Free AM13 Outbreak Series (Book 2): Forgotten by Samie Sands

in my hands was false. It was just my coping mechanism. Realistically I wouldn’t have lasted very long if I’d gotten too close to any zombies. I was so unbelievably happy to stumble across this nice shiny new axe in the B and B’s shed, completely by accident. What a find! It’s sharp, easy to grip, and it pierces through zombies skulls with ease. There was also a rusty old chainsaw lying next to the axe. My eyes lit up when I spotted it, but unfortunately it was out of gas. I’m sure it would’ve been too loud anyway.
    Weirdly, I didn’t sleep too well last night. I just couldn’t seem to get comfortable, silly really, considering I might not spend a night in such a soft bed for a long time to come. There was simply too much anticipation running through my veins, too many possible future scenarios spinning through my mind. Thinking back on that now, I feel a tiny pit of tension appear in my stomach. I don’t want to think that I may have left behind the best place I could have wished for. I want to concentrate on what’s ahead. I don’t want to spoil my good mood with melancholy. I can always return to the B and B anyway, once I’ve collected some supplies, and hopefully gathered together some people. I won’t go back there by myself. I can’t deal with that loneliness again. You never know how much you’re going to miss people until they’re gone. I’ve always prided myself on self-reliance. I’ve always been fiercely independent, as we never settled for long. Sure, I had many friends, but I always kept the relationships superficial, I never let anyone in because I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would be forced to give them up. I assumed I would do well in this apocalypse alone.
    I set off this morning, the second the light burst through the clouds, full of energy and enthusiasm. The weariness is starting to hit me slightly now though. I feel like I’ve been walking for hours. If it wasn’t for the light and dark, I wouldn’t even know how many days have passed. I haven’t bothered to continually keep up with dates and times since being alone; it’s seemed pointless with nothing to look forward to. Christmas could have come and gone for all I know. I try to remember the date that the Lockdown started, but so much has happened since then that I can’t recall. I may have even missed my birthday. Actually, that’s not possible, my birthday is in August. I’m just being dramatic.
    I’ve been trying to plan a route as I walk, trying to remember where I haven’t yet been in my previous searches for the refugee camp. I didn’t look in the main town area; I figured there would be too many zombies for the government to set up there. Hopefully the undead bastards have all moved on now, because that’s where I’m heading first. I wish I knew the town better, then I might have some idea of a safe place a group could be holed up. I’m finding it impossible to remember the place because I only explored it once or twice. When you’ve seen as many towns and cities as I have, the memories can easily become jumbled and confused.
    I imagine it’s unrecognisable to anyone by now. It’ll probably resemble the seventh circle of hell. If it looks anything like it smells, it’s going to be terrible. I guess with the lack of street cleaning and rubbish removal, it’ll have started to look shitty pretty quickly. It’s amazing, we’ve been told for such a long time that humans are having a negative impact on the planet, but this just proves what a good effect we’ve had.
    I do stumble across a few stragglers as I go, but the odd zombie is nothing to me anymore. Not with my axe. I can just take them out without breaking a sweat. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, it’s still difficult to kill them, but fighting them off is much easier. I don’t know if I’ve become stronger or they’re getting weaker. Maybe without a regular food source, they’re struggling to carry on. I sometimes wonder what