Journal of a Survivor

An updated double chapter. I hate writing about cold weather, mostly because it went from being spring here, to suddenly they're calling for snow and my fingers and toes are cold. I hate living in the north... Anyone here living in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada?

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January 20th, 2012

I have to get out of here. Yeah, supplies are good and I know I’m safe but I need to be able to see the outside world! And I’m cold damnit! A lost and found bin only offers so much clothing, and it’s only gloves, hats and one jacket that’s too small for me! I would have taught myself to knit with the “How to…” books in the magazine aisle but this place doesn’t carry yarn!

It’s getting dark…The voices are going to come and haunt me again… Maybe the static would be a good distraction this time…

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Raen shivered slightly, despite the sweater he was wearing, his toes curling in the hard leather of his running shoes. His journal offered him no heat what so ever, and the could was enough to keep him from falling asleep. The brunette had closed his eyes nearly an hour earlier, but his mind was focused on hearing what ever he could through the static on the radio. All Raen wanted was some assurance that he wasn’t alone, some proof that there were other survivors and a way to get to a safe place.

“It’s all a bad dream…One day I’ll wake up and I’ll have been in a coma…That’s all this is…” Raen told himself, tucking his fingers under his arm pits in an attempt to warm them. Such actions only resulted in his cold finger tips causing his body to begin to shake ever so much more violently. The teenager could compare the cold of the building to having once fallen through thin ice on the local lake; ice cold, yet the longer he was in the water, the more accustomed his body became, lulling him into a false sense of security. Maybe sleep wasn’t such a good idea anymore, but without sleep, he would never be ready should anything attack him.

January 21st, 2012

I swear there are voices on the radio. It’s not insanity from being deprived from any human contact, it really isn’t.
I’m way too young to have survived this long on my own…

Something is inside the building with me, I’m sure of it. One of the large pop machines covering the small, broken window in the lounge was pushed forward, enough for a body to slip inside. I must have noticed it right away because it didn’t look like the zombies outside knew (don’t want to keep that “they are learning” train of thought at this moment) they had a way inside. I’ve done a sweep of the building but it isn’t hard to hide in a place like this. Maybe I’ll take another look. If it’s a live person who has gotten in, they have to have taken notice of the fact that I’m living here.

(Just a little back story, in case anyone finds this journal and I have some how became famous)
In the beginning, between getting stuck in this place and the power going out, I had to find a way to get rid of rotting fruits, vegetables, bread and what not (I couldn’t eat it all before it went bad) in some way other than going outside. At first, the trash compacter in the back of the building was perfect for this little maneuver, as well as for getting rid of any other garbage I might have had. It didn’t take long for the scent of rotting food to attract those flesh eaters outside and I had to seal up the compactor before they could get inside. It didn’t matter much at that time anyways, most of the fresh food had already rotted and what little was left was what I had to deal with. I made a choice to pile it all in the staff bathroom (including my garbage). To combat the growing smell, I raided the cleaning supply aisle and tossed as many non-aerosol air fresheners as I could on top of the mess and then closed the door. The smell was easily leaking through the cracks between the door frame and the door itself so I used what ever ‘caulking’ materials I could find to fill in all of the holes, and then I layered on duct tape over the gunk. From that point on, I never had a problem with the smell.

As I was going another round to see if anyone was indeed in the store, I noticed the smell of horribly rotten garbage and trust me, six or more months of things rotting in a sealed room is a bad thing. It didn’t take a closer look at the door to discover that someone is indeed inside my building. Who ever they are, they peeled back a layer of duct tape and even removed a large chunk of the sealing stuff. The smell must have driven them back because they tried to stick the duct tape back down and there were chunks of sealant on the floor. I re-sealed the door as best as I could and hung nearly thirty of those car air fresheners around it.
Now I’m heating soup with one of my last few candles and wondering how I’m going to find this intruder. Sleep isn’t going to come easy tonight, even if I’m locked away in my closet. I don’t want to be ambushed and slaughtered in my sleep, I really don’t.

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The smell from the sealed off section of the grocery store was enough to make Raen rub madly at his nose before he fumbled for a jar of overly strong medication that was used to open ones nasal passages. The brunette would argue that the scent of the over powering lotion type product was a better smell than the rotting garbage. It seemed to permeate every inch of his clothing and Raen, despite being worried about what was possibly in the store with him, was beginning to consider venturing out into the cleaning isle to find himself some sort of air freshener. Why he hadn’t done such a thing when he was last in said isle was a complete mystery, something Raen blamed on being an absent minded teenager in the middle of a crisis.

“Last thing I need is to get my ass murdered when I’m spraying deodorizer all over myself,” he muttered, stirring his can of soup with a plastic spoon, willing it to heat up. Warm food meant he was using a candle, and secluded in the small closet with a candle meant the tiny area was gaining as much heat as was possible. It was a small fact, but that alone made Raen feel slightly better, despite the smell on his clothes and in his nose. All he had to do was make sure that he slept lightly enough that nothing could sneak up on him during the night.