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apartment with the fire escape. We sprint inside and I push the bag into Ted’s arms. He and Phil go down first and I cover their escape, hacking away at two Groaners who have followed close on our heels. I shut the window on my way out, leaving it open just a crack.
    Inside the store it’s quiet, and we move a little more slowly. On the way by the bookshelves I grab a few books and toss them into Ted’s bag. I restrain myself and he pats me on the back. Holly greets us at the door, tears of relief shimmering in her eyes. I never noticed how beautiful she is, how her new haircut shows her pretty face to advantage, how her cheekbones are high and regal. I’m just glad to see they’re all alive and glad to have Dapper dancing at my shins, doing laps around my feet as I take off the head wrap and wipe down the ax and golf club.
    “We found some golf clubs in the apartments,” I say in response to their curious looks.
    Phil shoots me a grateful glance and we all sit down to a dinner of beef jerky, Pepsi and cold green beans.
    Now I’m alone in the safe room. I’m exhausted and so afraid.
    The monitors are quiet, everyone is asleep, but I can’t help thinking … Maybe we shouldn’t live in the apartments. It seems wrong somehow, to take over a place we have no claim to, but what choice do we have? The break room is too small and I’m desperate to sleep on a bed again, to feel something soft underneath my head at night, to return to some semblance of civilized life. But something nags.
    I don’t know why we feel bound to this place, but it seems impossible to leave.
    I turn on the radio we found in Ms. Weathers’ apartment. The batteries are still good. It smells like old, wet books and there’s dust collecting in the knobs and grooves. I tune it around, looking for signs of life but there’s only static, static, static.
    COMMENTS
    CptCrckpot says:
    September 27, 2009 at 7:09 pm
    Things aren’t much better in Texas, if you were having any thoughts about trying to make your way here. I’m in an office in an industrial park between Dallas and Fort Worth. I worked the night shift doing customer service for a small company. Things had only just started when I came in to work, not even any mention on the news. I heard some sirens shortly after I got here, and later on I could hear cars crashing and gunshots in the distance, but that was it. Good thing our office is the last one in the last industrial park going north on 360 out of Arlington. I’ve spent the past week just laying low here in the office, and have fortified things as best I can.
    Allison says:
    September 27, 2009 at 7:34 pm
    Captain, we wish you luck. Are there other survivors with you? There’s strength in numbers, so see if you can find some coworkers to help with the fortifications.
    Isaac says:
    September 27, 2009 at 7:56 pm
    Supplies are low here and with winter coming there’s no time to plant anything. I just hope we can hold out on the canned rations we have left. It makes me nervous sometimes, not seeing any of those creatures for days and then BAM, one drifts into the yard and starts pawing at the windows. I’ve got a hunting rifle but I don’t shoot unless absolutely necessary. An ax, as you know Allison, works just as well and doesn’t waste ammunition. Do you have anything to defend yourself with, CptCrckpot?
    CptCrckpot says:
    September 27, 2009 at 9:03 pm
    Not really, no weapons here except some fire extinguishers and letter openers, and the wireless is becoming erratic. I don’t think we’ll have it at all by the end of the week.

September 29, 2009—Little Children
    “Couches, windows, actual places to sleep … It’s the best choice, Allison, and you know it. I think we should move upstairs.”
    “We have to talk about this, Phil! We have to decide together, as a group. You can’t just decide for us, it’s not a Philtatorship.”
    “ What? ”
    “It’s from … Forget it. Look, what’s important is that we discuss