New information.

We are gearing up to move. Since the incident with Tobias zombies have been congregating to close to our location. We are also having to go further and further for food, water and fuel. Prior to our relocation I wanted to make one more trip to the government facility. I had to see if their was anything else I could learn.

I prepped my gear for a quick and dirty run. I didn't want to be weighted down with much because I knew I would have to move quick the whole way to avoid the zombies that have amassed around the apartment. I just took my rifle, ammo, a flashlight and my SPAX axe. Exiting through the back of the apartment I made my way through the back yards of the neighboring structures. Draggers were mostly what I was encountering along the way. I did have a run in with one thorpe but the SPAX took care of that situation with ease.

I made good time to the facility. The extra cardio I had been doing in the apartment was paying off. That and the lack of burgers since the fall of the city. I approached the facility with the usual caution. The back alley with the basement window I had used to observe the testing earlier seemed like a good place to start. I crept into position and peered through the tiny opening in the paint. The tables and equipment were covered in blood and the walls were pocked with bullet holes! There didn't appear to be any movement but it was fairly dark inside. I scanned the room several times from my limited vantage point but could see no personnel.

Rising I went around to the far side of the building. I stopped at the door and listened. No sound. I grabbed the handle. It was open. I cautiously stepped inside with my rifle at the ready. More blood and bullet holes greeted me in the corridor. There had been a major fire fight in this place. As the door swung shut the hall became dark. Not so dark I couldn't make out shapes so I decided to go it without the flashlight so as not to alert any military personnel still in the building. I started down the hallway when suddenly my feet flew from under my body. I went down hard but kept my senses enough to swing my rifle and head around looking for my attacker. There was no one there. Looking down I realized that I had slipped on the empty shell casing that littered the floor. Scrambling to my feet I stood waiting. The noise of my fall would certainly have alerted someone to my presence. But no one came. No noise. Nothing. Pulling my flashlight from my pocket I continued on through the passages. Everywhere I went there were tell tale signs of gunfire and blood. The battle ranged through the whole facility. I was continually shining the flashlight to my feet to avoid another fall when it occurred to me: there are no bodies. Blood and bullet holes but no bodies. Surely at least one of them had been a head shot. This building had been full of soldiers who knew how to put these things down.

CRASH! What was that?! It came from down the corridor to my right. Taking a deep breath I turned and started down the hall. As I approached I saw a shaft of light growing and shrinking. A door swung back and forth on it's hinges, the lock work broken out of it. I stepped into the room and found that the window had been smashed and the wind was blowing the door. Moving to the window I looked down the street. Suddenly there was a hand clamped onto my shirt pulling me out the window! I pulled the SPAX from it's sheath and swung it into action. The first swing severed the hand that was pulling me out the window causing me to fall to the pavement. The dragger bent down to take a bite and I sunk the pick end square between it's eyes. It fell next to me still twitching. I climbed back in the window and resumed my search of the facility with a bit more urgency than I had before.

I made it down to the labs in the basement. In an office at the center of the labs I found a three ring binder. On the cover it said "CASE REPORT: PATIENT ZERO THROUGH SUBJECT 20". It was overflowing with information, all marked CONFIDENTIAL and TOP SECRET. I had to fight the urge to read the report. I didn't have time and this was not a safe place for some leisurely reading. I scooped it up and with it under one arm I continued my sweep of the basement.

I came to the last room in the farthest corner of basement. I stepped in and scanned the room with the flashlight. There were no signs of movement. Looking down I saw a military style pack. I grabbed it and hastily shoved the binder in and slung it over my back. In doing so I realized that it wasn't just a pack on the floor. There were clothes and other articles strewn about the room. There was also a smeared dried blood trail leading through the doorway to the incinerator against the wall. That's where all the bodies had gone. It also meant one or more people made it out of the facility alive.

I hoofed it back to the apartment as fast as I could. I now sit writing this as we prepare to spend our last day in this apartment. I have not yet made it all the way through the information in the binder. As soon as I do I will give you a full report of everything I learn. Stay safe.

Tobias

It's a beautiful sunny day. I am walking in a park. Children are playing and laughing. Parents chatter leisurely on benches surrounding the large swing set. It is serene. I sit down on a bench near a small pond with ducks criss-crossing it's surface. The sun warms my face. The children's laughter lulls my eyes shut. A dog barks in the distance. I slip my sandals off and feel the grass between my toes. I feel the moist caress of a tongue and I look down to see a cute blond retriever licking my toes. I scrunch my face with laughter. When my eyes open again and I focus it's not a dog I see.

I leap up from my bed. The dog has become a blond dragger and it's right at the foot of my bed. It has been licking my feet as they stuck out the bottom of the blanket. It would have bitten them but it doesn't have a lower jaw or a left arm and it's right one stops at mid forearm where other zombies have gnawed the flesh away. My hand flail's for my pistol as the dragger struggles onto my bed. My fingers clamp down on the cold and reassuring form of the Beretta. I swing it in line with the dragger and fire one round. I struggle past the lifeless mutilated corpse and grab the rifle leaning in the corner.

As I round the corner to the main room I see Jan reloading her shotgun with several dispatched draggers at her feet. I turn toward the kitchen just in time to draw a bead on a thorpe as it runs through the door way. I drop it in it's tracks and rush to the door as I shout to Jan, "Where's Bianca!"

"She opened the door and ran out before I could stop her!"

"She ran out! She's out there?!" I say as I instinctively slam the door closed.

"It was like she was possessed. She bolted from her room to the door mumbling something about a dog." Jan says as she racks a round into the chamber of her Mossberg.

"I'm going out after her." I say as I grasp the door handle.

"James,"

"Don't try to stop me. I-"

"Put on some shoes before we go."

I look to my bare feet and remember with sickening clarity the creatures tongue on my skin. I grab a bottle of bleach we keep near the door and collapse to the floor frantically searching my feet for any scratches or signs of a bite. They look clean. I drench my hands and feet with the bleach and pull on the nearest pair of boots.

Jan hoists me to my feet and grabs the door handle.

"Ready?"

I nod and she flings open the door. We step out and immediately open fire on the living dead. There are more zombies out here than I have seen any time before! What's brought them all? We fight our way to the street. We are both already running dangerously low on ammunition. We turn to start up the block as something whips around the corner. Jan and I raise our weapons -

"Don't shoot me!"

Bianca! She runs toward us holding the collar of a blond retriever. Jan wraps her arms around Bianca as she says, "What were you thinking?!"

"It's a dog! The monsters were after him! I had to help him, I had to. He needed me. He -"

"We need to move," I say as I grab onto Jan and start pulling them up the street. The dawn is just starting to come over the rooftops. The swarm of living dead moving up the street towards us looks like it is pouring from the sun itself. "Move. Move! NOW!"

I push them further down the block away from the apartment.

"Were are we going?" Jan asks with a worry that I have never heard in her voice before.

"We'll circle around the block ahead of the swarm and cut through the back yards to the apartment. Hopefully it will confuse most of them and lead them away." We run around the corner keeping ahead of the thorpes that are leading the zombies. We get to a chain link fence on the opposite side of the block from the apartment and I pull the bottom up for Jan and Bianca to crawl under. Just as I crouch to go myself a thorpe rounds the corner and spots me. My rifle swings into action almost as if it has the will to do so itself. I fire twice hitting my target on the second shot. I scramble under then fence.

"Keep him quiet." Jan whispers to Bianca. The young girl gently closes her hand around the dogs snout as we make our way slowly and quietly to the apartment.

All this happened last night. As I write this there are still a large number of zombies in the vicinity of the apartment. I am afraid we may have to relocate soon as the ones that hear us in the apartment will certainly summon more. The dog, who Bianca has affectionately named Tobias, is still recovering from his ordeal. He looks well fed so he couldn't have been out there long. He was spent physically from running but I don't think he could have kept up the pace for more than a couple of miles which means that there is or was other people alive and close by. Jan and I will begin a sweep of surrounding buildings tomorrow. If your alive and reading this we're coming to help you.

Back out in it.

I ventured back out. It has been a while but after what happened I don't really feel safe anywhere so I might as well get out and try to be useful.

It was a sunny day here in So Cal. I left Jan's feeling nervous but optimistic about my day. We have had to go further for supplies lately. I remembered seeing a small strip mall with a military surplus store and a liquor store not more than two miles from where we were. My objective was to find a fuel burning lamp, find some fuel, replace my hatchet/pick if possible, and hopefully find some scotch and a cigar (a reminder of normalcy to hopefully keep me grounded). I rounded the block at the end of the street and found two draggers, male and female, in full "biker" regalia standing over a knocked over motorcycle staring intently at it. I ducked behind a nearby mail box and watched. After a few moments the male dragger bent and tried to lift the motorcycle. He made a little progress until the shoulder of the arm he was using completely dislocated with a sickening pop. The motorcycle fell with a crash and his female companion looked at him blankly then gave him a shove. I couldn't stifle my laugh fast enough. It was a little zombie lovers quarrel!

They turned to me and let out the horrible moan. As they staggered toward the mail box I was behind I lined up my .22 on the first dragger and dropped him. The second dragger took two rounds but she went down without much trouble. I stood up and stepped around the mail box just as a dragger's hand struck it in an attempt to grab me! I started to back away as it grabbed for me again. We both went down. My rifle was pinned between our two bodies as we struggled on the ground. I managed to keep my trigger hand on the gun while I pushed at the neck of the dragger to try and keep his biting mouth away. I turned my head and shoved the dragger back with my offhand while simultaneously thrusting my rifle towards our heads. The muzzle lined up right under it's chin and I fired. My eyes and mouth were closed but I could still see a flash. All I heard was a ringing in my right ear. I could feel the side of my face tingling.

I pushed the corpse off and stood up. It's blood was so congealed that I hardly had any on me. I still took no chances. I scanned the area for other draggers or, God forbid, thorpes. It was clear. There was an empty Suburban across the street and it was unlocked. I climbed in quietly closing the door behind me and pulled the sanitizer from my bag. I wetted my hands and a towel and rubbed my face and head.

"AAAHHH!" It burned! Much more than it ever had before. Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror. The right side of my face was burned and had black residue all over it. The muzzle blast from my rifle. I didn't even think about it. If my eyes had been open I might have been blinded! I added safety glasses to my list for the surplus store.

I finished scrubbing and scanned the area again before I got out of the Suburban. I continued on to the strip mall with extreme caution. When I arrived I went for the surplus store first (essentials before comforts). It was pretty ravaged. The gate had been broken through and the shelves had been picked over. I did find a couple of cans of lantern fuel and several different kinds of safety glasses and goggles. As I squatted to load them into my pack I noticed a small crack on the wall at floor level behind a big American flag. Walking over I lifted the flag and there was a door. Sliding a clear set of goggles on I opened the door cautiously with my rifle at the ready. It was dark so I pulled out my flashlight. A sweep of the room revealed it was piled high full of boxes! I stepped in and scanned it once again. Confident that it was empty I closed the door behind me and began searching the boxes. I found a brand new lamp and something called a SPAX Axe. It looked like just what the doctor ordered to replace the hatchet/pick. A little more svelte and it had a much better handle. I packed up my goods and replaced the flag over the closed door. I headed out.

When I entered the liquor store I couldn't believe my eyes. It had been cleaned out completely. Nothing was left. Nothing. I guess people have different priorities than I thought.

I made my way back to Jan's. The street I had the altercation on earlier was gathering draggers so I dog-legged around it.

My ear is still ringing but my face is starting to heal. There is burnt powder working it's way up through my skin. I can't believe how careless I had gotten. You have to stay on your toes if you want to survive. Never let your guard down.

A Visitor

Bianca and I were at home when it happened. Since I was feeling a little under the weather mentally Jan had decided she would go out in search of fuel for our generator. We had a lot of food still left from the daycare. It was amazing what the woman there had been able to collect. I wish I could have spoken to her before...

Jan was out looking for fuel and Bianca and I were exploring the mysteries of the looking glass with Alice. Everything was just fine. We were reading by candle light even though the sun was up (with the windows boarded up not much light gets in). Around page 47 there was a pounding on the door. It was hurried, frantic. I jumped up and grabbed for my pistol.

"What's going on?!" Bianca stammered with fear.

"I think it's a person. I have to check. Stay here." I could hear a mans voice outside the door. He was panicked, screaming for us to open up. I rushed to the door and looked through the peep hole. He was so close and flailing so much I couldn't see anything. I grabbed hold of the kick bar we have against the door but I couldn't dislodge it because of the pressure coming from the other side.

"Stop pushing!" I shouted but he just kept screaming and pounding. I set down my pistol on the table in the entry way. With my shoulder against the door I was able to dislodge the kick bar. I put my shoulder into it again and turned the knob. The door burst open sending me sprawling to the floor. The man; thin, dirty, and wild eyed, stepped into the entry with a revolver pointed at my head. He slammed the door shut and quickly scanned what he could see of the house but the barrel of the revolver never wavered. It was not a big gun but from my vantage point it looked like I could crawl down the barrel.

Looking around he asked quietly, "Is there anyone else here?"

"No it's -"

"What happened?" Bianca said as she rounded the corner to the entry way.

"On the floor girl!" he shouted at her. She dropped to the floor next to me and I took her hand. "No more lies. Is anybody else here?"

"No. She's the only other one. What -"

"Get up. Show me where the food is. And anything else you got."

We slowly got to our feet. I made Bianca walk in front of me in hopes that if he shot my body would stop the bullet and she would have a chance to run. I led the man into the kitchen. He handed me a dirty cotton bag with no straps.

"Fill it." he said.

I started pulling canned goods out of the cabinets and placing them in the bag being careful not to make sudden moves. All the while my eyes were fixed on that revolver.

"Got any batteries?" he asked when the bag was full.

"Yes. In the back room." We made our way down the hallway into the back bedroom we were using for storage and the generator.

"Double A's and and D cells. All of those you got." I bent down and started sorting through the box of batteries still trying not to make any sudden moves. He became impatient and dumped the box all over the floor. "You get down there and help!" he shouted at Bianca. As we were down on our hands and knees searching for batteries I could see the gun shifting from me to Bianca and back. His eyes were darting about and he didn't seem to sure about what he was doing.

When we had sorted out the batteries he wanted he didn't let us get up off the floor. Instead he nervously told us to turn around. I knew what was coming. I had to do something. I had to at least try to save Bianca even if I died in the process. If I could just buy her enough time to get away. I saw a wrench in front of me on the ground. I could grab it and turn and swing with all my might at the hand with the gun. I can do this. I tensed my legs for the spring into action and -

"Drop it or I will kill you where you stand."

Jan! I spun around just as the man dropped his revolver to the floor. Jan stood behind him with the barrel of her shotgun pressed against his head. I picked up the revolver and grabbed Bianca and hugged her.

"Are you two alright?" Jan asked without looking away from the man she now held at gunpoint.

"Yeah. We're fine; we're okay." I said in reply. I could feel Bianca shaking against my body. Jan had the man drop the bag where he stood and she marched him to the front door.

"Open it James." She said when she got him there.

"Hang on Jan." I went back into the storage room and grabbed a spare backpack from a pile. I unloaded the revolver, only three rounds in it, and placed the ammo in the bottom of the pack and stuffed the mans bag in on top of them. I then placed the gun in the outer pocket. When I got back to the entry way I grabbed my pistol from the table. I approached the man cautiously.

Jan tensely asked, "What are you doing?"

"Trust me Jan." I said to her without looking away from the man. "Here's some food. Your gun's in the bag. It's unloaded. I am going to open the door and you are going to leave. If you try anything we will kill you. If you come back we will kill you. Just leave and don't tell anyone about us. That's all we ask."

I opened the door and he left. He left in a hurry.

Later over a can of tomato soup Jan questioned me about what I did.

JAN: "He didn't deserve the food. He tried to steal it."

JAMES: "I know Jan but we have plenty of food. Besides sending him out there without some food and especially without a weapon -"

JAN: "You said it was unloaded."

JAMES: "It was - but the bullets were in the bottom of the bag."

JAN: "What?!"

JAMES: "Relax. I didn't let him look through the bag while he was still here did I. But what I was saying was sending him out that way would be murder."

JAN: "He would have killed you if I hadn't shown up."

JAMES: "We don't know that for sure. But even if he had it doesn't mean we should. I don't want to be like him."

BIANCA: "Neither do I."

The way it was.

I've been holed up for a week or so now. We scored a lot of food at the daycare and I just didn't see a need to go back out -not after what I saw at the facility. How could people be doing such horrible things? How could they be so cruel to each other? I've been thinking about the way it was. The way it was before this started.

I was just a regular guy. There was nothing special about me. I would go to work at the studios doing my thing. I was a "Best Boy" most of the time. Sometimes "Key Grip". Sometimes just a cord roller. But it was work and me and the other crew had a great time. We used to go out after work to a Mexican restaurant for happy hour. It was blast. Around Halloween we'd talk the effects guys into making us the most amazing costumes. You would think that after working on movies all week I would be tired of them but my favorite thing to do on a Saturday was go catch the early bird special at the movie theater and then eat some chicken wings.

I remember one day I was down by the theater and a homeless guy; real heavy and dirty who I saw talking to himself all the time; he just pulled down his pants and started to let fly with his urine! Peeing all over the plants and the walkway! The cops showed up and took him into custody with some force. He was shouting incoherently. One of them even hit him a couple of times with a baton.

We were always telling jokes on our down time on set. And it always seemed like someone had a phone or a laptop and we would all gather around for the newest funny video of the day. Sometimes on set we'd have to wait forever for an actor. They were always these prissy "stars". What a joke. They would show up and yell at everybody (their assistants most of all) saying the most terrible things about whoever got in their path. Then they would turn on the charm as soon as they saw the red light on the camera. Interviewers always portrayed them as the sweetest people; "So human." A little too human.

And TV. Man television had really gone down hill before this. I remember in the 80's and 90's when I was a kid there were shows with heart. You laughed but you also thought a little too. But the last ten years it's just been "reality" TV and new show after new show. But they never really gave any of them a chance to build a fan base. If it wasn't a hit in the first three episodes they would just axe it. So many people worked hard on that. It was somebody vision and hundreds of peoples lively hood and they just shut it down like it was a malfunctioning fan. And the news! Always another bombing or hijacking or murderer or child molester. They would sensational everything for ratings. All of it had a slant or agenda. Forget the stories that convey hope or a sense of pride in your country. Forget reporting the news and keeping the opinion for the editorial at the end. People want blood and guts. If we make them afraid they will have to watch us to find out who to be scared of today!

You know looking back from where I am now I am starting to see that people have always been horrible to each other. I was just too busy with my societies distractions and niceties to notice.

Return to the Facility

I had to go back to the government facility again to see if I could learn anything more about what's happening. I prepped my gear and headed out with the sunrise. I wanted all the time I could get. It was an easy trek through the city. I ran into three draggers but was able to dispatch them handily with the .22 semi-auto from the daycare. It works surprisingly well for the head shots on slow ones and I can carry ten times the ammo without adding weight. As I neared the facility I drew my pick-hatchet so I could remain quiet should I run into another zombie.

I rounded the last corner before the facility and took up a concealed position behind a burned out car. I could hear a vehicle approaching. As I crouched behind the wreckage I saw a prison bus pull into view. It was full of inmates! They were still in orange county uniforms and chained. A soldier sat behind the wheel and another couple stood guard at the front gate of the bus. They were followed by a military Humvee. The two vehicles entered the parking structure under the facility.

I crept through the alley along the facility trying to find a place where I could observe without having to get in again and where I would not be seen. As I looked it dawned on me that it made perfect sense for inmates to be alive. They were in a modern day fortress under armed guard and most of the prisons had ways to maintain electricity and services of their own so that the inmates would not escape or riot if a disaster hit. If you could find an emptied prison and had a crew of survivors together you could probably live there quite comfortably.

Then I spotted something that pulled me out of my daydreaming. There was a row of basement windows along the back of the building. I wasn't sure but I thought from my time inside that it was probably where the lab coats had taken us for the "demonstration". I began to cautiously approach the first window. As I got closer it became apparent that I wasn't going to see in. It had been spray painted from the inside. I worked my way along to the next one. It was the same. As was the next and the next. As I turned to walk away from the fourth window a glimmer of something caught my eye. I turned back to the window and studied it carefully. There was a tiny oblong spot that the painter had missed. It wasn't much but it was enough that I could get my face close and see what was happening. I crawled down into the window well and peered through the opening.

They had some of the inmates in the lab already. They were being restrained one at a time by several soldiers while the others where chained and held at gunpoint. In spite of the guns the inmates where still protesting very adamantly. The soldiers tied them down to stainless steel tables with restraints like the ones you see in movie hospitals or psychiatric wards. Once tied down one of the lab coats would inject them with something and they would be unconscious within minutes. During this process one of the inmates tried to break free. He took a swing at one of the soldiers and the armed guard shot him dead. This seemed to quiet all the other inmates quite well. The inmates body was quickly taken to another part of the lab out of my view. The soldiers and lab coats resumed their work without so much as a blink.

Once they had all the inmates restrained and sedated the lab coats began wheeling in zombies on restraint tables. The zombies were gagged in addition to being tied down. They placed one next to each of the inmates. A lab coat was stationed with each patient (or more appropriately victim). One by one I watched as a lab coat would un-gag a zombie and offer it a part of the sedated inmates body to bite. One did a foot, one a hand, upper arm, lower leg, head, neck. Each inmate was bitten only once in one major part of the body then the lab coat would grab his clip board and a stop watch and wait. The inmates one by one started to come too. The one that had been bitten in the neck started to convulse. I don't know how long it took for him to die but it wasn't long. He was bleeding profusely. The bite must have gotten into his jugular. He lay still but only for a matter of minutes. His eyes opened and he began wildly trying to bite the lab coat. The lab coat just calmly wrote down some notes on his clip board and made a note of the time.

The other inmates that had awakened began to scream in fear. They all began to realize what was being done to them. They tried to break free but it was useless. They were so afraid. The terror in their eyes was unimaginable. No matter what their crime they didn't deserve this.

The soldiers came around and gagged them all to quiet the room somewhat. I stayed at my perch the rest of the day watching in horror. A few more of the inmates died and came back as I watched. It seemed if they were injured closer to a major artery the infection would spread much more quickly. As I watched they brought in more inmates. They injected some with blood drawn from freshly reanimated zombies. This didn't seem to have much effect in the time I was there. But when they injected them with saliva the inmates began to show signs of the infection as rapidly as the men bitten.

One inmate they took to a table right in front of my window perch. He was sedated. They had him bitten on the hand by a zombie. They then proceeded to amputate his arm at the elbow! I turned from the window and vomited. I couldn't watch any longer. These were people. They were just using them like laboratory machines. They wronged society but what they did was nothing compared to what these lab coats and soldiers were doing to them. It was wrong -

Something moved in the alley. I pulled myself out of the window well. I didn't realize how long I had been down there. My whole body ached. It was starting to get dark. I was still looking down the alley where I had seen the movement. My eyes were not adjusting to the light right because I had been peering through that hole so long. I began to back toward the nearest cross street. I stepped back onto a bottle. It flung out from under my foot and I went down. As I raised my head I saw what had been moving in the alley. A thorpe stepped out from behind a dumpster with the remnants of an animal hanging from it's mouth. It charged. Without thinking I raised my rifle and fired. I shoot four rounds before one connected with it's head. It dropped at my feet. Then I heard a thundering of boots inside the facility. I had to move fast. I got to my feet and ran. I could hear a team of soldiers burst from the building just as I jumped a fence into a yard a block away. I ran as fast and as long as I could. I finally slowed about a block from Jan's. I thought my heart and lungs were going to burst but I didn't hear any soldiers following. As I approached Jan's door I realized I had dropped my pick-hatchet when the thorpe attacked me.

I stepped inside Jan's and was greeted with concern and hot soup. As I write this I have compiled a small list of things to ponder.
1. I need more cardio.
2. Tethering your weapons to yourself is probably a good idea.
3. If you can find others that are friendly stay with them.
4. Those bastards at the facility will have to answer for what they're doing.

Daycare.

This plague - it's not only killing people and raising the dead - it's driving the living insane.

I went out to scout for food and any more information on what the government is doing at the facility. My searches are taking me further and further from Jan's place as supplies run lower. A couple of nights ago my search took me into a small neighborhood of conservative little houses. It was eerily quite on the street I was walking. There were almost no zombies to be found. All the houses seemed empty. Many of them had been cleaned out of food and supplies but not ransacked like I had seen in other places around the city. I continued on down this quiet street until I came to a brightly colored house at the dead end of the street near a park. With it's yellows and vibrant blues it seemed out of place in the muted earth tones of the other homes in the neighborhood. Then I saw why. It had a sign out front that read, "Rita's Daycare: Preparing Your Little Ones For the Adventures Ahead!" I stood staring at the sign stifling a chuckle when I heard movement coming from the back yard.

I readied my rifle and my mind for action. I walked around the side of the house with extreme caution. There was no way to prepare a mind for what awaited me. As I turned the corner a fence came into view. It was topped with razor ribbon. Inside the fence - inside - contained within there was playground equipment and - children. What used to be children. There must have been fifteen of them. They were all, every one of them, dead - zombies. I was in shock. I lowered my gun in disbelief. Everything started to get fuzzy. I realized tears were streaming from my eyes. I couldn't let this stand. I had to put them down. I had to.

I stepped right up to the edge of the fence in a stupor and raised my rifle. I heard the pop of a round go off. Then another. But they weren't my rounds. I turned toward the house as I heard her scream, "Get away from my children!" She fired again and this time I felt the tug and burn as a bullet tore the skin and clothing of my right leg. I rolled to the left and got to a knee as this woman ran towards me. I took careful aim as I shouted, "Stop lady! I don't want to hurt you! Stop!" She raised her rifle. My bullet struck and she fell.

The children - zombies - had gathered at the edge of the fence closest to me. They were moaning and scraping trying to get at me. It was an awful high pitched moan unlike any I had heard previously. I stood. My right leg was beginning to hurt but it was not what I was thinking about. I went to the fence once again, raised my rifle, and...

When it was done I went to the woman and retrieved her rifle. It was just a small semi-automatic .22LR. I was running severely low on ammunition myself so I thought it best to keep it. Walking into the house I figured out what had happened to the rest of the neighborhood. The kitchen was filled with all the food stuffs from the surrounding homes. There was far more than I could carry so I loaded my pack with what it could handle. I then went into the living room where I made another horrifying discovery.

There was a fireplace on the wall. It was filled with bones. Next to the hearth was a large chest freezer. I didn't want to open it because I was fairly certain of what I would find. I had to be sure though. As I raised the lid I had to fight back the vomit and tears induced by the smell. It was full of more bodies to be burned. I am sure they were the residents of the neighborhood and any other zombie - or person - who had threatened the "children" here at Rita's Daycare.

I completed the search of the house finding a couple thousand .22LR rounds and some much needed medical supplies to treat the wound on my leg. It wasn't bad but with the condition of my clothes I would have to keep a close eye on it to prevent infection. I limped wearily back to Jan's. I haven't slept the two nights since. I keep seeing the faces of those kids in my mind. It will pass - I hope.

She speaks!

The girl has spoken! The girl - I should say Bianca. Her name is Bianca. She's 11 years old. I finally got her to talk by blatantly cheating at a board game we were playing. She just shouted out, "That's cheating!" Her outburst even startled herself.

I started asking her some generic questions about what she likes and things like that to try and ease her into conversation again before I got into anything heavy. Bianca likes puppies more than cats. She also thinks vanilla ice cream is way better than chocolate even if it is just "plain". Then I - it was so hard to ask this sweet little girl but I had to know what had happened to her in case there was any information that would help all of us survive. I turned on a digital recorder I had picked up from one of our scouting trips. Here it is in her own words.

"It was dark."

"It's okay Bianca. We're here and we're safe now." She looked from Jan to me and then she began again.

"It had been dark for a few days. There was no electricity. My Mom and Dad - they had put boards up on the windows and on the front door. It was late but we were waiting up. We were waiting up for Daddy to get home. He went out to get some food for us and Mom said we could wait for him to get back before we went to bed. She was in the kitchen walking back and forth by the door. She wasn't even looking at me any more. She was just saying, 'Bring him home. Bring him home," over and over again. Daddy had been gone a really long time."

She paused and looked down at the floor.

"Daddy came home. He came to the back door in a hurry. He was bleeding. He was bleeding a lot. There were the monsters following him. Mom almost couldn't close the door because they were trying to push in. Daddy was on the floor in the kitchen. He stopped moving. Mom turned around when she got the door closed. She got down on the floor and held Daddy. She was crying a lot. Daddy started to move again - but - "

She begins to cry.

"It wasn't Daddy anymore. He became a monster too! He started to hurt Mom. She punched and kicked but he was biting her. Mom grabbed a big knife and started stabbing. She stabbed and stabbed until the daddy monster stopped. Mom was bleeding so bad. She came to me. She put the knife in my hand and said, 'You hide sweety. You go and you hide. Mommy's not going to be okay for very long and you need to hide from the monsters.' I ran and found a place to hide. I heard Mom going out the back door and then I heard a bang and a hissing sound. I hid. I crawled far back into my place and I hid."

At that point she broke down. She cried for what seemed like hours and then she slept.

Jan explained to me that the bang and hiss that Bianca had heard was a flare that her mother had shot up. It was her mothers last act to try and attract some one's attention to save her little girl. It worked. That flare is what brought Jan.

Bianca. The poor child. I can't imagine how she could have survived such a thing. I hope when she wakes up she'll still be willing talk to us. I hope she'll forgive us for asking her to tell the story.

The Facility.

The military facility was a disturbing place. I learned some very helpful information though.

I arrived at the building around 10am. I had some implements that I thought would be helpful in breaking into the building. Turns out I didn't need most of them. My first thought was to get on the roof somehow and go in through the ventilation system. I was able to get in the building next door and get to its roof. The alleyway between that building and the government facility was only six feet wide max. I could jump that. On my way up I noticed shuffling noises from many of the rooms. I didn't stop to check any of them out. I made it out on the roof and walked to the edge facing the government facility. From 5 stories up that six foot gap looked more like 60. I couldn't bring myself to jump. I worked my way back down. I had moved fairly rapidly down to the first floor but I tripped on a rug in the hall and was immediately rewarded with a moan from behind the nearest apartment door followed by pounding. The moan was quickly echoed by others in nearby rooms and a cacophony of door beating and zombie moans began. The sound filled the whole building in seconds. I made it to the side door of the building and I looked out the window to see a detachment of soldiers rushing out a side door of the government facility. I ducked back a bit and watched as they circled around to the front of the building I was in. As the last man exited the door slowly sung closed but did not latch! I bolted across the alley just as I heard the soldiers enter the apartment building.

I ducked in to the government facility. The lights were bright and the floors were surprisingly clean. The building looked to have been a court house. I started down the first hallway stopping to peer into the rooms that I passed. I saw one that had a big desk with an air duct directly over it. I slipped in and climbed on the desk. I pulled the vent cover off with the multi tool I had brought along. Reaching into the duct I began to pull myself up. It's not like they show in movies. The whole duct work was coated in dirt and grime. It was disgusting. I managed to get myself in but every slight move made the thin metal ducting pop and bulge. This was obviously not going to work. I climbed down and headed for the door. Just as I was about to go back into the hallway I heard steps in. I ducked down and listened.

"Gather up the men that are still in the building. Bring them down to the holding cells. The Lab Coats say they got something to show us."

"Yes sir."

The two men passed and I stood up and peered out. If this information was important to them it would be important to me too. I needed to get to the holding cells. I stepped out and began searching the nearby rooms for anything. I came across what looked to be a makeshift supply room. There were uniforms! The movie style duct crawl didn't work but perhaps this would. I slipped into one leaving the supplies that I had brought in the closet of the room. I looked down and realized my face and hands were a mess but the uniform was spotless. I quickly headed back to the room with the desk and duct. I crawled in and rolled around a bit. That made the uniform dirty enough to match the rest of me.

I stepped back out and began to roam the halls. It didn't take long to run into a group of soldiers.

"What the hell happened to you private?"

"The damn Lab Coats had me working on ducts sir." I replied in my best military voice.

"Well shit. You can shower up when we're done. Fall in. We're heading down to the cells for a tutorial," he scoffed.

I stepped in with the men and we headed to a stairwell. We went all the way down to the basement and entered the holding cells through a security gate. It was like some strange Devil's laboratory or something down there. They had zombies in all states of dismemberment from fingers gone to nothing left but a head. And they were all still trying to to bite. Zombies were hooked up to machines. They were being operated on. And at some of the stations it just looked like they were torturing them just for the hell of it. We were led into a sectioned off cell at the back of the room. There was a zombie chained to a wall in the cell behind what I am assuming was a one way mirror because it didn't seem to react to us. The zombie had a hastily stitched ragged wound on its neck. The Lab Coat began his spiel.

"Gentlemen we've made an important tactical discovery. Please watch this monitor. Johnson."

He motioned to another Lab Coat who turned out the lights. The monitor showed a green image of the zombie in the cell.

"Now as you see the Uncle-David does not react when the lights are switched off. Now see what happens when we send in a live one."

On the monitor we see a Lab Coat enter the room wearing what I assume are night vision goggles. As soon as he's in the zombie reacts. It's mouth opens and it begins reaching for the Lab Coat. As the Lab Coat moves around the room the zombie follows. Watching this I figure out what the neck wound on the zombie is: they cut out it's voice box.

"As you can see gentlemen the Uncle-Davids can still attack very effectively even in the dark. We believe that whatever is causing the transformation makes these creatures rely equally on all there senses. Unlike us they don't rely extensively on sight. This makes them especially dangerous at night. Because of this we are suggesting that all night operations be suspended. It's just too dangerous."

The lights came on and the captain or whatever he was took in this information and rolled it around in his head.

"We'll take that under advisement. Is that all you got."

"Yes sir. We thought it warranted immediate attention."

"Shit, we already knew they were dangerous in the dark. Let's go boys."

We all turned and headed out of the holding cell labs. When upstairs the captain told the men to get some grub and told me to hit the showers. I turned and started toward the supply room.

"Where the hell you going private? Showers not that way."

I froze in my tracks. I turned and with all the composure I could muster said, "Left my tools out. Need to clean up my work space, sir."

"Make it quick. We ain't holding up grub for one soldier."

Once out of sight I went to the supply room and gathered my gear. On my way out through the side door I could see flashes and hear gun fire in the rooms of the third floor of the building next door. I made my way back to Jan's as fast as I could. It was getting dark and after what I just saw I didn't want to be caught outside.

Government Intervention.

It looks like the government is still involved. Jan and I went scouting for supplies last night and we ran into a little surprise. We rounded a corner coming out of an abandoned storage facility and we spotted a large military vehicle. A modern version of a deuce and a half basically with a cage built onto the back portion. We ducked behind a burnt out car and watched. What I saw I couldn't believe. It was just like Jan had told me. There were soldiers rounding up zombies! They were using what looked to be modified dog catcher gear to wrangle them into the truck. Three soldiers stood guard while two gathered the "herd". One remained in the drivers seat. As we watched they filled the truck with the last couple that would fit. They all mounted up and headed out.

"We have to find out where they're going." I found my self spurting out.

"They could kill us," was Jan's response, "We'd better keep our distance and keep quite."

We started after them. The roads were so littered with debris that the truck was having a slow go of it. They didn't stop for things in the way though they just relied on the makeshift ram on the front of there truck to nudge things to the side. For once I was thankful for the traffic in LA.

The crew didn't have to go to far. They entered an underground parking structure at a federal research building not more than a mile and a half from where we had been. We waited about 30 minutes. We could hear the soldiers unloading the zombie cargo from our hiding position across the street.

"We should go in and check it out."

"No. We need to get back to the girl. We know where it is. We can come back."

Jan was right one of us would have to check it out alone while one of us stayed with the girl. We weren't set up with the right equipment for breaking and entering anyway. We will do it later.

I am prepping now for my return to the government complex right now. I will relay what I find on my return. I have put my password for this blog in an envelope for Jan that she is to open in two days time if I don't return. Please check back soon as I hope to be the one writing you with more information and hopefully some answers.

I can't believe what happened. It was horrible. I had to kill someone. Jan and I managed to get my things over to her apartment. We got everything set up and I was able to get reconnected to my pirated Internet. Everything was going fine. It was nice to have other people around to talk to. After a few days I decided to go back to my place for some kerosene that I had left there for the generator. I told Jan to stay and I would go alone. No sense risking more than necessary.

I headed out to my place. It was an uneventful trip. A few Draggers and that was about it. I didn't even have to confront any of them. I got the kerosene and loaded it onto my cart and started back. About halfway to Jan's place I was walking past an alleyway when suddenly I was on the ground. I turned around and my eye sight was hazy. There was a figure. It rushed me and as it came into focus I saw what it was. It was not a Thorpe it was a man and he had a pipe! He swung at me just as I rolled out of the way. The pipe struck the concrete and sparked. I scrambled to my feet and the man turned towards me.

"What are you doing?! Stop! We can help each other!"

He just lunged at me again with the pipe swinging wildly. I side stepped and with out thought I pulled my pick/hatchet from my belt and swung it. It sunk deep into the back of the man's head and he went down twitching. I didn't know what to do. I rolled him over. I shook him - shouted at him. There was no response. I had killed him. A man not a zombie. I had no choice. As I stood in disbelief the moans of the undead slowly started to register in my ears.

I started to come out of the fog of what I had just done and realized that the shouting and struggle had attracted zombies from all directions. I grabbed my cart and started to run. I only made it about half a block when I remembered the pick/hatchet. I turned back and sprinted for the body leaving the cart where it lay. I retrieved the implement and turned for the cart when a Thorpe grabbed hold of me. It flung me to the ground and I dropped the pick/hatchet. I struggled with it for what seemed like an eternity. I got hold of it by the chin and held it at arms length. My free hand searched the ground around me until it grasped the earlier attackers pipe. I struck the Thorpe in the temple sending it sprawling. I stood up and was filled with such confusion, rage, and fear that I pummeled it until there was little left of the head. I then pulled my pistol from it's flap holster and dispatched the Draggers that were close enough to be a danger. I rapidly made my way back to Jan's.

I still have not fully shaken the feeling that washed over me when I took his life. I don't know if I ever will. I don't know if I ever should...

Damn Fine Espresso.

I made the next meeting with Jan on time. We met at the coffee shop as planned. I gotta tell you Jan makes a mean espresso. Probably the best I've ever had. Maybe that's because I haven't had any for quite some time. I am sorry for the length of time between posts. Things got a little crazy after the espresso.

Jan and I were finishing our cups in the cafe when a couple of zombies wandered up to the gate. Not a big deal. Just a couple of draggers right? I went over with my pick/hatchet and decided to dispatch them quietly so as not to attract any others. It seemed simple enough. Don't underestimate these things. I stepped up to the gate and swung through a gap and struck the nearest one square in the head. It went down before I could pull the pick free. As I struggled with the pick the other one had a surge of speed and grabbed me! It started pulling my arm towards its' mouth. I put my foot on the bars and tried to pull back. I heard something pop and felt a tingling shoot through my ankle and foot. As I screamed in pain Jan's shotgun rang out loud and clear. The zombie fell to the ground headless and I pried its' cold hand off my arm. Jan helped me up. I tried to put weight on my right leg but pain rocketed through my ankle.

"We gotta get you to my place and fast. That gun shot will draw more of them."

Jan was right. Her place was closer than mine and she had to take care of the girl. I couldn't ask her to help me all the way to my apartment. We headed out the back door; which she had a key for; and through a couple of alleys. We could here a crowd of them moaning and gathering at the coffee shop as we put distance behind us. We made it to Jan's apartment without encountering any more of the undead. Once there she got some ice for my ankle and took a look. It seemed to be just a dislocated bone in the ankle. At least that's what she thought from her time spent at the doctors from sports injuries sustained over the years. Jan had been a competitive soccer player in her younger days. We decided - or rather she decided and I was in no condition to argue - that I needed to stay there for at least two weeks to let it heal completely so that I could run if need be when I left.

The stay did give me time to get to know Jan a little bit. As I said she was a competitive soccer player. Apparently she even played professionally for eight years. She gave it up because her knees and ankle were taking a serious beating and she wanted to quit before she permanently affected her mobility. She ended up going into video editing - working mostly on sports videos. She had a partner who had owned the coffee shop we were at. Her name was Launa. Launa had come home from work early a few months ago and said she had been attacked by a crazed homeless man outside the shop. She had a bite wound. She rapidly deteriorated. Launa was the first zombie Jan had to dispatch. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been for her. Jan has just been trying to stay alive ever since. I can still see the competitor in her. She will never give up until the final whistle blows.

The girl living with Jan was another story. She is thin and pale. Must only be about 12. I wasn't able to coax anything out of her as far as words but I did eventually get her to sit with me. We even drew a picture together. It was a bear with a hat and thick glasses. It made her smile a little.

I healed up enough that I was able to convince Jan to let me head back to my place. We are planning to meet again this Tuesday. After much debate she has convinced me that I should stay with them. I will gather my things over the next couple of days and we will move them on Tuesday. The last thing I did before leaving was to tell Jan about this blog. We will continue to report anything we learn. Hopefully the next post won't be so long coming.

Second meeting.

After a couple of days of unbearable anxiety I suited up and started on my way to meet Jan. As I rounded a corner I ran into a horde of zombies! There must have been twenty of them grouped together devouring the remains of something - or someone. I tried to make it back to cover but one of them spotted me and let out that terrible moaning shriek that they make. The others looked up and spotted me as well. I had to think fast as they approached. Luckily they were all draggers (the name I gave to the slower ones) and there were no Thorpe's (fast ones) in the group. I scrambled for a nearby van that had a ladder leading to the roof. I climbed up and took up a firing position on the roof. I started to pick them off one by one but they were soon shaking the van which made it very difficult to get a shot off. There were only four left so I decided to use an alternative means of dispatching them. I had started carrying along a small hatchet/pick as a back up weapon to my firearms and had not yet used it for such purposes. I pulled it from my belt and started hacking away at them from the roof. It was not as effective as I had hoped. I was just severing pieces off them. Fingers, ears, eyes. Very gruesome. I managed to get a square hit and sunk the hatchet deep into the skull of one of them but as it fell it pulled me off the roof! I struggled to my feet as fast as I could. The others were closing in. I had to step on the things face so I could pull the hatchet from it's skull. I spun as I pulled the weapon into action and just swung wildly. The pick end connected with the temple of the nearest one and went in deep, re-killing it instantly. Surprisingly the pick pulled free with ease. Bingo! I dropped the other three rapidly with this newly gained weapons knowledge. I don't know why I didn't think to use the pick initially. More focused force and less drag upon retrieval. I hoofed it out of there. All the commotion was drawing more zombies.

I made it to the meet with Jan. I was about thirty minutes behind. I caught her just as she was coming out of the camping shop. She screamed and swung her shotgun up to the ready!
"Don't shoot me! NO! Please!"
Her eyes widened. She lowered the gun slowly. "What happened?"
I looked down at myself. I was covered in gore. To here I must have looked dead. I explained what had held me up. We went back inside the store and barricaded the front door so we could relax somewhat. She sat me down. I didn't realize how shaken up I had been by the encounter. I was trembling. She got out some disinfecting wipes and cleaned me up while I told her everything I knew. I told her about the soldiers and Mitch. I told her about the draggers and Thorpe's. I told her about the announcements to not harbor the sick just before the soldiers pulled out of the neighborhood. She told me about a team she had seen collecting the zombies and transporting small groups of them in trucks. She said she had a young girl at her apartment. She had found her in a neighboring house bloody and frightened. She had been hiding in an air duct with a bloody kitchen knife and it took Jan several hours to coax her out. The girl has been at Jan's apartment for two weeks but still has not said a word. Then she told me about raiders. Groups of men who she had seen break in to other places where survivors were staying. That's why she was so cautious at our first meeting. She wasn't sure if I was a scout for them. She finished cleaning me up as best she could and she said she needed to get back to the girl. We grabbed some supplies and headed out with the plan to meet in two days time at a coffee shop a block from the camping store. Apparently the espresso machine still works.

Others.

I have been scrounging for fuel and food for a little over a week since my last post. I have had to go further and further each time. It has taken me into nearby neighborhoods. But last night I found another survivor during my search! She was in a camping store that I was scouring for useful items. I came around the end of an aisle and there she was...with her shotgun aimed at my head! "Not dead!" was all I could think to say. It worked. She slowly lowered her gun and asked me my name. Her name is Jan. She lives not far from the store where we were. She would not give me an exact address. I can't say that our meeting sparked an instant friendship. She was very cautious the whole time. I asked her how long it had been since she had seen a soldier. She said two weeks. So it appears they have left the city. If things continue I will have to try and make it out of the city to see if this has spread further. She gathered some things and began to leave. She refused to come with me or let me go with her but I did get her to agree to meet at that store again in two days. Our meeting is scheduled for noon. I hope to exchange information about what is happening with her. See if she knows anything I do not. I am very anxious about it. I didn't not realize how much I missed other people. We'll see what happens. Until then good luck.

Spreading.

The Power has gone out. The patrols of soldiers have all but stopped. The dead growing in number every time I look out my boarded windows. It must be spreading. It must have gotten beyond my neighborhood now. You are probably wondering how I am posting if the power is out. I had to acquire a generator. It took some time. I had to scout several different places to find one. I was finally able to get one and some kerosene to run it about a mile from my apartment. I used my cart that I constructed for the disposal of Mitch's body to haul it back. It was not easy. The city is infested. On the way I had to drop 5 of the shuffling zombies. Still no fast ones like Mitch. Luckily one of them was a former soldier and still had his gear on. I scoured the body and came up with three magazines for my rifle and two pistol magazines. As I moved further I came across a woman. She was injured badly. I tried to help her. I couldn't stop the bleeding. It was just pouring from a would in her chest. I tried every thing I could. I think she had injured her lung. She couldn't get enough breath to speak. She just bled more and more. She was - I couldn't save her. She died there in the street. I had to move on. I had to get that generator. It took me a while to load it securely onto my cart. And unfortunately I had to break the windows of the store to get in so there was nothing keeping the zom's out. They started to shuffle in just as I got the last of the kerosene secured. I had to put three more down on the way out. I was high tailing it through the alleys back to my apartment. The cart hit a pot hole and over turned. As I was righting it I looked up to see the women from earlier! She was stirring! Had I left her too soon? No. She turned to me and I saw those dead vacant eyes. Then she bared her teeth and sprinted at me! Sprinted! She reached me before I could get my rifle off the ground where I had set it down to right the cart. She was on top of me trying with full human strength to devour me. I struggled on the ground with her. We rolled toward a garage in the alley. I struck her head against the wall of the garage several times. The last time I struck the wall was slick from her blood and her head slid to the side and wedged between the building and a fence post. She was still struggling to grab me. I drew my pistol and shot her point blank. She was so fast. I got back to my apartment as fast as possible. I am still unsure of what transmits this plague so I disinfected myself and gear with a healthy dose of bleach. I have been thinking since I got back about the speed of her and Mitch's attack. I think that when first reanimated the zombie have all the speed of there human form but it must quickly dwindle because being dead they can not regenerate the muscle and connective tissues once they start to deteriorate from use. If the outbreak has reached your area please leave me a comment. Stay alive and stay inside.

Disposal.

I had to get rid of Mitch's body. I knew I needed to get it fairly far away from my apartment in case another patrol found it and decided to retaliate in some fashion. I'd hate to be killed by the living when there is a plague of the undead out there. I also needed food and other supplies. I was completely out. I wrapped the body-I don't want to think of him as Mitch any more- in my plastic shower curtain and some cellophane. I tried to seal it as much as possible because I am still not sure what the cause of this is and how it is transmitted. I believe the bite wound he had was the major cause but I prefer to be overly cautious these days. It's amazing how heavy a body is! In movies they just fling them over there shoulder and move on. It was almost impossible to lift it from the floor. And once I did get it lifted I realized there was no way I was getting down the steps and several blocks away with it. I do Pilate's and Yoga but flexibility and toned looking muscles didn't really help in this situation. You'd have to be the hulk to fling 6' adult male over your shoulder without help! I had to rig a contraption out of the top of my coffee table and the wheels from my desk chair. I tied an extension cord to one end so I could loop it around me and pull "cot" behind my while keeping two hands on the rifle. My rifle now I guess; along with his pistol and gear. I disinfected all of it as best I could with the little bleach and disinfecting wipes I had left before I strapped it all on. I rolled the body onto the "cot" and slowly made my way down stairs. Once there I brought the body to an alley two blocks away. I rolled it off the cot and turned to leave the alley and head a block further down to a grocery when I spotted a zombie (slow again unlike Mitch) coming down the street. I ducked back into the alley and looked down at the rifle. I gave myself a quick mental refresher on how it worked and turned back into the street. I raised the rifle and clicked the safety off and lined up the optic. I shakily pulled the tricked. I missed! I fired again and struck the zombie in the shoulder. The third round hit the head and put it down. Another thing they don't tell you in movies: head shots on moving targets are extremely hard! I heard moans from all directions. Other ones must have heard the shots and now they were headed this way. I turned and started jogging toward the store. I saw a couple more on the way but they were far enough off that I didn't want to risk missing more and wasting ammo since they didn't pose an immediate threat. I got to the store and of course it was locked. I almost broke the glass but then I realized if I did that anything could get in. I looked around and noticed the cart return that lead into the store. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled through the carts. In the hast to leave they had forgotten to lock the gate on the cart return. I was in! The store was a little torn up but not bad. they must have locked up early in the crisis. I filled my cot with supplies and tied it down with some rope from the home supplies section. On my way out I spotted a zombie on the farthest check out lane. She was just running a can back and forth over the scanner. Methodical and continuous. I climbed back out the cart return and pulled the gate on it down so it looked locked. There were a few zoms waiting for me out front. I got around most of them (again they were slow) and had to shoot two (it only took me three rounds for these two). I made it back. I am not sure why MitchZom was so fast and all the other have been slow. I have to get some rest now. I'm fading fast. The patrols are almost non-existent now but the zombies are growing in number. Stay inside unless you have no choice. Look back soon for more info.

Attacked but alive.

He-he-tried to kill me! Mitch attacked me! He was there on the couch under some blankets. He was so sick he could hardly move. He had just been getting worse since I let him in. He was there. Barely breathing--then he stopped breathing. He was dead. I checked. Breathing, pulse, he was dead. I covered him with the blankets. I turned to go to the bedroom for some rope to tie the blanket around him so I could carry him out. When I got back in the living room he sat up! Bolt upright! He looked at me with the same cold glossy eyes I've seen on the others...on Nick... Then he leaped to his feet and charged at me! He was trying with everything e had to bite me. He was so fast-not like Nick or Mr. Wong or any of the others I've seen. He was as fast as any normal person. I was able to catch his biting mouth with the rope I had between my hands. I swung him down to the floor and rushed passed him. I grabbed his rifle that was standing in the corner and turned back just in time to fire a shot into his head. He dropped to the floor. He was so fast-he was dead-how can that be? I was in shock. I almost didn't get the fire out before it got out of control. Mitch-that thing that used to be Mitch-was so close to the gun when it went off that his shirt and hair caught on fire. I had to pull the boards off one of my windows to clear the smoke. I can't deny it or explain it any other way any more. Mitch was dead. He wasn't breathing-no heart beat-nothing. Then he was back. "It" came back and it tried to kill me. There is no other name for them...Zombies. The dead walk the earth.

I'm making progress with the soldier. PFC Mitchell. "Call me Mitch." I convinced him to at least show me how to use his weapons so if something gets in we can both fight. He is not looking well. I still haven't gotten a good look at his wound. What really disturbs me though is what he's telling me about what's going on. He is saying--I can't even wrap my head around it-- He's claims-or rather the military claims-these people that are affected are--zombies. Yeah. I don't know. It seems unreal but-- I've seen soldiers shoot them multiple times to no effect until someone zeroed in on the head. It can't be real. What caused it? Why here? If it is what he says...God help us.

Sorry this post has been so long coming. The banging on my door turned out to be a soldier! His patrol was attacked by a horde of these things and he was the only one who made it out (so he says). He was injured on the arm. He won't let me see the wound but I will try to grab a picture of it when he's asleep. I am also writing this from the bathroom. I can't let him know I have a line of communication out. I don't know what he'll do. He's armed and seems very unstable. I am trying to get him to surrender at least his side arm to me. No luck yet. He still seem fatigued from his encounter. I will keep you posted on the situation. Stay inside--and try to arm yourself just in case something gets in.

They just announced on the bull horn that individuals should not harbor the sick or the dead. What the hell is that? You shouldn't take care of people in need?! This has to be

THERE WAS JUST A POUNDING ON MY DOOR! Bakc soon

Pictures and encounters.

I can't believe--it was crazy--it was horrible. I went out in search of a camera. I just thought I would sneak in to some near-by store. I was on my way when I passed Nick's apartment. The door had been kicked in. Forcefully. I went in just to see if he was alright. I couldn't find anyone inside. I found blood--blood and bullet holes. Nick-- I had to compose myself and get out of there. I remembered as on the way out that Nick was a bit of a photographer. I made a quick sweep of the office and found his camera bag then I headed to the door. Nick was there. He turned towards me. All I could look at were his eyes--oh god--they were blank. There was nothing in them--no soul. He started towards me. I tried to talk to him. He wouldn't stop his plodding approach. His skin was a sick gray...he wouldn't respond to me calling his name. He made a clumsy grab at me and--I can't believe I'm saying this--he tried to take a bite of my arm. I'm sorry Nick. I pushed him off and swung the camera bag with all the strength I had in me. It hit with such force it caved in the side of his head. I ran. I made it back to my apartment. I'm alive--Nick--Nick's... I had no choice. I had to... I made it back inside. The camera didn't make it. It had smashed in the impact. I was able to find a cable in the bag though that allowed me to run some pictures from my phone onto the page. He's a soldier I saw just outside my apartment buildings laundry room.




The encounter with Nick--that thing was not Nick--whatever it was was horrible. It was--I can't even explain it to you. Just stay inside and I will try to get more info to you. Keep checking my posts.

Escalating.

I've made it out two more times since my last post. The patrols have been stepped up---and so has the gunfire. I don't know what to think. On my last trip out I saw Mr. Wong, a neighbor. A friend. They shot him. Those bastards shot him! He looked like the others I've seen them shoot. Pale and unresponsive. He was my friend. I had the man over for dinner not two weeks ago. Now he's gone. I'm not sure it was him any more though. Those vacant eyes... Last night they got on a bull horn and issued a warning. They said anyone seen on the street is subject to termination. How can they do that? What is going on here? I have to try and get some sort of digital camera or camcorder to get pictures up so you can see what is happening. They are claiming that they will bring food and to all the residents. I have not seen any evidence of this yet. There was pounding on my boarded windows last night. It continued until I heard gunfire then it subsided. This morning there was a bullet hole in one of the boards. My confidence in the governments ability to protect me is rapidly depleting. That's all I have right now. Hopefully I will be able to show some images soon. I will try for a camera and some food under the cover of darkness tonight.

It took a few days for the patrols to lighten up around my apartment so that I could get out. At about midnight last night I slipped out. I didn't make it far before I spotted one of the patrols. It was just like I said before. Men, soldiers by the way they carried themselves, in HAZ-MAT suits carrying M4 rifles. They appeared to be watching an alleyway. It didn't take long to find out why. A man about mid-thirties I would guess came out of the alley. He looked bad; sickly and pale and his eyes were...blank. The soldiers told him to stop. His only response was to moan and begin a clumsy charge. They opened fire, the soldiers. They shot him multiple times. He seemed unaffected by it. It didn't even slow him down. He grabbed the nearest soldier. He seemed to be trying to, I don't know, bite the soldier... The second soldier raised his gun and at point blank range fired one round through the man's head. The man died. He was dead then. It was the only shot that seemed to have any effect. It was so...there was so much blood...but it didn't seem to flow from his body. It wasn't like normal blood. It almost looked gelled or coagulated. I didn't stick around after that. I bolted back to my apartment. I have been trying to figure out what happened; what I should write. It was horrible. Whatever is going on here it is not what they are telling you on TV. It is not a chemical spill or toxic leak. It is an attack...a virus...a phenomenon. I don't know what it is yet but I will find out.

It is happening.

If anyone can read this I am writing to inform you that something is happening in LA. The government has quarantined my neighborhood. I am not sure what is happening yet. There appears to be a hostile and possibly contagious happening here. The government technicians are all in HAZ-MAT suits and are not seen anywhere without a firearm. What I do know is that we are being forced to remain in our homes and are advised to board up any windows and lock all doors. The news is saying it's a toxic spill of some kind but I'm not buying it. Do they really need to shoot the toxic waste into submission? I don't think so. The government guerrillas seemed to have cut off communication fairly effectively. I tried posting on FaceBook and tried calling but nothing seems to be making it out. I am using an illegal connection I made and a new computer to create this blog in hopes it will slip by them. They don't want to tell people what's going on here but I am going to find out.