The Diary of J.A.B

December 2017

     I made it. It's a small, long abandoned town where survivors have been hiding. It's been three months since the First Day, as they call the day it all began. I was at the top of a hill when they spotted me. I was so exhausted, so tired. They all ran outside to help me. It felt nice to be wanted, to be cared for. It made me fall to the ground and sob. They all thought I was crying tears of joy because I had found them.

They were wrong.

     I cried because I had people care for me even though I'd done horrible things. It reminded me of Eva, of all the times we comforted each other, despite our flaws. It reminded me of happier times when it was just Eva and I against the world. We thought we could do anything as long as we were together.

     Another reason for my tears was simple; sorrow. It was really just me thinking about what had happened to me over the course of three months. My mom disappeared. Me and my best-my only-friend tried to survive together. I had to kill my best friend. I had to kill a lot of things that used to be human. I even knew some of them. I felt the weight of that constantly, like a rock at the bottom of my stomach. I hadn't eaten more than a few crackers a day. And yet... I was accepted. I killed countless former humans and was still welcomed by nineteen people I didn't even know. We aren't the last ones. We know that. We'll find more; we'll save more. I may not have become a police officer, but I got pretty dang close.

     The town is next to a dam, which gives it electricity! Electricity!! It's been so long since I've taken a warm bath, been in a heated room, and been able to see in the dark without batteries or a candle! I really took electricity for granted. These people have restored my hope for humanity to rise again. There's even a working radio tower here, where the "leader" ( a woman in her mid twenties who gathered the original group of survivors named Rachel) broadcasts an invitation for any survivors to come to "Sanctuary", the name of the town. Sanctuary is filled with an extremely diverse group of people, from a young, deaf girl to a French tourist who we're teaching English while he teaches us French. It's fascinating and wonderful!