Day 13

I don't know what time it is. There is no way to tell time in this room. I am sure it's close to morning of the next day and the banging from the zombies has subsided. Josh and I, along with Chad and one of the other men named Ray have made a rough plan on how to get everyone out of here and consists more or less of killing all that are in Costco and then trying to move out from there. However, the tricky part is doing this without guns.

I had seen where they keep cutlery while looking through the isles hours ago and it would be up to Josh and I to get there, grab some knives and get back without alerting the zombies. (And if we were to alert them, we must kill them without our guns). Josh and I both keep our pistols in our jeans, but only in the event where there is no choice but to use them. Once we're back with weapons for the rest we will work on getting everyone out.

I pull my machete out of its sheath and go to the door. "Remember," Chad says as he unbars the door, "if you need help, fire your pistol. We'll come out with the rifles and help you out."

"I will," I say, rocking back and forth, trying to do something with the adrenaline that is building up. He takes the last one off and Josh finally takes out his own machete, passing it between his hands. To be honest, Josh, Chad and I, as well as Dan (our youngest brother) are both more comfortable with blades. Having grown up and taking lessons and sparring at home, we knew how to use them. This knowledge makes me slightly more comfortable, but not much.

"Alright. Good luck," Chad says and he opens the door.

I exit first, followed quickly by Josh before Chad closes the door again. I can hear the beams being put back in place. Only a few, but enough for initial protection. I crouch, resting the blade in my hand on my knee and survey the small area that I can see down the hallway. There are no zombies in sight, but that still is not much comfort. The cutlery section is on the opposite side of the store.

I find it interesting, as I creep forward, the denial of death. The unique ability for us to risk our lives merely because we do not take our own mortality seriously. Even in thinking this, I do not turn back. We do what needs to be done and any consequences of those actions are placed on the back burner. And at this moment, holding my machete my thoughts focus on what needs to be done.

We move forward. Slowly at first, and then, as we near the end of the hallway and approach the registers we speed up. I am anxious with the wide open doors right in front of us. I do not see any zombies, but one could walk in at any minute and there would be no way to hide from it.

At the edge of the lockers, which line the hall I stop and crouch. I move slowly to the register that starts just past the lockers. I reach it and look over its edge. There are at least five different zombies that I can see, wandering aimlessly around. This is only in the main open area of the store and not the individual aisles. Josh is next to me, surveying the area as well. I consider using the large display containers that still hold several t-shirts, pants and socks as cover, but many of them are lingering in the aisles and would see us once we crossed between the displays. Most of the zombies, however, were closer to the front of the store. I look over to my right and towards the aisles that contain food. They stretch all the way back to where I had killed the first zombie and then, perhaps, we could cross from there.

Josh follows me as I crawl under the register, and crouch, hidden by displays and some racks of clothes, moving towards the row of holiday themed candy and decorations--a mix between birthdays and valentines day. I stand once behind them and turn around to make sure we are out of view. Josh is walking past me, his machete held low, and slightly in front of him. He reaches the end and peaks around.

"It is clear." Josh says, and I can see how long this is going to take after passing the first gap. There was no zombie in the aisle, but the lingering ones at the center of the store, if looking, would be able to see us. I run across, and check the other aisle. There is a zombie, walking away from us. I motion to Josh to run over and as he does I move to the next aisle's end. He looks around and almost immediately runs across to where I am.

I am moving to look around the corner when one of them walks into view, almost running into me. I back up as it looks at me, startled from its sudden appearance. At the same time Josh lunges around me and stabs it with his machete through its left eye. He then rushes forward and pushes it across the aisle, the blade still sticking through its head, his hand on the hilt. Finally, when they were out of sight he let the zombie fall to the floor. I look at him and at his bloodied machete in his hand. He motions for me to follow with a jerk of his head and I do.

It takes us ten more minutes to get to the end of the aisle's and at the back of the store. It is quiet with no sign of anything. We army crawl to the other end of the store and begin to make our way to the aisle with the knives.

At the far end of the store, at the end of the last aisle, I look around the edge to find three zombies loitering, directly blocking our way. I motion for Josh to take a look and as he does so he backs up suddenly--I can tell one of them have seen him--and shrugs. His casualness with all of this seems odd, but at the same time, it seems fitting. It seems that there is only so long that one can go in feeling unethical and still survive. I know we need to separate the things from humans and view them only as dangerous and in need of extermination. I shrug back and we both turn around the corner to attack.

It is easy to forget how truly terrifying these things are when you watch them wander, slowly moving through their lives . . . or non-lives. It isn't until they see you, until they decide that they want to attack that they grow terrifying. They move quickly. No more quick than any other human, but with no inhibitions, no restrictions or doubt. They just move.

We attack, and they are right on top of us. The nearest most lets out that terrifying bellow, but it is stopped mid yell as I jam by Machete into its head. It drops. And as it does so I yank my machete up hard, pulling it from the skull. I watch as Josh jabs once again and kills the thing as I run past and stab the thing beneath its jaw and up into its brain. I can tell more are coming. Probably heard the brief scream from the first.

Josh and I run to the aisle with the cutlery on it. There is a zombie running towards us and tackles Josh just before my blade is through its ear and into its brain. I pull upwards and, using the blade as a lever, yank it off of Josh.

Immediately I regret not grabbing a bag as there is no good way of carrying the knives from here to the back room.

"We need a cart," Josh says, looking around but not seeing one.

"Brilliant," I say and I run to the end of the aisle and turn. There, laying on its side is a cart. I grab it and pull it up.

I see Josh cut off the head of a zombie as I come back into view. He grabs a open face box full of cleaver knives and throws them into the cart. He then grabs several chef's knives that were stacked on top of each other and puts those in as well. They are all packaged but we will worry about that once we get back into the back room.

"Look out," Josh yells and I turn just in time to swipe at a zombie and cut into its hand, and stick the blade in the side of its head, the hand wedged between the end of the blade and head. I pull it out and strike again. It drops.

"Let's go!" Josh yells, wheeling the cart around and running through the aisle. I run up ahead of him to protect him from any oncoming zombies. There are none in the main area and I wonder briefly if there are no more. But just then, I hear the cart topple over and as I turn I see Josh pulled down by a zombie. It has its legs and arms wrapped around him and raises its head to bite the crown of Josh's head. Without thinking I jump, my arm in front of me, the machete pointing towards the zombie and as it lowers its head my blade enters its mouth and exits out the back of its head.

I tumble to the side, letting go of my machete and letting it stand up right as the zombies head hits the floor behind him. Blood pools around its head and Josh quickly scrambles up. I walk over and pull the Machete from the zombies skull. I wait. Looking around, but none others are in site. I assume that is all.

I look down on the zombie and there, on its back, is strapped a katana sword. The thought that a zombie could use one seems ridiculous and I stare at it a bit longer before the realization hits. This thing, (it's hard to see them as ever being men) had the sword as a defense . . . until he got infected himself. I turn the corpse over and grab the weapon. I can see on the guard and end of the hilt are engraved dragon flies. I put my Machete to the rope holding it to the things back and cut it. It comes free and I pull out the blade. I can tell it is sharp. Razor sharp, and I doubt that it had been used on anything but practice bales.

I sheath it as Josh picks up the cart and we both walk back to the back room. I keep an eye on the entrance, it is getting dark and night is falling sooner than I thought it would.

We knock and soon after Chad opens the door. I throw him the katana.

"You found this in the cutlery section?" he says in mock astonishment. I look at him, unsure of how to respond. Blood covers my hands and clothes and my machete hangs from my hand, dripping.

"There are none left . . ." Josh says, he is visibly exhausted.  Chad and Ray, I can tell, are relieved as the plan had been to get out fighting. Us four surrounding the others.  Josh begins opening the knife packages and hands one to each person.

"We should probably go," I say, and I lead them out of the room, and out of Costco into the sudden rain. The blood washes from by body and I begin to shiver. Soon we are in the building a block away that Josh and I had stayed in two nights previous. We scavenge for blankets and warm clothes. Josh and I make our way back to Costco and grab supplies and warm gear as well as changes of clothes. We put it all in a cart and carry the cart, (to avoid the noise of it rolling) back to the building. And finally, laying down on a makeshift bed, after having secured the door, I close my eyes and fall asleep.