Still nothing, no one has replied, can everyone else really be gone? I have good news, and I will write this last post because maybe you are there but for some reason you can't reply. I can't even fathom the multitude of reasons that could be the case. If you've been waiting, put your worries to rest, Saxon and I are fine, and we found people... Jesus, we found people! I'll explain, but I had better start from the beginning.
My last message was on Friday, October 9th 2009, I mentioned that I was heading into Belcourt, ND. If you recall, my cabin was several miles to the north, we did go... and things rapidly spun downward from there.
The morning after my last missive, I packed my bags with the basic necessities, and headed out with Saxon. We left a half hour after dawn. I spent weeks, searching the surrounding area there were no cars in good enough condition to get us anywhere. So we were going to walk. It left plenty of time to get into Belcourt, to the police station, and loot it. I had had enough waiting, enough not knowing. I figured if people came back, I could make up for it later. So with plenty of daylight to spare, some rations, a change of clothes, and several small equipment items, we were on our way.
It took us nearly four hours to reach the edge of town, it sounds far, but believe me it was march farther to go on foot. It's strange, I used to search the forest for the sound of footsteps. Believing that with it would come the relief of this solitude. Now, however, stranger noise makes me jump, and I have this bad feeling in my gut like somethings wrong. Saxon feels it too, he never roams more then a few feet from my side.
We got to the edge of town, it was daylight, but there were no lights on. Just wreckage, the same as I saw on my way out of town the first time. I grew up in Belcourt, so I knew where I needed to go to get to the police station. Saxon and I stopped long enough to have a snack, we sat in a park outside my old elementary school. Figuring it wasn't wise to stay long, that feeling in my stomach wasn't going away, we started moving again maybe ten minutes after we sat down.
The streets were empty, the cement made it easier to walk quietly, we took alleyways as often as possible. The whole time all I could hear was the screeching of the wind, and the sound of birds. No people, hell there weren't even any bodies. You would think that would make me feel better... it didn't. All I could think about was the corpse of that dog Saxon, and I, found in that trailer park. Of the strange teethmarks, the ones that looked like they belonged to an ape. But no primates swung from the power lines, there was no sign of anything other then the normal wildlife of the forests of North Dakota.
It was around noon when the police station came into view, we approached it from the back. Avoiding both the open parking lot, and the street out front. The fact that there were several police cars outside lifted my spirits. Even if it was empty inside, the keys must still be there. Saxon and I had a way out of this place. But first things first, we had to check inside.
Getting inside wasn't as tricky as I expected, I jumped up on a dumpster and was able to reach the lower rungs of the fire escape. It may have been paranoid, but I had Saxon crawl under the dumpster to wait for me. Better safe then sorry. I made my way up the fire escape, and to the roof. From there I was able to break the skylight, and drop down inside. The top floor was all offices, scattered papers and the smell of stale air, and dust lingered thick in the air.
I was making my way downstairs when I heard something. A shuffle of... feet. The shocking realization hit me, dropping me into a cold sweat, I wasn't alone. I ducked down, using a desk for cover, and waited. I saw the shadow before anything else, it was human, and the shuffling sound was growing louder. My heart pounded, threatened to burst out the front of my chest. If asked in that moment, I would have admitted to being positive that this approaching person must have been able to hear it. I laid down, to peer out from between the legs of the desk. A man, a cop, stumble into the room. He reeked, like in all this time he hadn't been able to find time to shower in all the weeks since everyone disappeared. I couldn't see his eyes, his face, just his legs, and that strange stuttering gate. He stood in the doorway, as if he was waiting for something to happen. There was still broken glass on the floor, the presence of someone was obvious, what was he waiting for?
Time seemed to slow down, I didn't know why I wasn't just standing up to explain that yes I had broken the window, that I was sorry, but I didn't realize someone else was here. I didn't, I stayed flat on my stomach where I was, waiting for this stranger to say something. To call out into the room, to demand that I show myself. There was nothing, but the yawning silence, then he started to move forward. The scrap of his shoes on the carpet, the slight vibration of his steps, I was on high alert to react to whatever was about to happen.
He came around the desk, I tried to move around so that he couldn't see me, but I wasn't quick enough. I was in the process of getting into a crouch position, when he came around the corner. His eyes were sunken, and his skin was a sickly blue green, like he was rotting from the inside out. I would have scream if I hadn't been so utterly shocked. A moment later, it lunged at me, mouth wide, breath rancid, teeth coated in yellow film. I scrambled backward, tripped and fell flat on my back.
The cop fell on top of me, once again I sucked in a breath to scream, but he landed hard on my chest and it knocked the air from my lungs. His teeth clicked next to my ear, I bashed him across the face with my elbow. His teeth grazed along my skin, but under the influence of my adrenaline rush I barely felt it. The blow knocked his head to the side, and he snarled. Actually snarled at me, as if he were some sort of animal. I just froze, shock took me at that moment I think. The pan, the creature, on top of me snarled again, reared back, opened his mouth, and came in for the strike. I didn't do anything, I just froze, and time seemed to slow down again, he came in for the bite, and a moment later there was a blur of gray and black.
A ferocious growling erupted through the room. Saxon, with bits of glass still in his thick fur, had come out of nowhere, and had his teeth buried in the creatures arm. It didn't seem to be in pain, it just made a sickening sort of keen and moved to bite, only this time it was my best friend it was going for. Finding my courage I picked up one of the wooden desk chairs, and smashed it across the creatures upper back. It didn't break like they always do in the movies. No, it held it's shape for a second and a third strike. The last time I hit it one of the legs cracked it in the back of the head. There was a sickening pop, and it dropped like it had been shot.
I checked Saxon over, his muzzle was bloody, where he had jumped through one of the downstairs windows. He had rescued me, I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was, he had always been my protector. I got us out of that room as soon as I could, locking the door from the inside before I closed it. Whatever that creature was, it didn't seem very intelligent. I should have taken it's gun, but I just couldn't bring myself to remain there any longer then I had to. Not to mention I wanted to bandage my elbow, which was starting to sting. Once we got to the main floor, I was able to locate a first aid kit. I cleaned my wound, and bandaged it. Then I set about rinsing out he few long cuts Saxon had gotten when he broke through the glass to get to me.
Once we were bandaged, I started searching. Turns out that electronic doors are a fantastic idea, except for when the power in the city fails completely. I was able to just stroll into the storage room that held all the police vests, and weapons that had yet to be assigned. Pistols, shotguns, and enough ammunition to make me almost feel safe. I took the time to look outside, gauged that perhaps only fifteen minutes or so had passed since I first broke the skylight. I took most of the guns, and all of the ammunition and loaded them into the nearest police car. I found the keys for it in a bin near the front desk, they were even labeled with the number for each car. Before we left I nabbed several extra empty gas cans, and loaded them into the back too.
It was on my last trip that I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. There were more people, and they were shambling across the parking lot. Saxon growled, and I realized that the same sickly smell of overripe fruit and rotten eggs was wafting into my nostrils. Whatever they were, they were the same as the creature upstairs. Their clothing was stained with blood, and their skin looked waxen in the sunlight. I whistled for Saxon, and decided to just leave the rest of the supplies. For the second time in half an hour adrenaline hit me like a hammer between the eyes. I slammed the back of the car closed, and ran around the car to the drivers side door. I had to whistle a second time to get Saxon's attention, he didn't want to move, intent on standing between me and what was coming. It took a third whistle, and calling his name to get him to turn and jump across the drivers seat, into the passenger seat. I dropped down into the drivers seat, and closed the door with more force then was necessary. I shoved the keys to the ignition, and prayed with all my might that the engine turned over. The purr of it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life. I dropped it into drive, and peeled out of that parking lot like the devil himself was on my tail. We left the creatures far behind us.
As we maneuvered through the city streets, I was very careful, the last time I was behind the wheel, everything had gone wrong. By one thirty we were out on the interstate, and leaving Belcourt far behind us. As we drove, only stopping long enough to change the bandage on my elbow. The skin was growing red and irritated, despite my continual attempts to clean it. So I used the first aid kit to clean it a second time, and put on a clean bandage. An uneventful four or five weeks later we were approaching the southern border of Texas. I saw a sign painted across a billboard. It read, “All hope is not lost, we are here.” A long arrow pointed to a side road, that exited the interstate and led toward a gas station. There were several more signs along the road, and foolish or not I took them. Saxon and I finally pulled up to a barricade. I saw figures moving around, people approaching, and I itched to pick up one of the firearms to make sure that this time I could protect myself. But these people didn't shuffle, they carried weapons, and they moved like they had a definite destination in mind. I rolled my window down an inch, and kept my hands on the steering wheel.
One of the figures came forward, a woman, and she asked me a lot of questions. Wanted to know where I had been, how I had survived. I told them everything that I have just told you. They asked me if I had been bitten, or scratched. I lied, I told them that I hadn't, and they believed me. I don't know why I didn't tell them, I guess I was just light headed at the fact that I was among real people again. They let both Saxon and I inside, and told me that they would explain what they knew about what was happening. First they wanted to let me get cleaned up. I got a shower, and they gave me some food. They left twenty minutes ago, to go talk about where I would be staying. I'm currently using the computer in the office of the gas station they have taken over. But as I sit here, I get more and more sleepy, I've broken out into a sweat, but I can't seem to get warm.
I don't know when I will be able to post again, I would say more but I am getting so tired. My muscles ache from earlier, and Saxon is looking at me like somethings wrong. My elbow is throbbing, I should clean the cut again, but I'll wait till after this meeting. I have to go... If you read this don't lose hope. There are people out here, you are not alone.
-Jeri, and Saxon.
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