Journal:Penny Painkiller
| Penny Painkiller | ||||||||||
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You have found a small red diary with a whittled-down pencil attached on a string. On the back there is written in a neat hand: "If you have found this diary in the hands of a zombie in a nurse's uniform, please revive. If you have found it elsewhere, please return it to the nearest FANNY member you can find, and it will be returned to its owner".
Older dates: 2006
First page:
I have just found this diary in a small stationery shop, and hopefully I will be able to write in it regularly in order to keep my mind together. When this whole crisis is over, perhaps my diary will be of some help to prevent another outbreak like this.
August 2007
9th
This summer has really gotten the best of me, I think. The weather has been completely bonkers, with heavy rain followed by equally heavy sunshine, making it difficult to get anywhere or do anything. Just today I made it into Blesley Mall, to see if I could scavenge some equipment. The mall is empty of survivors, and the zombies seem to be leaving for greener pastures (not that they care about grass, but you know...). I managed to substitute my trousers for a fresh white skirt, which offers less protection but is a lot cooler when the weather is hot, and I also stashed my jacket in favour of a transparent rain coat. I picked up some freeze-dried food and more FAK:s now that I had the opportunity. The hospitals here in Gulsonside seem to be overrun as well as the mall, not to mention the NecroTech buildings I've seen so far. I spied a nice motel not far from the mall, maybe I'll see if any of the rooms are still habitable.
June 2007
19th
I've really been neglecting this diary, haven't I? Lately, though, I haven't found much to write about, really. I'm in Caiger Mall, and although there are some zombies outside they are nowhere near the size of hordes that brought down Nichols Mall for instance. The revives are going slow, but I've gotten too complacent to go where the work is more plentiful. Karen and Suzy are in the neighborhood, and we have taken turns going to the revive spot, meanwhile sipping instant- coffee lattes in the food court and sipping bushwhacker Margaritas in the pub nearby. I'm really feeling the combat fatigue now, I think. I should probably do something constructive... but what?
April 2007
17th
Well, this place has really gone to the dogs. I've been trying to set up a reviving operation here in Old Arkham, but there are almost no facilities of any kind, and I keep getting killed before I'm able to find another generator, or clean out any of the NecroTech buildings. I've been trying to get to terms with the local survivors, but they seem content with huddling in their safehouses and not sparing a thought for the ones across the street, other than possibly how long their deaths will delay the zombies...
I remember vaguely finding the one I was supposed to come here to meet with, in a cemetery. I revived her, and was killed only the next day for my trouble. I haven't seen her since. I'm just about to give up and return to more civilized neighborhoods.
I'm almost completely out of supplies. If I survive the night, I'll just go off to the nearest mall and see if it is operational or if there is help needed in the revivification efforts.
3rd
All right, now I'm really worried. I've just inspected the last entry in this journal, and I'm hoping that it's just someone's idea of an April Fool's joke. Because, if I have actually started writing stuff while being a zombie...
I've been revived, finally. If I'm to believe my journal, I was killed nearly a week ago. I'm staying in a motel with the man who revived me, incidentally. There's a generator here, but it's unfueled. Tomorrow I'll go looking to see if I can find some fuel. The nearest mall is Thompson Mall in Lockettside, but on the radio I heard that a great horde of zombies are gathering outside it, so I'll just have to look for a generator in this suburb. This is going a lot more slowly than I had hoped.
Anyway. The thermometer says 4 degrees Celsius, and it's windy and cloudy. At least it's not raining, for now. The last few weeks of rain has mostly cleared up the dust in the streets, and with the increased cold I don't mind if the rain holds up.
Pages covering the 1st and 2nd
written in blood, like finger paint:
G R A A A G H H
March 2007
30th
So, this is more or less a ghost town, I say. I've managed to set up a generator in a local NecroTech building, and wire the power to the computer terminals. We'll see how long it holds. The database lists almost no zombies on queue for revivification, and I haven't been able to make contact with the person who requested FANNYs aid. The house I'm staying in seems safe enough, but we all know how deceptive that can be... Tomorrow I'll make a round up to the other NT building, and perhaps start tagging to advertise FANNY presence, and see if that gets the ball rolling.
28th
FANNY has received a distress call from Old Arkham, it's a member of the Conservative Party who requests aid. I have decided to travel there and see what can be done. I'm more leaning towards the Green side of politics myself, but as Raharu said, politics should not stand in the way of medical aid. Right now I'm staying in South Blythville, preparing for the last leg of my trip. I'm carryin a generator, a fuel can, and all the FAK:s and syringes I can carry besides. Hopefully I'll get to use all of it before I get eaten out.
22nd
Haven't had a chance to write until today, mainly because I've spent some time being dead. Apparently it wasn't safe to stay in a suburb with many PKers. Raharu, myself and a couple of other FANNY:s were killed, two or three times, by members of [A More Sinister Clan]]. At least, that's what their printed jackets said. They seem to hold a grudge against FANNY for some reason, can't figure why.
Today at least I didn't wake up dead, so I made a few revives near Ackland Mall. Tomorrow I'll have to go find some more syringes, since I ran out of them today.
It's quite cold today, and here I was, hoping for spring at last. Oh well. I'll have to look on the bright side: Spring means that summer will be along soon, and summer means sweltering heat, flies and even smellier zombies, so the longer the winter, the lesser the stench. How's that for a bright side?
17th - 18th
No text, only blood smeared across the pages.
15th
Suzy Swallows said something today about having seen several PKers gathered in one building around here, I sure hope they were only passing through... It makes me nervous. Why must we be afraid of other humans as well as of the zombies?
I went up to Ackland Mall today and picked up a generator, since I would like to make our safe house comfortable, but I couldn't find a fuel can to go with it. On the way back I passed through a museum, and was able to salvage a painting that I put up in the lobby of our cinema. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to find a fuel can. Just before I went to sleep I suggested to Raharu that we get someone to install a generator in one of the nearby motels, to make sure we get hot water for showers. I remember how useful they were when I was helping out the BMC lads... getting a hot shower or having warm water for the sponge baths was an incredible morale booster, not to mention how it made wonders for hygiene from a medical point of view. I'll check and see if anyone in this suburb is running a destillery, it would be a great source for disinfectants. And recreational beverages....
Anyway. The thermometer says only 6 degrees Celsius, which is a little colder than yesterday, but we can still see the sun now and then. It was raining a bit earlier, but that only served to wash away some of the gritty dust that seems to permeate everything outside.
14th
As I write this, I'm already snuggled down in my sleeping bag in the building where Raharu and some of the others have retreated. It's an old cinema, but right now there's no generator active so whatever movies are available are not playing. Just as well, I guess, I need the sleep.
I packed my bags yesterday evening before I went to sleep, just in case, and when I woke up this morning we could all hear the groaning from the zombies that had gathered outside Nichols Mall. Our own barricades were untouched, but I still gulped down a quick breakfast, said goodbye to the others and left. As I walked past the mall I could see a large horde of zombies outside one corner, many of them furiously banging at the barricades. When I had made it halfway to my destination, a short radio message let me know that the doors were open and zombies were stumbling in. The radio operator told everybody to evacuate, if they were able. I hope some of them make it out, it would mean that we have to make fewer revives when we move back.
When I look at the map of Malton I begin to suspect that Ackland Mall is a potential next target, it's close and the suburb is quite free of zombies. That, of course, goes for Hildebrand Mall and Tynte Mall as well. Zombies do not always follow a logic I can understand, however, so we will see. All the suburbs around here are in the red, so I guess we will have a lot of work to do in the meantime.
13th
Feeling a bit better today, thank you. The weather today is cloudy, but the sun is peeking through now and then and I can almost believe that spring will come this year too. The thermometer says 11 degrees celsius. FANNY have been discussing where to move operations while Mall Tour '07 passes by, and we'll probably go west for a while.
Today I made a revive at Maxwell Walk, there was a long queue but only one zombie in the database. Hopefully some of the others can be tagged and scanned soon enough. It seems a shame to leave them standing like that, but we have to be sure we don't revive PKers or other miscreants.
Tomorrow I'll get going, it could take all day to just move a few suburbs away and find a place to stay. I have all the stuff I need, including syringes and FAKs. Hopefully somebody will bring a generator, I couldn't fit one in my pack even by using my crowbar...
12th
Why, oh why do I do these things to myself? According to reports, I spent yesterday downing Mojitos at one of the clubs, and downing even more wine coolers at a pub. I have no recollection of this myself. I do, however, have a massive hangover, which would corroborate the story. I have had a whole litre of sports drink, a few energy bars and a soy mocha latte with foam at the mall (though I didn't ask where the soy milk came from), and now I'll take today getting well needed rest. Raharu has suggested that we move west to avoid the Mall Tour '07, and today we got news that Woodroffe Mall in Tollyton has fallen. I'll take a look at my map, as soon as the little man inside my head stops banging the oil drums together...
8th
I suppose I should write something about our present situation. Right now I and some of the other FANNY:s are camping in a building not far from the Nichols Mall. The two Revive points are mostly empty, although Suzy complained about a rotter blocking the queue at Maxwell Walk. I went to have a look, and yes, at least one rotter. I smacked it around a bit, and then told the people in the surrounding buildings about it. We'll see what happens.
Anyway. My extractor tells me that it's about 5 degrees celsius, and today there's no rain. Yesterday it rained all day, which helped wash away most of the bedraggled snow that was left on the ground. There is a heavy mist throughout the streets, and it's really gloomy. I found some old tea bags in a shop in the mall, they seem to be all right, so I'll share them with the others in here and sit in a corner for the rest of the day.
7th
Today I have found my diary again! It was lost, along with a good deal of my other equipment, when part of the auto repair shop I was staying in caved in, burying backpacks and owners alike. I was out reviving at the time, and was not caught in the fall. When I got back I could see the part of the building where people had been living all crumbled, and several zombies standing in the enclosure, clawing through the rubble for left-over body parts. I had to leave quickly and start gathering new stuff. It wasn't until earlier this week that we could get back to the area and try to salvage equipment and see if any of the dead could be brought back.
I must admit that even before the incident I had not been writing in my journal as often as beffore. I have also been very lax in calling in my whereabouts and activities to FANNY for some time. I suppose that battle fatigue is setting in, or it could just be the season, I don't know.
