I opened my back pack and grabbed a protein bar for myself and Mina, and I still had some water left over too. This would be our breakfast as neither of us wished to enter the kitchen where her room mates lay on the floor. We both stood by the second floor window looking out at the street below. From our perspective the world outside seemed quiet and empty.

My concern when leaving the property would be encountering the fast zombies. I had puzzled over this in my own mind. Why the discrepancy in speed and motion? Was it the damage to the body that dictated whether a zombie could move at speed? Were they all capable of running, and only those whose bodies were severely damaged in their own conversion then limited in mobility? Was it damage to the brain? I could not know, but the thought that most zombies may have speed chilled me. It would mean they could be a threat even at distance as who knew what endurance levels a fast zombie would have? Would it ever tire? Would it ever slow down? Would it ever end the chase, or would it pursue its victim to the end of the world if need be?

We went through the house, bar the kitchen, one last time looking for supplies. Both of us wore back packs. Mine still contained a wash bag, clothes and food. I added the small radio and a set of spare batteries. In addition to the hammer I was now carrying a screw driver too. In a fleeting moment of humour Mina said I was starting to look like Bob The Builder. Can I fix it? Sadly, no I probably couldn’t.

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Mina had added clothes to her back pack, along with some personal keepsakes. As she had been packing I had resisted the temptation to say essentials only. She had lost a lot over the night time period and now was not the time for criticism.

With one last look from an upstairs window to make sure all was clear we opened the door and exited on to the street.

Our goal was clear. We had to reach the manned barricades which could be just a few streets away. I was right handed and so held the hammer in this hand, and the screw driver in my left. Mina had picked up a wrench and another screwdriver from a rudimentary toolbox kept at the squat. We were armed, we now had a clear mission objective and I felt we had a decent amount of information pertaining to both the threat that we faced and the conditions we found ourselves in.

Within moments of turning off one street and on to another we saw two zombies further down the road listlessly shambling along. They saw us and immediately started running towards us. Me and Mina started to run too. Ahead we could hear multiple shots of gunfire and we ran towards its source.