Day Seven, 05/29/2015:
Today was a good day. Me and Jack got plenty of stuff that done that, at least I thought, was pretty integral to our survival.
The reason I say it like that is because, while Jack did help, he also saw fit to complain about the futility of our efforts. He seems convinced that everyone will come back any day now and the government will be able to help us with what has happened to our bodies.
I held off from telling him that I worked for the government and we have no plans for any of this ( at least not that I was told).
Jack has the weirdest combination of crippling fear and... I don't want to say delusional hope, because I'm really really hoping that everyone comes back as well, but he seems to think that just because everyone is coming back we don't need to set up something as simple rain collecting barrels. I think both stem from the fact that he's in a new body.
Actually, I confronted him about why he was so jumpy after Puffmuffin had scared him for the third time today by jumping out from nowhere and landing on his back ( something I swear he is doing on purpose), and the best answer I got out of him was; "Horses are way too low on the food chain for my liking, we're not exactly apex predators anymore." which makes sense, but we still have the mindset of the predators we once were... right?
His hope, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing that he has hope, most likely comes from the fact that he wants everything to go back to normal ( obvious point is obvious). I can't say I really blame him for that, I just hope it doesn't get to the point where he thinks we need blood sacrifices to bring humanity back.
All in all, Jack is a pretty cool guy to have around, even if we don't talk to each other very much. We both kind of do our own thing, Jack exploring what is left of Louisburg, and me setting stuff up in the armory or on my computer. Speaking of which, the Internet is starting to look really patchy right about now, I didn't think it would go down this fast.
But enough about me and Jack psychologically, you probably want to hear about what we have physically been doing. First thing we did was get the aforementioned rain barrel set up, nothing fancy, just some really big tuba-were containers with garbage bags inside them to catch the rain water. Next, we set up a small vegetable garden, there wasn't a Home Depot or Lowe's we could go to that already would have had some pre-grown plants, but the Wal-Mart had a gardening section so we made the best of it.
Let me tell you right now, tilling soil with a hoe using only your mouth is just about as hard as it sounds, but it seems Jack has a certain knack for gardening because we finished in about half the time I thought would need.
After that we realize that the both of us hadn't taken a shower in a week, and working outside had done nothing to lessen the smell of sweat. Luckily there was a river nearby where we spent most of the rest the day cooling off and getting ourselves clean.
The only thing I'm not too happy about today, is the fact that while we have found the radio, and it works, I have no idea how to operate it. So I've spent every free minute I had today going over this manual I found ( thank God the military loves their manuals) so that tomorrow I can get up and running.
Here's hoping we hear something from someone tomorrow.
Day Eight, 05/30/2015:
God DAMMIT! I sat by this piece of shit all day today and I haven't heard one word from any other survivors.
Do you think there is no one else out there? I don't really have a plan B to put into action if this fails.
It's not as if this thing doesn't have any range to it. I may not be an expert radioman, or whatever you call it, so this thing might not be broadcasting around the world, or even the entire continent, but I should have at least most of the country and parts of Canada hearing this!
This was just... I just really need this to work.
Maybe I was switching between the frequencies too fast, yeah that's it! They probably heard my message but responded after I changed frequencies! There has to be others, Jack can't just be a coincidence.
If any of you guys reading this hear the following message over the radio please respond as quickly as possible, I need to know this isn't all for nothing.
This is PFC Mitchell Dettmer of the North Carolina Army National Guard.
To anyone who is still alive after what has happened... you are not alone. Another survivor and myself have set up a camp at the Louisburg Armory in North Carolina, with plenty of food, water electricity, and gasoline.
We welcome anyone to come join us in surviving through this together.
There will be a ten minute window after this message is played, in which you will have a chance to respond, after which, this message will be repeated on the next highest frequency.
Thank you.
I thought it was short, sweet, and to the point. Maybe that's it, maybe it's so short that no one was able to hear it. I might work on making it longer latter, but right now it's getting pretty late, I'll stay up a little while longer to see if anyone answers, then I'm going to bed.
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Okay, It's about 2 o'clock in the morning right now, if no one answers within the next ten minutes I'm-... Wait.... OH SHIT! The radio is making a noise! No time for survivor facts tonight!
Hello?...Yes?...Hello?...