Literature
MY FAVORITE PET ENDED THE WORLD!
I don't even know how to begin this story, other than, I can't believe this even happened in the first place. The destruction, the death, the suffering, it all happened. You might be wondering what the hell I'm going on about. Well, that's going to require some context. But first, I think we should start with an introduction. My name is Eric Mason, I'm 18 years old and I currently live by myself in a suburban house in Austin, Texas. I work 6 hours a day, 4 days a week at a pretty decent job as an Uber driver. I say it's decent because I do get the occasional "bad customer" every once in a while. Let me tell you, you have no idea how many times I wanted to rip someone's head off after hearing the phrase "I want to speak to your manager" over 100 times. However, I always have to bury that thought over the fact that the pay for this job was enough to keep the roof over my head. On the bright side, I do love to have conversations with competent people. Talk about our lives, where they're going, what they're doing, etc. It may have its downsides but it pays well so I can't complain. Anyway, enough about me, let's just get to the point. I was born on October 17, 2012, around 2 years after what most people call, "The Infection". For those who don't know, at least from what I've gathered during my research, around March of 2010, there was this big outbreak of some deadly infection that caused people to go completely cannibalistic, at least, that's what I heard. Before the end of high school, I was supposed to do a research project on a famous disease. I've been hearing about this infection for a while and decided to do a project on that. So for the past few weeks or so I've been trying to find information regarding this "infection". For some reason, however, not a lot of people like to talk about the incident, and when they do, they usually don't give a lot of information about it, or at least anything new. They don't know the details behind the transformations or how the infection started in the first place or even where it came from. It's probably because they either don't remember or they don't want to remember. Finding information online is a no-go either, sure there are multiple perspectives on the situation but any information regarding the origin of the infection has been wiped from the internet. So I had no choice but to give up searching for it and just do a project about the bubonic plague instead. At least we have useful information about that one. Little did I know, however, that I eventually would find answers to those questions, but not in the way you think. It was around a few months after I had graduated high school, I had earned enough money to purchase a 3 bathroom, 4 bedroom house with an attic to boot. I was nearing the end of the process of moving into it, my furniture was all in place, my food was in the right storage, my miscellaneous stuff was stored in the right places, and my bills were set. All I had left to do was move the extra boxes and furniture into the attic. They were mostly full of stuff I didn't know what to do with, like decorations for holidays, office supplies, and some old chairs, tables, cabinets, etc I wanted to keep but couldn't fit anywhere in my house for now. It took around 20 minutes to move all those boxes one at a time since most were heavy, and even longer due to all the heavy furniture, but I won't go into all that. But after all the lifting, pushing, and pulling, I felt absolutely drained and decided to sit down on a nearby chair to take a breather as well as to take a look around the attic. I've never been up here for longer than a few seconds so I've never had the chance to look around. The attic was around 1600 square feet, which was perfect for the amount of stuff I had, which was a lot, to say the least. But as I was looking around, I saw something that caught my eye. It looked like a broken floorboard. I thought it made sense since I did buy this house after it was reconstructed after the infection, so I figured they forgot to fix it. I thought I could just fix it myself, so after getting all the tools I needed out of the garage and going back up the attic, I put my gloves on and cut at the end of the wood until it finally broke off. After clearing away all the sawdust, I noticed something was underneath the floor. After using my flashlight to shine in the hole, I discovered that the “thing” inside the hole was a box. It looked old, so old that if you were to touch it, it would disintegrate. I had to cut through a few more planks of wood to get to it and after a while of sawing and clearing away even more sawdust, I could finally access the box. I carefully picked it up and thankfully, it did not disintegrate. The box didn’t feel heavy but I could tell there was definitely something in it. Looking at it all around, I noticed there was writing on the front side of it, it read "Evidence of the past". "Evidence of the past? What does that mean?" I thought to myself. I put the box down and opened it. Inside was…..an odd variety of things: A stuffed animal of a Fox, specifically a Red Fox. The colors looked faded and it was covered in dust, probably due to it being in that box for so long. A stuffed animal of a Desert Cottontail Rabbit in the same condition as the fox. A standard-size, broken, and rusted bunny cage. Inside it were two plastic bowls and a plastic house. They both looked faded and, again, covered in dust. A broken picture frame. In the picture is what appeared to be a little boy around 12 years old hugging what appeared to be a bunny that looked almost identical to the stuffed version. It looked like it was young. A blue, normal-size journal. It too looked old and faded due to age. After looking at it closer, it also looked like the owner originally wrote a different title, scribbled over it, and then wrote something new. From what I could tell, it looked like they originally wrote "Fun memories to come" and instead wrote, "If you want the answers, please read this". I was really confused. Why was all of this stuff stored in a box in my attic? Why were the titles so cryptic? "The answers"? The answers to what? I thought that maybe the rest of the stuff will give me clues so I decided to examine the things more closely. The two stuffed animals didn't give me anything new in terms of their appearance, but as I was examining them more closely, I noticed a tag on each of them that read "From Texavet Hospital: We are sorry for your loss." The only different thing was the date. The date on the bunny was March 26, 2010, but the date on the fox said "February 4th, 2010". These stuffed animals were over 13 years old. I decided to start looking into the name “Texavet”. After looking on the internet, I discovered that Texavet was a veterinarian located in Magnolia, nearly an hour away. So the stuffed animals are probably replicas of someone's pets that died? This was good but I decided to keep digging. I looked at the photo and, at first glance, aside from the frame being broken and the glass being cracked, nothing was wrong with it. I then took the photo out of the frame and inspected it. Again, aside from being dusty, it was in decent condition. I then looked at the back and saw a date written on it, "2/4/2010" or "February 4th, 2010". This photo is also over 13 years old and yet it somehow was in better condition than the stuffed animals. But what could the date mean? I then remembered the date on the stuffed animal and finally figured it out. February 4, 2010 - March 26th, 2010 was the time from when the bunny was born/adopted to when it died. But what about the fox? It had a date when it died but not when it was born. But there was one thing that opened up my mind to a whole new possibility, the death date of the rabbit. March 26, 2010. Then I remember the research I did on the infection that happened. Most sources say that the infection took place near the end of March. I figured this must've been a coincidence, there's no way these things are related right? But then I remembered that there was one thing I could analyze next, the journal. I sat down in the chair, opened it, and began to read. For the sake of everyone being able to read this, I'll translate the entries onto my computer, along with the rest of this story. The entries have all been translated into the following format: Month/Day/Year: Entry # Insert Entry Here Let's begin…… 2/3/2010: Entry 1. My name is Elijah Anderson, but you can call me Eli. I'm a boy, by the way. I know that sounds like a girl's name but, my mom came up with it and I guess it just stuck with me. Plus, tons of boys have girl names so I didn't think it was weird. I live in a plain suburban house in Magnolia, Texas with my mom and dad. My mom works at the housing market and my dad works at a car manufacturing facility, so I usually have to be babysat by my neighbor John. Luckily, I'm pretty self-sufficient and can take care of myself pretty well, but I know John is here to look after me. I don't have many friends or hobbies, but I do like to draw on occasion. I'm in 6th grade in school and I have pretty good grades. Pretty soon I'll be on my way to high school. I should probably stop rambling and just get to my point. My 13th birthday just passed, it was really fun, me and my family went to the arcade. We played games, won so many prizes, had a pizza party to end it all, and of course the presents. I got things that any normal kid would find boring like clothes to things a kid would go crazy to have like a PlayStation 3. My grandpa got me that one, he has a lot of money. But the thing I was most excited to see was a journal. I was so excited to have one because growing up, I was always nervous around other people, and it was hard for me to express myself, so I figure writing down my thoughts in a journal would help me. Seems to be working so far. We just got home half an hour ago and I've been busy setting up my PS3 to write anything. But, hey! Better late than never. I gotta go, my mom is calling me, I'll be right back. 2/3/2010: Entry 2. I'm so excited for tomorrow! My mom told me that I have another present coming tomorrow! I asked her what it was but she told me it was a surprise. I wonder what it could be. Maybe it's another video game for my PS3. The only games I got were Cars 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Minecraft. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I'm gonna go play one of my games. I can't wait to see what my other present will be. 2/4/2010: Entry 3. I'm at a loss for words. My parents came home from work today and told me they were surprised. They told me I was ready for the responsibility, so they got me a Bunny! Not only that, they got me a bunny cage. It has everything: a small wheel, a water dispenser, a little plastic house, a food bowl, and even bunny food! My parents helped set it up with me and I've been watching it play for hours. I don't know what I'm going to call it yet, though. I figured it out later. Right now, I should probably feed it. 2/4/2010: Entry 4. It took me a while but I've finally come up with a name. I decided to name my bunny: Fluffies. It might be a weird name, but my parents like it, so that's what I'm going with. I realized I neglected to tell you what Fluffies look like. According to my parents, Fluffies is a medium-sized cottontail. He's a buff-brown color lined with black above and white below. He has relatively long ears and, like most rabbits, is quick on his feet( I learned that last one the hard way when my cat first saw him). So far I like fluffies. I feed him, give him water, and I have to take him outside every once in a while to use the bathroom. My favorite part about him so far is that whenever I'm laying on my bed, he likes to lie on my stomach. It's super cute, especially when he falls asleep on me. I let Fluffies play with a few of my old stuffed animals I don't play with anymore, which was a great idea, he likes to cuddle with them all day. 2/5/2010: Entry 5 My parents bought Fluffies some bunny toys from the store. A little plastic log he can climb through, a stuffed carrot he could chew on, and many more. I just love watching him play in his cage, it's so cute! I hope my parents will allow me to take him out of his cage. I'd love for him to run around my room. 2/5/2010: Entry 6 I asked my parents if I could take Fluffies out of the cage, and they said YES! They said as long as I keep an eye on him and don't let him get hurt or destroy anything, then I could take him out whenever I want. I took him out and put him on the floor. I watched him explore my room for a few minutes, watching him interact with a lot of things. I did have to stop him from chewing on my tv cord a few times, though. But other than that, it's been really fun. 2/6/2010: Entry 7 As I said before, I am in 8th grade. And unfortunately, I have school after my birthday, which I honestly forgot about. I asked my parents if I could bring fluffies to school, but they said they didn't want fluffies to run away during school. Luckily I was able to take a picture of him before I left. I showed it to everyone I knew when I got to school and they all thought Fluffies was so cute that they all wanted to see him in person(or in this case "bunny"). I hope my parents will allow me to bring him one day. I got to go, school is about to start. 2/6/2010: Entry 8 Got back home from school. Thankfully my parents were home that day to take care of Fluffies. Thankfully summer break is in a couple of weeks so I'll get to see Fluffies a lot more. I got to go, though, I have homework to work on. 2/10/2010: Entry 9 Sorry for the lack of entries as of late, school has just been a bit much for me lately, so I haven't had time to write anything down. But long story short, I got all my homework done and ready for the weekend with Fluffies. I should go feed him, he must be hungry. 2/11/2010: Entry 10 I decided to bring Fluffies outside my room to help him get a layout of the house. He's been hopping around and sniffing everything. He even managed to get down the stairs all by himself, which was surprising. Unfortunately, my cat, Mittens, tried to chase Ruffles around the house. I managed to stop Mittens from tearing fluffies to pieces and locked him in my mom's room. Serves her right, honestly. Maybe I should have remembered that cats eat bunnies. I'll have to lock her in there more often. Anyway, I showed Fluffies the backyard and watched him hop around for a few minutes taking in nature. We have a huge backyard so I had to keep an eye on him a lot more. He did his business and hopped back inside. I picked him up and brought him back upstairs and into my room. I bet soon enough he'll be able to go outside by himself one day. 2/12/2010: Entry 11 I bought Fluffies outside again. However, something weird happened. While Fluffies was doing his business, I heard what sounded like a rustling bush. I checked all of the bushes in my yard until I finally found the source. Turns out it was my neighbor's pet fox. My neighbor called him Vegard, but I call him Foxy. He's a nice fox. My neighbor got him around 5 years ago. He enjoys playing with me whenever we see each other but I still didn't want him potentially eating Fluffies so I took him back inside. I didn't want to take any chances. 2/17/2010: Entry 12 Once again, sorry for the lack of entries, I was just way too busy with school, more than usual this week. Luckily, though, I'm now on spring break so I can now relax with my family, as well as play with Fluffies. I'll also be uploading more entries as much as I can. I don't have much else to do this time, so I'm going to take a nap. I need one. 2/16/2010: Entry 13 Fluffies have been getting around the house a lot easier. My parents even installed a little door for him to get outside on his own (Their jobs pay well). I still feel the need to keep an eye on him though. One thing I noticed today was that Foxy wasn't here today. I shrugged it off though, as John tends to keep him inside his yard for at least one day. I'll probably see him tomorrow. 2/19/2010: Entry 14 I took Fluffies outside again. I decided to see if Foxy was still here but when I checked his usual spot, he wasn't there. That's when I noticed something else that was weird. I couldn't hear anything coming from John's yard. I took a quick peek over the top of the fence, and there was nothing there. No sign that Foxy was ever here. I thought that was a little unusual, as John usually keeps him inside for at least one day. I decided to wait one more day before getting all paranoid. Maybe he just wanted to spend more time with him. 2/20/2010: Entry 15 I checked on Foxy today, and still no sign of him. Now I was still getting a little worried. I asked my mom where Foxy was, but she said she didn't know. She said she'll give John a call later today to see what was wrong. I hope Foxy is ok. 2/20/2010: Entry 16 My mom called John a few minutes ago. Turns out Foxy has been at the vet for the past couple of days. She told me that John told her that he has distemper. From what I learned online, Distemper is caused by a virus that can infect dogs, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and large cats such as lions and tigers. The virus infects the lungs, airways, nose, and eyes, and can also infect the brain and suppress the immune system. Distemper can cause serious illness and death in these animals. That got me seriously worried, I know Foxy belonged to John but, deep down, he still felt like part of the family. I need to take my mind off of this, I might go play with Fluffies again. He always seems to cheer me up. 2/21/2010: Entry 17 I've been in my room all day. I just haven't been in the best mood to do anything today. My mom called me while she was at work and told me something that sunk my mood. Foxy didn't make it. The distemper was too much for me to handle. John came over today, he wanted to bury Foxy in his usual spot in our yard since that was his favorite place. I just couldn't say no. We spent the next few minutes digging a sizable hole in the spot, laying his body in it, and filling it back up. I told John I was sorry for his loss. He said not to worry about it and then left. Needless to say, I've been bummed today. I could tell Fluffies knew, he's been cuddling with me all day, Trying to make me feel better. It's been working a little bit. But I still can't help but feel sorry for Foxy. 2/24/2010: Entry 18 It's been about 3 days since Foxy died. I haven't been in the mood to write anything. Not that I could since nothing interesting has been happening. Things have just been quiet, John hasn't spoken to us in a few days. Which is understandable, I mean, if I lost Fluffies, I wouldn't want to talk to anyone for a few days either. That's kind of it. I'll probably take a little break from writing any more updates. I need to get my mind off of this. 3/1/2010: Entry 19 As I said, I've been taking a break for a bit. Luckily, I've been feeling a little bit better. But I still can't help but think about Foxy. My Parents wanted to cheer me up, so they are taking me to the arcade. I got to get ready. I'll write again when I get back. 3/1/2010: Entry 20 I know I said I'd write again when I get back, but there is something I need to get off my mind. I was outside looking for my shoes, and I could've sworn I heard something. It sounded like a muffled roar. I tried looking for the source but I could find it. After a while, though, I thought it was probably John's TV playing from his house. He was probably watching a zombie movie or something. 3/1/2010: Entry 21 I just got back from the arcade. It was really fun, we must've been there for hours playing games and winning prizes. My favorite game at the arcade was "The Big Brass Wheel". It was this big wheel that was added to the arcade around 2 years ago. You spin it and can win from 3 to over 1000 tickets! I always loved blowing my points on that game to win a bunch of tickets. I managed to win a giant stuffed dolphin using that strategy, my parents were impressed with me. One more thing I should mention is the muffled moaning I've been hearing. I originally thought it was John's TV playing from his house, but his lights are off and why would he watch TV this late at night? I'm starting to think something weird is going on. 3/4/2010: Entry 22 I told my dad about the muffled groaning I'd been hearing. He said he'd check it out when he gets home from work. I was able to find where the groaning was coming from. It was coming from……where Foxy was buried. 3/4/2010: Entry 23: A lot of things happened in the span of a few seconds, although it feels like hours. I told Dad where the moaning was coming from. He got a shovel from out of the shed and began digging. In a few minutes, we uncovered the source of the noise. And what it was continues to mess with my head even right now. It was Foxy. He was alive. He was MOVING!! He was acting aggressively and foaming at the mouth, struggling to break free of the dirt. But the worst part was how he looked. He looked absolutely disgusting, he looked rotting and decomposing. And yet he was still alive. My dad ran next door to get John, while I kept an eye on Foxy. Unfortunately, he managed to break free of the dirt, revealing the rest of his body. It looked just as disgusting as his head. I stepped back in fear, hoping that he wouldn't hurt me. But instead, he charged and lept onto me. He was trying to bite my neck but I used my hands to stop him from doing so. He was also trying to tear at my body, but my clothes prevented him from scratching me. I called for my dad or mom or anyone that could help me. However, my cries were interrupted by the sound of a shotgun blast and the sight of Foxy's head being blown to pieces, his blood splattering all over me, and his body finally coming to rest on top of mine. I was usually never afraid of any blood or gore, but those last few moments nearly made me wet myself with fear. My father and John went to check on me, asking me if I was alright, but I did not respond, instead, all I did was sit there, taking in the situation that had just unfolded. They brought me back inside and called a doctor to check if I was hurt. Long story short, I wasn't. No cuts, no bruises, nothing but blood on my face and clothes. I'm currently in the bathtub right now, trying to wash the blood off my body. There's so much of it. 3/5/2010: Entry 24: I couldn't get much sleep last night. I kept thinking about what happened yesterday. It's starting to get to me, it makes me feel like vomiting every time I think of it. If you're wondering, I don't know what Dad or John did with Foxy's body, but quite frankly, I don't care. They freak can burn in the deepest pits of hell for all I care. I need to do something to get my mind off of this (how many times have I said that already). 3/5/2010: Entry 25 John came by earlier today. He wanted to apologize for potentially traumatizing me and gave me a gift as well. It was a stuffed animal of Foxy. He said he got a few from the vet after he was pronounced dead and decided to give me one as well. I'll give him this, aside from the fact it reminded me of one of the most terrifying moments of my life, it was honestly really cute. 3/10/2010: Entry 26 I needed a few days to myself to forget about Foxy. Or at least, the last time I ever saw him. If you are wondering, I kept the Foxy plush on a shelf as a reminder of his life. Other than that, nothing has been happening. I just really needed a break. 3/11/2010: Entry 27 I took Fluffies outside to use the bathroom. I was watching him hop around when he suddenly stopped and began chewing on something in the grass. I thought he was chewing on the grass again. My parents told me rabbits eat grass so I thought it was nature taking its course. That thought changed as I was bathing him (I forgot to mention that I bathe him bi-weekly). As I was scrubbing his face, I dropped the sponge on the floor. As I was picking it up, though, I saw that the water was slightly tinted red. I was immediately freaked out. I checked Fluffies fur, thinking I must've scrubbed at a scab, but I couldn't find anything. I checked the sponge again, but the water was gone. Either the sponge soaked it up or I was seeing things, but either way, I immediately shut off the water, dried off Fluffies, and put him back in his cage. I really hope he didn't eat anything bad. 3/12/2010: Entry 28 I told my parents about what happened with Fluffies yesterday and they decided to call a vet. I'm honestly surprised doctors still make house calls for things this minor. They arrived a few minutes ago and are currently giving Fluffies a check-up. I hope there is nothing wrong with him. 3/12/2010: Entry 29 They finished Fluffle's check-up and, surprisingly, they said there was nothing wrong with him, that he was completely healthy. I told them everything that happened yesterday, but all they said was that it was probably a berry he ate in the yard. But I told them we don't have berries in our yard. So they decided to prescribe him some medication in case anything like this happened again, which we accepted. Oh, and if you're wondering, no, we didn't tell them about Foxy. You're probably wondering why? Well, because who would believe that an adult fox somehow came back to life and tried to attack me? I mean, animals DO attack people sometimes but they don't come back to life. I need to stop thinking so hard about this. I'm going to sneak Fluffies medicine into his food and maybe take a nap. 3/15/2010: Entry 30 It's been a few days, no sign of anything weird going on with Fluffies. He's still healthy, eating, hopping around, etc. I'm still giving him the medicine just in case, though. I still wonder what he was eating last week. I hope it wasn't anything bad. 3/16/2010: Entry 31 It's been about a week, and still, no sign of anything weird going on with Fluffies. Maybe there isn't anything wrong with him after all. I guess the medicine was pointless after all. I should probably still keep it just to be safe, though. 3/19/2010 I've had Fluffies for about a month and a half now, and let me tell you, he's definitely grown. At this point, he's the size of my hand. Other than that, he still hasn't acted out of the ordinary, he still eats, drinks, goes to the bathroom, etc. He still plays well, until he gets tired and I have to put him to bed again. Maybe I was just being paranoid. 3/21/2010: Entry 33. I'm getting a little worried, Fluffies hasn't been coming out of his little house as often as he usually does. I learned online that bunnies don't hibernate, but even if they did, Fluffies usually stays in his house for a few hours a day, now it feels like he's been staying in there for double or even triple the amount of time. Whenever he does come out, he never eats or drinks or anything. I've tried getting him to do anything, but he doesn't even respond to me half the time. I decided to call the doctors, just to see if they knew what was wrong. I told them everything that's been happening and they said it was possibly a side effect from the medicine that they should wear off in a couple of days. I hope they are right about that. 3/25/2010: Entry 34 It's been more than a few days. He still isn't as energized as he used to be. I decided to tell my parents about it, and they said to wait a couple more days before they decide to take him to the vet, just to be sure. I hope he gets better soon. I don't know what I'd do if he were to die. 3/27/2010: Entry 35. Fluffle still isn't moving as much, he's still breathing, thank god, but he's not moving as much. My parents finally had enough and booked an appointment for Fluffies to go to the vet tomorrow. I really hope he makes it. I can't stand the thought of losing him. 3/26/2010: Entry 36 My parents were finally able to take Fluffies to the vet today. They left a few hours ago. I didn't want to see Fluffies in pain any longer, so unfortunately, I didn't go with them. I'll be honest, it's hard to focus without thinking of Fluffies, But my parents said they'll call me once they hear what's wrong with him. I hope he's ok….. 3/26/2010: Entry 37 I just got another call from my parents. They told me something that really dampened my hope. They said that on the way to the vet….Fluffle was acting crazy. Violently shaking and foaming at the mouth……but then stopped moving. At that point, I got too scared to comprehend everything and hung up. I don't know what to do anymore….. 3/26/2010: Entry 38 I got yet another phone call from my parents and…..it only confirmed my worst fears. Fluffies didn't make it. My parents told me the vet said he was pronounced dead on arrival. In a shaky and sad voice, I asked how he died. They said the vet will do an autopsy on him in about 30 minutes. I'll be honest, it's really hard to convey how sad I am right now, I know my parents knew how sad I was. I'll write to you again once my parents call about the vet figuring out how he died. I need time to process this…..a lot of time. 3/26/2010: Entry 39. I've been sitting in my room for the past few hours just thinking about Fluffies. I can't believe he only lived for a month. He was a good little bunny, always energetic, playful, and always brought a smile to my face. I've been trying to figure out how he might've gotten sick, but I can't figure anything out. All I could think of was the fact that all of this started happening after…….Foxy……came back…..to life. Dear god….. 3/26/2010: Entry 40 I think I figured it all out. What Fluffies was eating, what that red stuff was, why Fluffies hasn't been energetic. Fluffies must've eaten a piece of flesh that was blown off of Foxy's head. The meat must've been infected with something that caused his immune system to slowly stop. That red stuff must've been blood that got on his face. I realized I had to tell my parents about this until another thought struck me. I haven't heard from my parents for over 2 hours. 3/26/2010: Entry 41 It's been over 2 and a half hours and I still haven't heard anything from my parents. I thought maybe they got held up, or something, but after trying multiple times to call BOTH of them and getting nothing but sent to voicemail, I've begun to worry again. I've also thought about calling the vet, but I didn't remember which vet they went to. So I did the only thing I could, I called every vet in town. However, every vet either didn't pick up, said they hadn't seen anyone who looks like my parents come in, or thought I was pranking them and threatened to call the police. I was about to give up, that is until I tried calling the last vet on the listings. I rang them up expecting to hear the automated voice messaging system, but…I didn't. Instead, I heard something that made me wish I had just given up trying to call when I had the chance. I heard the sound of a man, panting in a panicked voice. I couldn't hear what he was saying because…. people were screaming in the background, and the sounds of animals roaring. He said something along the lines of, "Please….We need help….Send whoever you can just HELP US!!!". The last thing I heard before the line went down, was roaring, what I assumed what the man being attacked by something and……what sounded like….something being torn from something, all the while the man continued to scream, his screams getting louder and more horrific and sound of tearing becoming more sickening until the line went down. I felt sick to my stomach after listening to that, but somehow I kept it down. I don't know what the heck that was, but now, I was no longer scared, I was fearing for my parent's life. 3/29/2010: Entry 42. It's around 9:30 pm at the time of writing this, and my parents still haven't come home yet. I have been by myself plenty of times before so I wasn't worried about not being able to take care of myself, but that didn't mean I was still terrified of what was going on. So many questions were flooding through my mind: Why did Fluffies die? Where are my parents? What am I going to do? Questions continued to flood so much that I wasn't paying attention to a news report that came on the TV. The news intro flashed before my eyes and I was brought back to reality. Hoping to take my mind off of what was going on, I decided I'd watch until the first commercial break and then go to bed. But then came the first report, "Local Veterinarian Attack By Rabid Animals Leaves 7 Dead." My eyes widened and my attention was stolen. I listened through the entire report. Apparently, from what they said, some of the animals have been attacking and biting people, leaving 7 people dead, including 5 nurses/doctors and 2 civilians. Medical personnel have taken the bodies to the hospital for an autopsy. Surviving doctors and staff claim the attack was caused by a rabid bunny that was earlier believed to be dead. The bunny was thankfully put down by a fellow police officer before it could hurt anyone else. The police are trying their best to handle the situation, but urge everyone to stay calm. The report then showed pictures of the people that died. First the doctors and staff, then the last two. I sat there, shocked and in silence. The last two pictures were of my parents. More questions than ever before began to flood into my head. Rabid Bunny? Bitting? Are people dead? What the hell is going on!? I tried to calm down and began to put the puzzle pieces together, and after a minute or two, finally put two and two together, and after I did, I was horrified. Fluffies was the one behind the attack. He took the lives of my parents and 5 other people. After the realization finally hit me, I sat there on the couch for what felt like hours, before finally breaking down crying. The situation was just too much for me to handle. I then turned off the TV and ran upstairs to my room and started writing to you. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but all I know is, it won't be anything good. 4/5/2010: Entry 43 A lot has happened within the past week, some were debatably good for me, but most were not for others. I'll try to describe it all in as much detail as I can. A police officer came over to my house the day after my parents were killed. He told me to come with him and that he'll explain everything that happened. He took me to the police station for questioning. On the way, I heard another report from one of the officers that came on the radio of the cop car that took me to foster care a few hours after the hospital attack. Multiple ambulances were found wrecked on a highway causing a massive pileup. 9 people were killed in the pile-up. But what makes it even was said next. One of the officers on the scene said that some of the patients that died during the hospital attack…..were moving. Not just moving but attacking people, biting them, and…..ripping their throats. I eventually heard what sounded like groaning, then a scream, then eventually chewing. The officer and I were pretty freaked out after that, he ordered all units to the scene and warned them to be careful. When we got to the station, I was brought into an interview room. It was plain gray, with nothing but a table with two chairs on each side and a big glass window on the left side of the wall. I was told to stay there until we were ready. I must've sat in that chair for what felt like hours taking in the situation around me. Finally, someone entered. A man dressed all in back. He sat down in the chair adjacent to me. He began to ask me questions, questions like my name, date of birth, parent's name, where I was at the time of the incident, anything that might have led to said incident, etc. I told them everything that happened and I was declared innocent. I was then taken to foster care. Because I was 12, I wasn't old enough to stay home alone by myself for longer than a day. I've been here ever since that day. It's been ok so far. I've been getting along with a few kids but I've always become hesitant to tell anyone why I was there in the first place. Yeah, pretty horrifying. And all this because of a bunny. That's all I know about, and after all that's happened, I'm starting to fear the worst. 4/12/2010: Entry 44 I've been at the foster home for about a week now. Not much has happened in terms of anything new. I've made a few friends here at foster care. Their names are James and Maria. James, 14 years old, is here because his parents died in a car crash 6 months ago, however, Maria, 10 years old, told me that her birth parents put her up for adoption because of a divorce due to her father cheating on her mother. At least her parents are still alive. The foster owner is also kind of cool, she is really nice to all of us and tries her best to get us homes. The foster home is really fun, they have toys for kids for toddlers such as blocks, dolls, and stuffed animals, and toys for kids my age such as video game consoles, nerf guns, etc. The food here is also great, my favorite food is chicken nuggets and gelatin (weird combo I know). I don't have much else to say but….I have a feeling that the situation isn't over yet. 4/19/2010: Entry 45 It's been two weeks since I arrived here. I'm sorry I haven't been writing many entries. It's for a couple of reasons though. First, I've been trying to keep up with the news, since and it's not good. There was an incident at the morgue several miles from here. It was discovered that every single victim of the highway pileup and the hospital attack has been coming back to life after they've been reported dead. They've bitten almost everyone at the morgue but, thankfully, the police and medical personnel have managed to capture one of the victims and placed them into study after eliminating all of the others. I nor anyone else have no idea how or why this is happening. Police advised everyone to be calm, saying they will figure this out. I doubt they will. Secondly, I've been having a bit of fun with James and Maria. They've been nice to me, showing me everything around here. I still haven't told them my story though, I just didn't want to lay so much on them. And thirdly, I just wanted a break from everything. I have a few days to wrap my head around everything. I'm going to continue my break for another week or two, but I will write more entries, I promise. I just need a bit more time to process 4/30/2010: Entry 46 Finally! Something good happened to me today. I finally got adopted! I have no idea how it happened so fast but thank god it did. I was taken in by a family known as the Williams. They are in the lobby filling out the paperwork. Before I leave though, I'm going to finally tell James and Maria my story, I think it's time they know. I'll write another update when I leave. 4/30/2010: Entry 47 I'm on my way to my new home with my foster family. Speaking of which, I should probably introduce them. There's my dad, Edward, My mom, Emily, and my 10 and 13-year-old brother and sister, Thomas and Rosie. I've talked to them on our way to my new home and they seem to like me. They heard my story thanks to the foster owner and they hope to help me get through it. I also told James and Amelia my story, and let's just say we exchanged phone numbers after our conversation. 4/30/2010: Entry 48 We arrived at my new foster home, it was around an hour away from my old home but it was still located in Austin, and it was really big and spacious. Edward, or Dad, showed me around the house. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, the backyard, the upstairs, etc. He even showed me to my room, which was way bigger than my old room, with my own bed, tv, toys of different types, etc. Emily, or Mom(I'll never get used to that) is taking us to my old house to collect my stuff from there. Apparently, my old house is being sold. Cant say Im surprised though. 5/3/2010: Entry 49 We were able to finish bringing in all of my stuff from my old house. I've been busy setting up my new room which is why I haven't had time to write anything. I haven't heard any updates about the "Living Dead" situation. Though, I assume that will change soon. I'm going to go spend time with my foster family. 5/5/2010: Entry 50 I've been spending a lot of time with my foster family and I've got to say, they've really delivered on their promise. I can't remember the last time I've ever been happy. We went to the movies, out to dinner, and to the park. I've had lots of fun. It almost makes me hope that everything will turn out ok. 5/6/2010: Entry 51 I was wrong. I was watching Tv with my mom when the news came on. I didn't think much of it and went into the kitchen to get a drink, when my mom called me back into the room, telling me to look at the TV. I did just that and my eyes widened. It was a report about the recent discovery of the bite victim. I try to describe all I can but let's just say things just keep getting worse. During a test on patient zero, it was discovered that the bite from Fluffies contaminated their bloodstream with a bunch of infectious chemicals. These chemicals when tested on other subjects were shown to cause drowsiness, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, respiratory depression, and eventually death. Around 30 minutes after death, the subjects then begin to reanimate, causing severe advanced decomposition, brain death, loss or decreased brain and basic function, such as walking, talking, blindness, deafness, etc. These side effects are random. Subjects have also been shown to be rather aggressive and try to seek out any living individual they can. When a subject comes into contact with a living person, they bite into the person, either going for the neck or head and killing that person, a while later, that victim somehow comes back to life and eventually shows the same symptoms as the first person. Then the cycle repeats. The scientists have yet to find a cure but they say they are working their hardest to find one. That's when I realized, my parents, the hospital personnel, those officers, those innocent people, had fallen victim to the same fate. I sat there, contemplating everything that had happened during the past couple of weeks. All those innocent people are gone because of my pet bunny. My pet who I loved, fed, and played with, caused this whole ordeal. I then broke down crying, the guilt of all those people's deaths clawing away at my heart. My mom tried to comfort me, saying it wasn't my fault, saying I couldn't have known this would happen, but it didn't help, in fact, deep down, it only made me cry even more. I tried to think of what could cause Fluffies to do all this. Was it the food? I made sure to check his food every day, and there was nothing wrong with it. Was it the water? No, I check that too. I was drawing a complete blank here. What caused him to be infected? WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING!?...... I need some time to think. 5/7/2010: Entry 52 I haven't been able to think clearly all day, the severity of the situation as well as the guilt of it all has been wearing down on me. My parents have been trying to cheer me up but nothing has been working, same with my siblings. Scientists still haven't found a cure yet. I doubt they ever will. I've been trying to be hopeful, but it seems like whenever I do, things just keep getting worse. 5/6/2023: Entry 53 My point was proven today. I was in my room watching Tv, when the news came on…Again…….It's getting harder and harder to describe everything, but once again, I'll try. One of the infected test subjects broke free from the lab, it bit and killed 22 doctors, scientists, and everyone. The police tried to handle it but they too were overwhelmed. The total death toll was 40 that day. I turned off the Tv, not wanting to hear any more of this. I've completely given up hope. This whole situation is all my fault from the start. There's no way they'll be able to cure this infection now. Those things are out there. God….Don't let anyone else die. 5/10/2010: Entry 54 There've been recent reports of attacks around the town, with People getting bitten and taken to the hospital. Thankfully the police force from the next town over has been called to help out, but I doubt they'll be able to do anything. 5/11/2010: Entry 55 A military officer came by earlier and gave us some supplies in case things got really bad. Some cans of food, bottles of water, a gun(my dad told me it's an AR-15), and a few boxes of ammo. He said the attacks have been increasing every day, and they need all the help they can get. My parents are starting to think I'm right about all this. 5/12/2010: Entry 56 Mom and Dad left to get more supplies. I begged them not to go, but they said that we won't have enough supplies for everyone in the house. They said all the stores are being raided and they need to act while they still can. They told me to take care of Thomas and Rosie. I doubt they are ever coming back. 5/12/2010: Entry 57 I was right, well, sort of. Let me explain, Edward and Emily, managed to get home. I honestly thought they wouldn't make it back. However, it seems that fate is always coming back to bite me because while they were unloading the car, they were ambushed by a couple of wandering infected. We didn't even see them coming until it was too late. My dad was able to shoot them before they could do any more damage, however, they were both bitten in the process. I had to put them down before they succumbed to the infection. Me, Thomas, and Rosie managed to bring the rest of the supplies into the house before more came. Needless to say, they broke down when they saw what happened to them. I'd say we had enough supplies to last all three of us half a year if we rationed it correctly. 5/12/2010: Entry 58 A thought just occurred to me, I always thought those things were invincible, but my dad was able to put down a couple of them with ease. Can these things…..die? I'm going to be stuck with this thought for a while, aren't I? 5/13/2010: Entry 59 I guess my thought was proven correct. Another news report. The science team still hasn't found a cure for the infection, however, they did tell us something else that could be potentially useful. The heads of the infected are receptive to any sort of trauma. Gunshots, stabs, bludgeonings, etc. Those things may be dangerous, but they aren't as invincible as we think. Let's hope everyone else got the news. 5/14/2010: Entry 60 Not much has happened in the past couple of days, aside from eating, checking the news, and keeping an eye out for the infected. We've had a few stragglers, but nothing we couldn't handle, at least for now. Thomas and Rosie are scared right now, can't say I blame them though. I mean, I'm the only protection they have left. Still, I can't help but wonder if they hate me for what happened. This whole situation is my fault after all. If I had taken better care of Fluffies, none of this would be happening. It's been a couple of days since I had to shoot my parents. Their bodies are still laying against the car. I didn't know what to do with them at the time, the guilt in my body prevented me from doing anything. Maybe I should give them a burial. It's for the best. 5/14/2010: Entry 61 I finally decided to bury my parents in the backyard. It took a while but after some heavy lifting and trying to hold back vomit multiple times. I was finally able to bury them. God, the sight and smell of them were awful. It's hard to even write this down without thinking about it. Thomas and Rosie wanted to help, but I told them I could handle it, plus, I didn't want to put them through any more than they've already been through. 5/15/2010: Entry 62 Nothing much to report here. Same things as the last couple of days. The only difference is that the number of stragglers has slightly increased, at least something tells me they have. 5/16/2010: Entry 63 I….don't believe it. James and Maria! They're alive! They came here a few minutes ago. They looked injured but thankfully alive. I had to let them stay with me, I couldn't just let them die out there. Looks like I'll have to calculate our rations again. 5/16/2010: Entry 64 James and Maria told me their perspectives on the situation. The foster home was overrun by a horde of infected. They were the only ones able to escape. I'm guessing everyone else became the infected's dinner. They said they were able to break through the ventilation system and crawl out of the building. They've been lurking for supplies ever since. Things have gone downhill in the last couple of weeks. Stores, armories, houses, almost everything has been raided. Cars were either wrecked or covered in blood from the owners. Barely anyone is leaving their houses, and if they were, it's probably for the same reason they were. I wonder if this is happening anywhere else in the country. 5/16/2010: Entry 65 I introduced James and Maria to Thomas and Rosie. They seem to be getting along together, right now they're playing Minecraft on my PS3………Another thought just occurred to me, which, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm surprised hasn't until now. But, the electricity has surprisingly lasted a long time. Whoever is managing it right now is a real trooper. It also just occurred to me that the water hasn't been turned off either. It's been nearly a month since any of this started. I don't know how any of this is possible, but it's better to take advantage of it than worry about it. 5/23/2010: Entry 66 Not much has happened over the past week. At least nothing new to write about. James, Emilia, Thomas, and Rosie are still worried about me, saying I'm overworking myself, but if that's what it takes to survive in this world, I'm willing to take the risk. Food and water supplies have been fine for the most part, we still have to make sure we ration it out as best as we can, though. The stragglers, on the other hand, have definitely been increasing. It's been hard keeping up with it, I've had to ask James to help me out with them. Speaking of which, I've also taken the liberty of training James, Emila, Thomas, and Rosie on how to deal with any infection they come across. I figured safety in numbers was one of the keys to survival. It seems to be working so far. 5/27/2010: Entry 67 Sorry if these entries are becoming less frequent. There's just nothing new happening and I don't want these to get so repetitive. I'll keep this short, food and water rations are still good, everyone else in the house is still alive, etc. We are running a bit low on ammo though, I'd say we'll run out by the end of the week…….We may need to take a trip. 5/30/2010: Entry 68 We're out of ammo, blew the last of it trying to kill another horde of infected. James asked me about our plan, and I said I'd come up with one soon. I do have ONE plan, it's extremely risky, but it might work. If we take our parents' car we might be able to go out and raid an armory. The nearest one is about a mile from here, if we hurry we might be able to scavenge the remainder of it for supplies. I'm gonna relay my plan to them, I hope this works. 5/30/2010: Entry 69 I relayed the plan. Responses were mixed. James and Thomas agreed to the idea but Emilia and Rosie were skeptical, saying it might be too risky and put Thomas and Rosies lives in danger. I told her it'd be more dangerous to stay here with no effective way to kill any wandering infected that might come here. Needless to say, she eventually agreed. We are packing any essentials we might need. I hope this plan works. 5/30/2010: Entry 70 We decided that since James is the oldest, he would drive the car. The rest of us would be on the lookout for any infected. James managed to get the car to start and with a bit of time, got a hang of the sensitivity of the gas and brake and was able to figure out how to drive it. We had to look up directions to the armory on my phone. There was one about 10 minutes away called Mcbride’s Guns Inc. It was a perfect place. That's another thing I forgot to mention, the internet went down weeks ago but the cell data seems to still be working, again, I don't know why but as I said before, it's better to use it to our advantage. 5/30/2010: Entry 71 We're here, everyone's ready……let's do this. God, I hope this plan works. 5/30/2010: Entry 72 The mission was…..mixed, to say the least. We managed to get all the ammo, as well as a few guns, we needed. It took a bit of smashing and lock-picking (thanks James) but we did it. Unfortunately, while we were loading the supplies into the car, we were ambushed by a large horde of infected. We managed to close the trunk and got in the car with whatever stuff we still had. But, unfortunately, Maria got overwhelmed by the horde of infections. We tried to help her, but they ended up tearing her apart. God, she was screaming, the sight and sounds ended up making me vomit all over my lap. James floored it out of here before the dead could get us. We were all shaken up, but I was a wreck in particular. I thought the plan would work, instead, it cost one of my friends lives. God, I'm so STUPID!! ……..It's getting late right now. I got to take a night watch. Make sure everyone else is safe. 6/1/2010: Entry 73 I'm pretty freaking tired right now, but it was worth it. A few infected showed, weirdly not as much during the day time. Maybe zombies can't see in the dark? I don't know. James was telling me to take a break again, I told him I was fine and to keep an eye on Thomas and Rosie. Maybe he's right, maybe I do need rest. 6/1/2010: Entry 74 I haven't done much today, James and the others have been covering for me. Checking our rations and keeping an eye out for infected. None so far, but even still, I know for a fact that the number is increasing day by day and there's nothing we can do to stop it. We may be able to slow it down but we can't stop it. 6/2/2010: Entry 75 I don't remember how long it's been since this has happened, but another news report came on. It was a big one, probably to make up for the lack of updates. They say the infection has spread throughout the entire state. Every form of the military has been called to set up borders all around the state to handle the infection and stop the infected from reaching other states. So far they say the death toll is in the thousands. Even if they could figure out a cure now, it would be impossible to distribute it to the entire state with the condition we're in. Food supply is getting low, everywhere. Pretty soon we won't even leave to get more because all the roads and everything would either be destroyed or blocked by those infections. Cell phone signals have been down for a couple of weeks leaving us with limited hope of contacting everyone for help for anyone who doesn't use data. Once again, the electricity and water are still surprisingly going. Although I have a feeling that won't last long either. 6/3/2010: Entry 76 More hordes of infected people showed up. There were so many of them. They ended up breaking the front window of my house. A few of them ended up getting in, but luckily we were able to take care of them. We had to block the broken window with my mom's glass china case. It was heavy, very heavy, but after a few minutes, we managed to push it in front of the window. It might not have been the best blockade, but it was better than nothing. Maybe we could do something with all those bodies. 6/3/2010: Entry 77 Another thought popped into my head. Are any of the neighbors still alive? I've been thinking about this for a while. The neighborhood I live in has approximately 50 houses in total, so surely somebody must still be alive right? I'll check it out tomorrow. 6/4/2010: Entry 78 I told everyone I was going to scavenge the neighborhood looking for survivors. They wanted to come with me, but I told them I didn't want to risk anyone else getting killed. I told them to be careful of any infection that comes by. I'm bringing a gun and a few boxes of ammo, as well as a bat in case I run out of ammo. Let's hope there are survivors out there. 6/4/2010: Entry 79 The first house was a bust. A few infected must have broken through the window. I managed to put them down easily. Couldn't find the owner or anyone else in the house. They're probably either dead or left the house. I did find a few cans of food so I guess that's something. Let's hope I have more luck with the next house. 6/4/2010: Entry 80 It's been an hour so far. I've been through nearly 6 houses so far and found no one, I've only found more food and ammo but no survivors. I'm starting to think this was all hopeless. I'll try 1 or 2 more houses before I call it a day. 6/4/2010: Entry 81 I found a survivor! A girl was hiding in the pantry, nearly taking my head off when I found her. Her name is Rebbeca, a 16-year-old girl. Looks like this mission wasn't a waste of time after all. 6/4/2010: Entry 82 Me and Rebecca have been talking for a few minutes. I never thought I'd meet someone like this. Apparently, she was the only surviving doctor from the day the infection spread. She was angry during the whole story, ranting about how a small rabbit could cause such a disaster. One thing she said though, made me hesitate to tell my story, she said "I hope whoever owned that rabbit was the one who died first!" Needless to say, I'll probably explain everything to her another time. It's getting late anyway. I should get her back to base. 6/4/2010: Entry 83 We managed to get back to the house, putting down a few infected on the way. She was impressed with my efforts, but I told her she'd be more impressed when she meets my friends. When we arrived I introduced him to James, Thomas, and Rosie, who told her everything that happened with us so far. Long story short, she WAS impressed and agreed to join our team. Can't say I blame her, I'd be impressed with a bunch of young kids fending off a bunch of zombies by themselves. 6/5/2010: Entry 84 James and the others have been showing Rebecca around the house while I volunteered to keep a lookout for more infected. So far, I think they really like Rebbeca, I like her too. She seems to have a happy side. She's even good with guns, even keeping a lookout earlier and dominating those infected. I have a feeling she'll be a good part of the team. 6/6/2010: Entry 85 I've been thinking, if I was able to find Rebecca, maybe there are more survivors out there somewhere. Maybe I could take another expedition. Maybe I'll find more people. 6/6/2010: Entry 86 James decided he was going to go instead of me, saying I was overworking myself. He told me to stay and look out for infected people with the rest of the group. I told him I'd be fine but he insisted I stay. Looking back, he did drive the car very well, so I guess he should be fine. Still, I told him to be careful and to come back in an hour just in case. I hope he'll be careful. 6/6/2010: Entry 87 It's been about half an hour since James left. I'm a little nervous about him, but Rebbeca says he'll be fine. Given what she's been told, she seems to think James is a tough kid for his age. I guess she has a point, still, a part of me is worried things will go wrong. I should probably check on Thomas and Rosie. 6/6/2010: Entry 88 It's my fault…..It's all my fault. James is dead…….He's freaking dead……those things tore him apart and it's ALL MY FAULT!!! I need to explain, around 15 minutes ago, I got a phone call from James. He sounded scared and frantic, telling us to help him. I told him to calm down and explain and through his frantic panting he said he was trapped in a pantry in a house a block away and that the infected were on the other side of the door trying to break in. I told him to bar the door with anything he could find. I then heard the sound of metal scraping on the floor. There was a big shelf in the pantry that he used to block the door. I told him I'd be on my way as soon as I could, but I didn't even make it out the door before…..it happened. Large banging noises were heard, sounds that got louder and louder before…..they broke in. Sounds of flesh tearing and screaming shout out through the phone, echoing through the entire house, before the line went down. I stood there for what felt like hours holding that phone, the reality of the situation closing in on me. So much that I couldn't even hear Rebecca, Thomas, and Rosie trying to snap me back to reality. I felt like I couldn't hear anything. Instead, I just dropped my phone and slowly walked upstairs to my room, and began crying of guilt. I'm never allowing anyone else out of the house ever again. 6/6/2010: Entry 89 I was in my room for around 3 hours. Thomas and Rosie have been trying to comfort me, but as much as I say otherwise, it hasn't been helping. Meanwhile, Rebecca has been dealing with the infection. I should probably mention the number of infected people has been increasing lately, and with over 29,000,000 people in Texas, it's honestly surprising that the Texas population hasn't gone extinct by now. I just can't get over James' death. It's all my fault, if I had just stopped him from going out, he would still be alive. Maybe I just need to get some rest, everyone always says I've been overworking myself. 6/7/2010: Entry 90 I finally decided to come out of my room today. I guess the rest was needed after all. Thomas, Rosie, and Rebbeca told me they've been on the lookout for infected so nothing new there. I told them all that it's best we stay here, and only go out for emergencies, that way none of us get killed. Needless to say, they didn't argue with me. 6/7/2010: Entry 91 Another news report came on today, it feels like it's been forever since that happened. Military teams have been dispatched all over the state to hunt down survivors and kill any infected they see. They urge everyone to stay calm and defend themselves with whatever they can until the teams arrive. Any living survivors will be quarantined and then spread out to the surrounding states until the infection can be decontaminated. The others were thrilled when they heard the news, happy that this nightmare would finally be over soon. On the other hand, I have a bad feeling that they won't be able to get here in time. I live in the city of Austin which is around 15 miles northwest of the geographical center of the state. It will take a while for any team to get here. Especially given the fact that Texas is the biggest state in the country. I just hope we can keep our ground until they do. 6/11/2010: Entry 92 It's been a few days since that report came on. Thankfully we have an update on the progress, so far the military team struck El Paso, Sierra Blanca, Van Horn, Marfa, Alpine, Sanderson, Del Rio, Eaglepass, Etc. Pretty much the first few major cities in the state. With the rate they're going, we probably have another week or 2 before they reach Austin. I seriously hope we can last that long. These infected feel like they're getting increasingly difficult for us to handle. 6/13/2010: Entry 93 I haven't had much time to write new entries. I'm seriously starting to think the number of infections is increasing by the day. We still have plenty of ammo left though so we still have a fighting chance. In other news, the military has struck cities like Fort Stockton, Rocksprings, Hondo, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Willbero, etc. I just realized that Georgetown was the last city before Austin. With any luck, they should be here by the end of the week. That is if we survive until then. 6/15/2010: Entry 94 I was right…..they are increasing. We nearly got ambushed by a big horde of them. They managed to break through the window by pushing over the china cabinet. They nearly crushed Thomas during the process, lucky Rebecca saved him just in time, taking out some infected as well. We shot at them for what felt like hours but they just wouldn't stop coming. They started to overwhelm us. I knew I couldn't stop them so I ordered Rebbecca to take whatever weapons and ammo she could find and run upstairs. I then told Rosie to do the same but with any food, she could carry. I and Rebecca continued to shoot at those things. It took a few minutes but we managed to move up the stairs before the dead could overwhelm us. We blocked the entrance to the stairs so the dead can't get up there. Then we killed whatever dead were left on the first floor from the balcony. We're now in my room resting after what just happened. Things have gotten worse than they've ever been before. At this rate, we will be dead before the military finds us. Thankfully, my TV still worked and we were able to hear another update. They reached cities like Benjamin, Snyder, Colorado City, Abilene, Eastland, and most importantly, Georgetown. I guess we don't have long now. 6/16/2010: Entry 95 The dead have infected the house……..we can't hold them off no matter how hard we try. They're clawing at the blockade of the stairs, trying to get in. Some of them have resorted to jumping from the stairs to the rails of the balcony. Some of them succeed, some don't. Either way, I don't think we can handle them anymore. We have to find somewhere else to hide. 6/16/2010: Entry 96 We're trapped…..they've surrounded us. We're the only ones left. We're screwed. We're freaking screwed. The dead managed to break through the blockade. We had to grab what we had and climb to the attic. We lost Thomas and Rosie. Thomas tripped and tumbled off the ladder, bringing Rosie down with him. I don't need to tell you what happened next. I can still hear their screams of pain and agony in my head. They won't go away. I and Rebbeca are the only ones left up here. We don't have food or water or enough ammo to kill any dead down there. We tried looking for something to break the walls to get out, but we haven't found anything yet. Even if we did, though the dead have surrounded our house and we'd just be stuck on the roof. It'd be pointless but it'd be better than starving to death in my attic. Still no update on the army either. 6/17/2010: Entry 97 We've been up here for hours. I've lost track of how long at this point. We have no food, water, or cell phone signal up here. The dead know where we are, but luckily they can't get to us. We need to get out of here, now! I've told Rebecca to try and find something to break down the walls again. I hope she finds something this time. 6/17/2010: Entry 98 Rebbeca found an axe under a pile of rubble, we finally have a chance of getting out of here……….Oh god, I think they've found a way in. WE GOT TO HURRY! 6/17/2010: Entry 99 I'm the only one alive now. Everyone I knew and loved is dead. The dead have practically flooded my house now. Rebbeca and I managed to break down the wall with the fire ax and climb onto the roof. Unfortunately, one of those things grabbed and bit her leg, sealing her fate. She managed to kick the thing off of her and I pulled her onto the roof. We both knew she only had a few minutes left to live. So we knew we had to do something, I didn't know what to do, but she did. She walked up to the edge of the roof and only said one thing that I'll never forget, "I'm sorry about Fluffies, he was a good bunny. I'm sure he never wanted any of this to happen". Then, she fell backward off the roof and into the pit of the dead below. All I heard next was the sound of flesh tearing and dead growling, but the most horrifying thing at that moment was the fact that I never heard Rebecca scream during any of it. No cries of pain or agony, nothing. Rebbeca knew about Fluffies? Why wasn't she mad at me? I caused this whole mess! At this point, my mind has been turned to mush with everything that's happened. I've been up here for around 2 hours with nothing around me but corpses, dead and alive. I'm hungry, thirsty and have nothing to defend myself with. Good thing the dead can't climb. I guess this is my last entry. I don't know what will become of me or this journal, but if anyone finds this, I'll leave you with these final words. Make sure to take better care of your pets. If you don't, everyone could pay for your mistakes………Wait……I hear something………..Oh my god…..OH M—------------------ The rest of the entry, as well as the journal, was either ripped out or covered in very dried blood, which, when I first saw it, nearly made me drop the book in fright. After I read the last entry of the journal, the puzzle pieces in my mind felt like they were forming together. After they were put together, the puzzle formed in my mind made so much sense, it gave me a headache. I sat there completely speechless at what I just read, this kid had gone through so much in months. I felt really bad for him. But the thing that made my mind boggled the most was the fact that Elijah's fate was ambiguous. Deciding to look into it another time, I put the rest of the stuff back in the box, fixed up the floor, and just went on with my day. However, for the past 3 days, all I could think about was Elijah. I couldn't even get much sleep last night. The breaking point was when I spilled my coffee and burned my foot due to the fact I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and bumped into a wall. After that I knew I couldn't put it off any longer, I had to look for any clues that could give Elijah's potential location, just so I could see if he was still alive. You might be asking, “Why?” I don’t know, it's just something my mind told me I had to do. But little did I know that somehow in searching for the answer, I’d end up with the answer to something else. I started with the journal, I must've skimmed through the book 3 times but I couldn't find any addresses or anything. I even tried calling the adoption centers he might've been at but they all said the same thing, “We’ve never had an Elijah Anderson here”. I was starting to give up hope, but then I thought something, maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. I decided to look one more time, just in case I missed something big. According to the entries, he lived in a house in Austin before moving to a house about an hour away from that one. But there were so many houses, which one was he talking about? I then decided to look at the entries about his new house, then I found something potentially useful. In one of the entries, they went to a gun store called Mcbride’s Guns Inc. I looked up the directions to the place and, sure enough, there was one exactly 10 minutes away from my location. That couldn't be a coincidence, right? I kept looking. I then decided to look up information on the house itself to see if I could get any information about the history of its owners. I typed in my address online and found multiple websites about my house. I clicked on one and read it. It had all the right information about it, the number of stories, the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. I looked into the history of the house itself and found the section I was looking for, “Owner History”. I clicked it and saw a whole list of names, the most recent one, of course, being mine. I scrolled down for what felt like hours before I finally landed on a pair of names that felt familiar, “Edward/ Emily Williams. I clicked on the pair of names and it brought me to a page of info. Date/Place of Birth/Death, Race, Current age, Height, old phone numbers, social media, etc. But there was this page that made me think I was close to solving the mystery, the date of death was listed as “unknown”. I tried calling all the numbers they had but they all led me to an automated voice message. I didn't want to give up, so I tried one last thing, the social media pages. Unexpectedly, something came up, it was a Facebook page hosted by Emily Williams. I scrolled down to look at all the messages and saw something that I never thought I'd find. It was a message, it said “We found the perfect child! His name is Elijah, and he is so adorable and a perfect addition to our family.” After reading that message, I sat there, stunned. I started to connect the dots and after I did, I felt like throwing up. The house I moved into wasn't just any ordinary house, this was the same house that Elijah lived in 13 years ago, the same house that he and many other people died in, and the same house that housed actual evidence of this virus. This was HIS journal, his stuffed animals…..his evidence. My mind is filled with so many questions. Why did nobody tell me about this house? How did people not know about this kid? Was he still alive? I didn't know what to do with all of this, actual evidence of the virus that plagues our town and killed thousands of people that nobody else knows about was right in my hands. After what felt like hours of thinking, I knew what to do. I decided to post everything I had all over the web. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, etc. They needed to know, EVERYONE needed to know. You may think of it as disclosing private information, I think of it as reminding everyone of our past mistakes to not repeat them. I may be arrested for this but I don't care. Elijah, Thomas, Rosie, Edward, Emily, James, Emilia, John, and Rebbeca, if you're reading/watching this from above just know that I'm not doing this to disrespect you, I'm doing this for the greater good. Elijah, if you're still alive after all this time, it's time for people to hear your story. Aaa
