Down South

Didn't I say I was going north?

I lied.

Well, I didn't mean to. I mean-- I never I intended to.

It's been years-- right?

I have been carrying around this phone like a good luck charm. It died long ago. I managed to find a solar charger thing. The sun is plentiful here.

I keep getting glimpses from my past. The facts and fiction have blurred so heavily I don't know what is fantasy and real memory. I'm afraid I have lost myself. I just ran. I remember falling in love and then blood... Nothing but blood.

That's past me now. Past. Past.

How did I get here? Bike. Motorcycle. Little Geo looking car. Yes, many ways. Many ways.

I traveled over a thousand miles. I traveled super light and then found a fully stocked hummer. That helped me feel safe the nights I had to sleep parked on the road. It's nerve wracking to sleep under the stars at ground level with faint moans and grunts in the distance.

I got turned around somewhere... Took a wrong highway. I started seeing signs for New Orleans and knew to avoid such a large city but I kept finding the gravitational pull so strong. There is a voice in my head. It won't stop.

I've found a gated apartment complex. It's abandoned for the most part. There is another family trapt here. They don't trust me. That's fine. I don't trust them. I set up on the opposite side of the complex. It's a small complex. Direct doors and cheeky residentials behind it.

We still talk. The neighbors and I. They left a random can of beans and a note: "Plenty of room for all of us. Plenty of resources. No need to fight. Welcome."

I was confused because all I had done was avoid them, but I guess others have passed through wanting anything that wasn't theirs. I took the beans and ate graciously. I had found MREs in the hummer and had stretched them as far as possible but the supply was mighty slim. I had taken to looting gas stations because they were easy for one person and if I avoided the bathrooms and the coolers I sometimes wouldn't even come across a dormant corpse ready to pounce. The hummer saved me. Obviously he was on his way to New Orleans, or from New Orleans?

Like I said, I took a wrong highway somewhere. I have no idea how I ended up here. It's sweltering heat and it rains buckets. The stairs are concrete leading up to my level (of course I will take the second level) so I have to figure that out. I've tied it off about six steps up but that isn't good enough. Zombies can pile up and break the ties too easily or even flip over it. I'm going to have to see what the neighbors have done. I came in on the side they are not on and after cleaning out my area I haven't ventured out much.

The stench here isn't bad or maybe I'm numb to it. This is just a place. Solo is secure. No friends. No allys. Solo is secure. Solo is secure.

Solo is secure.