Coffee doesn't help; neither do the pinches as I try to stay awake. I watch the television screen in silent horror as my nightmares unfold before my eyes. I ask myself how this could happen, how something so bad could have overrun civilization. I don't hear it at my door yet, but I know sooner than later I'll hear the heavy thumps and moaning. Why can't this just be another bad dream? Why can't my nerves settle? I close my eyes for a little while, but I fall asleep.

Sure enough the zombies around pounding on my door, begging me to let them in. Should I? Why not? Won't I die in the end anyway? I can feel the dried saliva that had dribbled down my chin as I slept. My eyes fixed on the static filled television set with fascination. It was finally here, doomsday. The end of the world that once was. The world has moved on, but for me I'm still the same. If I were to survive I must change, I will change.

My small apartment seems almost cramped with all of the emergency supplies I had gathered these last two weeks. It was becoming exceedingly hard as so many other people were doing the same. Maybe, just maybe those others were safe and waiting for this figurative stagnant water to recede. I could live for months even years on the rations I have stocked. Spam, MRE, vegetables, water, crackers, coffee; everything non-perishable besides what resides in my refrigerator. But who knew how long the power would last?

I had already boarded up the doors two days ago. Since I was on the third floor I found it a little useless to board the windows. I should though. As I look now I see the sparrows and pigeons diving in the sky. I wonder if they are dead? I wonder if they can become as the zombies. Speaking of which I believe they are moving on now. The hallway outside is quiet, but these creatures may be trig. They don't breath, they don't live. They could be standing outside my door silently waiting for me to move.

The small cordless Zenith radio I bought at a pawnshop from down the avenue sits silently on top of a stack of CS ration boxes. Now I go over to it, maybe the radio stations are still functioning in some areas. Fuzz rattles out of the old radio but only a second passes before I find a descent signal.

"This is WGON radio, outlying the Pittsburgh area. We'll be sending this radio broadcast in hopes that it will reach people in need. Our video capabilities have been hindered but we will stay on the air." The female reporter on the radio sounded heavily distressed. Did she have children outside? I'd never know.

I listened to the radio for an hour and shut it off. They said the same things over and over again. I knew it all already, I'm not stupid. Looking out the window I can see it in the streets. I can see it in the windows of the flats across the avenue. And they can see me, I know they can. Somehow their eyes haven't collapsed in and stunted their vision. Just how long would it take for them to just fade away? There is no way of telling at this point. So I'll have a bit to eat and clean my guns.