Jack's Diary - Operation Inferno - Day 137

     It's finally done! Operation Inferno is ready to go. Katy and I have been working overtime on this and it's finally ready. Let me explain the set up. On the tallest building near the center of the city, we placed three Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD), facing in different directions. They were originally used to signal people from far away and to deter wildlife and pirate without violence, as the device can make a sound powerful enough to cause headaches. You'd think equipment like this would be hard to find, but it really wasn't. The LRADs were probably brought in early on to try and bring the outbreak situation under control, only to have it backfire on them since the sound attract soulless (I say this all from observance, not from first hand account. We found these mounted on police vans and the area surrounding it was still sticky and disgusting from the previous accumulation of soulless). These things were not light (I almost killed myself carrying one up the stairs with Katy). The sound from it can reach about a mile or less, but we didn't stop there. We also ripped a bunch of sirens out of ambulances and police vehicles. Since my ability to focus well was slowly slipping away, Katy volunteered to scatter the sirens to lure more soulless when the time came. I didn't want soulless to just hang around outside the city so I attached the power cords that were attached to the sirens to a crank so we could reel them back in and draw the soulless into the trap. Katy managed to spread the sirens out to about 8 to 10 miles in each direction (with the amount of glue and duck tape I coated the plugs with, they better not come undone). I wished we could have gotten more LRADs to put on the very borders of where we ran out of sirens to attract even more soulless, but we only had so many to use.
     Now for my favorite idea yet. We commandeered several generators to power the local Water Plant (also used them to power the sirens). We also ripped a great deal of sprinkler systems from the more expensive buildings that could afford them. From here, we attached and welded the pipes together, attaching them to the tops of buildings across the city, to create a system of sprinklers that could drench every non-existent resident. I filled the Water Plant with the gasoline we accumulated to pump through the pipes when the time was right. Lastly, since we didn't want to burn alive and needed to be in the city to activate all this, we create a zip line to go from one of buildings to a small rock plateau in the distance, high enough of the ground to keep us safe from soulless and so we could watch the show.
     I decided to make some thermite bombs with charges connected to them so we could detonate them from a distance to start the fire. Katy and I shooting flaming arrows into the masses of soulless. Everything was set up. Before we began, I reminded Katy of my will in case anything happened. I then contacted Mike, after what feels like years, to tell him to pick up something I left for him (it was nice to hear him again). We're about to begin and I want him to have a front row seat to see Operation Inferno in action. Hopefully, everything works out and my goal will have been met.
     Katy, I'm sorry. It's time.

- Jack's Diary


Katy's Entry
     I felt like he'd want this. For me to complete this. The plan worked just as he said it would. We switched on the LRADs. They almost blew my eardrums out. He yelled at me to put in the earplug before we preceded. The sirens were switched on next. Soulless, as Jack called them, charged into the city, surrounding the building the LRADs were on. There had to be a 1000 of them within only two minutes of the LRADs being turned on. It was only the beginning. Mobs of soulless entered the city from all sides. You could hear their screams and moans as clear as day a top of a seven story building. It sent shivers down my spine. Jack waited another 5-10 minutes before we started reeling in the sirens, all the time hundreds of more soulless entered the city limits. The streets were becoming as tightly packed than when the ball is dropped on New Years. Two of the wires put up a fight. Part of them must have snapped off in the distance, but we still brought in the majority of them. It was such an amazing sight. A frightening sight. The sirens were followed by slow soulless, fast soulless that leaped each time the sirens moved, soulless with swords, soulless with long slender bodies, and horribly deformed soulless, ugly enough to make me gag. The smell of rotting flesh of near unbearable. I occasional looked over at Jack and he was happy, happy his plan was working as we'd hoped. The city was completely filled to capacity. There were a large amount of soulless outside of the city's entrance, unable to get any closer with the streets jam packed. Soulless were piling up on top of one another to reach the LRADs. The piles were three stories tall. There must have been 10,000 or 100,000 of them. Jack activated the sprinkler system. The moans were slightly drowned out by the rush of gasoline. The sunlight went through the gasoline, creating small temporary randoms in the air. It was so beautiful. We ran out of gasoline after three minutes. Jack then took out the charge and pushed it. The explosion rattled me and hurt my ears worse than the LRADs. The fire spread quickly where the bombs had gone off and we helped by launching flaming arrows into the soulless crowds. Soon, the LRADs and moaning was overtaken by the roaring fire that was engulfing the city. They were so stupid, still going after the LRADs while their bodies burned to a crisp.
     Jack told me it was time to go. I hooked a pulley on and went. The ride filled me with an adrenaline. I was so happy everything worked out. I landed on the pile of cushion we set and looked back. I kept expecting him to use the zip-line next. He just stood there on the edge of the building. I yelled for him to hurry. I kept yelling, but he did nothing, nothing except cut the zip-line rope. I could only watch as the fire slowly consumed the building and the black smoke blocked my view to him. The fire burned for what felt like forever. The soulless on the outskirts went into the city with the soulless there previously burning dead on the ground. Even more soulless came from all around and burned in what I now see as a mass grave. I didn't watch the whole time. Most of the time, I cried.
     Once the fire stopped and everything had calmed down, I went it to search for his body. The streets were covered in a foot of cremated corpses. His body was no where on or in the building. I was angry at him. He left me alone. He didn't have to die yet. There was still time. We still had time. The question of why bothered me until I found a letter he left for me.

"Katy,

     I hope you find this and if I'm not around, Operation Inferno must have been a success. You and I both knew what was going to happen to me eventually so I took matters into my own hands. At the end, I didn't want to end up like my friend, who went insane. It would've been dangerous and just a plain waste of time for you to look after me any longer. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd try and stop me. It's not that I don't care about you Katy. If I could have, I'd have stayed with you forever, continued doing this, and take back this planet. I wish my other friends would've come with me and that I could bring back yours, but life doesn't conform to what we want, sadly. I hope you'll continue on this work and know that if there is life after death, that I'll be watching over you and giving you all the prayers and help I can.

Your friend,

Jack"

     I decided to continue though it will be more difficult without help. Jack had more than just Operation Inferno in mind. While he was still alive, he spoke of others, like luring soulless into a large hole and either burning or just filling it back in with dirt. He called it Operation Re-burial. He only went with Operation Inferno because it was much easier and according to him, would make for a much better show. I may go with one of these plans. I stopped by the river where Jack had left his gifts for his friends. They had already come and gone.

     The night was quiet as I'd ever known it. There were no soulless, no danger, no paranoia. This is the kind of world I want and it's the kind of world I intend to bring back. I don't think I'll ever write again; it's just not my thing. I just felt it was the right thing to do; to write about Jack's last day on Earth so no one would forget. So I wouldn't forget. I'll miss you, Jack.

- Katy's Entry

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Report and Other Stuff

Sorry the story's been put on hold. The writer for Mike is having some major problems with his computer (that thing really needs to see a doctor or therapist or something...). It's fixed, but he still needs to reinstall some stuff so it may take some time.


As for something entertaining, I would highly suggest checking out this game called "The Last Stand - Union City" if you haven't already.

http://armorgames.com/play/12009/the-last-stand-union-city

Probably one of the best 2D zombie games you'll ever play or at least in the top ten. There's a variety of weapons to pick from, tons of useless and useful to collect, zombies to kill, story, and lock picking. So much lock picking!

And to send you off with a poem

There once was a zombie from Brazil,
Who wanted to eat his fill.
He entered a hotel and approached the clerk,
And left with a full stomach, a cool hat, and a smirk.

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Jack's Diary - Some Thinking - Day 90

*Morning*

            We’re on a dirt road headed toward a town or something. Something that has buildings. I’m not really paying that much attention to the where so much as how we’re getting there. I’m looking forward to walking on solid asphalt and cement again.

*Noon*

            That stupid fog just had to roll in again. We can’t see more than 10 feet in front of us, but Mike’s pretty sure we’re still headed toward our destination (I was more concerned with what will come out of the fog than us going into it). It’s like we’re in a Silent Hill game. Every so often, soulless would wander into our path and we’d beat them to death, or back to death, instead of shooting as to not attract more. At least there weren't a whole swarm of them. What’s worse though, there’s something very eerie about the silence that came with the fog. There are no animals making noises, not even birds chirping or the sound of crickets. I don’t get scared too often anymore, but this sure is bringing me close to that point.

*Afternoon*

            The fog cleared up enough to where it was only like smoke hanging on the air. Near the end, I could’ve sworn I saw someone in the distance. I even asked the others to verify, but they didn’t see it. Am I hallucinating? I hope so.

            We’re getting closer. By tomorrow, we will have reached the town or city.

*Evening*

            Mike’s looking for a spot for us to stop for the night. I must say, other than the creepy fog, I feel more peaceful though I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t anything bothering me. I don’t feel like writing it all down again.

            I do remember considering a while back splitting from the group. I can’t let that slip my mind, not after the horror I brought along with me. I guess when you think about it, when I joined up with Mike, I brought along my baggage and made them help carry it. That’s not right. As much as I’d like to stay, perhaps they’d be better off without a murderer. It appears I’ll have some thinking to do before we reach the town tomorrow.

- Jack’s Diary

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Jack's Diary - Right isn't Always Right - Day 50

     Julie was attacked later that night, long after I had finished writing so I didn't feel like including it in the last entry. A soulless snuck into her tent, but Mike took care of it (for now on, we're going to have keep our tents tied or zippered shut). Her and Mike still get into small arguments now and then though I know this is only because he cares. When we ran out of gas for the car in the city (perhaps I shouldn't have been in such a rush to get out of the city before), Julie went to loot in a nearby store alone. Mike started yelling at her again, only to end with her calling him an old man. I thought it was funny, but Mike didn't (he just doesn't have my rich sense of humor, I suppose). Though he was right; no one should go anywhere alone, or at least not far, especially her. If she dies, not only would it be sad, we'd have the Valors after us since I don't think they'd appreciate a "dead" package. Even I tell members of the group where I go.
     Anyway, right after the argument, Jess and Victor motioned for me to come to them. We were all gathered in a circle (excluding Mike and Julie). Jess was the first to speak, "We're not really going to hand Julie over to the Valors, are we?"
     "Do you want a war with them?" I asked.
     "She can't be that important to them," responded Victor.
     "She was valuable enough for them to give us a large amount of supplies as a down-payment. What does that tell you?"
     "They handed her to us like she was property, like a slave. It isn't right," said Jess.
     "Whether it's right or not doesn't matter. We're too far from home to start a battle against a group as big as this."
     "You took out the red and blues no problem though," responded Ann.
     "That's because they were small, savage, and unorganized. We know that the Valors have at least three bases. That's at least three times the manpower."
     "Sounds like you're scared," said Victor.
     "I'm not scared for myself; I'm scared for you. If we make enemies with an army out here, we have no shelter to take."
     "Then what if we could trick them or make a trade for her?" suggested Jess.
     "And it's not just about what's right. You've seen Mike," Victor spoke. "I thought he'd never talk again until we picked up Julie. He's already starting to like her. We can't just give her away. Especially not now."
     Julie pushed her way through the huddle. "Are you guys talking about me?"
     Everyone was silent for a moment. Then I sighed. "Let's cross that bridge once we get to it," I said to the others, "There's much more at stake here then just happiness."
     I walked away while the Jess spoke to Julie, probably explaining away or telling her what we were discussing. I lost three people due to a war I brought upon myself. What's worse, the situation is beginning to look similar to it; we're extremely far from where we're returning to, we lost one member and have two new ones with us as well from the trip.
     On to happier things, Victor and I began syphoning cars for gas. Apparently, someone beat us to it, because we had to go through 10 cars before we found two that weren't empty. We have enough to fill up the tank, but I'm going to try and get some more tomorrow morning. Afterward, Victor accompanied me to a couple of building for exploring. We came across a few soulless, but they were nothing a good hit to the head couldn't resolve. In a sense, I was window shopping; not looking for anything in particular, but I was hoping for something useful. I found some pretty good rope, an inflatable raft (it was sitting on the top shelf of a insurance office for some reason), some surgical tools in the local hospital, and two books from the local library: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzo and "Improvised Explosives: How to Make Your Own" by Seymour Lecker. I wish the library back near the Hill had been more extensive. I would have liked to have these before. Victor gathered a few of his own supplies, mainly medical related, back to camp. There was something strange, though. I could have sworn there was someone watching me the whole time from a distance. I didn't see anyone else except for Victor.
     It was pretty dark by the time we got back. Julie approached me when I arrived.
     "Is it true?" she asked, "Am I staying with you guys?"
     "Jess told you that?"
     "Yah, but I want to know for sure. Is it true?"
     "I don't know yet."
     "How can you not know?"
     "Because I haven't decided. There's a lot of risk and why do you care anyways?" I asked.
     "Because I don't want leave."
     "Nothing's for certain yet."
     Julie turned away and went to talk with Jess. She came back a minute later.
     "If you don't help, Victor and Jess will. Either way, I'm staying."
     "I'm pretty sure it's up to Mike and I'm going to have a say in the situation as well."
     "Why the hell can't I stay with you?"
     "I'm done talking."
     I walked away from her, but tried not to alert Mike. I don't think he knows about this, but I'm sure he'll hear about it sooner or later. This isn't something to be decided in secret; this is a group decision. I really don't know which one Mike will side with and either one presents its own downside. I'm done thinking about this for now.

- Jack's Diary

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Jack's Diary - Day 23, October 9th 2013

     This morning, I woke to the sound of music. I could tell it was folk, but I only recognized it as being  a Bob Dylan song until I opened the window. There was a man sitting on a pile of stuff that he probably accumulated there during the night. He was playing a guitar decently and singing the song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". There must not have been any soulless around when he started the song because by the time I opened the window and looked out, he was already on the third set of verses and the soulless were beginning to approach the pile. As he continued to sing and the soulless drew ever closer, his demeanor and voice didn't change at all. It was as if he wasn't scared at all. I knew even before the end came that this was a swam song, quite literally. As the soulless were nearly on top of him, he stood up and kicked them down the pile while still playing the guitar and singing. I suppose he wanted to finish the song. Others were looking out their windows and doorways at him as the amount of soulless grew with each chord he strummed. Eventually, kicking did little to nothing since the soulless behind the ones kicked acted as cushions, keeping them on the pile. He was nearly done with the song when he put down the guitar, now completely surrounded and about to be eaten/trampled when he pulled out a grenade and pulled the clip, at which point I brought my head back into the room and closed the window. The explosion was loud, but so sad. I took one more peek before unbarricading the door. The pile of stuff was still there for the most part, some pieces scattered, but now a menacing art piece made the street its canvas. I suppose the name "Suicide or Sacrifice?" would be a pretty accurate description. The crowd of people were no longer watching the street, but I thought I could hear the faint sound of crying.
     After unbarricading my door, I knocked on Duke's door and waited for him to come out. He greeted me with the question, "What was that noise?"
     I told him it was nothing and we moved on. The explosion took care of a large portion of soulless in the area, but that was the least of my concerns. I wasn't planning on having a companion with me since I only packed enough food for myself for 4 weeks. In a few days, we would run out of food so we needed to find more. I lead the way into the forest on our way to the next and last town. The forest has an abundance of unspoiled nutrition (as tasteless as it might be). I decided to gather edible plants, berries, and roots while I told Duke to gather up any insects, reptiles, fish, birds, small game, or basically any living creature that we could eat (I gave him a butterfly net I picked up on our way out of town). He complained, "Why would I catch bugs? I'm not eating them."
I said, "Because I told you too! Do I need to give you a reason! Insects are a good source of protein and we can use them as bait to catch bigger things. Now go!"
He walked away mumbling under his breath. After about two hours of gathering and washing the picking in the same general area, I went to look for Duke, remembering that I never told him not to get lost. I found him a distance off with a bag filled with a bunch of insects, worms, slugs, crayfish, and a few toads and frogs. I said, "Good."
     As it turns out, Duke isn't completely useless. I took out the worms, put them in a separate container, and then sealed up the bug to cut of the air supply to kill everything else. After this, we continued traveling to the final city, Saint Angeles, still walking through the forest area, picking and eating what looked edible. It would be a few days before we reached Saint Angeles since it was far off. Luckily, Duke kept his mouth shut so it was a peaceful hike and there were no soulless in sight. After about an entire day of uninterrupted peace, from midday to midday, we began to get tired and as much as I hated the idea, set up camp in the forest. I made a small fire to cook the stuff Duke had caught so prevent it from going bad too quickly and when night came, I climbed up a tree and slept safely among the tree branches while Duke slept on the ground. I honestly didn't think I cared if he got eaten or mauled, but for some reason, I spent a good part of night making sure he was safe. I suppose there's still some humanity left in me to care about a stranger.

- Jack's Diary

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Jack's Diary - Day 21, October 6th 2013

     I have that annoying urge to kill. Not for pleasure, but relief. I am an easy going person when it comes to things that aren't life and death and can for the most part control myself, but Duke is pushing me over the metaphorical edge. I woke up and found him reading my journal entries. I got up and snatched them out of his hands. "What do you think you're doing?" I said to him.
     "Well, you never gave me your backstory so I just wanted to check up on you," he responded.
     "Don't ever touch my writing again!"
     "What do you expect from a rude, narcissistic person like myself! How dare you say such things about me!"
     "I'll think, write, and say what I wish and I'll say it to you now; you're a selfish annoying person who would've died had I not come along! No wonder why you're alone!"
     "Coming from the person who was alone when he found me. If you're such a delight, where are your friends? Oh, that's right, you let them die!"
     "I'm warning you, Duke! Say one more word about my past and I'll end you!"
     "Doubt you would, you're too much of a..."
     I punched Duke in the face and took a slash at him with my machete, but I only managed to cut him under his left eye. He fell back near the edge of the high place we were on. There were about four or five soulless at the bottom, reaching up. We were too high up for them to grab Duke, but I could have easily kicked him over the edge. I approached the sniveling roach, as he pleaded for forgiveness between his violent weeps. I stood over him for about minute looking down at him with the sun to my back until I wiped the blood off my machete on his shirt and put it away.
     "Consider this my last act of mercy on your part. You will do as I say and keep your self-center personality locked away because it only takes one thrust or flick of the wrist to finish what I've imaged doing over 100 times in my head. Understand!"
     He shook his head yes and I turned away to pack things up. Even afterwards, I still felt like killing him, to watch his blood bleed out with the rest of his fluids and negative traits. I never believed the idea that there are those who deserve to die, but this man is making me question this belief.
     A few nails from above to the soulless heads and we headed off to the city. Duke hasn't said a word since, which is nice. The streets were a disaster area with broken glass, blood, bodies and large pieces of cement and building littering the streets and sidewalks. I wanted to seek out other survivors, but none were insight, leaving the only three options left: they were dead, soulless, or inside the building. If they were hiding within the buildings, I wasn't going to look for them. There's too much of an advantage for them if I were to step inside. They could easily club me over the head and kill me and Duke. Besides, with my current mood and the previous attack on my life, I'm not willing to try and find people. my only concern was that we might leave this city and Jane might be hiding here. However, none of the survivors I spotted before hand or afterward matched the description John had given me. Besides, we could always come back for a more "thorough" check.
     Every so often a group of soulless would begin to approach us, which I quickly dispatched with the nail guns while Duke cowered behind me. The biggest threat were the runners who came at us with great speed (about the speed of a brisk jog), but I managed to stop them, whether it was through shooting at their legs or doing a running kick at them and knocking them over. A large group of runners approached us at some point and I pulled Duke into the nearest building and locked the door (luckily, the door was in decent shape). The windows were broken out so we looked for a stairwell to climb. We found one as they were climbing and falling through the windows. I noticed there were soulless standing on upper levels of the stairwell so I took the lead and stabbed or knocked the soulless over the sides as we progressed upward. I thought I saw a few eyes peeking in on us from the exit doors on each level. I figured, the higher up we got, the less likely a soulless would take the time to follow. We must have reached the twentieth floor or so when I stopped Duke and listened. I didn't hear anyone following. We could have left after this point, but I decide to stay. I opened the exit door, dispatched the soulless in sight, checked the nearby rooms for more soulless and stuff to loot (basically, stealing what looked useful and killing anything that moved, except for Duke). We came across a few doors that wouldn't open (barricaded doors), a few of which I knocked on, asking if they'd seen anyone who matched the description I gave. Even Duke knocked on a few doors as well. I received silence mostly, with the occasional "No". This method was labeled dangerous by myself after the last person I asked shot through the door to try and kill me. After this, I found a room with a window for me and I told Duke to use the one next door. He was to knock on my door or I knock on his in a certain way to let each other know we weren't soulless or a stranger. Nearly all the food on that floor had been looted so there wasn't much point in searching. After I barricaded the door, I looked out the window, the great height giving me new vantage points to scout from. After the night began to return, I ceased my scouting, wrote this down, and noticed that I now wanted to kill Duke a little less.

- Jack's Diary

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Jack's Diary - Day 19, October 4th 2013

     I don't recall if I ever wrote that I was lonely, but if I did, I take it back. Duke is like an annoying little brother in a young man's body. He's rude, snide, narcissistic (well, more so than I am at least), has an annoying voice, hasn't said one nice thing to me since I met him, and worse of all, he's a complete coward who belittles me for my violet ways, yet clings to me for protection. I don't know how he survived this long in life. He also considers himself my intelligent than me, which made me laugh at the fact that he thought that way and how he voiced this opinion openly (snotty and proud apparently). If you're wondering why I haven't deserted or killed him yet, my only answer is pity. He'd surely die on his own and I at least want to get him to a safe place before leaving him. Besides, he was a good pac-mule to use to carry my stuff and he might come in handy in other ways in the future though I have my doubts.
     Well, enough talking about Duke. We traveled for two days and were a mile or two near the outskirts of a city. Along the way, I asked Duke about his past, which prompted him to begin a speech about his "great adventures" and "noble deeds". I'd write it down for you to read, but sadly, I have no motivation to spread falsified self-proclaiming stories. From there, the travel was much smoother after I threatened Duke that if he spoke again, I'd slam his head off a tree until I could see his skull. Things were pretty quiet, other than the occasional slip up on Dukes part, which I graciously forgave. We found a high place that required climbing skills and upper body strength to reach, making it useful for fending off roaming soulless. We climbed up and decided to rest until dawn before heading into the city, which gave me the chance to scout the area. There were a large number of soulless in Haleton and I could even see a few survivors moving about. Sadly, a number of them didn't live to see the next morning.
     As darkness was fully upon us, I quietly discussed the plan with Duke who just seemed to nod agreeing without even caring. He still had that dissatisfied smirk, one that told me that he thought it was stupid. It is true. We could have gone around the city, avoiding danger all together since we had everything we needed. However, Jane could very well be in this city, along with other people who may need protect (and who might be less of a jerk then Duke). I'm going to get some sleep. Duke just sat on the ground, looking off into space. Usually with other people around, I'd be afraid they would hurt me or steal my stuff while sleeping since it is the time when I am most vulnerable, but Duke is a coward and he knows that without me, he would surely join the soulless ranks.

- Jack's Diary

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Jack's Diary - Day 17, October 2nd 2013

     City or town? Sometimes, I just don't know what to call these places. They always look so different from one another. Tall buildings don't make a city. I've come across old cities with a multitude of businesses that barely went above the ground level. Houses with yards don't make a town though it is rare to see yards in places with large towering structures. I'd say where I am now is more of a city than town. There's a decent number of tall buildings, but not too tall. I spent part of the morning resting on the roof on an apartment complex, looking over the ledge to the smog of life below. Perhaps it is just the view, but it seems like there is more diverse life here than in other places; a few soulless and a raccoon picking berries from the bush that grew between the cracks of a sidewalk (it'd been awhile since I'd seen a raccoon or any uninfected animal for that matter). There were always birds perched on old telephone lines or standing on distant rooftops. Birds and soulless were probably the most plentiful of creatures left on Earth since most of the birds predators had decreased in numbers do to a number of unfortunate reasons. I suppose a world of birds wouldn't be too bad. It's humanity leaving behind the soulless that I am concerned with though. If we could do one last thing with our fleeting lives, it should be to cleanse this planet.
     After sleeping for a good 8 hours and taking a few more hours for bird watching and scouting the area, I had planned out a looting route to take. I was mainly looking for two items in particular: a flashlight and a map of the area. I didn't want to get caught in the dark again and although John gave me some directions, they were vague which is understandable, seeing as he has never actually visited Saint Angeles. I don't want to end up getting lost  and wasting time.
     I walked through the streets undisturbed by anything and made my way to what looked like a small novelty shop. Lots of toys, trinkets, and other assorted things. I was just entering the shop when I felt something press against the back of my head (my first thought was a gun). Turned out I was right.
"Alright, hands up and down on your knees" said someone behind me in a tough voice.
     I put my hands up, but took my time doing it. As soon as they were up and I started bending my knees, he kicked me down. He started taking a few of my weapons and putting them on the store counter, giving a few comments now and then, such as "decent" or "nice". My back was to him so I couldn't even see his face and he kept the gun pressed against the back of my head. It was during his examination of my stuff that I noticed that the circular mirror that shop owners install near the front desk to catch shoplifters was turned just enough in my direction for me to see the outline of the man. I kept an eye on it and waited for an opportunity. After a minute of going through my stuff, he spoke to me.
"You got a lot of nice stuff. I hope you don't mind if I hang onto it for safe keeping." he said a smugly triumphant way.
     He took the gun away from my head, but still had it aimed at me. He took a step forward and twisted his body and arm to the right to backhand me with his left arm. At this point, the gun had moved out of line with my body and just when he was about to make contact, I ducked, he missed, I kicked him in the shin, which caused him to stumble and lean over in pain and before he could turn the gun on me, I jumped up and struggled to get the gun from his hand. A shot fired from it, as I repeatedly slammed his hand against the store counter until the gun came loose. He reached for one of my weapons on the counter, but he was just out of reach of them before I slammed his head against the counter, knocking him out. I then preceded to snap his neck to prevent future conflicts. I don't know where this guy came from, but he must have been pretty good at hunting to have snuck up on me without making a sound, especially with all the broken glass on the ground. This is an example of how far humanity has fallen although I expected such behavior. Death is the consequence of trying to take what is mine and no one can argue when there is nothing keeping humans on peaceful terms with each other except for our own beliefs and morals. That, in its self, can never be enough.
     No sooner did I kill that man and began collecting my weapons, a guy runs up outside saying, "Ron. What the hell are you doing? You're going to get us killed..."
     He quickly shut his mouth upon seeing me and his partner dead on the ground. He already had a handgun out to his side and I saw him move his hand up to aim the gun, but I prevailed; I shot him 7 times with a nail gun, but he did manage to fire off one round that barely missed me while I fired. It didn't take me long to realize what he was so upset about: loud noises bring death. I could see a few soulless walking toward me, while others ran. I quickly reloaded the nail gun I'd used and went outside into the corridor of the store and began picking all of the approaching targets until none remained.
     Wasn't too bad of a day. I got a few new weapons and supplies from the two guys: two handguns with a few clips, a hunting rifle, a long hunting knife and case, rations, beef jerky, a bible (ironically), a pocket knife, a lighter, duct tape, and flashlights. With all this, i didn't need to go shopping for a while. There were a few other things that may have been useful, but I chose not to take them (I would've if I had an infinite amount of inventory space, but this isn't a video game).
     As I was looting from the two dead men, I heard crying in the back room. I found a man who was extremely scared and begged me not to kill him. After a long talk, I decide to let him join me on the condition that he carry and do what I tell him to do. He accepted. For the next day, we search the city for a map and found one, now we're off to a town by the name of Haleton. The guy's name is Duke. I'll  describe him more in future logs if I don't kill him by the time I write the next one (he's already starting to bug me).

- Jack's Diary

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