Eleventh Entry: Deus Ex Machina

I had hoped to outrun the infection - to find shelter somewhere the walkers hadn't shown up yet - but it quickly became clear that I wouldn't be so lucky. The city was in a state of panic. Screams of pain and fear mingled with the moans of the undead. Many tried to defend themselves with whatever they could get their hands on; folding chairs, umbrellas, walking canes. It only delayed the inevitable.

I saw the same scene play out on every street. Small groups of humans (many still in pajamas) armed with improvised weapons, trying to defend themselves from an overwhelming number of walkers. They all got overrun in the end, the walkers swarming over them like ants on fresh roadkill. They would soon rise as new bodies for the walker swarm. Some people made it to their cars. Most did not.

It wasn't long before every street was choked with cars and bodies. I saw a car full of people crash into a score of walkers. Halfway through the group of walkers, the car got stuck. The wheels spun and squealed, sending walker parts flying backwards. Then the engine made a thunk noise and died. Walkers slammed dead fists through the car windows and started pulling themselves inside. It was like one of those cars filled with clowns, but in reverse. And with dead people.

I eventually made it out of the suburbs. There was further between walkers out here, and the houses were gathered in small clusters with large grass areas or small woods between them. I had been running for almost an hour by then, and I was completely exhausted. Adrenaline had kept me going for a while, but I hadn't eaten or drank anything for almost 12 hours. I could only push myself so far, and I desperately needed to find shelter. Just then, the sun crested the horizon behind me, and a flash of gold caught my eye. A golden cross seemed to appear in mid-air a few hundred yards away, reflecting the sun's first golden rays. My first thought was that maybe I had gone crazy. My second thought was that it hardly mattered. It quickly became clear that it was not in fact a magical flying cross, but the top of a church spire.

Dizzy from exhaustion and hunger, I stumbled towards the white stone building. I was lucky not to run into any more walkers, because I'm honestly not sure I could have taken them. I could barely lift my blood-covered spade. The church was in the middle of a graveyard with a chest-high stone wall around it, and the nearest adjacent building was a small house at the edge of the graveyard. It probably belonged to the caretaker. The church was perfect. The walls were made of large stone bricks that could withstand hundreds of walkers almost indefinitely. The windows were too high up for the walkers to reach. The only entrance was a pair of sturdy-looking wooden doors with metal studs on them, and the church tower would be a perfect vantage point.

I sprawled against the doors and tried to push them open. They didn't budge. Damn it.