July
August
September
October
November
December 11
4:45p
Finally found this at the bottom of my bag. Lot to go over since we met up with James and the rest of the group. Val and I have been living with a group of about 12 people making our way East. James says the Air Force base is a good idea, and better than any plan they had before. They had a couple of pick-up trucks, but we had to ditch them because every time they fired up more of those things would come running.
James seems to be the de facto leader of the group; he's kind of an alpha type but everyone's so shell-shocked it's good to have someone who can come up with a plan and stick to it. He seems to think this whole thing is some kind of sign from above or something. I try not to talk about it because it's hard to keep from rolling my eyes when he gets on a roll.
Had my first shower in a long time. It was cold, but just running water was a plus. The group has a pretty good system: Donovan and Matt scout ahead and find a house or building for the group that looks secure, the rest of us haul what little food and gear we have. We make slow time, but the two of them are good at avoiding those things. Rebekah handles most of the cooking, which mainly consists of opening cans, but it makes up for her not carrying stuff on account of her back hurting.
Speaking of, my back is still painful and swollen, but it's getting better. Val is still having a hard time accepting what's going on, though. She's always had trouble with depression, and she's out of meds.
December 13
6:30a
Moving out for the day. We've been discussing moving at night to give us some cover, but we'd be just as blind and honestly we don't know if they see any better than us at night or not. It's getting really cold. Had a few days' break from the rain, but it's back today in full force. I knew we should've stopped at that REI, but Matt said it was too crowded in the city to go back.
December 13
9:45p
My turn for night watch, along with Peter. He doesn't talk much. Lindsey, one of the girls, told me he lost his family. I mean, we've all lost people, but I guess he watched his brother turn and get his parents. I can't decide if that's better or worse than just knowing my family is probably dead out there without being able to contact them.
Tonight we're in an old 7-Eleven. Everyone got excited about the food, but it's mostly junk. Still, even four month old Doritos taste good when you're living off canned beans and ramen. We did score a lot of bottled water and some Clif bars; some people had obviously torn through here in a hurry but they left a ton of stuff.
2:00p
We're stuck in a field, waiting for word from Donovan. Matt came sprinting back toward the group, telling us to stop because they spotted a group of at least 30 of those things moving in the same direction. We're waiting to see if they keep going or if we can try to get around them.
It's starting to snow.
December 15
9:00p
Just finally made our way to a house where we're holing up for the night. Going to be cramped. Spent pretty much all day walking our way around that group of…people? I still don't know what to call them. James is worried they'll smell us or something.
December 16
10:00a
I thought I was getting pretty ripped, but I think it's just all the fat falling off me from living on the run. Val's hips are poking through her jeans.
December 189:30a
Need to come up with a new plan. These things seem to be just chilling out where they are, not really moving. Another day in this house. The lot of us are starting to stink pretty awful.
I've decided to start doing pushups. So far I'm up to 10. I'm in terrible shape.
December 19
5:30p
It's been sleeting outside all day. It's freezing in here, but we can't risk lighting the fireplace or even turning on a flash light. A mob of those things is outside. I don't think they've noticed us, they're not pounding on the doors or anything, but I've seen how quickly that can change. Way too many to try and sneak away. James estimates 50 of them. I can't even imagine what we'd do if we had to fight them off. We have a handgun and a couple shotguns, but I don't think anyone's trained for combat.
I don't think anyone's ready to have to shoot one of those things.
11:30p
We're moving. Crowd has thinned but there are still too many around for me. The group is divided; James wants to take the fight to those things but most of us voted to sneak out. Donovan volunteered to try and distract them, the crazy son of a b----.
We've got the guns, a crowbar, a couple folding knives, and a shovel. Here we go.
December 23
3:00a
Six of us. They took six of us. Should've known we'd never be quiet enough. They move so fast…Rebekah, Kelly, Peter, Nate, Tyler, Sarah. I barely even knew most of them. We didn't even get to bury them. Those things just SWARMED them, pummeling them with their bare hands. We lost the shotguns without even getting to use them. James took a few of those things down with his pistol, but it was a lost cause. We're down to three bullets. Not even enough to use on ourselves at this point.We ran. We ran and we left them there, screaming. We left them and ran into the woods while those things murdered them.
It's almost Christmas Eve. I should be scrambling to buy Val a last minute Christmas gift, not shivering and soaking wet in an abandoned trailer, thinking the freezing rain hitting the roof might be one of them.
December 25
9:00a
Christmas. We found a canned chicken in the trailer; I didn't even know they made canned chicken. So it's canned chicken, canned green beans, creamed corn, and bottled water while we plan our next move.No one's really in a celebrating mood.
December 26
4:30p
By my estimation we're still about 25 miles from the Air Force base. On foot, and with those things out there, it might as well be on the moon. I think we should find a car, gas it up, and haul ass. It won't matter if those things follow us when we show up at the base and the military can help us.
James seems to have lost hope. He's been saying if the military were still around they'd have saved us by now. He thinks we should hole up, start hoarding supplies, and try to make this trailer defensible.
There's no way Valerie and I are staying in this aluminum tube.
December 29
2:00p
I'm starting to worry Val is getting too close to James.
Flickr photo Pure Terror by Shelby H. used under a Creative Commons License.