The Move.

Sorry for the long delay between posts. The move has taken up all our time. We are getting established in our new stronghold - for now. We've been spending our days reinforcing our current dwelling and gathering supplies. We made the actual move fairly rapidly with a few stops along the way for supplies. There was a very close call though, with an interesting outcome.

After a lot of deliberation we decided we should try and get a vehicle for the move. I scouted around the neighborhood and found one that was suitable. A medium size SUV that started when I tried it. I then spent the next couple of hours syphoning all the gasoline I could from the other vehicles around the area. I was able to fill the tank of the SUV and have almost five gallons left over. We planned a route that would take us past some shopping areas on our way out of the city to a smaller suburb. We planned on grabbing anything we could from the stores we passed. Once in the suburb we would begin fortifying a free standing house.

We loaded the SUV (a slow process as we tried to avoid the amassing undead) and started out. The SUV was running fine and we were making good time. We had to crash through some debris and ride up on some sidewalks to get around some pile-ups but everything was holding together.

We made our first stop at a grocery store. That wasn't much left inside but we managed to scrounge a little. We left the SUV running with Bianca inside. Didn't want to chance it not starting if we needed a quick get away. (The car never seems to start in movies so we figured why chance it.) There was the usual amount of undead activity but they were all draggers so we evaded them without confrontation.

Our next stop was a hardware store about a half mile away. It was a small shop so I decided to go in alone. There were the usual wheel barrows, garden tools, and a couple of storage sheds out front. The area seemed to be very quite. I couldn't see or hear any zombies. I took this as a good sign and began looking through the store. As I gathered a good armful of kerosene cans I heard a noise outside the front of the store. I cautiously approached the front doors. As I stepped out I saw that one of the tool sheds out front was open and there were noises coming from the other. There was a shout from behind me. I turned and side-stepped - right onto a rake. It was like a cartoon. The rake flew up and hit me in the side of the head and I went down, kerosene cans crashing. As I went down I saw the other tool shed burst open and a thorpe come rushing out. I hit me head again on something when I went to the ground and blacked out.

The next thing I remember is waking up with the man who had tried to rob our last home hovering over me! I pushed him away shouting furiously. Bianca quickly came into view holding me and calming me. I was in the back of the SUV and we were moving. Bianca explained to me that the man (Kevin is his name) had saved me. He had been sleeping in one of the storage sheds when I went into the hardware store. He heard me and came out to see what was going on. He saw the SUV and began to approach it just as I came out of the hardware store. He turned and shouted a warning to me to not go near the other shed. That's what startled me and caused the run in with the rake. He shot the thorpe that came out of the shed and then dragged me to the SUV.

"Thanks for not killing me...I would have died for sure if you had just turned me out after what I did to you. You didn't have to. Thanks." That was all Kevin said for the remainder of the day. He spent the rest of the drive with his head down in a trance-like state. The next day he offered up that the Thorpe in the shed had been his girlfriend. She had been bitten. After a long discussion they agreed that she should be locked up in the shed if he wasn't going to be able to dispatch her because she couldn't kill herself.

Kevin has been working along side of us for several days now. I still don't fully trust him but then again I wasn't actually awake to see him risk his life for me. The headache from the fall is finally starting to go away. We have a pretty good house here. There is a strong 7ft chain link fence and all the first story windows and doors have been reinforced. I think we can hold out here for a while. I will have more details on our new location as they become available. Stay safe.

The Report.

I have now completely read through the report obtained from the facility. I couldn't understand all of he scientific information but I understood enough to know what happened.

Three months before the outbreak in Los Angeles the United States Department of Defense had made a discovery in a cave deep in the mountains of Afghanistan. On a routine raid of a cave thought to be a hiding place of insurgents a team of soldiers encountered a group of unarmed men. They were stumbling about and appeared to be eating raw animal flesh of some sort. Upon spotting the soldiers the men turned their attention away from what they were eating and began advancing on the soldiers while moaning incessantly. The soldiers fired upon the men but the rounds seemed to have little to no effect. The advance continued until one of the soldiers was set upon by several of the assailants. They immediately began consuming the soldier. In the ensuing chaos one of the soldiers discovered that shoots to the head were a sure way to put the assailants down. After a fast and bloody encounter the soldiers retrieved the lifeless body of their fallen comrade and they began the trek back to base. At the halfway mark of the march the lifeless soldier began to move in his body bag. The soldiers having seen what they had just seen were careful to restrain the body before opening the bag. When they opened the bag the soldier inside was moaning the same moan as the men in the cave. The verified by his pulse that he was indeed dead. Restraining him thoroughly they hoofed it back to base where they reported their findings.

The next morning they along with their lifeless companion were airlifted back to a lab outside of Los Angeles. The fallen soldier was recorded as Patient Zero. From that point on the team that brought in Patient Zero was assigned to the research facility as subjects and guards. From there it goes on to detail experimentation with patients one through nineteen. Some of these subjects were animals some were people. Most of them were just exposed to Patient Zero by proximity. Some of the animals were injected with fluids from Patient Zero but showed no symptoms or reaction that would correlate to Patient Zero's condition. The experimentation went on for nearly three months.

Then it got interesting. Apparently many of the research staff lived in the Los Angeles area. After a weekend off one of the lead scientists returned to the lab early on Monday morning. She discovered blood soaked rags in a co-workers trash can. That worker had been tasked with drawing blood and saliva samples the Friday before. Reviewing the security footage the lead researcher discovered that the worker had been bitten on the shoulder while collecting the samples. Reviewing the incident report from the soldiers at the cave she became, as the document put it, "very concerned". She immediately tried contacting him at home but received no answer. After spending the rest of that day and half of the next trying to get authorization to go into city limits with a containment team she received confirmation that here request had been granted. The lab worker became Patient 20. The soldiers from the cave were tasked with guarding the lab while a special containment team was flown in. The containment team went in only to discover that the "infection" had already begun spreading. They quarantined neighborhoods but no matter how they tried it always seemed to slip beyond there barriers. The last entry in the file is from the lead researcher. She reports going back to the lab to collect equipment to relocate to the facility that I have reported on. When she arrived at the lab the team of soldiers from the cave were A.W.O.L. and patient zero had been executed with a single round to the head.

That's all the information that was not to technical for me to report. It's unsettling to think that this was all brought to our shores by our own government. We are going to go on the move now so it may be a while before my next entry. I hope this information can help all of you in some way.

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.