The Rot

Chapter 4

I left the keys to the building underneath a small rock near the back door. In the off chance that there might be someone traveling through and they needed a place to stay, maybe they'd discover the keys and get inside the building. I left the place in good enough condition. Especially the bathroom, that part of my flat was spotless.

Standing in the alley, I had to quickly decide on the best route to take to get to Miguel's house. I couldn't stick around in the alleyway for long as the dead creatures my come wandering around. I figured that the house directly in front of me would be a good a place as any to start my trek. I hopped up onto the privacy fence and started to climb. It took me a while as I'm not the most athletic individual around, but once I was able to see over the top of the fence and determine that the backyard was free and clear of the undead, I hopped over and climbed down into the yard.

Okay, got that over with without a sprained ankle or two. Some of the backyard fences on that block were of the chain-link variety, while others were more privacy fences. That meant more climbing which also meant more potential groin pulls. I examined the nearby house only for a moment. I didn't dare go up to the windows and try to peer inside, and I didn't even try to open the back door. No thanks, I'll pass. From where I was standing, I couldn't see any movement on the main floor anyhow.

I hurried over to the garage at the back of the yard and tried to look inside there, however. I did need a weapon after all, and I wanted to see if there was anything inside. Nada. Nothing at all, the garage was completely empty.

"Hmm. Must have taken off," I muttered. Onto the next yard.

That yard had a chain link fence that I could just hop over, but the yard next to it was another tall privacy fence. What's with all these damn privacy fences anyhow? What the hell are you doing in your backyard that's so illicit that you have to hide it from your neighbors? Damn. If you were filming a skin flick back there I could understand but- Nevermind, I digress.

This big ass privacy fence was a bitch to get over, too. The wood was all weather beaten and when I grabbed the top to look over into the yard, I got a gnarly splinter on the palm of my right hand. Seeing none of the undead creatures in that yard, I hopped over the gate and looked at the damage to my hand.

After pulling the splinter free, my wound started to bleed a little bit. Dammit. In addition to needing a weapon, I would have to get some first aid supplies as I didn't have any of those either. Actually, I was about to get some band aids when the world decided to end. I have impeccable timing.

This house's back door had been broken down. The door looked like it was ripped from its hinges and it was resting on the floor of the kitchen. The section of fencing at the back of the yard had been broken down as well.

"Reid, don't be a dummy," I told myself as I approached the house. I wasn't about to walk into the place, just pop my head in and see what I could see.

Taking the quickest of glances, I could see all the way into the front of the house. The front door had a few wooden boards nailed to it, as if whoever lived here tried to barricade their place up. There were dried bloodstains that spotted the white front door. I don't know what happened that made them stop boarding up the door and I wasn't about to start playing detective at that particular moment either. When I looked back at the shattered section of gate, however, I had the realization that I could use one of the wooden planks as a weapon for the time being. I just had to be careful not to get another damn splinter.

Armed with my new weapon I resumed my journey to Miguel's house. When I made it to the final home on that particular block, I had a little problem on my hands; I would have to cross the street out in front of the home in order to get to Miguel's. I wasn't going to make a mad dash across the road and be swarmed by the dead things either. I had to scout ahead a little bit.