I want to talk about one house specifically today. It was a large house, complete with fountain and statue. High ceilings, large windows, grand piano, dining hall. We were rummaging through the bedroom. Zoic went for the jewelry boxes, I looked around a bit more. I found a book shelf. Floor to ceiling, fifteen feet wide. They had all the classics, from Gilgamesh on. I walked from the earliest part of history to the more contemporary things. Then I hit metal. Underneath my feet, underneath the carpeting. I was confused at first. Then I tapped my foot a few more times and the same ping came back. By now, Zoic had turned to look at me. I got out my knife and I started cutting carpet.
“What are you doing?” Zoic asked. She was alarmed. Then, a common expression went across her face. It’s the “Oh, right, we’re in the apocalypse, carry on” face. I did.
After about five minutes we had discovered a trap door. Lifting it revealed a dark stair case. We clicked our flashlights on and went urban exploring. It wasn’t musty or humid, like you might expect, but dry and cool. Locating a switch on the wall, we lit up a number of fluourescents over head. The walls were plain cinder blocks, the floor epoxy. In one corner, a large tank of water sat. Clean water. We made a note. On the other side of the room, there were two doors. Doors can be a bit tricky. You never know what might be on the other side.
We flipped a coin. Tails. Left door first. I pulled the door open, and got out of the way. Before I could look, Zoic fired twice from her shotgun. Then twice more. Then once. I turned to look. Three infected. Two adults, one child. They were holed up in this panic room. One of them must have had a bite, and then spread to the other two.
“There must be another way down here,” Zoic said. I nodded.
I quickly moved into the room, pistol at the ready. No one else. Not much else, in fact. A bed, some half eaten food, an old television.
On to the next door. Same method. I pulled the door wide open, Zoic ready to shoot. This time, just a gasp. I turned. We had stumbled upon the largest stockpile of gold I had ever seen in my life. There were gold bricks stacked eight feet high, four feet wide and deep. We took a moment to just stare.
In the back of this room, we found a ladder that lead to another trap door.
It was strange that at this time, I couldn’t help but remember all of the commercials on television. “When the stock market fails, and the U.S. dollar plummets, there will be only one thing that keeps its value. Gold. Buy gold today. Your conservative pundit agrees.”
Suffice it to say, we took the water.