Escape from Redwood City

Leaving on a bike loaded for touring was probably not the smartest move. Tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, panniers with food, clothes, cat in a carrier perched on top of the pile of stuff on the rack. A shortish 2x4 strapped to my back, a gun in my handlebar bag.

Can't the cat stop yowling for five minutes?

What the hell was I thinking? But I don't own a car, so what's a girl to do when the zombie hordes show up? I needed to get out of town quick and somehow all my neighbors had disappeared. So, here I am climbing to Skyline to get out towards the ocean where there are less people. Tough work loaded the way I am. And every noise makes me reach for the gun (or usually the 2x4 as I'll run out of bullets pretty quick).

Going thru Woodside was scary, but I just kept pedalling. I can bike faster than the zombies run. One fell out of a tree and just barely missed me though. Out by the ocean will be better for that.

The cat is going to attract attention. And what kind of stupid plan was this anyway?

Thank god I haven't seen too many zombies out here. There were a couple near the junction with Pescadero Road which I just cycled right past. I'm at Pescadero State Beach and it's quiet, but no sign of anyone. The wind blowing vegetation is unnerving though.

Another problem with this plan: water sources. There aren't a lot near the ocean and the easy ones risk meeting zombies. Going to get pretty thirsty if I keep this up. I only filled one big bottle (and my water bottles safely in their cages).

At least the cat is quiet after I let her out a little and fed and watered her.

Where do I go?

I should have brought a hammock. And crampons or something (screw the tree). Not that there are many tall trees, but climbing a tree for the night seems like a much better move than a tent. A tent! So the tent is not pitched. The night is beautiful. The moon is full and out here by the ocean I can see the stars. The ocean is pretty calm. The waves crash regularly, but it's just the tick of a slow clock. I'd be relaxed, except zombies from Santa Cruz could show up any second.

I don't really want to have to bludgeon what used to be a hot surfer to death. Well not death. Stillness. Not fucking trying-to-kill-me-immobility.

At least there isn't anyone to enforce "rules" about where I could camp. And there was a little creek going steep down a ravine. Pretty clean water. I found another plastic water bottle too.

My cat died. I think she got hit in a tussle with some zombies. She was safely in her carrier, but must have gotten a hard knock. I couldn't stop and check right away. When I could, she was gone.

I'm not crying though. I don't want to make noise where I'm at right now.

I'll have to bury her tomorrow when the sun is up.

Damn the flat tire. This is not a safe place to be fixing it. But the bike is too much of an advantage. I found a bunch of gravel and put that out in every direction a good thirty meters out. I don't think zombies know how to sneak, so hopefully I'll have a little warning.

At least I'm prepared. I have six spare tubes and a few patch kits after ransacking some stores in Santa Cruz. And strangely I found a shotgun and more ammunition (you'd think there wouldn't be any left). And a hammock. The hammock was a really good idea.

If this was a movie a zombie would have attacked me while I was fixing that flat. Instead, a zombie came at me right as I was biking off. Take that you mindless dead thing!

I'm almost to Big Sur now. I don't really have a destination in mind. At this point, I'm just keeping moving. I know I'm being affected by the isolation and the decision making isn't too smart. But the road is smooth and wide. The risk of zombies is only bad near the bigger coastal towns.

But why haven't I seen anybody? Not zombie people?

Am I alone?

I might risk going into Big Sur and looking for people. There have to be some hiding out and ever since the cat bought it, it's been pretty lonely.

That was stupid. Big Sur must have been the land of the dead before whatever-the-fuck-happened happened. There were more zombies here than in downtown Santa Cruz which makes no sense at all. Maybe I should just head back north? I know where the water sources are now and can just keep moving.

Going thru Monterey again will be a trial though. Lots of zombies and a whole bunch of crashes littering the road.

Somehow I biked this behemoth tourer up into the hills of Los Padres forest. Seems like a good idea as I haven't seen zombies in days. Guess the Big Sur zombies don't like the forest.

But there aren't any people either.

Plenty of water sources at least.

Thank goodness I didn't toss the tent. The rain sucks.

All the park signs say that fire risk is high, but sitting shivering seems a bad idea.

And stewed acorns are just not that tasty. Whatever the indians thought.

Is that a person?