Jack's Diary - It's About Time - Day 88

*Morning*

            Mike’s still missing. I would’ve went out to search, but the fog complicated matters and made it near impossible to find Mike, let alone not mistake a soulless for him or the other way around. Moses wanted to light the flare last night, but I convinced him to wait. I thought Mike went back on the trail to pick up equipment he dropped. I regret stopping him now. We’ll have to wait until this new patch of fog clears before lighting one now (we shouldn’t take the chance of wasting one or attract unwanted attention. Mike may also be sleeping somewhere and not watching).

            Julie’s taking it pretty hard. Moses and I take turns keeping an eye on her. She’s already tried to run off twice to find Mike.

            Moses keeps giving me looks, the kind of looks you give to someone who just cut you off in traffic.

*Noon*

            Fog’s starting to let up. It should be gone soon. A few soulless wandered into our camp. We took care of them though (probably wouldn’t have mentioned them if I wasn’t trying to prove something to myself).

            I went out and gathered some berries and then tried my hand at fishing. I had been awhile. I had some fishing line with me and asked Julie if she had a hair pin I could “borrow” to make a hook. She didn’t though I had a wire clothes hanger with me and broke a piece of it to make one; managed to catch two trout before I lost the hook.

*Early Afternoon*

            Victor and Jess are back with us. The fog cleared so Moses lit the flare. Within an hour or so (at least, it seemed like it to me), Jess and Victor came walking down along the river. They were up the river a mile or so and had stayed there for some time (we really didn’t give them a specific location along the river so it’s understandable).

            As to where they were the whole time, they claim to have woken up in a deep pit without any recollection as to how they got there. It took them two days to climb (they didn’t spend the whole time climbing. More so falling back in and trying again.) After enough wandering, they found there way to the tree fort and then here. I didn’t feel like telling them about what mike, Julie, and I were doing so Julie did the storytelling. Needless to say, they were shocked. They probably thought she was lying, but Moses confirmed her story.

            Mike still hasn’t returned. I’ll give him a few more hours before I start looking for him.

*Night*

            Mike’s back. Looked like he was going to pass out when he showed up, but he made it back. He told us he tried to lead some soulless away from camp while we were sleeping (he should’ve just woken us up). The important thing is we’re together. Mike says we’re headed toward a town for supplies. Well, it’s about time! I’ve been inching to make some new stuff.

- Jack’s Diary

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Mike's Diary Day 68 - Where were we? Oh right.

         Okay where were we? It's been along time, since I haven't written down anything on my journal (only 1 day). Yesterday, it took me a long time to plan our strategies in case the valors come unexpectedly, but no worries, I'm almost done.

          I woke up this morning. Well, Moses woke me up. He asked me where Jack is, and I told him that I don't know and that I'm going to find him today with the other search parties. I got off of my bed, headed directly to the washroom, washed my face, and looked into the mirror. I stared on my own reflection for a good 5 minutes. The water was dripping down my face, my eyes look weary. Why us? Why ? I'd rather be living in my life several months ago before this thing all started. I'd rather play video games about a post-apocalpytic era than being in one. I stopped staring, dried my face with my towel, and headed outside. First thing first, eat! I haven't eaten a full meal since I don't know how long ago. I walked towards the kitchen, and there Victor and Jess were cooking breakfast.

          Smelled really good to be honest. What was it you asked? It was squirrel. Yes, in this age of desperation, we eat what we can get. I didn't want to eat it, but it's better than starve yourself to your death, so I ate it. Tasted like rabbit meat, a bit tough to chew though, but other than that, it filled me up for the rest of the afternoon. After I ate, I gathered five people to go with me in a search for Jack (Julie is one of them). I gave each one of them a gun, and a blunt weapon, and I told them that we should NEVER use guns on craze unless we are cornered. They nodded, though I'm still worried that one of them will chickened out and pull out his gun and fires. Anyways, off we went to find Jack.

           We were in a truck. Well, they were in a truck, whereas Julie and I were on the motorcycle that we found yesterday, just before we got back to base. It's a great experience to ride one actually. Feels like nothing I've ever felt before. The wind breeze hitting on my face, and also the adrenaline rush when you accelerate fast enough that it can no longer go much faster. Anyways, enough with that motorcycle riding experience. During the trip, the first place that I thought of was the city that we were just in yesterday. That's where most of the supplies are, and if he goes somewhere far and deep into the jungle, Jack is not so smart after all. We arrived at the city, and didn't know what to do. If we scream, or yell, craze will come, and it'll also attract bastards like the valors. After a while, we decided to shoot a flare up into the air hoping that Jack is not more than 5 miles away from our location. After firing the first flare, we proceeded our way up to a building's roof, where it's nearly impossible for craze to go up there. I've set up two sniper posts, Danny was on the left, and his twin Daniel was on the right. We camped there, just in case if Jack sees the flare, he could possibly notice that we're looking for him.

              Boom, the second flare went off 2 hours after the first one, and still nothing. I don't know where he is, but we only have 3 flares left for him to see. The night is approaching, more and more craze are coming out, so obviously we don't want to risk our lives by going down there and going back to the base. The best thing that we can do now is wait and hope for the best. If Jack isn't anywhere near us, we will proceed our way, possibly to the next city, which is only 25 minutes of bike ride. With that said, it's my turn now to watch the base on the sniper post. Julie is going to accompany me on the other side (I doubt she can use that sniper rifle, but oh well.)

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Mike's Diary Day 66 - Oopps, WRONG WAY!

                  I couldn't sleep, so was Julie. I woke up 2 hours earlier and she. It was quite, and I was pretty sure the craze had given up trying to break the door open. I walked over and sat on the edge of the building, trying to get a clear view of possible escape routes, and there were many. The problem is that I don't know how to get down there, with Julie. I don't want to risk anything because our chances of surviving is low. I kept thinking, and I came up with a brilliant idea (50% chance of success). I woke Julie up and told her the plan, and she seemed like she had no trouble with it. "Better than being stuck here." She said. I took out a rope, not more than half a metre long, and I took my uzi out. I switched the magazine with my one and only extended mag, which loaded with 45 bullets (I didn't want to use it). I tied the rope from the trigger to the handle, turned the safety off, and threw it pretty far down to our left. Bullets start flying through the air, making such a magnificent noise pollution, and in the matter of seconds, all craze were running towards it.
                  "This is it" I said to Julie
                  "Let's do it." She responded.
I unblocked the door, opened it, and with only an axe in one hand, and a machete in the other, I rushed downstairs, while Julie followed. There were only several craze left in the building, which Julie and I took care of no problem. After we got out, Julie and I just kept on running towards the forest, we didn't stop one bit. I had a feeling that it will not only attract hordes, but only other survivors. I didn't want to encounter any, so Julie and I forced ourselves to run, even when our legs almost couldn't take it anymore. After we made sure that we were safe, we sat down for a minute or two. Julie was exhausted, and so was I. After we had enough resting time, we decided to continue our way back to base, but I didn't know in which part of the forest we were, so I decided to climb the tree and try to get an advantage point; however, we were getting nowhere. The view was blocked by other trees, which made it really hard for me to even see what's near our position.This is just great.
                    "Ha, we're lost" I said
                    "Good fucking job." She said
                    "Hey, I'm sorry that I had to make sure that we were safe, and get as far away from the city as possible." I said.
                    "Could do it without the sarcasm." She responded
Great, now what? I asked myself. I think our only way is to find our way back to the city and go back home from there. There's nothing to worry about now at least because the place is quite, so that we can listen to any movements or noise made by animals, craze, or people. However; I only have my handgun and a molotov left, so I don't know how we're going to fight back in a firefight. I hoped down from the tree, and checked our loots.
                     "Hey, we made a good run in only 2 days " I said
                     "What do we got?"
                     "Medicine, med-kits, canned food, water, matches, ropes, sweaters, t-shirts, books, and toys."
                     "Yeah, ain't we make a good team?" She said
                     "Sure. I guess."
                     "Awhhh C'moonnn. You should stop being so serious." She said
I opened 2 canned food and handed one to her, best one we had in a while, considering we didn't eat yesterday. I finished the canned food in less than 5 minutes, and so did she. We wanted another one, but I told Julie and myself that we should reserve that for later, and that we should start budgeting what we gather, and what we use. The evening approaches softly, Julie and I decided to get to the top of the tree to sleep in one of the branches, and tied ourselves to the trunk. Julie climbed up to the branch above me, and is staring right now at things, while I'm doing this. Yeah, we will try to find a way back to the city from here tomorrow, and hope that we will have a ride that we can use to get back to base. Our backpacks are getting heavy with loots, and a carrier wouldn't hurt.

                   

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Jack's Diary - Day 11, September 26th 2013

     I'm already well on my way to Saint Angeles. I didn't go into detail in my last entry so I'll explain now. John, the man who saved me, talked about his past on request. I asked because most of the people I met in the past either wanted me dead or wanted something from me and they especially didn't help me out of pure kindness. He'd lived almost his entire life in this small cabin. Once he became a young man, he moved away from society and built this cabin with his bare hands. He loved people, but preferred a life of solitude surrounded by nature's wild life. He was by no means a hippy or nutcase so don't get the wrong idea. I've known people in my life that loved animals and plants and the rare beauty that in his words "has gone unchanged or destroyed by time". Surprisingly enough, he met a woman. She lived in a cabin as well about 2 miles from John's. They came upon each other in their gathering and hunting. He eventually moved into her cabin and together had a daughter named Jane. The daughter left to start her own travels when she was of age. She's been gone for six years, but she did send a few messages to John by way of a friend visiting the cabin. John's wife passed away in her sleep about three years ago for unknown reasons. As John said, she "entered this world peacefully and left in a peaceful silence." Soon after, he locked up his wife's cabin and moved back into his old cabin (he suggested that I could live there if I wanted, but I declined). He continued to live as he previously did and knew nothing of the horrors happening in the world until the messager stopped coming and he saw a lost soul for the first time.

     I asked how he could go on living his life without a purpose. He was shocked and offended by this question. He gave his answer. "Isn't living good enough? Isn't there purpose in happiness and in breathing a breath? So many people spend their lives in misery and will continue to do so no matter what you tell them. I'm merely balancing the scale by being satisfied with taking care of my life and smiling. And who are you to judge my life to have no purpose, a man who fell at my doorsteps, pleading for help? Without me, you probably would have died. If that is what you mean by purpose then yes, I have a purpose. When I came out here, I never expected to meet a woman, make her happy, make a child with her, raise her up right, but I did. You do not always find purpose, purpose finds you and let it find you prepared and willing!"

     I apologized to John and he accepted it. I suppose I could have summed up his speech, but I consider it something that should be remember and not just to die with the two of us. We talked more and I revealed my past. The talking made the time pass by very fast. I nearly ready to leave when I brought up the question as to why he didn't leave to find his daughter. I already had a few ideas as to why and it turned out I was right.

     "What happens if I leave here and Jane comes back to an empty cabin? I am long passed my prime and as much as I would like to find her, getting killed in the process won't save her and will only sadden her if she found out that happened to me. She'd have no one left in the world or at least from this world. Still, I often find myself wondering whether I should try."

     And that is why I am now off to Saint Angeles. The last message he received from her was that she was living there. He didn't ask me or intend to suggest that I go, but he knew I was going to try and bring her back. I couldn't agree with everything in his philosophy, but he was right: purpose does find you.

- Jack's Diary

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