea why, considering what little I've done for her, but she bought me stuff. Now that she's "gone", shambling around in the locked closet, groaning at the first noise, I might even admit I miss her.
I'm pretty sure I know what's going on.
This may be the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. Seriously, I've trained day and night for this. All those Day Z streaks and Left 4 Dead with the guys has got me prepared to survive, and with all that airsoft, I'm sure shooting up the zed's won't be a problem.
Anyway, among other things, Mom mentioned something about Dad and Sis camping up north. Not that I've seen 'em in years and she was probably delirious from the fever, but it's a start. First though, I'm going to stick around town, see what I can scavenge before heading to Mount Tanner. The gun shop looks like a good start and the owner's kid's been my friend since junior-high.
Well, knowing my way around an outbreak, the gun shop's probably already been ransacked. Though, I'm sure about one thing.
No one ever goes for .22 Long Rifle. The side-streets of the rural town of Spencer's Mill were dead quiet. The usual sound of cars and other methods of transportation had stopped and even birds seemed uneasy about chirping. Didn't change much for Jeff though, as he navigated the side-streets, heading towards the gun shop. He kept a steady pace, doing a mix of a jog and a fast walk, all while trying to make as little noise, and so far, so good. He tightly held his Ruger 10/22 rifle in his hand as he walked, keeping it at the ready in case he was jumped. His jacket rustled somewhat when he moved, due to the empty boxes of .22 Long Rifle rounds and the extra twenty-five round box magazines that he kept in an easily accessible pocket in case he needed to reload.
As he turned a corner, he slowed down somewhat, to quietly observe the street ahead for obstacles and loosen his scarf somewhat. Holding the rifle in one hand, Jeff used his freehand to pull down his beanie. Finally, after making sure that he was well-dressed enough that things wouldn't get in the way and there were no obstacles, he got back into a jog, until he reached a car in front of the gun store, parked haphazardly in the middle of the road. Instinctively, he crouched behind it, using it as cover as he reconed the store. The windows looked to be freshly boarded up, though the door looked to be slightly ajar. As far as he could see, there didn't seem to be anyone watching him, or any zed's, as Jeff liked to call the things that now walked the street, around.
Carefully leaving his cover, he shouldered the rifle with his right hand as he carefully opened the door, as he had practiced many times before. Deeming it safe to enter, he fully opened the door and found that his expectations were confirmed. All of the rifles were taken, same for carbines, SMGs and most of the pistols, only leaving a bit of extra ammo on a shelf. The display boxes had been shattered to get to the weapons, but there seemed to be no blood around, a tell tale sign that his friend had probably left and looters had taken the weapons without trouble. Sighing, the boy grumbled to himself. "Well of course. It's been twelve damn days, of course some other asshole would get before me." He shrugged before putting his weapon down on the counter and closed the door. "Might as well see if they left anything." Removing the flashlight from his jacket pocket, he began his search, rummaging through drawers, searching the floor and grabbing whatever useful stuff he could find behind the counter.
At the end of his searches, he had found little of major importance, save for a Colt Detective Special ("What an antique") chambered in .38 Special which had been hidden under the counter, a box of .22 ammo, a few .38 Special rounds, some gauze and a pack of Kit-Kats. Chuckling, he put the snub-nose revolver in his pocket and made a remark to no one in particular. "Ha, I'm surviving the apocalypse today! Got myself some Kit-Kats!" Before opening the door, he pocketed the rest of his "loot", retrieved his rifle and headed out the door.
Upon leaving the store, the first thing he noticed was the radio tower, a logical observation as it was directly across the street from the store. However, it wasn't the tower in itself that bothered him, but the eerily alive looking figure standing on the platform on top. Immediately, Jeff's first reaction was to hide. He dove behind the same car as before as he eyed the figure.
Shit, I know where this is going. I've played Day Z, that guy's probably a bandit, waiting for me to leave the store before taking my stuff! He readied his rifle and peaked on the sides of the car, waiting for the figure to begin firing upon him. Jeff kept peaking from side to side of the car to try to throw the sniper off, urgently pointing his .22 at him each time. He kept this up for a good minute or so before noticing that the figure not only had a tail, but seemingly no rifle accurate enough to hit him.
Tentatively, Jeff left his cover and shouldered his rifle, and after making a worried 'gulp', he yelled up to the figure. "You there! 'Mind letting me head up there?! Hey, you! You hear me!?" He kept yelling, until he heard a moan to his flank. Turning his head, his eyes wide like a deer in headlights, he was met with an angry looking group of walkers. Gasping, he looked around and noticed groups coming from both ends of the streets.
The gun shop's a dead end, the place's back door's been boarded up. Shit, shit, shit... He began breathing heavily as he looked for a way out before deciding upon the tower. "Alright man, whether you like it or not, I'm coming on up there!" Jeff made a dash for the ladder, holding his rifle under his arm with an iron grip as he hurriedly climbed up, the dead running towards him.
Within a moment, covered in sweat and shallowly breathing, he reached the platform and looked up to meet the figure.