The Escape

Zane woke up to the shrieks and howls of the Pales, they were close. Possibly near the entrance to the highway to the city. He held his breath as they got closer. Then an ear deafening shriek was heard outside of the tank. He put his hands over his ears and gasped. They must have followed the scent of blood from his wound! 

They were in a frenzy right outside screaming, shrieking and howling. He could hear claws scraping the tank, leaving gashes in the armor. He couldn’t tell what time it was but it must have been midnight. He assumed that the adult Pales had gone for a hunt, found nothing and resided elsewhere from their nest. 

That was the only explanation as they were not present when he killed the pups. Now they were in a frenzy having found their pups slaughtered. This went on for hours leaving him exhausted by morning. Zane decided he would spend the day in the tank sleeping tomorrow, as he would be too tired to get far enough away. 

By morning they left and he pulled out his can opener out of his bag and a can of peaches. He ate the peaches from the can and treated his wound with disinfectant and gauze and went back to sleep. He awoke to more screeching, shrieks and howling. This lasted an hour and they did not come near the tank, so he slept more.

Zane awoke and listened. No shrieks, no howling. He pulled the torch out of his pocket and looked around. There is an assault rifle and some spent shells with magazines on the tank floor. He ignored the rifle, it’s too big and clunky to take with him. He looks around more and spots some MREs, luck is on his side. He grabbed them and inserted them into his bag. He looks at the thermal blanket and cries inside. He wouldn’t be able to take it because it's too big for his bag. 

He has limited space for his inventory. He knows if he took the thermal blanket there wouldn’t have enough room for supplies. Slowly he opened the hatch and the sunlight beamed through and shone on his face.  He looked around and noticed the gashes in the armor that could be heard being made last night as the sun was was rising. As he exited the tank, Zane bought a water bottle out and took a sip and made his way back towards the city, hoping to find more supplies.        

It took him an entire hour to reach Costco where he looted his supplies. Zane walked past it faster this time, he wasn’t going to risk another run-in with the pack of Pales. Especially the adult Pales who were the pup’s kin. His head feeling muddy he shook his head to clear his thoughts. 

Zane couldn't walk slower than a march’s pace. He had to move fast. In the distance Zane could hear vehicles which he didn’t hear yesterday. This meant there were still people in this city. He has to be careful, he is rightfully hesitant to meet new people as the apocalypse has changed everyone into cold blooded killers and stricken with the instinct to survive.

Zane’s cuts on his right hand stings as he walks the deserted streets, I’ll have to be careful it doesn't get infected, he thought to himself. He comes across a gas station. 

“This is as good as any,” he said out loud to himself, there is enough sunlight inside to not need his torch. 

He walks in and looks around, it’s pretty barren but there are some supplies. He finds some potato chips. He shoves them in his bag, then wanders over to the refrigerators and finds some energy drinks and expired milk as well as a bottle with some ginger ale. He takes these too, minus the milk. 

Zane has had good enough luck so far in this desolate, barren city that he might as well hit another store that he can see across the street. Hurrying across the road he enters the second store. It’s a bust, completely empty. 

He shakes his head, exits the store and keeps moving. It’s about noon at this point the sun is directly above him and he is just getting started procuring resources. The  bag is about half full with enough room for more items. 

It's a military grade bag that he “found” and if need be he can fill his trench coat pockets. He starts to walk again, soon enough in about an hour he comes across a grocery store again. A chill running down his spine, he shivers remembering Costco and how that was an unpleasant experience. He came close to dying there.

He got his torch out and shined it brightly around the few aisles near the entrance. There were bones scattered around so he froze and listened silently for breathing. There was nothing he could hear right now. Must have been an old den, he thought, stepped around the bones carefully and entered the grocery store. The first thing he noticed was the stench, the smell of rotting meat. 

Zane gagged covering his mouth and moved further inside, the closer he got to the aisles, the stronger the smell became. He noticed this store still had a lot of items on the shelves which made him more cautious. He pulled his sidearm with his right hand and dagger with his left hand holding the torch in his mouth. 

Adult Pales were more dangerous than pup Pales. Turning the corner of the aisle he was shaky, what he saw made him breathe a sigh of relief as he quickly turned. There were at least 10-15 dead Pales all torn up and strewn around! 

Some aisles had been knocked over midway and flattened. This must have been a Pale against Pale conflict. Pales start to decompose very quickly within a matter of 5-10 hours nobody knows why but within a matter of 3 days they are just bones. 

This must have been what the adult Pales were up to when he killed the pups. Zane figures they must have fed on the dead Pales and rested here after the fight. He put his  weapons away and took the torch from his mouth and put it back in hand again.

Looking around Zane noticed some cans, Chicken noodle, vegetable soup, and minestrone soup. He gathered about 7 and stashed them in his bag. Feeling good about his haul, he felt he could leave the city. Hastily he made his retreat out of the store and ventured towards the highway as it would go through the streets and get him out.

Zane follows the streets from the way he came through back to the highway, it’s not long till he leaves the city and is back on the road. Feeling a little more at ease he has a happier attitude and gets a few miles before dark starts to come. 

He is far enough from the city to not worry about the creatures behind him. That made him feel a little more at ease. Up ahead he sees a farmhouse and decides to spend the night there. walking over to the farmhouse, it looks deserted and some windows are cracked or shattered.

The whole place was in shambles, weeds and overgrowth was everywhere on the outside. He tried the door handle, it was unlocked. Zane opens the door and steps inside, a musky smell hitting his nostrils, a kind of smell he is used to. Inside was a living room with furniture scattered about and a tv, a dining room with a table and four chairs and a kitchen with a stove, a counter, cupboards and a refrigerator.  

A bathroom was also on the first floor. He relieved himself in the bathroom and found some unused, untouched toilet paper and stashed four rolls in his bag. The house was two stories tall so he shut the front door and headed upstairs. 

He knew it was better to be on high ground than low ground where your scent could be picked up. Upstairs there were 3 rooms and a bathroom. He found a room not so musky and went inside. He was exhausted so he shut the door and got on the floor to sleep.