Survive... Just survive...

[Penny Sue 77]

Sprinting down the coast, pumping wind as hard as I can, I look over my right shoulder "Shit! It's still on me!" I hurdle over a bush and keep running. As I come over a rolling hill I can see some buildings and a pier jutting out off the coast... and more lame brains.

Maybe I can lose them around the buildings? I can't go any further right or I'll run into more geeks. I hug the shore closely and try to aim for a big machine shed by a pier. As I approach at full speed the other geeks nearby spot the commotion, howl, and start sprinting toward me. Now I'm up a steep bank and on the landing of the pier between it and the huge shed. As I run across the concrete I check back over my shoulder to see my progress and to my great surprise the lame brains aren't giving chase anymore!

I slow down to a jog and scan the area in front of me...all clear..then look back again. The geeks are still raged but are just shaking their fists, throwing monkey fits, and refuse to get up onto the pier. "What the fuck?" I say to myself and stop jogging. Again I scan the area around me...still clear...stop all together, bend down and rest with my hands on my thighs, gasping to catch my breath and look up across the pier where the lame brains were still throwing their little temper tantrum. "Guess they hate the water as much as I do" I thought as I looked around slowly and with more intent.

Further up along the coast in the direction I was running I see a jetty with trees, more beach, and a solid wood fence. Beyond that are some big buildings and silos many stories tall. Off further to the right are even bigger buildings... "I must be on the outskirts of a city."

Walking now and still trying to catch my breath I stay on the piers and head up toward the fence. Cautiously I round the left side of the fence and there's a shed, huge fuel reserve tank, a road, and more piers. I creep up on the shed but as I get close I hear feet shuffling inside and some muffled groans... "Of course..." I don't even bother with it and head over to the road and follow it left out onto the jetty and along the piers. Ahead is a huge building, some silos to the left of it, to the right a small sub-station, a very long pier that ends in a gulf of water, and an enormous crane. I decide to check out the big building.

Slowly I make my way to it, still breathing heavy, but getting better. Off to the right by the sub-station and along the pier I see more geeks.. "Damn." So I go left around the building which is thankfully clear. As I case the building I carefully check the doors... All locked and reinforced; no way I'm breaking into these without some tools and a lot of noise.

As I round the far side of the building I know the sub-station and walkers are right around the corner. I crouch and move as quite as possible. Peeking my head around the corner I'm startled by how close the geeks are and of course between me and the sub-station. Thankfully the don't see me and I wait patiently as they wander around down toward the coast. After several minutes they seem to have wandered off down the hill and out of sight. I'm apprehensive about going to the sub-station. "I NEED water" thinking to myself "and I can't just avoid every close encounter." I close my eyes and say a short prayer then creep out toward the sub-station. Having to go around a chain-link fence toward it's half open gate I can now see the front doors to the small building. The doors are ajar, it's open!

Carefully and quietly I creep up on the doors. Now I can see further down that hill toward the coast... damn those lame brains are close! Managing to slip in it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark room. "Oh thank God! There's some stuff here!" Trying to look through the junk carefully and quietly is hard as I'm so happy to just find SOMETHING and at any moment one of those geeks could wander back. Empty food cans... empty pop cans... wrappers... papers.. junk! "Damnit!" Turn toward another pile of refuse and begin parsing through it... junk... worthless... broken... AH-HAH a knife! "YES!" I slip it into my belt and keep looking... some flares... more junk. *rustle* *snarl* *rustle* "Oh fuck they are close!" Sounds like it's coming from the back or side still so I creep over to the front doors and peek out left then right. Continuing to quietly work my way toward the fence gates but as I come around the side of the building I'm RIGHT by one! "Gaahhh!" I scream out loud like a little fuck'n kid! My body just instantly reacts and breaks into a full sprint. "HOWWWL!" *snarl*

In my panic trying to get around the gate I slam into the fence and stumble. Regaining my footing I break for the pier. As I get out on to it I glance back... "Hah!" they are stopped near the edge of the pier! Oh this is TOO good! Slowing to a walk I make my way along the pier back the way I had originally come. The geeks are hissing and snarling while tracking me along the road yet keeping a safe distance as I stay on the pier.

An interesting puzzle now... I can't stay on the pier forever... they won't leave... how do I get free? An old fashion standoff; they got me cornered and they know it. My only hope is that their brain is all but grey pudding which gives me the advantage: abstract thinking. I take the opportunity of relative safety to walk along the entire pier. There are more massive cranes here. A road runs along the piers with intersecting roads that go out into the city. Buildings of all sizes and shapes fill in between the roads. By now I've got quite the fan club cheering for me on the road. Stumbling over one another for a front row seat just to drool over little ole' me. If it wasn't such a horror show I might be flattered. As I despair over the situation a thought pops in my mind "The cranes!"

I climb up one of these hulking machines. *jiggle the handle* Damn, the cab is locked. I cup my hands around my face and lean against the glass to look in... "I never gave these machine operators enough credit... even if I got in I'd never know how to run it." I turn and lean up against the cab and sloooowwwly slide down to a sitting position with a *sigh* "God I'm thirsty...so... F'n... thirsty." I lick my lips with my dry tongue but it's no help. I lean over and look down at my eagerly awaiting fans... Hmm... they are losing interest quite rapidly. Patiently I wait and watch. One or two at a time peel away from the group and wander off back into the city; "Nice!" As the last few wander off I quietly climb down.

Once on the ground I use the bulky structure of the crane as cover and observe the area. "There's a loading dock there... the rolling door is open..." I scan the dirty, smudged, windows... I don't see anyone inside... no movement. Quietly I creep across the road, constantly scanning left to right, and sneak up the loading dock into the building. "LOOOT!" Desperately I try to contain my exuberance and walk over to a pile of miscellaneous stuff. Carefully I sift through it; constantly looking around for trouble. There's a few bullets laying around which quickly pocket. I open a tattered canvas satchel and my eyes shoot open as wide as possible: "Oh fuck a pistol!!!" I roll it around in my hand admiring it as if it were the most amazing thing I'd ever found in my entire life. "Stay cool! Hurry and get out!" I say to myself. I quickly scoop up what looks like a bottle of acetaminophen, a package of hand warmers, and more bullets. One more scan of the area and I creep back out the loading dock, peek around the corner, "Clear!", and sneak back behind the crane.

Kneeling down I inspect the area then go back to admiring my new gun! I'd never bothered much with guns before... Sure I've shot the occasional shot gun or rifle with grand'pa or my brothers. They would take me now and then to go hunt small game but they were the 'sportsmen'... not me. Never had I shout a hand gun before... I don't even know what the hell I'm doing ... but I know this thing could mean I live another day. I knew enough from TV that it was a revolver and somehow it swung open to reload. Fiddling with it while I look around checking for trouble I eventually find the latch and the cylinder swings out. Five chambers are full. I slide it back up and it clicks back into place. Reaching in my pocket I pull out the bullets... 1...2, 3, 4... 5...6... "That's 11 shots total." A part of me couldn't help but think "Wish I had more" but it's 11 more than I had this morning.

As I sat there behind that crane I kept occasionally looking out for any signs of trouble but still admiring that pistol. I practiced holding my arm out straight and looking down the sights. It wasn't very big but it felt heavy... I must be getting weak... Then it struck me "I still hadn't found anything to drink... or eat." The sun is hanging low in the sky now. Couple hours it will be below the horizon... and it will be dark... black as midnight... black as pitch.

I climbed up to the top of the crane again and sat watching the sun set. My heart sank with the sun as it slipped below the horizon. I curled up into the fetal position on that narrow deck. Using my pack as a pillow... pulling my sleeves over my hands for warmth... eventually I doze off to the now typical sounds of the night... crickets and moans... the rustling of those who never sleep... wolves in the far distance yip and howl... and the waves rolling in to the shore. "God I'm so thirsty..."

[barrett_killz 229]

Deserves some beans. :)

[The Stoned Wolf 491]

^ Indeed. Although it is quite a long read ;)

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

:D very well written I enjoyed it beans for you

[Penny Sue 77]

Thank you for the kind words and all the beans!

[Mudpuppy (DayZ) 16]

You should have ended like... "then I woke up, phew, it was all a dream."