There was a slight gap in the curtain that let Dave inspect the room beyond. His vision was entirely clear, yet he could see nothing inside. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Dave stepped back from the door and walked to the partition between the top two balconies. It wasn't the most security-minded partition and Dave had no problem clambering around it to get onto the other balcony.
This time Dave could find a larger gap in the curtains which gave him a clearer view inside. He tried to open the balcony door only to find that this door was also locked. Dave frowned. Though this building wasn't built with security in mind, the balcony doors were solidly made. Dave didn't think that he could force the door open easily. Kneeling down, Dave inspected the door lock. He wasn't a locksmith but the door latch didn't seem like something that he could easily jigger his way through.
"Fuck!"
Dave turned around and looked into the backyard of the apartment. Besides the stepped garden and the clotheslines there was nothing that he could see that was useful. Frustrated, Dave looked up and looked over the backs of the other buildings that neighboured the apartment where Dave was. He spotted what looked like a tool shed in the yard directly behind the apartment's yard. With a plan, Dave climbed back around the partition to the first balcony that he tried. He jumped over to the stepped garden and jogged over to the back fence. It wasn't a particularly tall fence and Dave found that he could easily grab the top of it and drag himself over.
Dave approached the small tool shed and found it open. Inside there was a lawn mower and a tool rack on the wall. Dave approached the tools and grabbed a large screw driver, a hammer, a small axe and a crowbar. Dave nodded to himself in satisfaction as he returned to the fence. He dropped the tools over the fence and onto the lawn of the apartment building before climbing after them.
Dave regathered the tools and used the stepped garden to get back to the first balcony where he had left his backpack. He left the tools near the backpack, while he kept the crowbar and wedged it into the slight gap in the balcony door near to the door's latch. Dave had thought that it would take a lot of strength to break through the door and though he tensed up he was surprised when the door latch bent and came apart. Apparently security really had been a secondary consideration when building this apartment, and only looked tough.
Dave put the crowbar down and picked up the axe. He opened the door fully, pushed the curtains apart and stepped into a lounge room. It was a single bedroom apartment with an open plan in that meant that there were no internal doors. It didn't take long for Dave to walk around the apartment and reassure himself that the place was empty. Although small, the design of the apartment was open and made the place feel bigger than it was.
And the place came across as really empty. It was hard to find any sign that the place was currently being lived in. There was some basic furniture but the bed had no bedding on it. The fridge was empty. Cupboards and drawers were empty. The place looked new and was only waiting for someone to move in. Dave shrugged and returned to the balcony where he gathered up his tools and backpack. He carried these into the lounge room and placed them next to a fake leather couch.
There was still a significant amount of time to go before nighttime but there was a lot that Dave needed to do.
He started by unpacking his backpack, spreading out the contents all over the floor. This would make organising the backpack contents easier.
Next, Dave gathered up his notepads and pens before sitting on the couch. He spent a few minutes writing some notes. At the top of one page he wrote "DOA", circled it, and wrote "emergency plan" and "military?" next to it. Dave had no memory of such an organisation but at least the presence of a member from that sort of organisation gave Dave the idea that the city wasn't in complete chaos.
Dave put down his notepad and pen and looked over some of the books that he had picked up in the camping store. There were only a few books but these few highlighted just how little Dave actually knew. Dave's knowledge could only be described as useless and so Dave picked up a book on how to build basic shelters on the basis that survival depended on having good shelter. It was a choice that only proved how little Dave actually understood his current situation.
But how could there be a future without someway of dealing with the walkers? While they roamed about then it would be impossible to rebuild any form of society. What was a practical way to deal with them? Dave thought back to the DOA member and the rifle they had. Could a rifle be used to clear out the walkers? This was a question that Dave felt was a pointless question as Australia was a country without widespread gun ownership. There's no point asking a question if you can't begin to answer it.
Dave opened the book on building shelters and begun to read. There was so much that he didn't know and that ignorance clouded his choices and prevented him from making any real plans.
* * *
Dave closed the book that he was reading and looked out over the balcony of the apartment that he had broken into. He was very tired from reading. There's just so much that he didn't know that Dave couldn't help but
