15:

The ones we've lost have never left my memory.
I've been alive for a while now, more than a year and a half. And in all that time, I've seen so much, probably too much, I'm sure. I've seen strangers go, and I've seen close friends pass too. It doesn't matter it you know them or not, it hurts either way. It hurts just the same eventually. When you lose someone close, a little sting sets in, making your heart ache every time the person crosses your mind. If you didn't know the person, you're left to wonder so much. Did they have a family or loved ones? How old were they? Where did they come from? You realize that you couldn't help them or save them. Then guilt grows. In the end, either way hurts just as bad. Ni one deserves to die like this, or deserves to witness premature death.
It's all hard to think about, especially when you care so much. I love my friends, and the people I didn't meet who had died surely had others who loved them too. Whether you knew them personally or not, it's never easy to accept or watch.

I've found some comfort in my new friends. I feel so much more at home, and far more alive now that we have a real fight on our hands. I actually feel like there'll be a resolution this time, and I can only hope my feelings are correct. The people in my life have something I haven't seen as much in others - they have the guts and motivation to finish this instead of living in fear. In Geneva, we just waited for it to come to us to fight, but the plan seems to be way different here, and I'm actually happy about it.
Sometimes we worry that we don't have a big enough team for this fight. I try not to think about that, because it only took one person to save me just a few months ago. I think we have enough people, and I believe that we have a good chance of ending this. The first time I thought about how many people we have after entering the current situation, I came up with a plan, just in case.
14 and I will return to Geneva to explain the problem here in Seneca Falls. We will round up our friends, and then quickly, but carefully, return home. Once we get back here and reorganize, we will go to carry out the plan.
I've told a few of our new friends, and they agree that gathering up others couldn't hurt. 14 and I repack and head northwest to Geneva, following the shore up into town. It's the easiest route, because if you follow the shore, you can't get lost. Geneva sits on the water, so you'll always be able to find it.
It takes several days to get there, about three and a half. I'm really really nervous that the monster's going to find us, whether we're in the town or on the journey there. It bothers me enough to where it's hard to go to sleep. As we venture closer and closer, something seems wrong. I look around me, making sure no one, or nothing, is following us. I grasp onto my spear tighter, ready to attack or run, just in case we need to.
The eerie, unusual feeling follows along with us as we pass the fountain, and follow the main road. There appears to have been no upkeep in town since we left. Everything seems desolate and abandoned...
As we look for our friends, there is not one life to be seen. Everyone we used to know is... gone. We walk the sidewalks, now covered in a coat of dust and sand from being unswept for weeks. Homes have been left behind. We look around, just observing. There is not one single person left in Geneva.
What on earth could have happened? Did they migrate somewhere else? O-or... or are they all dead? Maybe the beast really got them this time...
We look around the town for a while longer, hoping to figure out what happened to our old home. We turn a corner to see 10's shop. It doesn't look how it did the last time we were in town. The white paint is chipped from its walls, the glass on the door is faded and broken in some places. 14 walks closer to the door, and points out that a note is hanging on the inside. It reads:

"Tailor Closed Permanently - New, bigger shop opening in Romulus. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"She moved." 14 tells me. "Maybe nobody here's dead, maybe they all just migrated."
"Maybe... I sure hope that's the case."
"Where's Romulus?" she asks. "Is it on your map?"
I pull the map out of my bag, and let my eyes wander around it, trying to find the name. After a few seconds, I spot it, and how far it is from anywhere we've been.
"I found it. On this map, it's about 16 miles away. For us, that's like a five or six-day walk."
"Wow." she pauses. "That's longer than any trip I've ever been on, besides the one to find Geneva in the first place."
"How long did you walk for?" I ask, a little surprised.
"Ten to twelve days, I think. I had no idea where I was going, so I kind've took my time. I was also trying to just not get killed."
"I totally understand..."

"So, um..." 14 scratches her head. "What do we do now? Do we go home and tell the others that they're gone?"
"Yeah, but don't say it like that. They aren't dead. Well... probably not."
"Of course." 14 jokes a little, promising to clarify more once we get home.

I hope they lived. It bothers me to think that so many old friends of mine might have had their lives taken from them. I try to shake the thought of them, bodies left behind as the beast hunts for more and more of us. My hands shake as I try to forget. I've lost people I care about before. It's too awful, and I can't let it happen again.

We begin the walk back, and leave Geneva, now completely empty, behind us. I speak to 14 as much as I can to keep myself from thinking about what could have happened to the others. But, as we venture home, I feel something new, like a fire. It's not anger or fear, it's more like determination. After wondering about the fate of my friends, a new motivation to fight and end this battle once and for all sparks up inside my chest. I suddenly feel fiery, and it gets stronger as we return to Seneca Falls safe, but with neutral news. I look at our small settlement, and how at peace we are. I just think about all the good things that we have, and how nice and quaint it is here. It makes me feel empowered. We can't let anybody wreck this.

This really is our home now. We have to defend it with all that we've got.