Where is Everybody? twenty two.

I have been busy again. Busy making me speedy recovery. Having the bug by me side has been the best thing in my life. He makes my pain subside, leaves me feeling empty, and fall asleep, or like I should do so. I woke up stronger than I was the evening before, but still not like it's enough to get up out of bed. Sweet Stuff has been keeping me company for moral support, even if she doesn't do anything physical.

Every day, I become more and more fixated on finding out what had happened, and so far I have half of the truth. Sapient brains get cooked by thaumens. Others adapt to it and become dependent. Ones that started off that way are the exception, but none are native to earth. This doesn't explain why we now vanished and reappeared, which is certainly what happened if our clocks were right, and none of us embellished our own stories to me knowledge. Nor does it explain why everyone else is gone, and no one else has showed up yet. Maybe these "Equestrians" had something to do with it. Maybe they locked our minds in these alien horse bodies.

I didn't enjoy being there, but they provided me with food which was grown underground, fed by UV fluorescent lamps. A power supply that can't last forever. They need the sun, yet they can't come up without literally burning their brains out. Not without their metal suits. I had an even less than stellar time down there. One more day, and I would have been dead. No thaumic energy, and I would have died. It took loads of negotiating to get them to set me free. And I had to bargain the life of the stallion who got me into this mess to begin with.

Speaking of which, he soon came up and hugged me. I did not protest, and most reluctantly hugged him back. He was truly remorseful for what he did; he didn't seem intent on killing anyone. Yet he's very resourceful. He's doesn't care about the cannibalism taboo, as he has that corpse he made on accident in a chest in the hall doused with vinegar, honey, and salt, and disemboweled.

It's all for Pickering's benefit, but I don't like it. I hadn't seen her, except to come upstairs to take a piece of that dead man at the end of the corridor. She took one look at me in the early morning when I woke up, and there was a small look of remorse in her eyes. Hey, you do what you do, and not regret what's necessary. Soon after she went down, I could smell the smoke from the garbage can. The kindling had been lit.

From what I could hear, the Hadleys were down in the den on their tubes again. I had asked about it, but Sweet and Val said not to worry and rest. Anthony told me the signal hasn't been strong, but he will keep me posted if they don't. Frankly, I think in spite of my thaumic sensors along with his, and the others having some sort of special abilities, like feeling whispering and metal eating, those two are more useful than the lot of us together. We are merely tools of theirs.

When Sweet came nearer to me, I caressed her like I had not caressed her before, and before she figured me out, I had slipped a hoof under her dress. She gave a small gasp, but did not protest to me action. I wasn't trying to do anything fresh, only see that mark on her hip again.

Truth be told, even if I hadn't asked, I wonder why she would passively hide something like this. It came with the transition, but I don't have one. An illustration on her hip. I'll ask later.

"That's a nice mark you've got there. Onto the thing that brought us to it..."

"I haven't left any more stains on any of your possessions if that's what you are thinking."

"It's not. According to you, you have never done that before. That was the first."

"It was indeed. I will never do that on and to anything of yours again without permission. I also have good control over it. I will go with Anthony and Will to the market tomorrow and get some tissue papers and paper napkins for this purpose. Or cotton balls. I'm not sure what's best suited for the job."

"Good. The last thing we need is you pouring thick, tacky jello like goop all over everything and leaving ugly red stains all over them. In the mean time, use this five gallon bucket. Leave it all in here. And put this lid on it. The smell would drive us both crazy."

Will

When we came back, I had to carry Alex up the stairs. I was sober at that point. Samantha was strong enough to carry Torrez across the threshold and through the house, but not the stairs. I took over from there. I lifted this weakling onto my back, balanced it, then came up step by step. Once at the bed, I slipped the load onto the bed then came down.

It's now the evening of the following day, and I have been with Vinnie and Pickering. They've been up on the roof, with Sam at the side. Those three seem to have a certain fascination with the open, whatever. I envy all three of them for having hands. When I took a peek out the window opposite their bedroom, the window was wide open, and Vinnie and Sam were whittling away at a piece of wood. Her scaly skin reflected brilliantly in the daylight. It would be blinding if I didn't have shades on. Out I went, hooves on the windowsill. Pickering looked up, then came to it.

"Hello, Will. You ain't spying on us chicks, are you?"

"No," I exclaimed. "That would imply I didn't want to be seen, and you had something to hide."

I paused. "You probably hate my gut."

She snickered. "No, we don't. At least I don't. You are truly sorry about what happened, and Alex is here and getting along well. Plus, your killing was an accident. Besides, it's the only fresh meat I've had in a while. You have all been able to adjust to a vegetarian diet, but I need an omnivorous one with both plant and meat products, and they grow ever scarcer here. Or in Vinnie's case, eat iron ore."

Or, I thought, siphon emotions from others like the bug.

Think of the devil. Val De Lump came up the steps and peeked out the bedroom door across the hall at us. No doubt savoring the moment. At least he knows what it's like to be a reject. Plus, being an insect horse that reads our feelings like an open book does him and me wonders.

I could hear something downstairs. I supposed Mister Hadley was at work again. I hope he finds us our assailant's base. Or strikes a deal with them. We scratch their back, they scratch ours. They've got tools at their disposal we have never dreamed of. And we can walk around without harm or shielding. We could come to some form of mutual benefit. If Alex can be trusted, they aren't entirely convinced we aren't those Equestrians they told about. They seemed to think us great actors anyway. Why do they hate them so badly? What did they ever do to us, or to them?

"Monica has heard from that strange voice again. Whoever it is, it sounds like s/he is alone. No one else can be heard in the background, and this person talks like s/he is alone."

"Thank you, Val. Now, how do you find Alex's recovery to be going?"

Vinnie had at this point stopped and come to the window with Sam. They were both listening. "Slow, but steady. I don't expect s/he will be up and about in the next day or two, but Anthony says the missing thaumens are coming back, and the empty voids are filling up surely enough."

I heard Sam give a sigh, and took a glance just to see she was glaring at me. If looks could kill...

Anyway, I took a short break to see Hadley one and two, and they were intently listening for responses. Sherman told me no one has said anything in response to us, but plenty has been said on an hourly basis to confirm someone's out there who isn't being helped or in contact with the rest of the small world.

I took that magnifying glass by its plastic handle in my teeth and focused daylight on the shredded newspapers and sawdust from Vinnie and Sam and Pick's whittling. Wood shavings and leaves and bark alike smoldered but did not ignite. It took about fifteen minutes before Vinnie saw what I was doing, and fanned the smoldering shavings, sawdust and confetti with her large bat wings.

To say I wasn't envious would be a blatant lie. Even ignoring the fact that she has hands, as do the dog woman and gryphon, she's a reptile, or a reptile like being. I have always fancied reptiles. Besides that, she's endothermic, unlike any lizard I have ever encountered. Whenever I'm near, I could feel the natural heat radiating out of her. Plus, she's bipedal. Finally, what I wouldn't give to have those fine bat wings she's got. If we could swap bodies, I would do so in a heartbeat.

If I can't be what she is, I swear I'll fuck her someday. Having sex with this sexy lizard is the best I'll get out of her body.

It's now evening, and I recently had a can of spinach and a bud light from the express market around the corner. I had to place in in the freezer after letting it settle since the one in the store doesn't work anymore, not without power. Next time I go in, I'll get some potato chips and cookies. I haven't had a good snack out of the factory in a while. There won't be any more of them, but there's only twelve of us. We won't deplete non perishables that quickly.

That fire has been a godsend for us all, but especially Pickering. Good night. I hope that lonely person is found by someone, and shall no longer be lonely.