Where is Everybody? twenty six

Nineteenth of June. After having gone to the coastline I have finally reestablished just how much pollution has ceased. To our knowledge only two vehicles have been in motion in these parts, and only one is combustion based.

Sweet has been very close lately. I'm not sure why. But I think it is clear she'll be way more talkative when I ask her questions in the coming month if she's having what I suspected. She says she's ready to forget about Herbert and Henry and forget they were ever a thing. She knows they will always be there in the back of her mind, but she doesn't intend to let them control her life any further. She also has no intent to totally abandon hope they will appear albeit unrecognizable. Learn to say goodbye. She then said in the off chance she does find them, and she gets them to name themselves, state home address, and what they spent the last five years doing, she'll pounce them, and rut him silly should such an opportunity make itself known.

I told her about Rumiko and the rest. She only nodded with a vacant expression to everything I said. She didn't need to show much feeling. I know what she's thinking if her overall character in the last month is any indicator.

When I was done with it, I could hear a sound beneath the bed. When I called, a yip was heard. "Joanna... Joanna! Are you listening to this?" Her head immediately poked out from under the bed, and Sweet glared at her. "Joanna, you can stay where you are, but next time, tell us you're eavesdropping, alright?" She nodded, gave a yip, then bolted from the room down the stairs.

After taking a stroll through the house, everybody seemed slightly run down except Vinnie, Pickering, Angela, Samantha, and Joanna, who didn't come with us. I didn't think about this before, but I think we are all toons. We are toons who now exist in reality. It seems just as sensible as calling these bodies alien, which they most certainly are.

Monica was on the porch tapping away and trying to get anyone he possibly could. As per usual, there was no one around. I am beginning to think this an exercise in futility. He turned his head for a minute and peeked at me, then went right on tuning. I absolutely love his persistence. He reminds me of meself.

That lady on the tube had said she couldn't find anybody, nor could she contact anyone. Only a few sparse animals could be seen, and they never stuck around very long. For three weeks, she's been completely alone, not even the dogs and squirrels could be found. She said her digestive tract and reproductive system getting altered bothered her more than being down on all fours and losing her toes. I agree with the heightened senses. I don't think any of us have protested that. Fortunately, we found each other. I hope she has better luck in the coming weeks. She'll go mad.

Also, I hope that poor soul in the creek hasn't been sabotaged by those horrible humanoids. I don't wish to think ill of them, but they don't seem to view us very fondly. I don't like them too much either, but they gave me food and rest, even though they almost made me sleep for good just by keeping me there. He must have crawled his way to the sea or found his way to the coast by washing himself in a spontaneous flood, even though it didn't rain. I hope he's alright, and we'll see him again. Perhaps this mare will have better luck and find her way to us. By golly, she deserves better, regardless of what deeds she did in her previous life. And he had better survive. We are so few and far between as far as the eye can see.

I found Anthony and Will tossing dice. With their teeth. Nothing usual about that, as most of us have been biting on things to use them, unless we can just push them, like the doors. Usually by merely pushing on the wood, as we rarely lock them anymore. When I asked them about their night, Anthony told me about a strange dream he had. Which, oddly enough, is similar to one I had, but his had three more distinct segments. Like me, he never had dreams where he could think this clearly before, and Will seems to have heard it already. But he seems like he wants to hear it again.

In summary, he told us he saw a strange mare standing in the center of a huge room motionless staring at six human bodies on the floor twitching. The same way that man Pickering is gradually eating died.

Where his differed was seeing a strange regal looking woman in the next vision wearing a cerulean dress that flows elegantly around her in the next segment. She was in a very large bedroom with a huge looking bed, walls that seemed entirely stone, and a single door in the background. There was a mirror on the far wall that seemed to be rippling, and a guy standing just to her right. The two of them seemed to be listening to static that was coming from somewhere nearby. They both seemed to have very serious expressions on their faces, and they barely blinked, gazes focused intently on the reflective surface in front of them. She opened her mouth and spoke in some alien language that sounded like nothing he'd ever heard before. The cerulean gems on her silver headgear sparkled for a second, then words seemed to come out of the mirror. The two went rigid, then spoke some more, again, in that weird alien tongue. Whatever they were saying, it was in the most severe tone you could possibly imagine. A harsh voice turned up from the other side and the rippling stopped, turning the glass back to normal, solid glass. The two looked at each other, then she gave him an order, to which he responded only by nodding and saluting her, before leaving the large bedroom through a second door that was totally invisible before it was opened, leaving only a slight outline when it closed, only to be seen by those who know where it is.

The third vision had that same woman on a very large balcony making a very important, (Allegedly) announcement to an enormous crowd, a public composed of tens, maybe hundreds of thousands, and they covered such a wide ground outside her tower, she had to shout and project for them all to hear her, and here, her dress and crown shined brighter than before, along with a set of silver slippers. Whatever she said, it elicited a slight gasp from the front few dozen of the large audience. She went on, only to stop when the guy from before came out and whispered something in her ear. She gave a curt nod, and presumably thanked him. She made some final comments, then went back inside, leaving the people to their business. Anthony said something told him she was a witch, as well as some great and powerful ruler. I might have gathered that from the info he already provided.

The final one had a single dude in a room with an assortment of items he hadn't seen nor recognized. He was testing something, or concocting something. He pulled out several things that looked like mobiles. Flat, rectangular, almost disk like items with a glassy surface, and a metal casing. Looked like aluminum. He seemed to be scratching his head at them as if they were strange items, and he hadn't used anything like that before. He took a bottle out and poured it into a steel bowl, took a sniff, then winced. It was a crystal clear fluid, had a strong aroma, almost like hard liquor, only stronger. Much, much stronger. Then he turned it about to read a label that read "Gasoline". He quickly put a cover on it and left the room quite quickly as if he couldn't stand there for another minute.

When he was done, he said he never had a dream like that before. That's when I told him about my dream the night I saw that party's chopper. Anthony froze a second and Will glared at me. They remember it well. "Sweet Stuff was in it, but her old name was a mystery as ever. She was on two legs, but not quite what I expected of her. It was undoubtedly her, something about her air seemed familiar, but she was more outgoing seeming. Then the next time I dreamed that exact dream of the weird mare watching people die. What the hell.

Will then said he was glad I told him, because this may be part of the whole large puzzle.

The rest of the day was spent with Samantha who was glad to see me up and about, Vinnie who offered me a drink, and Angela and Pickering who both were gnawing away at some of that jerky, one of which might feel bad to the stomach later. She didn't as far as I could see. We took a stroll on the river route and saw the dried, barren flood wash radiate heat from direct sunlight. Angela and I whose eyes were the most sensitive by size covered ours with single layered fabrics that we could still see through. No one showed up, but I had fun with the four of them. When I came back in the evening, Will and Anthony and even Sweet were laughing up a storm.

She later told me she had a great time with them both, and that she was looking forward to spending more time with them, which I did not disagree with. I want to see him come out of his comfort zone, and not be exclusively friends with the beetle.

As a side note, Monica and Sherman were in a position where the former was on his back, all four limbs in the air, the latter massaging him. He must be sore from something.

These dreams just may be the breakthrough we need to unravel this mystery. If indeed they be more than mere dreams, they may lead us to the answers we need. I hope we can survive the tedium.

--Alex Chance Torrez

I haven't been completely straight with them, I'll admit this fully. But once the human party made their presence known, what further secrets could I hide?

I was up around eight AM and Alex was uncharacteristically knocked out at this time. Understandable, as I was slightly drowsy from the Beach trip, and keeping up with the bicycle on foot. But s/he and the cop, the cop's brother and Anthony thought going into town and shouting through loudspeaker to get the attention of anyone who could hear them was a bright move. No one was there to hear it. And only two of them actually went. Today, Alex and most of the gals went out to see the outskirts. Carson. Mischief.

Val and I listened to Anthony's childlike enthusiasm and tried to piece together what, if any, meaning his dream had. Similar to the one Alex told him about before. I took him at his every word, seeing he seemed totally sincere in his tale, and Val confirmed it. If he's lying, he's a perfect liar.

Some girl in an alternate universe has made contact, and she seems intrigued by its every feature, and determined to get whatever she can out of it. I'm not sure how this works. She's some kind of regal lady, that much is clear. And staff of hers must be doing some kind of research.

Anyway, with Alex out, s/he is also taking that beautiful pair of wings I love so much along for the ride (Vinnie). I have always loved reptiles, and she has the likeness of a humanoid one, only she has a hot inner temperature. Very hot indeed. Yet she claims she doesn't feel the least bit overwhelmed nor sick for it. Strange.

For the better part of this afternoon, Monica, Sherman and I went to US Bank Building again, and this time, the door is open. Val decided to come along, since that's where we found him. Neither Alex nor Anthony were here this time. I took one look at the stairwell and shook my head at it. "I intend to give these stairs a run for their money. I haven't given myself the challenge I needed. I haven't run up and down these steps as I should have. Sherman does what I say, but you could use this. You haven't broken a sweat trying to keep up with Al on the cycle."

Somehow he could tell I hadn't cheated by hopping on at some point. This would lead to one of the funniest moments we had all day. As we were coming down, Monica, who was well ahead of us, paused and took a look backwards. As he did this, Val froze in place, but I could not stop that quickly. He reared up and I plowed into him. As he tried to gain footing, he lashed out at the banister where he struck his thing on it. He gave out a gasp and clutched at himself for several minutes. He was so out of breath, he was going purple under coat. We all (or just me and Val) laughed our heads off at his mishap and got stern looks from Sherman who said we should giggle at this, characteristically speaking when doing so is most appropriate.

When he finally caught his breath, he took his arms away from his lower abdomen and chewed us out. Val told me later he knows I feel ashamed of myself, and I admitted it. We slowly descended the stairs, and entered the lobby and out the front. Per usual, no cars, people or even animals were to be seen.

When we came back, Sweet Stuff, who had spent the better part of the afternoon with Anthony and Joanna had gathered loads of edible weeds from the park. We gouged ourselves on them, and were so glad humidity alone can be enough for them to thrive on, and that I owned a book on edible wild plants. Although we only took the ones whose leaves and flowers we could recognize without a doubt. Ones that didn't have poisonous equivalents or look alikes like dandelions, which is always safe, clovers and sorrels, and mallows. Then we rested, Joanna looking at me like she somehow approved of me like she hadn't before.

I got up first and took my share of dandelions when a sliver of gold caught my eye. That bracelet Alex had upon returning was resting next to the glass jar Sweet set down. I took it up and clipped it around my wrist. My whole arm felt like it had lost all feeling in an instant. What sorcery is this? I took it off and laid it where it was.

I told the three of them what happened today at the library (we went there also). Like before they all burst into laughter and Val likely had a nice fill on out humor, and his misery. I'll makes friends from this crew yet. Alex is getting far more trusting of me than ever before, and I can win Anthony and Sweet over. I can also get Vinnie.

When they came back, I took her aside and told her how fascinated I am with her beautiful fleshy wings. She said she was flattered, and I could have a feel. I ran my nose over them, and they were the most luscious surface I have felt in years.

Things are looking up for me, and indeed, us.

--Willie Maket.