Where is Everybody? twenty five

The eighteenth of June, Sunday. As promised, the Hadleys did as they told. Along with Val, Will, Sweet, and Anthony, we got in and went to the coastline. The arrangements weren't tough as they otherwise would be, as each of us is easily half our original size, give or take. None of us have actually measured. Where it would be one to a seat, we may now sit two to a seat. Then I suspect folding and compacting is a thing, you know.? Same mass, smaller package and all that. Like origami. Or folding a paper onto itself. Or cubing scrap metal. Or turning garbage into ash. Or... You likely get the idea. Intestines folded even more than they are, excess blood squirted out through urinary tract, increased inhalation vaporising the rest, and onwards.

On track, there was space for five, filling each seat with standard/average weight. Now there is double that. We could fit all but two or all but three of us in here like this. But we didn't. I guess cabin fever doesn't quite have the same effect when you are free to go whenever you wish. We had a cooler and a rather large towel we spread out and watched the waves, which were the only sound to be heard while we were there. the longer we stayed, the more restless we got. Will in particular began saying this is a waste of time, and soon began burying himself in his notebook. I guess I can't blame him. I needed to write things down to get them off of my chest, too. Most of us were quiet most of the time, as it was around eight AM to ten AM.

By twelve, we came back, and agreed that since we found no sign of that guy we should move on to more pressing matters, like finding that possible returnee who showed up downtown or came to it for the same reasons we did hoping it would maximize our odds. We even got out the bullhorn and shouted hello into the streets for several hours. By five, we had no luck, and headed back. Monica showed no obvious trace of feeling other than disappointment, but Val told me he's hiding something. I feel like to trust him. I can't read emotions like he can, and he trusts Will.

There was an urgent (not really) message from that mare before, and she still has not found company. I shall get to her in the morning, say what we heard. Right now I need to get some shuteye, as I am writing all of this in the late evening, and it has been a long, busy day.

_your good friend Alex Chance Torrez.

I have never been so determined to get outdoors than I have today. I have seen things I would have wished I hadn't. For all intents and purposes, that's mostly saying everything in the past month, mostly involving our new bodies. Including a strange mark on Sweet Stuff's hip I caught a glance of when she came away from the pit and lifted her dress for a second. Looked like an apple seed with a ray of sun beaming down upon it. What does it mean? Nothing, most likely. I'd almost wish everybody's high, as then I'd find their company more pleasurable. Strange how I want them to leave me be when they are here, yet when they are absent, I want them around. Except Val, he's cool. Only he knows what it's like. We all (Meaning me, Alex, Sweet, Val, Anthony, Monica and Sherman) went to the beach today.

It was Al's idea beyond all others, but it was Monica who agreed most of us need a day out. I felt better than I'd ever had, and that likely has to do with having a mare so close to me. Sweet was feeling around in the vinyl sack (hemp sack?) for a magnifying glass. She'd taken several old receipts for burning so that we could have a nice fire and some good smoke to draw attention for anyp- anybody who may be around. Old fashioned way to get attention. I did this and took it out before she could say a word. She looked like she was going to, but ultimately didn't. Fortunately the handle was plastic, so it wouldn't be too harsh on my teeth. I bit down upon the handle and focused the light upon the paper, and it smoked well before it caught flame. I might mention sun glasses we could find didn't fit, as our heads were too big to fit the shades, and our eyes too big to boot. I had to use a fabric blindfold or a bandanna to shield my eyes from the brightness. As I was doing this, I thought about how easily I could light this with Vinnie's help. It's easier to use butane lighters and matches, but they won't last forever. Neither will gasoline for that matter. Better find some of those solar cells before it's too late to use the drill. Why haven't I thought about this before? Once we had a nice blaze going, our local cop had switched on the tube only to hear that only voice we have heard since this mess started. Needless to say, she was distressed.

"For God's sake, get out! Come out of whatever shell your are concealed in, from under whatever rock you are hiding under, and out of your comfort zone and HELP ME! I AM ALL ALONE HERE!. (quietly) I need someone. I need something intelligent. I've not seen anything but plants plants, and yet more plants in five flipping days! For the three weeks before that, I have seen nothing but an odd dog here and there. There's no one around, not even animal, and I am getting restless. I sleep well, but no one seems to hear me. Am I all alone? Am I really desolate? Fuck this. GD. Umm.

"So, I find myself in some weird alien body no one has heard of, my neck is long and flexible as a swan's, my hands are encased in some hard cylindrical shells, my limbs are all arranged in such a manner they form a U shape to my body, facing downward/forward in a curve to my torso rather than being straight and parallel to it, I might just be half my original size, and another couple of things even worse than that. My digestive and reproductive tracts are chopped and screwed. My intestines may very well have been compacted, and now have even more twists and folds in them than they ever did, and external bits outside the torso are now internal and encased within it. Or so I presume. For all I know, I might not have a functional reproductive system, only a shadow vaguely resembling it. I hope they're in there. The latter two bother me far more than the rest.

"I have made myself nauseous by eating ground beef from the freezer that hadn't even had a chance to go bad, and got more from the grocery before the power went, and every time I ended up vomiting. Fiddlesticks. I hope adapting to a strict vegetarian diet won't hurt. Thus far it hasn't been too bad, and I have not been going as much as I expected. I haven't had the opportunity to have more meat anyway since it all spoiled, and there's no way to replenish it. It might not have been the meat, but the way it was prepared, or the chemicals, antibiotics, preservatives, and whatever else doesn't belong there that screwed it up for this body. It might not be purely herb eating, but I won't hold my breath.

"There is a bit of a silver lining: Heightened senses. I was never particularly blind nor deaf before, nor an asthmatic, but I have been seeing and hearing, and even smelling with far better clarity than I ever have, so much so, I had to wear shades, then a thin fabric over that when they wouldn't cover my whole eye to not go blind from the sun. So many reflective surfaces. I haven't seen nor noticed them all before, but I do now.

"I'm not the only one, I can't be the only one. There has to be someone somewhere. And I will find them. If you are listening, I will have you."

Sounds like our situation. Only worse, she's not got anyone at all. Forsaken by the world in the most literal sense. She said something about an external organ being made internal. That can't be right. How could she know that unless she opened herself up and felt it? She doesn't know about that party, either. She's lucky. They would only give her trouble and call her an Equestrian. Whoever they are. I don't trust them, and they promised to leave us, namely me, alone so long as I don't get in their way, whatever they are up to.

After we came back, Alex and Monica decided to parade down the main street with megaphone and scream to try finding somebody in this deserted city. I said good luck with that. As life would have it, the whole city was dead. No sign of that fish guy either. And Alex and I both took bicycle and rode it down the creek. Actually, s/he rode, I ran/jogged. And was able to keep up on foot just fine. S/he remarked upon my swiftness and said I should have been on track team. When we got to that exact spot, no one was there, and there was only an indention in the moss indication something had been resting there. What it was wasn't clear, but I wasn't going to buy Al's mermaid nonsense without seeing it with my own two eyes.

Alex was exhausted when we got to the house, but I was only moderately winded, and ready to go to bed like any other night. I hope s/he has sweet dreams. I think the poor thing has gone mad. Seeing things, having weird lucid dreams, and so fourth.

Goodnight, folks, whoever is reading this, and I hope you know more than me and are better off in the future. And I'm still no closer to answers than I was before. Yours truly, Willie Maket.