July 6th, 2026
It has been a long time since I last wrote in this thing, not since the night of my bender. The memory still makes me shudder a little when I think about it. Lucas forgave me for acting like an ass. Apparently it was far worse than I remember, but he said he realized I lost something important to me in the worst possible way. I actually gained a new respect for him. Perhaps he does understand the bond Elena and I had, or at least recognized it, if he had never experienced it.
It still hurts to think about her, a lot. Though it is not as bad as it once was. I think I am getting better at hiding the pain from myself. During the day it isn't too bad since I usually have enough work to do to keep me occupied. The night though, during the night is terrible. All the memories and emptiness come flooding back. I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider eating my gun. I am glad I only had that one night of drinking. If I had made a nightly thing of it I probably would not be here now.
As it turned out Lucas was having similar issues, but he called it boredom. We never ran the generators, they were too important so we couldn't just waste gas playing video games and you can only read so much before even your eyes get sick of looking at words. As luck would have it though we finally got a break in the monotony at night.
So Lucas had gotten into the habit of going for walks at night. I told him he was stupid for doing it, that someone might see him and kill him, but he accurately pointed out that we had not seen anyone since we came out here. Besides, I wasn't his dad, I just made him promise not to be a dumbass. That would be hard for him. As it turned out his walks possibly saved both our lives.
One night I was sitting on the front porch listening to the bugs and looking at the sky. By now most, if not all, the power was out and without the ambient light it was easy to see how beautiful the night sky really was. I guess that was one good thing about the world as we knew it ending. It turned the entire planet into a giant dark sky park.
Suddenly Lucas came running up as if his life depended on it. As it happens it was a full moon that night and I could see him pretty good. Once he got closer I could see that he had a gun in his hand.
There were five people coming down the road. Lucas watched them for a bit and saw they were stopping at every car and every house they came across. It was clear they were looking for supplies, a set of wheels or something. Well our house would be like hitting the lottery.
We sprang into action. We rigged up some boards over the doors and made sure that all the warning signs were in place. We made sure every candle and lamp was out. We chopped small holes in a few boards that covered key windows on the house. Just big enough to see through, but not so big as they looked like peep holes.
We had actually drilled for this. One of the few times in our lives we took something seriously, at least until Omega. We knew what each of us was supposed to do and also planned out an escape plan. We had plenty of weapons and the wood we hoped would provide some cover. Within minutes we were ready.
So then all we had to do was wait, and it was excruciating. The entire time I could hear my heart beating in my ears, but oddly enough I wasn't afraid, not really. If I had to describe it I think it was more like excitement that I felt. Something was finally breaking up the tedious monotony, and for a moment Elena was pushed to the farthest reaches of mind.
Of course I spent that wait going over everything in my head again and again. Then it occurred to me. There was a huge hole in our plan. The car, the damn car. It was sitting out front and while it was filthy it was obvious it was working order. We made sure to never leave anything in it, but I started to wonder if it was too clean on the inside.
I couldn't do anything about it now. Even if I wanted to move the car I could see flashlights coming up the road. It didn't take much longer after that for me to hear their voices. These people, whoever they were, wouldn't be winning any medals for stealth that's for sure.
Thankfully they weren't dressed up like commando wannabes or anything like that. They just had on the usual jeans and T shirts, but they all carried rifles, but I couldn't tell what kind and I assumed they had weapons on their hips, I would have.
Once they got closer I could see there were a couple of women, more like girls, with them. In fact they all looked like kids. Not that Lucas and I were all that old, but compared to this group we were.
I had hoped they might miss the house, it was hard to see from the road especially now that there was no power for the security lights, but they were being thorough and the moon was like a big damn beacon in the sky. They stopped at anything that looked like a driveway to investigate. It didn't take no time for them to spot ours.
All of them changed directions and started up our driveway. They were not being careful in any way. They clearly didn't think anyone would be in these houses. I guess in the end that was our intent, to make the house look abandoned. I think we did too good a job. Maybe they would back down pretty quickly if they met someone. We were going to find out.
They spotted mom's car and ran for it. One of the girls pointed at it with excitement. My fear came true, even in the dark and through all the filth they could still tell that the car was still being used. They then turned their attention to the house. Oddly enough they didn't act any more careful.
Lucas was watching them too. They were closer to his position. We could see each other from where we were. Lucas decided to try to warn them off. I didn't argue I didn't want to kill anyone and despite Lucas's words to the contrary I knew he didn't either.
Slowly, Lucas opened his window. As he did so I opened mine and readied my rifle. I can remember taking a deep breath.
Lucas's voice echoed through the still darkness. He warned them to leave and that would be it. They just looked at each other and then opened up on us.
I couldn't believe it, but I never hesitated. I started shooting back. I could hear bullets pinging off the side of the house and the wood over the windows, but so far none made it inside. We fired through our peep holes. We had decided long ago that if we were forced to shoot, we would shoot to kill, without hesitation.
The entire thing was over in the blink of an eye. Once Lucas and I saw the last two start to run away we stopped shooting, ammo was too important to waste. The other three were on the ground. I was sure one was dead. I saw the back of the boy's head explode, but I have no idea if it was me or Lucas that scored the hit.
We knew that at least one of them was still alive. It was one of the girls. We could hear moaning from where she lay on the ground. Occasionally we would see her arm move. I was pretty sure the third one was dead. He never moved.
We never went out to help them. We held our positions until daybreak. I know it sounds cruel, but for all we knew they could have sneaked back to the house and were waiting for us to come out so they could kill us. We were going to help them if we could, but they would have to wait until morning.
I have to admit it was tortuous listening to the girl's cries. They got louder as she grew more scared and desperate. Lucas and I decided if the two who survived returned to get their friends we would let them take them without harassing them, but for all we knew they had been hit too and didn't make it that far away before they themselves died.
The next morning when we finally went out the girl had gone quiet. She had probably bled out about an hour before. The other one was also dead. We were pretty sure he died where he fell. The guy whose head exploded was never in question.
Once we were sure it was safe we buried the three as best we could, with as much respect as we could muster, it seemed right. To be honest though I did not feel any sympathy for them or second guess why we killed them even though these were first people either one of us had ever killed. That was the kind of world we lived in now and you cannot have those kinds of sentiments. Part of me wondered if losing Elena also killed something in me, but I chose not to think about it.
For the next couple of nights we were on high alert. We kept our little deer stand manned at all hours, what a pain that was, but at least we didn't see anyone else. We also decided to move the car behind the house. We knew there was nothing we could do to make it look like it wasn't being used without disabling it so we thought it best to just hide it.
Last night was the first night we both resumed our respective places on the porch to enjoy the weather. It was the first time we really talked about what happened. We both agreed we did what needed to be done. However, we both wondered about their specific circumstances. Were they just kids out looking for trouble, or were they really desperate and just needed help and reacted on instinct. We also wondered if that was the case would either of us act any different if we were in their shoes?
I suppose it's best not to think about it. It truly is the survival of the fittest.
Looks like life is getting a little bit more challenging for them. The next chapter will be out soon! Vote and review!