WHOLE ZOMBIE DREAM DRAFT

This whole blog is going to be dedicated to the Zombie Dream I had maybe two years ago now. I went through a huge zombie and horror phase, I guess I still am, and I am still feeling the ripples of that part of my life. When I have dreams, I remember the dream clearly right when I wake up but the dream slowly decays away as my morning grogginess wears off. I think this is the case for everyone. But when I woke from this dream, I was so amazed and blown away that I kept reciting the dream to myself. In the shower, when making my breakfast, when brushing my teeth, etc. I wanted to remember this dream. I have most of the major events memorized, but a lot of the little details have faded. I think I first told this dream to Jon and a couple of others over a fire in Jon's backyard. Then later at Dean's house during a spring break North Dakota trip. I told a shortened version at Applebees once since A-Christ wanted to hear it. During that sitting, Mitch claimed I had some facts were flipped around since the North Dakota telling. This could be true, this could be false. I like to think it is false because no one else made these claims and I know Mitch isn't a fan of the dream because he feels it isn't a real depiction of his personality or military approach. Whatever! Hopefully I will have my facts strait when I write this out because now it will be documented and solidified. I will try me best to write the story in chronological order. When I told the bare-bones version at Applebees I shuffled the order around to speed the story up cause I didn't think Jon and some other wanted to hear it for a third time. If I miss some points, I will just insert them from where I am in the story cause I don't plan to do any proof reading or editing. Its just a fucking blog of some weak ass (or tight ass) dream I had. Also, I will be saving the blog as a draft and picking up the story in between classes so I can pass the time. This may hurt the cohesiveness of the story but oh well. Suck a big one.

Ch.1
The dream starts off in my basement bedroom on a normal sunny summer day. Something makes me believe it was August (Maybe the smell and feel of summer vacation in its prime). I close the blinds in my room tighter because the rays of the sun are sneaking in between the cracks. I start the day off like any other day by hopping on the computer. Load up Internet Explorer and pops up my Yahoo Fantasy Sports homepage. Check my fantasy baseball team(I was most likely beating Dean haha) and then transition to the main yahoo page to read the headlines. The top story was about some weird killings that occurred earlier that morning some place in Wisconsin. The bloody pictures of the story grab my attention and I skip my MySpace run. I read into the story and it sounded like something out of the beginning of Dawn of Dead 2004. Strange gory deaths have been happening in Wisconsin since the early part of the morning that have sent towns there into chaos. As I am reading this my cell phone blares and I kind of jump out of my seat. At this time, I had my old Samsung Sprint phone where I had dedicated ring tones for all my friends. Dawson's hip-hop theme looped a couple of times before I got back to my room. I pick it up and the conversation starts out like any Dawson and Min talk with a "Hello?" "Whuddup dude?" and "Nothing, you?" Then Dawson tells me to turn on the news where Dawson claims helicopters were covering some explosions that happened in Wisconsin. To lazy to walk up stairs I ask him to explain whats going on to me. He puts the strange murder stories and the chaos stories together and explains that this could be the rise of Zombies in an almost excited tone. This has already crossed my mind but in a skeptical voice I play along. Dawson oblivious of my doubting that Zombies could really exist continues to elaborate on the Wisconsin situation which leads to him asking me to implement my Zombie survival plan. The request kind of punches me in the chest unexpectedly and I could only respond with an, "Uhh...okay, I'll call you back." After I get off the phone with Dawson, I had to take a moment and think to myself how stupid can this guy really be? But deep down inside, something told me to take this more seriously. I then play the whole telling people that Zombies are attacking humans scenario out in my head. I would tell everyone, they would tell their parents, we would get laughed at, later we would find out that the violence has just been a wild riot and the explosions are due to extreme summer heat or something. But I still thought this could be a very serious threat, so I found a way to avoid the embarrassment and still get the information across. I would act as if it were a joke and tell all my friends (great defensive mechanism). I would start by asking them what they had planned for the day and all of them replied nothing, which is the exact response I was looking for. I told them that we were going shopping today and getting ready for the day that Zombies attack. I told them it was something to do. On the car ride to Cub Foods I planted the seed that maybe Zombies had indeed risen in Wisconsin. Of course I presented the information in a humorous tone, and now everyones imagination started waking up and now everyone was talking. They all of course talked about it in a humorous manner. "I am going to blow the head off of a Zombie." "Dude, if a Zombie is after us, I am going to trip you." This is when Dawson interrupts their party and informs them that this is a real threat. That he saw Zombies on CNN and across the news stations. Everyone begins to doubt Dawson's words but Dawson was determined to drill it into their heads that this is the real deal. Dawson eventually becomes furious with everyones stubbornness and begins to yell at them. He says after we buy some supplies we can go back to my house and search for some information on the internet. We get to my place and Dawson manages to pull up some very convincing information about what has been going on in Wisconsin this morning. Convincing enough to make me further believe in the situation. This whole time I just stood there and let Dawson do all the work. My approach would have been half-assed and having Dawson represent the both of us made my job a lot easier. Dawson even manages to pull up a recently uploaded pixelated helicopter video that zooms in on a bloody man running across the street at above normal speeds to tackle a terrified man into an alley. The camera pans out and the angle is cut off by a buildings corner but you can still see the legs of the scared man kicking for help. The video then cuts out. Dawson spins around in the rotating desk chair and looks into a sea of pale paces. Everyone now is 99.9% convinced. They ask him if he is joking and if that video was a joke and Dawson with a strait face tells them no. Our little group was all in and now on the same page. Now it was just a problem of getting everyones parents to jump on. I brought up the fact that all of our parents will not believe us. We tried Dawson's and Jon's parents first. Went over to Jon's and found Connie and Jim sitting in the living room watching the news. Dawson and a few went downstairs so Dawson could call his parents. Jon puts on an act that nothing is wrong and playfully asks his parents what they are doing. They don't answer and continue to stare at the T.V. Jon moves in closer and cuts off their view and asks them agian. They respond this time but in an aggravated voice. By this time I caught on to what they were watching. They were watching the same footage that Dawson pulled up. The news was still sending the message that it was just a bunch of riots. Jon catches on and asks his parents what they thought and although they didn't just come out and say what we were thinking, you could hear in their voice that they thought it was something much deeper then riots. I walked downstairs to check up on Dawson and left Jon to talk to his parents. As I get downstairs I see that everyone is sitting around watching the news. Dawson is in the back still on the phone with his Mom who also has the same channel on. Jon runs downstairs and starts talking to the others. My mind is racing and the sounds around me are starting to blur out. I can only hear Jon's voice in the distance and Dawson's mumble next to me. I come back to my senses when Dawson yells my name. I don't know how much time has passed. Dawson and Jon let me know that their parents also feel that something is very wrong. I didn't really think we would get their approval and didn't really have the next step planned out, but I figured the next task was getting the approval of Mitch's and my parents and the collecting supplies. After everyone understood the situation we all met at Jon's house to plan out with type of supplies we would need. Everyone had their own list of priorities and we tried to come up with a systematic way of organizing everyones needs. The general consensus was that defense was the top priority, followed by food and making our surroundings as comfortable as we can. Defense meant guns. Lots of them. I personally didn't have any connections but the other people had a few. The only person I knew that would have the hook up was Jon's uncle Larry and Jon's friend Tony. We had Jon contact Tony and Jim contact Larry. Everything worked out and the people we called were on board. We then set out to pick up more supplies. We had a basic defense but wanted to improve and we wanted to stock up on other essentials. We loaded all of our valuables and I made sure everyone was on the same page. We then double checked everything, prayed and set out. Our journey for survival was about to begin.

Ch.2
Everyone slowly walks out of Jon's garage and into their cars. We had around 6 cars or so and 5 families to carry. We thought out strategically which cars would help us carry the most equipment, which would give us the best defense and which would be best for gas. At Jon's kitchen table before we set out, I explained my zombie survival plan and everyone agreed to it. Our first destination would be to stop at a small gun shop and "borrow" more guns and ammunition. The roads were mostly calm but there was an unusual amount of police sirens. It appeared that most of citizens didn't think the news was serious. The drive was quick and painless. We all crawl out of our cars and males gather with what weapons we had. We had a couple of handguns but we figured the shotguns would be our representatives. The plan was secure the area and then to have more people come in and snatch the supplies we would need. The store is dark, small and and quiet. I don't think there were any customers in the store. We walk around like any browsing customer would and scan the store. The cashier, who appears to be the only person working the floor, asks if we need any help. We tell him no and continue to browse giving each other silent signals about what we wanted. Eventually a couple of us walk over the the front desk and pretend to look at the items underneath the glass, but were really there to secure the cashier. A couple of the guys pull out big bags and start loading them up. The cashier starts to look around worried angling his head over the counters so he could get a better view. He begins to walk to the back room when a couple of guys hold him up. The cashier understanding he is fucked just stands there with his hands behind his head. Someone runs out and requests a couple of more people to come in and they do with big bags. The "borrowing" process is quick. We leave some cash on the table, which isn't even close to enough, and leave slowly with eyes on the cashier. We all quickly start up our engines and get back on the highway. The roads are fairly empty and we are able to stay in our defensive formation line. We expected to be chased by some cops sooner or later but nothing. You could hear distant sirens and thats when I began to think that maybe the police and other officials had bigger fish to fry. A gun store robbery was now at the bottom of their priorities. Our next stop was North Dakota to pick up Dean and his family. No one has notified Dean yet and I begin to worry that they won't be convinced by what he has seen so far. Stealing guns and leaving everything behind is a pretty big commitment. I am in the passenger seat of Dawson's Chevy Impala and I give Dean a call. We start out with a little small talk and I ask him if he has seen the news. Both of us are to embarrassed to actually express what we are feeling about the whole situation. We start off slow but Dean brings up the fact that the one of the news stations officially brought up the idea that the dead are walking. I ask him what he thinks and he says he is a little worried. After a little more small talk, I tell him what we have been up to and that we are headed North to come get him. He expresses some interest and tells me that he will call us back in a bit after he gets everything straitened out with his family. After I get off the phone with Dean I call the other cars letting them know that the news station Dean mentioned has officially brought up the idea of infected people, or walking dead. We are driving north and after I have some time to calm my mind, we did just rob a gun store, I look out Dawson's window to see that cars going south have piled up. I guess people are starting to buy into this threat. Why south? I guess that the city is providing some sort of protection plan. To populated. I'll pass. People are panicky and stupid. The car ride is quiet. My phone rings. I answer and Dean in a calm voice says that he and his family will be waiting for us. I ask him if the panic has reached North Dakota yet and he says not really and that people are out stocking up on food and supplies, but it isn't extremely out of control. I ask him if it would be possible if him and his family could go out and buy some more food and supplies they think would be necessary and he says yes. I tell him after he finishes with that, that he should stay inside his house with doors locked. I tell him that we should be there in about 3 hours or so and we hang up. 3 hours is shorter then normal, but we are speeding and I figure if cops don't care we robbed a gun store, they won't care if we are going 80 in a 55. The ride is quiet. Dawson eventually speaks up. He tries to cut the tension and tries to keep the mood light by goofing around. He says, "Isn't this just the way we planned it?" I laugh lightly and acknowledge his question. We joke around about what life might be like in 3 weeks. We keep our images bright and happy. "It shouldn't be to bad," Dawson says. We quit talking for a little while and Dawson puts a CD in. A mix. We get out of the city and passed the suburbs and now its just interstate between us and Dean's place. The line of cars heading south into the city ended about 40 minutes ago. I tell Dawson to get off on the next exit. He asks why and turns to get off. I tell him that I want to see how everyone is doing, regroup, restock and take a fucking shit. We pull into an empty parking lot of a warehouse type store. Our cars are the only cars in a giant parking lot and its creepy. Everyone gets out and asks me why we have stopped. They seem cranky. I thought I was doing them a favor. I told them what I told Dawson, that I wanted to see how everyone was doing, keep our spirits up, regroup, restock, stretch, and shit. We assign everyone with a weapon since I wanted everyone to be prepared for what might be in the store. A mixture of the young males and their fathers with heavy weapons are chosen to enter first. Then mixture of the females and older males in the rear. Our priority was to keep everyone safe, especially the women and children. The first line forms at the automatic doors. The doors don't open. Fuck, already a unexpected barrier. I tell Dawson to hold my pistol. I grab the doors and before I pry them open I tell everyone to make sure their guns are loaded and ready. Everyone checks their ammo and clicks their safeties off. Appears as though no one did this while we were at the cars and I give them a minute to check everything over. Good thing I brought it up. Dawson checks my gun for me even though it has been checked about 5 times already before we got to the doors. I appreciate his kindness. I tell Jon and Mitch that when I bust open the doors that I want them to criss cross with Jon securing the left and Mitch guarding the right. I tell them I don't want them going in any deeper. I look at Dawson and signal that I want my gun right away when I open the doors. I yell back to the Dads that after Mitch and Jon secure the entrance, that they should move in and support and that Dawson and I will walk in right after and take point. I take a deep breath dip my shoulders and pull. The doors slide open. The air inside is warm and thick and has a dry stench to it. Most of the lights are turned off so its dark. The store is big. Jon and Mitch are already in their spots and the adults move in. Dawson hands me my pistol and we weave through and get to the front. I click for Jon and Mitch to move up. There are a lot of the aisles and I want to secure every single one before we start grabbing stuff. Its quiet and as we get deeper into tho store the sun light coming through the windows becomes darker. After about the 10th aisle Jon and Mitch begin to let their guard down. They being to walk standing strait up and out of formation. I snap quietly and tell them to get lower and back in line. They do for about 2 more aisles and then get tired of it and start to talk out load. When they do I grab Mitch around the collar and I as quietly and firmly as I can grunt in his face to shut the fuck up and I glare at Jon. I didn't want them relaxing and influencing the rest of the group to let their guard down. They fall back in line but I can hear them now mumbling about how Min is a little bitch. I ignore it as long as they follow the plan. While I was cussing the two bone heads out Dawson was still advancing the team slowly. I am surprised at his discipline and leadership skills since he is known as the group Rambo. We maze through most of the store and reach the back. After everyone finishes their business, using the bathroom, stocking up, or whatever it may be, we regroup. Jon and Mitch start walking casually to towards the front and I grab Jon by his shirt and signal them back. They reluctantly assimilate. We sneak back up towards the front and when we get close I tell Dawson that I want him to lead the people out back into the parking lot. I tell him not to stop until everyone is out and safe. He nods and asks what I am going to do. I tell him I am going to let everyone pass and that I am going to guard the rear. As they begin to walk I grab Jon and signal that he should start guarding the other side of the line and to keep looking toward the back of the store for a sneak attack. Our line is longer then I originally thought. I am tempted to to turn and see how Dawson is progressing, but I stay disciplined and trust that he is doing a good job. When the back of the line passes me on my left I see a object moving in the dark. It catches my attention quick and I tap Jon on the shoulder to back me while I move in a little closer. I take a couple of steps and begin to make out it a person. The figure turns around. It is Tony picking at a door that says "employees only" on it. I tell him to get outside and that everyone is waiting for him. He tells Jon and me to hold on for just second because he is going to go in quick and snag some cash. I tell him money has no value anymore and that we should just leave. He continues to to pick at the locked door. Jon cusses at him. The door cracks open and he looks back at us and gives us "I told you so" smile. He swings the door open and takes a step in and from his left he is tackled. Jon and I both jump. Tony is now screaming and yelling and I can't make out what is exactly going on. I look out the door and see that everyone is loading up the cars and soon will be ready to go. I take a quick step towards the entrance door and stop. Jon is still standing there. I pull on him and he comes back to his senses. I yell that we need to get the fuck out of here. We run out the doors quickly and I close them behind me. Jon runs all the way to the cars and it startles everyone. I jog back with an eye on the doors. Jon is breathing hard and tries to explain what happened between his attempts to breath. I walk into the group of people with my head down. I am sweating like crazy and I feel heavy. I keep checking the door frequently, pistol ready. The group gets fed up with Jon's attempt to explain what happened and it feels like all the heads turn toward me at once. I just stare at the ground. The paint for the parking lines look new. Bright yellow. I didn't want to be the one to tell them the bad news. I felt guilty, because I felt was my fault that Tony is still in there. Is he dead? One of Tony's parents realizes that he isn't with the group and speaks up. Busted Min. Fuck. I swallow hard break it to them bluntly that Tony is dead. Everyone gasps and stumbles back. I feel lighter. Questions start to fly everywhere and it all sounds like a mess to me. I pay no attention to the questions because I can't make any sense out of the noises and I keep replaying what just happened in my head. When I catch my self drifting, I hear Jon trying to answer some of the questions. He has calmed down. After everyone calms down we regroup and replan. Tony's family decides to go off on their own and I honor their decision. We give them their belongings and some extra supplies and watch them drive off. They turn to go back south. Guess they decided on the Cities. Someone finally says that we should continue to Dean's place and we start packing up and slowly people get back into their cars. My feet feel like they are cemented into the ground and I don't feel like moving. Everyone is now back in their cars and ready to go, but I can't take my eyes off the stores doors. Shouldn't we check if he is still alive? Even though we know he is gone. Dawson comes over and grabs me by the shoulder and guides me toward the car. I take one look before I take a seat. Dawson starts up his engine and we continue north.

Ch.3
The roads are dead and the ride is quiet. The sun is orange and it keeps trying to peek over the clouds. Dawson and I don't say much. I think its hard to actually acknowledge that some one died. This wasn't part of the plan. It is hard for me to get my thoughts strait. Every time I try to plan out what needs to be done next, my mind wanders back and I try to play out what happened back at the store differently, but it always ends the same way. We are getting close to the Fargo exit and before we do I tell Dawson to pull off into the next exit so we can regroup before we get to Dean's. This time I am making sure no one is left behind. Dawson exits and the rest of the cars follow and we all park at a gas station and talk out next move over. Everyone seems okay and back to their normal selves. Maybe I am being to hard on myself. The sun is getting darker and I wanted to get to Dean's before dark but there is no way we can get there that fast. A couple of headlights can be seen coming toward us and they seem really bright since the sun is going down. They drive into the parking lot and a couple of people hop out. Cory Johnson and Andy Christenson are the first people I see. I don't say hi. Out of all the people, and all the places, they are here. I let Dawson and some of the parents do all the talking. I hop back in the car. Dawson and Cory walk up to my door and I step out. Cory pats me on my shoulder and says hi and I give him a quick look and I ask Dawson, "Whats up?" Dawson informs me that Cory's group will be joining us. I guess thats what I get for not being involved in the discussion. I give Dawson a silent "Are you serious" look and grit my teeth behind my lips. I don't say anything and hop back in the car. Andy's parents and Jon's parents are talking and the kids are off interacting. I get sick of waiting in the car and I come out. Cory, Laura and Tiffany all say hi and I only reply back to Tiffany. I remind the parents that we need to get moving and they agree. I ask Dawson in the car why he thought it would be a good idea to take Cory's group with us. He says that he thinks it would be a good idea to have more people. I tell him that you can't fuck with chemistry and that I would take quality over quantity any day. Dawson tells me that the our parents thought it would be a good idea too. Of course they do I think to myself. "Did you fill the new group in on what our plan is?" I ask Dawson, He says yes. My intuition tells me that this is not going to work out well, but I accept it. I also know that if I keep ignoring Cory's group while they are working with us, that it will hurt the whole group. So I choke back my pride and tell myself from now on I will forget the past. I call Cory and I ask him how everyone in their camp is and he says everyone is fine. I ask him if I can talk to Andy. Cory passes the phone to Andy and we just say quickly say hello and small talk for a second then he passes the phone to Tiffany. Tiffany and I babble for a little then we hang up. We get to Grand Forks, the city is still pretty calm. We get to Dean's house and he lets us in. Everyone goes off into the own little clumps and talk. I catch Dean up on what we have been doing and he tells us what he and his family has been doing. After everyone settles we go back out and carry some things from the car into Dean's house. Everyone is so casual about it and it bothers me. I don't help move things in but I stand out in Dean's drive way and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Maybe I am overreacting. We all have dinner together and it is very filling. Everyone sits around and chats after dinner. Everyone is up beat and happy. I'm forced to bring everyone back to earth because I want to plan out what we need to do tomorrow. After we get everything planed out, everyone relaxes and starts joking again. Cory brings up a bunch of beers and liquor and begins to pass it around. I ask Dean, Jon, Mitch not to partake. They follow up on my request. I didn't want a bunch of drunks trying to defend them selves. We walk downstairs to find thats where all the kids are. They ask me whats going on and I tell them everyone is upstairs getting drunk. Leah, Natalie, Katie and Tiffany are playing with David in the corner. Dick, Jon, Mitch and I sit around and just chat. Tiffany joins us later. I tell them that the plan is to leave when the sun comes up so we can maximize our time with daylight, but that I doubt it will happen with what is going on up stairs. Thats okay, Dean doesn't like the morning anyways. Cory walks downstairs and begins to make strange noises and is very disruptive. He knocks some things over and they shatter and when I look at Dean he doesn't seem to mind. I guess those were things they were planning to leave behind. Efficient, I like that. I try to guide Cory back upstairs softly but it doesn't work and I resort to pulling him up. I wanted to relax, calm my mind and talk things over with my friends. Tiffany gets up and walks toward the stairs to go up and I'm about to reach out and I take a breath to ask her to stay, but nothing comes up and I let her go. We set up our sleeping bags and get everything ready for bed. I want some people to at least get a good nights sleep. I go up stairs to see how everyone is doing and to suggest that people should try and get some rest. The Johnson's are drunk and Tiffany is looking after them, and the Franklin's are also drunk. My parents are doing fine and so are Dean's parents. I suggest sleep but my words just go through the two drunk families, but the mildly buzzed families tell me they will take care of everyone upstairs. I walk downstairs and Tiffany follows. I feel bad because now its only a group of drunk parents up stairs I they are pretty defenseless. I walk down and some of the younger kids are sleeping. I tell Dean, Jon and Mitch that we might need to keep an eye on the parents up stairs. I tell them to have their weapons ready just in case. Everyone in the basement thats not already sleeping crawls into their sleeping bags. Before I roll into mine I throw another blanket over the youngsters. We all lay there and just chat about random things. The parents are pretty noisy upstairs. Slowly people begin to fall asleep. I think Dean and Tiffany are the last ones to fall asleep. It sounds like most of the parents upstairs are starting to fall asleep too. For some reason I can't go to bed. I just roll around under my sleeping bag and stare at the ceiling. I get fed up and I roll out and I just sit there on the couch with my chin on my hands. Tiffany and Dean are sleeping next to me and they look peaceful, almost smiling in their sleep. I tip toe to the bathroom and take a piss then return to the couch. I check my pistol to see if its loaded. Fully loaded, good. I walk upstairs to see how the parents are doing and they are all snoozing. They all looked relaxed and it makes me comfortable just looking at them. Dawson and Cory are sleeping on the table with drool hanging from their mouths. I sit at the bottom of the stairs that connects the up stairs and split. I look at all the shoes in the little room. I look at the door and I keep imagining something busting through them and it makes me grip my gun tighter. I think I sit there for a couple of hours and then walk back downstairs to try my luck with some sleep. I jump into my sleeping bag and the ruckus wakes Dean and Tiffany up. They ask me what I'm doing up so late and I just tell them that I couldn't sleep and that everything is okay. I lay there, and soon I doze off.

Morning. Sunny and humid. When I open my eyes I see some of kids that went to bed first are awake and my parents and Dean's parents are packing things. I get up and nudge Jon so he wakes up. I figure Dean won't be much help in the morning, and a grumpy Mitch wouldn't do us any good. Jon and I start cleaning and packing. Most of the parents are still sleeping. Slowly everyone starts to wake up about a hour later. All the people upstairs are grumpy and hung over and they all try to wash up. I can't believe how relaxed they are and how careless they are. The plan was to leave as soon as the sun came up and we were already plenty late. I just tell everyone to hurry the fuck up. While people are washing up I pack everything and set it by the door. When everyone is ready we meet up to talk the plan over. I feel like I have to tell everyone a billion times because they aren't taking things seriously. We have to incorporate the new group. I think of a new line we are going to drive in, I tell everyone to switch contact information, I assign weapons and go over other details. Everyone looks like they understand. I start thinking to myself no wonder Tony died, he joined a group of idiots. I go back downstairs and discuss things over with Dean and Jon before we load the cars. I tell them how upset I am with everyone being so damn calm. They tell me not to worry, but it doesn't help much. I go back up stairs and tell everyone its time to roll. Before we open the door I talk to my parents and make sure they understand what is going on. I think about riding with them, but I didn't want to set a bad example. Got to follow the plan. I make sure they have their weapons and everything they need. I give them all hugs and tell them we will talk soon. I give the people at the door the signal to open the door. Before Dean, Jon and Mitch walk out I tell them to keep their eyes open. I tell them that the others are to relaxed and that we may need to step up. A couple of people grab some bags and walk out casually. Dean, Jon and Mitch walk out without any bags but station them selves so they can cover the others. I walk out with my family and I grab a bag from my Moms hand and set it into the Suburban. I watch Leah and Richard hop into the car then I head back in the house to grab some more stuff. I give Dean, Jon and Mitch a head nod on the way in letting them know I like what they are doing. As I walk in I see Tiffany trying to carry a heavy bag up the stairs so I help her. I grab it from her and carry it out to the Johnson's ride for her. I ask the Johnson's how they are doing and they joke around. I go back in to check if we have everything and it looks like we do. I tell everyone else to double check. While people are going in and out I stand with Dean, Jon and Mitch on guard. I tell them that they should go in quick and double check too. Everyone comes out, and Dean's Dad locks the door behind him. I tell everyone to make sure their guns are ready and to drive safely. Off to Canada.

Ch.4
It seems like we've been driving forever since I've never driven in this area before and Dawson and I aren't leading anymore. The roads are very empty. I see one of our cars swerving left and right and I think something is wrong but then I realize it is the car Cory is driving and I don't pay much attention to it. I just figure he is goofing off. We only make one pit stop the the whole drive, but we since we left so late it isn't a big deal. We all eat grouped together in an empty parking lot. The sun looks ready to set and we decide that we need to find a place to stay for the night. We drive a couple hours and we find an empty motel. Looks dirty and cheap but it works. The sun is gone and I don't want to drive while its dark. A couple of people start walking casually towards the office door and I catch them quickly. I tell them that no one is probably there but that we should at least enter with caution. They seem to reluctantly agree. I get the feeling I am getting on everyones nerve because I am so cautious, and I'm split on how I should approach people. I lead the group into the office door. The lights are on and everything is tidy. The door to the back office is shut and I want to secure the area before we relax. Everyone sets up near the door and I kick it in. Nothing. We grab the keys to the rooms and walk back to the cars. I tell everyone I want to check all the rooms in the small motel to make sure its safe. It shouldn't take to long. When I suggest it Cory gets upset and asks me why I am so paranoid. Some of the parents agree with him. I sink. I tell them that I would check the rooms alone and that everyone else should just sit tight in their cars. I open the back of my suburban and I strap myself with a few extra weapons. My Dad says he would come with me and I agree to it. Now everyone else gets brave and offers to come with. Jon, Mitch, Dawson, Dean, and Jim grab a few extra weapons. I stop them. I tell all the parents to look out after the kids and women and that Jon, Mitch, Dawson, Dean and I will secure the motel. We all load up and I make sure everyone is ready. We decide to secure the second floor and work our way down so we walk up the stairs and make our way to the last room. I tell everyone where I want them to be ready when the door opens and I open it. Our team criss crosses into the room. We check the bathroom and make our way to the next room. We check each room and we find nothing we should be afraid of. Each room is neatly made and all look the same. We get back to the cars and assign rooms to each family and everyone goes to set up. I'm laying on the bed by the window and I see some head lights and a car pull into the parking lot. I spring up, push the curtains aside and leer out the window. A couple of SUVs have pulled in and I see some people walk out. They look pretty normal so I slowly open our door and I walk out and I yell hi out to them cautiously. They reply so I stick my pistol out to the side to show that I am armed but that I mean no harm and walk slowly towards the guy standing out of the car. Now everyone from our crew begins to crawl out of their rooms. I shake hands with the guy and exchange names. I ask him what he is up to and he says that he is heading north but need a place to stay for the night. I tell him that there are plenty of safe rooms here. He thanks me then turns around to talk to his family still in the black Tahoe. I say hi to the rest of the family and I offer to help him unload the back. We exchange stories while unloading his truck. His family and his neighbors are also planning on going to an isolated area in Canada. From talking to him, he sounds like a very kind and smart guy. Someone I would like to have around. A couple of families from our crew come out and exchange names with the new family and their neighbors and helps them bring stuff in. The new man, who is named Jim, introduces me to the rest of his family. His wife Jill, his oldest daughter Amanda who appears to be around our age, his middle child Brandon and his youngest daughter Sarah. A very beautiful family. He then introduces me to his neighbors. Everyone from the new group seem so civilized. They all are so smart and clean. I wonder since we are all going to the same place, if our groups could merge. I don't bring it up though. It's just fun being around a new group of people. One the neighbors kids broke a leg or something running and is in a lot of pain so we do everything we can to make him feel better. It is a pretty fun evening and everyone is chatting and introducing them selves. Cory again busts out a large container full of liquor. Its pretty frustrating but I feel like my group is sick of me bossing them around so I don't say anything. I look over at the new group of people and they all decline. Now I'm just embarrassed that I am associated with these careless drunks. I ask Jim, "Not a big drinker?" and he says he used to be but thinks it would be smarter to have his head on strait with all the new dangers. I completely agree. I spend most of the night chatting with Jim's family and his friends. Very bright and energetic people. Being around these people is very therapeutic to me. I can relax a little knowing that there are people who worry about defending them selves. The party ends a little earlier tonight and everyone goes to bed. I can't fall asleep and I just roll around in my bed for a few hours. I don't understand how I'm not drained, I didn't get any sleep the night before. I get fed up and I leave the room. I'm quiet and I make sure I don't wake anyone up from my family. The air is humid and smells but there aren't any bugs so I don't complain. I walk into the office and pull out a small chair and begin walking toward the stairs to the second floor. Jon opens his door and catches me with his eyes squinted and asks me what I'm doing. I tell him to shut up because he is speaking louder then he needs to and that I couldn't fall and that I needed some fresh air. He makes a joke about the air not smelling so good and then goes back into his room. I get to the second floor and I sit in my chair. Check my pistol and then my rifle. Everything looks good. I set up rifle against the wall and I zip up my hoodie. I think I spend over a hour just staring at the stars. The sky is clear and the stars seem to be dancing. I hear a soft clank on the stairs and I jump and grab my rifle. The stairs continue to make noises and I can hear the noise elevating. I swear under my breath and I think that coming out here alone in the middle of the night is the worst idea I ever made. I see a figure and it continues to walk up the stairs. A light hits the figure and I see that it has long brown hair. I relax. When the person turns the corner I see that it is Amanda, Jim's daughter. I set my rifle back against the wall and I flash her a small smile. She leans against the railing and asks me what I'm doing out here. I tell her I couldn't fall asleep and she tells me that she couldn't fall asleep either. She says that she hasn't been able to sleep well for the past few days. I tell her that I think her Dad is really cool. She laughs and says thanks. We small talk for a while and I point out a bunch of cool stars I've been looking at. I see that she is only wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and I offer her my hoodie. She declines but I can see she really needs it and I lay it over her shoulders. She says thanks and zips it up. We talk about a bunch of things. School, life, what we are scared of, what we think life is going to be like, family, on and on. I tell her the story about Tony back in the warehouse. I tell her I've never killed anything before and I that I'm actually pretty scared to use a gun. She calls me a wuss and giggles. I ask her how she knew I was out here and she says she heard me walking up the stairs and that she waited for me to walk back down but got worried when I didn't. I tell her that she shouldn't be walking outside alone in the middle of the night. She makes fun of me for being a hypocrite. I tell her that we should probably go back down and get some sleep. I walk her to her room, she says thanks and closes the door behind her. I think about going back up to the second floor, but I opt to try and get some sleep. I crawl back into my bed and I feel like thin air. I can't fall asleep and it feels like there are bubbles in my belly. I catch myself staring at the ceiling smiling and I wipe it off my face. Slowly I fall asleep.

Ch.5
I wake up and I spring up like I just woke up from a nightmare. I look around the room quick and I catch myself and ask myself why I am freaking out. I can hear voices outside and next door. I lay back down and think about going back to sleep but I crawl out and see what the other people are doing. Some of the males are checking the cars outside with no protection and it bothers me but I don't say anything and walk into the next room where a bunch of people are chatting and have some brunch. Jon makes fun of my morning hair and I flick him off. I am trying to shake my morning grogginess off and I keep walking with a morning limp. I pretend like I'm a zombie and I attack Dick from behind. He knocks his brunch over and my Mom yells at me. Morning grogginess gone. I look around the room to see who else is eating. I see my sister and Natalie off in another corner and I see the Johnson females and the Franklin females in the other. Tiffany waves as she eats her food and I wave back. I pop a squat next to the boys and I open a bottle of water. Jon asks what time I got to bed and I just tell him late. Dawson then asks me where we are going today and I give him this "I just woke up, shut the fuck up face." I ask them where the other families are and they tell me they are in the room next door. I tell them that the Dads are checking up on the cars without and protection and that when we finish we should go out and keep an eye on them. I get up from the table and I tell them I am going to go visit the other group next door. On the way I walk over to the cars and I drop off a pistol for my Dad. I knock on the door of the other families and I walk in. They are all eating brunch in their pajamas and I ask them how they are doing. They pull up a chair and offer me something to eat but I say no thanks and I have a seat. Jim asks me how I slept and I tell him not to well with a smile on my face. I look around the table and I see Amanda staring at me with a smile and I smile back and she laughs. I ask her what and she tells me my hair is amazing. I look up like I can actually see the top of my head. Then I pat my hair and I feel it sticking up in all directions. I get up slightly embarrassed and Amanda says it looks fine and the whole table laughs. I laugh and say I need to get cleaned up any way and I leave. After I take my shower and I eat I gather everyone to discuss our next move. The Johnson's remind us that we haven't reached Canada yet and that we should keep moving. Sounds good to me. Jim from the other group interjects and asks if we could stay here for one more day. I ask him why? He says that the boy with the broken leg isn't feeling well and another day of relaxing will probably do him some good. I look around to see if anyone from my group has anything to say but all I get are blank stares that suggest I say something. I tell Jim that I think that would be fine. Its already 4 in the afternoon and it wouldn't make much sense to pack and leave so late. I think it would be nice to just sit around and relax for another day. I was also hoping that with this spare time our two groups would interact more and not avoid each other like boys and girls at a third grade lunch table. I look around to see if anyone disagreed with the idea. Cory steps out from the crowd and says that we can't waste another day just sitting around. I say in a light voice, "ah its okay. We're in no hurry." He looks at me with an angered face. He says that this is a dumb idea and that we need to be more efficient. He looks at Jim and tells him that he is sorry but that we are going and that they will have to defend them selves. Jim and I both try to say something but Cory turns to me and says "Who the fuck made you leader?" I tell him no one and I try to explain that I don't think I'm the leader but he keeps yelling in my face. I figure its better if he gets everything out and I let him yell. He finishes and storms toward his room. The air thickens and no one says anything. I break the silence and suggest that if anyone wants to go, they can go with Cory's group and if anyone wants to stay, they can stay with me and Jim's group. The rest of the Johnson's start towards their room and the Christenson's also join them. Everyone from my original group stays with me. Jim walks over to me and tells me that I don't have to do this and that I should go. I tell him that I would rather stay and not to worry about it. I look over to my group and they seem content with staying. Everyone goes off to do their own thing and I stand there and watch everyone go. I feel a hand on my shoulder, it's Amanda. She says in a weak voice, "You don't have to stay," her voice trails off. I look at her. She's looking at the ground and I smile and I tell her that I would rather help her Dad and her group out. She asks me if I'm sure and I tell her yes. I tell her the history behind me and Cory and it clears things up a little. I see the Christenson's and the Johnson's are almost done loading their car and I walk over. A bunch of them walk by me without saying anything. Natalie looks back and says bye before she hops into her car. Tiffany walks by and I wait for her to turn around and say bye but she just hops into her car. The two families start their cars and drive off. Our group watches them disappear and then goes into their rooms. I ask Jim how the boy with the broken leg is doing and he tells me he is fine. I ask Jim for the kids name and I'm kind of ashamed that I don't even know his name yet. Jim tells me the boys name is Danny. I watch everyone go into their rooms and now I'm the only one outside. The evening wind is cooler then it usually is and I sit outside and let it hit me. My Mom calls me in for some dinner so I walk into our room to get a bite. After dinner we sit around and watch some tv. The sun has set and I see some headlights outside the window and I move the curtains to get a better look but the lights shine right in my eyes and I can't make out the cars. I assume it is Cory's group coming back but when the shut the lights off I see it isn't. I open our door and look out at the silhouettes and I yell out Hi. A couple of voices yell hi back and they sound very familiar. I walk towards them and they walk towards me and the first guy I see is Jeff Blanchard from Bloomington. We both go crazy, jump up and down then hug each other. While we are yelling Ben Lee walks out and joins us and then the rest of their group. Now everyone inside heard all the yelling and they begin to pour out. Jon, Dawson and Mitch all run over and join the group hug. My Mom and Dad are pretty shocked and they say hi to the group of guys hugging then they talk to Ben's parents. Both groups shoot a bunch of questions at each other but everyones to loud and no one can make out the answers. No one can believe that our two groups would meet out in the middle of no where like this. We help them carry a few things in and then we just keep talking way to loud. I ask Ben what their plan is and he says that they really don't have one, that they are kind of going around trying to find safe places. I tell him that they are welcome to stay here with us and if they wanted to they could join us in our mission. They say they will bring it up with the rest of their group and that they will decide. After we get some serious talk done, we go back to goofing off. Later that night when everyone is settled in, Jeff and Ben tell me they talked to everyone and they decided that it would be best for their group to leave early tomorrow morning. I ask them why? Their group thinks it would be best not to stay in one spot for to long. Jon tells Ben to go back and beg for our two groups to merge but they say that its already been decided. I tell them that its to bad that we can't work together but I respect their decision. Everyone walks back inside but before I do I catch Jim digging around in his car and I walk over to say hi. When I say hi he kind of jumps then catches his breath and says hi back. I ask him how everything is and he says fine. I tell him that if Danny needs another day that I think I can talk everyone into staying another day. He turns to look at me and he asks if I'm sure and I tell him yes. He says that it would be nice but I hear in his voice that he doesn't want to trouble me. I tell him that it would be fine and not to worry and that its no trouble. He says thank you. I start walking toward my room and he says my name and I stop. He doesn't say anything for a second then he just says goodnight. I say goodnight back and walk into my room. That night I gave the bed up so someone else could sleep on it and I chose to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. I did this because I knew it would probably be another sleepless night. My assumption was true. I roll around for a few hours and I think maybe some fresh air might do me some good. I sneak out of my sleeping bag and out of the room quietly. I open the office door and I find the same chair I used last night, I grab it and make my way to the same spot on the second floor. I check my rifle and pistol. Ready like always. I take a deep breath. The air is thick and humid like it might rain soon and the stars aren't as bright tonight. I just sit back and think to my self since there aren't any stars to gaze at when I hear a clank on the stairs and I jump and I grab my rife. I catch myself and I hope that it's Amanda but I'm still careful. I see that the object doesn't look threating and I whisper Amanda's name and I squint my eyes. Amanda responds and tip toes over and hands be a bottle of water. I tell her with a smile on my face you can't scare me every night like this. She says sorry and pulls some snacks out of a bag. She asks, "Another rough night?" and I tell her yes and I thank her for the fruit snacks as she hands them to me. She thanks me for helping out her Dad and Danny and I tell her that it's not a big deal. I ask her why she isn't sleeping and she just says she is more of a night person and that someone has to keep me company. We sit and chat for a while as we feast on the snacks she brought out. She asks me stuff about Cory and Andy and I tell her more about the history honestly. She asks me if I like Tiffany and I tell her, "Ya, I guess so." She tells me it is kind of obvious and laughs. She asks me about Ben and I tell her about him but I feel bad for only talking about me and I ask her a few questions. The time seems to pass quick and I tell her that we better get some sleep and that it's probably not healthy to lack sleep like we are. She agrees and we walk down together and I walk her to her room like the previous night. She thanks me again for everything and throws a hug on me and we say goodnight. I dive back into my sleeping bag and I wish I hadn't had do many fruit snacks. Has to be unhealthy to snack that late and then go to sleep. I catch my self thinking and thinking and I slowly fall asleep.

Ch.6
I wake up and it feels really late but I can't tell since there isn't any sun and its raining outside. I had a nightmare. I get up really slow and I feel really groggy and I've got a slight headache and I'm kind of grumpy. I look around and no one is in the dark room and for some reason it scares me. I throw on a light coat and some sweatpants and I step out into the rain and speed walk to the next room. I see everyone having brunch again in the same spots minus the Christensons and the Johnsons replaced by some of the Bloomington boys. As I walk in Dawson makes a sassy comment about my morning hair that sounds a lot like Jon's comment the day before and I flick him off like I did Jon. I sit in the same chair and I open up a bottle of water. I see that everything is happening the same as it did yesterday and it kind of worries me. I leave the table early and I check the next room. Pretty much the same thing minus the hair jokes. After I get cleaned up we sit around for a little and then the time for Ben's group to leave comes. I tell him that its raining and that it might be smart to stay another night. He turns to Jeff and asks him what he thinks. Jeff says in his loud voice, "Nah, we'll be cool, nothing can touch us. You should really think about dipping out soon Min, its not safe!" I tell him, "Ya, thanks" but inside my head I think, "Thanks you fuck head. I think I can take care of myself," and I don't know why I think such angry words. They pack all their stuff and we all say our last goodbyes. Ben and I hug and I watch him jump into his car. I stay outside in the rain and I watch the cars shrink smaller and smaller until they become a part of the horizon. For some reason I knew that would be last time I would see Ben and it makes me extremely sad, but for some reason I can't cry. I hear a knock on one of the windows and I see the curtains flip and its Jon and Amanda waving me inside. I nod my head in walk in and they give me a towel to dry myself. While I'm drying my hair Jon asks, "Dude, were you crying out there you fag?" jokingly knowing that I didn't cry and that I'm just wet from the rain and it cheers me up a lot. Amanda pats me on the shoulder and gives me a "cheer up" smile and it cheers me up even more. We have a huge group dinner that night with everyone and we plan out what our next move is going to be. We all agree that tomorrow we will set out early and finish our journey to Canada. That night Jon, Mitch, Dawson, Dean and I think it would be fun if we all shared a room together so we grab a couple of sleeping bags and decide to share a room. While we are goofing off in the room we hear some cars pull into the lot. I look out the window and I think to myself this is getting annoying. I run out and introduce myself and tell the new comers that there are plenty of safe rooms here. I don't make an effort to get to know the new people but after I meet all of them I just run back into our new room. Dawson asks me what the new people are like and I just tell him they seem nice. We play our music really loud and we just goof off for most of the night. It gets late and we turn the music off so everyone else in the motel can get some sleep. We all get cleaned up and we plan to get to sleep early as well. We sit around chatting when we hear a knock on the door. Everyone looks at each other and we give each other this "you go get it look." Jon finally offers to go get it and as he penguin waddles his way to the door he mumbles something to us. He looks through the eye hole and with excitement lets us know its Amanda. He opens the door and lets her in. She says hi and she brushes the rain off of her shoulders and takes a seat. We ask her whats up and she says that she was bored and that she wanted to see what was going on in the cool guys room. Dawson and Mitch both talk over each other and they say something macho. I tell her that we should have invited her to hang out with us and that I'm sorry for being so inconsiderate. She laughs and says that its okay. I tell her that next time she should just call so we could escort her over instead of her walking alone. She tells us that her Dad watched her as she came. We all chat for a long time about random things then Amanda catches the time and says that she better get back so she can get some sleep since we need to start early tomorrow. She looks over at me and asks me if I would like to escort her back to her room and I tell her nah jokingly. As I get up I tell her that she could just sleep over in our room. She asks if I am being serious and I tell her yes. She speaks with excitement and runs over to the corner of the room to grab a sleeping bag. I ask her what she is doing? She says that she is setting up a sleeping bad kind of confused and worried and I tell her that she isn't sleeping on the floor and that she is taking my bed for the night. She says that she doesn't want to take my bed and I tell her I insist. After a couple minutes of friendly arguing I gently push her onto the bed and she gives in. I tell her that it is fine and she smiles and thanks me. We all crawl into our beds or sleeping bags and there is a second of silence then we all start talking again. I zip my sleeping bag even though I know I'm going to get way to hot in it. In the middle of the conversation Amanda says that someone else should share the bed with her since Jon and Dean are sharing one bed comfortably. No one says anything for a second then Amanda says, "Don't feel bad because I'm a girl." Mitch pops up and says, "fine I'll take it" in a reluctant tone then looks at Dawson who is closest to him then turns to me with a grin. Mitch jumps under the covers and I feel kind of bad for Amanda. Dawson says, "Don't be afraid to get frisky Mitch" and makes it kind of awkward. Dean and Jon pretend to spoon and it breaks the silence. We all chat for a little more and slowly one by one everyone falls asleep.

Ch.7
I wake up and my neck hurts because my pillow ran away from me in the middle of the night. My alarm keeps going off and I let it ring to make sure everyone wakes up. Mitch yells, "turn that shit off!" and stuffs his head under his covers. I click it off and stretch out my neck trying to relieve to pain. I see Dawson pop up cocooned in his sleeping bag and I say Dean and Jon's name to see if they're awake. They don't say anything but pretend to spoon. I step out of my sleeping and yell out get up everyone then I kick my pillow that betrayed me in the middle of the night and now is a couple of feet away from my sleeping bag. How it got that far away while I was sleeping I do not know. Jon and Dean now both get up at the same time and sit in the same position. I guess thats what all that spooning does to a couple. Mitch rolls off the bed mumbling and takes the covers with him and uncovers Amanda. She rolls up into a ball to try and keep warm and has an irritated look on her sleeping face. I walk over and I set my sleeping bag over her and she opens her eyes. I smile and tell her that we should all get ready to leave. She nods. I tell her that she has some awesome morning hair too then she ducks into the sleeping bag. I look over at Mitch and he is all rolled up in the covers in the floor and I kick him gently and I say, "get your lazy ass up fag." We meet up with all the adults who are also getting ready to leave. They tell us what they are thinking and then we go back to our rooms to pack the rest of our stuff. After everyone finishes we meet out in front of our cars and make sure everyone understands what is going to happen. After we get the plan drilled into everyones head Connie says that we should go wake up the new people that came last night and tell them its time to leave. As she begins to walk toward the rooms I tell her that they aren't part of the plan. She looks back kind of confused and I tell that we can't just bring all these random people along that we don't know. She makes the argument that our group has a good plan and that we should bring everyone along that we meet. I tell her that its not a good idea and that we should bring some people along, but not everyone. I look back at the rest of the group and new Jim seems to agree. Connie walks back and joins the group and we all wish each other luck and hop in our cars. Mitch decides to ride with Me and Dawson and hops into the back of Dawson's Impala. Dawson turns the music up and I sit back and relax. We follow Jon's Tahoe and Jon and Katie look back and wave at us. A couple of hours into the ride we turn the music down and we just chat. Dawson lets me know that we might need to get some food soon and I agree. Mitch asks me why we left those new people back at the motel behind and I tell him I don't think its a good idea to just bring any one along and that I only want smart and good people in our group that don't ruin our chemistry. I ask him did he talk to any of them and he says he talked to some of them and that they seemed like good people. I just say oh well and that we probably will meet new people soon. Mitch says, "Ya, but there was this really hot chick!" I ask him, "for real?" only semi-interested and he says yes and begins to describe her to us. Then he stops and says, "do you know who else is kind of hot? Amanda." Dawson jumps in and agrees with Mitch and I think about it and tell them I never really looked at her like that but that she is really nice and pretty. After our conversation dies off we enjoy the emptiness of the road and continue our drive. Mitch's comment sticks with me and the more I think about it the more I think how special Amanda really is. We drive for a little more and the lead car exits and everyone follows. We get out in the parking lot of a pretty big gas station and huddle to talk things over. Dawson brings up to the group that we might need to get some more food soon and everyone agrees. Everyone grabs a gun and I tell them that we need to secure the area before we all go in and grab goods and refresh. I select a group to go in and secure the inside and I select some people to stay back and stand guard. I explain to the entry group how I want this to work out and we all run up to the door. The lights are off inside and the store looks messy. I ask everyone if their ready before I open the doors and everyone nods their head. I push the door open and a huge wave of humid and rancid air hits us. A couple of us cover our mouths as we cough and it sounds like some of us choke back puke. After we recover a couple of our guys criss cross in and secure the sides of the room then the rest of our team storms in. The store is super messy and I get a really bad feeling in the pit of my belly. We maneuver through a couple of aisles and reach the cash register. I look over and I find a pool of dried blood and the sight increases my heart rate. We sneak and check the rest of the building and we reach one last room. The employees only room. I can hear a buzzing that sounds like machines from the other side of the room. I get down on one knee and put my hand on the handle and I look back to see if everyone is focused before I open the door. I take a deep breath and it feels like everyone follows and it makes me feel like we are all on the same page. I fling the door open and there is a loud crash. A bunch of things fall off and creates a lot of noise and then I see a body flip over and jump to its feet. Its neck turns way to fast and its red eyes lock onto our group and it begins to charge with rapid speed. All of a sudden the creature gets hit and blood flies from its head and chest sprays all over the wall. The creature gets launched back, hits the floor and doesn't move. I'm in shock and I don't even remember hearing any shots. Then there is a loud bang to my left and it makes me jump quickly to my right and I look up and I see that Jim Franklin has shot one more shot off the make sure that the monster is dead. I gather myself and I look over at the rest of the group and I'm greeted with white faces and wide eyes. I look over to new Jim and I see that he is very calm and that his pistol is smoking. I am the first to speak and I ask if everyone is okay and I get no response from anyone. I ask if there are anymore in here and new Jim says, "probably not but be careful." I look up at Jim and I ask him if he was the one that shot the monster and he nods his head silently. I slowly close the door shut and I whisper a "holy shit." We carefully walk out to tell the rest of our group that the gas station is secure and that we should go grab some things quickly. My Mom grabs me and asks me if I'm alright in a loud and panicky voice and I say yes confused. I ask her whats wrong and she asks me why there is all this blood on me. I wipe my forehead with my hand and I look down at my palm and I see that it is indeed smeared with blood. I see everyone is staring at me silently worried and I kind of snap out of my shocked state and I yell, "ah fuck, thats gross!" This relieves the tension and I see everyone kind of relax. Jim Franklin looks over to new Jim and says, "us Jim's need to stick together more," and they get a good chuckle out of it. The people that were waiting outside all run over to the nearest person that was involved in the entry and begin to shoot out questions. My Mom and Dad help me wipe the blood off of my face and we have a family hug. I joke around and express how pissed I am that a good shirt is all messed up. Everyone walks into the gas station and I see new Jim stationed by the employees only corner sealing it off so no one walks by that area. I walk over to him and help him. We stand there for a little while and don't say anything but then I tell him thank you. He asks, "for what?" and I tell him, "for saving my life, duhh!" He laughs and says, "hey, I was saving my life too." Everyone makes the process quick and we all walk out together to jump back into our cars. Jim and I walk back next to each other and Amanda jumps in between us and playfully throws her arms around the both of us. She asks us if we are okay and Jim says, "yes we are sweetie," and kisses her gently on the forehead. She looks over at me and I smile and tell her yes. I run over to Dawson's Impala and I hop in.

Ch.8
Dream note: Alrighty, I don't know how I'm exactly going to explain this part. In my dream there was a lot of fast forwarding moments and this part moves kind of quickly. I don't know if I mentioned this in the introduction of chapter 1, but my dream started out by fast forwarding through the first 18 years of my life or so. I watched all the events that actually happened in my life in super fast forward. From the day I was born through elementary school, through Osseo and then to where my blogs picked up from. Then again sometimes in my dream things would fast forward or skip time. So like I remember riding in Dawson's car from the previous chapter and then things moved really fast and my dream would only show major events and then the next thing I know we are set up some place in Canada which chapter 8 explains. I don't know how I can explain the fast forwarding in the blogs, but I'll try doing something. Just warning that these next few parts might get a little confusing.

So imagine these next few parts moving really fast like you just pressed fast forward on your DVD player or if your old school, your tape player. You can even imagine the scratch streaks stretching across the screen if you are in visioning a VHS, because thats how I kind of saw it.

Dream: We leave the gas station parking lot and a lot of people have settled down. The ride is quiet at first but then I ask Dawson and Mitch if they are okay and they say yes in very dry tones. Then I remember that this is actually the first time they encountered one of these monsters and I try to bring their spirits up. After I loosen them up a little, I joke around and tell them that it wasn't that bad. I say to them, "at least no one got tore up like Tony did." A very evil joke, but it serves its purpose. Dawson comes out and tells us that he froze and he was scared beyond belief. He apologizes to us and I tell him that he doesn't need to be sorry because we were all afraid and if new Jim wasn't there we all might be dead. He agrees but then says, "Ya, but I thought I was ready," and I tell him, "I thought I was too, but at least now we have more experience and we will be more ready." Mitch jumps and says some macho crap. Dawson tells me I must have been really scared with all the blood and guts that flew on me. I tell him that I was so caught up in fear that I didn't even feel or hear anything. Mitch interjects and says, "Ya dude, I was just about to pull out my gun but it got caught on my belt." Dawson gives me this disgusted face and I flash a hidden smile. I tell them that next time I promise not to react like that and that I will be ready to defend myself and everyone else. I tell Dawson and Mitch to be ready for next time as well. Dawson says, "I will for sure try," and Mitch grunts, "of course!"

(Fast Forward)

Grocery store: We are running low on supplies and need to restock. It seems like the chaos is spreading faster than we can run and now cities are beginning to look thin. We just made it in this grocery store and we are making sure the area is clear. We have checked this first couple of aisles. The size of the grocery store makes the process very frightening and painful. We have split into two groups to speed up the process. I didn't want to split into two groups fearing that it might weaken our forces and I didn't want to leave the families waiting in the car defenseless either. I keep thinking about the gas station and I tell myself that I can not freeze like I did back there. New Jim is leading group two so I don't have the luxury of him backing me. We've only checked a few more aisles and it seems like we have been in here forever. The store still has some working lights so it isn't to bad light wise but the air is off and everyone is sweating heavily. We reach the end of another aisle and look down the main aisle both ways before we cut into the next aisle. Cereal is in the next aisle. I take a second to catch my breath and wipe some sweat off my face when I see flashes of bright light and huge bangs coming from where the other group should be. I hear lots of screaming and cussing also coming from that area and I looked back at my group and they all fall out of formation and I yell at them to try and keep them composed. We are all looking back at the other area and to try and figure out what is going on. The gun fire continues. I turn around and I see a silhouette down the aisle and it is approaching us quickly. I yell watch out and everyone turns and screams. I quickly squeeze my trigger as tight as I can a couple of times. Couple of shots to the head and body. My eyes are closed and I feel like falling to my knees to cry but I remember the promise I made in the car and I stay as calm as I can. My first kill. Dawson yells out, "Holy shit!" The other team has quieted down. Mitch yells a bunch of cuss words out way to quickly for me to understands and points down the aisle. Another creature moving way to fast to be human. This one has more a waddle compared to the other one. This time I steady my aim and I fire off a couple off shots. I can almost see each individual blood bullet floating in the air and it looks like art to me. I didn't even freak out over this kill. My second kill. I realized how much just shooting the gun once steadies your emotions. I tell Dawson and Mitch to shoot the dead body once and they do. Blood spurts out of its chest with each bullet. We move quickly through the rest of the aisles and we rendezvous with the other group. I quickly ask if everyone is okay and they say yes. New Jim is soaked in blood. I ask how many monsters they encountered and Jim says maybe 8 of them. I think about what might have happened if my group came across 8 creatures. I think to myself why the fuck did we have to pick this store.

We stay at a new hotel tonight. Its really nice. During our drive to the hotel I told Jon and Dean that I want them to watch what they eat and that I want them to exercise when ever they get the chance. I tell them that this is going to be a very physically challenging journey and if we want to increase our chances of living, we are going to need every advantage. I even talk Jon into eating some veggies. We have a large group dinner tonight and its been a while since we've done this. There are a bunch of separate conversations going on. Dawson, Mitch, Dean, Jon, Dick and I talk about our latest monster encounters we have had. We are all keeping track of our kill count. Over these few weeks I've learned a bunch of new techniques. We have all grown comfortable using our weapons and we are defending ourselves much better now. It has almost become a sport to me. I can shoot a gun and kill things now without hesitation. My kill count proves this. I am currently at and have been stuck on 11 kills for a while. Jon is growing a liking for shotguns and has 6 kills. Dean: 6, Dawson: 3, Mitch: 1 and Dick: 0. I've been teaching Dick how he should shoot a gun but he is still pretty nervous. We don't bring Dick on any of the missions, but I want him to be ready anyways. Amanda walks over and has a seat. I haven't talked to her much lately and I feel really guilty about it. I think I actually kind of avoid her out of fear now ever since Mitch made that comment about her being a hottie. Now that I feel an attraction towards her I am kind of scared to be around her. She asks, "What are you guys talking about?" and Dawson and Mitch jump in with some macho comments about killing monsters. She makes this sarcastic yet kind "oh great" face. I've been feeling kind of sick lately. It's not like a illness sick, but I just feel ill like I've been stressing out. But at the same time I don't feel like I'm stressing out. Life has become so different.

This is our second day at the hotel. We've made plans to visit a store that might have more ammunition since we want to always have some in stock. We aren't low quite yet, but better safe than sorry. We have been firing weapons at a much more frequent rate and we are trying to train everyone so that takes some ammo too. My boys and I sit in a room and watch some t.v. I've kind of forgotten what t.v was. Last week we gave out selves the nickname "The Hood Killers." We all think its super lame but we call our selves it anyways for some odd reason. Amanda jumps into our room and calls us by our nickname and I blush a little because the name sounds so dumb. There aren't any shows on t.v anymore, only news. ESPN and MTV are still on the air but they basically don't have anything about sports or music. The news is telling us that this chaos is spreading fast. It makes me really sad that there might not be an end to this anytime soon. I look over and I see Mitch macking on Amanda. They are laughing a lot and it makes me happy. Dawson is dedicated to the news and Dean and Jon are kind of off on their own. I hear a voice outside. Someone is yelling for us to come down. When we get meet up with the rest of the group I see that there are a bunch of new people. Connie and Jim Franklin begin to introduce the new group and explains that these people just got here. 2 or 3 new families. I only see one person our age. He is this really tall and handsome guy. Blue eyes, blond hair, muscular, good fashion. I get these "high school star quarterback" vibes from him and just the way he walks shows his arrogance. For some reason I feel like punching him in the face, but I opt not to. I just can't stand people like that. I guess I've just become more and more violent. He walks over to us and shakes our hand and gives us all a "wuddup dudes!" He smells really good and it kind of looks like he is wearing makeup. He walks up to Amanda and gives her a hug and he is really smooth with her. I kind of want to punch him in the face again but I again choose not to.

We've made a couple of more trips out to the cities to pick up more food and supplies. It feels like we have been at this hotel forever but I think about it and we really don't have other place to go. One more family has joined us during our time here. I've been talking to "star quarter back boy" a lot more lately and I finally learned his name. Jamie, what a fucking girl name. He hasn't done anything bad to me, but he hasn't done anything good either and I just get these awful cocky vibes from him that just make me sick. During these trips out to the city I've killed a lot more monsters. I am beginning to lose count since these creatures come in waves now, but I think I am somewhere around 25. Jon is still in second place but has been stuck at 15 for a while. I can slowly feel that sickness I've been feeling so much slowly fading. It feels like with every kill, I feel better. The more violently I think and the more defensively I think, the better I feel. I am starting to feel like a professional monster killer. There used to be a lot more people walking around when we went into the cities but you don't see them much anymore. The skies always seem to look gray and the roads are becoming more and more empty with each sunset. Newspapers litter the streets with updates and headlines. One newspaper had a headline that read "Hell on Earth."

Jamie and I got into a fight today. Now that I look back at it, it is such a childish fight. We were all eating dinner and he usually sits by us when we eat and he kept joking off and he kept calling me a fag. I wasn't in the best mood and I kind of snapped some comments back at him. He snapped when I told him that I fucked his mother. He then slammed the table and challenged me to a fight. I walked right up to him and looked up since he is a lot taller than me and I dared him to do something and he pushed me so I punched him across the face. By this time everyone jumped in and broke us up. They pulled him out of the room and a couple of the guys let me cool down before they say anything. I see Amanda run out the room and go after Jamie.

This store it huge. On the way in I killed one more monster. Well, I thought I did but Dawson claims that he got it first. I told him that he could have the kill and he offers to split the kill. I say no and I just give it the count to him even though I am certain I shot it first. It was a good shot to, right in the head. There really isn't any fear left in my heart now and I think everyone else is getting used to our missions. We are also starting to develop teams. The same group of people usually work together each time. I like this because it builds chemistry. I'm almost to the point where missions are like second nature and I can almost roam around freely and feel the environment for dangers. Everyone has become better marksmen. The store is big, but it doesn't take us to long to gather supplies. We came to load up on ammo and anything else we thought would help us defend ourselves. Jon grabs a brand new shotgun and I tell him that he doesn't need another one but he claims this one is more sexy than the last. I hear a gun shot in the aisle next to mine and I jump because I really didn't think there were any monsters in here. I walk over and peek into the aisle and its Jamie. I ask him, "what the fuck are you shooting at?!" and he just says, "sorry! it was an accident."

We are planning on leaving the hotel tomorrow because I guess we found a better area on the map and there is better hotel in that area. Tonight we have a huge group dinner where we talk about what our next move is and then everyone goes off into their separate groups to goof off. I'm with the boys and we chill and trade stories and give each other tips. I start up a conversation where we talk what we are thinking and seeing when we are out there so we can increase our team chemistry. You know, so we can be inside each others minds when we are out in fights. After we let the food settle for a little, we head over the the weight room and we all get a little work out in. It seems like all we talk about now are battles and strategies. And girls too I guess. We've become these totally masculine and brainless military brutes. I am going to try and fight falling into that mold. I still want to be a human being. The guys and I have been sharing the same room for the past week. It begins to get late so we all go up to our room and check over everything for tomorrow and sit around. We're sitting around and chatting when I hear a knock at the door so I get up an get it. We don't argue about who gets the door anymore. Who ever is closest gets it. We are much more disciplined. I open it and its Amanda and I get kind of confused because she knows just to walk in. Her head is down and she sniffles and I ask her, "whats wrong?" She looks up and I see she has been crying and she asks, "Can we talk?" and I say yes and step outside and close the door behind me. Amanda says, "lets walk," in a really soft tone and I follow her. I ask her, "whats wrong?" and it takes her a second to respond, "Everything is wrong Min." I don't say anything and I just listen. She asks me, "Are you happy here?" and I just say, "I guess so." I tell her that I'm comfortable and that I feel safe here. She goes on to tell me that I'm probably right but that sometimes she feels so lonely and trapped. I tell her that if she ever feels lonely that she could come over and hang out with me and the guys. I ask her about Jamie, "What about Jamie? You guys have been spending a lot of time together, you guys like a couple yet?" She tells me that they are but that they got into a fight tonight. I try to cheer her up and I tell her that he seems like a really nice guy and that he will probably treat her right. Then I ask her why she feels so trapped. She tells me that she hasn't been outside of the hotel for a week or two and that she forgets what the world looks like. I never thought of the people who have been stuck inside the hotel. Since I get to go out on missions every once in a while I've never felt to cramped. I feel really bad for them. I tell her that being stuck must really suck and that I never thought about that since I get to see the outside once in a while. She asks me how everyone and everything looks outside and I tell her that it's okay. I ask her what her and Jamie fought about tonight and she says that its really stupid. She tells me he gets mad when she comes and hangs out with us. "That is stupid," I tell her. She starts to cry a little and I stop walking and I stand with my back against the wall. I slide down to sit and she copies. I tell her to cheer and that if she ever wants to go outside that she can ask me and I'll take her out for a little while. She thanks me and tells me Jamie wouldn't take her out. I open my mouth and I'm about to tell her that Jamie doesn't take her outside because he is a pretty little pussy, but I don't. I make a stupid joke about how the monsters don't really scare me anymore. I ask her if she remembers the night I told her I was afraid to use a gun and she tells me she does. I tell her that I'm not afraid anymore and that I look forward to my next kill. She looks up at me and with a tiny smile tells me that my words are creepy. I smile back and I tell her that I agree and I feel like I'm becoming a killing machine and that I don't like it. I stand up and she gets worried that I'm going to leave and she asks me where I'm going. I smile and I tell her I'm not going anywhere and that my leg is falling asleep. I ask her to stand up and she does. I bend over and I tell her to jump on my back so I can give her a piggyback ride. She gives me this "are you serious" face and I tell her to just do it. I tell her that I'll walk her around and that we can chat until she feels better. Later that night when I drop her off at her room, she tells me that she likes piggyback rides.

Today is the day we leave and go to our new hotel. Jon, Dean and I woke up early to get a work out in before we left. Well, Jon and I did because Dean was to sleepy to lift. It makes me a little grumpy that he doesn't lift. We pack all of our stuff and carefully bring them to the car. It takes a few trips. After everyone has packed everything into their cars we meet in the lobby to plan everything out. I watch everyone walk out the lobby. Jamie at the end of the line with his arm around Amanda looks at me and gives me a cocky smile and wink.

This hotel is a lot farther that I had thought. I am riding with my family on this trip and we are in the back of the line of cars. The car kind of turns funny and makes a noise and I ask my Dad what happened and he says it feels like we popped a tire. The other cars continue to drive off and my Dad turns to shoulder and stops the car. I tell my Dad to call one of the other cars and to let them know that we just need to change a tire and for them not to stop since we are so close to the hotel. I jump out of the car to check the back tire and I see that it is flat as a mother fucker. I kick the flat tire and I yell "FUCK" really loud. As I yell my frustrations I hear a crash behind me and I turn around to see what it was. I don't see anything but then this object jumps out from behind the tall fence and starts running at me. I calmly and quickly reach for my gun but there isn't anything there. I left it in the car. I don't panic and I yell for some help and I brace myself so I can fight the creature when it gets close. Keep its mouth away from you at all costs I tell myself. The monster is in leaping distance but when it leaves its feet and flies to wrong way. I hear a couple more bangs and blood jumps strait up into the air. The monster is on the ground and it jiggles a couple more times and I hear a few more bangs. I side step to see who shot the pistol and its Dick leaning out of the window with a smoking pistol in his hand.

When we get to the hotel we unpack quickly and we check the huge place out. This place is much nicer. I find a weight room so I run up to my room and I change so I can work out a little. Dean joins me. We got back to our room to clean up and I see Amanda and Jamie walking into the room next to ours. Amanda says hi and that she picked this room. Amanda walks into her room and Jamie follows her and gives me a wink before he does. We sit around a little and I get bored so I go lift some more weights. It seems like all I think about now is getting stronger and killing monsters and it bothers me that I've become so one dimensional. As I'm working out old Jim walks in. I haven't talked to him for a while and it is good to see him. I ask him how he has been and he replies, "well." We chat about a bunch of things other then whats going on outside but all conversations now a days are about the chaos. Jim tells me that I've turned into quite the leader and that a lot of people look to me for support. It surprises me because I thought a lot of people didn't like me bossing them around. I felt like I was the leader of my little group and that was it. I ask him how his family is doing and we get around to talking about Jamie. Jim doesn't like him either so we spend some time ripping on Jamie. Jim makes fun of his name. I tell him as long as Amanda is happy thats all that matters and he agrees.

We need to go get some more food. The cities are about two hours away so we usually bring a small group but I suggest to everyone that we have a big group this time. Some people argue that its unsafe and I totally agree but I let them know that its probably not healthy if we keep people trapped within the hotel walls. Everyone agrees to let some people come this one time. This store has its lights on there are other families walking around getting food. We talk to a few of the other families. From what I've gathered it seems like a lot of people haven't formed groups like we have and that they are rolling as single families. I talk to this one family and my intuition tells me that they would be perfect to bring along. Smart, clean, respectful, physically fit. I ask them if they would like to join us and they agree to it. Connie Franklin starts inviting all the families and in the store and I tell her not to do that. She gets upset at me and calls me a hypocrite. She asks why I can invite people and she can't. I tell her that I don't know why. Thats because I really don't know why, but for some reason I can feel what groups are good and what groups are not. I can just tell what groups would help our group and which ones would hurt our group. I tell her that we can bring the families she has invited so far but not to bring ask anymore. She agrees to it and leaves upset.

Ch.9
This new hotel is fricken amazing! It is so big and so fancy and I feel like a king. The weight room is way nicer then the last one and this place has a hot tub too! They also have a nice sized pool that I use a lot now. The other day I forced myself to swim until I puked. I managed to puke out of the pool. I just want to build my stamina up. My days basically consist of waking up, eating healthy, working out, swimming, relaxing, planning out new strategies, practicing, getting to know people, chilling with the boys, sleep, then doing it all again. A couple times there are missions and thats about all the excitement we get. I wish my friends were as dedicated as I am, but they join me once in a while so I don't mind. Dick has joined me for a couple of work outs and he practices with me. He is learning quickly and soon he is going to be better then a couple of the guys. We saw the military in the cities during one of our missions last week. Dawson and I have been watching a lot of news lately when ever its on. They don't air everyday anymore. They usually go around the country and give you updates on areas and sometimes they let people share their survival stories. Dawson and I love the survival stories segments and we always get a good laugh out of them. Once a week they release a list of dead. How they come up with this list I don't know. This week there was a group of people dead from Minnesota. For some reason, deep inside of me, it feels like they were people I knew.



I haven't done shit at all today. We went on a mission two days ago and I bruised my shoulder really bad so I've just been resting up. Jon had this really nasty head shot on one of the monsters from like 3 feet away with his shotgun and got blood and brains on all of us. He thought it was funny as hell but I was pissed. Dean managed to stab one of those bastards a couple of missions ago and I managed to sneak up on one of them. Either these cunts are getting dumber or we are getting better. I get really bored of sitting around so I ask my boys if they want to do anything. They are also in sluggish moods so I buck up and tell all of them to get up and that we are going swimming. They all kind of groan but I start to jump around the room and slapping them and this kind of brings them to their feet. By the time we leave the room everyone is up beat and slap happy. We run around and grab our siblings and anyone else that might want to jump into the pool. I knock on Jamie and Amanda's room and yell for them to join. Someone brings a stereo down to the pool so now we have music. We have this huge water fight and it is probably the funnest thing we have done in the longest time. We toss the little kids around and eventually the water fight turns into everyone vs. me and my boys. My boys and I act like monsters and the little kids run around and shoot us with water while people like Amanda keep reloading their water guns. I grab a couple of little kids and I tell them they have to be monsters with us now but that only lasts for like two minutes and then they go back to the other group. I make a plan with a couple of kids later and I tell them when the leave to pool to go grab new guns that they should push Amanda in. They come through and when Amanda gets pushed into the pool the water fight becomes everyone vs. Amanda. During one of our attacks on the kids Mitch manages to punch me on my bruised shoulder and my arm feels like its about to fall off. Then right after, he pushes a kid to hard and the kid begins to cry. After that we all play for a little more and call it a night. A bunch of the parents come down with towels and take their kids back to their rooms. All the kids thank me as they leave and it makes me feel like a hero. My group and Amanda stay back to clean everything up. I ask her why Jamie didn't come and she tells me that he doesn't like little kids. Figures. Jon and Dawson are giving Mitch a hard time for pushing the kid and I jump in and I joke about it too. Then I tell him he punched my shoulder and he denies that he did. After we get the pool area cleaned we grab our towels to leave when Amanda pushes me back into the pool, then Mitch pushes Amanda then Dean pushes Mitch. I swallowed a lot of water when I fell in. Water I pissed in, but hey, everyone does it. Dawson, Jon and Dean are on the outside of the pool laughing and the three of us in the pool try to splash water out and get them wet but they are to far. We climb out of the pool and Dawson, Jon, and Dean toss us their towels and we all make our way to our rooms. Amanda stops walking and I ask her whats wrong and she says she is to tired to walk jokingly and that she needs a piggyback ride. Mitch bends over and flashes his back and waits for her to jump on. Amanda laughs and Mitch continues to wait. I look over at Jon with a smile and I tell him, "give the girl a piggyback ride damn it." Amanda says, "Oh whatever," and jumps on my back. Dawson puts his arm around Mitch and makes a joke that I couldn't hear and Dean and Dawson bust out laughing. Mitch joins them even though it seems like he got burned pretty bad. I think we are all in such a good mood nothing can bring us down right now. We goof off on the way back to our room but when we reach the door the mood kind of sinks. Everyone pauses like they don't want the night to end and it sucks that we don't know when we will have so much fun again. Everyone says bye to Amanda and walks into our room and I wait for Amanda to get off my back. After a second I tell her that I kind of have to get into my room. She says that she is to lazy to walk back to her room and that I should drop her off. I laugh and make fun of her since we are basically standing at her door. I open the door and I walk in and I see Jamie sitting there watching t.v. He turns and looks at us and I feel Amanda jump off my back. Jamie asks us if we had fun and Amanda tells him yes quietly then she turns to me and tells me thanks then I walk out the room. I enter my room and all the guys are wrestling. I hop in the shower. I close my eyes and let the water hit my face.

My shoulder is healing really slow but I don't want to fall behind so I went to go lift some light weights today. Dick and Jon join me. Jamie walks in with his shirt off and it looks like he rubbed shit on his chest and six pack to make himself look better. I kind of laugh because its only Jon, Dick and myself in the room. Who is he really trying to impress? He says hi to us and walks over and starts to chat about a bunch of irrelevant crap. He asks us how our missions are going and I tell him they are fine. Jon asks him why he doesn't come on missions with us already knowing the answer. Jamie quickly and confidently tells us that he stays back to protect the women just in case the hotel gets attacked. I guess thats a good enough answer. I switch locations to move to a different machine and Jamie follows me. I wish he would have stayed back over there with Jon and Dick. He hovers above me as I work out and he lets me know that he and Amanda are planning a special dinner for their anniversary. I tell him congratulations and that I hope they have a good time. He asks me for some tips and maybe a present suggestion. I tell him to just make her laugh and show her a good time. I also tell him that she likes piggyback rides and long talks so he should plan to talk to her about whatever after dinner. He says thanks and asks for a present suggestion again. I stop lifting and I have to think about it quickly. She really isn't into material goods and never talks about things she likes. She doesn't really even wear jewelry. I tell him that I'll think about it and next time I go out into the city that I'll get him something. He says thanks and leaves. As I lift I think about it and finally think of a present. Fruit Snacks.

Dick came on a mission with us today and it was very stressful. I felt like I had to watch myself and Dick, but the experience was something Dick needed to feel. Plus I knew Jon and Dean would look out after him to. We didn't run into many monsters but we still got some action. I managed to find a big box of fruit snacks and everyone questioned me about it. I tell them not to worry about it in a friendly pissed off voice. I also got a teddy bear and this pretty necklace. On the way home Dawson made a bunch of stops so we could shoot at random monsters. I told him not to joke around but everyone in the car was having such a good time he kept goofing off. When we got home I gave the goods to Jamie. He thanks me and slips me some money. I look at him wondering if the money is a joke, but I see that he is serious about it. I make a strait face and I tell him thanks. After he closes the door, I toss the money over my shoulder.

Dawson and I watched the news and they are saying that the military has captured one of these creatures and that they plan to do some medical tests on it to study it. I kind of wonder why they haven't already done something like this. The news ends with some survival stories. This one guy said he fought off a whole group of creatures with a hammer. Dawson and I laughed hard as hell when we heard that because the guy was this pretty boy like Jamie and we could just tell he was feeding us shit. After the news I go lift some weights with Dawson. Its late and the hallways are dark but just the feeling that someone is next to you is so comforting. We flick the bright florescent lights of the weight room on and begin to work out. I hear the door open and I quickly look over to see who it is and its Amanda with some water and fruit snacks. She walks over to Dawson and gives him some water first then walks over to me. I thank her for the water and I ask her what she is all dressed up for. "Jamie and I had a special dinner tonight." I forgot that the dinner was tonight so I didn't have to act surprised. "How was it?" I ask her. She tells me that the food was good and that he got her a necklace and a cute little teddy bear and her favorite fruit snacks then offers me some. I tell her no thanks and that I'm glad she had fun. Dawson walks over to a machine closer to me and asks Amanda about the fruit snacks. "Where did you get those?" he asks kind of laughing and looking at me and she replies "Jamie gave them to me." Dawson laughs and is about to correct her but I give him a face that he catches and he just says sweet. Amanda catches the eye contact Dawson and I made and looks over at me quickly and I act like I'm working out. Dawson asks her, "what else did you get and what else did you guys do?" and she gives him the short catalogue of presents and tells us that after dinner they called it a night. I pop up from my machine and I say, "called it a night, that sounds good right now," and I walk toward the door. I thought Dawson would follow but he doesn't so I look back and tell the two goodnight and walk out. After I leave the room I keep thinking Dawson is going to follow but he doesn't and when I look back I see the two having a serious chat.


A lot of people died today. We were on this mission to get some stuff and the biggest wave of monsters came out of now where from a bunch of angles and surrounded us. We aren't sure how many people we lost today yet but I'm thinking at least 20. I feel bad because I didn't know most of the people that died all that well. I knew one of the Dads that died who was new Jim's neighbor and I knew Jamie. We just got back and there are a lot of people running around and crying and I need to clean up and I don't know how I'm going to tell Amanda about Jamie and I'm looking for my family. Jon, Dean and I are at the last group to enter and we drop a bunch of bags off quick. My family has to be around here somewhere but its hard to see around all these people running around looking for their loved ones. I'm relieved we didn't decide to take Dick with us on this trip and I'm glad my Dad doesn't have to go out on Missions any more either. I'm glad most of our parents don't have to go on any more missions. Only Dawson's Dad, Brad, came with us and I guess new Jim too but I know he can take of him self. I'm really glad Jon, Dean, Dawson and Mitch came because we really saved the day. We saw Brad Dawson fall over and if it wasn't Dean we would have lost a close member. Jon, Dean and I really really clicked today and we were able to buy a lot of time for people to get out, it could have been a lot worse. I finally catch my family in the crowd and I break off from Dean and Jon and run over. My Mom is crying and I want to hug everyone but I'm covered in dry blood so I just stand there. I tell them that I'm fine and I need to finish bringing stuff and that I need to get cleaned up. I turn around to go grab some more bags and I see Jon with his family and Dean with his and I see Amanda running to Jim. As I'm moving the bags around I keep thinking about who we might have lost. A lot of families from the grocery store that Connie invited were lost. People who I could just feel might get in the way. And they did get in the way, but I feel horrible that I couldn't protect them. Jon and Dean run over and help me with the bags and we snake out way through all the crying people. I feel a hand grab my sleeve and tug and when I look its new Jim. "Thanks for saving me today," he says with Amanda in his other arm. I didn't even know I did anything so I tell him that it probably wasn't me. Then he tells me I killed a monster that was about to jump on him. I had no idea because I just shot anything that threatened us. We totally lost track of our kill count today, but after what happened, its irrelevant. Amanda looks over and asks me if I'm okay and I tell her yes. Then she asks, "Didn't Jamie go with you guys?" I look up and Jim then back at Amanda and I pull her aside. We walk to a more quiet area and I get the feeling she already knows whats coming but it is still hard to tell her what happened. I stand there and I mumble a couple of things and I don't know how to start but eventually I just come out and say it. She doesn't seem as shocked as I thought she would be but she still falls to the ground. I bend over and I tell her sorry that I couldn't protect him. We sit there and I let her cry on my shoulder for a little and we chat for a while. I remember I still need to move some bags and I tell her that I need to go help out. She asks me not to go and I ask her if she wants to come with. She stands up and asks if I'll give her a piggyback and I tell her I'm to dirty right now. I feel guilty for denying her and I toss off my coat and I signal for her to hop on. I walk back to where the bags should be and I don't find anything and I assume Dean and Jon moved them. Most of the families have returned to their rooms to mourn but there are still a couple of people walking around. I just walk around with Amanda on my back and we chat for a while. We get to our rooms and I tell her that she doesn't have to spend the night alone and that she should hang out with us. She hops off and agrees to it and invites me in her room while she just gets some things. I'm about to sit on the couch but I remember how filthy I am so I stand. We chat while she packs a few things and she suggests that we should have another fun night with all the kids so they can escape for a little while. I smile and I tell her that its a great idea. She finishes packing and we are about to walk out the door when she says my name and we stop. I look over at her and she thanks me for the fruit snacks and necklace and teddy bear. I give her my best confused act and she makes a frustrated face and then smiles and tells me that she knows. I give in and ask her how she knew and I'm kind of disappointed in my acting skills. She informs me that Dawson told her and it makes me half upset at Dawson and half proud of him. Upset because now I feel like I cheated Jamie and I feel worse because he is dead. Proud because thats what good friends do. I tell her that I just got the presents but that it was Jamie's idea and she gives me this "oh c'mon" face. I feel a hug coming on but dodge it by saying lets go and slip out the door.

Ch.10
Its brutal out in the cities now and it feels like we lose people on every mission now. I slipped and fell on my shoulder again the other day and I don't think its ever going to heal. Although we are losing a lot of people, I have been recruiting a lot of new families too. Families I feel will benefit our group. All the families I've brought in have young males that we can use in our missions and I feel like I'm using them but I tell myself its better for the both of us. Other people have stopped inviting families because I think they are beginning to understand and appreciate my judgment. It seems like all the families that have been killed are families I didn't invite. I think Connie now understands why I asked her to stop inviting people. I can kind of sense things with my intuition. I've been trying to interact more with families I don't know so I can build stronger relationships with all of them, but I've been bringing a lot of people in lately and its been tough. The other day when we went into town, there was this military camp that was giving out food. Looks like the military is finally ready to help out a little. Dawson and I watched the news tonight and they said the medical tests are going well and that they should be able to release some info soon. I tell Dawson to grab me every time he watches the news so I can watch it with him because I don't want to miss out on this important info. The survival segment tonight was funny like usual.


The new people I brought in have really been clicking. All the parents have been really kind to each other and they all look out after each other. The kids enjoy playing together and keep each other busy. Most importantly all the guys that have volunteered to go on missions have really been clicking. Everyone is very disciplined and our missions are in and out and we are losing less people. Actually, our last mission had zero deaths. Dick has come with us on a couple of missions and he has been very helpful. He asks to go out on more with me and the guys but I tell him that we need people protecting the hotel. Just an excuse to keep him here. Non of our Dads go on missions any more either and thats a good feeling. Slowly I've kind of been elected to be the leader of everyone here. It makes me feel good that people trust me now but I think it might be to much pressure to watch over 130 people or so. Slowly with new Jim's help I've been learning how to organize things. People are really good at not treating me like a leader figure and are not putting to much pressure on me. I don't see my family much any more. I actually don't see anyone much anymore. When ever I do have some spare time I dedicate it all to my family. The people I see most are Jon, Dean and new Jim and sometimes Mitch and Dawson. I check up on the mission groups a lot too. I spend most of my days now working out, collecting info, training people and meeting with missions groups, seeing how people are doing, crunching numbers with Dean (supplies and things), talking things over with Dean and Jon, then maybe spending some time with my family when I got time to spare. The days pass way to quickly. And my shoulder is still fucked up. I came up with this idea to group our little military into classes. I group people depending a lot of things like discipline, physical ability, weapon use, etc. Again I use my intuition to place people into their groups and the people have been really understanding. I clump people into 5 levels, 1 through 5. Level 1 being the highest ability level and the group that gets the toughest missions and level 5 people the lowest group. A team consists of 4 people and I randomly formed teams but I moved some names around because I wanted the groups to have good chemistry. Right now there is only two level 1 teams. Jon, Dean and I make up one team and the other level 1 group is lead by a guy named Tom and has 3 of his buddies. Tom has been with us for a little while but when ever we went out on missions he has definitely shown his ability. He is very quick and disciplined and sometimes I think he should lead everyone so I can go back to my normal life but he tells me he couldn't handle it. Our groups have a really good relationship and Tom and I look after each other often. His group worked with my group a couple of times but after this grouping system was created I don't deploy our teams together. Waste of resources. A lot of people ask me why my team only has 3 people and not 4 and I still don't have a good answer why. Sometimes I tell people that I'm saving that spot for rising star and sometimes I use Dicks name. Dick has been put into a level 4 team with 3 other people that I don't know but he gets along with them well. Dawson and Mitch some how got placed in the same team in level 3. Mitch keeps telling me that he and Dawson don't have good chemistry and that my judgment is wrong about this one. Mitch gives me a lot of shit for placing him into a level 3 team and often asks for a promotion but usually I'm able to dodge him with Jon and Dawson's help. Level 5 is our biggest group but mostly consists of our fathers and they don't get deployed but they are asked to defend our home when we are out.

I had this dream the other night and it felt so real. It was a dream about us in the future and we had built our own place in an isolated area with a very strong defense. I brought it up with everyone and they all seemed interested and someone asked me if I thought it might be a good idea to try something like that. I kind of think that its to radical of an idea and that it might be to risky, but I told everyone that we can all think about it and that we should ask more people about it. Dawson and Mitch have been hanging out with these girls a lot lately and when we have a special "The Hood Killers" dinner we asked them about the ladies. Sounds like Dawson and Mitch found them selves some girlfriends. I ask Dawson where he met this special lady and he says, "in this fucking hotel, duh." I was going to ask Mitch the same question but after Dawson's response I felt that my question was unnecessary. Jon tells us that there is this really hot chick but that he hasn't been able to talk to her yet. Dawson and Mitch ask more about Jon's crush and after they figure out who Jon is talking about they tell Jon that they will hook them up. They table turns to Dean and Mitch asks him if he has a love interest and he informs us that he doesn't. Dean busts out a couple of 40 Year Old Virgin jokes then Mitch asks me if I found anyone yet. I laugh and I tell him, "are you kidding? I'm to fucking busy dude." Dawson comes in and goes, "Ya! He is a big shot now, he doesn't have time!" Mitch then asks me about Amanda and I tell him I haven't talked to her in a couple of weeks. I correct myself and I tell him that I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks then I ask him how she is. "Ya, she is still hot and very lonely," then Mitch nudges elbows with Dawson since he isn't sitting next to me. "But seriously, you should have made a move after Jamie got killed," Mitch states. I tell him that it wouldn't have worked out and I tell him that if things don't work out with his girlfriend now that he should hook up with Amanda. Mitch quickly snaps and tells me not to jinx things.



Things have slowed down a lot and I have a lot more spare time on my hands but I don't use it very wisely. Just more working out and planning stuff. Sometimes we get really bored so the two level 1 groups go out to areas where people might be and help them out. The news gives us some really good spots where people might be trapped. Sometimes I find some good people and I bring them back with us but we mostly go out to kill some creatures and to entertain ourselves. We don't do this often and it really is a very unnecessary risk. And I feel like I'm setting a bad example and my Mom really hates it. This one time Jon shot the legs off of one with his new shotgun and and smashed its head in with the end of his gun then got mad at him self for getting blood on his shotgun. Dean once killed like 10 of them at once with a well placed grenade. I don't really have any cool stories. I'm all business and I just go for the head and then I set my sights on the next one. Tom fights the same way I do and his guys are probably more disciplined then my guys. Jon finally hooked up with that really cute blond girl he told us about and it wasn't because of Mitch and Dawson. I told her that I needed to meet with her to talk some things over but basically I tricked her to run into Jon. I try not to abuse my power but I figure just this once for Jon. After being around her a couple of times I kind of don't like her. She seems very high maintenance and she is kind of a bitch but as long as Jon is into her I won't say anything. It just seems like she is into Jon because he is a level 1 fighter and she likes the fame but she show flashes of kindness once in a while. Mitch broke up with his girl friend the other day but he isn't taking it to rough. They had a rocky relationship so it was about time the ended it. Dawson is still with his girl friend and they seem to really like each other. I think Dean is hiding it but it seems like he has been talking to someone himself.

Jim calls me over to talk about something so I rush over to his room. As I'm about to walk in Amanda walks out but we don't say hi to each other. I ask Jim what he wanted to talk about he asks me what I thought about that dream I had. I tell him that it was just a dream but that it felt very real. Jim informs me that he has been talking to a bunch of people and that people like the idea and that maybe we should think about doing something like it. I tell him that I think its to risky and that something like that would take a lot of resources and time. He agrees but tells me that life is always going to be dangerous now and that we have plenty of time. He brings up the point that if building this place means that we have a safe place for the future that we should do it. I think about it and I tell him that he is probably right and that we should talk it over with everyone else. He jumps back in and tells me that he has been talking about it a lot with people and that everyone feels like its a good investment. I tell him that I'm glad everyone agrees but that we don't have the materials and the skills to build something like that. He must have planned this thing out pretty well because he then lets me know that some of the people I brought in have very handy skills. We have some technicians and we even have an architecture. I tell him that if everyone agrees to it, we should try it. He thanks me and I thank him and then I walk out. On my way out I cross paths with Amanda again and I open my mouth to say hi but she sneaks inside her room to fast and I hear the door slam. I walk over to Tom's room first since it is closest and I talk things over with him and he tells me that I'm the leader and what ever I choose he will follow. I get kind of embarrassed when ever people say that kind of stuff to me and I tell him not to talk like that. I tell him we should act like friends and for him not to treat me like a military superior. He agrees to it and relaxes a little. He cracks open a beer and offers me one but I decline. I tell him that he should try to cut alcohol from his diet. I don't even support my request and he agrees to it. I tell him I'll get back to him when I know more. I walk over to Jon's room next. I walk in and I find him and Krista watching a movie and I tell him I'll come back later. He waves me in and tells me that they are barely watching the movie and that we should talk now. I have a seat and I present my idea and he tells me that it would be cool. Krista really likes the idea and asks me if she can design her and Jon's room and I tell her of course. I walk next door to Dean's room to talk things over and he tells me he likes the idea.

We have a huge meeting about the plan and it sounds like we are going to try it out as soon as we can. Jim pulls out a map and points out a couple of suitable spots. We all vote on a spot that is off on its own but not to far from the cities so we can drive in a get stuff when we need to. The plan is to start collecting things we need to build the place as soon as tomorrow and after we get everything we start. We also found a temporary place to stay for the builders that is be closer to the site. I hate the idea that we will have 3 locations to defend but this is just the way its got to be. We have enough people to defend all 3 sports now so I think it'll be okay. I meet with the architecture and the other people who are actually going to put this thing together and we plan everything out. They had a bunch of great ideas that would give us the strongest defense and the most comfort. I tell them not to be shy and that if they need anything, to just tell me.

Ch.11
Dawson and I watched the new tonight and it was fairly entertaining. They had this survival tip segment which was pretty funny. The best tip they had was to shoot the creatures in the head because that kills them to quickest. Duh! That kills anything the quickest. They also released some info from the medical tests. They say that the bites are changing humans into the creatures. Most of the people in our group never had the chance to transform. When they died they got ripped apart. They also informed us that these things can actually starve to death. They say these things can last up to 2 months without any food and just a single drop of human blood is enough to buy them another two months. Something medical mumbo jumbo about their cells being able to spread nutrients evenly through out their whole body. They also had some footage from Russia and news that their infected are slightly different from ours. They looked different. Almost bigger and more aggressive. They say that the U.N is estimating that a quarter of the Earths population is gone. So all we have to do is wait this damn thing out? How long can we hold our breaths underwater?


The temporary housing where our builders are going to stay is about a hour and a half away from our hotel. This is our first time here and we brought a bunch of teams to secure the area. Tom is to lead a squad and I will organize another. The area is kind of off on its own but there is a town near by and we don't want to take any chances. Its kind of like a Cabin setting and there a bunch of little houses in the middle of a little forest. I watch Tom enter one side of the building and I work my way around to the other side. I hear a bunch of shots going off inside and the bangs echo between the trees. The noise attracts some monsters roaming around and I can see some running over to where we are. I yell for a couple of teams to defend the people in the cars and my team runs over to help them. They are coming from all sides of the forest and I radio to Tom that we might need back up but he doesn't respond and I hear more shots inside the houses. We do a good job fighting off the roamers. Jon is hovering around the cars and if any of the roamers manage to filter through our perimeter Jon annihilates them with one swift shot. I'm running around every where trying to help who ever I can and trying to direct who ever I can. Each creature drops so easily with a simple clean shot to the middle of their face. Everything is slow and their deaths are so elegant. A panicky level 3 fighter runs into me and knocks me over right as I'm about to shoot a roamer. I look around for my gun but when I see it the roamer is closing in on me to quickly and I get ready to fight it when a car storms in a hits the creature. Dawson sticks his head out of the Jeep and asks if I'm alright and I tell him yea and the tosses me another rifle. I pick the panicky guy up by his shoulders and I toss him into Dawson's jeep. Dawson is holding the roamers off with a pistol and Mitch is in the back with a rifle spraying at the trees and when I knock on the Jeeps hood Dawson takes off. Tom runs out after a while and helps us finish off the roamers. After we secure the area and get everything cleaned up we let the builders move in. I let the builders know that we will always have a bunch of teams on patrol inside and outside and that they have nothing to worry about hoping my words will calm them.

We're at this huge warehouse where we need to pick a bunch of crap up for our building. I don't even know what the things look like so I'm just here to defend. It is going to be tough because some of the things are big and heavy and we need to carry them out but we have everything planned out and it should work out fine. We have a bunch of teams with us again. We all line up at the huge warehouse doors and I give everyone a second to gather themselves. I look back and Tom gives me a nod so I crack the door open and right away people start to pour in. We sneak quietly and we grab a bunch of little things first. We find the heavy equipment and the team that was assigned to carry it moves in. We all make our way back to the front door when something gets knocked over. It sounds like a long pipe and it hits the cement floor and chaos breaks out. We form a perimeter around the carrying team and shoot down anything that gets close. We move at the carrying teams pace but they are moving as fast as they can so no problem. There aren't as many creatures compared to the temporary housing location but we are still careful. We get out the door and the cars all drive up and we quickly load them and drive off.


We are at the temporary house talking some things over and we plan to go visit the site where we are going to build our dream fort. We talk to long and it gets late but we have to search and secure the site tonight because we plan on starting tomorrow. We take more people then we originally planed because we will be traveling at night. No one has ever fought during night because I never deploy people when the sun is down. We all double check our equipment since we need to be more careful this time around. We don't have enough flash lights for everyone but it should be okay. We are also bringing more cars then we planed so we can use the headlights to our advantage. We all hop in our assigned vehicles and take off. The trip seems like its forever. We get there and the place is super creepy. The moon is bright and everything has a light blue glow to it and it kind of looks like there are patches of fog. There are to many trees in the way so we have to walk down to the location. We form our teams and we make our way down the first hill. There are a bunch of people and it looks like we are a search and rescue team. It takes us about 15 minutes to get to the site and it takes us longer since we were super careful. The site is perfect for our building. After a couple minutes of care examination and debating we group up to walk back up the hill. As we are getting into formation we hear a bunch of car horns going off like someone had triggered our car alarms. Everyone remains calm but we all take a defensive position. There is a lot of noise and it sounds like things are moving around in the trees but it could just be the wind. I hear a loud "FUCK!" behind me and a bunch of shots go off. I command everyone to start making their way up the hill as quickly and defensively as they can. We take a couple of steps up the hill when a wave of monsters with their glowing red eyes rush toward us down the hill. It hits me that they are the ones that set off the car alarms. Everyone begins to shoot and I start running around looking for any soft spots in our defense I can help out with. We clear the first wave of monsters coming down the hill and we begin to make some more progress but the hill is harder to go up and a lot of us are slipping. I try to stay back as long as I can and help the people at the bottom. The hill is making it hard for our group to stick together. Some people are progressing faster than others so there are a bunch of thin patches of people on different levels of the hill. I start back peddling up the hill trying to help the people at the bottom when a body rolling down hits me and takes me down with it. My bad shoulder hits a tree but it clings and stops my fall. Tom sees me and runs over to my aid and helps me up. I see Jon and Dean running up the hill on my right and I yell for them and they see me and Tom but I wave for them to keep running up. They stall for as long as they can shooting monsters at the bottom and the small waves coming from the top. Jon and Dean then step to run up the hill when a patch of the hill gives out and they stumble down past me and Tom. Tom and I run over and pick them up. I see the architecture about 20 feet away from me down the hill and I sprint over to grab him. He is in shock and can barely move so I start pushing him up the hill. I tell Tom to take him up to the cars but Tom refuses and tells me that he wants to help down here. I hand him over to Jon and Dean and I tell them to protect him and take him to the cars and they take off. Tom sees a member from his team and he hops down the hill to help him. I stand above Tom and his friend and I give them cover fire. Tom helps his friend up and we turn sprint up the hill when I hear my name from below. Its Jim and his leg is stuck in some mud or between logs or something and I rush down to help him. I run to fast and I trip and I'm sliding head first down the hill. Jim grabs me and slows down my momentum and I stop a few feet down the hill from him. I start tossing a bunch of things off his leg and he manages to pull his leg out. I hear Tom yelling for us to hurry so I push Jim up the hill and I take a look back to see if any more people are down at the bottom. I see a bunch of bodies mostly dead monsters. While I'm scanning I see the biggest wave of monsters emerge from the trees and now we all run as fast as we can. I stay behind Jim to catch him when he looses his footing. Tom and his friend are to fast for Jim to keep up with so they stop once in a while and give Jim and me cover fire when they can. Jim looses his footing really bad and I catch him but his other foot comes back and kicks me in my chest and it sends back flying back. I roll down the hill for a while but a tree stops me and knocks the wind out of me. I try to collect my self but I can't stand with the air knocked out and I start crawling up the hill. I see Tom's friend grab Jim and make their way up and I see Tom sprinting towards me. I try to wave him off but my strength is so low and can barely wave my arms. I feel like puking and I am to scared to look back and see how close the wave from hell is. Tom skids down and stops in front of me and is shooting whatever he can and when he finds a second he helps me up. I yell for him to just go but he refuses and tosses my arm around his shoulder. He is trying his best to walk up the hill while carrying me while shooting at the wave of monsters. I look up the hill and I see a bunch of lights moving down. My vision must have been knocked loose a little to because they look kind of blurry. I hear Jon and Mitch yelling and then I make out the other three running with them are Dick, Dean and Dawson. Tom sets me down to hold off the wave and waits for the others to get down. The others skid down and begin to fire and now I've gotten some strength back and I stand and join them. I tell everyone that I'm okay to run even though I don't know if I can keep up with them and we start moving up. I am more banged up then I had thought and it is hard for me to keep up. I slip but I manage to land my knees and Tom runs down to help me but can't stop in time and slips past me and stops a few feet in front of a small patch of creatures. He fights most of them off but one manages to jump on and I see him using the end of his rifle to bash the monsters head. I slide down to help him and everyone else turns around and gives us cover. I pick him up and we run catch up to the others and when we get to the top of the hill the cars are running and ready to go. We hop jump in and we drive off as fast as we can back to the hotel.

We get back to the hotel and everyone is waiting for us to arrive. Its always the same scene when we lose a battle. Families run to each other and hug the survivors and when families are informed their loved one didn't make it they collapse. I find my family in the same spot where they always wait for me in the back. I tell them what happened and that Tom saved my life. After I go back to help Dean, Jon and Tom's team clean stuff up and then I run up to our room to take a shower. After I finish showering I sit and I tend to my wounds when I hear a knock on the door. I yell for the person to come in and Tom walks in. I smile and I tell him thanks over and over and that I would never had made it out with out him. He doesn't smile or anything and it worries me. He takes a seat and stares at the ground before he says anything. Then he lets me know that he was bit and shows me the wound. My whole soul drops and I try to think of something that will cure him. I feel my insides crying but outside I just wait for Tom to think of something that will save his life. He then says that someone needs to kill him before he transforms and I tell him that there has to be a different way even though I know he is right. I feel like shit because I know if it wasn't for me he wouldn't have gotten bit. Tom tells me that he wants me to "cure" him and I tell him that I couldn't do something like that. We both walk out to let some of the others know and Tom finally talks someone into doing it. We all say our last goodbyes and I watch Tom walk off. I feel like I owe him everything and I owe his family everything. I promise myself not to waste another day and that I will live both our lives out and that one day our loved ones will find peace because of the work he put in. That I will not waste any time with trying to make me happy until everyone else is safe and happy. I stare and watch him walk off until he turns the corner and I can't see him anymore. I walk back to my room and I sit there for the rest of the night and I do nothing.


The dream house is coming along nicely. The workers are putting in a lot of work and I really appreciate their dedication. I come out a lot and watch people build and help them when ever I can or else I sit around and patrol. Jon and Dean came out today and they are cracking a lot of jokes but ever since Tom died it has been hard to laugh. I don't sleep or eat much. I wake up and go strait to work and I work until I sleep. I only eat and sleep enough to get by. I'm pretty isolated and the only people I talk to are the builders and Jon and Dean, sometimes Dick. When ever I need to share a message I usually ask Jon to tell everyone because it is difficult for me to talk to people now. Jon and Dean seem to be slightly worried about my health but I tell them I am okay. A bunch of news vans pull up and I wonder how the hell they found out about this place. Reporters run around and ask for a representative and people direct them toward me and I tell them I don't have time and that Jon and Dawson will answer their questions. Dawson does a good job bull shitting his way through the interviews and busts out a bunch of quotes people used when we watched the news. Still a couple of reporters try to get me to say something and I answer a couple of questions honestly to get rid of them. When we get home I hop in the shower and then I as soon as I jump into my bed I fall asleep and I dream that all this is over. I see myself in my backyard playing in the bright green grass with my kids while we wait for Dean and Jon to come over with their families.

Ch.12
We are really close to finishing the new house and everyone is getting pretty excited to see it. I am planning out how we are going to get everyone to the site. I have this idea where we clear out a path on the other side of the big hill where people can walk. The walk will be a little bit longer but at least the terrain won't be so harsh. If we go through with this plan we need to practice and make sure no one messes up. One slip could mean disaster. We were on one of the news stations today. It was a Dawson interview and we all found his answers to be very funny since he gave these really political, scientific and bull shit professional answers. I found it funny but I wasn't able to physically laugh for some odd reason. I go and work out later and after we have a "Hood Killers" dinner but we also invite Tom's old team. They have made a new level 2 team and didn't want to be level 1 to show respect for Tom. Everyone is joking and the happy atmosphere makes me feel lighter but I just sit back and watch everyone goof around. I cut all the noise in the room off and I just look at everyone at the dinner table. Everyone has grown up so much but they still look and act young. Dick is maybe 6 feet tall and he looks like he could kick my ass now. Maybe he has been working out more then me. Maybe its time to take him out on more missions, he probably is ready. Jon is still Jon but has matured a lot and has kind of grown into a leadership role. Jon has been going out with the cute little blonde from way back for a long time. I wonder if things are getting serious between the two. I wonder if she is still a gold digging bitch or of she actually likes Jon now. Dean is still smaller then the rest of us but he is damn quick when out in action. He actually found him self a nice little girl friend. A small little Chinese girl who is super out going and nice. They almost seems like the opposite of Dean but they seem very happy together. She even manages to lift my spirits when ever I get the chance to talk to her. She almost managed to make me laugh the other day. Jon and Dean are always hanging out together just like when we left our old home in Plymouth and Grand Forks. Deans girl and I like to make fun of Jon and Dawson's girl since they are kind of shady. Dawson and Mitch get along a lot better and they have grown close to their new team members. Dawson is still going out with the same chick as well. She has put on a lot of weight but Dawson still brags about how beautiful she is and I guess I don't really know her that well so I can't judge. I don't watch the news with Dawson much anymore since I am in my room planning things out or at the build site. Mitch is still Mitch. He doesn't have anyone new in his life but he seems to be happy. I've been with these guys forever and they seem to be happy during such a tough time in the history of man. Thats good. After dinner I walk up to my room and I go to sleep.


I brought Dick on a couple of more missions and I also take him along to patrol the site with me. He very effective but I still don't like putting him out where there are a lot of creatures. He has quickly been promoted to a level 2 team. I send him on a few missions with his new team alone but I try not to do it to much. I've given Dawson and Mitch's team a job to protect Dick's group. When ever Dick's team goes on missions, Dawson and Mitch's team goes with them. Mitch hates it and thinks I am forcing him to babysit Dick. Dawson accepts it and follows my request. Dick hates it and tells me that they just get in the way. We haven't lost any people since Tom and that is a great achievement because it has been a long while. I haven't seen my Mom and Dad for a long time and I think I should visit them next time I get a chance. I don't know what I would say to them. I introduced my plan to get everyone into the new house and it sounds like people agree with it. We will start practicing with everyone soon since we will be moving in soon.

The dream house is basically done and now we just need to get everything planned out and our strategy practiced before we move out. We went out the other and got a bunch of things that people could decorate their rooms with. Jon girlfriend was a little to excited. I wouldn't be surprised if Barbie wet her damn pants. We have been practicing how we are going to get everyone to the building a lot and it seems like people understand how this is going to work out. I showed them a bunch of pictures of the area so they could get an idea of what it might be like. I keep telling everyone that we can't afford any mistakes. I'm worried that my words are to harsh and that it scares people, but I just want everyone to be aware and ready. We made this rule where if someone trips or falls out of formation or something happens to them that everyone should keep moving because it would slow the whole line down if they stopped to help them. This made some people worried but Jon tells them they have nothing to worry about. Jon tells them that if someone trips that a level 1 or level 2 fighter will be able to help them and that everyone else should keep moving. Level 1 and 2 fighters will be roaming around and setting up a perimeter around the line of moving people. I look at Jon like "who the hell made all these ideas up?" but he keeps talking and I let him because it seems like it makes people feel better. I just hope they don't get careless.


We are on this mission with a few other teams to get some equipment to clear a clean path for people to walk on when we move into our new house in the next few days. It is a night mission and the place looks like hell but I guess what we need is in this one building so we are out to get it. Dick and his team are set up in different buildings to lend us support. My team moves into position and we get ready to run across this long street to get to the building. I look up at Dick and he is set up with his sniper rifle and I see Mitch and Dawson's team up there with him with rifles also ready to support us. We see some monsters roaming around in the street and Dean tosses a grenade at them to clear a path. When the explosion goes off we take off and shoot down what ever we can. I hear the support teams up in the buildings shooting down distant monsters while we handle to immediate threats. There are a bunch of things in the way and we split up to avoid them but quickly form into our defensive position. The three of us stand back to back and move together then split apart to get around things quick. I see this huge monster and I fire at him but my pistols seem to have no affect on him so our triangle rotates and now Jon faces the ogre and gives him a few blasts with his shotgun. It goes down a lot quicker. There are a bunch of crashed cars in the way and we slide over the hoods to get by them quicker. Dean slides over a hood and right before he gets to the other side a creature jumps out and quickly Dean stabs it in the head. Jon trips and I see a monster about to jump on him and I turn to help him but a creature jumps in front of my way and I shoot it to clear a path. As the monster I shoot drops the creature that was about to jump on Jon drops. I look around and wonder what happened to it then I look up at Dick and he gives us a thumbs up. We move in and out of the building with what we need and our way back to the car is a lot smoother. Looks like tomorrow we move into our new home.