It had been six months since the outbreak, six months that Leroy Jenkins had spent in his basement. You see, Leroy approached life differently than most people. Girlfriend cheated? Talk it out instead of kicking her out. Lost a job? Immediately search for a new one once you get home. Zombie apocalypse? Hide in your basement.
Leroy had been preparing his whole life for the zombie apocalypse, and he was glad for it. The outbreak had started in the city over, so his small town was instantly overrun in the wave of newly undead. When he saw the fires burning, people being mauled, and unspeakable things being done that only happen in the collapse of society, Leroy just ran home, locked the door, took all the supplies he had to the basement, and sealed himself in. Luckily his basement was the kind where therewere small windows, so that he could see what was happening if he lifted up the curtains just enough to see.
But here he was, six months later, doing fine all by himself. Sure, it got only every so often, but he had books and the solar panels on his roof that powered his TV and radio. He also invited the random traveller down, a kind of friendly gesture in case they became a part of some group so they could remember him in good graces. He had been complimented for his looks by most of the female travellers, because he did look good in all respect. He was 5' 11", slightly muscular from the workouts he did during the empty days, short and scruffy black hair, and bright green eyes. Needless to say, he could make girls adore him on sight.
But after six months, his life became boring, not even his books or games could alleviate the dull life of sitting in a basement. Sure, a random person would come through his neigborhood every so often, some friendly enough to stay the night. But that was it. eat, workout, entertain himself, and sleep. Day after day after day. He eventually wished for something exciting to happen, like a group came through the area to check for loot, or the government came through looking for survivors, or maybe even an attractive girl that wanted to be with a nice guy like him for awhile. Days and weeks passed in boring routine, until his radio started going off.
During and after the outbreak, Leroy had been listening to his radio, learning about what was going on and amrking stuff on his map. He listened as cities fell, sanctuaries were created and some overrun, and even government broadcasts, stating that the entire country was under a Category 7 Disaster, the worst there could be. He even listened to civilian radio, talk shows between survivors that had microphones, people who were playing music, and even that random girl that made sex noises. But after six months, it all slowly died down. Yes, there was plenty of radio traffic, but it wasn't as joyful as it had once been. But one day, the standard emergency broadcast sound had started playing, and he immediately ran to it and turned it up.
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
"This is a broadcast from the federal government of the United States. To all of those that are still out there, we are sorry. this isn't a broadcast of failure, but of apology and hope. We didn't handle evacuating, relocating, and quarantine well, which caused this to spread fast. We even had a plan made by the top geniuses at the Pentagon in case of this scenario, but we didn't have the right people handle this. I guess all of those movies and games based off of zombies didn't pay off, either. But now we have good news! We have reestablished order in the biggest cities in each state, so that we may spread out and defeat the undead." Leroy sat there and listened. He listened as the guy rattled out the long list of cities, and as he talked about the days ahead. He just sat there, closed his eye, and listened with a tear in his eye and a smile on his face. He finally broke down when the announcer said "Godspeed you magnificent bastards, and may we all be back to normal life soon enough."
After crying with joy for awhile, Leroy finally composed himself. He looked at his map and saw that he had two options. Pierre, South Dakota and Bismark, North Dakota. His town was placed evenly betwee nthe two cities, so it would be about two weeks worth of walking in each direction if plans went accordingly. He pulled out his hiking bag, filled it with all of the necessary supplies, grabbed his pistol and machete, and headed for the door. As he grabbed the doorknob, he decided to travel towards...