Impatient and curious, Dave returned to looking through the gap in the curtain. The walkers appeared to have lost interest in Dave's position. Maybe they understood the noise had been made from one of their own.
It had been a night of revelations. As it got darker the slow walkers were completely replaced by a faster breed that were more mobile and appeared more intelligent. Dave pondered if there was more to this than mere a correlation with the coming of night. Was it significant that the faster dead even appeared different with a lack of the yellow patches of sickness? Dave could do nothing more than speculate wildly.
It was then the Dave noticed it. At first Dave thought that it was just another walker. But the clothes on this one were undamaged, and it strode with a confident swagger. It leapt onto a car hood with a noisy crash. It stood there as all the walkers turned to look at it. Dave was locked in place. Was this a fellow human? How could a human just stand among the dead so calmly?
Dave had seen this new character walking with firm conviction. He could see the arrogance in its gestures. The wicked confidence. And none of this prepared Dave for when it spoke. The closed balcony door should have muffled the sound but the words, though whispered, came clear and dripping with hellish intent.
"Come my chosen ones. Come and gather around me."
Dave tried to not scream as he saw the walkers approach the car on which this new character stood.
"Come. There is much for us to do. Can you not sense that there are still others that need to be converted to the cause?"
At this the walkers began to look about them, clearly scanning the buildings for some sort of sign.
"Yes. Oh yes. There is one near. One that needs to be brought to us."
Dave could handle no more. He snuck away from the window and sat quietly on the floor where he curled himself into a small a ball as possible.
There were more than just walkers outside. There were those that talked. It wasn't an original name, but Dave labeled them as "talkers". The idea that there was something out there that talked to the walkers and that the walkers would actually listen and understand terrified Dave to the core.
It took a few hours, but eventually Dave would sleep. A fractured and messy sleep that was broken up with imagined terrors. He was lucky in that with the balcony door closed it wasn't too cold to sleep on the carpeted floor. It wasn't a full, restive sleep. It was a sleep filled with torments and nightmares. Dave would get little real rest but his night would be a better night than others experienced.
* * *
Dave woke up sore and uncomfortable. He had spent the night sleeping on a floor and felt regretful for it. Groaning, Dave sat up and looked towards the crack in the curtains that most hid the balcony. A faint beam of light was visible. It was probably a sign of the incoming day.
Although a little unsteady, Dave stood up and walked over to the curtains and peeked through. It was the twilight before day time and Dave could count about a handful of walkers on the street. The numbers were greatly reduced when compared to last night and Dave hoped that they'd be even fewer when the sun came up. Dave could survive a few days trapped in this apartment but he'd prefer it if he could get out on the streets and moving west again.
Before anything else Dave needed to have something to eat. He dug out another can of soup from within his shopping bags, and then went over to the kitchen to pick up the spoon that he had used yesterday and which he had left on the dryer after cleaning it. He pulled the top off the soup can and tossed the lid into the small garbage bin that was in the kitchen. Dave looked into the bin - he was hoping to leave soon as he wasn't looking forward to the contents of this bin stinking.
Dave sat down at the couch and looked over his notes from yesterday. Lugging around some shopping bags was too inconvenient. He ate his soup as he thought about what sort of backpack he would need. There were a bunch of conflicting pressures. If he got a backpack that was too small then he could get into trouble by not having the means to carry something important. A back pack that was too big would slow him down and Dave was still uncertain just how alone he would be on the streets - there was safety in being fast. Dave decided that he should get the biggest backpack that he could still jog with - even if he left it empty to keep the weight down, having the extra space could be the difference that would help him to survive.
With his thoughts and breakfast done, Dave looked at his shopping bags. If he was effectively the only person on the streets then finding more food wouldn't be an issue. So Dave decided to just take one shopping bag, take his notepads and pens, a bit of food and some bottles of water. He also tossed in some utensils like a can opener, a few knives and some spoons. He'd pick up more food after he got a backpack. The rest he could just abandon.
He stood up and walked into the kitchen to toss his empty soup can into the garbage. By force of habit Dave tried to wash the spoon
