Chapter 3: Surprise

⊂Jazmine's POV⊃

 

After eating some canned food, I proceeded to plan out my path once more. From the library, the building leading towards were much larger than it, but the following buildings should be around the same height, making it easier to run through the rooftops. The next building had to have around two more floors than the library, and it fortunately had windows facing the library. From what I recall, from here on out was the residential district, I wasn't really sure, because I hadn't had a proper chance to explore the city with all of my college tasks and having no reason to go there. And speaking of residential district, it would surely have zombies inside and out the buildings, but if I just stay on the rooftops, I'll be fine. The problem comes when I have to loot the buildings, hopefully, though, I won't have such problems.

 

Securing my bag on my back, I walked towards the apartment building, and I got closer to the edge, I made sure to check my surroundings, glad that zombies had the tendency to stare down when idle. Now on the edge of the roof, I could tell that I could jump from here to the apartment, but with a heavy bag and no gloves, I'm just asking for a dislocated shoulder and bruised hands. Fortunately, I should be able to throw my bag, unfortunately, however, my aim is shit and there weren't any windows open that I could realistically go through....

 

"YES!!" At the corner of the apartment was a terrace! It was wide enough for me to not miss, and the railings looked sturdy enough! Slowly, just a precaution, but with an excited gait, I went towards the terrace. Still safe and having not attracted the zombies' attention, I took off my bag, carried it on top of my shoulder, aimed, and threw. My heart nearly stopped when it clipped the top part of the terrace, but I sighed in relief and cringed at the same time at the sound of something breaking. Looking around and seeing I was still unnoticed, walked backwards until I felt it was a good enough a distance, readied myself, and after taking calming breaths, ran! I wasn't in the best shape, too exhausted, too stressed, and I have not worked out in a while, but the feeling of the wind as I fell forward, the spike of adrenaline, latching onto the railing, I can't help but think. 'I missed this.'

 

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Thankfully, the glass table I broke hadn't covered my bag with shards, so I just grabbed it off the floor. However, instead of putting it back on my back, I used it as a shield, prepared to throw it towards zombies if need be. Despite my excitement, I did not forget to be cautious. From the outside, I tried various angles to look deeper, checking every corner possible in the apartment. The place was...dirty, to say the least. It definitely showed that people were in a rush, a few scattered clothes, some knocked over furniture, broken picture frames and trash scattered around. Seeing no immediate danger, I slid the door open, which was fortunately unlocked, and proceeded to enter. 

 

I gripped my knife tightly, prepared to attack. Slowly, I properly surveyed the room and searched for anything useful. A few more pens that I can use for stabbing, some cash in a drawer, in the kitchen, one canned food, a plastic bottle that I refilled with water, a few tote-bags, then, in the bathroom I found a bandage that fell to the floor. Moving deeper, I found myself in a bedroom. With no zombies in sight, I closed and locked the door and began ransacking the place. A few more cash under the bed and a single knee-pad, which I then wore in my left knee. After looking around more, I was sadly unable to find anything else of use, or, at least, items that I can bring that wouldn't weigh me down. Honestly, I was thinking of looting the other apartments, but I didn't want to risk it and waste time. 

 

Peeking out of the apartment door, I looked around the hallway. I don't know if it was because of my experience yesterday, but the surprising sight of a mangled corpse had just been surprising and unsettling, instead of paranoia-inducing and I surprisingly didn't feel like throwing up...., yet. Looking around more, I did notice some zombies, but they were all grouped up in a corner, twitching and staring at the floor. Heart pounding, I tried to test my luck and waved an arm out. If they reacted, I could try my luck with climbing the building by it's terraces. 'God, if only we could have tested if zombies could know if you're human when covered head-to-toe with something.' This was a suggestion from one of my schoolmates, which, unfortunately, went untested, and something I can't risk right now. 

 

When no zombie came barreling down towards me, I slowly walked out the apartment and kept the door open, in case I have to run back to it. With the zombies still staring down on the floor, I silently went towards the floor-plan on the wall, eyes never leaving the unkowing creatures. After checking to see one last time that I was safe for the time being, I proceeded to read the floor-plan. Third floor, two staircases and two elevators. Elevators were out since the doors might just open up to a zombie, so the stairs were the best way up. Keeping my bag as a shield, I looked for the stairs, which wasn't hard. The zombies had congregated to the main stairs, unfortunately, but the fortunate thing was that I was right beside the service staircase. 

Opening a crack on the service stair door, I slipped in my phone and used it as a mirror. Sure, an actual mirror was a better option, but I didn't have any handheld mirrors, and I didn't want to risk cutting myself with a broken piece. 

'Empty.' Save for mangled corpses on the lower staircase once again. This depressing sight was starting to become something I'm desensitized too. It was still disgusting and worrying, but I was resolved to get used to it, lest I'd be a crying bitch egery time I see a corpse and get myself killed. Feeling that it was safe, for now, I went in, but I remained crouched, not knowing if there was a zombie on the upper stairs. 

777

Surprisingly, the stairs were clear of zombies. There were bloody handprints that led both ways and one shocking corpse of a dog, but no zombies. It was...disconcerting. I was resolved to having to run away and hide at random times when entering the apartment building, but there was a concerning amount of limited encounters of zombies. With the amount of zombies I saw earlier on the streets, there should be at least hundreds of them inside, but for some reason, save for the zombies on the third floor, I have yet to meet a group of zombies. Or maybe I just jinxed myself and the moment I go to the roof about I'll be met by about a thousand of zombies. 

And speaking of the roof top, I finally reached the door to it. Like I had done earlier before entering the staircase and checking to upper stairs, I used my phone as a mirror. Cracking a gap through the door, I looked around with my phone, finding relief in seeing nothing but a barren roof top. There were some blind spots, vents and some machinery, but they shouldn't hide that much zombies. Plus, from where I was, I was able to zee that the following rooftops were in the same level, making it easier for me to run through them! I have yet to see zombies jump, and I hope they don't so I could use that advantage in my favor. 

Once out in the open, I took this chance to rest. Honestly, the stress made all this more tiring than it should be. Pulling out some chips, I began eating my snack in hopes to recover some strength. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing, especially when, at this point, meat and vegetables have rotted. 

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After taking some time to rest, I was feeling back to normal! Moving closer towards the ledge, this time now not needing to hide myself due to the height I was in, I formulated a plan. The gap between the apartment building and the following buildings, I believe, was around a meter and a half or so, definitely a lesser distance from the library. Honestly, the only struggle I see myself facing were the vents, only because I fear I might clip it against a corner and abruptly pull myself into a painful stop. 

Honestly, having a bag filled with essentials were quite troubling when traveling with zombies threatening to rip you apart. I originally thought filling it with clothes would keep the insides safe and be a better form of protection, but a bag this big was more or less a disadvantage. With this thought, I decided to lighten the load, even by just a bit by taking out some of the clothes that caused it to be bloated. 

It was a waste, but it was needed unless I wanted to get myself in trouble. Now, with a lighter load (it still surprises me how clothes can make something so heavy.), I felt more confident to perform parkour. Taking a few steps back, I then ran as fast I could, reveling at the feel of the wind against my face and the adrenaline in my veins as I jumped from one building to another. 

777

What was Feninine City famous for? It was famous because of its bridges connecting one building to another, its unusual architecture, and it's gorgeous rooftops. Like, who wouldn't want to eat high up in the air on a triangular platform? The residential district I had chosen to run through were practically half-a-decade old, so it didn't have any unusual rooftops, but eventually, I would have to move through the non-residential district, with higher buildings and harder to scale up to rooftops. It was definitely going to be harder than jumping from streetlight to streetlight so that I wouldn't have to deal woth having to pass through the hordes of zombies on the streets. 

Of course, I wouldn't have to keep on traversing through the rough terrain of weirdly shaped rooftops, but it was either this, or wasting more time having to follow the residential district that wrapped around the buildings. Plus, although I had mentioned that the buildings, they weren't at skyscraper levels, architectural integrity and all that, and not all of it were unusually shaped, just a good chunk of it. Honestly, only a madman would put their hopes in creating abstract art for roofs to bring in attention, but the mayor had struck gold on his wild idea. 

Speaking of said buildings, I was facing one now, this having cubism as its focus and having possibly three more floors than the apartment I was on. Rubbing my tired habds together, I took a deep breath and began scaling the building. 

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From years of experience scaling buildings, I can safely say that I despise Feninine's buildings. To put more depth into the rooftop's design, it also had weirdly placed cubes below it, which weren't all that helpful as they were slick and pointed down diagonally, so I had to keep searching for footholds that I could use. Eventually, however, I was finally able to got on top, but I had to immediately hide myself and keep my mouth shut at the zombies congregated in the middle of the rooftop. 

The smell was displeasing, the scent of rotten, bloody flesh now slowly becoming a common thing for me, and the sight of dismembered limbs and strewn out limbs were now becoming a sight I was getting desensitized with. Now wanting to have my arms give out on me, I made the decision of hiding behind a "pillar". Honestly, I was grateful that these zombies weren't your generic movie zombies, that is, of course, unless their the type that'd evolve, which is honestly terrifying. 

Taking out a bottle of water, I took a sip, finding some relief in the brief respite. 

"Uuuuhhhh..." Eyes wide, body frozen, unbridled fear took over as a zombie appeared beside me. It's body no different from a human's, but it's eyes were dead, devoid of light and was drooling goo. The unexpected situation caused me to freeze in place, but adrenaline soon kicked back in, and despite my body's protest, I clumsily tried to take out my knife. 

It was then did I noticed that, during all this ordeal, the zombie did not make a move. Heart beating erratically, I turned to stare at the unmoving zombie, and it did the same. What felt like hours was simply a few seconds, and to my rising dread, the zombie looked down, as if it didn't just see a human right in front of it. 

"What. the. fuck."

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