Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24381191-20140527174403

Day 78

Today we found many useful items. Not exactly many, but more than we had gathered from any other house. The house we robbed had eight cans of food (beans, fruit), some vegetables that were close to being spoiled, we found another flashlight, batteries which were really needed, three bottles filled with ice ( It was probably water that froze when it all started) and this journal. I was bored all the time so I figured why not take it, I could write in this to pass the time. We usually didn’t take anything unnecessary, but if I didn’t do something I would die of boredom.

Today, as we walked through the snow covered world, I felt odd, as if I was being watched. I asked the other four if they felt this way. Jason, Zach and Emily said yes, but Greg said he didn’t feel that way at all. Maybe we were just imagining it…

When we entered our grocery store/hideout, we found that Ben (My brother)and Kyle ( Emily’s brother) had fallen asleep. They were probably starving as we had told them not to eat the food we had previously stored. They could have water but they were not to touch our other supplies save of the lantern(We were surprised that we found an oil lantern and had enough oil for it) we used for light, if it was burning out they could relight it. We washed the vegetables wasting as less water as we could, then we cooked them and ate them. We sat around for a while. We didn’t talk much ever since it started although in the beginning we conversed considerably more, sharing jokes, recounting memories, we had hope that the military would end it, save everyone. But they never came.

As time progressed on, our hope steadily declined. People died all around us, including our parents. We became certain we weren’t going to be saved. We fended for ourselves, we gathered supplies and protected each other.

After sometime of sitting in the warmth of the boarded up grocery store, Zach nodded off, then Emily. A short while after Greg too, couldn’t hold off his sleepiness. Kyle and Ben had long since fallen asleep.

In the end it was me and Jason. We blew out the lantern and tried to doze off.

Day 78, Night

I couldn’t sleep. This was not unusual for me. I spent most nights sitting wide awake, peering out the hole in the boards. Tonight was not much different.

After a few attempts at sleeping in vain, I lit a small flame in the lantern, urinated in an empty can, and then sat by the boarded up window. I stuck my head against the wood and looked out the hole. Even though the glass on the window was frosted, I could make out what went on outside.

A blizzard raged on outside our sanctuary, our safe haven. Tomorrow, we would have trouble leaving our hideout, let alone trudge through the store toward our next destination for supplies.

Day 79

I was right. It took us a while to even make enough space to get out of the store, let alone trudge to the clothes shop for more layers. Even with three sweaters, a jacket, a muffler, a ski mask and a woolen cap on, the cold still seeped through our layers, making us shiver. Our clothes allowed limited movement but kept us warmer than we would have been if we wore less of them.

The last news broadcast informed us that the temperature was -10 degrees Celsius. It had gotten colder since then.

We tried to open the door, but as I expected, it was frozen in place. We were lucky it was a glass door. I kicked in the door. It shattered whilst it made a loud sound. We turned our heads, eyes searched our surroundings, hoping no monster had heard the sound. When we were certain they didn’t notice it, we went on into the store. We took woolen clothes that fitted us. Emily and I went to the section for kids so we could get clothes for our brothers.

After a while, Emily asked me “David, Did you hear that?” I made a confused face and shook my head. Then I heard it. It sounded like an animal’s moan. Emily looked at me. We had both heard it. We raised our handguns and walked toward its origin. We heard it again, it was a cat’s “meow.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Emily relaxed her hand, but I didn’t. The beasts’ babies were known to make sounds similar to a cat’s. I peeked under a shelf.

<p class="MsoNormal">I saw the face, it did not resemble the black, gorilla-like face of the creatures, instead, it was a cat, a tabby. It was extremely frail. Beside it lay curled up three kittens, same kind of cats as their mother.

<p class="MsoNormal">I lifted the grown cat. Its ribs were visible. It struggled, but not much. It soon relaxed in the warmth of my woolen gloves.

<p class="MsoNormal">Emily asked me what it was. She squatted down and picked up one of the kittens. I called the others. We put the kittens into socks, their head stuck out. It may seem cruel, but it was to keep them warm. We wrapped the mother in warm clothes. We took them home.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kyle and Ben were really excited to see them. Looking at them smiling and stroking the kittens’ back brought me joy. You don’t get to see many moments like these anymore, so you enjoy them while you can.

<p class="MsoNormal">I went out the back door, and searched in the snow for our bags of meat and fish. It was sort of our way of freezing and preserving them. I found them and took two strips of fish out. We were saving them, but these cats needed it more. I tied a knot in the plastic bag and buried it in the snow again.

<p class="MsoNormal">As I was leaving, I noticed a snow covered car parked just outside the alley. I had never noticed it before. I had seen many abandoned cars but this one I hadn’t seen before. Maybe I just hadn’t noticed it before. I ignored it and went inside.

<p class="MsoNormal">Greg lit two candles with matches as I put the fish fillets on a pan and held it above the two flames. My arm hurt and I only heated it enough for it to be edible by the cats. I blew out the candles and opened the back door for some of the smoke to escape. I closed it after a few seconds as it was really cold.

<p class="MsoNormal">I gave one fillet to the mother and the other for the kittens to share. I poured a bowl of milk for them and I took a long drink out of the carton. Nobody said anything, things like these didn’t bother us hat

<p class="MsoNormal">We sat around in the light of the lantern while Kyle and Ben stroked the kittens, their mother watched over them and I was busy writing this. All I ate were two protein bars.

<p class="MsoNormal">Day 79, Night

<p class="MsoNormal">As usual, I lay wide awake on the cold while everybody else slept. I felt a pair of small paws on my face. I was startled, then I realised that it was one of the kittens. I fumbled for my small pocket flashlight, and when I found it, shone it onto the floor. I didn’t shine it on the kitten as it would hurt its eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">The kitten stepped back, for some reason I smiled. I got up from bed and began my regular charade. I lit the lantern, took a piss, grabbed this journal and sat by the boarded window.

<p class="MsoNormal">The kitten curled up in my lap, and its eyes shut. The other two were sleeping cuddled up next to their mother.

<p class="MsoNormal">Outside, few flakes of snow dropped onto and the silhouette of a beast moved in the distance. Its jaw jutted out. Its white fur appeared a dark shade in the dim light of the partially hidden moon.

<p class="MsoNormal">Day 82

<p class="MsoNormal">The past three days were unworthy of recording. Little to nothing happened. We did not leave the grocery store. We had enough supplies to last us some while. Although some day, these were going to run out. What would we do then?

<p class="MsoNormal">The cat and kittens had regained their health. Toda we did go out. We went to a supermarket.

<p class="MsoNormal">Many food items had already expired so we had to be careful in what we took.

<p class="MsoNormal">But that wasn’t the highlight of today. When we were trudging in the snow, we heard a whimpering. I followed it ignoring the other’s rejections at me checking it out.

<p class="MsoNormal">A black dog, frail and bony was half buried in the crisp snow. It could have just gotten out, but it was too weak. It was suffering from hypothermia. The poor dog shook violently in the cold. His head drooped down and touched the snow. When he saw us, he tried to lift his head, but because of weakness was unable to do so. It also let out a small moan.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We need to put it out of its misery.” I don’t remember who said that, but I wanted to kill them for saying such a thing. Alas, they were right.

<p class="MsoNormal">The only reason why didn’t want to do it was that I was a huge animal lover, and I had a pet dog that was consumed by a beast when the invasion started.

<p class="MsoNormal">I petted the dog’s head. I said something to him. I think it was “Good boy.” I raised the gun to its head. The barrel touched it’s skull. It’s pupil’s moved toward me, a pained look in them. I fought back tears.

<p class="MsoNormal">When the trigger was pulled, a deafening sound erupted. I had expected the recoil of the gun but wasn’t ready for it.

<p class="MsoNormal">The white ice was painted crimson. Our eyes scanned the surroundings but nothing shifted except the pale, grey clouds in the grey sky.

<p class="MsoNormal">After that we went to the supermarket. We took as many food items as we could carry and went back to our hideout.

<p class="MsoNormal">Day 82, Night

<p class="MsoNormal">While scanning the surroundings at night, I made a terrible realization. The snow-covered car I had seen before wasn’t a car, it was one of the beasts. I realized this as a beast was wandering outside our store this night. It was the same size as the car, which made me realize this. It may have gotten a glimpse of me, but hopefully not, these creatures’ eyesight was terrible, they relied mostly on their sense of hearing and smell.

<p class="MsoNormal">When I saw it, I couldn’t believe a beast had ventured so close go our hideout, and fear set in my bones, my mind could not think of another thing but the fear of losing our home to a beast, it would be a miracle if I can catch some sleep.

<p class="MsoNormal">Day 83

<p class="MsoNormal">The black blood on my gloves has dried but from it emanates the most repulsive and disgusting odor, but before I forget, I have to jot this down.

<p class="MsoNormal">There were some things that we wanted to get from the supermarket that we didn’t take because we couldn’t carry. Today we went there again.

<p class="MsoNormal">After taking the objects, we were about to leave, when I heard a small purr-like sound. I stopped to listen. The others noticed this and called me but I told them to shut up. I listened. There it was again. I followed it down to an aisle that was trashed.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was in the corner, behind a mound of ripped milk cartons. When I approached it, my shoes made a thud on the floor and it, hearing it, crawled back. A baby of the beasts. The others scanned the supermarket, no adult roamed around, it had probably gone scavenging for food.

<p class="MsoNormal">I slowly stretched my arm behind the cartons. It swung with its claw, but its claws hadn’t become sharp yet. I pulled my arm back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“David, let’s go!” I didn’t respond to the slightly annoyed yell at me. Instead I put my hand on the back of the baby and started to stroke its fur. It crawled out of the back of the carton mound, its paws made small ripples in the puddle of stale milk. It was as big as my forearm.

<p class="MsoNormal">My friends watched in awe-struck silence as the beast began to trust me.

<p class="MsoNormal">I continued to stroke its back as it grew comfortable with my touch. Slowly, gently, I brought my hand up on its furry little body. It might have been cute, if it had not been blessed with the cream colored gorilla head. My hatred for its race took over and I let my anger control my actions.

<p class="MsoNormal">My grip around its neck tightened. It let out a squeak and struggled against my grip. Its efforts were in vain, it was only a couple of days old and not very powerful.

<p class="MsoNormal">It strenuously opened its drool filled mouth. The small points of fangs poked out of its gums. Saliva dripped out of its mouth and into the puddle of milk as a choking sound escaped its throat. I dropped my bag of food and clutched its throat with my free hand.

<p class="MsoNormal">I lifted it by the neck with both hands, its hind legs swayed lifelessly beside it, but I knew it still had some life in it. I dragged my right hand upwards on its body and clutched its head. With pure hatred and aggression, I thrust its skull downwards.

<p class="MsoNormal">I felt oddly euphoric as I heard the crunch of the beast’s skull shatter, as it splintered into multiple pieces of bone. I sat staring at the corpse for a while, then I swiftly picked up my backpack and ran out, yelling to my friends, “Let’s go! Its mother will be here soon!” They knew I was right but for a minute they stood there, eyes wide and mouth hanging open at the horror I had committed. They might not even have believed that someone like me would do that had they not witnessed it.

<p class="MsoNormal">After a while, they followed me home.

<p class="MsoNormal">Once there, Emily scolded me, “Are you nuts?! Why would you kill it? What is wrong with you?!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Flabbergasted at her outburst, I yelled in reply “You’re the one that’s nuts! That thing destroyed your life! It killed your parents, everyone you loved, and now you’re defending it?!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“It didn’t do any of that! Other beasts did! This was just a baby!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s race did that, though, didn’t it?” Emily saw no point in arguing further with me, and knew that it would only attract attention, but I wouldn’t admit my mistake. If it wasn’t for me, that thing would have grown up and become a killing machine like the others.

<p class="MsoNormal">Day 86

<p class="MsoNormal">We set out again today for supplies. There weren’t many places left nearby to go to, so we had to travel farther. It was already hard enough to trudge in the deep snow even when we didn’t have to travel far. Now it was just hell.

<p class="MsoNormal">When we reached the building, the wearisome sensation I had after the first few minutes of walking had intensified into a burning pain. I felt like I couldn’t take one more step if my life depended on it.

<p class="MsoNormal">After a few minutes of kneeling in the snow and labored breathing, I turned my head upwards toward the derelict building in front of me. The name had faded off, in its place a single letter. An ‘S.’ Once a bold red, now just an irregular outline. The door had been torn down, a hole in the wall, bigger than the door, replaced it, undoubtedly a beast attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">We headed inside. A putrid stench greeted us. Even through the ski-masks, the stink incited us to gag. <ac_metadata title="I&#039;ve started a pasta, feedback requested."> </ac_metadata>