Journal of Hope (Entry 4)

12/6/09 (Day 4 of survival)

I slowly faded back into reality after the brutal shock from the side affects of my bite wound. To my right sitting in the chairs beside me where both Nate and Leon. To the left, Shelly carefully tinkered with the medicine that was flowing through my veins and added a new ingredient to the mixture and the once clear solution quickly changed green as it swirled around in the plastic bag vigorously. I pondered about what could possibly be flowing through my veins right about now, but I dropped the topic and left it at the fact that I would rather not know. For some odd reason, I kept imagining myself becoming the "Jolly Green Giant" that you see on all those veggie cans at the store. I looked up to the crowd that began to engulf me and my little medical bed. I tried to shut my eyes as tight as I possibly could, but yet, I could still feel their burning gazes all across my face. I opened one eye cautiously and asked "Um, what is everyone staring at?". Shelly looked at me and smiled "We are looking at the rapidly decreasing purple in your arm Shay. It seems that mushrooms were the cure to your nasty bite!". I almost threw up at the thought that passed though my mind. I hated mushrooms with a burning passion! To think that some solution containing mushrooms was now flowing into my veins disgusted me! Upon that note I flopped onto my side with a "hmph" and slowly faded away into a deep slumber. I could hear everyone leaving the room and I sighed with relief until a hand touched my shoulder causing me to nearly fall out of my bed as I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everyone flooded back in to see if I was ok, only to see that Leon was standing above the rail of my bed and me nearing a state of hyperventilation. "What in the living fuck happened in here?!" screamed Kylie at Leon furiously; Whenever Leon and Nate didn't come in to visit, Kylie would sit with me for hours on end talking about everything that happened to her and her lover Dan, who at the time of the mysterious explosion, was working at Dairy Queen while Kylie was at home preparing a feast to commemorate their third year together. Kylie and I were extremely close because of this. (Entry Edit (1/10/11) see the "Lost Chronicles" I found them in my Journal while reattaching the entries when they fell out. It seems that Kylie and the others found my journal at some point in time and added in the stories of what happened in their life before they had met me.)

"I was just trying to talk to her, but instead scared the crap out of her" Leon replied with an embarrassed blush on his face. "Well if that's all,then let's go folks so that he can talk to her in private" Kylie said as she left the room quietly. When Kylie had left, the others had followed her as quickly and as quietly as they had come. Leon looked at me with a loving smile. "You know Shay, I'm really glad that even though it's almost like the end of the world, I'm still able to live my life with you in it". "Oh Leon, I love you so much!" I yelled as I flung my arms around him.

The room got eerily quiet. Leon put a finger to my lips and whispered "Shh". We listened to the area around us suspiciously. Normally, we would heard the commotion and laughing from Kylie and the others. But now, there was nothing, only dead silence. At that moment we heard an array of bullets echoing down the hall and knew it meant trouble. I looked up and saw that the mushroom concoction in my I.V. was empty so I unhooked myself and threw on my leg supports. Leon grabbed my holsters and pistols from the drawer next to me and handed them to me. I knew that this would be the time for exacting my revenge on that damned zombie that gave me the new scar on my shoulder. "I'm going to kill that damned bitch of a zombie wherever the fuck it's hiding!" I flung my legs over the rails again and to my delight, my legs didn't crumple and give out like the time I was in the hospital. I decided to throw the supports off to the side as I cut off the cumbersome cast that was now a burden to me. I was ready to kick some ass, and no one was going to stop me!

I searched through the remaining drawers as Leon left my side to help the others. I found a small button on the underside of Shelly's desk and upon pressing it, the eastern wall of the room flipped to reveal some major firepower. I could only laugh as I thought that this was just like a moment in MIB with Will Smith. I pushed aside the thought, and began throwing multiple slings of clips for my pistols along with bullets and rounds for the Gatling gun and Flamethrower that I had picked out. I kicked down the door so I would purposely draw attention to myself, but the commotion from the other rooms was too much, and made my small racket seem pitiful compared to it.

I walked down the hall and peered around the corner. I couldn't believe that something had gotten into the base. This place was by far the most secure place I had seen compared to a military base. I only ever had been through the maze in the base once during my visit the very first day of surviving so this would be a challenge. I remembered the last time I tried to leave the medical room alone, as I walked down the numerous hallways while cautiously checking every corner for a zombie while I followed the noise of bullets ricocheting off the walls.

I finally found the living room where everyone was packed into the small weapons stall that I'd seen Lakin in while polishing a 12 gauge shotgun only days before. The moment Nate saw me, he gave me a hand signal that meant to go around the other way. I knew what stood on the opposite side of the wall. I shook my head and pondered how I was going to reveal this bastard.. I looked around cautiously and saw a tank of gasoline by the wall across from me. I quickly grabbed it and threw it into the bullet-filled room.

I gave Nate and the others a hand signal to stop firing cause I had a plan. Everyone looked dumbfounded, but stopped firing. I ran around to the other side and pulled out a small knife from the new boots I found in the medical room that seemed to fit perfectly, like they were meant for me all along. I could only smile as I saw a slight shimmer move to face me.

"Remember me you bastard?! Well I got a little something for you, and I think you'll like it!" I took the knife and cut a large gash into my arm, and threw the bloody knife into the gasoline can and saw the transparent zombie move ever so slightly towards it. "DUCK!" I screamed to my comrades as I took out my pistol and shot the gasoline that was leaking out of the tank.

There was a large explosion, and debris of the living room were scattered everywhere. Luckily, I dove out of the way just in time, although the heavy artillery I was carrying pinned me to the ground as I scrambled to get back up. I could see the zombie wolf now clearly as I took off both the Gatling gun and the Flamethrower, and slid the slings of ammo off my back and readied one clip in both pistols. I took out another knife and smeared my own blood onto my face like war paint. I heard my comrades screaming not to do this, but I tuned them out and ran towards the zombie wolf.

After a few close calls, I managed to scramble onto the zombie wolf's back and slit its throat. I stood atop the dead carcass victorious and cried out to the world proudly. The gang ran over to me to see if I was unharmed. I could only laugh at the worried faces they made. I began to think clearly and rationally as I unintentionally took a stand and started to give orders on what to do next.

"Ok we have to leave this place here and now! Chuckles, Giggles, and Justin get as many supplies as you can to some form of transportation and stick together! Kylie, Shelly and Lakin, go to the medical room and get as many supplies as you can manage as well and then rendezvous with Chuckles group. Leon, Nate and I will round up weapons and ammo for the operation. So far the best place to set up a temporary base up is the mall since there were no zombies there and take advantage of the security systems. What is everyone waiting for? That thing got in somehow, so there has to be a way for other zombies to get in! So hurry up and get to work!"

Everyone stared at me surprised at my action of taking the role of leadership. Everyone immediately began to work on the jobs they were assigned. By the time it was nearly dusk, everyone had successfully met at the semi that was secretly stored away in the underground garage. We drove out with all of our supplies towards the direction of the mall. Little did I know, the mall would present a trial of unmeasurable comprehension to me that would challenge the love between Leon and I. But it would also mean a moment of closeness with me and Nate. We drove into the night as quietly as we could and entered the mall, where we set up a temporary stronghold in the security room. With motion sensors in place covering 2 miles all around us, we slept soundly as we waited for dawn.

TBC....