Dave placed his used spoon in the sink and walked over to the balcony curtains. Looking through the crack, Dave couldn't see any walkers. The few that had been there previously were no where to be seen. Dave slowly pulled the curtains apart enough to fully exposed the balcony door. Dave could still see nothing moving on the streets. Finally Dave quietly opened the balcony door, walked out onto the balcony, and leaned over the edge to have a good look around. The sun was up and the streets were empty - Dave wondered if there was a connection.
There was not going to be a better opportunity than now, so Dave went back into the apartment to retrieve his supplies. He came back out onto the balcony and climbed over the balcony wall and onto the ladder that he had left leaning against the wall. Dave really appreciated having lightened his shopping bags.
Dave climbed down the ladder and went cautiously out onto the street. He was amazed that the streets were empty.
Needing to find a camping store, Dave began walking towards the main street where the shops were. The street ran east-west and Dave would follow it west while looking for a camping store.
The sun had just rose behind Dave. His day had begun.
* * *
Dave wasn't familiar with this part of the city. He had walked out from the more residential area that appeared a block or so from the highway, and back out onto the main highway itself. Along the highway were a random collection of stores and small businesses. Dave wanted to find a camping store.
So intent on finding a place where he could get some camping supplies, that Dave nearly jumped when he saw a figure standing in a side street. The figure wasn't hiding but neither was the figure making any effort to be seen.
Whoever it was looked rather strange. Or maybe it was the perfect look for the times. The figure wore a mish-mash of casual and military gear. Camo boots with camo pants. A khaki T shirt over a black jersey. Camo gloves. A full face helmet of some kind that Dave at first thought was a motorcycle helmet but wondered if it was a safety helmet used in some paintball style sport. The figure had a small camo backpack and a bum pack with the pouch turned to the front. Dave had struggled to determine the gender of the figure because the figure was wearing a sand coloured army plate carrier that successfully obscured the chest. There were numerous items attached to the plate carrier that Dave couldn't recognise, but he could see three rifle magazines held in tidy pouches along the plate carrier's front. The figure held an assault rifle diagonally across his chest. Dave hadn't seen anyone like this before and so he couldn't determine what organisation the figure belonged to.
Now came the question of whether this figure was dangerous, but if this person was dangerous then Dave couldn't run. Dave was in the open and could have been easily shot at any time. There was nothing for it but to stand in place.
"I'm human," called out Dave.
The figure stood as if thinking for a moment, and walked towards Dave before standing about a car length from Dave. The figure was surprisingly short and Dave wondered if it was a woman.
"I've not been bitten," said Dave holding out his arms.
"Bitten?" came a muffled but clearly male voice.
"Isn't that how the disease is spread?"
"Disease," said the figure as if unsure.
"I'm not crazy, right? You seen people being bitten? They seem to die but then stand up later. But they have changed and are no longer human."
The man seemed to fidget a bit before looking around. "I don't know what's going on."
"You've seen it though?" asked Dave.
"Yes. But I don't have any intel." The man pointed to a pouch attached to the top-left of his plate carrier. Dave could see that it was a hand held radio of some sort. "I'm not hearing anything on the radio."
"The power went out around nightfall. Maybe the power is out everywhere and nothing electrical is working."
"There should be backup generators."
"Maybe the people who look after the generators are infected," suggested Dave.
"I was trying to not admit that to myself."
"Sorry. I don't think that we will survive this if we aren't honest about this."
"You're thinking about surviving this?"
"Of course," said Dave. "What else can I do?"
"How can you do that when you don't know what's going on?"
Dave gave a morbid grin. "Confusion is the normal state of affairs."
The man must have been giving Dave an odd look, but the helmet prevented Dave from seeing the man's expression. "What are you planning to do?"
"Well," said Dave. "When all this crap went down I was at work in the centre of the city. I didn't bother going home. I just started moving west in the hope of getting out of the city."
"Why are you leaving the city?"
"I don't have any real data. To me the city requires utilities to work. With the power out the city will become unliveable. I don't know anything about farming but at least that's an option which is more than I'd have if I stayed in the city."
"That doesn't sound like much of a plan."
"That's true. But there's another reason to head out of the city. The city has a lot of people who can
