A Rational Zombie

Chapter 54

On the bottom shelf, theres another can. Its bigger, heavier. Glue. Is it also food? Im not sure. But on the lid, theres a note, written in the same handwriting as the food-preserving brick.

Keep the lid shut! If it dries out, your ass will be warming it up, Brandon.

Ill take the lid off. Unlike the other cans, this one can be opened easily. I dont have to use the metal stick. Im not sure how the lid is kept on. Theres nothing holding it in place. But its firmly rooted there. Taking it off is simple though. Hooking my fingernails on one side, tugging. With a pop, the can opened. Inside of it, there was a yellowish liquid. Or a solid. I dipped my finger into it. The glue sank down for a brief moment. Then my finger punctured the surface, the glue welling up to my knuckle. It was sticky. I took my finger out. A strand of glue rose up, connecting my finger to the substance. Interesting.

The strand stretched further, getting thinner as my finger rose. Then it broke off, leaving a coating on my skin. I licked it. And gagged. Disgusting. This wasnt food. I grabbed the lid, pressing it back onto the large can. When I removed my hand, there was some resistance from my finger, a tiny strand of glue connecting and breaking. Perhaps this can keep two objects together? If I glue them, let the glue dry, maybe. The series of spikes on the fence, they were most likely glued on. There arent ropes tying them down. And the effort it would take to carve that many spikes out of a single piece of wood, impossible. Trees arent as large as that fence. This glue, it might be useful. Instead of tying things to the others, I could attach them with glue. Or I could glue the others into place, prevent them from leaving. But that seems like a waste. The can of glue isnt that large. Ill leave it alone for now, use it when a need arises.

On the shelf above the can of glue, theres a red box. Its rounded at the top, a bit rusty. Theres another note here too:

Dont touch my tools, Brandon.

This case, filled with tools. A tool case. Inside of it, theres a bunch of metal tools. As expected. Theyre different shapes. Some are the same shape with different sizes. Each serving their own individual purpose that Im not sure of. This tool, its a metal stick with a curve at the end. Like a fat, two-pronged fork. Is it meant for stabbing? It seems a bit blunt. Theres many others like it, their sizes differing. So many tools, so many different uses. Ill bring this tool case into the back room, examine them as I wait. But Ill search the rest of the room first.

Theres a few cans next to the tool case. Larger. But not wider. Longer. At the tip, theres a button. What is this? Theres a hole at the top of the can, pointing out of the side. Looking down the hole, I couldnt see anything. Do I press the button? Ill try it. Something sprayed out of the hole, straight into my eye, obscuring my vision. It smelled like flowers. I wiped away the liquid substance. The vision in my right eye was a bit skewed, redder than usual. The label on the long can says air freshener. Its a weapon. It induces temporary blindness. How far does the spray shoot? Not very. Stabbing the eyes with a knife or spear would be much simpler. Useless. It seems like it can be used to mask smells. But stuffing rotting brains up the others noses can do that too.

At the wall opposite the shelf, theres a pile of wood. Its stacked in a neat pyramid. On top of it, theres a tool. A woodcutting tool. Theres a handle with a flat metal head attached, shaped like a wedge. Its similar to the one back in the tents that I ignored. Its not heavy, easy to lift, easy to swing. I like it. Ill test it on this piece of wood. Maybe I didnt even need to test, the blocks of wood are a testament themselves. They used to be part of a tree. Now theyre not. But I want to test. I grabbed a block, set it down. Then swung. The woodcutting tool sank into the wood. Excellent. With a few more swings in the same place, the piece of wood split in half. The other that was trying to climb out the window turned around. Did the noise attract it? It didnt matter. It stared at the wood. Its hands dropped to its sides, almost as if it were disappointed. I ignored it.

There didnt seem to be anything else of use inside the room. A woodcutting tool. A tool case. Glue. Cans of food. A broken can opener. Stink sauce. Tissues. Paper towels. There was something else, on the ground near the pile of wood. I almost missed it despite it being bright red. Luckily, theres a label on it too: fire extinguisher. If its labeled as I think its labeled, it should put out fires. Why didnt the prey use this on the burning pile of others? Then again, the burning pile of others burned out. But the walls didnt catch fire. The prey mustve thought the fire wasnt dangerous enough to extinguish. Or theyre dumb. That doesnt seem likely. How do I use this extinguisher? On the label, theres instructions. But at the end of the instructions, it says to refill after use. Im not sure how I would do that. If I use it now to test, I wont be able to refill it. Ill save it for emergencies. Maybe therell be a fire that needs to be put out. Perhaps in a camp at night, when the prey rely on a fire to see, Ill extinguish it. Who knows.

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