Eternal Winter

Jurnal Pages 1-4

December 19, 2347

The cold is getting to me.. It has been since last year. I'm starting to think I've had enough and now I'm looking for a way out. It doesn't matter how much clothes I put on, it's still cold, the cold that swept over the entire world after the war.

The world's population finally reached a thousand today as my friend gave birth. Everyone stays together now, there's no leaders or rules, just keep to yourself and try not to upset others or that's what many people say. We work together as more of a family than a community now so that everyone can stay alive longer. Our hope is to try to repopulate the Earth but the few smart people I know say that we have little to no chance of that.

Everyone holds onto hopes now, hopes of a warmer world and more people, hopes that once it's over we won't ever have to go through it again. This seemingly eternal winter is our main concern. In the last week temperatures haven't reached higher than sixteen degrees and we haven't seen more than twenty in over a month. It seems every day we get colder and colder.
It's believed that this is the result of our Earth no longer staying in orbit with our sun. We think the trajectory was thrown off after the bombs went off but we aren't completely sure. We no longer have access to telescopes and we haven't seen the physical sun since July.

Tonight we had a party to celebrate the newborn and my friend Sarrah for giving birth. We used a bit more supplies than we usually do, my aunt Kathy made her special pizza recipe and everyone was told to eat as much as they wanted. I'm happy that at least I went to bed with a full stomach tonight.

December 20, 2347

Last night we heard a weird scream coming from the outskirts of the community, it sounded like a large animal of sorts but we haven't ever heard anything like this before. The best I can describe it is like the mix of a bird and a wolf. Some of our bravest men are going out at midday with the little weapon we have left, a couple of small guns and a rifle. I'm praying for their safe return.

The men just set off but none of them seemed ready. All of their faces were full of fear as it became obvious they didn't want to go anymore. I guess the waiting and wondering got the better of them. Manny managed to get most of the men to follow through but five decided to stay back and watch from the edge of our community for their return. All the men were shaking some as they headed off.

It's been eight hours and we haven heard anything from the group that left. I still hold onto my hopes of their return but others are starting to get worried they couldn't make it. Not one of the five men that stayed behind have left their spots and are still looking out into the snowy fields for signs of the group's return. Tonight I pray for them to come back before I go to sleep.

December 25, 2347

I haven't had time to write till now. One of the men who left came back carrying a wounded man on his back and dragging Manny behind him using some blood soaked clothes we think came from the others. The wounded man barely made it back before collapsing into the snow. He has yet to wake up and the responses from Manny and the other are barely recognizable.

Manny is missing his left leg and his arms are torn to shreds by what looks to have been claws.The man who brought him back was recognized as Jason from his close friends and the one on his back was only identified by his nickname Red. Neither of them are in good shape and seem to be clinging onto their life by a thread. I'm not allowed in their rooms since there's people there trying to keep them alive.

Many people are now freaking out as more and more are getting told what happened. We still have no clue as to what it was that did this and some have already locked themselves into their shelters or are freaking out and paranoid. We haven't seen any animals outside of the few we have rounded up in the old factory building. A couple of cows and chickens, dogs and cats, and two steeds. Other than that we thought almost all other animals had died like the other people.

I stayed up late thinking. If there are other animals out there could that mean there are also other humans? Is the world really all dead around us or are we isolated like in the old stories from hundreds of years ago?

January 3, 2348

Our community is having problems. We found out we are almost out of fuel for the few generators we have and the solar panels haven't been working well either. The food supply needs restocked but the crops haven't finished growing. We have also heard more of those weird screams coming from out in the distance from whatever animal is out there.

Manny is conscious now but he hasn't said a single word since his eyes opened. It scares me to see how horrified he is from the experience, everytime he hears one of the screams he immediately puts his hands up as if to protect himself. His wounds have all mostly been closed and are healing but we can't expect for him to be able to use his arms anymore. I was asked to look after him from now on since we are friends.

For the other two men, Red died a week ago and Jason still hasn't woken up. We're getting worried for his survival and his family has said if it's needed to put him out of his misery they're giving him a month to wake up before they stop using resources on him. There's always someone in his room watching him for any signs of consciousness but we haven't seen him even move a muscle.