We got Abby to the house with everyone else and started patching her up. The bullet went straight through, but we don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad. There was a lot of blood, and we’re not doctors, so we’re not sure if she lost too much, or what. We just have to wait and see.
Karla stitched up the wounds with her sewing kit. We didn’t have time to sterilize the needle, so I dug out the z-packs and made Abby choke down the two starter pills while Karla was threading the needle. Once Karla started stitching, Abby passed out. Mike and Scott are worried about her slipping into shock. I don’t really know anything about that stuff, but Scott said that she’s in more danger from shock than the bullet wound itself.
So, yeah. We have three people on watch now. Dave is at one end of the house, keeping an eye on Abby and the docks. Jason was on the other side of the house, watching the road and the water from there, and Scott was watching the road out front.
I took over for Jason, but now he’s watching the front so Scott can make me some ramen. As soon as that’s done, Jason is off to bed. Scott and Dave are going to stay up a while longer. They’re the ones who got the most rest last night, so they’re trying to let everyone else catch up a little.
When Mike wakes up, he’ll take over for one of the boys, I guess. Probably Dave.
* * *
1:23am
Food is good. Food is great. Scott is a pain in my ass, but has somewhat decent ideas.
I had to ask him about the whole shoving me behind Jason thing. I didn’t think he meant it just to get me closer to the weapons, and I was halfway right.
It’s the whole “protect the cheerleader” crap. Since it’s my dad we’re hauling ass towards, and I’m the only one here who knows where he lives, they’re kinda paranoid about my ass dying and them not having a safe place to get to. I don’t like it, but I can kinda understand. The world is insane right now, and it’s scary. We’ve passed by house after house where people used to live, and there is a very real possibility that those people are no longer “people.” Hell, we have houses all around us right now, and for all we know, there are trolls in every single one of them. It’s not scary, it’s fucking terrifying. Especially with the kids, so yeah. I get it.
That doesn’t mean I like it.
Besides, we can’t afford for any one of us to sit the shit out just because something “might” happen to them. So tomorrow, once we’re all awake (or most of us anyway), I’m going to outline the route for everyone else. Just in case something DOES happen to me.
* * *
4:14am
Abby is awake. In pain, dizzy and weak, but awake. We tried to get her to go back to sleep, but she wants us to get further away from the coast first.
The wagons are fully packed, we took the bikes out so Abby can ride and rest.
The roads here are completely deserted. Mike and Ben scouted ahead a couple blocks. They said there’s houses with lights on, but no cars. Creepy as fuck, if you ask me. We’re waking up Dave and Scott in about half an hour. We’re gonna try to get out of here by 5am.
* * *
7:39am
What to say. We’re stopped. Waiting for Ben and Scott to report in. We have them scouting out a couple different ways we can go from here, and
Okay, one way is out of the question. Dead end. Scott is on his way back.
We are literally parked in the middle of a road. Before we left the house, I turned on my phone and checked out Google maps. We’re on an island in Virginia. There’s one road off the island, and it’s a bridge. We have a pretty straight shot to the bridge, but I’m hoping for another boat, hence the scouting.
So far we haven’t found a single car or boat. Have I mentioned how creepy that is yet? Cause yeah. Creepy.
And Dave just reported in. No boats that way either. Onward we go. Abby is curled up in the wagon, passed out again. We made her take another antibiotic and a...something I can’t spell without looking at the bottle. It’s something for pain.
Scott is here. We’re moving again. Dave says he’ll catch up with us. As slow as we’re going, I’m sure he will.
* * *
Noon.
Good news: we found out where all the cars went.
Bad news: they’re being used to block the bridge.
Still haven’t found the boats, but I’m beginning to wonder if the boaters we ran into before are part of this bunch.
Ah, I stand corrected. Dave found a boat shop, but he doesn’t know if any of the boats there would be able to handle all of us, and if those boaters are with these guys...we’re not really in fighting shape at the moment.
Time to start scheming.
* * *
7:17pm
To the people of Gwen (sp?) Island: you guys are amazing, and I hope you outlive the Zombie Fucktopolypse.
We’re at a hotel on the mainland. We have a shitload of walking to do tomorrow, but we’re making it. I’m tired (what else is new?), so I’m going to keep this short.
Regarding the scheming: unnecessary.
Regarding the cars: brilliant!
The island has a fire station. From what I understand, the day the shitstorm started, the captain had his men block the bridge at both ends, and started making their way through the town, getting rid of the trolls and securing the wounded. Once that was done, they moved the trucks away and started evacuating as many people as they could from the mainland onto the island. When they had as many people as they could take in, the trucks went back into place.
I asked the captain if he had any complaints about the bridge being blocked. He said he did at first. People wanted to leave to go to their families, but then the news started pouring in, and suddenly things weren’t so bad. The only complaints they heard after that was the concern of a fire. If there was a fire on the island, either the bridge would have to be left open, or the people would have to form a bucket brigade.
So one of the other islanders came up with the idea of parking all of the cars on the bridge (and the area surrounding it), so the trucks could stay where they are needed.
It’s not a wall, but it’s the next best thing. They also have people on watch 24/7, switching between the islanders every night. The house we stayed in last night belongs to the group that was on watch. We apologized for the bloody mess we left, they took it pretty well, all things considered.
Anyway, the captain didn’t mind us wanting to leave the island, but he refused to unblock the bridge, so we had to wait for the fishing boats to come back. While we waited, he checked Abby’s arm. The stitches aren’t pretty, but he said Karla did a good job for it being her first time. He couldn’t spare any alcohol or iodine, not with them being cut off the way they are, but he recommended we get ahold of some ASAP, and make sure to keep the wound clean. He said hand sanitizer will do in a pinch.
I asked him about the boaters we ran into. He said he knew there were boaters out there, but that they had never attacked his men. Most of the time, they stick to the other side of the bay. He’s gonna talk to the fishing crew about it. They might have to start sending out guards with the boats. The islanders are working on getting a couple good farms going on, but until they start bringing in enough food for everyone, they have to rely on the fish and crabs the boats bring in.
So, yeah. The boat captain gave us directions to a rent house type place….thing, dammit! It’s a place to stay for the night, and it was only about a mile down the road. He wasn’t sure if it would be empty or not, but he said it would have plenty of room for all of us, so once he dropped us off, we got moving.
I…think we found it? Not sure. We’re in a house, and it’s warm and I’ve had my dinner and I’ve wrote my piece, so now it’s bed time.
Goodfuckingnight.
* * *
April 29th
8:30 pm
First night camping in the woods. Fucking cold. Too cold not to have a fire. Not sure how far from the nearest city we are, so we’re all a little on edge.
The ten
t with the kids and Abby looks like a puppy pile. It’s cute. There’s nothing to say. I’m on first watch with Scott. I’m not sure if I’m happy with myself for letting everyone sleep as much as they could today or not. We all needed it, but now we’re stuck in the cold.
Dammit. I can’t write anymore. Nothing really happened anyway.
Goodnight.
* * *
April 30th
9:12 pm
In a house again. We’re not alone. Two teenagers (I think). Micah and Melly. Not twins, despite their names. Not even siblings, though they fight like it.
It’s Micah’s house, or rather, his family’s. One of the rooms is nailed shut. Micah refuses to discuss it, but it’s easy to guess what happened. Every once in awhile, we’ll hear a thumping sound from the room.
I’m not sure how Melly ended up at Micah’s house. She’s been more upfront about her family. Her mom was one of the first victims. Melly said she woke up to her dad screaming. She called 911, and the dispatcher told her to get somewhere safe and barricade herself til someone could get to her. I don’t know if Micah’s house was her idea of a “safe place” or if he came and got her, or what.
I’m not on watch tonight, so I’ll be going to bed soon. Just waiting for our “hosts” to get out of the room I’m supposed to be using. They’re in there arguing over whether they should join us or not.
Here’s the kicker though: we didn’t ask them to join us.
Okay, we didn’t really ask Mike and Karla either, but it was at least mentioned. These two though...I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be able to tell them ‘no’ if they decide they want to come along. They’re too young for me to feel right about leaving them behind. They look like they’re only about 14 or 15.
* * *
10:24pm
Sorry, Scott wanted to talk it over.
If the kids want to join us, they can. With Abby still somewhat out of commission, we could use the extra hands. They’ll have to earn their keep though. They’ll be helping pull the wagon and wrangle the younger kids. They’ll start taking watch, and if they’re fast enough, they might even start helping out with the scouting.
They only have until around 9am to make up their minds. We leave at 10am. If they’re not ready, they don’t get to come.
We’ll see how it goes in the morning. They’ve moved their discussion downstairs, so it’s bedtime for me.
* * *
May 1st
7:55 am
Well. We’re all awake. There’s a weird feeling in the air, and Scott said the sky up north looks “off”, whatever that means.
Kinda afraid to just sit here in the house, but more afraid to be out there on the streets. At least if we stay here, we can turn on the TV and see if there’s any news.
* * *
8:26 am
They bombed New York City. And Staten Island. They’re bombing all of the major cities. It’s “Step 1” of the containment measures. “Step 2” is sending in ground units to mop up what’s left of the trolls. They haven’t said what will happen if that doesn’t work, and I’m trying not to think about it. Especially since they were so quick to assure us that the bombs used were not nuclear.
We heard fighter jets go overhead about 5-10 minutes ago, didn’t see which way they were going though.
Micah says the nearest “big city” is either Norfolk or Richmond. There’s also Baltimore and DC, but I doubt they’ll bomb DC.
My main concern are the other two places. I looked at our maps, and we’re right between them.
Karla and Scott are helping Micah and Melly pack a backpack now. We’ve already gone through the cabinets/pantry. Wasn’t much to add to our stock, unfortunately. Just cereal, really, but we’ll take what we can get.
We leave as soon as they’re ready.
* * *
9:05 am
They’re ready. We’re leaving.
* * *
8:28 pm
Well, I finally got my wish to learn more about the trolls. We were looking for a place to camp, and the first house we stopped at had two floors. We came in through the garage. Scott and Dave went into the main house and came back out to get me.
Three trolls. Two women and a man. They were at the bottom of a flight of stairs, so our guess is that they started out on the second floor and fell.
The man was crawling around on the floor like a worm, both legs broken. The first woman was just laying there, mouth moving. Her neck was at a strange angle, we assume it’s broken. The other woman was stumbling around on a broken leg. The man and the second woman looked like they tried to stand on their broken legs, and the bones popped through the skin. None of them had bite marks, so they must’ve all changed around the same time.
Notes:
● Hunting:
○ Senses:
■ They don’t seem to register touch right. We had Scott go around behind one and poke at it with a bat. It didn’t react until he really started to jab at it.
■ Reacts to bright lights, and movement against the light. If the light is low enough, it should be easy to sneak past them without being seen.
● I don’t know if they can see what is moving, but they were able to follow our movement if we passed between them and a light source.
■ Reacts very strongly to sound.
● We made noise downstairs while Scott snuck upstairs. Once he was up there, we stopped making noise, and he started. As he moved around up there, they began trying to follow his path downstairs. When he stopped moving, they started heading for the garage where everyone else was waiting.
■ Also has strong reaction to scent.
● Found this one out on accident. There was one of those automatic air freshener things downstairs. It went off, and the trolls smelled it before we did. We’re thinking it might be why they ended up at the bottom of the stairs.
○ **Note** Brainstorm ‘scent bomb’ ideas.
○ Seems to be able to tell the difference between other trolls and humans. Not currently desperate enough to test camouflage a la troll guts.
○ Does not appear to feed on other trolls. (note the lack of bite marks on the trolls found)
● Movement
○ As already noted, they don’t seem to do stairs very well. At one point, they did try to go up the stairs, but were unable to make much progress due to the broken bones.
○ Spinal damage seems to affect them the same way it does humans (ie: paralysis).
○ They do not seem to register pain, so broken limbs do not slow them down where it counts.
■ Exposure to fire or chemicals is also unlikely to have any effect on their movement.
● Appearance
○ At first glance, they do not really appear any different than humans.
■ This is ignoring the bones sticking out of the skin, and limbs hanging at unnatural angles.
■ Stomachs are hollowed out, possibly due to lack of food?
■ Eyes appear to be clouding over.
● It’s been over two weeks since this started, so this is a bit of a surprise. Shouldn’t they be completely clouded by now??
■ Does not appear to have started decaying.
● Side note: WTF?!
○ Was hoping there would be a way to tell a human from a troll at a distance, but this does not appear possible. Whatever this virus thing is, it doesn’t seem to change the outward appearance besides the clouding of the eyes.
● Other
○ Blood around wounds appears to be black and gives off a weird smell. Did not notice this in previous encounters, but matches with what the coast guard guy told us of the symptoms.
I had to cut my “experiments” short so we could get rid of them and move onto another house before it got too dark.
We had a lot more luck when it came to food here. There weren’t any canned meals in the pantry, but there was a bunch of meat and leftover stews in the freezer. I wish I could’ve asked for the recipe of the beef stew we found.
It was good.
Melly volunteered for first watch with me.
The power is still on here, so we put some of the other frozen food packs we found on to cook. We’re letting them slow cook through the night. There wasn’t a crockpot we could find, so we’re having to make due with a huge pot on the stove. Melly and I will be keeping an eye on it. The last thing we need now is to burn the house down around us.
While we were looking for a crockpot, we came across a couple thermoses. I think they’re supposed to be for coffee, but we’re gonna use them to carry food with us tomorrow. We’ll have some of the food for breakfast, and carry the rest to eat as we travel. It’s a welcome respite from all the canned crap we’ve been eating.
Oh, we found some crossbows and hunting stuff in an outdoor shed. We have no idea how to use any of it, but we packed it up anyway. I had hoped that since the power was on, the internet would be, too. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. So now we have all this extra crap, and we can’t look up how to use it. Isn’t that wonderful? Ugh.
Jason is trying to show Micah how to pitch a tent. Micah isn’t listening though. He keeps making faces at Jason whenever he’s not looking. He’s acting like this is a game. He’s not going to find it very amusing when he’s stuck sleeping without a tent. I’ve already told the others not to help him.
HA! Jason caught him in the act. He just asked me if he could ban Micah from the tents until he apologized. Permission fucking granted.
Micah is pissed. I love it. Time for watch. Goodnight.
* * *
May 2nd
10:46 pm
The Survivor Chronicles | Book 1 | Say No! To Zombies Page 6