Darkness, it’s amazing how bright pitch black can be. The only other time I’ve seen the stars like this was after hurricanes Katrina and Gustav. The night would go smoother if I could see even a little. When the full moon is out I feel a little better, but that brings the living out. Sometimes I think they are worse than the dead. They shoot back and they can think, they’ll try to trick you if they can. If it were a full moon tonight I’d worry about loosing my natural night vision staring at this screen, but it’s so damn dark out, the blurry spot in my eyes gives me something to look at.
My little girl is finally starting to sleep throughout the night again. I know she has nightmares. Poor thing, she’s too young to even talk yet. I wonder what the future holds for her. I wish I could hold her and sleep with her too but I can’t. I have to keep watch. Keep watch of what? I can’t even see my damn hand in front of my face. I hope there are no shots tonight; I want her and my wife to sleep well. It’s been some time since we had comfort like this.
I ended up having to put my two dogs down earlier this week. They were only trying to warn us, but their barking attracted more attention than anything. The dead would have just walked by if the dogs wouldn’t have barked. Now I have no home. Brutus knocked over the lamp when he charged to the door to get at them. I might have had a fighting chance to put the fire out and fend off the attack but I had to get my wife and daughter out. The flames kept the dead busy while we escaped out the back. Now I’m low on ammo, food, and water except for what I can find here and there. I’ve learned to carry what I need on or near me at all times. From what I saw from the tree line, I may have only lost half of my home in the fire. I don’t know. Maybe the MRE’s in the closet are ok. I know the ammo’s gone. I could hear the rounds cooking off as we ran. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go back to see what’s left. Any way there are two wooden crosses in the cane field marking Brutus and Caesar’s resting place. I wish I didn’t have to but I just can’t have something like that happen again. I just can’t take that chance.
I was able to find a small farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. The house was built 12 feet off the ground because of the flooding there used to be in the 1800’s before the levees were built around the Mississippi river. There is a 500 gallon tank of diesel about 600 feet from the back door. There’s a small garden, a couple of goats and about a dozen or so chickens. There’s enough feed for the animals to last through the winter. When that’s gone, I guess chicken & goat will be on the menu. There was enough dried blood on the front porch and wall for me to guess what happened to the previous owner. I’ve been gathering water and hunting up what animals I could with a pellet gun (I’ve got to keep it quiet). The eggs from the chickens are nice. I had forgotten how eggs tasted. I wish I had a little bacon to go with them. I found three boxes of 12ga. buck shot, but no shotgun to put them in. It doesn’t look like the house was raided. Probably some old guy lived here. There are newspapers from the 20’s and 30’s in the attic. They give me something to read. I found a couple of aluminum ladders and have since torn down the front and back steps so no one or “no thing” can come in too easily. I put the ladders on the front and back porch, that way my wife can lower them down when I need to get back up. I think this would work for the dead, but it’s the living I’m more worried about. I’m using the wood from the steps to burn in the fire place at night and to cook with. We hung thick drapes in the windows to keep the candle light in. At night I stay perched up in the attic or up here on the roof. During the day when I’m in the yard or garden, my wife is up here on over watch.
What’s my next step? I’ve got to find somewhere better, but I don’t want to go near town again. I wonder how the rest of my family is doing. Ever since the masses of the dead migrated here from New Orleans, I haven’t been able to check on anyone else.
……agh!!! I’m getting sleepy. I need to walk around or something. I need to conserve the batteries anyway. I wish Brutus & Caesar were here. Come to think of it, Brutus was a present for my daughter. What have I done? What kind of father am I?
…..I gotta go, I’ll check in later. Man it’s dark out here.
- End of Transmission
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