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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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