You know, at first, when shit went south, he couldn't help but express a certain amount of joy mixed in with his fear.  It would be so exciting, he thought! Just like in the movies! And clearly, because he knew so much, he would surely survive it all.<br/><br/>Except real life was not nearly as glamorous as the games and movies make it all out to be. In fact, this whole thing really, really sucks, he has decided.<br/><br/>As it was, the young geek was laying in a hammock in the sporting goods store that was his former place of occupation, and now a fairly nice shelter for him and the few other survivors who had the idea of coming to the mall. He was quietly eating some jerky from a package, and drinking Gatorade in between bites.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, he was reading a book--Roadside Picnic-- which he had liberated from the bookstore in the mall. It was one of several that he had absconded with, for something to keep himself busy.<br/><br/>With the first floor stores having shuttered gates, and the entrances to the place being locked and blocked, and the stairwells and escalators--now dead and inoperable--being blocked up by heavy desks and the like from Ikea, he felt pretty damn safe.<br/><br/>Just the stock on the shelves, of food and water, could last them all a few weeks, he wagered. Maybe even more than a month. And by then, surely something good would happen, right? Some rescue team, or special forces sweeping in and finally deep-sixing all the zombies.