September 7, 2023

46 days into the apocalypse.

The past two weeks have been hellish, for the lack of better word.

Sometimes, I think if I were a writer, I'd have been better able to describe and document my expiriences. But then I realise I'm writing a freaking journal. So, what's the point in trying to write more nicely? Besides, who'd want to read a story about a zombie apocalypse, in middle of a zombie apocalypse?

Anyway, back to the main topic, two days after my last entrie, we were out scavenging for more food and supplies, and making some progress on our journey. We still had a long way to go. First leave Brooklyn, and then make our way through Staten island, and then probably days and days of travel down the road.

While making our way through Brooklyn, we took notice of quite a few things. Namely bodies. It's not like we haven't seen dead bodies before. Both me and James had seen our fair share of it while on our journey.

There were bodies of the Plagued, who were shot down by the armed forces, and unfortunate people/survivors who couldn't escape the rampage.

But some of the bodies we found on our journey were different. Those bodies seemed to be... fresh. Not sure if that word can be applied to the undead. Heck we even once ran into a body of a guy who had been shot.

All that confirmed one thing to us. We're not alone. There is someone or some group in here with us too. And the day of August 26th, we ran into that group.

As I said, me and James were out scavenging and making our way through the borough. It was around noon, when suddenly we heard a gunshot ringing in the air. Both me and James were stunned for a second, wondering what had happened. And then there was another shot.

James had quickly taken out his rifle and fired in the air. A few seconds later, there was another shot, and then James fired again. And then we saw a flare getting shot up in the sky. Despite the flare being barely visible in the daylight, we still got the idea of where it came from and made our way to the location.

Half an hour later, we finally came across another group of people. There were six men in the group. All were armed with guns.

We were hopeful. Maybe we can convince them to tag along with us, having larger numbers is always beneficial in this scenario, or potentially trade with them. But all our hopes were rushed the moment those guys pointed their guns at us. And it was at this moment, we realized that these weren't regular survivors. These were bandits.

James wanted to fight, and so did I, but we both knew we were outnumbered and out gunned. So, we surrendered, hoping to talk it out, but the chance never came. It didn't take long for them to restrain us and take our guns and provisions away.

"Other days we'd have to force 'em to come with us." One of them, probably the leader, spoke,"But, looks like the meat came to us themselves today."

We were then taken to the base of these bandits. It was a police station. Ironic isn't it? The place that has once provided judgment to these type of peoples, is now a shelter to them. The whole place was guarded by outlaws, and other criminals, as well as corrupt officers who had joined them. All under the leadership of one, Billy Williams.

From what I have heard, Billy was the leader of a gang. Just a week after the chaos in New York, Billy saw an opportunity and took it. Using the manpower he had, and his influence among the police, he had taken over a police station, using it as his base. A perfect place for surviving in the apocalypse ridden New York.

They had weapons, ammunition, and a lack of humanity. His forces, including mostly men and a few women, consisted of about twenty of his men, and another dozen officers who had joined them. Billy and his men had captured many survivors, and had forced them to work for him. We were no exceptions.

Once we had arrived at the base, we came face to face with the devil himself. While Billy is no taller than me, there was no need for anything other than the look on his face to intimidate anyone. His bald head, and the scar over his right eye were some of the more noticeable features of his face, but the sharp and cold gaze in his eyes and menacing smile on his face are something I don't think I'll forget easily. And even though James didn't show it, I'm pretty sure he was unnerved too.

He checked us. Commented how we weren't just dead meat and actually good for some work and then instructed his men to send us to the cells. And we were thrown into a small cell. The very next day, they had put us into work.

A little about the police station they had made their base in. The building was originally a museum. But then was later given to the NYPD. Having such a history, they building had a wall surrounding a large area around it. The area outside the building was largely converted into a garden for aesthetic purposes, with statues here and there.

Billy had these walls further fortified, and a section of this garden was dug up, in order to make a small farm out of it. How they had managed to make a farm, I don't know, but from the looks of it, it was working well.

The people Billy had imprisoned, both men and women, were forced to work in these farm, while his men stood guard. The prisoners were also utilized to further expand the base, by building walls outside the base. And other stuff they would force us to do, we'd have to do them, including cleaning, cooking, and even more 'private affairs'.

The rules of this place were explained to us on our first day of work, both by the guards and our fellow prisoners.

You don't work, or be lazy, you will be shot.

You talk back to them, or disobey them, you get shot.

You try to run away, well, either you die out there, or if they find you, you'll get shot.

For days, we worked under his tyranny, having jobs at either the farm, or outside raising new walls, or being forced to scavenge for them. I haven't had to face any troubles so far, though James had gotten himself in a fight a couple times. The guards had provided severe punishment for his "disobedience" But it doesn't appear my friend regrets his actions.

I remember one specific thing James had told me during our captivity. "Look at them Alex. Savages. Fucking monsters. My mama always told me that when the world will fall to hell, monsters will rise up and wreak more havoc on the world. Looks like she wasn't wrong."

I couldn't agree more with him. Billy and his men, they were literal monsters, even more so than the Plagued.

There were around fifty prisoners, including us, Billy had managed to round up, in this one month. And though we outnumbered them heavily, they were armed and we weren't. So, we couldn't really do anything to them.

During our captivity, we had discussed ways to somehow break out of there, and run away, and continue on the path we were following before all this. It would be a much better fate than being Billy's slave. But never managed to finalize our plan. The guards were pretty good at their job. And if we got captured, we were sure to be killed. They've already done the same before with some who dared to try to escape. So, without a full proof plan, we couldn't do anything.

But then, we got our chance.

A couple days ago, during my work, I was suddenly approached by someone. Her name is Natalie, Natalie Rushman. Standing at a few inches shorter than me, with olive skin and long jet black hair tied into a ponytail, she was a police officer who was forced to work for Billy in order to survive in these conditions.

Apparently, I and James hadn't been as careful as we had thought, and Natalie had gotten a wind of what we were planning. I still remember how our conversation went.

"I want in." She had told me.

"Come again?"

"I want in. I know what you and your buddy, that tall buff guy are planning. And so far, I'm the only one who knows. If Billy hears of it, you two are surely dead meat."

I had gulped, fearing for what fate might have awaited us when she said that.

"But I won't." She had added,"I want to get out of here. Get out of the grip of that scum. So, here's my proposal. I'll help you guys get out of here, and in exchange, you'll take me with you to this safe place you talk of."

I had instantly agreed to her proposal, since it seemed like a better option. She had told me to wait for her signal that night. When I asked her what it would be, she just said that I will know. And she also warned me not to eat food that night.

We prisoners made the food at the base. While there were plenty of rations to scavenge from malls, and hotels, Billy had forced us to use a section of the building, which was reformed into a kitchen, to make food for them. Food would be made for both Billy and his men and their prisoners too. Though, they would get the best stuff, while we would be left to feed on scraps.

I had told James about the deal that evening when we were returned to our cell. He was mad and frustrated at first for me making such a deal, but eventually calmed down. Though he was almost convinced it was probably some sort of trap, he agreed we have no other way.

The night came, and as agreed, we had skipped our meals, preferring to pass it to our fellow prisoners. After dinner, we waited in our cells. The night got deeper. Around midnight, I noticed something. The guy guarding the cells was now sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, snoring heavily.

Sometime later, Natalie appeared on the hallway. She poked the guard with her foot, and he fell over, without waking up. She then came to our cell, and freed us.

"What happened to him?" James had asked once we were out of our cell, pointing at the guard.

"Had gotten my hands on some sleeping medicine. I had managed to get them mixed in the food prepared tonight. Don't know how much of a dose everyone had, but my acquaintance arranged a secondary diversion." She had told us.

She had then insisted us to move fast, as she led us out of the cells and into the main building, where she had prepared our bags. Natalie had packed herself one, while I and James had gotten back ours. She even returned us our weapons, James got back his .223 rifle and colt revolver, and I had got back my Glock and shotgun. Natalie herself had a rifle on herself.

Everything is left the same in my bag. I guess they hadn't bothered to look through our bags after our capture.

She then took us outside. There were significantly less guards at that point, probably courtesy of Natalie drugging most of the bandits, and what few guards were around, didn't seem to be doing that good of a job.

With some struggle, we had finally reached the main entrance to the base, without getting spotted. There, we met with Natalie's apprentice, a guy named David. He was around her height, with blonde hair and thin rimmed rectangular glasses. Apparently he was one of the guys in the IT department and was also forced to work for Billy.

"You got it ready?" She had asked him when we met up.

"Yup. It's about to go out any moment now." He replied.

And then moments later, we heard an explosion. Looking back at the building, we say a part of it had gone up on flames.

"That's our que to go." Natalie had said.

And with that we had left. The bandits were probably too busy with what was happening at their base to follow after us. I felt bad that we couldn't help the other prisoners escape too, but nothing can be done about it.

Right now, we've managed to find a shelter for the time being. Natalie and David are sleeping at the moment, while James is keeping a night watch to make sure nobody is coming after us, or the Plagued aren't lurking around nearby.

I should get some sleep too now. We have a long way to go tomorrow. Hopefully, this time we won't have more hindrances.