The First 30 Days (PUBLISHED)

Nine - Day 5

Using his bat to nudge the door opened, Shawn led our little group into the stairwell. Behind me, Jack clicked on a flashlight and used it to illuminate a section of the pitch black stairs.

The guys had barricaded an office on the third floor, and that was where we were all headed. My shoe in one hand, and the stolen supply of desk snacks in a emptied copy paper box in the other, we descended two levels. They had told me that they had been systematically searching the whole building for food and water, which was why they had been creeping around the top floor.

This descent was somehow still just as creepy as my first trip down the dark stairs, despite having a better flashlight and not being alone. The absolute black both above and below us, caused visions of something just out of view, watching. I was more than relieved to follow Shawn out of that stairwell.

"I'm gonna take a quick look around," Shawn glanced behind himself at us, before winding his way into the aisles of office furniture.

Behind me, I heard the lock on the door click into place.

"We always double check that no one else got in here when we've been on another floor. Can't be too careful." Jack explained when he saw me look his way. "The office we've been using is back here."

I stayed close as Jack led the way to the back corner office. The blinds covering the glass walls had been closed tightly, giving the space the illusion of privacy once we stepped inside. A small sitting area sported a leather couch and a pair of matching chairs. A huge wooden desk had been shoved to the far wall and was covered with the variety of packaged food the guys had scavenged. An office water cooler sat next to the desk, the in use five gallon jug half full. Another, full jug sat on the floor.

I watched as Jack went to the blinds over the back wall and pulled them apart just far enough to watch outside worriedly. "There's a lot of them out there."

I couldn't tell if his comment was meant for me or himself. Dropping my box by the desk, I joined him at the window. Jack was right, the street outside was alive with zombies. The light from the moon was enough to show me just how many of them were actually out there.

How had I managed to make it to the building without being trapped?

Lost in thought about my apparently incredible luck, I didn't notice at first that Shawn had come in the office.

I jumped at his voice. "It's clear out there. Did you lock the door?"

"Yeah."

I heard the office door click softly shut and the lock on it turn, too. "We try to avoid anything that could draw attention."

Realizing that that comment was directed at me, I let the blind close. Nodding, I turned around to face the men. Propping the bat up by the door, Shawn folded his arms over his chest and stared my way. "We stick to one flashlight at night, keep the blinds closed, and try not to make any noise. We didn't really think there was any way for someone to get inside, but you're here, so I guess we were wrong."

"I locked the roof door behind me," I felt compelled to tell him that I hadn't left the door unsecured.

"Good."

"We should check the news again." Jack crossed the room in a few strides and pulled the doors on a cabinet open. Inside was a small flat screen. With a push of the power button, the screen came to life.

"There's still news?" I guess I was surprised to hear it. From what I'd seen, it looked like the city belonged to the dead. I moved closer to the screen.

"Well, there hasn't been anything local for two days. But the last we checked, we could still find working stations from Europe."

The volume was turned down to a level that made hearing the woman speaking almost impossible. The three of us crowded close to the TV, listening to the report.

I had been trapped in my blood soaked bathroom by my roommate for days, spent I wasn't sure how long driving the ravaged streets of the city, and barely escaped a horde with my life; and I still was shocked by what I was hearing on the TV. It really was the end of the world. Every developed country on the planet was losing the battle to control the outbreak. Third world countries had reports of zombies too, but slow news reports from those areas made it hard to determine just how bad things were in some areas of the world.

When the exhausted looking woman on screen reported that the US president was unaccounted for, Shawn reached up and turned the TV off. "Nothing new."

The guys drifted about the room, helping themselves to the sugar overload piled on the desk, and sneaking looks between the blinds now and then. I found myself perched on one end of the couch, thinking about the information that I had been bombarded with.

At some point, the sun rose into the sky, lighting up the office even through the closed blinds. Jack had fallen asleep in one of the chairs, head lolling to the side in a pose that was sure to kill his neck when he woke up. Through the long hours of sitting, I had come to several conclusions.

One, it was a miracle that I was alive. I should have been dead, many times over. And I wasn't about to squander my second chance.

Two, I was glad to have run into the two men. The only thing worse than a zombie apocalypse, was being alone in a zombie apocalypse. Surviving would take a combined effort.

And three, there was no one coming to rescue us.