Friday, October 30, 2009

Breaking News

It finally happened.  The local news made an announcement last night that as important as it is to get your H1N1 shot next month, staying home and safe from "the reanimated" was even more important (how vague is that?).  They said that becoming "reanimated" is not a normal side effect of the flu, and may not even be related to it at all.  People are to call the police immediately if they see one of "them" wandering or menacing. 

I haven't seen too many of the undead around town yet.  They're not very fast, so I'm not too worried.  I wouldn't want to be caught in a mob of them, though. 

Joel stopped eating yesterday.  I dropped a chicken down the hole and he didn't even look at it.  He just kept staring up at me with those unblinking blood-filled eyes.  He used to have such friendly blue eyes.  Now they send chills into my soul.  And his breathing sounds horrible, wheezy, like he has fluid in his lungs.  I have to cover the hole with plastic now, because the smell is horrible in the living room. 

I haven't been out much this week, so I think I'll go down to the Tim Horton's and catch up with Grace. 

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Cause of Death

I know I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but I didn’t have to be to determine that the Martin’s dog was infected with the same virus as Joel. With the eye (s) and condition of the body like that, it was repulsively obvious.

I’ve been thinking. The way I write my story comes off as cold, like I don’t care that my husband is a zombie. I killed a dog with a baseball bat, and I’ve never killed anything in my life. Please don’t think I’m heartless or have no conscience. This is all too stressful for my brain to compute, and I think I’m just numb right now. It’s my mind’s way of staying sane.

On Saturday morning after I had a good chance to examine the dog in good light (with tripled latex gloves, of course), I fed the dog to Joel to sustain him and to get rid of the corpse. Is that wrong? Our living room has an old vent in the floor, about one foot by one foot. There’s no chance that Joel could ever get through it, but it allows me to watch and feed him (or try to, but he’s picky and will only eat meat—raw or cooked) because it’s straight into the basement. I dropped the dog down the hole and quickly shut the vent grill again then pushed the couch back over it.

The dog is still there today, dammit. That’ll start to stink eventually. Actually, Joel will start to stink, too. Hmmmm.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Poll #4

Do you think cold weather will slow down the infection?

1. Yes
2. No
3. I’m not sure

Results:

1. 50%
2. 50%
3. 0%

So we're 50/50 on this one. I guess we’ll soon find out.

Bad Dog!

Apparently even when undead, dogs still have the instinct to protect their owner’s homes. Last night I made sure the dog that bit Joel wouldn’t hurt or infect anyone else. First I called over to their house (for about the 10th time since Joel got bit--the first 9 times were to tell them to keep their damn dog in their yard) to see if they were home, but no one answered. I decided that if they weren’t home, then they wouldn’t see or hear me when I solved the neighbourhood problem.

I think I must have been half out of my mind with revenge when I stomped over there at almost midnight. I went down the back alley to their house, which is about three blocks north of where we (I?) live. I prayed that the neighbours were sleeping and wouldn’t look out their windows and see me lurking. It was pretty dark, but some backyards had their own little lights and in some places the street lights shone in between the houses. Thankfully our early-October snow was all melted, and that made the ground darker and therefore easier for me to hide, plus the Martins didn’t have a light in their backyard. I didn’t bother with a flashlight because I didn’t want to attract attention. Instead, I used a pair of Joel’s night-vision goggles that he used for night paintballing in the summer. I put them on right as I walked up to the back fence.

It wasn’t long after I opened the gate, when I heard the little dog growling. He stood up from where he’d been sleeping on the back doorstep and staggered toward me, his little body emaciated and his once-fluffy white hair clotted with what appeared to be blood. It was hard to tell with the goggles on what exactly it was. I choked back a sob of pity and just stood there, frozen and confused. This couldn’t possibly be the dog that bit Joel. The poor thing’s probably just starving because his family abandoned him, I thought. If it was this tiny mutt that bit him, is it possible his wound got infected afterward from a different source—water, air, soil?

My thoughts were cut short when the dog got closer and I could see him clearly. The left side of his head was dented in (where Joel punched him?) and the eyeball was ruptured and leaking. He smelled horrifically rotten and his saliva was thick and slimy, dripping from his mouth in globs.

It only took one quick blow with my bat to finish his pathetic life. In a very sanitary manner, I double-bagged him in heavy duty yard bags and hurried home. I really shouldn’t have taken his body home with me, but instead thrown it into the nearest garbage barrel.

I just had to see him in the light. I needed to see if his eyes looked like Joel’s and Mr. Mennings’. Until I examined his body, I could not be certain that he was actually infected or just some pathetic, deserted dog.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Latest Info from Jamie Robinson

Katherine! I’m so sorry I haven’t written forever. Again things have been horrible for me. My parents decided to go to our cabin out in the mountains, a.k.a. the middle of nowhere. We’re just in town picking up supplies again, and then they’re forcing me to stay out “where it’s safe”, a.k.a. where there’s no cell service. :( So I guess good news is I’m healthy and alive, bad news is, you won’t be hearing from me often. Hang in there, Katherine!

Jamie Robinson

I wrote:

Jamie! Thank goodness! You don’t know how worried I was about you. Things are worse here than before. My husband, Joel, was bitten by an infected dog (I realize the dog was infected now), and after two weeks, he became one of them. I think your parents made a wise choice to get out of town and stay away from other people.

Take care, Jamie, and please keep me posted.

Katherine

I think I’ll go doggie hunting tomorrow. I have a score to settle.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Woe is Me

Oh, Edward. I shouldn’t complain about my situation because yours is ever so much more tragic. Bromley is not overrun with zombies yet, but here I sit tonight: cocktail in hand, tears on my cheeks and feeling sorry for myself, trying to document the last few days’ events. I’ve lost only one person dear to me to the infection, yet it seems you have no one. Please don’t think less of me for sounding weak, and thank you for your concern.

Last Thursday: a blur in my memory. Joel’s haunting, hungry stare chilling me to the bones. Me being lonely and thinking maybe there’s a cure for this infection. A magic potion that reverses the effects of rotting flesh and demented brain. My hands opening the basement door across from the front door, then unlocking and opening the front door too. Joel reaching for me with his teeth bared, and me “directing” him with the baseball bat, propelling him down the stairs. Me blocking the basement door with a heavy wooden table and a chair. Me not sleeping since.

He’s still pounding his fists against the door. He makes noises, but his voice isn’t the same. It’s not Joel, really. He doesn’t say words or cry or anything. He just growls, moans and snarls like... I don’t know. I’ve never heard anything like it. I need to try to sleep again.

Good luck at your new home, Edward. Keep me posted.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Purgatory Update III

Hello Katherine,
As always, things are hell out here. I've been out of fuel for some time and all I can do is search. I found some, but I don't know how long it will last. It's starting to get quite cold now, and surviving is starting to become a fight instead of a struggle, but finding things to burn isn't all that hard.
Yesterday, I found a beautiful, large house with a very grand concrete wall around it. I hope it works out as a great refuge, because I'm taking a gamble and moving there. It's close to a gas station with a confectionary.
Wish me luck Katherine, and keep in touch,
Edward Kingston.

P.S.
I am very sorry to hear about your husband.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bad News

I finally phoned around to Joel’s friends last night, but none of them have seen him. I drove around town all day today looking for him, and nothing. It’s been four days since he left. That’s not the bad news.

Tonight Joel is back. He’s standing outside under the kitchen window looking up at our home with the same blood-filled eyes that Mr. Mennings had. When he notices me looking out at him between the blinds, his eyes fill with something I can only call lust. Not hunger for my body in the way that he used to as my husband, but a blood lust like he wants to tear his teeth into my soft muscles and devour me.

My husband is home.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Results for Poll #3

What is the result of the infection in your community:

1) They just had flu symptoms and got better;
2) They were very sick then died;
3) They were very sick, died then came back to life;
4) I don’t know anyone who had the infection.

Results:

1) 0%
2) 0%
3) 100%
4) 0%

Okay, so we've established that everyone who's known someone that's had the infection has died and returned as a zombie.  Crap.

Joel?

Just a quick entry tonight. Joel is still missing. I’ve made an official police report, but I still haven’t heard anything from them. It’s like he disappeared into thin air. I’m so worried about him! The early snow we got is melting, so I assume he’s not laying dead under the snow somewhere, but where the hell did he go? Is he at a friend’s house? Is he laying behind a shed in someone’s yard and they don’t realize he’s there? Did he wander out of town into the country and now he’s lost?

I’ve been waiting right here, and he doesn’t come home. Why doesn’t anyone let me know where he is??? He needs his antibiotics for his leg. Joel, please come home!

Monday, October 12, 2009

MIA

Things are not good here. Joel (who was still fevered and having troubles with his leg) decided to go for a walk after we had our dinner last night. I begged him to stay home where he could rest and stay warm, but he just wouldn’t listen. It’s been cold at night and we have a bit of snow now, so being out there is one of the worst things he could do! He seemed anxious and confused when he was going out the door so I grabbed his hand and tried to hold him back, but he yanked away so hard that I lost my balance and fell onto the floor. When I got over my shock and hurt (and anger) I got back up and went to the door, but he was already gone.

That was at 7:30 last night. He hasn’t been home since. I don’t think I can report him missing until he’s been gone for a full 48 hours, so last night and this morning I drove around town looking for him. I would’ve tried following his footprints in the snow, but there are lots of people that walk and jog in our town, so it would be impossible to find his prints among the others.

I phoned his mother this morning to tell her, and she didn’t have a clue where he’d go either. I don’t know if he’s just still mad at me for making him go to the doctor of if the fever is making him act irrational. I’m too embarrassed to call any of his friends to see if he’s there. Maybe I’ll call around if he’s still gone by tonight, but for now I don’t need the whole town thinking that we had a fight and he ran out on me.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Back Home

I’m back in Bromley--finally! Joel guilted (forced) me into going to visit Stan and Rita on Monday. Since it’s his right leg that is hurt, he argued that I had to drive him down there. Surprisingly, his father was completely over whatever he’d been sick with, and his mother only had the sniffles. I still kept an eye on the in-laws for symptoms. I asked them in detail how they were feeling, and it seems they’re good. I was actually surprised at how quiet Regina is right now. I think the fear of getting the infection is finally sinking into people and they’re being smart and staying home, out of the public.

Joel, however, was getting carried away with staying out of public places. He still refused to go to the hospital and get his leg checked, even though his leg has repulsive, smelly green pus coming out of it. I even worried about blood poisoning with the leg being so hot to the touch and him having a fever. Either way, it looked horrible, so I stopped at the hospital on the way home last night. He was so angry that I forced him to go, but the doctor reprimanded him for leaving it for so long (10 days from when he was bitten until he went to the hospital). He got put on strong antibiotics and has to go back for a recheck on Tuesday.

Now Joel’s moping on the couch and grumbling. He said, “hopefully being at the hospital didn’t make us come in contact with that damn flu”. I couldn’t believe he had the gall to say that after dragging me down to Stan and Rita’s.

Nothing we’ve tried will bring Mr. Hypocrite’s fever down, so hopefully the medicine will kick in fast. Monday is Thanksgiving, so I picked up a small turkey and some instant stuffing, along with some canned peas and beans. I hope that his appetite will be okay so that we can have a nice meal together. He’s been so cranky this last week. We had an early turkey meal with his parents on Thursday and he barely ate anything. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that he gets better.

Monday, October 5, 2009

A Trip?

Holy crap, Edward! Things sound rough there. I think the cops are even more to worry about than zombies are. I hope I can survive if things get that scary here.

Now I have other worries, though. Joel’s leg is not good. It’s been five days since that damn dog snuck up on him, and his leg feels hot to the touch and is red. He even had a bit of bloody pus come out of it this morning. He refuses to go to the doctor and keeps changing the dressing on it twice a day and smothering it with antibiotic cream.

He wants to go down to Regina to see his parents (and now his mother is under the weather), but I keep arguing with him that it’s stupid to be around them when they’re sick. Joel wants to check up on them and make sure they’re okay and they don't need anything, but I’ve been trying to convince him to give it a few days and see if his leg heals. This would also give the in-laws time to get better. He won’t listen to me, though. He insists on going down there and he’s leaving this afternoon. Without me. With everything that’s going on in Bromley, what’s Regina going to be like? There’re about 180,000 people that live there. NOT INTERESTED in that trip.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Purgatory Update II

Hello Katherine,
I'm sorry it has been such a long time since contact. I've had to turn off the generator for some time now, as I've been trying to keep quiet. A group of city police officers was camped out in the hotel next door, and i did not want to mess with them, as they'd gone rabid like the last group of people I encountered.
They arrived a while ago with their guns blazing. They cleaned up a large group of infected that I had been keeping an eye on. After that, a couple emerged from a nearby subway tunnel, hoping to find some heroes. All they found were villians. The man was gunned down right as he stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street, and his better half took a bludgeoning to the face after she went to check on him. The men with badges raided the unfortunate corpses and ran to the hotel once a thunder storm began. After a good week (I think), they left. This morning I managed to pick up some cigarettes and a drop of vodka in a bottle from their room. Maybe I can use the "coffin nails" as a currency for trade, and the bottle as an explosive component in the near future.
The police are supposed to be your ally aren't they? I guess thats only in the world that used to be "normal".
Other than that event, nothing has happened except for infection and murder in this part of purgatory.

Keep in touch Katherine,
Edward Kingston

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Message 3 from Jamie Robinson

FINALLY I got an update from Jamie!  It's been such a long time since I heard from her.

Hey! Quite a bit has happened since we last spoke. Yes, there was a lot of food and bottled water in the store. It was mostly junk food, but there were a few groceries like canned and frozen stuff, and sausage and cheese.

So last week in the evening, me and Bill were surfing the internet for information when we heard a large banging noise coming from the front of the store. We ran to see what it was, and a boy about my age was leaning against the door with his bloody face and pounding his fists on the glass. The boy’s eyes were all red and his lips were all cracked and gross. I panicked and even though Bill tried to stop me, I was so scared I ran out the back door and all the way home without stopping! I never saw anyone else on the way, thank goodness. I only live about five blocks from here, so it never took me long. I don’t know why I didn’t just run home in the first place. The army trucks hadn’t been around for a couple of days anyways.

 It’s so good to be home!!! I’ve been keeping in contact with Bill, and he said the boy eventually went away when he shut the lights off and kept quiet for a while.

 I noticed that on your blog you really DO think that it’s zombies out there!!! I think you said it wasn’t just so I wouldn’t get too scared. Is that why?

Jamie R.

I answered:

What a relief you are safe at home! I bet your parents have been worried sick about you. I’m also glad Bill is okay. I wonder where the boy ended up going. You’re very lucky he didn’t follow you home.

 Things are pretty much the same here. The hospital’s full and I’m still stocking up on supplies a bit at a time. My husband still thinks this is the flu and only the flu.

 You be careful, Jamie. And yes, I didn’t want you to be scared. That’s why I lied, and I’m sorry.

Katherine