That was an hour ago. Now I’m writing this.
Her name was Becca Elaine Jordan. She was going to turn eighteen on December 3rd. She wanted to be a teacher, but she knew schools wouldn’t approve of her “lifestyle,” so she was debating between nursing or interior designing. Her and Gabby had been together for about two years.
She died thirty minutes ago.
We kept our promise.
June 3rd
2:26am
Almost didn’t write today, too tired. We made a good distance today. Josh had to carry Gabby part of the way, though. She just wasn’t….there. In her head, I mean.
We would be walking along, and she just kept falling further and further behind. Jason eventually went back, and started pulling her by her hand, and as long as he did that...she could keep up. But if he let her go, she’d start slowing down again.
We stopped for a couple breaks, and she would sit down….then start slowly curling in on herself. Like she was trying to shrink herself down to nothing. We had to actually pick her up and put her back on her feet to get her upright again.
Last time, Josh didn’t even bother trying to get her on her feet. He put his backpack in one of the wagons and just hoisted her onto his back. He carried her at least a mile like that, then Scott took a break from scouting and carried her another mile. Basically, all the men took turns carrying her.
And, in case you’re wondering, no, I’m not going to actually kill her. Believe me, I wanted to. I really did, but I also realize that I have to take some blame for Becca’s death. If I had told everyone why they needed to avoid people, maybe Becca still would’ve went, but she might’ve paid more attention once she got into the house. Maybe she would’ve kept her distance instead of going right to her. It’s a lot of maybe’s and might’ve’s, but I have to take responsibility for those possibilities that I didn’t allow to happen.
So Gabby lives. For now.
Nothing else has happened to talk about. We’re in a house out in the middle of nowhere. Tomorrow we have to backtrack some. More fucking swamps.
Goodnight.
* * *
June 4th
10:38pm
Today was fun. /sarcasm. Total bullshit. Between the backtracking, and the general WTF of Virginia, today was just...ugh.
We took Chloe out of the wagons and put Gabby in instead. As Scott pointed out, Chloe is a lot easier to carry. We’re still having to check on her, make sure she’s eating and drinking. When we stop for breaks, Abby or Karla will make her get up and go with them into the woods.
We’re stopped now. It’s an old general store type place. Like, a country store. We can see other houses and stuff nearby, but we haven’t seen any movement. Not from those places anyway. We think we came across some survivors earlier, but we didn’t talk to them and they didn’t talk to us. They were all in this building we had to cut by. They watched us from the windows, and we just hauled ass past them before they could do anything. We weren’t taking any chances.
Nothing really else to say today. No one is in the mood to talk, big surprise.
Oh, well wait, I take that back. Melly is working on an idea for a ceremony. She said something about writing messages on a candle and then lighting the candle, but I’m not sure if we’re supposed to have someone sit with it, or if we’re supposed to be silent until it burns out or what.
Honestly, I really wasn’t listening. Yeah, I know, I’m an asshole, I should’ve listened. I’ll ask her about it tomorrow. I’m on watch right now, and everyone else is going through what they can find here.
On the plus side, SweBridget no longer insists on me being the one to take care of her. She seems to prefer it, but Melly and Abby both, were able to give her a bottle without her screaming bloody murder, so hey. Progress!
She’s sleeping now. Abby and Karla are finishing up packing all the supplies they could find into the wagons. The store isn’t big, so there isn’t much to pack. Everyone else is either asleep, or trying to sleep. Mike is on watch with me.
Goodnight everyone.
* * *
June 5th
10:42 pm
We lost Gabby today. This one is mostly on me. I forgot we gave everyone a gun. She came back to herself long enough to remember. We stopped for a break, Abby took her into the woods to use the bathroom. Abby said she turned her back for a minute, and the next thing she knew, Gabby had taken off running. She didn’t want to go chasing her down alone, so she came back to us.
She was in the middle of telling us all this when we heard the gun go off. Scott and Ben went to check it out, to make sure she hadn’t ran into any trolls. I almost told them not to even bother. I knew what had happened as soon as Abby came running out of the trees.
Josh is taking it like a trooper. I think he knew it was coming. I saw Scott give something to him. I think it was Becca/Gabby’s necklace.
Didn’t get a chance to talk to Melly about the ceremony thing, so for now, all I have is this:
Her name was Gabrielle Anne Jordan. She would’ve been eighteen on August 3rd. She was preceded in death by her wife, Becca Elaine Jordan. May they rest in peace together.
I think that's how those obituary things go...
* * *
June 6th
12:02 am
Melly’s idea of a ceremony is us taking a candle, writing the name of the person who passed on, the dates of birth/death, and carrying with us until we reach a church, then leaving the candle in the church.
She changed her mind though. We passed by some churches earlier, and we could see the trolls with their faces pressed against the windows. They weren’t as advanced as the ones we’ve encountered lately, so our guess is that they were people who bought into the “this is God’s punishment!” schtick and went running to the church to prove their faithfulness. I’d ask ‘em “how’s that working out for ya?” but I don’t even care. That’s the point I’m at. I do not fucking care.
We’re at a house. We walked from sun up to sun down, and then a little further to find one, but hey. Whatever. It’s dry and clean, that is all I care about now. It started raining about an hour after we left, and we just all said ‘fuck it. We’re not stopping.’ So we didn’t stop. We put Chloe and SweBridget in the wagon and just kept on going.
Between the rain and everything else, no one is talking much. Pretty much the only talking that’s been done lately was me and the other leaders discussing whether or not Josh should continue carrying a gun. Abby wanted to take it away. She’s worried he’ll follow Gabby and Becca. Started quoting statistics about suicides and gay youth. Scott pointed out that if Josh decides he wants to take that route, he’ll find a way. It won’t matter if it’s a gun, razor blades from the baseball bats, or running into a horde of trolls. One way or another, if he wants to die, he’s gonna do it, and in the meantime, by taking away his gun, that leaves him - and the rest of us - vulnerable to an attack.
Then Josh came over and told us that he knew what we were discussing, and that there were a few things we needed to know, in regards to this discussion. First of all, he is over eighteen, his birthday was back in March, and that the gun he has, is the one he brought with him. Which meant that we were basically arguing over whether or not it was right to “rob” him of his belongings. Then he stated that if we did attempt to take his belongings, he would defend his belongings...with his belongings.
And yes, he really did use the word “belongings” that many fucking times.
Then he told us that he has no intentions of following Becca and Gabby. He loved them both, but he is determined to find out who - or what - caused this shit, so he can put a bullet between their eyes, and he can’t do that if he’s dead.
So yeah. He kept his gun. And I was right about the necklace.
* * *
June 7th
11:03 pm
Had ourselves a scare today.
Came across a highway. Lots of cars stalled out with trolls in them. Creepy as fuck. There we
re kids and adults, both. Not advanced enough to emote like the others, but they’re on their way. Their faces were blank, like they were trying to think of what they were supposed to be doing.
Abby wanted to write something on the cars to warn any other possible survivors not to open the doors. I tried telling her, if someone is dumb enough to think that these people are sitting in stalled out cars just for the hell of it, they probably DESERVE to be ate, but she wouldn’t listen. She grabbed the tube of lipstick out of her backpack and headed for the car closest to her. As soon as she got close to it, the trolls inside went crazy. The boy in the backseat was throwing himself against the window, and the man in the driver seat kept bumping against the steering wheel, so of course, the horn was going off, which set all of the other trolls off...yeah, it was just what we fucking needed.
We got the hell out of there as fast as we could, and didn’t stop moving til we couldn’t hear the horns anymore. Abby was white as a ghost. I don’t think she’ll be trying that again anytime soon.
Nothing much else to say. People still aren’t really in a talking mood (imagine that). We’re in a house. Took forever to get here. I almost had us stop and camp in the woods, but Dave spotted this place and got it all checked out just in time.
Couple of the phones stopped working. They still turn on, I mean, but they won’t let us dial out, or receive calls...things like that. Dunno if it’s the carrier, the phones, the satellites, or what. I had Ben start downloading information we could use like - immediately. We now have instruction videos for the crossbows and something called a Dakota fire hole? A hidden campfire, basically. Found an e-book on plants that are edible, and/or medicinal (sp?). Found a few more tutorials on how to make a fishing pole, and a guide to the different kinds of snakes and spiders. There’s some pdf files for first aid, and even some army stuff Ben found. Oh, and downloaded the SHIT out of google maps. A BUNCH of screenshots, really, but hey, whatever works.
From what I can tell, we have at least another two weeks before we’ll get to dad’s place. And that’s if all goes well. I’m not counting on us reaching him for another fucking year, at the rate we’re going.
What else...Oh, I called dad. Had to warn him about the trolls and the phones. He said to see about raiding one of those big box stores for a satellite phone. One of his neighbors turned out to be a survivalist junkie, so he had one. Dad’s not sure if the big box stores will carry the phones, but it’s worth a shot. He gave me the number for their phone, just in case.
Dad said they’ve got the basic fence/wall built, now they’re going through and reinforcing it. They’re actually stripping metal off of cars from the town dump and using that to line the bottom of the wall. They want to make it as difficult to climb as possible, and as fireproof as they can get it.
They have cattle now. And chickens. The guy on the outside of town wasn’t dead, but he’s getting old, so he was planning on selling his stock before everything went down. He moved into the new community area, and brought two generators along with him. Dad and the others are debating whether to extend the wall to cover that guy’s land or not. If they do, that gives them more grazing area for the cattle, an extra living space, but it’s also a pretty good distance away. I think they’re going to wait. Build up the wall around the main area for now, and then work on expanding it.
They’re having a hard time figuring out what to do for living space though. They’ve got about 50 people, I think dad said, spread between three houses. Right now, they’re taking turns and working around the clock, pretty literally. One shift goes out to work on the wall, while another works out in the field, or scrap yard. Then they take a break, and the next shift goes out.
Anna and mom and some of the other older ladies are making sure there’s enough food for everyone, but it’s been tough. They’ve been making a lot of bread. Bread and eggs. They’ve also been making supply runs into the other towns. They’ve got a bit of a garden going, and they’re working on expanding it. The farmland Mr. Wright owns is mostly corn and tobacco, and mom said that’s not enough to feed everyone, so they’re taking out the tobacco and planting things like beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.. Mom and them have plenty of help, so getting it done shouldn’t be a problem. It’s just the amount of time it’s going to take for everything to grow.
I’ve actually been thinking about trying to start some plants growing with us. It wouldn’t be that hard. We could put some pots along the outside of the wagon, and let tomatoes and stuff grow in them. They wouldn’t need fresh water like we do, so we could water them from any water source we come across, and with all the swamps we keep coming across, it’s not like water for them would be hard to come by. Plus, until we get better at this whole foraging thing, we need all the extra meal help we can get. Tomatoes aren’t exactly my favorite food, but they’re better than nothing.
Maybe some onions, too. And lettuce. We could have ourselves a nice salad with our ravioli. I’ll have to talk it over with Mike in the morning. See if he thinks it’s doable with the wagons. We’d have to make a run into a town to get some seeds, but that should be easy enough, and it’d be worth it in the long run.
Too bad there’s no way of keeping a chicken. Those eggs would go a long way for us. Especially scrambled. With bread. Or potatoes...potatoes chopped up and cooked with onions.
Fuck. Now I’m hungry, dammit. I’m going to bed.
Goodnight.
* * *
June 8th
8:54pm
Mike likes my idea, but he’s not sure about the mechanics. He suggested getting the plants started in pots, and taking the tarp off the top of one of the wagons. That would allow the plants to get the sun they need, and if the weather turns bad, we can just put the tarp back on.
Dave and Ben said they’ll keep their eyes open for any garden type stores along the way. Scott joked about making a birdcage for a chicken. I told him not to tempt me.
We made pretty good distance today. Had to stay on the roads for the most part cause of the rain the other day, but yeah. It was a good traveling day. I have dawn watch, and not much really happened today, so I’m headed to bed.
Goodnight.
* * *
June 9th
10:35pm
Had the most surreal (I think that’s the word?) thing happen today. We’ve been sticking to this one road, okay? It seems to head almost directly south, it’s damn near empty, and it’s paved, of course, so pulling the wagons isn’t as hard, so it’s like perfect for what we need.
So we’re cruising along, people are talking a little more, it’s been a shit week, but we have to keep moving, you know? No time to really sit down and let ourselves grieve, which, I’m sure, isn’t healthy, but whatever.
I was chatting with Melly and Karla, and there was a lull in the conversation, when I heard something. It took me a minute to figure out what it was, and by then, it was already headed our way.
A car.
Someone was driving a car down the road. We all dove for the bushes, just left the wagons and bolted. And the car drove right on by. Josh and Ben came running along shortly after. They saw the car, but there wasn’t enough time to call and warn us. They don’t think it was trolls. Ben said he saw a man and a woman, and it looked like they were arguing. No idea for sure, but it really fucked with our heads.
I’m kinda jealous. I’d love to hop in a car and make the rest of the trip in style, but I’m worried about not having enough room for everyone, and it really limits us on how we travel. Right now, we can go off road without a problem. Well, mostly without a problem, anyway. In a car? Not so much.
Plus, cars are louder than footsteps. Trolls would hear us coming real easy. We’ll see though. It would be nice to shave some time off of this trip. If we can find a good pickup truck, we could try doing what we did with the cars back in Delaware, and pull the wagons behind us. We could all fit in the back of a pickup truck, without a problem. SwBridget and Chloe could ride up front with whoever was dri
ving. It would give everyone a break from the walking, and maybe even catch a little extra shuteye (though I wouldn’t count on that one…).
I dunno though. I think we used up all of our luck back in NY, but hope is a good thing to have, so...I dunno.
I’m sleepy. Goodnight.
June 10th
10:58pm
Weather sucks.
So. We stuck to the road again. Good thing we did. ‘Bout mid-afternoon, the sky started looking kinda yellow-ish green. If you live in the south, or the mid-west, you know that this is not a good thing. We didn’t find a truck on the road, but we passed by a parking lot, and Dave hotwired a couple cars for us to use. It started raining in the middle of us tying the wagons to the cars, and was beginning to hail when we finally found a place to stop.
It was bad. It was really bad. I mean, by the time we found shelter and got out of the cars, it had went from pea sized to fucking golfballs. I think it got up even bigger before it moved off, but I didn’t exactly poke my head out to find out, you know? On the plus side, there wasn’t a tornado. Well, I mean, there might’ve been one, but it was impossible to hear over the sound of the hail on the roof.
The cars are all busted up, of course, and Scott’s shoulders are covered in nasty bruises. He was carrying SweBridget, shielding her with his body, so he got beat up pretty good. We’re all dinged up, at least a little, even Chloe got tagged once, but I think Scott got it the worst. I made him take the night off of watch. I’m taking first watch with Josh.
Dinner was weird tonight. We had to leave the wagons outside and it’s still raining its ass off, so we haven’t bothered going out to check on them. We’re in another general store thing, so we ate chips and crap off the shelves. Wasn’t really much to work with, but we did the best we could. If it’s still raining tomorrow, we might end up staying here another day. If we do, we’ll definitely have to make a run out to the wagons. There’s still plenty of chips in here, but they’re not all that filling, y’know?
The Survivor Chronicles | Book 1 | Say No! To Zombies Page 13