Finally, the city was within sight. We found a safe spot and I scouted the city with the binoculars while Duke watched for approaching soulless. This city was much more lively then the previous ones; the day was approaching nighttime and I could still see a large number of soulless wandering around still looking eagerly for "food". Although I couldn't identify a human clearly, it appeared from the fortified buildings and makeshift structures attached to them on the outside that these places are or were safe houses for survivors. It was too dark and the windows were too fortified to see anything through them from far away. I knew if all these places were still occupied with people that it would be difficult to find Jane among them, let alone if they would even let her leave. One less person means one less hunter, or one less person to assist in survival. It is a numbers game where the humans are greatly outnumbered. Before we began moving into the city, on the opposite road heading into the city, I saw about five or six soulless walking down the road toward it. It is as if they know where we are at times.
I could tell that Duke didn't want to go in by the way he purposely followed slowly behind me, making me wait for him to catch up. I whispered to him, "if you're going to lag behind then stay behind. I don't need you getting me killed." I moved on and he stood there for a few second before quickly, but quietly catching up to me. I figured we should check out the closest safe house first. I really hoped that if there were people in there that they wouldn't kill us on sight and take our stuff. In a building as well armed as the one we were approaching, the odds were that there were at least four times more of them than us. I knocked on the door with my knuckle and waited. A voice from behind the door spoke, "What do you want?"
"Can we enter?"I asked.
"No..." was the response.
"Why not?" I asked.
There was no response so I knocked again and then knocked harder when a machete pierced the door and would have pierced me had I been an inch closer.
"That's your only warning. Go away," said the tense, but calm voice.
I wasted no time to asking another question, "Alright, but can you answer one question: is there a woman named Jane in there?"
There was silence. An uncomfortable silence.
"Hello?" I asked.
One of the windows opened up and a man with an uzi leaned out. He had just cocked it and had it aimed at us when I drew both my nail guns and shot in his direction multiple times. I must of hit him a few times since he fell out the window. I quickly grabbed the uzi and ran off with Duke trailing. I heard gun shots behind me as I ran away. We made it around a corner and kept moving, trying to keep our presence hidden from soulless to human alike. That group of survivors now has a reason to kill us so it was best to stay away from them. We went to a smaller hideout about five blocks over and knocked on the door. The same route (a voice behind the door asking what I wanted), but this time when I asked to come in, we were let in. However, there were a few people inside who had their hands on their guns. Jane wasn't there, but we were offered the chance to stay with them. I told them that we may take them up on that offer at some point, but we needed to find someone. The man who let us in, who seemed to be the leader of the group of survivors, gave us directions to each safe house in the city (or at least all of the ones he knew of). I decided to give him the uzi I "found" in exchange for helping us, just to show them we were good guys.
We visited three more, with one of the visits ending like the first one did with two people shot. The last of the three was the most unique among the hideouts; it was the largest of all of them and the building itself looked like it had been built just for the purpose of being a fortress: no windows of the ground floor and tall stones walls around the perimeter. After we jumped the wall and knocked on the door, we were invited in without question and offered food and drink (which made me suspicious). When I asked about Jane, they said that they knew who I was talking about, but she wasn't there at the moment (she was out looting with others). She'd return in the morning, according to the doorkeeper, and he graciously allowed us to spend the night. We were shown to a room with two old spring beds. Duke went right to sleep, I closed the door, placed the pillowed provided under my bunk sheets, and waited in the corner. I wasn't that tired away. It must have been at least three hours after I closed that door that it was opened again and two men walked in. One went to each of the beds they thought were occupied. I snuck up behind the one that went to mine and stabbed my knife through his spine while covering his mouth. The other guy still heard and turned to me before he could do anything to Duke. I let the stabbed guy drop on the bed and threw my bloody knife at the other one, hitting him directing in the chest as he backed up into the wall and slid down limply. I looted them, took my knife back, woke Duke up, and we put them in our bunks. I think Duke thought they were sleeping because he really didn't look that shocked. I broke out the barricaded upstairs windows in the room as quietly as I could, tied off the rope I had to the nearby radiator, and we descended and escaped. We hid in the next door building. Duke went off to sleep again, but I just couldn't. I had killed at least three people today. Now, I just can't stop writing and the sun is coming up.
- Jack's Diary
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