Wanderer of the Apocalypse - Episode III

Home is a two-bedroom condominium unit in the current neighborhood, with a large living room doubling as my former home office. The whole unit takes place over the entire top floor of a duplex. The bottom unit comprises the ground floor plus the basement areas. My unit also has rooftop access to a terrace that I built and improved throughout the years.

Most buildings around here are about the same height. There are very few buildings that are 3 floors high in the area, and none of them are nearby. None of them have direct rooftop access. It was perfect to remain hidden in the urban jungle.

I was finally back and went up the external staircase. This city was known for its outdoor staircases, leading us to the second and third floors often enough. Unlike other units in the area, the stairs were straight and not spiral-y.

I avoided all the traps I set up along the way in the stairs. One was never too careful. Some of the traps were as simple as leaving the trash and recycle bins in the way, whereas some others were more elaborate. I installed metal rods going from one handrail to another, requiring me to slide them before passing through. I also installed barbed wire on parts of the rails, as well as on some steps.

The stairs themselves are on the property, about 3 feet away from the sidewalk. While I initially had a 36-inch high fence surrounding the area, I fortified and improved it to be capable of withholding potential intruders. If someone somehow managed to get on the stairs, they would have certain basic abilities, skills the infected ones do not have.

The front door was also well hidden from sight. For years I have had trellis surrounding my entire balcony, barely letting any light in or out. It had that old feeling and did not give vibes of a new installation. No one would ever suspect I was still around. And by that, I meant other looters. Yes, I considered myself a looter at times. I also considered myself a survivalist. I certainly did not have the Bear Grylls skills, yet I had my own very unique skills in these weird times.

The daylight was going out soon and after giving out one last look around, making sure I was all alone, I hurried up inside, taking off my shoes as soon as I got in. The floor was hardwood, and I wanted to avoid any useless sounds such as a cracking floor. I no longer had a downstairs neighbor, yet still feared someone could hear me.

Inside there barely was any daylight, as I boarded up most windows. I had a few windows where I could open up a small panel to peek outside. Some of those panels were installed with a hinge, some others slid to the side.

I turned on the switch, which lit the LED strips I previously installed. Since hydroelectricity was no longer offered in the city, mostly because of the lack of staff to maintain the facilities, I had to rely on my solar panel installation for most of my power needs.

Most of my usage was the bare minimum though, consisting of charging my laptop, my music player, and my handheld game console, as well as the lights. I used the microwave occasionally, yet not too often. The electric kettle was one thing I refused to let go of. I needed my daily tea.

The refrigerator and the chest freezers were also hooked up to my installation, although they used separate grids for safety reasons. If one was to go down, I could always swap the food from one unit to another. 

As the water tank was the biggest electricity user on the grid, I scarcely took showers. I also avoided flushing the toilet too often to save on water. I even managed to toilet train my pet to avoid generating waste.

Strangely enough, we still had running water and even natural gas. Both were never turned off, and I was happy to report no flooding or gas explosion ever took place in the neighborhood.

Despite this, I managed to accumulate several water gallons and propane tanks, stored them for when the day comes everything would get shut off. I was working under that impression, so as not to get caught last minute.

I also had a wood stove and several cords of wood ready for the winter, when the weather would get really cold. So far this season the weather did not go below 5 degrees Celcius.

I wondered how things were like in other regions of the country, cities which were less densely populated. Chances were people still lived there and managed to survive the outbreak. 

After I had a quick look around and made sure I was all alone, I dropped my backpack and finally found Rupert. The little man was looking outside at the back alley through one of the sliding trapdoors I left open for him. Or maybe he opened it himself with his more than agile hands. Either way, he seemed content with his view and seemed happier with living inside than outside.

Rupert was an approximately 8-month-old raccoon, which I saved from one of the infected. While the infected rarely ever attacked animals, this one had attacked the litter Rupert was part of. They were nesting in a dumpster, and the infected went looking for meat there. I happened to be passing by that day and "handled" the infected. Only Rupert survived the attack.

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Without any mom, I took on raising him and brought him home. He was about two months old at the time. It had been a gamble I made, as I had no idea if he was infected with rabies or not.

The first thing I did was to find a veterinarian's office and look for the usual vaccines. I have had cats in the past, and I figured rabies and Lyme disease were the things I wanted to protect him from. He obviously did not agree with the injections, and bit me in response, almost tearing through the protective denim gloves I was wearing.

After spending several weeks living together, we quickly became best buddies.

I went towards him and gave him some scritches. I looked outside by the peeping trapdoor and was satisfied to see everything seemed quiet outside. As usual, no one could be seen, no light came from any of the neighbors. I would be surprised to see any activity around here, as I cleared out the entire neighborhood and disposed of all the infected that previously lived in the area.

The traps I laid out all over outside were still intact. Barbed wire fences were spread around, with pots and pans scattered on the ground all over. I had moved some cars sideways to block some passages as well. No infected came by. I closed the trapdoor shut, put Rupert down on the floor, and turned my attention to my backpack.

I sorted the contents of my haul, stored stuff away in the pantry, and in the pharmacy as well. I planned on making dinner, and despite having enough food here to keep us fed throughout the winter, had no idea what to eat.

I eventually served Rupert a can of pet food I got for him and went on to cook something on the stove for myself. Tonight was a fancy night, as I had a commercial, premade Indian meal waiting for me. The meal consisted of jasmine rice, Madras lentils, and Masala vegetables. I spiced up the whole thing with my own selection of spices, as commercially prepared meals were often enough bland.

At times, Rupert and I both shared an entire meal I prepped. It was not always easy to cook for one, and he seemed to enjoy eating things like macaroni and cheese, or lentil-based meals.

As the evening crept in, it was time to make sure everything was properly locked for the night. The inside traps were set up, and we both went into the smaller bedroom to crash on the couch and eat dinner while snuggled up in the blankets and binge-watching something on the laptop.

In the distance, we heard some of the infected moving along the street, growling. Rupert and I remained close, eventually falling asleep together.

There was something reassuring about not sleeping alone at night in this mad world.

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Story © Eve F. R. Kirchner