Better not

Status: Uninfected

Your Equipment: Battered sandals, Ragged Panties, Ragged Tank-top, Ragged shorts, Hunting Knife, Pistol (7/7)

Your Inventory: Canned food (7), Bottled Water (15), Flashlight, Batteries (2), Duct Tape (3'), Twine (12' roll, 15' length), Blanket, Tattered Sundresses (2), Ragged Panties (3), Cabin Keys, Pistol Ammo (23), Pistol magazine (7/7), Tarp, Beef Jerkey

As nice as that fire would be, you have no idea who or what it would attract. You're not keen on running into Infected again, and, if you meet other survivors, you'd prefer it to be on your terms. Instead, you eat a cold breakfast, then start in on the massive mess in the cabin, searching for anything salvageable to take with you.

Time flies while you work, and, before you know it, you've cleaned enough of the mess from the cabin to identify what's worth keeping, and found a hollow-sounding spot in the floor, as well. Curiosity piques your interest, and you pry a floorboard up. The beam from your flashlight reveals a tunnel, which you're tempted to explored, but first you need to inventory your gear. Grabbing the rest of your gear from the bedroom, you sit in the chair, and sort through it all.

The haul, while far smaller than you would have liked, is still far more than you hoped for. Unluckily for you, there was nothing in the way of clothing. Judging from the battered pack that held the majority of what you found, a survivor had used this cabin as a waystation along a scavenging route, perhaps stretching as far as the city. What you did find, however, made you feel a lot better. Several more cans of food and bottles of water, a large bag of beef jerky, and a small tarp all go into your pack. You cut a 15' length of the twine off, and set it aside to be used with the tarp for emergency shelter.

The real bonus, however, was the handgun, holster, two magazines, and box of ammo. While you've never shot a gun before, this feels a lot better than having just your knife to defend yourself with. You count a total of 37 short, fat, rounds, stamped with .45 Auto on the base of them, slotting some of them into the two 7-round magazines. The pistol and holster will ride at your hip, along with your knife.

After that, you invest a bit of time in trying to patch up your clothes. Taking your tank top from the pile, you cut a few short lengths of twine from the roll, then poke some of holes around the largest of the splits, using the twine to lace the splits closed. When you pull it on, the splits still gape, the holes the twine is laced through stretching some, but it's better than nothing for now. Your sandal's strap is beyond repair, snapped off where it meets the sole of the sandal. You toss the idea of duct taping it to your ankle. You don't have the duct tape to spare, and its' better saved for if one of your sandals completely breaks. Your shorts are beyond any repair. They still protect your modesty, if little else, and there's no point to wasting precious resources trying to patch the many splits.

You step out for a moment to breathe, and smile slightly as the sun warms your face, before realizing its' rather high in the sky, and actually starting to set. You've been at this longer than you thought. As you think about it, you've got a choice of two cabins worth visiting, both of them about five miles from where you are, or exploring the tunnel beneath the cabin.

One is uphill, leading towards the lodge, but still off the highway. The highway itself is about three miles from you, and the other cabin is on the far side of that. While there might be cars there, maybe even one that works, one of the last news reports you heard had listed bands of Infected roving the roads. On the other hand, going higher may prove to be a problem if you don't find pants and a coat, at least. You should be able to reach either one of those today if you push hard.