Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 1): January by Dave Rowlands

floor, and on a closer look and Butcher and Junior tearing up that part of the floor, we found that it was in fact a tunnel leading downwards into the earth.  The Kid jumped down, and the instant he took a careful step to one side, a spear shot out of the wall next to him.  If he had been moving at normal speed this spear would have torn through his throat, killing him instantly.  He immediately leaped back.
     
 
     
This triggered a blade that sliced outwards and down.  Had The Kid approached this trap from the other direction it would have sliced him neatly in half.  We heard some clicking sounds a few seconds later as the traps reset themselves.  Junior helped The Kid out of the tunnel, and we decided that no matter how fascinating it might be, there was no way those were the only two traps.
     
 
     
We were safe in this house, that much was certain, but there was no way we could survive in this place without ready access to supplies and water.  Besides that, not a one of us wanted to remain in this strange, deserted place any longer than necessary.  The Kid, no longer feeling the need to sleep much, decided to wander around a little, keep his eyes out for any Dead that might be coming our way.
     
 
     
Apocalypse Girl wondered, as did I, exactly who S.P. had been, and for that matter, who was Tommy, with his cairn in the backyard?  What had happened to this town?  It looked as if every building around had been demolished by an angry mob armed with sledgehammers.  More than one place had been burnt to the ground, as well.  The streets of the town, not that it had more than four or five of those, were all in relatively good shape, however, despite the years of neglect.
     
 
     
Archer looked again at his roadmap, and discovered that it was nearly forty years old.  A more recent map would probably not have even recognised the existence of this place.  Ghost towns very rarely made mention on any maps.
     
 
     
Tomorrow, with any luck, we'll find some more fuel for the cars.  There was likely to be a service station around somewhere nearby.  At least we have the sword now, that'll come in handy for sure.
     
 
     
Something had come to my attention, and I brought it up this evening, as we smoked after we had finished dinner.  The climate seemed to be changing.  We seemed to be experiencing a comfortably cool couple of days.  The temperature seemed appropriate for an Australian summer's night, sure enough, but it remained constant through the day as well.  I was willing to bet that if we had access to a thermometer it would confirm my suspicions.  The others had noticed this also, and we wondered what other effects we might be experiencing over the coming weeks, or months.
     

January 17th Year 1 A.Z.
     
morning
     
We took the opportunity of relative safety to get a good sleep in while The Kid went scouting.  The sun, behind thick grey clouds, did nothing to dispel the gloom surrounding the town.  Butcher took a closer look at the tunnel we discovered last night, carefully placing himself between the two traps of which we were aware.  Shining the beam of a torch this way and that he hopped back up, saying that there were obviously many more traps down there, probably spaced apart every couple of metres.  We decided against any closer investigation, and Butcher went on to slaughter the second of our four sheep.  Apocalypse Girl and Biker chatted out in the street together, while The Twin and Archer patrolled the area for any stray Dead.  I drew my new katana and inspected the blade.  I could feel the lives this sword had taken over the years.  Whoever S.P. had been, he took care of his weapons.  Archer had estimated that this town had been abandoned at least two decades ago, maybe more.  I took a few swings at an imaginary foe.  Yep, I could see myself carving through thousands of the Dead with this!
     
 
     
After a while, with the sheep dead, roasting over an open fire, The Kid