MONTH 1: DON'T LEAVE HELL WAITING
June 9th, 1970
05:57 AM
My name is Kaiser Romez. I was born on the night of September 12th, 1951. Technically, I was born known as Caesar, after my father. I liked how it sounded with a hard C better, so I called myself Kaiser since I was, if I can remember correctly, 10 years old, and everyone's been calling me that ever since. I was drafted for the war in Vietnam about 16 years after I saw the light of day for the first time. Let me tell you, it's the closest emulation you can get to hell on earth. But that's not really the point I'm trying to convey. The point is, in every decrepit, corpse-ridden wasteland, there's some kind of sanctuary. A sanctuary where you can let stride the pains of life itself and finally feel like an actual, sane human being again.
I'm currently on a train headed for some town called "Casbylon", which was regarded by my comrades as some kind of "lost city", forgotten by humanity itself. It was rumored to be in a remote, heavily forested area of North Vietnam, so I'll be damned if I get off this train unscathed. Something awful is bound to happen, but so far, things have been pretty bizarre. Some guy dressed in a cat suit sat next to me and asked questions about my life. I'm completely serious. He was speaking in inaudible gibberish, too, but I could understand him for some reason. I have a feeling things are going to get weirder in the future. I'm ready. I'm completely ready to get weird. Let's get freaky.
10:04 AM
Well, damn. This train ride was longer than I thought. Five hours, I'm glad it's over. I'm stepping off the train right now, going to see what happens. Probably going to get killed by some gooks. It happens so frequently it's surprising when you actually manage to go a day without one of your comrades going down.
Alright, this is the creepiest f**king thing I've ever seen. Remember that fool from earlier dressed in the cat suit? Apparently, there are more of them in some kind of absurd cult full of animal imitators. There was a Shih Tzu, a Rabbit, a Wolf, a Pig, a Cow, and a small Bear.
"Welcome to Casbylon!", they all shouted in unison.
I'm not sure what the hell is going on, and why they think I'm their leader, but if this is the sanctuary everyone was talking about, they must have been joking around. I swear to god, if this is some kind of sick joke, I'm going to gun down everyone here, and everyone who told me about this god damned clown town. I'll try pulling off one of their suits later, see what happens. Aw, who am I kidding? It's probably some kind of federal offense to pull off their suits, and if these guys are considering me their mayor, that'd be kinda cruel anyways. But still, I'm not a goddamn 5-year old, and this isn't happy wappy vietnam fun time.
12:31 PM
What the f**k. They aren't animal suits. They're actual, anthropomorphic animals running around, talking about stuff. I don't know what kind of chemicals we dumped on these guys a long time ago, but whatever it was, it probably made the geneva conventions crap its pants. Speaking of which, nobody wears pants except me. I engaged in casual small-talk with a couple of them, mainly the rabbit. His name is Genji. I like this guy. A lot. He enjoys doing athletic things such as working out, and seems pretty oblivious when it comes to the events going on in the outside world, especially with the war and all that. Poor little sod's probably going to get blown up some time later. Oh well. We're all disposable here.
17:23 PM
I'm starting to settle in to Casbylon now and it's not as creepy as I thought. The "inhabitants" are pretty polite and this place is pretty secluded. From a bird's eye view it just looks like one of vietnam's lonely, hostile forests. However, it might lead to herbicides getting pumped on us in large quantities, and if that's the case, I'll probably die within the week. And if I die, I'm going to welcome death with open arms.
June 10th, 1970
07:49 AM
The first night went well. Slept under the stars in a rudimentary cot that Genji helped me set up. Finished up the last of my rations for breakfast today, gonna see if Pekoe is willing to cook me up something good. I got word that I was supposed to check in with the secretary, Isabelle, today, and I was supposed to perform some tasks around the town to gain respect from my peers. Gee willakers, I guess manual labor doesn't go underappreciated in this town. Lay it on me, 'Belle, I'll run laps around this town without breaking a sweat.
09:00 AM
I checked in with isabelle and she wants me to start out by catching fish. There's a zig-zaggy river coming right through the town, with a single old cobblestone bridge connecting the two sides together. I guess I'd better get my start on my community service by doing what she asked before I get into anything else-or more important.
09:57 AM
Caught three fish, delayed turning them in so I could explore the town in more detail. I consider the two sides separated by the river as different "districts". More of the houses seem to be on the south-west side of town. I call this the "Neighbourhood" district, to make this place sound more homely. Less of the houses are on the north-east side, which I consider the "Outlandish" district, as the overgrowth on that side is more abundant. There's the occasional patch of tall grass, but most of the neighbourhood district's grass is trampled, making a sort of path between houses. Also, strangely, there's a pawn shop in the Neighbourhood. I don't know what gave these little bastards the idea to build a goddamn pawn shop in the middle of their town, but that's not my problem. Also, strange note, there's a little pier down on the south side of town that seems to be abandoned. Nobody is really using it, dunno what it could be for. Maybe some kind of stationary speedboat drive-by platform? Who knows.
20:30
Isabelle made me do more community service for the rest of the day. I had to catch some bugs for no reason. Our discussion about "Why are my tasks so mundane and useless" got cut off when air raid sirens howled outside. We ran out of the town hall. The sky was lit up by the red glare of the sirens and the only thing I could think of was "We're f**ked." I guess everyone was prepared, because apparently a storm of heavy explosives coming down from above didn't seem to phase the villagers very much, as if it's a regular thing. I felt like the only one with shell shock, but these fools were staying calm and retreating into their houses to pray that they wouldn't be the ones to be blown up today. The pilot of the plane must have been pretty stupid, because the bombs seemed to kill more planes than people. I sustained minor injuries, with a couple gashes in my right arm and chest from the shrapnel flying goddamn everywhere, and before I knew it, Naomi's house was blown to smithereens. I never liked Naomi, I'm glad it was her. Eventually, the bombing stopped, followed up by a large explosion far off in the distance, like a plane crashing or something. I had to delay writing this entry because it's hard writing in a f**king journal when you're being bombed from every end. Lemme tell ya, it's not pleasant. At all.
June 11th, 1970
6:57 AM
After the bombing, Genji and I were thinking as to how they could have zoned us out. Of course, I've only been here for a day or two, but Genji's pretty wise when it comes to the origins of this town, considering it's where he was born, as he told me. We eventually came to the conclusion that some sort of hijacked anti-aircraft cannon took out the bottom of a B-52 or something, dropping the payload on us. Who knows? 2 days AWOL and I'm already starting to forget about our own aircraft.
June 12th, 1970
12:23 AM
It's hard getting to sleep. It's not that my tent is sh*tty, or the sleeping bag is itchy, or the f*cking scorpions keep getting into my tent. I can't stop thinking about my family, or going back home. I know it sounds sappy, but honestly, I just have to get this sh*t off my chest. I remember my sister. Her name was Jen. Jen Romez. What a beautiful name. We loved each other like there was no tomorrow. We did everything together. God damn. Ever since I was drafted, I've slowly been forgetting what she looks like. From what I (vaguely) remember, she had silky white hair that she always kept in a bun. When she let her hair down, I would always gently feel how soft it was… Also, if I remember correctly, there wasn't really an age gap between us. We were born on the same day. She was the sweetest person ever. She tended to say non-confrontational and would get over things really quickly. I was more of the rowdy one, though, but no matter how many times I pushed her around and teased her, she knew it was all in good fun. In retrospect, I shouldn't have. Sure, it's just childish instinct to tease around with people, but I was NOT PREPARED to be drafted, and even the thought of coming back alive, let alone with most of my limbs sewn on, still makes me shudder. I wish I had been nicer to her before I went. And on the day I was scheduled to leave for the military, I still remember that day, 3 years ago. My mother cradling a crying Jen in her arms, reassuring her I was going to be alright. That I was going to come back fine. That the war would end in the blink of an eye. Her screams of "No! You'll get killed out there! Brother, I love you!" as I slowly made my way out the door, my dad nudging me along as if he f*cking advocated the whole charade. If my father somehow finds this journal on my lifeless husk, let me just get this off my chest real quick: F*ck you, Caesar. F*ck you.
June 19, 1970
13:23 PM
The week has been pretty melancholy. Little more than working, mostly consisting of pulling carts and tilling crop fields. There have been some rumors going around town of someone getting our location. We might be getting a new neighbour sometime soon. Strangely enough, everyone seems to be talking about the possible immigrants like they're some sort of lolitas or dandies. Like, all prissy-prissy pink pastel pansies and sh*t. God damn, I hate pastels. They're the colors of ugly and wimpy.
June 24, 1970
15:06 PM
Genji got a short-wave radio the other day. Most of the town gathers in Genji's house now at predetermined intervals to listen to the nearby signals the viet cong establishment nearby is sending out. It'd be a good idea to arm this town. I still have retention of most of my training, so I'm going to see if I can train these little fools on how to work a M1911.
June 25, 1970
13:02 PM
Today begins the first day of training for the Casbylonian militia, our soon-to-be primary source of protection against the harsh outside world. Compared to other places, Casbylon would be a pretty low-value target for those looking for resources and such, as we're kinda lame in that sense. But currently I'm the only one who knows how to work a goddamn peashooter, so we're going to have to change that sooner or later. I'm going to check back in later after training, see what happens.
19:30 PM
Well. It went alright. Almost got my hand blown off by Wolfgang, but at least the majority of the town knows how to kill people now. I only came in with two firearms, though. A M1911 with no ammunition and a partially-working M4 Carbine. The M4 is prone to jamming, but we made do with it anyways. Unless we somehow get a shipment of ammo in, we'll do lessons on pistol-whipping tomorrow.
June 28, 1970
09:32 AM
Word has been going around that this weird, freaky, pastel colored lolita culture is going to assimilate the world someday. I'm not really sure what it has to do with the war and all that, but these little sh*ts keep talking about it like the dandies of the world are going to launch a full-blown assault on us. Damn.