Day 17, Sunday, October 2010
Dear Journal,
We had to leave the tree house last night, because a group of dangerous looking men arrived. We were able to quietly escape with Sam's dad's car, without the men seeing us, and we already had all our stuff packed in the car, just in case we had to leave in a hurry. Then one of the tires from the car lost air, but we found a safe place to stay the night. The house we're at right now belongs to an older man, named Benny, who at first seemed like he wasn't gonna let us stay, but luckily, he did. Benny also has a dog, named Sandy, who I've bonded with pretty quickly. I just woke up, and I'm watching Bailey sniffing Sandy, as I'm writing. We brought Bailey with us and his cat carrier, which I'm glad, but hope nothing bad ever happens to him on our journey to the compound. We're planning on kayaking to the city, because the roads will be rough to travel through, with all the abandoned cars, so that's why I'm a little worried about Bailey. I forgot to mention yesterday when I was writing, that for now on I'm keeping track of how many days it's been since the apocalypse started. I figured keeping track with time is still important and don't want to ever lose track.
Sam's letter that she wrote to her family isn't at the tree house. Apparently, Eli took it because he wanted to read it. He was gonna put it back where Sam had left it, but he didn't have time to before we had to leave. I saw both of them arguing about the letter, and I feel so sorry for Sam. It really sucks that her family won't see it, and that kills me. I can't blame Eli though, because I heard him yelling at Sam about how he wanted to know how she dealt with her pain, from the letter. But still, that was a big mistake he made. I got to read it later, after Eli did, and... I totally empathize with Sam, with everything she went through. But she's strong though, same with Eli. I'm still a mess with everything that has happened, but I try to act like I'm keeping it together, even though I suck at it because I'm always quiet. I wonder how DJ is? I mean with how he's handling everything. He's probably distracted from it, because he's focused on our safety and stuff. Thank God I still have DJ! I don't know what I would do without him.
Day 18, Monday, October 2010
Dear Journal,
We Left Benny's house this morning. For a while, we had to travel on foot because we couldn't bring the car, but luckily Benny was able to fix it, and he drove and met up with us. Benny and Sandy are coming with us to the compound! Sam almost got attacked by a huff today. She screamed really loud and ran away from it. She was embarrassed that she did that, because she said she needs to be tough and smart. I already thought she was tough and smart, but whatever. Then for some reason I asked her if she thought I can survive, and also told her that I'm not tough and smart. I could tell she felt awkward when I said that, and I hate that I always say awkward things! I wouldn't even feel better if I somehow got money or candy, every time I said something awkward, because that's how much I hate being an awkward weirdo! Anyway, Sam gave me a not bad response, I guess. She just said I don't seem stupid. I will always and forever feel stupid. Later, we made it to the Columbia River and we all expressed our excitement and cheered, because we thought it would be more harder getting there. I kind of felt happy for a moment, which I thought I was never going to feel, ever again. I guess everyone's excitement gave me hope. We set up camp by the river, and DJ said that we'll have to camp 3 times before reaching the city. We also did a little practicing with kayaking in the water. That was actually fun and relaxing, and we all got to laugh and have fun just a little bit, for once.
There's one more thing I just remembered that I wanted to write about. Last night before we left Benny's house, DJ and Benny got into this huge argument with each other. They're both cool with each other now, but apparently Benny saw DJ drinking some of Benny's alcohol, and he thought DJ was like my dad, according to DJ. I can't believe DJ drinks! How long has he been drinking? I'm scared that it might become a problem for him, like it did for our dad. I remember mom telling me that our dad actually used to be a good guy, before he became a jerk alcoholic. This is probably just my anxiety talking. With the world different now, maybe he just started drinking? I really can't see DJ turning out like our dad, I know deep down he never would. Anyway, so their loud yelling woke me, Sam, and Eli up and we went over to listen to them, through the other side of the door. The yelling stopped as soon as we got to the door, but DJ was talking loud enough for us to hear. He said that he knew some guy who had a safe place for him to go, after everything happened, and that he really wanted to go, because he had feelings for this guy. But DJ decided not to go, so that he would be with me and our family. I had absolutely no clue that my brother likes guys. I'm fine with it, I don't care, but it was still a little shocking, you know. I wonder if mom knew about him being gay? I don't know, I can't decide if she knew or not. I almost thought about talking to DJ about it, but got too scared, to. I mean, he'll talk to me about it when he's ready, right? Same thing with him talking to me about him drinking now, too, right? Because I'm so not gonna approach him first, about it. Plus, he knows that we overheard him talking to Benny. We were still standing right by the door when DJ opened it, which was pretty awkward. Again, I can't believe my brother is gay. I never saw any signs that he was, because he's kind of a manly guy, who likes sports and stuff. Anyway, it's getting dark and hard to see, so I will say goodnight.