Deals and Strategies - Day 77 Mike's Diary

Yesterday evening, I requested two people to go and find Jack. He had been wondering around all day, and haven't seen his face in a while. The reason is that one of the representatives from the tree house village want to see us, and who is responsible for who. I told him, Moses is the leader, also is my brother. Me myself is in charge of battle plans mostly, and other stuff regarding safety and strategies, and Jack, he is responsible for creating new weapons and different strategies how to survive (farming, etc). Jack is a reader. I said. The representative, Hannah, welcomed us, though it was intense at first, later she realized that we're good people.
We were given the permission that we can stay here (not in their tree houses), but in their premises, and agree to help each other, as long as we protect their people too from bandits, and craze.

*morning*

I have never had any sleep this good before, since this is all happened. I woke up and I saw Julie was using her axe on a tree, probably practicing, or just bored or some sort. Jack is still asleep, and Victor is sitting on a bench. I got up, and unpacked my backpack:
1. 1 axe
2. 1 crowbar
3. a handgun and a hunting rifle
4. amunitions
5. liquor
6. rope
7. sunglasses
8. a compass
9. map
10. snack.

I quickly grabbed the snack and ate it. Man, I was so hungry, I might have even forgotten to eat on the way here after the battle. I finished my snack in seconds, then I drank some of the water that has been given to us last night. I then started making plans as of what we should do to help this place better (Moses is pretty much useless at this point, and let me in charge).

*afternoon*

I then proceed to find a useless table, round table, and this is going to be my new work desk.
I laid my map on it, pin it down with rocks, so it doesn't go anywhere. I took out a piece of paper and started jotting down the stuff that I want to get done for today. After I was done with all of my preparation, I started a fire, boiled some water, and prepare them for everybody. I woke them up one by one (literally, but more like ditch by ditch). I gathered everyone around. From about 160 people, we're down to 125 people because of Valors. As much as I would love to go back, and retrieve the body of our fallen, it was way too dangerous. I grouped the group into several, and divided the jobs.

I called the leaders candidates of each group to the front table, so I can tell them what the plan was.
first up, Victor.

Victor's to do list:

Once I drew a 2 miles radius circle on the map, covering our parameters, I told him to bring 15 men with him. I told him to dig a hole circling the tree house village (ours too). 5 meters deep, and 3 meters wide, and after you guys are done cover it with branches, so craze or bandits don't know that it's there. Now, you have to do this carefully, and divide the physical resources management. I suggest you to have 5 men working, 5 rest, and 5 guarding, and the cycle continues. Bring guns, and make sure they are equipped with silencers. Safety is number 1, and leave no man behind unless they asked you to leave them.

Jack's to do list:

Jack, I know I can trust you with hunting. Make sure with have enough food either meat or vegetables for the next 2/3 days. Bring 20 men with you, divide them into groups 2 each, but keep them close in case of troubles. I want you guys to be safe, don't fool around, and if the group mess up, we're all not eating. No pressure. Safety is number 1, if you guys have little food and there is trouble, signal everybody, and go back. You will be 1 mile away from Victor, so warn them if you guys see anything. One more thing, don't make too much noise.

Moses' to do list:

Moses, you and I will bring 5 men with us each and we go about another mile away from Jack. To patrol in the front line. I'll bring walkie talkie, one for each leader, and each leader must have a whistle. We patrol, if we see anything, get to safety. Bring sniper rifles, melee weapons, and shotguns.

I then said one more thing to them :

I'll contact you guys through each walkie-talkie, frequency 67.9FM. You heard warning from us, blow the whistle twice, and wait for your crew. Tell your crew if you guys can't find each other and heard the whistle, head back to the base. When these whistles are blown, every men is on his own, and head back to base IMMEDIATELY. Pick your men wisely.
Be safe all

They were all then spread out and pick their own men, and after their done, I yelled everyone who is not going, please you're our only defense. Arm yourself, and get ready for anything. Split yourselves into two groups. 1 for farming and planting, and 1 for defense. After things were finally sorted out, we all spread out, and proceed onto our quests. (p.s Julie is with me)


*Evening*

I was watching with a sniper rifle, and Julie had her binoculars. Nothing, then we circle around the perimeters, and still nothing. This is how it went. 3 people, Julie, Craig, and I were patrolling the North to West, Moses and his group were patrolling  the South to West, and two other groups were patrolling South to East, and East to North. Sometimes we see each other, but not for long because we had to keep patrolling. The sun is going down now, and our shifts should be over sooner or later. I was sitting duck with my sniper when Julie said to look 20 degrees to the left. I saw a cutter, walking towards us, but it's very far away. I took this chance to see it's weakness with my silenced sniper rifle. I shot it's face, and blown of half of it, but still nothing. It was confused as if where that (my bullet) came from. Then, I took another shot on its knee cap, and it fell, but later got back up. When it got back up, I notice something behind it's neck. It's a huge blob, yellow-ish color attached to it. I took my chance to shoot it, and it popped. The cutter didn't die, though it just stays there. Not making any moves, as if I had taken of it's nerves. I looked at it curiously through my scope, for about  15 minutes or so, but still nothing. I took this into consideration, and took notes from this. After that was done, I contacted all of the leaders of the team to head back. There was no problem so no whistles were blown.

*Night*

It was a success. The tree house village was impressed on how our group handle things. We even had dinner with them. Now, everyone is drunk, having fun (not loud fun), telling stories, and bond with each other. I have not yet told them about the weakness of the cutter, so I will make sure I will tell them tomorrow morning. I'm writting this, while Julie is right beside me, humming.
"Good shot" she said. I'm just smiling and I told her, good eye for spotting that cutter.


 
This is where we sleep at night, make sure we're not visible to anything (we still have patrols)

Read More

Jack's Diary - Live Losing Or Die Brutally - Day 75 Season 2 Finale

*Early Morning*

            Barely slept. Didn’t feel like it. I finally perfected the Double Sledge (getting it stable wasn’t the hard part; it was filing down and taping over the nails so they didn’t pierce my hands in combat). Too bad I’m not using it today. I’m going to be a sniper with Julie as my spotter (don’t really need one, but I’m not complaining. She didn’t seem too happy). Other than my knowledge of constructing weapons, I’d say my sniping accuracy is one of the greatest skills I gained while at The Hill. I would’ve never gotten this good had the men there not taken the time to instruct me. Maybe I should be teaching here as well.

            I should give the people at this base some credit. A few men followed the two Valors after they left and now we know exactly where they are. From what I heard, they have themselves stationed in a building at the top of a hill. It is heavily armored, secured, and wider, but not as tall as the one that burned down though for them to have established a base in this area so quickly is saying something (might explain why we hadn’t received any word from them for so long. I still don’t know how they found our base in the first place).

            Everyone’s either grinning with excitement or shaking a little in quiet fear. Everyone except for me, I guess. I just want this all to be over. I bet Ann’s going to get a kick out of all this.

*Late Morning*

            I found an apartment complex off in the distance that had a good view of the base from the south end. The twins were somewhere in the area, Mike told me they’d be covering the south wing as well, but he didn’t tell me what weapons they’ll be using. Much like our own base, they have lookouts, one positioned on each corner of the roof and what appeared to be a short-range sniper in a roughly built crows nest. Mike’s team was waiting quietly in the woods and I watched for his signal. That’s when I saw 40 men marching up the back, 4 by 10 rows. Those who weren’t carrying guns were lugging a tall crate, nearly 10 feet tall, chained to the cart it was on. More and more men kept coming into sight as the minutes passed and I knew we were outnumbered. I put down my rifle and told Julie to stay put while I went to signal Mike to call off the attack. I managed to reach him before he gave the signal. Instead of retreating, Mike came up with a different plan though it didn’t really make much sense to me. As I understood it, whenever an enemy would spot them, I’d take them out (I guess he wanted more time so he could strike at the right moment). I went back up on the building and did what he said. I should’ve told him no and got everyone out. I don’t think he knew just how many there were. I sniped three men, but when they were spotted, that’s when the bullets started flying. I quickly took out the sniper and the four men on top of the building, seeing as they had an advantage in their field of vision. Death came to both sides of this war with bodies hitting the ground like the beat of a drum. Any men that came onto the roof, I killed though a few Valors were firing back at me with their own rifles (luckily, their aim stinks). Our groups were retreating and once they were at a safe distance, Julie and I did as well. With out troops gone, I’d only be a matter of time before they’d come after Julie and me. We ran back to base with our tails between our legs. Now, I’m waiting for our next “battle strategy” while sitting up in my lookout point with my gun to the horizon.

*Noon*

            I saw it. I would’ve sniped the guys bringing it, but they were pushing the crate from the back. It smelled rotten and putrid and the box swayed back and forth. I couldn’t shoot out the wheels because they were just metal cylinders. Once they wheeled it in front of the base door, the sides of the box fell and the men dived behind a tree. It was the giant soulless I’d seen from when I went to rescue Mike. It looked even taller and larger than before. The wounds that were previously inflicted on it were gone, but I could see the gore laying on top of the pinkish, brown flesh. It’s facial features, the skin covered eye sockets and the handsome human like shapings of the head and face were the most disturbing of all its traits. The blade on its arm had been sharpened and pulled and yanked at the chains that bounded him to the cart. There came a shout from the tree the men hid behind "Give the girl, or we'll destroy you."

            Normally, I would’ve fired, but it didn’t do much the last time except draw its attention and I didn’t want to risk prompting the men to free it. As I came down from the lookout, so many questions ran through my mind: how did they get it, why is Julie so important, and what in the world is it?! Had they formed a legion with those men who captured Mike or was this just a similar monster? It could no doubt destroy the walls of the base and I didn’t want to see what this thing could do at full strength. Mike opened the door and Mike, Moses, and I stared at it. I don’t back down from challenges and I am tired of losing my home and friends. Then again, I don't see how I came save both and live to tell about it. 

To be continued…

- Jack's Diary

Read More

Mike's Diary Day 75 - Is this the end? Season 2 Finale.

*Early Morning*

I woke up, and found out that everyone was already with their weapons and their battle gear ready to attack the Valors. I saw Jack with his sniper, and he told me that he preferred to be the sniper, and he'll be the one that would protect, well tried to protect the others from a hill or building behind the valor's base (whatever suited him). I told him that he would need a partner/spotter, but most of the people preferred to go into the battle field with Moses and I. I saw Julie and Jess. JULIE AND JESS?! I thought. What the hell ? Why are they going ? I told Julie that she should not go, but she insisted, and brought up the deal again. If I go, she goes with me (I don't remember that part, but she fooled me already.) The battlefield was too rough for Julie, so I told Julie to be Jack's spotter. She was disappointed, but it's for her own safety.

I divided the group into 3 different groups. 10 people in each, 2 medics in each team. My group and I will storm the front. Moses's will go from the right wing, Victor's group penetrates the west wing. The south wing, well I had that planned out. Jack, probably one of the best snipers, with Julie and the twins covered the south just in case.

*Before the attack*

Jack ran down from his post, signaled me to cancel the attack. He was panicked, and apparently saw the Valors bringing some re-inforcements. I came up with a whole new strategy. This time, it'll be stealthy, but I'm really doubting Jack. Well, you gotta try to trust others to survive right? The plan was simple. We in the back of the hill, and every time we see someone, Jack fires the sniper that already has a silencer installed. Simple enough? Well, 3 valors went down, but soon we were spotted. We were forced to retreat back to the base. This was the most dangerous situation that our group has gotten in. We waited in the base, I was trying to figure something out. To actually defend the base. We will defend the base, and hold it in one condition. Too many blood sheds in our group, we're retreating. Everyone agreed, including Jack.

*2 Hours later*
I was sitting in my room, drawing diagrams to defend the base as best as we could, when I heard a yell from the outside. "Give the girl, or we'll destroy you." I froze, sweat dripped down my chin. I got up, met Moses and Jack, opened the door, and saw the biggest, baddest, most disgusting, horrible monster. The smell of the rotten flesh was unbearable, we all froze thinking what was there to do.


To be continued...

Read More

Jack's Diary - Bare Arms and Covered Darkness - Day 74

*morning*

            I already told Mike we’re going back to base. I characterized Ann by using the word “maniac” when stating why we needed to go. I think it fits her. For some reason, it never occurred to me until this morning that obtaining a car would get us back faster and safer (plus, if by chance I saw Ann, I could run her over). I plan to go out as soon as I’m done writing this.

*evening*

            We made it back to base. Two soulless almost got to Mike, but I took care of them. The truck was surprisingly easy to find. He thanked me, but at the time (like most of the time), I wasn’t in the mood for talking. Mike’s seeing a doctor right now. As soon as I parked the truck, I ran to my room to grab the journal pages documenting my dream, but I couldn’t find them. If Ann could sabotage those rifle silencers without me knowing, she could have snuck in and out of here with the pages, especially while we were gone. The only real evidence to defend myself, to show that my explanation isn’t crazy and she took it. I wasn’t even that good of evidence since a mad man can write in blood, but I wanted to show it to Mike. Now I have nothing except my word (there’s the hand and footprints I painted over, but that would take some scraping on my part and with my luck, they probably disappeared. She’s one step ahead of me.

            You’d think after being out in the open for so long that I’d bask in the safety behind these walls for a while. I didn’t. Not when what I truly fear can scale them. I took a walk outside, avoided the soulless and just looked around. Again, I kept hoping to see her. In some way, I wouldn’t mind dying by her hand since that’s what I’m expecting to happen anyways. There was nothing save for a few stray soulless.

            I went back to the armory and looked over the rifle silencers. Nearly all of them had something metal blocking the opening. I removed the potential dangers and stored the silencers away except for the few I wasn’t done with yet. I’m going to finish them now.

*late evening*

            Mike came to see me and he asked what I thought happened out there. I was really ready to tell me even if he didn’t believe me when there was the sound of gunshots from outside. We went out and found Moses and Victor outside the door of the base talking with two guys (Valors) who wanted Julie. When Mike refused to hand her over, they proclaimed they’d return tomorrow with a present. This definitely didn’t sound good to me. There’s less of them now since our prior incident with them, but we don’t know just how many there were to begin with or just how great their influence is. I’ll stand by Mike, but I’m not looking forward to more death.

*night*

            I practiced with the sniper rifle by “hunting” soulless from the watchtower. Impossible to hunt at night, you say? No, just really, really difficult especially without night vision. I was glad to have the moon out. The swift motion of their bodies hitting the ground alerted me that my proficiency with the weapon hadn’t changed. No one heard or saw the shots thanks to the silencer (at least, I don’t think anyone saw the shots). As much as I’d prefer to be part of the action, I feel like I have more control over battles in a sniper position. I can see everything; I can see who needs help, and who is the real danger to us.

            I must say, I really admire the people of this base. They all want to remain and protect it. Then again, values and objectives change when the time comes to make true on words. I hope they are serious. I don’t want to lose another home.

            Mike asked me what I was going to say before, but I told him I forgot. I remember how first realizing that things like Ann could exist in this world shook me up and Mike doesn’t need that now. This battle coming up is more urgent. I think I’ll finish off my double sledge before tomorrow. Super glue and nails will have to do.

- Jack’s Diary

Read More

Mike's diary day 74 - This is war

* morning*
I woke up feeling exhausted Jack woke me up. He said that we gotta hurry to get back to the base before the maniac come back and kill both of us. I packed all of my equipment and rebandaged my wounds again.  The pain was unbearable but I have to make do. Jack cooked for breakfast, and while I wait, he went outside trying to scout for car could possibly be our right back to base. While he was out scouting for a car, I heard footsteps from the back of the house, I wasn't feeling well just yet, but I tried my best to grab my gun and checked what is up behind the house. When I opened the door there were two craze just wandering about trying to find some flesh to feast on. I quickly closed the door but one of them managed to held the door, and when they were about to come in, are here to gunshot and the craze we're down immediately. I looked outside the door and saw Jack in a pickup truck,  so I limped across the road with my bag on my back right into the trunk of the pickup truck.

*noon*
There was nothing much happening in the afternoon considering that we were only on the road for several hours without talking to each other.  I said thank you to Jack,  and his response was nothing.

* evening*
Jack and I arrived at base. I was escorted find it went right into the doctor's room to get checked up. Julie also went inside with me with her concerns look. I do not know where Jack when but I will try to find him right before dinner and talk about what he thought what's happening back in the suburbs.

* before dinner*
I found Jack in the armory room doing some tweaking to the silencers that he made. I asked him what he thought about that event, and when he was about to say something, we heard gunshot outside the base. At that moment, I thought to myself that the valors  are outside. Jack and I rushed outside and we saw Moses and Victor were already negotiating with 2 people. I walked towards them, and they said that they want Julie to come with them. I said no obviously, and I threatened them that there are enough of us to kill both of them, so right before the left of the said that there will be back tomorrow with a "present".

*night**
This is just great. Now everyone is busy doing their own stuff, and Jack does not remember what he was about to tell me. I immediately called for a meeting for us to do a vote whether we should fight and stay, or we run and leave them alone. The result was obvious that there are more people willing to defend the base. One more thing before we go to sleep, I said that it is better for us to attack to them earlier before they attack us because that way there will not be expecting us coming. Everyone agreed, and I will wake up tomorrow in the morning to plan out our offensive strategy. I really really hope that we will not lose another man. I hope everyone, especially Julie won't get hurt. God help me, HELP US!

Read More

Mike's diary Day 65 - Two Fuckers, We're Being Watched.

          I woke up beside Julie this morning, I saw her yawned
          "Good morning." She said. I smiled and looked at her 'hand'.
          "Do you wanna anything on that?" I asked.
          "Yes, anything would be good."
          "Knife?"
          "Sure"
          "Okay, we will get you patched up once we get back to base." I said to her.

I got up and checked the surroundings, while Julie was looting for some supplies. That morning was very sunny, breezy, all I could see UT the window was a torn flag waving in mid air, unfinished construction buildings, and some craze. Once Julie was done, I told her that we are going to a hospital near by to loot some medicine and other important stuff that we might be able to take.

            I walked outside with my iron sight aimed down, I checked if the coast is clear, and I signaled Julie to follow right behind me. We turned left back to the ally way, proceeded our way through, and turned left on the second house. The road was empty so I decided to me a run across. We did, I could see the hospital building clear from where we were at, and I couldn't wait to see what's inside. For another 35 minutes walk, we arrived on our destination. We went inside, not too many craze so far, so Julie and I handled it though sweat. We started looting the stuff, first aid kit, alcohol, bandage, painkillers, and many more. I then proceeded my way to the emergency room, and I opened the door, I was greeted by two guys. Yup, they're all dead now. I talked my way out.
             "Remember us?" One of them said
             "Nope, not a bit."
             "You destroyed our base."
             "Oh, the Valors?" I asked while taking few glances behind them.
             "Where is the girl?" The other asked
             "Or we'll kill you."
             "Oh you mean that one?" I gestured with my head to look back when Julie stabbed the guy repeatedly in the neck. I took my gun and fired at the other before he could slash Julie's other hand off. Once the gun fire went off, all I could hear was craze's scream and footsteps.
              "C'mon we gotta run." I said.
We ran away from the kitchen, trying to get out of the hospital, but we were blocked by a horde. We decided to find another way, but with no luck, we found dead ends. Our last hope was upstairs. I led the way, I pushed our way up and slashed some heads off along the way. We were terrified, I almost peed in my pants. We found a  door, I breached it open, waited for Julie to come, and closed it. I held the door with all my strength from the craze who were trying to get a piece of us. I quickly told Julie to find a metal to use the door. After a struggle, she found it, but it wasn't strong enough, so I decided to jam the door with anything we could find. We found chairs, sofas, and tables. Great, we're stuck now. Julie was breathing heavily, but was still able to throw out a smile or two. The sky is turning orange, it's getting dark, and we're stuck on the roof. Julie and I have to think of something tomorrow if we still wanna live for another day. In the other hand, I am worry that the other back at base are looking for us (well obviously). I hope everyone is still in one piece by the time we got back, especially Jack. One more thing, I hope the valors don't find their way to our base before we got back. They probably did, if they didn't, how the fuck did they know we were going to the hospital? Even more odd when they said
                  "Remember us?"

As if they were expecting our presence in the building. I am pretty sure, everyone (even the ones in our base) is being watched. Is it possible that they have an inside men, or women? I'm going to stop writing right here because Julie is telling me to eat.

Read More

Mike's Diary - Day 62 Long Story Short.

          I had a little argument with Jack yesterday, it didn't turn out that good. He probably hates me that I keep delaying our departure back home. Last night, he passed out, so I told the kids to escort him into his tent and told Ann to keep an eye on him.
          This morning I woke up, no one was awaken just yet, as always. I went by myself, to gather more gasoline, alone (bad habbit never goes away I guess.) I brought a pipe with me so I can extract the gasoline from cars into my gas tank. I saw craze pondered around, but I didn't want to attack it. There's just simply no point in doing so. I did this so that we have fuel for our non-stop trip back. I didn't want to delay anything anymore, especially after Jack. After a while, I had 6 tanks filled with gasoline, but I had to figure out how to bring them back to the group. Some crazy things revolved around my head.
            I took put a rope from my bag and tied all the gasoline tanks together, next the rope still had about 3 metres left to it which I decided to tied it to the craze. I lured the craze, ran around it and made a knot around its body and looked at it from 4 metres away. It tried to run towards me, but held back by the tanks, so all it did was slowly pulling all six tanks. Wow, never I felt accomplished some crazy, yet smart thing like this before. I slowly walked back to the group, and at the distance I could see everyone was packing their stuff, but Julie and Jack were yelling "Find Mike". Oh wow, I walked towards them
             "Going all alone again?!" Jack shouted
             "I just thought your sorry ass need some gasoline for a non-stop trip back." I said while laughing. His face was expressionless, almost mad, but when they saw what I did to the craze, they (including Jack) started giggling.
              "You crazy little shit." Jack said, I killed the craze and told others to load the tanks into the pickup trucks. Julie swore at me and asked why I keep going alone like this, and when I was about to respond, Jack walked pass us and said
              "That's Mike for you."
              "he said it." I added.
We packed up, but before we went, I talked to Jack about yesterday. He told me what happened and all, tough stuff to deal with. I asked how his arm was, but it was stil the same, numb. I told him that Moses has a doctor back at base, in hope that he'll be cheered up a little. I also added that he'll be the farmer he has always wanted  (for shit and giggles). After the talk, we went off our way.

********Fast Forward************

             Here we are, it took us 29 hours of non-stop driving to get back. I honked and they opened the gates, people were waiting for us cheering as if we were soldiers who survived hell. My brother though, looked very confuse, we went with only 6 people and came back a village. I parked the car, hugged my brother in cheers, doctors surrounded the wounds (including Jack), and the kids were offered food and goods. I walked into my so called "office" and my brother and I had a talk.
               "I'm sorry but we just started war with a group called valors." I said
               "Tell me what happened"
               **story** I cried when I got to depart where Lexi dies. My brother understood.
               "I'll be here, we'll be here ready to fight." My brother said.
               "Thanks." I responded.
                "We'll have a meeting, tomorrow, you're in charge."
I know this sounds very weird, but I thought I won't put Jack in this one due to his condition. He's just unable to do it. After the conversation was done, my brother left, and now it's just me and my diary in my office. I am writting this is actually for people who might find this diary when I died. Hey, 62 days, I'm still alive, a good sign? I wouldn't think too much about it.

Read More

Mike's Diary Day 60 - Ah. I'm Back in Business Bitch!

           I woke up on a very comfortable, cozy, small bed. In a small room full with all surgery equipment. My vision was still blurry, but I could see what so called the 'surgeon'. I looked down to my wound, it was already patched up, thanks to him. He turned around and looked at me smiling. 

           "Where am I?" I asked

           "Valors. You were shot when you were off chasing those guys who ran with the Valors' 'package'." 

           "But, I..." Then I realized that somehow they must've confused me for one of the Valors. I started to think what happened to the others. I'm worry about them, but now it comes down to me. What should I do? I wondered.

           "That note that your friend gave you." The surgeon said, "The one that says 'Do not ruin the plan Mike. Make your way out of the base safely, or else kill everyone.'" I looked at him confused, and I became very nervous at that time. After seconds of silence, he told me that he volunteered as the 'doctor' so the Valors wouldn't do anything bad to him. He also told me that he wanted to join me if the plan was successful. I nodded to him, but I didn't promise. I told him later to tell me where the Valors keep the kids, and I asked for the key to that room. He said he didn't have it. After minutes thinking of what we should do to get out of this base, I head gun shots. Right at that second I thought Jack. I fucking knew it. I told the surgeon to follow me. I was limping, weak, and my stitches hurt like crazy, but I managed to ignore it and move on. I saw a guy running towards us and yelled "We're under attack. Here!" while handing me a shotgun (bad idea). I stopped him and said that I need to get all the kids. When he was about to hand me the key, he asked my name in suspicion. I didn't say a thing, cocked the shotgun, and blast his guts out. I grabbed the keys and rushed to the room. I opened the door and everyone was panicking. When I was busy making sure that they're fine, the room beside us exploded (kitchen plus fire. Not a good idea). The surgeon was blown up to pieces, I fell down. I managed to get up to evacuate everyone out of the building when I saw Jack. He was a bloody mess. In this situation, there's no room for anything but humour.

           "You look like shit." I said to him

           "You don't look so good either!"

We proceed our ways, I followed Jack, and the kids followed me. It was a very cruel sighting for kids to see, but we continued outside. I heard gunshots, few, and slowly faded out to one or two shots. The base was a mess. Victor and the other older kids off chasing the remaining of the Valors (Which I don't like). They could be in much deeper shit than we were. Everything went smoothly, though Victor came back with some minor bruises. Oh great. Now we have an army of kids from age 12-17. Which is good and bad at the same time. We have 32 kids on board excluding the 6 of us, and we had a convoy of cars. Me, in a mustang, the lead car, a pick-up truck, and Rv, and SUVs. On the way back, all I could see in the rear-view mirror was Jack passing out. I wouldn't so worry about him, the guy is a tough son of a bitch. Thanks to him I was saved, but thanks to him also that we all almost died. We drove for hours until we can reach the eastern part of the country, which is our original base. Few more days, man knowing this, we should've taken the high way instead of the forest. 

           We decided to take a break here, in the middle of nowhere. Craze everywhere, so I had to get the people from age 16+ to patrol in shifts. I know, kind of cruel, but hey, we're a team now. I took all of their guns away and gave each of them machetes, axes, bats, and crowbars. I just couldn't risk attracting more craze with gun shots. I set up my usual tent right beside my car. Julie is staying in my car, she wanted to sleep there. The RVs surrounded my tent, Jack's tent is on top of a pick-up truck, the others were preparing fire. Julie's head stuck out from the car and thanked me. I said no problem. I went out from my tent to approach Jack to thanked him. I said that without him, all the six of us would've been dead. When I was talking to Jack, Julie approached me and hugged me. 

            "No seriously. Thank you Mike." She said. I looked at Jack in hesitation whether I should hug her back or not, and Jack looked at me as if he was saying "C'mon, give the kid a break you fucker.", and so I hugged her back. I almost teared up, and Jack left us both (I don't know what he's thinking about Julie and me now. Who cares, Julie gives my life a whole new meaning.) Julie stopped and looked at me and said

            "C'mon old man, don't be such a pussy." Then she punched me on my stomach. Ouch... I held my stomach, and all I could see was everyone giggling at me. I went back to my tent to rest, to get all recovered for our next journey back home. Hopefully it'll be a safe and not bumpy ride for all of us. I'm done writing, I'm sleeping.

Read More

Jack's Diary - Bloody War - Day 59

            I look back on history and wonder what a nation’s reaction was when they realized they started a war. In war, there are no winners and losers when it comes to sides; the winners are those who go home alive and the losers are the ones who die as a result of the war, a war begun with a conflict that didn’t start with them and a cause that was either noble enough to die for or urgent enough for the leaders to force them to die for it. I can go on and on about war and I haven’t been the first to say this. War is fruitless when we can compromise and debate the problem before us. Of course, when it’s a war between hundreds of armed men vs. six, one injured, one could say it’s not war, just a few lose ends to tie up… the exception is us.

            Right now, I’m driving down a dirt road, having just turned off the highway. Today, we brought Julie to the Valor’s base. It was just as intimidating up close as it was from a distance. The area around the base wall had a smaller wall of sandbags, the front of the bags being covered in barbed wire. There were machine guns mounted on the rooftop edges and (perhaps I’m imaging things) what appeared to be a rail gun or turret. There was also a tall fenced in area where many of the vehicles were stored. They were seriously armed and well defended though it did not look like a place for kids.

            At the gate, Mike announced that we had the package. Three guys let us in and were going to escort Julie inside when Mike asked to see some of the other kids as proof that their intentions were good (smart). They brought them out and not a single kid looked happy. I wanted to take them aside and ask them some questions, but the men seemed adamant that they get back inside the base as soon as Mike saw them. With as much as was wrong with this situation, reacting right now wouldn’t have been smart. We could sneak into the base later and find out what was really going on, but this wasn’t really necessary. As we were walking away, one of the guys whispered something under his breath that alluded to pedophilia. Before anyone else could say anything, Mike took out his Uzi and killed the three men (not smart). In that moment, Mike had started war and there was no time to apologize or debate over the issue. Mike told me to get a nearby black van hotwired (for someone who hasn’t hotwired that often, I think I did it in record time). We almost made it out of range from the base when they opened fire and hit Mike. I drove for nearly 10 minutes and no one seemed to follow us or at least they hadn’t caught up. Their vehicle set up within the fence wouldn’t allow them to just drive off on an impulse. Mike was bleeding profusely and was barely still awake. He wanted me to go to the last base we were at, which was suicide. I’m sure they knew very well what they were going to do with Julie. Besides, they wouldn’t hesitate to hand us over to save themselves. Also, I have no idea where to go. We didn’t travel by highway the last half of the trip and Mike was not in his right mind to be giving specific directions or orders for that matter. I turned down a dirt road leading off the highway. It was a one-way road surrounded by trees that led to an old house. I parked the van behind it, hitting a stray soulless in the process. I proceeded to get out and punch the back of the van over and over again. In this situation, I think I was entitled to a short temper tantrum: We’re in a war with an army of men and Mike’s seriously injured with no one around that can save him, but the same people who shot him. They no doubt have medical supplies and people who know how to use them inside that fortress. Jess opened up the van door and stepped.

            “Jack, stop it!” she said grabbing my arm before I could punch the van again. It had numerous dents, splashed with blood from my bloody knuckles. I pulled my arm away and started walking around the van.

            “This is the one of the worst outcomes that could’ve happened. I knew from the start that something was wrong with this job and that’s why I came along in the first place!”

            “We can’t be wasting time. We need to get Mike some help.”

            “Help? Where exactly are we going to find help?”

            “Mike said to go to the other base.”

            “I don’t know where that base. We didn’t take a direct route here, remember? And do you really think they’d help us. That they would even try if they found what Mike did?  We’d be better off throwing him to a pack of rabid wolves,” I said loudly. I was beginning to sound hysterical.

            “So what? Are you just going to give up?”

            “No! I just need some time to think!”

            Jess shut up for a minute or two until everyone else came out of the van.

            Victor spoke up next, “I know we’re not surgeons, but we could probably remove the bullet ourselves.”

            “That’s risky. He was shot in the abdomen. Some of his organs may have been ripped and punctured. Sewing up a wound on a limb is easy. Organs, however, require much more care, or else they’ll get infected and Mike would die.”

            Only one plan came to mind. It was completely nuts and risky, but at this point, we didn’t have much of a choice: we could either let Mike die and go home or try it.

            “I may have a plan. If it works, we may be able to save Mike and get some revenge, but I need to know whether or not you’re willing to put your life on the line.”

            Everyone agreed except for Brian.

            “Too bad Brian. You’re coming with us and if you even try and escape, I’ll kill you myself. If you do help us though, we’ll allow you to leave. Got it?”

            Brian grudgingly agreed. I took about 10 minutes to explain the plan before we drove off back toward the Valor’s base. I wrote a little message for Mike and gave it to Victor, telling him to make sure that when they drop him off that he has it with him. Jess was driving while Victor, Brian, and I had the windows rolled down ready to shoot. I expected that they’d try and come after us. What I didn’t expect was to find them behind us (They must have circled around after they passed the dirt road). There were three vehicles after us: a jeep, an SUV covered in armor and spikes, and a red mustang (nice car). The first gunshots took us by surprise. They pierced the back of the van, a bullet striking Ann in the leg. I had never shot from a moving vehicle so it took about three shots to hit the driver in the jeep. It went off the road, as did the SUV when Victor and Brian shot out the wheels. While we focused on the other vehicles, the mustang drove up beside our backend and the driver started slamming his car into the side of the van to make us crash. Just then, Jess swerved hard to the left to avoid to vehicles heading toward us in the opposite direction. The red mustang was run off the side of the road down a hillside trying to avoid collision. The last two wasted no time in turning around and pursuing us (late arrivals). Both vehicles were small armored cars and they were fast. There was at least a 100-yard gap between us when they had completely stopped and yet, they caught up in less than 10 seconds. We shot out the front tires, but it didn’t stop them. One car went on each side of us and rammed us back and forth like we were the ball in Pong. They were playing with us. I almost fell out when they did this. We fired at the glass with no success. These cars were bullet proof and powerful. Finally, I told Jess to slam on the breaks and hang on. When the van stopped I took out the Uzi Mike had used previously and tried to shoot out the back tires, though only hitting one on each car. The cars turned around and came back at us with near perfection in driving skills. Jess turned around and we ended in in the same situation as we were before; the cars using us for a game volleyball, only this time, they began shooting at us. I told the guys to use more powerful guns. Victor picked up a rifle while I decided to use a shotgun and surprisingly, it pierced the window shield and killed the driver, making the car slowed decelerate until starting scraping against the guard rail. Victor had similar success so we were safe for now. I told Jess to turn around so I could get the drive the other car. I thought it would come in handy and it did.

            I’ll reveal each part of the plan as I’m writing. Once we reached the base, we did some surveillance and, of course, there were guards outside this time. Just as I thought there would be. I drove the armored car up to the base and the guards, recognizing it as one of their vehicles, let me without even questioning me. (This was a lot better than my original plan, believe me). I unlocked the fence that led to the parking lot with the keys I acquired from the dead driver. There were men waiting for me at the entrance. I took Mike out of the back of the car and rushed over to the entrance (I covered his face dirt and blood so they might not recognize him).

            I handed them Mike, “Can you take him to get fixed up? He’s barely alive.”

            The guy checked his pulse and looked at his wounds. “Man, you’re not kidding! What the hell happened to him?”

            “We went after the guys who killed the three near the gate. They shot him and he went off the road and crushed.”

            The guy handed Mike off to a nearby one and told him to go.

            “Where are the others?”

            “They’re dead. They were a lot more skilled than we thought.”

            “You got to be kidding?! All of them?!”

            “You can take a look for yourself. I wasn’t originally driving in that car. The shot through the window and killed him. It was the only one still intact or not over a hill.”

            “Did you at least kill the guys you were after?”

            “I didn’t personally, but the guy driving the car identical to this one drove them and himself over the hill. I checked on both the van and car. They were all dead.”

            “At least they’re dead. It’s a shame really. The boss isn’t going to like this.”

            “Not too much we can do. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go comb the blood out of my hair.”

            The guy laughed and let me by.

            For as well stocked and clean as this place was, it was boring and depressing on the inside. The attack wasn’t going to happen until I gave the signal and we needed to wait about two or three hours until Mike was taken care of. In the meantime, I took a tour and found where they were keeping the kids. They kept them; both boys and girls, in a giant room with bunk beds and every so often, a guy would come, pick a kid, and take him into a room. I don’t know what happens in there, but whenever they came back out, the kid’s clothes were more wrinkled, the kid had a distant look on his or her face, and the guy would walk away as if nothing happened.

            After about an hour of walking around, I knew where everything was in the building (food, guns, ammo, explosives, some of which I pocketed), including Mike who, according to an assistant working with the surgeons, was pretty sure he going to pull through. It would be another two hours before the surgery was finished. I couldn’t just hang around in the base for another three hours; it would look suspicious and it would get boring so I decided to take action. Going up to one of the top floors, I entered each room and systematically, but quietly, kill everyone. I asked to come to talk or to pretend like I had something important to say then I’d slice their throats and shove them out of sight: closets, under beds, bathtubs, and in the draw of a clothes closet (tight fit). I must of killed 40 people before my cover was almost blown. One guy yelled which brought another guy in and a guy that saw that guy enter the room was followed by another; it was like a badly written sitcom playing out. In the end, I managed to kill 124 people (that’s right, I counted) before someone took notice. During that time, I actually began to detest killing. In the past, I took some happiness from each person I killed, as if I was better than them. Their lives didn’t matter to me; my friend’s lives barely matter to me. Usually, shoot someone, I don't check to make sure their dead unless I suspect they aren't. Stabbing is a different story. After every time I slashed or stabbed a person in the throat, I stood over them, looking into their eyes to make sure they died. Image doing that a hundred times. Image seeing the horror on their faces as they realized they were dying, as they reached up to me in desparation for help and I did nothing. Of the 124, most of them were men. The men sometimes had "friends" over. In each and every single room, mementoes and pictures were displayed on shelves and walls, depicting a happier time. Things have changed since then. Everyone has changed and now I keep wondering if there may have been good in the people I killed that day. 

            By the time the base became aware of the dead bodies, an hour and a half had already passed so I headed up toward the roof. On the floor two levels down from the roof, I saw a familiar sight; a fire alarm. I must a passed these multiple times during all that killing. My original plan was to head up to the roof and signal everyone to make loud noises to draw anyone out of the building so I could use the machine gun turret on the roof to kill them, but the plans changed and they might change again. If the fire alarm worked, I could've pulled it and nearly everyone still alive would exit the building. Of course, there was no electricity anymore. That's when inspiration struck me in the form of arson. I went through the rooms and found plenty of alcohol. I poured it all over one of the beds and set it on fire. I then waited a few seconds before going down to warn everyone. The plan worked. Not only that, but all the suspicion about the dead bodies (even as they found more of them) was put to the side as people knocked on doors trying to evacuate everyone. Two men went up to the room with fire extinguisher to try and put it out. I intervened (connect the dots).

            By the time I reached the roof, mostly everyone was out. People were running back in and coming out with supplies and piling them up. I didn't see mike or the kids. It was time for the signal. I threw one of my grenades into the air and shot it, exploding it in mid-air. The van was lined up with the base entrance down the hill from it. When she heard the signal, Julie wedged a thick piece of wood between the seat and accelerator. She stayed in to make sure it stayed on course before jumping and rolling out. The van ran over a few of the Valors, ricocheted off the right side of gate, and crashed through the entrance, blocking it off. Now, the only way in or out is through the side door of the building. Also, the signal wasn't just for Julie. As soon as they heard the explosion, Brian, Jess and Ann exited the trunk of the car I drove in (it was a tight squeeze). Brian and Jess shot whoever tried to get out through the side. As soon as gunfire filled my ears, I jumped on the turret, and started firing at on the ground. There must had been hundreds and hundreds of people down below. A great deal of them fired and I just narrowly dodged certain death. Everyone was either running away, heading toward the vehicles (which Jess and Brian made sure no one would touch), or shooting back at me. I ducked behind the turrets and fired mostly by instinct and luck (I didn't do too bad of a job). Anyone who ran south from the base had the misfortune of meeting Victor and Julie. They were both instructed to shoot and/or throw grenades at whoever or whatever moved. The turret ran out of ammo so I shot the few remaining determined men. The situation was getting hot (literally with the fire one floor below) so I tied the rope I brought with me off to the turret and slowly propelled my way down the right side of the building passed the burning floors. It seems I didn't get all the men because I was fired at, hit in the leg and nearly fell to my death. I held on and I ended up swinging myself to the front of the building, where the rope shifted, suddenly making me fall 5 feet before I crashed through a window on the fourth floor. My left arm had an extremely deep cut (it was so deep that I could I could see my bone through the thin membrane of muscle still covering it. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced. Still, I pushed onward. I made in to the surgery room only to find it devoid of anyone, including Mike. The surgeons could have taken Mike with them or maybe he woke up and read the notes. Either way, my mission was done. There was nothing more I could do in my condition. I went to where the children were being held to make sure they didn't burn alive and guess who I found already there; Mike. He had already gotten them all out and backed as well. He took one look at me and said, "you look like shit!"

            "You don't look so good yourself!" I added. 

            I showed Mike and the kids the way out. Mike stilled wasn't completely healed and things were getting pretty blurring with all the loss of blood so I was glad when we didn't run into anyone. 

            We made it outside and met Brian, Jess, and Ann. The ground was covered in bleeding bodies and I could still hear gunshots going off in the distance.

            "Thanks Brian. You're free to go if you want, but before you do, could you help out Victor? It sounds like he still has a few loose ends to tie."

            "Sure," he said, macho-ly walking off. Sure seems like he had fun. Some of the older kids took guns off the dead bodies and follow Brian (I was in no condition to stop them). 

            "Hey, what are you doing?" Mike asked.

            They said they were going to help. mike didn't like the idea. 

            "Mike, just let them. I'm sure they can't do any harm to us or themselves."

            So the older ones followed Brian while the younger ones just kicked and peed on the corpses (I'm sure they had it coming). When Ann saw my arm, she was shocked.

            "Ohhhh! Here, let me help you," she said pulling me down to the ground and holding out a first aid kit. 

            "Wait. What're you doing?"

            "I'm going to fix your arm."

            "You don't know anything about first aid."

            "Yes I do. How do you think I took care of my wound?"

            Her leg was covered with a bandage and she seemed to walk just fine on it.

            "Fine." I was too tired to argue.

            Mike told Jess to help him get some more stuff out of the base before it burned down, mainly gasoline. After about a half hour long gunfight, Brian, Victor, Julie, and the kids came back, apparently victorious. Victor was limping back (I guess things didn't go as smoothly as I hoped). For the most part, we were successful. Mike is better and we saved the kids.

            From here on out, Mike took charge. All of the remaining vehicles were packed with the all the supplies and people it could carry. Brian and Jess patrolled the area to make sure there were soulless and that no one was ready to ambush us. There were a few gun shots.

            Ann finished up with my arm. It felt so weird afterward. It wasn't long before we were leaving the toppled kingdom. The older kids (who I'm not sure had ever drove a car before) were driving with Mike in the lead car giving directions. I don't know what car I'm in. All I've been doing is writing and looking at this paper since I got in. I just wonder if it was really worth killing all those people to save just one life? We freed the kids, I know, but there must have been another way. A more peaceful way. We are victorious, but in the end, we are still human. We are losers. I'm done writing and I want to go to sleep. It feels like someone's touch my left arm, but there's no one near me except Ann...

- Jack's Diary

Read More