The brightness of the early morning sun and the clear blue skies couldn't relieve the nervousness snaking its way up Bruce's spine as he looked down on the zombies filling the parking lot beneath him. They reached up toward him with their rotting hands, mouths hanging open as they strained to lay hold of him.

Bruce and Dillion stood on a scaffolding used by window washers. They'd found it on the roof and had descended to the third floor. Although still a fair distance above the undead crowd, the two members of the living drew the full attention of the walking corpses below.

Bruce held the harpoon gun in his right hand and took careful aim. The gun made a sizable bang when the compressed air fired the sharpened barb toward the roof of the explosives building. The trailing line of cable followed in its wake like a snake fleeing from a descending eagle, uncoiling from the spool on the scaffolding platform to cross the distance between structures.

The harpoon struck the center of the roof and bit deep into the tar and asphalt tiles covering the building, and Dillion quickly took up the slack in the line, drawing it tight.

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Dillion asked Bruce again. He'd already questioned him about it over breakfast when they'd been discussing their plan to retrieve the explosives.

"As I said before, we shouldn't risk both of us," Bruce reminded. Having had some time to think about it since their earlier meeting, he'd come up with a few more reasons and spelled them out to Dillion. "Do you know which explosive to get? Can you identify primers, detonators, and fuses?"

"No," Dillion denied.

"I have to be the one to go," Bruce stated flatly. "Because of the angle, I'll need someone over here to pull the bag back up once it's full. Also, we're having to secure one end of the cable to the scaffolding, and I'm not sure how much of a drag it can take without pulling away from the building. If something were to go wrong, and we were forced to evacuate in a hurry, could the line hold both of us at the same time? We might pull the scaffolding away from the building far enough where the cable would dip within reach of the undead."

"Alright," Dillion relented. His tone clearly conveyed his understanding of Bruce's argument but also his distaste for the situation it forced him into. He busied himself with tying off the cable.

Bruce took several deep breaths and tried to slow his racing heart. He knew what needed to be done, but descending a zip line over the heads of a zombie crowd actively trying to ensnare him made it a stress inducing event. He'd had breakfast with his family, but one slip could put him on the breakfast menu for the undead.

It was a challenge for Bruce to not look down at the living dead as his eyes were naturally attracted to movement. He focused his attention on the harpoon lodged in the roof, concentrating on making the proper landing. Sufficient room was available for him to land, but if his momentum was too great, Bruce might tumble off the far side.

Deciding it was best to get moving before the sane part of his mind formulated reasons for him to not go sliding down a thin cable over a horde of undead, Bruce threw a bike chain over the top of the cable and gripped one end in each hand. Stepping off the scaffolding, he began his slide.

The movements of the undead were jerky and uncoordinated as they strained to reach him, swiping and clawing at the air with their hands.

Bruce let go of one end of the bike chain, dropping to the roof of the storage building. He bent his leg while leaning forward and left, rolling and shedding his momentum. The maneuver had the added benefit of allowing him to avoid the end of the harpoon protruding from the asphalt roof covering. The sharpened end had speared through the sheathing, but the opposing end could still impale him if he wasn't careful. He rolled hard across the rough asphalt tiles spread over the roof.

In desperation, he grabbed at the edge of the roof or anything he could find to slow him down. His right hand caught on the pole where the electrical lines were linked to the building. Anchoring him slightly, his grip allowed him to use his feet and stop himself against the low brickwork around the edge of the roof.

Bruce's breathing was fast, making his lungs hurt, and he felt bruised all over from his drop and roll. He took a moment to rest before he tried to stand. When he finally regained the strength, he stood up and waved to Dillion to signal he was fine. Motioning to his distant friend, Bruce indicated his readiness to start the next part of his plan.

Dillion lifted the sledgehammer he'd found during their initial search of the building. One of the floors had been undergoing renovations when the zombies first appeared. The construction tools and equipment had been left behind by the evacuating workers. Tying it securely to the cable with a strong rope, Dillion sent the hammer sliding down to Bruce.

Keeping his distance, Bruce let the sledgehammer hit the roof rather than attempting to catch it. He didn't need bruised or broken fingers. Retrieving the heavy tool from where it had landed, Bruce carried it to one corner of the roof where he'd be working. He'd decided on the corner as he didn't want to smash through in the center where it might compromise the entire roof. Bruce couldn't afford to fall into the building and break a leg.

Before he started his work, Bruce peeled back the asphalt shingles on the roof to keep them from absorbing the impacts and reducing his effectiveness. The sledgehammer slammed down and fractured the concrete. Small chips and slivers broke off with each hit, punctuated by clouds of dust.

The work was strenuous, and Bruce was feeling the toll of his efforts by the time he smashed through and into the building. His back and shoulders were sore, and the vibrations from the sledgehammer had made his arms numb. Redoubling his efforts when he saw completion within reach, Bruce widened the hole by breaking away the surrounding concrete.

Pieces of the roof fell down inside the building, clattering against the shelves and crates stored below. Dust showered the interior, covering everything in a layer of fine powder.

Bruce waved a signal to Dillion to inform him of his successful breach of the storage building, but he paused before going inside. He took a seat on the raised edge of the roof, breathing deeply and stretching out his sore muscles. Bruce glanced over his shoulder from time to time, keeping a wary eye on the undead clawing at the exterior wall below him in a futile but ceaseless attempt to reach him.

When he felt prepared for the task, Bruce tied off a second cable and used it to descend into the dark interior of the building. His flashlight created a narrow cone of light, the darkness swallowing up everything it could. The illumination coming from the hole in the roof was marginal at best, but when combined with his flashlight, Bruce could see well enough to find what he was looking for. More importantly, Bruce could see the door was still secure, and no undead were currently present on the inside.

A bang against metal sounded at the door, causing Bruce to swing his flashlight in the direction immediately. The door resounded with a second impact, but it held firm. Having been built to contain the majority of an explosion and direct it upward through the weaker ceiling if an accidental detonation occurred, the storage building was more than able to keep the undead out, but Bruce didn't want to bet his life on it.

Moving as quickly as he dared in a room loaded to capacity with high explosives, Bruce collected what he needed. As he worked, he used his flashlight to frequently check the front door since the zombies had been pounding on it without pause.

The moment a single bag was filled, Bruce would climb one of the shelves near the hole to shove the bag through and onto the roof. If the door did give way, the zombies would be sure to follow, and Bruce didn't want to lose his gathered demolitions if he had to make a quick exit.

While collecting the explosives, Bruce made sure to breathe deeply. Although the air had the slight taste of dusty concrete, it was infinitely better than the what was available outside. The hot sun hovering over a parking lot filled with walking corpses composed of rotting flesh created a stench threatening to make him lose his breakfast.

When the last of the available bags had been filled to capacity, a sizable quantity of the explosives remained stacked neatly on the shelves. Bruce knew he'd be forced to come back again at some point in the future, but he had collected enough for the time being. He climbed back to the roof, instantly gagging on the stench of the undead crowding around the structure.

Fighting to keep from throwing up, Bruce signaled to Dillion with a wave of his hand to indicate he was ready for the next part of the plan.

Dillion tied a metal clip to one end of a length of rope. He hooked a small weight on it and attached the clip to the cable. Letting go of the weight and clip, Dillion let the rope unspool as it slid down the cable to Bruce.

When the rope reached him, Bruce unclipped it from the cable and tied a knot around the first bag of demolition charges. Bruce used the clip to secure the tied off rope to the cable again, and Dillion began reeling it in. Hand over hand, Dillon pulled on the rope until it was within reach. Managing to grab hold of the bag, he unclipped it from the cable and loosened the knot in the rope. Carefully setting the bag aside, Dillion clipped the rope on the cable again and sent it down to Bruce for a second time.

Working swiftly and carefully, Bruce and Dillion transferred every bag of explosives to the scaffolding. Since the wind had been picking up during the final minutes of their work, Dillion used a rope to tie the bags together and secure them to the railings on both sides of the scaffolding.

Finished for now, Bruce took hold of the cable with both hands while standing under it. Pulling himself up, he crossed his ankles on top of the cable to hold some of his weight. Bruce pulled himself up the incline of the cable, closer to the scaffolding with every reach of his hands.

The winds Dillion had noticed earlier unexpectedly amplified, pushing the scaffolding away from the glass and steel facade of the building. He shouted a warning to Bruce while hanging on for dear life.

Bruce's situation was far more perilous. Because the cable he climbed was stretched tight between the scaffolding railing and the harpoon embedded in the storage building roof, the scaffolding swinging outward decreased the tension on the line, creating slack and lowering Bruce down toward the clutching hands of the undead.