Author's Note: Based off the playthrough of Rust with Markiplier(YouTuber). Brokeback AU set in a post-apocalyptic world. Because those types of stories interest me. This will be different than any Brokeback story I've written or thought about but didn't write. Stick with me because this IS happening. I wracked my brain for hours to think of a good enough title for this story. "Pandemic" is kinda boring, but it was the best I could come up with. And that's sad. Not eye catching at all. At least for me. Anyvay! Let's get to the story already!

Journal Entry One

I was nine years old when the disease broke out. Mom got sick. Dad put us through hell when she was admitted to the hospital. We knew he was just worried about Mom. We all were. Especially when more people came down with the same symptoms, crowding the small, already cramped hospital. It wasn't the common flu. The docs couldn't figure it out, but were too afraid to tell everyone that. Afraid it was cause a riot. The riot came anyway because the doctors weren't telling anyone anything. Doctors were threatened when people started dying. Some of the doctors even left town, which pissed off Dad because now there was only one doctor to take care of everyone. He was losing hope that Mom would make it through.

We all thought she was going to for a while. She seemed to be getting better. We were able to take her home. We then found out that she had only been pretending to get out of the hospital and make her family happy. My older brother, KE, found her dead in the bedroom. Dad had been at work. One call brought him straight home, though. And, of course, he yelled at me, KE, and my sister, though we knew better than to think he actually blamed us for Mom dying. A few days later, Dad ended up sick and refused to go to the doctors. He lost faith in the doctors because they hadn't helped Mom. He shot himself in the garage before he got in too much pain.

KE was in charge now. We left town with a bunch of other people. We listened when rumors went around that the town was cursed. Half the population was dead. Things would go back to normal if they left the town. We wanted that to be true, but of course it wasn't. People were sick everywhere we went. The government had areas quarantined. Riots went on that couldn't be stopped until more than a few people were shot down.

After a few months, it was starting to look like Hell on Earth. Friends turned on one another. The doctors only came up with a few developments on the disease. The symptoms: fever, body aches, nausea, sleeplessness. And in some cases: dementia. And the disease changed over time. Some symptoms left, others surfaced. It was always changing, which was why the doctors were unable to find a cure for it. They couldn't even figure out if the disease was in the air or just transferred from one person to another through DNA. Would a simple touch suffice? Or did someone have to bite/lick/kiss you? I had started to get obsessed with this even though my siblings kept telling me to leave the wonderings to the professionals. But, they weren't doing much good anyway.

It was on my fifteenth birthday when we got separated. We had constantly been moving for the last five and a half years. KE had been looking out for all of us. Until the government raided the town we were currently in and took everyone into custody. We were taken to some facility and tested. My tests came up negative so I was let go. I didn't know what was going on or what happened to the ones that tested positive. And, frankly, I didn't want to know. I just hoped it wouldn't be long before KE and my sister were released. So, I never left town. But, the government picked up and left and I never saw KE and my sister again. To this day, four years after that night, I still wonder if they're still alive.

Ennis Del Mar paused in his writing, tapping his pen on the paper as he read over everything. He grimaced, remembering the night KE had suggested writing a journal about all of this. Ennis had pointed out several times that it had been a stupid idea and now here he was, writing it down as if someone might one day find it. But what good would it do? If anyone in the world was still alive, there wasn't a bright future ahead for them. The disease was always getting worse and it was only a matter of time before the lucky ones(like himself) found themselves dead. He was always preparing for that moment. He, KE, and their sister had made a pact: if they ever got sick, they were going out like Dad. Quick and easy.

It definitely beat heading for a town that still had doctors. No one went around people anymore. Everyone just shot each other dead if they saw someone. They would never find out if the person was sick or not first. They would just shoot. They wouldn't take the risk of getting sick or sicker, depending on the person. So Ennis got around by living out in the middle of nowhere, building his own shelter and finding his own food. Other people did come out here, but he knew how to use camouflage. And whenever he did travel, he went around towns. Never through them. KE had taught him that.

And the one night they decide to go against that because their sister had wanted an actual bed to sleep in, things went to hell and Ennis had been on his own ever since. He had never even tried looking for them because he feared the worst. And where would he have even started? Everyone ended up rebelling against the government and everything had been destroyed. Ennis no longer feared the disease. It was the people that had done the most damage. For all they knew, the disease was probably gone by now.

Ennis shut the journal when he heard a noise outside his tent. It was in the middle of the afternoon, so it might have been just a wandering animal. He slowly peeked outside anyway and froze when he saw a bear sniffing around about twenty feet from his tent. He slowly grabbed his backpack and journal, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to run away, but he wanted to be prepared. He quietly stuffed the journal into his backpack then slipped the pack on. The bear was still sniffing around, minding its own business. Did it smell him? He didn't really want to stick around here to find out. But, he didn't want to leave his tent and food because it was all he had for right now.

He made up his mind when the bear turned and looked right at him. His heart pounded in his chest when the bear let out a long, loud roar. At least he wasn't frozen in fear. He bolted out of the tent and ran away from the bear. It immediately started after him. He was in a forested area, so neither of them had an advantage. Fallen trees and foliage slowed both man and beast. He could still hear the bear behind him, but never turned to see how close or how far it actually was.

He stumbled onto a road, tripping on a stump and rolling across the asphalt a bit. Scrapes and bruises was all he suffered. He rolled over and pushed himself up and looked around, but didn't see or hear the bear. All was quiet except for the sound of the wind through the trees and his own heavy breathing. He got to his feet, brushing himself off, freezing when he heard a gunshot then some shouts. Along with the anguished howl of the bear. That could only mean one thing: people.

Ennis dashed to the other side of the road, crouching down in the bushes and hoped he was hidden enough if anyone came his way. He tried to calm his breathing when he saw someone in the trees. Looking for whatever the bear had been chasing, no doubt. Pretty soon the person was joined by a few others. A group? It was the first time he had seen anyone team up. He shifted slightly, crouching down further when the group stepped out onto the road. They looked around for a few minutes then headed back into the trees to get what they needed from the bear. Ennis waited a few minutes longer then got up and followed the road, keeping to the bushes.

Following the road was a bad idea because every road led to some town somewhere, but he had lost his tent and food and needed supplies. All he had in his backpack was a bottle of water, the journal, a set of underwear, and toilet paper. Everything else had been in the tent. Should've just waited for the bear to move on, he thought, annoyed with himself. If he hadn't poked his head out, the bear probably would never have noticed him. Though, that group might have come across his tent and that would have been worse than the bear.

After a few miles, Ennis stepped out of the bushes and onto the road, setting an easier pace. The sun was starting to set and he knew he needed to find shelter soon, but the idea of staying another night in the forest no longer appealed to him after that run in with the bear. There were bears and who knew what else hiding in the woods. He would honestly rather sleep in a house right now. Maybe he would be lucky enough to come across a ghost town. He had been that lucky before, even if he had still gone around it. Of course, he could never know for sure if they were ghost towns or not.

Earlier than expected, Ennis saw a town. Lights were on, but that didn't mean people were there. He slowed his pace as he neared the building, keeping a cautious eye out. No one showed themselves as he walked down the empty street. He didn't relax as he hurried over to a hotel and went in. He locked himself in one of the rooms, pulling all of the curtains closed. He locked himself in the bathroom then turned the light on. He sat down on the floor in the corner, but still didn't relax. He put his backpack to the side then took out the journal and opened it back to the first entry. End of the day, he wrote.

It's these moments you start to wonder to yourself: How come I'm still here? Why am I surviving after so many people have died? I don't count myself lucky for surviving. The dead aren't too lucky either. I envy them, though. They got off easy. They didn't have to deal with all of this hell. What am I living for anyway? What's my purpose in life? Am I still here for some untold reason? What does my future hold? Am I even traveling down the right path? So far, this is what Fate has brought me.

I'm not gonna sit here and start feeling sorry for myself. That would be the first step into the abyss. I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep fighting. There's nothing I'm fighting for, but I AM here for a reason. I just have to find out what that is.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Ennis put the journal away then curled up there on the floor and fell asleep.

To Be Continued...