Another dream of undead

For awhile I had a traveling partner. But they would not stay for long. Partners changed constantly. Sometimes it was trust. Usually it was speed. If you could not keep up, you were left behind. There was no way to carry anyone.

I left many behind.

Animosity would pop up from time to time, but few lived long enough for it to matter. The violent quickly used up their resources. If you were dumb enough to start fires, riot for the sake of some sort of “Anarchy”, or did ANYTHING bright or loud, you may as well have shot yourself in the face. Zombies loved the light and sound. Those morons were all dead in half a year.

I made my business in trade. I collected beads, fabric, small supplies, medicine. When I would hide out, I would memorize literature for survival or stories to trade. Today I needed disinfectant and glove material. I often raided for liquor. You didn't get drunk in this world, It made you slow. You needed it for wounds.

This generation was hopeless. They wouldn't know sanitation if it wasn't in a hand pump.  It wasn't the zombies that killed folks so much anymore so much as disease like diphtheria, cholera, influenza, chickenpox. There was a lot of that this time of year. Children didn't last long without vaccines either. I wondered how long my own shots would stay valid. Tetanus was a big problem, I needed more body wrapping to prevent cuts.

I did my best to sequester myself or hide. I left the group behind for fear of being spotted.  I made my way to a large house in the country. It was a short time before the others caught up but I got what I wanted. A bottle of cheap booze, work gloves, twine, and a few trinkets and necklaces with blue beads.

I considered boarding the house and staying for the night but I was followed by other refugees. They were bringing their sick and their weak, and the zombies were not far behind. Maybe they didn't know but I wasn't about to stay and find out.

 I packed what I could and ran.

~AE