« Do you know that life is the nightmare of those who dream it ? » Apocalypse Now
Day 9 :
I am Jane. We left the abandoned house where we had taken refuge. Rémy can barely walk. I'm sick too… We had come here on vacation with our mother ; I never expected to experience such a trial. We are heading north ; I don't know this town, so I trust them. On the radio, they talk about strange and even horrible things happening in Breene without giving details. Breene is just a few kilometers from here, from what they said.
I am Anna. Even though strange things are happening, Eden started writing this journal, and we owe it to her to continue. I've known her since kindergarten ; I know her thoughts better than Alendra or Jaime. She wrote it for those who will find it later. She wrote it so that they would know the truth about the Catastrophe. So that history will remember the account of a group of abandoned survivors, alone in the face of death. So that everyone knows that this war has destroyed humanity. We see dead bodies everywhere, but we still don't understand how they are dangerous…
Day 11 :
I am Jaime. We didn't have the courage to write yesterday. Rémy is dead, well not really… It's complicated. We had been walking for about an hour, it was very early. When we took a break, I laid Rémy down ; he was in very bad shape. He could barely breathe, so I called the others for help. Jane talked to him, told him everything would be fine. He said something to her and... and he died. We had lost one of us. Jane was so upset, she refused to leave him ! but we had to move on. We said a few words for him and left, but then Rémy moved and got up... That's when it all started. Jane was happy until he lunged at her and tried to bite her ! he wanted to kill her ! we tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen; he wanted to kill us and even managed to bite Tina !
We had to make a choice, as hard as it was... We had to defend ourselves, but Jane didn't want us to hurt him. He wasn't himself anymore. I killed him with a blow to the head with a bat. Jane resents me a lot, but I had no choice. It was either him or us ! if I hadn't done that, no one would be left to continue this journal. We tried to understand what happened ; Anna thinks it might be because of the bombs... But we don't know anything ! it's so frustrating... We're not making any progress ! Lucy and the others are almost out ; Alendra told them about Rémy, and now the idea of splitting up doesn't seem like such a good one ! they should have thought about it before !! they are waiting for us in a house at 787 Glenn Price Road. We need to move forward; we need to join them.
Day 12 :
I am Alendra. We haven't stopped much except to sleep, actually, no one slept ; I saw the others moving around constantly. It must be around 2 p.m., we haven't eaten anything because our supplies are already exhausted... We probably have very little water left. I still think about Eden and the others who disappeared; I hope they come back alive. I'm scared ; I don't want them to become like Rémy. We understood the warning from that survivor: the dead are dangerous. If you see one, if it rises, don't get close or kill it by aiming for the head ! it's like in horror movies... It's unsettling and scary, and what scares me the most is the absence of survivors and life. We're moving fast, but Jane is getting very sick; what should we do? Wait again...
I am Lona. Jane is sick, and it scares me since I'm a little sick too. Am I going to die like Rémy ? I don't want to end up like trying to kill my friends, never !
I am Jaime. We've almost rejoined the others; we're taking one last break. Jane and Tina's condition is worrying. We're preparing for action in case of an emergency. I'm sorry ; we won't have a choice when the time comes...
Day 14 :
I am Lucy. Yesterday was a day of terror. The others joined us the night before yesterday, and they explained everything that happened. But we had to read Eden's journal to learn more. We went to bed late, but the sick ones fell asleep early...
We didn't pay much attention to them until late at night. I was with Alendra, and we hadn't really slept. We were whispering to avoid waking the others up, but at some point, we heard grunts, like when you crush a "zoneur's" head. It was Alendra who saw movement, and I did too, but it wasn't the same person. She saw Jane, and I saw Tina, but they looked... different. They attacked us ! as we screamed, the others woke up. They wanted to kill us, devour us ! Jaime didn't wait a minute to stop them from biting or tearing us apart. He took his bat and killed Jane, while I stabbed Tina in the stomach, arms, and wherever my knife could reach, but it was useless, Tina still wanted to bite me ! the others were too panicked to help me. That's when Jaime shouted at me to aim for the head, so I did... Tina was dead, very dead.
I am Chris. What Lucy just told is only the beginning of this dreadful day. After this tragic start, we covered our dead and said a few words for them. Then, we resumed our journey. We took two cars, even though some were against the idea, but Jaime took charge, and he handled things much better. We took stock of this situation : killing these monsters, these "zoneurs," without getting bitten, without any pity for any of them. The sick ones are doomed to die. We haven't seen any rescue teams, police, or military. In 14 days, the entire population has disappeared ; this isn't normal. We hope that a refugee camp has been set up further in the country, and that everyone we know has gone there... On our way to Brownwood, we encountered these "zoneurs," about a dozen of them, and we drove without thinking ; it was horrifying.
I am Tommy. Lona and I are sick, but less than Rémy and Jane. The progression of this disease varies from person to person, and for us, it's not fast. We feel fine, but the cough and fever are creeping in. The others are ready to act... I hope they never have to... We see "zoneurs" everywhere on all the roads, but we're sticking to Brownwood Road. Coleman will be missed... We hope to find gas and food there, and maybe even survivors. It reminds me that Chris lives on the road to Brownwood.
Day 15 :
I am Max. I'm writing this late in the evening. We're in Chris's house, and I have to say that things didn't go exactly as we hoped. Last night, we didn't stop, and it was early this morning that we arrived near Chris's house, two kilometers from Santa Anna. He wanted us to stop there to see if his parents were still there. When I saw Jaime's expression, I understood that we would find his parents, but not as he hoped, and we weren't wrong... Their car was still there. When ours stopped, Chris ran to his house, and Jaime didn't have time to stop him. We ran after him, but we weren't at the entrance yet when we heard him scream. We rushed in, and we saw him standing in the living room, his parents' bodies lying in front of him. They had become "zoneurs"... Chris didn't hesitate a second to kill them with his knife, luckily he wasn't bitten, but he hasn't spoken since. After that, everyone lost hope ; none of us believe that our families are still alive... We stayed there for the day, covered his parents, and Jaime left for Santa Anna to get weapons with Alendra and Kaany. They only just came back, and they look exhausted.
I am Jaime. Max just told everything, so it's my turn to say what happened in Santa Anna. We went there in one of the cars because we absolutely wanted to arm ourselves. With a baseball bat and kitchen knives, we couldn't get very far. Alendra had an iron bar, Kaany had two knives, and I had the bat. Santa Anna was infested with "zoneurs," and it seemed like no one had seemed to survive. Fortunately, Kaany knew a shortcut that led to the city center. We left the car not far away because "zoneurs" seem to be attracted to noise. We quickly entered the police station. We subdued the few "zoneurs" inside. We took the remaining weapons and ammunition, but there was a problem...
A group of "zoneurs" must have seen us enter, and they tried to break into the police station. We had to get out of there. Alendra said there was an exit through another room that led to an alley. There were 5 "zoneurs." Kaany wanted to use the weapons, but that would have attracted more attention, so we quietly killed them. When we reached the end of the alley, we could see that the "zoneurs" had almost breached the entrance of the police station. We just had to wait for them to get in, and we would have rushed to the car, but it didn't happen that way ; it never did. Alendra dropped her iron bar, and one of them heard and came towards us. We killed him, but he managed to alert his whole group. So we rushed, but not towards the car, on the contrary, we rushed in the opposite direction... At that moment, we thought we'd never come back.
We were in Santa Anna, alone, surrounded by "zoneurs." We ran, and they chased us. Although they were quite slow, the weight of the bag containing the weapons and ammunition was slowing me down. We could see the car getting further and further away from us. I told Alendra to take the bag, which she did, and to go with Kaany. She handed me her sturdy iron bar, and I gave her my bat. They left, and I made sure to slow down the "zoneurs." I killed some of them, and once I was sure the girls were far enough, I started running. I didn't know which direction to take; I didn't know where they had gone. The city center wasn't very big, but there were many streets. I turned into one of them, still with "zoneurs" on my tail...
I passed by an alley, and just after, I heard a noise, like when you crush a "zoneur's" head. It was Alendra ; she had just killed one with the bat. She was hiding there, but she had lost Kaany in the confusion. One had gone one way, and the other the opposite, without either realizing it. The "zoneurs" were still following us slowly. We hid. For nearly 3 hours, we went in circles, ran, and hid again and again. The horde had followed us into the city center and had split up; there were "zoneurs" at every street corner.
We headed back toward the city. We searched for Kaany in silence, and after an hour, I realized that we were being "tracked" ; a "zoneur" was tailing us. We sped up, and around a street corner, we stumbled upon Kaany, pointing a weapon at us. We crouched down, and she killed the "zoneur" who was "tracking" us. Where had she found this weapon ?! Kaany had just attracted "zoneurs"... (she's looking over my shoulder as I write and just told me she's sorry about that). It was high time we returned to the car. So we started running again and came across a police officer's body, the only one we had seen since the Catastrophe. So, the weapon came from there. We went back to the police station, but there was a horde of "zoneurs" between us and it.
We had been running all over the city for almost 4 hours; fatigue was setting in, the horde was in front of us, and a group of "zoneurs" was behind us. We weren't close to retrieving the car. We decided to confront the group rather than the horde ; in reality, we managed to avoid the confrontation by running through them. We hid in a store, barricaded the doors, and for 3 hours, we didn't move. It was in the middle of the afternoon when we finally left through an emergency exit. The alley was empty, and we went there without a sound. I had the bag on my back and Alendra's iron bar in my hand. The alley led to a deserted road, no "zoneurs" in sight. So, we devised a plan to return to the car without encountering the horde, which had strangely calmed down.
We weren't lucky... It's as if these "zoneurs" heard every step we took ! the horde came in our direction while we were on the road, and if they had seen us, we would have been dead in no time. We ran toward the city center. In the maze of alleys, we managed to lose them. Like they were drawn by our scent, the "zoneurs" were following us slowly. We hid. For nearly 3 hours, we circled around, ran, and hid again and again. The horde had eventually followed us into the city center and had split up ; there were "zoneurs" on every street corner.
Night was falling, and we could easily avoid the "zoneurs." In front of the police station, they weren't as numerous, the car was there, very close, and for the last time, nothing went as we wanted. "Zoneurs" descended upon us, and we didn't even know where they could have come from ! we killed them, and Kaany used her weapon once again... We took refuge in the police station, and once we had mustered our courage, we charged in ! because since morning, we had been playing hide-and-seek with them, and it was becoming burdensome. We rushed to the car, killing the "zoneurs," and then we sped off towards Chris's house...
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