Wednesday, July 16th 2008:
Since Erica had won her last game of chess, she's to go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to play for the semi-finals, which are to take place next week. After what happened last night, I guess it's safe to say there's this... bond between us, for a lack of better terms. Anyway, given that I can't reschedule my trip, it's impossible for me to be there when she's playing another game. At least, since I need to get to Montana next, she offered me a seat next to her on the plane to Milwaukee. Once there, I'm sure I'll find my way into Montana. So that's where we are now, waiting at the airport, until we can board our plane.
Curious, but for some reason a storm came up, which made the sky too unstable for any plane to take off. Given that, our flight has been delayed. For how long, nobody could tell for sure. As I understood it, the storm looked as though it was pretty stationary, the wind wouldn't blow it away, as well as for every raindrop that the clouds lose, another cloud is being made for it. It's like there's some kind of force that wants there to be rain above this area. I can guess what kind of force.
So, since we had no idea when this storm will be over (or if it'll be over), Erica decided that we should get ourselves a ride that would take us there. So she refunded the tickets she bought, only to buy us tickets for a bus. In doing so, she didn't particularly manage to stay away from the press. I actually even had to cut in to help her out, only narrowly escaping my so-called fifteen minutes of fame.
Now that we're on that bus, on our long way to Milwaukee, I can only hope that this trip will go without any incidents. Especially since Erica is asleep right now. It's funny to see her, letting her head rest on my shoulder, so peacefully. If another incident occurred, that would disturb her peace, which I wouldn't want to happen. Funny to note however, I don't quite understand why she's so sleepy. It's not like what I did to her was something that would have her that tired. I guess that since chess is a sport that involves the brain, a lot more than with any other game, that this is something that could tire her out that easily. But then... I don't have any real reason to complain, do I?
Which reminds me. Though we're acting as though we're a couple (I mean we've held hands at times, we did spend the night together, etcetera) I'm not sure if we actually are one. I suppose I should ask her, but that thought alone makes me shiver. I could ask, but how would she react. I mean, counting today, we only know each other for two days. I know, we know each other better than anyone knows us, we've shared secrets that nobody else knows about us, but still... Damn, did we do all that in just the two days we know each other?
The bus-driver just told us: the road we were supposed to take is closed off, as an accident has occurred. For that, he's taking a different route. This is weird. First a storm that wouldn't go away, so our plane can't take off, and now an accident that has us take a different route. All I need now is a third incident, and then I can tell for sure that this isn't a coincidence.
Alright, a few hours have passed since that last note. All I can say is that this was my deadliest adventure yet.
On that other route I mentioned, we arrived at an area that was surrounded by a fence. It looked like a regular town, or what's left of it. According to the driver's (not so up-to-date) map, there was supposed to be an easy passageway through. He could turn around and try a different route, but he decided against it. With the help of one of the passengers, he managed to pick the fence's lock, so he could open it and drive through. Once he did so, the people at the back saw military people gathering at the open fence behind us. They readied their guns, but they didn't shoot. That was a reason for the driver to ignore them. Why would the military be doing this, I remember myself thinking. Given this not so warm welcome, I even laughed when I read this sign: "Welcome to Raccoon City".
I don't know how far we've gotten through, when suddenly these... people started to show themselves. They looked alot like those zombies I remember seeing in London. I didn't know this outbreak happened here too. Then again, some time after that outbreak, there was another one, in which some kind of a virus killed people, only to bring them back to life as fast-running zombies. But these things didn't run at all, so I doubt they're at all connected to that incident. They can't even be related to the incident back in the sixties, for then they'd be... deader by now.
Anyway, I can try and decide where these things come from, but then I'd be digressing. As I was saying, these things started to come out of nowhere, surrounding the bus. The driver, however, didn't dare to drive over them, so he slowed down. A bad thing to do, as that made it easier for them to get to us. It took the screams of many of us to get the driver to keep on driving. Unfortunately, with this, some of us were bitten. Luckily, neither Erica or me were among them. That's when I remembered. Despite of the variations in which these zombie-outbreaks took place, one thing that was always consistent was that a bite would turn people into zombies. Somebody else remembered the same thing, so he persuaded the driver to stop and let those people off the bus. This met with some disputes, as some people didn't think they had any reason to think that bites would change people this time. Others didn't think that they should take those kind of chances. I didn't say anything, as I didn't know what to say, neither did Erica. But then, she did say something like "God help us", or at least she wanted to, but I silenced her before she did. As I said before, another incident like this and all this couldn't be coincidence anymore. This is just another act of God to get to me. That's what I told her. She didn't have any reason to believe me, so she looked skeptical. Unfortunately, somebody overheard me talking, so that's when many decided that I should be sacrificed, to atone for my sins and all that... I don't usually use this word but I see it fitting here: all that bullshit. Still, the majority wanted me to leave, so I did, along with Erica, that one guy I mentioned, and some other people who sympathised with me. Once we were off the bus, it drove away.
These people asked me again whether I didn't overreact. I sure hope that I am, as I don't like the idea of some alpowerful being that would hunt me down forever, but unfortunately I've seen things that get me to think otherwise. After I told them about those things, they understood why I would think that. But they also recognized that I don't think like the average religious person, as anyone else would pray to God for forgiveness, while I keep many of my atheistic thoughts, in which I don't see that god as a path to anything good. Should I? A storm which people can't identify, an accident that has our driver take a different route, that brought us to a zombie-infested area?
Before I forget to mention this, it did seem like I made Erica jealous when I mentioned another girl. Well, this did show me how much she cared about me.
After a long walk, sometimes run, as these zombies couldn't catch us then, we met with that bus again. It looked as though their demanded sacrifice didn't help them at all. Instead, it either killed them, or turned them. In any case, there was still enough left of the bus, so we could use it to drive out of here. It took a while before any of us could get the hang of driving it, but we managed. When we reached the other side of the fence, the military were about ready to fire at us. They told us to stop, which we did, after which some people in special suits came to us, inspected us for any bites, after which we were given some kind of drug. They didn't tell us what it was for. They're pretty "hush-hush" about all this, as Erica would put it. As I'm writing this, that one guy, who became sort of our leader, is still trying to convince the military that this wasn't our fault that we trespassed.
Even now that they are convinced, they still won't let us go. According to our guard, they making these sort of contracts, which we're to sign. With this, we're not supposed to talk about what happened here to anyone. They could've told me sooner, as I've written all this down already. I only hope that they didn't see this.
Good news. For one, I didn't need to sign anything, as I'm no American citizen, but they couldn't express it good enough that I shouldn't talk about any of this to anyone. Also, one of the other people offered to hide my journal somewhere where they wouldn't look for it, so when they searched me, as they saw me writing things down, they didn't find anything, safe for that mechanical device. That device was my way out of this, as I told them that I will tell people about all this if they wanted to confiscate it. They laughed at first. When I asked them why, they told me that they will deny everything, and even destroy everything so there can't be an investigation. I laughed at that last one, because if they could destroy all this they would have done it already. But they didn't, so they can't. They had nothing to say to that, other than giving me that device back and not searching anyone else for my journal.
Okay, so I broke that promise, but they can't touch me for that, so I can afford doing this.
Thursday, July 17th 2008:
We finally arrived in Milwaukee. This was, however, the time for Erica and me to say goodbye. Okay, we didn't actually say the word. She helped me to get a plane-ticket to get to Montana, after which we shared a kiss. After that, we exchanged phone-numbers and e-mail addresses, so we can keep in contact. So we've become a couple, which come to think of it feels a little weird, as we live so far away from each other. I suppose we could find a way to live together, eventually. I hope so anyway. I'll finish my trip first, then we'll see.
By the way, she knows I can't be reached by phone just yet, but she promised she'll mail me every day. I can't guarantee that I'll reply every mail, but I will reply whenever I can.
This only just happened. A woman, who called herself Melinda, just spoke to me. She said she came from very far away just to see me. She only knew to find me here as she along with somebody else (as she spoke of "we"), saw me on TV, along with someone of whom she knew she was to come here. So this Melinda has been waiting for me here, why? Because somebody had a message for me. She told me who, but I didn't know the name. That somebody was on that train I was supposed to be on, back in Washington D.C. That sounded weird, as that particular person would be dead by now. He was, actually. In other words, this Melinda could talk with dead people. At times, she even spoke to this dead person, or as it appeared to: she spoke to someone who wasn't there. This was like that student I met in Philadelphia. So he tried to warn me back then. From what, I asked Melinda. She told me that this ghost has spoken to God directly, and he wants me to stop blaspheming, or else... and that's where the message ended. Melinda didn't seem to believe much of the god-part, but it did seem like I've done something that caused a fury with someone, so I have to stop blackmailing this someone. Whatever the case, if this someone, be it God himself or someone or something else, wants me to blindly follow him, then I have no reason to keep down my "blasphemy". So I told this ghost (at least I think I did as I couldn't see him) that God can fuck off.