Travel Plans

We've had time to wait and decide, I've told Rika that we need a gun. I've already checked the stores around the apartment, they're empty. They've been stripped to the bone. In Denver I have a shotgun, 12 Gauge, and just over 120 rounds. This shotgun could be invaluable to our survival. If we can retrieve my shotgun then we'd be able to properly defend ourselves and search in more populated areas for supplies and other people still living in this city... Rika won't let me leave her alone when I go to Denver and get my gun, so the only option is to go together. I know that she's not comfortable with riding the bike for any distance, let alone 60 miles to Denver. I've looked at the map and found the best route out of the city, there are a lot of residential areas around us... this makes things very difficult for us to leave, but I figure that if we just bike hard and fast out of the city then we'll be fine. I just hope that my asthma won't cause me too much problems. We'll leave early next morning.

Crazy Talk

Resef has been talking about going to Denver. That's about 60 miles from here! I just don't know what he's thinking. And all for a damn shotgun! Why we can't search some pawn stores or something nearby is beyond me. He keeps talking about how it was his dad's. God. I think he's delirious. 

I have been thinking a lot about my failed venture out of the apartment. It's hard not to; my body is still sore all over. When I fell off of the road, I scraped my right shoulder and arm up pretty bad. I'm still picking the gravel out. The bike bruised my legs up as well. I guess I must have gripped onto the bike with my thighs as I fell. Resef managed to fix up my bike with some effort, but I'm too psyched out to even get on it. I've seen plenty of zombies and have run from my fair share, but this was the first time without him. He was always there to keep me calm. He always had a plan, always knew what to do. 

How are we supposed to get all the way to Denver? Our cars will not be inconspicuous at all. Mine is especially loud. I've got a nice big hole in the muffler. I swear every G in a 20 mile radius will hear it. Bikes are the better way to go. Especially when we need to get around abandoned cars and debris, but I am still nervous about riding it, especially for 60 miles. I don't think it's smart to try to ride the five or so hours in one day. If we get too fatigued, how are we supposed to take on any Gs? And there's no way I'm letting him go that far alone. Please god let me talk him out of it.

Recovery

Rika returned yesterday I couldn't be more happy I am so relieved to have her with me again. After she came back I held her tight, I felt that if i dared to let her go she would disappear forever. It was many hours before i could feel sure that she was safe, before I could convince myself she was really here. That night I slept and did not stir until morning. I rose this morning happy that she was really here. I've decided we shouldn't go anywhere today. We both need some time to recoup. The list of supplies had to be updated to include some (now obvious) much needed devices; rechargeable batteries (I'll have to figure a way to produce electricity), Walkie-Talkies, and Weapons any will do. The battery is almost dead on the laptop now... we need to improve our situation soon...

The Longest Night...

My trip to Jax didn't go how I imagined. In fact, it didn't go at all. I left just after day break. The cool air smelled of rain from the night before. For a moment it felt like the Sunday rides I used to take when life was normal. That was until I turned a corner where I encountered a small troupe of Walkers. They were stumbling around aimlessly in the middle of the street. I panicked, stopping abruptly, causing my wheels to skid on the gravel. Normally the sound would barely be noticeable, but in the quite of the early morning I might as well have set off fireworks.

I stood there for a moment, frozen. I had on foot on a pedal, ready to ride away, but I couldn't move. The Walkers were about twenty feet away from me. They turned their heads sharply in my direction, looking at me with their dead, white eyes. They started lumbering towards me, groaning. Their moan always makes my chest tighten up, it gets hard to breathe. They continued towards me, gaining in speed.

The call of a nearby bird caught my attention and brought me out of my trance. I quickly turned my bike around, nearly falling sideways in my haste. I began pedaling as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I just kept going...never looking back. Before I knew it, I was in an unfamiliar part of town. I found myself riding through an open field. The road became more elevated as I continued; the land on either side of the road sloped drastically downwards. As I rode I thought I heard the familiar groan again, causing me to lose my balance. That was the last thing I remembered, before I went tumbling down...

The next thing I remember was the sound of crickets. My body hurt all over. It was dark. I was so cold. So terrified. I felt around for my backpack. I found it nearly a foot to the right of me. I felt inside for my flashlight. I held it in my hand, hesitant to use it. What if there were zombies nearby? I remembered the sound that caused my accident. I questioned whether it had been real or not. How could I still be alive if it had been?

Afraid of the unknown, I held on tight to my flashlight, huddled in the dark. I sat there barely daring to breathe, jumping at every sound I heard until day break. It was the longest night of my life. When the sun finally rose in the sky I climbed up the slope of the hill. My bike's chain had come unhooked and my front wheel was slightly bent. It took me nearly five hours to walk my bike home, I limped the entire time. Thankfully I didn't encounter any Gs. When I finally made it home, I looked up at my balcony to see the relieved face of Resef. When I got past the barricade we embraced each other for the longest time. I let out a sob and promised never to let him go again.

Trouble

Rika hasn't returned yet, she's a day over due... I told her not to go!! Damn-it where the fuck could she be? I knew i should of gone with her!! I never should of let her go alone, why didn't i stop her? There just be some way to find a way to contact her. I need to get a hold of some radios and some batteries. If I leave now I may be able to retrace her steps to Jax.... no... no... that would never work, there is no way to track her if she ran into trouble and had to go off route, which she most certainly did... God why can't she just be back here and safe, with me? I need to know where she is.. please Rika be safe and come home soon... I have lunch ready... ...

Food

The neighboring apartments were not difficult to enter, the large windows were easy to break. The smell of stagnant air in the apartments wafted through the newly opened window, the stench of mold and decay radiated throughout the entire apartment. The strength getting exponentially worse as I approached the kitchen, I brought my shirt over my nose, and quietly crept closer to the refrigerator, the source of the putrid smell that was assaulting my senses. my eyes and ears were on alert for the movement and sounds that would betray any Gs hiding in the apartment. The smell emanating from the fridge would cover any Gs that would be lurking around any corners. As I slowly and quietly maneuver my way pass the kitchen, the smell would caused my eyes to burn and water; suddenly hearing the creak of the old floorboards as I approached the back room, my senses suddenly on alert, my heart racing and veins pounding in my forehead. I balled my gloved fists, and thanked god that I had my boots with me when things turned to shit. Breathing deep, I risked a quick peek around the corner, and peered into the bedroom. Lumbering in the center of the room was a single G, slowly rocking back and forth, shifting it's weight from one foot to another. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes tight, one last deep breath, the anger I've felt the last few weeks, boiled to the surface. I pushed against the wall and charged into the room, my right leg raised i delivered a kick to the monster's ribs spinning it around, quickly I sent another towards the Zombie's leg. Followed by the loud cracking sound of the thing's femur breaking, and the festering rotten tissue rupturing and spilling from the newly opened wound, quickly mustering strengths for another kick, I quickly landed it on the side of the thing's head, putting an end to the short engagement. I left the room without taking another second longer than necessary, I immediately walked to the kitchen and grabbed as much canned goods as I could carry. I left the apartment as soon as possible with out giving myself time to think about what had just happened, I retreated to the apartment. I've decided to wait for Rika, decided not to tell her about the gore I created in the apartment...

Planning

I've been thinking of how to remove the remaining staircase, the barricade is beginning to be problematic. It takes a lot of time to move the barricade, not to mention the exposure we face while waiting to get in. We need more weapons, and more materials if we plan on modifying the staircase, and finding some other survivors. We currently don't have any extra supplies to feed anyone else, in fact I need to find food for us. We're running low on our canned foods, we ran out of fresh food days ago; soft potatoes... The neighboring apartments have been left empty and undisturbed, I have always assumed that they would come back, it doesn't look like that's going to happen now, I suppose it was foolish to think that they would return. Now I should start looking there first, I'll try my best to avoid prying, and preserve the privacy of our neighbors; living, dead, or otherwise..

Rika's leaving soon, I told her not to leave alone but she won't listen to me and we haven't the time or the energy to waste arguing. I'm very distraught about her decision, but deep down inside I'm relieved to not have to go out on my own again. I'll have the food by the time Rika returns. God, I hope she returns safe, I can't do this alone...

Run, Rika, Run!

I'm regretting my gluttonous ways prior to the apocalypse. I mean, yeah, I slimmed down quickly when ration-mode hit our household and running for my life has done wonders for my thighs. But knowing how to run and just letting the sympathetic nervous system kick start your adrenalin is a totally different story.

I had a friend once that knew how to free-run; I should try to find him. I also need to plan a trip to Jax Sports for the proper parkour gear. I'm thinking some free-running shoes for Resef and I and some climbing gloves should do it. Oh and Resef also requested a bowie knife that he informs me resembles a "miniature pirate sword", some rope, a machete and a metal baseball bat- the essentials, you know.

Resef is on alert mode after last night. It's partly what prompted me to re-examine my physical abilities. I usually feel safe enough up here in our "apartment in the sky", as I like to call it. He's done a great job of making me as safe as I can feel, considering the life we've been living. It makes me feel like such a burden though. I need to learn more and pull my weight. It's why I refused his company on this outing. I'm so nervous. I'm pretty sure that I'll be the one tossing and turning tonight. Jax's would be a short 20 minute bike ride from our apartment if it wasn't for the fact that Old Town is completely overrun with Gs the last time I checked. Jax is slightly north of Old Town, so taking the long way around usually extends the trip to closer to 45 minutes. It's gonna be a long day...

Last night...

It was a late one...
I was up late again, I could of sworn they were outside of our door, perhaps I'm just imagining these sounds... I was looking about the walkway, trying to eye out any of the damn draggers, they nauseate me, gimping around on one broken and twisted foot. Disgusting monsters. We're living on the second floor, I've already removed one of the stairwells, leaving the other intact but barricaded,the ease of access the stairs provide is seeming less and less worth the risk, I find myself worrying more every night about those corpses crawling up those stairs to get us. I saw four of them while I was out there on the walkway, thankfully in light of a large moon the Gs were easy to spot, their skin bloated and stretched, shone brightly, nearly glowing in the open spaces of our parking lot. The four Walkers made their way out of the area rather quickly, unfortunately when I returned to bed I was unable to return to sleep, I just lay there for hours until the early morning, finally able to drift into unconsciousness after many hours of silence, no moaning or sounds of bodies dragging across the grass. I've got many things to do, we need to discuss the stair situation. it's going to be hazardous to remove the stairs, we'll attract a lot of attention, we need to find other survivors if we plan on living longer.

First Entry

It seems like forever since everything changed. One day I'm writing my resumé, preparing for the "real world", the next day reality hit hard. Very hard.
It started with wild mumblings from the Hospice community. We thought they were crazy with grief and despair...
Families preparing for the death of their loved ones...the numerous counseling sessions, the never ending paperwork, the long nights holding their loved one's hand whispering, "I love you" to pale, unresponsive faces.
Finally the moment would come...the last breath...shallow and raspy...then they were gone.
The families would hug each other. Condolences were imparted by friends.
The families prepared for the "new normal".
...yes...
They were the first to experience the "new normal".
Hours after the family thought they said their last "goodbyes", up and moving around were the recently departed; ashen-faced and slow, but seemingly alive.

These families were also the first casualties. The first of many that would come...