Journal:Qarn Barnok
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My Path Through Malton
I don't have time to continue The Diary, but I wanna give you a brief overview of my way through Malton and the places I've been.
After leaving West Grayside, where I'd spent a lot of time at Piran General Hospital and in Pole Mall, I stumbled through Kinch Heights and arrived at Marven Mall in South Blythville. But that's a rotten place, with lots of griefers and PKers.
The Diary
Before
Before... What a strange concept that is now. It's amazing how quickly you adapt to a new situation, but that's on the outside. The inside will linger in the past for a long time - or even your whole life. I used to think and talk a lot about life, death and fate, but now, those appear to be moot subjects. We've lost our stable point of view from which we used to muse about all this. We're in the middle of death, life and what most call fate.
Yes, before. I went to college in Cranbrook, a short drive from Malton. I'd just moved here from somewhere else entirely. I don't want to go into that too much... It pains me to think of everything and everyone I left behind. My semester had just begun and I was beginning to make new friends... And then, that morning when I was going to the library in East Grayside and realized how bad things were...
I remember the news reports of riots in town, but... You know how the media are. I was a little anxious and curious, too, but mainly, I wanted to get those physics books I needed. But when I got to East Grayside... I parked a few blocks form the library so I could take a look around as I went, and I must just have made a wrong turn... Suddenly, I was in a huge mob fleeing from another huge mob... I resisted the urge to run along and hid out in an alley. Suffice it to say this was not too smart, but I stayed alive.
I hid out in several hospitals, learning to sneak from building to building from people I never saw again... In one of those hospitals, a doctor showed me some things about the kinds of injuries people are suffering here, and I managed to heal quite a few. I used to roam the streets looking for trapped or lost people that needed medical attention, but I'm just too tired for that these days.
And then I lost a friend... Or so I gather. I managed to get in contact with an old friend of mine, with my cell phone I had long deemed useless, but all I could tell him was where I was. He insisted on coming here and I was more than eager to see him. I should have told him not to do that... He just has no experience with extreme situations, and with all the danger, the hordes, the barricades... We talked almost a week ago, and I'm afraid the worst has happened... But in this hell, there's no telling. I might just find him someday.
Right Now
I finally got my act together and managed to take some time to write this. I'm sitting inside the Pole Mall in West Grayside, along with a pretty big bunch of other survivors. The shooting is over for now... The last three of the Dead (I refuse to call them Zombies... This is not a goddamned movie) have been shot and dumped for now. And to think I did some of the shooting... But I should get my story straight, who knows when I'll have the time to write again.
I've been here before... But, if that's even possible, the place looks to be in an even bigger chaos than last time... I saw them. I saw the Dead taking this place apart, and I barely managed to escape. Now, there's more debris everywhere, more bullet holes in the walls, and the barricades are looking even more makeshift and weak than before. But this is where I am, and where I will stay, until I find some reason to go elsewhere. Yes, you think in such terms these days...
October 12th, 2006
After waking up, I grabbed a few First Aid Kits and treated some people. One of them was a military guy, and he showed me a lot about how to handle guns after I had dropped my gun and he saw I was very inexperienced with it. I have a pretty good at handling them now, and when those three Dead busted from the maintenance area, I fired my shotgun without much thinking - and actually downed one of them. Other people took out the other two, and we quickly dumped their bodies outside.
I'm actually having fun handling my guns, which is disturbing, considering the anti-militarist I used to be. Oh well, circumstances change people...
Supplement: I was attacked!! Holy shit, I was attacked... I was resting in the northwest corner of the mall when some Dead broke in through a window. One grabbed me, but he was quickly killed by another one of us, and he treated my bites. I owe my life to whoever that was... He was off to help somebody else before we could exchange names. Jesus, this was a damned close call. So I decided to stock up on firearms. I've got about 40 rounds and three loaded shotguns now. Quite a load to carry, but I'm planning on making a raid outside soon. But for now, I have to rest...
October 13th, 2006
I'm pretty well stocked up on weapons now. I'm gonna head outside and kill some Dead - I'm pretty confident. I'm well rested and prepared. Oh, by the way... Is it true it's Friday 13th? Oh well, that's never meant anything.
A bloody smear and something illegible appear below this entry, though it probably reads "Shit".
The next page is torn.
October 18th, 2006
The pen in my hand... The paper I am writing on. Everything is familiar to me, but it could not appear more alien to my mind. I was... Dead. Or whatever I was. I'll try to piece what little memories I have together.
On... yes, on Friday 13th (goddam, maybe you should stay inside on those days), I headed out of Pole Mall to attack the Dead that were laying siege to it. I did quite well with my gun, but of course they all took note of me and went wild. I should have known... I just couldn't get in through the barricades. I ran away, but I just didn't make it. I... I just can't think back to that moment just yet. It was hell.
After that... My memory is like that of a dream - vague, inane and distant. I had a feeling of... grim determination, but more intense than any other feeling. I was not myself. I don't think I killed anybody, but I'm not sure... I do remember fighting. I still was not myself. Had I assaulted someone and he or anyone close had shot me in the head - good. The Dead are in no way what the Living used to be.
But then, yesterday morning, I was... well, I guess I'd have to say "revived". Of course I'd heard of it, but it's nothing short of unbelievable that they are actually able to recover the Dead from their state. Naturally, nothing's perfect, and so the revivification left me with a splitting headache, but I welcome that as a sign that I'm alive.
I staggered back to Pole Mall when I had rested, but again I found the place deserted. The Dead are still outside, but it's only a matter of time until they are all over the place again, I'm sure. I guess the time has come to move on... Away from West Grayside, the closest thing to home I've had through all this.
