I was bored watching a bushcraft video on YouTube when the internet suddenly switched off. The lights flickered and I knew something had happened so I woke the girls to get out of here. They complained till I showed them what was going on. I showed them the phones weren't working. The internet is out and the lights are going on and off. This is how attacks happen. This was to shut down all communication. So we can't coordinate. The girls freaked out and tried to call their families but unfortunately nothing worked. I did give a walkie talkie to Irene's mom so we were able to communicate with her. We told her that we were leaving school it is likely to get attacked soon enough. I promised Annie and Daisy that we will get their parents out before we go to safety. They were happy to hear that I gave them instructions on packing their stuff. They quietly packed everything and we walked out holding hands. We walked out and we headed straight to the garage. We looked around for a suitable vehicle and found one. As I opened the door a gentle voice asked why I was out of bed. I turned around to see Cain. I told him what was going on. He stared curiously so I came to tell him but somehow I showed him the situation. He told me to hop in the car and get as far as possible. He told me not to come back since it will become too dangerous. He gave me the car keys and told me to go. I wished him safety and security as we hopped on board. He waved me off and we drove towards the city. We ran out of fuel so I had to get some.
As we got closer to the city limits we heard screaming. Soon we saw people running for their lives. Cars trying to leave and hitting other vehicles. Some tipped over but we kept going till Daisy saw her parents and I drove over the pavement to get their attention. They boarded and we drove to find Annie's parents. As always they were bickering and soon the father pushed the mother away before he boarded a different vehicle. He left her for dead. I drove close to her and Annie opened the door to let her in. We drove to find Koralina and her sister. The ride there was difficult as people tried to jump on our vehicles so we had no choice but to take a different route. Thankfully they were waiting for us as others ran like crazy. They climbed on board and I asked Karolina for the walkie talkie. Irene and I switched places as she drove the vehicle. I switched channels till I found mom on the other end of the line. I explained where I was. So mom and Batou instructed me to go to the woods since it was the only safe haven left. Batou has a cabin there. I told them that I will drop my friends there and come get them. Batou told me not to but I told them that I am not losing family members. Batou said that they were on duty. I reminded him that we are in a zombie apocalypse. He was declared off duty the moment the pandemonium began. So he and mom promised to meet there but I wouldn't have it. I directed Irene to their location. I ordered them to board the car. The thing was already filled to the brim. They told me to get out so Sonja asked me to force them. They were shocked to hear that. Mom tried to argue but before I used hypnosis there was an explosion. So Batou sat in the driver's seat with Irene and mom sat shotgun with me.
We drove till we reached the outskirts. As we drove away we saw a military convoy that seemed endless. Mom saw Shaw and she instinctively waved her hands. He was busy spaced out so he saw nothing. I used the walkie talkie and found the channel he was using. I gave her the device and she had a heartfelt conversation. Shaw asked her if she was out of the city. I retorted that we just passed him. I saw from the rear view mirror a hummer break off and follow us. I told Batou to stop the car since they are going to check us for signs of infection before letting us go. He stopped and they checked our temperature and tested our saliva for any sort of contaminants. Both tests were negative so we were told to get as far away as possible. Irene got in the back and sat on her mom's lap. I sat mom's. Shaw gave me a once over, "You look healthy. What happened?" I shrugged, "Gene therapy. I am not joining your death cult." The person next to him asked him who I was. I answered,"I am his half sister." Shaw said yes and the soldiers stared at me before asking me to reconsider my stance since this apocalypse is quickly depleting their numbers. I told him to try his luck elsewhere as I want nothing to do with this. Shaw waved us off but one of the soldiers insisted that I join. Shaw told him to get in the hummer before he is punished for delaying the barricade. The man stared at me one last time and boarded the hummer. I wished him luck before Batou drove off.
I gave the mom the walkie talkie so she can talk to him whenever she feels the need to. She was grateful. Batou drove away and soon he used high beams to go through the thick woods. Hours later after several miles we hit the dirt road. This meant we had to go by foot. We kept walking till we reached the cabin. Everyone gave a sigh of relief. Batou had broken up with his girlfriend so he had no one to go back for. We all made ourselves at home as the girls unloaded the stuff. Each one has three pairs of clothes, eight pairs of underwear, a soap bar used to wash clothes, several pairs of socks, a pair of beach slippers, feminine hygiene products, a bar of soap used to wash from head to toe, gloves for clean and separate ones for winter, a first aid kit, a fire starter kit, a bottle of bleach, a flashlight, a decent sleeping bag and a bottle of water. Mine was larger. It had clothes, soaps for laundry and full body wash, MREs, kindling, an axe, a few tools used in surgery, some vials of penicillin, a couple of syringes, a zippo lighter, a few ziplock bags, a roll of aluminum foil, a rolled cling wrap and binoculars. Batou whistled as mom and the others stared at our stuff. I asked Irene to hand me the survival knife so I can go foraging for essentials. Both edible and for other purposes. Sonja asked me what types I was going for. I smiled, "Morel mushrooms and chicken of the woods to eat while collect dry branches or logs to use to light a fire. Maybe I will catch some fish too if that is possible. Then obviously get some pine resin and cattails too. I will wait a while before I go shopping"
I walked out with some plastic bags as well. I tied them to low hanging branches. Irene asked politely, "What are you doing?" I shrugged, "Collecting water. It would require a bit of filtration but it will be drinkable." I went off looking for morel mushrooms and chicken of the woods. I found some a dozen yards away. I climbed the tree and harvested them and walked back to hand them over. Then I went looking for morel mushrooms. I found none I was sad for my bad luck when I saw tinder fungus. I was happily collecting them when I heard a voice say, "I don't think those are edible." I jumped up to see Shaw staring at me with amusement. I stared at him before I told him what I was harvesting. "This is called tinder fungus. One of the best in these woods when lighting a fire. This is used only for kindling." I pulled a Ferro rod and used the back of the survival knife to demonstrate. He was impressed. I doused the fire before I walked away to find pine resin. I collected a coffee tin full and carried them all back. Then I went out to collect fish. They sensed the presence of a monster so they swam away. I focused and they came back again. I used my bare hands to fish them out. Then I took them back to the cabin. Shaw asked with interest, "What's with the bags?" I shrugged, "To collect drinking water. The tree absorbs water and evaporates from the leaves. The water droplets hit the sides of the bag and collects in the bottom." He asked, "What's the stuff you got from trees?" I shrugged, "Pine resin is used as a water proof fire starter. I am using it for emergencies only. Any reason you are here and not out there in your command center?" He shrugged, "No reason." I stared at him with disbelief, "You know when you lie I see your wisdom teeth." He stared before he continued walking.
We kept walking away from the cabin until I found a bunch of cattails. After I cut them and stuff them in my bag. Then I looked for fallen sticks and logs. I pulled out the axe and twirled it before I swung it. I pulled the axe out and took a deep breath. Then another swing until the log was split into manageable pieces. Then I chopped them further into different sizes. I loaded the stuff and I walked back home. I laid out the stuff and looked around. I saw a cast iron stove and whistled. I had to first clean it up before I placed the coals in the bottom. And then I squeezed the cattails to loosen them up and layered them over before I used a strike anywhere matchstick to light an old newspaper. Then I fanned the flames till it was hot enough soon I shoved a large log and closed the door. Some tweaking later Irene placed a kettle and a dutch oven on the hot plate on top. The thing heated up in no time. I had actually thrown away the MREs and replaced them with ramen noodles packets and dehydrated soups and so on. Sonja's bag had canned food so we cooked up dinner and everyone ate. Afterwards the adults did the dishes while I turned the dial to listen to what was going on. There is a channel for first responders so I switched to it. The adults listened to it too. Some were relieved to hear about survivors but sad to hear about the vast death toll.
Annie's mom screamed as she saw a zombie. I quietly walked out and the zombie stepped aside to let me pass. I swung my leg and it fell down. I didn't kill it. I dragged it away and tied it up so it won't be able to hurt anyone. The adults were surprised to see me unharmed. They had many questions. So did Shaw. The only answer I gave them was that I still had traces of my illness which is now dormant. The adults asked me what I meant when I said they only go after the healthy ones. The zombies only eat those who are healthy just like they used to eat meat when they were still humans. To them I am still sick so they are not going to hurt me in a million years. It's the others who have to worry. Irene laughed as she recalled how I actually stopped to siphon gas from another car as the streets were emptied of living souls. Only zombies were present. Irene giggled, "There we were trying to get to you guys and we ran out of gas. I guess the guy who owns it forgot to refuel. Anyway she walks out of the car and walks past a zombie and it stepped like she was a brick wall." Sonja laughed as did the other girls. I told everyone to get some sleep while I take care of a few things. Sonja mentioned she wasn't sleepy and the others concurred.
Unknown everyone in the cabin I zipped out and got some candles. I got a small pot too. I broke the candles and melted them. Then I took an empty tuna and cut some cardboard into strips. Then stuff them in before pouring the melted. Then I tipped the excess into the next till I ran out of tins. Then I took matches and bundled them together before I cut out the side of the matchbox. Then it was bent and the rubber band was placed in the middle. This was placed in the middle of the heads of the matchstick bundle. Then I wrapped it with old newspaper and stuffed it into balloons. I tested one by pulling it out and it worked perfectly. I snuffed the fire. Then I covered the rest of the matchstick bundle before I boiled pine resin. I zipped out and found a candlestick mold. I used it and made a few pine resin candles. The rest were mixed saw dust and formed into balls. I used a sharpener and shavings out of sticks and stored them too. The next step was to chop the tinder fungus and I saw the fire in the cast iron stove was dying out. So I aired it and worked on the fireplace. Once the fire was roaring I told the girls to unfurl their sleeping bags and get some sleep.