And after all of our struggling, I don’t see a single scratch on either of us. Our clothes caught a few flames here and there, but nothing serious. We were moving too fast for any of the flames to catch well enough. Soon we reached the winding road and walked it for hours. We’re safe now - even better off than at the station. We have electricity - no central heat, but we found some space heaters where the breaker room is. Most importantly, we have two fully stocked snack machines, three drink machines, nice restrooms with running water and I found the keys to everything.
DAY - 50
There are two sets of thick, glass double doors with a small foyer-like space between them that make up the only entrance to the building. Once inside it’s mostly a lobby with a couple of chest high information desks and quite a few racks with postcards and souvenirs. To the right of the lobby are the entrances into the big restrooms. To the far left of the lobby are the snack and drink machines. Behind the lobby are just a few small closets and the breaker room. It’s not much, but it’s so close to heaven right now that I can’t help but explain it.
One day someone is going to find this journal - I know it - and by reading from the beginning they’ll know that this is the best we’ve had it in a good long while.
As soon as the sun rose, the light came shining in through the glass doors. The entrance is apparently facing east. I hopped up. Beth and Sid just stirred about on the floor a little making not much effort to want to get up. I was too excited about the platform and woke them up anyway. Surely if I had snuck off without Beth she would get all pissed off again, so I made sure she was going with me. Moments later and we were outside the building making our way up the three flights of stairs to the lookout platform. Once at the top, we were awestruck at the beauty of the mountains that spanned the horizon to the west. It was a sight that told me the Earth was still okay for the most part. We were looking at a land that has basically gone unchanged since the dawn of time, and even in our desperation to survive, I still didn’t want it to change. The harshness of these mountains has never been kind to man’s conquest or survival, and though I’ve said it many times before, that is definitely why I’m here. I would much rather die trying to survive in a harsh climate than to die trying to survive in a town full of those fucking ghouls.
We took several trips up and down the platform, but for the most part we had been on the platform the whole day. I checked the entire map to what I could now clearly see - damned good map. Beth liked the thought of the cleared path down the west side of the mountain. It was the area where several electrical poles were placed - the wires lead from way down in the valley all the way up to the base of the platform and then beneath the building. I did share her appreciation of the cleared path, though. Come a time to leave here in a hurry, we definitely have a defined and not-so-treacherous path to follow. The flipside of that is quite shitty, though. It’s a clear path for whatever gets hungry and realizes we’re up here. I’d like to booby-trap it if I could. I’m sure I’ll think of something.
Night came fast, and I locked us up in the building. We really do have a good thing going here. We have plenty of food for a while if we ration it right. Plumbing and toilet paper is always a plus. Beth even found a bag of hygiene products and like-new razors in one of the small back rooms.
Beth has had one razor all this time, but she explained that she would be shaving her legs properly for the first time in weeks.
No offense to her, but I greatly approve. I think I’ve been quite smooth by just letting it go. They’ve felt like needles at times.
DAY - 51
This morning was pleasantly perfect. We truly had no troubles to wake up to, nor did we feel rushed into some scenario that would ensure our safety. Of course, Beth and I still don’t go anywhere without weapons. That’s not likely to change.
It was afternoon that our day finally became a bit hectic. We were all upon the lookout platform, and Sid spotted something coming up the west side of the mountain. It wasn’t moving too quickly in any one motion, but it was making its way up to us. I struggled with my own thoughts for a while on what to do. Part of me wanted to make my way to the damned thing and take it out. The problem was that I couldn’t judge the size of the thing beneath the trees it tended to stay around.
It could have been another bear. It could have been a handful of ghouls following closely with each other. Worse yet, it could have been something else we hadn’t seen yet.
Beth became too anxious, and I had to convince her not to waste ammo by firing into the trees, hoping to hit it. Had we a lot more ammo, I would have already done so and probably would have had her right beside me. She’s a hell of a shot, so that wasn’t part of the problem either. There’s just no way we’re finding a sporting goods store anytime soon. I explained that we were going to have to wait for the thing or things to make it up to the building. I wanted to use either one shot or the sword to put it down.
Hours passed, and I was beginning to get nervous. Whatever the hell was making its way to us was very near. I told Beth to stay on the first set of stairs on the platform and gave her the keys to the building. I knelt down out in the clear area in front of the building - my shotgun on the ground to my right - my sword already in my left hand. I had positioned myself to make a quick choice in disposing of the oncoming threat.
Finally, what we had prepared ourselves for appeared from the trees and trotted slowly into the clear area just in front of me.
It was a horse. A damned horse, and I was still almost about to kill it. I guess something just told me to study it for whatever reason. There were no cuts on the horse - no bites - in fact, the only grisly problem the horse had was wearing a saddle that had one complete length of a leg dragging beside it. A human leg torn away from someone at mid thigh - the booted foot of the leg was still stuck in the right stirrup of the saddle. There were even spurs on the boot, and the cloth covering the leg looked like denim - blue jeans, also like a cowboy would wear. Beth and Sid came down from the platform. Sid took to sniffing and harassing the horse. The horse didn’t seem too annoyed with Sid, but it did try to trot away from him at certain times. Beth and I eventually removed the torn, human leg, which took quite a while. The horse seems more apprehensive of people. That and the fact that the horse came from the west side of the mountain have me worried. I noticed the horse sneezed a few times. Still, none of us others have. I almost want to kiss the horse in hopes I’d get a cold.
DAY - 52
I finally broke the news to Beth this morning. I had been up a good while before her or Sid and just sat there watching them in their sleep. I was studying them intently. I wanted to see if they ever exhibited any flaws that would give me an easier feeling about us lately. Nothing - they never breathed irregular, never snored, never sneezed, no grinding of teeth or smacking from a feeling of c
ottonmouth - nothing. I don’t even recall having a problem with bad breath either, though we do have hygiene products now, and they we do feel better for having them. Still, I am not quite sure we’d need them for their preventative qualities. So what do I think? I think we’re all affected - somehow. Maybe things went airborne - maybe somehow they got in the rain and snow. They obviously affected the vegetation way the hell out here on a mountain.
Needless to say, the nanotech are inside us, but they aren’t turning us into ghouls. They are making us better. At least that is the initial outlook. I have to admit that this is driving me crazy. Not knowing why is the worst part of it. I’ve been putting together everything I know about the damned nanotech and how they were made - how they operate. They are machines, yet they are microscopic and operate like a virus. I think that maybe they are starting to develop different strains like a virus as well - mutations. They have to be changing. The only other option would be that there were two versions of nanotech in the first place. Either way, having multiple strains with almost opposite side effects means there is a major precedence soon to take place. If we’re lucky, the two strains will eventually collide and cancel each other out by reducing themselves in strength, numbers and simply the fact that they will be natural enemies. They will have met their match in each other, and through the basic of instincts, they will try to destroy the other to be at the top of their chain. Unfortunately, what often occurs instead is a merging of the two where only one of the two strain’s capabilities is left and is usually a stronger force to be reckoned with. That would mean we could either look forward to a world of truly healthy living creatures, possibly free of disease for generations to come, or we may be on the verge of a lot more running from things a lot more ferocious. After explaining all of this to Beth, she once again wrote me a simple message: I HATE HOW SMART YOU ARE. NOW WHAT? I fully understand her, too.
The remainder of our day consisted of watching Sid and our newfound horse, Charlie. Yeah, Charlie Horse - we felt it fitting since we were tense because of him for hours. The two animals actually seem to get along so far. Charlie still doesn’t like Beth or I that much, though. I would like to lead him up to the first level of the platform at night, but he just won’t follow us or let us around him for long. I fear we may wake up to his corpse one morning soon. So far, though, we are in the safest place there could be.
DAY - 53
Today answered our questions about Charlie. It was right under our noses the whole time. It was just as Beth and I were climbing the platform to have our morning view - our new ritual - I was looking down on top of the building and noticed that according to its layout, there was a good bit of room that we hadn’t seen yet. I immediately took back inside the building. Beth decided to go and do the scouting above the platform. Sid just kept fucking around with Charlie. I just had to find out if I was right, so once inside the building, I began thoroughly inspecting the back rooms. It didn’t seem to add up anymore after having a general feel for how big the building should be. There should have been another room in back - one in the corner. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead came to mind again after such a long while. I remember the people built a false wall to hide their presence, and they used the ceilings to move from place to place. I couldn’t find a false wall, though. I kept searching until I noticed how much room a huge shelf in the breaker room took up. It was a massive, metal shelf with lots of fuses, extra postcards etc. all over it.
The damned thing was placed in the middle of the wall, about 5 feet wide and went from the floor up to only a foot or so from the ceiling. I almost decided on removing everything from the shelves and moving it altogether, but I chose instead to climb the shelves up to the ceiling tiles - the kinds in most office buildings. I found that there was indeed about 4 feet of space above the ceiling tiles and that there was a nice 10-foot by 10 foot space of ceiling tiles behind that wall. The building space seemed right then. I was careful in placing my weight on top of the wall, but it didn’t matter. I still fucking fell through the ceiling tiles into the hidden room. I had my sword in my belt loop the whole time and instantly was happy that I didn’t land on that side. Then, in the darkness of the room, I heard what scared me shitless.
Something was moaning very faint, and it stunk like musty old clothes. I jumped up as fast as I could and pulled my sword. I heard crunching noises as I stepped in the darkness. I just started swinging the sword in every direction out of sheer terror. I finally backed myself against a wall and felt a light switch hit my back. I flipped the switch faster than I have ever done anything. The light came on revealing three ghouls that were damn near picked clean of flesh. They were just torsos - ligaments and bones and hadn’t much left for faces or necks. They were on each other in a nasty orgy of sorts trying to tear at themselves. The bones I had stepped on were their lower extremities. I probably paused in shock for a good while, but I did dispose of them with ease.
The sword cut their heads off just as well as it always has. I saw the backend of the shelf in a doorway threshold and ran into it a few times until the shelf fell over. I instantly ran outside. Beth and Sid came running to see me as I came out of the building coughing and puking. I looked at myself. I was covered in dust from the ceiling tiles and had blood on my sword. Beth accompanied me back to the hidden room to see for herself. We inspected things a little further. The clothing of the ghouls matched up a bit with the leg we found stuck in the stirrup of Charlie’s saddle. It was western wear - boots and spurs, denim jeans, cowboy hats and thick, cotton button-up shirts. I’m betting that Charlie knew these people.
DAY - 54
Obviously, the people here before us had a terrible encounter.
None of the ghouls were missing a leg, and their boots don’t quite match the boot on the leg found in Charlie’s stirrup.
Either way, these people were put in this room with two others and purposely left there. I’m thinking one of the people, maybe the only one left, had set out on Charlie to go back to wherever they came here from. Then something happened - an attack by an animal - maybe the person riding Charlie turned ghoul and before they could attack or harm Charlie, he probably bucked them off and literally tore away from them.
There are many possibilities, but my real focus is that no one in a wildlife reserve really dresses like cowboys of old. These people had clothes on that almost seemed too costume-like.
Immediately, Beth and I took to looking throughout the lobby of the building. I told her to look through every brochure and postcard - everything there is. It wasn’t long before Beth found exactly what I had been looking for. There is a ghost town only about 27 miles driving distance from this reserve.
I guarantee that it’s only 10 miles or less directly
over the neighboring mountain. It looks well set in a valley, and from all of my views upon the platform, I have a pretty good idea of where it would be. The whole place is a throwback to 1800’s western civilization with cowboy shows, horseback tours, staged bank robberies and shootouts, an explorable mining cavern and even a few hotels. Everything there looks just like an old west movie with John Wayne or Clint Eastwood - God, whatever civilization is to come may very well never even know who those men were. I’m afraid that a good bit of people may have been there when everything went down. It was in early November when everything first started, and the brochure on this place says it closes down for Winter after November 15 th .
Late afternoon, Charlie began to trek back down the western side of the mountain. Sid wanted to follow him, but Beth and I put him away inside. So, Beth and I ended up on top of the platform watching Charlie as well as we could for as long as we could. This means that the next time we spot him or what may resemble him coming back, if he comes back, then I will be placed in the same position of possibly having to shoot at him. I have a really bad feeling about this, too - that Charlie’s either going to come back to us being ravenous or possibly just leading others our way. The snow has been melting, and the weather has been quite warmer the past few days, too.
Were it not dark, I would be very tempted to follow Charlie with a gun and the sword. I’m thinking that from the ice and snow, it probably only acts as a hibernation for those fucking ghouls. I’ll bet that if they warm up enough, they’ll get to moving a lot better. I need to sweep that place and wipe them all out.
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