I woke up, but couldn't really tell what time it was. In the gloom of the emergency lighting, I could see that light was shining down from the crack in the roof, but I couldn't determine the time from it. I felt well-rested, being dry and having slept on a flat surface after a sleepless night. As I lay on my mattress, I stared at the emergency lighting, trying to figure out why it was still working. Most emergency lighting was only supposed to last a few hours, not days. On closer inspection, I noticed that the lights didn't actually have those big squarish battery boxes connected to them. They were just some normal LED lights. Instead of having all the lights on, it was just like every fifth light. I decided to get up and trace the wiring to find out where the power was coming from. And of course, it led to the section of the building behind the locked door.

  As I was walking around and looking, I noticed that some of the electrical cabinets had black push-pull locking tabs allowing some operator access into them. I had tried pushing one when I was walking by, noticing that it was locked. But from my investigation, I thought the locks looked more like a safety feature to keep people from opening it and getting electrocuted rather than a security measure. With a screwdriver and a little bit of force, I could easily break these locks and take a look in the cabinets to see if there was anything of value stored in them or if they were just full of electronic components. I moved over to the closest one near the workbench and pried with a screwdriver. The plastic and sheet metal lock popped right out, allowing me access into the cabinet. To my surprise, on the floor of the cabinet was a three-quarters-full bottle of whiskey. I guess somebody liked to do a little bit of day drinking on the job. I did a happy dance as it was one of my favorite brands, Johnny Walker Black.

  I typically like my whiskey on the rocks, but at the end of the world, I would make do. I picked up the bottle and unscrewed it, taking a healthy swig. Knowing that drinking alcohol probably wasn't a great idea, but screw it. Let's celebrate. A few mouthfuls and a few minutes later, I was feeling a nice buzz and decided that I should probably stop there for now. I put the whiskey on the desk and moved to the next cabinet with a lock. I started prying. I continued this process, finding nothing more valuable than dust, a few cardboard boxes, a quarter, and an empty pack of cigarettes, until I was on one of the very last cabinets near the door and stumbled upon the jackpot—a set of keys.

  The cabinet where I found the keys wasn't actually locked, and it was probably where the utility guys stored the key to the other side of the building. I didn't question why they even bothered locking the main door if their security was this lax. Maybe Mr. Daydrinker liked to forget his keys at home. I went back to the bottle of whiskey as my buzz was fading and took a few more sips to celebrate finding the keys.

  The key for the cabinet was on the key ring, and I used it instead of prying open the rest of the locked cabinets. Nothing of note was found in there. The key ring also had what looked like a larger key. These had numbers on them and also had "do not duplicate" stamped on the back, making me think they probably belonged to the outer doors and most likely to the padlock outside and the key to the deadbolt on the door between the two sides of the building. I was feeling pretty buzzed and wanted to try the deadbolt key. Should I put the ladder back in front of the door? I had used it for climbing up to the opening in the roof and to help dry clothing. It was far away, and I had made so much noise pushing the cabinet over, which had stirred up the zombies, causing them to knock and pound on the knobs of the outdoor doors. But the doors were solid steel, so I wasn't too worried about them getting in. However, I hadn't heard any noises coming from the other side of the building.

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  I thought the risk of having a zombie in there was quite low, not hearing anything from that side of the building. Also, moving the ladder and working hard with my limited food supplies now posed a caloric risk. I still had the spear on top of the cabinet and an exit route there. I had my heavy wrench, which I could easily use to brain a zombie. And I had liquid courage running through my veins. I grabbed the set of keys and tried the first one. Not even close to the right fit. So I found the one that looked the opposite and tried it. Magic. It fit right into the lock and turned the key. After I heard the deadbolt recess, there was still the handle. I quickly spun it, pushed the door open, and jumped back, slowly retreating to my cabinet where I had easy access up, and waited. And waited a little bit more. Then I tentatively said, "Hey zombie, zombie, zombie." And nothing. Then I said it a little louder. And a little louder. Then I banged the wrench on the cabinet next to me. I heard a racket at the side doors. I guess I was being too loud and was attracting the zombies from outside. I decided to stop being so loud, as there were no zombies in the connection room.

  I positioned myself so that I could have the best view into the new room, and realized it was a hallway that dead-ended against the back wall of the building, with two doors on either side of the corridor. The one on the left, I suspected, led towards the back of the shelter, and the one on the right seemed to lead to an adjacent room. I cautiously approached the door on the right and tried the handle. Locked. My streak of luck with keys seemed to have run out. As I began to fumble with the keys, searching for one that might fit, I heard a faint noise from the other end of the hallway—shuffling footsteps. My heart raced, and I turned around just in time to see the door on the left suddenly burst open. A man in disheveled coveralls, his eyes wild and hungry, stumbled into the hallway. My heart skipped a beat as I realized I was now trapped between the locked door and the advancing zombie.

  I swung the wrench downward with all my might, the metallic clang echoing off the walls as it connected with his skull. He stumbled forward, crashing into me like a force of nature. The impact knocked the wind out of me, but the adrenaline numbed the pain, allowing me to react swiftly.

  With a quick recovery, I swung the wrench again, aiming for his head as he reached out with twisted hands. The blow shattered bone and sent him reeling, but he persisted, still a threat. As he struggled to rise, I delivered another decisive strike, ending his twisted existence with a sickening crack. Blood and viscera painted the floor, a stark reminder of the brutality of this new world.

  After I quelled my trembling nerves, I cautiously peered into the room from which the zombie had emerged. My eyes fell upon a bank of large electronic equipment, still humming with power. Amongst the clutter, there was no sign of any more undead lurking in the shadows.

  With my knees still trembling from the encounter, I couldn't bear the thought of facing another threat. Swiftly, I made my way back to the other door, using the key to lock it securely. It was time to put the horror behind me, at least for now, and focus on surviving another day in this unforgiving world.