Day 396

My hands are still shaking from the, well; I guess you would say adventures of today.
I couldn’t sleep last night at all. I was so hungry that I was afraid the zombies outside would hear my stomach growling. Over the past year, I had grown accustomed to eating very little and sometimes not for days, I had gone almost a week without eating and my body was really starting to feel the pain.
The building we are in is really dark, but because of the breaks in the walls and the large full moon, I was able to see fairly well. While everyone slept, I crept out of the room we were in and quickly found a utility closet. In the closet I found an old leather tool belt. I put the belt around my waist and pulled it as tight as it would go. When I let go, the belt slid down to my feet, like a hula-hoop; I have lost so much weight in just a year.
I grabbed the hammer and a large screw driver out of the side loop and proceeded down a dark hallway. I tried to remain calm and quiet as I made my way through the rooms of old Civil War exhibits. Somewhere near a statue of Stonewall Jackson, I found a cleared out area with pillows and blankets and to my complete surprise, an old duffle bag full of canned food and soda. I was so excited I grabbed the bag and ran back to show everyone else what I had found. I just knew I would be the hero. I knew they would be so happy for me and so proud of me. I was very wrong.
Jeremiah grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the ground. He started yelling at me like he was my father. He asked me where I had found it and if I even bothered to see if anyone was around. I tried explaining to him what had happened, but every time I would get a few words out, he would start yelling again. I understand why he was angry, but I got us food and drinks. The museum looked like no one had been in it for months, so I wasn’t worried about making someone else angry about taking the food.
Jeremiah let us eat the food even though he was not happy about it. I could see a change in everyone’s spirits right away. Even Darcy appeared to be her normal self again. She was laughing with Tonya and trying to help Bandage up Elise’s ankle, which was turning a deep black and purple. Brandy smiled a couple times, but for the most part just lay on the ground with a cloth on her face to keep the bleeding down. For my punishment, I had to stay up all night and keep watch over everyone else and I was told I would be showing Jeremiah exactly where I found the bag, in the morning.
Nothing happened on my watch and everyone slept like a baby. This morning when the sun raised over the trees enough to light up the entire building, I retraced my footsteps back to where I had found the bag of goodies. As we were looking around, Jeremiah opened a door in the back of the room. He slowly opened the door and peeked inside before he committed to walking in. I watched him disappear into the dark room and I quickly followed behind him. When I entered the room, he was kneeling down, looking at something. I got closer so I could see what he was looking at; it was a blanket covered in dried blood. Jeremiah stood up and quietly told me to get out of the room. We had almost made it out of the dark room, when I heard a strange noise coming out of Jeremiah from behind me. When I turned around, I could just barely make out the shadow of someone wrestling around with Jeremiah. I ran over to him and immediately smelled the familiar stench of rotting flesh. I kicked at the zombie until he lost his grip. Jeremiah and I ran as fast as we could back to the room where we found the food. As we turned the corner, Jeremiah tripped and fell into me. We both toppled through the door and slid across the dirty floor. Jeremiah’s nose exploded blood as his face slammed against the ground and knocked him briefly unconscious. As I staggered to my feet, the zombie in the room bolted out of the darkness at a staggering speed. I hade just enough time to stand before it was on top of me, causing me to fall back down to the ground. My fingers pressed against its leathery flesh. I could not tell whether it was a man or woman. The creature’s mouth saw split from ear to ear and both lips were missing as were most of its teeth. The flesh around its nose and exposed guns were black with rot and decay. I pressed my fingers into its flesh around the collar bone, holding the beast above me; its teeth snapping and its arms pulling my hair, attempting to bring my head within biting range. I was exhausted and tired, but because of the food the night before, I was able to fend it off and hold it off foe a while.
As my arms began to weaken, I felt a hand beside me, pulling the large screw driver out of my pocket. Above myself and the zombie was Darcy; her face was blank and the wild look was back. She grabbed the creature by the back of the head and ripped the scalp completely off its head. Darcy stood above us, holding the scalp in her hand looking at it as if it were a trophy and began to smile a very disturbing smile. The zombie turned its attention momentarily to Darcy and attempted to grab her. Darcy simply took a step back, completely out of reach of the zombie. With one quick movement, Darcy moved behind the zombie, grabbing it by the throat and drove the screwdriver through the zombies lower jaw and deep into the skull, stopping its movement instantly. I threw the lifeless body off of me and scrambled to my feet beside Darcy. I tried to force a nervous laugh to break the silence. Darcy looked down at me, still smiling, scalp still entwined in her hand, and reached down to remove the screwdriver. With the screwdriver in her hand, she slowly turned to face me. I felt threatened and alone. Darcy began moving towards me, the screwdriver twisting in her hands. I backed myself into a corner and had no where to run. Darcy stood directly above me and slowly reached out and rubbed my face. She looked me directly in the eyes and said “You look just like my nephew. Have I ever told you that before?” I couldn’t talk and I couldn’t move. I was more scared at that moment than I have ever been facing zombies. Darcy placed both her hands on my shoulders with the screwdriver pressed against my throat. I squirmed under her grip. Her grip grew stronger and her smile grew wider. I asked her to stop and tried calming her down but she kept pressing the screwdriver deeper and deeper. As quickly as it started, she dropped the screw driver and walked out of the room.
I ran over and tended to Jeremiah. I told him what happened as we walked back to meet up with the others. He said he would keep an eye on her and told me not to go anywhere near her. The sun is going down and I am getting sleepy from staying up all night last night. I want to sleep, but I don’t want to take my eyes off Darcy; right now she is sleeping next to Tonya. Tomorrow I am going to tell Tonya everything that happened.