Heroes Never Die

Kumar stared at Zhen and Nick's half devoured corpses. He killed the grown-ups that were still attempting to eat them and had dragged them out of the classroom. He thought therest were still in the school, and would welcome him warmly. What he did not expect was to find two schoolmates dead with grown-ups. Kumar hid his schoolmates' bodies with a blanket he found and left the classroom. He had to find the rest of his friends.

William stumbled out of the warehouse, dizzy with exhaustion and aderenaline. One full day of hide-and-seek with the grown-ups that dragged him into the warehouse. The thought of dying and leaving hia friends had spurred him to fight the grown-ups instead of giving up. William was pleasantly surprised to realize that there were actually only ten grown-ups in a warehouse of considerable size. Thankfully the grown-ups in there were too used to darkness so even the flame of his small lighter physically hurt them . He started towards the direction of the school, looking forward to his sleeping bag and some food.

Leon woke up with a dreadful headache. He looked around and found himself among the corpses of the grown-ups he killed. He shakily stood, claw hammer in hand. He looked around and smiled at the vent that Quince had escaped through. Well, I didn't find out if theres a God after all, thought Leon. He sifted through the wreckage of the door that led down the building. He found a way throguh and made his way back to the mall, planning a great entrance in his head. He longed to see Quince and his own power laser again. Leon dragged away and hid Matt's body when he found it later on the ground floor. "You were the greatest, my good friend." Leon said respectfully. It was not much o an eulogy, but Leon was sure Matt would approve.

Alice discovered she was still alive. She sat up and yawned. Aki was lying next to her, badly mutilated. Alice prodded her friend's body. When Aki did not move, the fact that she was dead pierced Alice's madness. She shook with grief and would have sat there forever until a cat darted past her. All thoughts of grief disappeared from the half-crazed girl's mind as she chased after it. Alice loved cats, but if she had been sane, Alice would have been disgusted with herself that she had forgotten her best friend. Alice laughed as she called for the cat, frolicking among the dead as if she was a little girl skipping through a flowerbed. She was happy. And she constantly repeated."Friends...friends...friends..." She did not notice her wounds, hiw clouded her mind was to notice them at all.

Empty the Sea

"Hannah,help me."
"But there's so many of them.."
"HELP ME!"

Hannah drew her remaining fencing swords and handed one to Aki.She kept another for herself and passed the last one to Zeke. The two girls and boy faced a wave of diseased flesh and bone. And they were alone.

Accompanying the three fighters however, were three other girls, all non-fighters. Christine and Shahana were Hannah's best friends and had from the start vowed to stick together but never fight together. The last was Alice, Aki's friend and a fierce fighter, until she lost her mind after a particularly bloody battle with grown-ups. The three other girls stood by the three fighters. To Aki, all they were doing was making themselves a target. She admonished herself quickly. They were her friends! And she was the leader of the students now since Quince returned half dead bringing news of Matt and Leon. What leader would abandon her charges like this? Aki shamefully admitted to herself she did not want to lead, but holding off the approaching horde of grown-ups was her duty, to distract them while the rest ran to find a new hideout. As Aki started to dream about living before the disease, the first grown-up fell within range of her sword.

Aki stared horrorstruck as the grown-up reached for her. It used to be a janitor, judging from his rags.  What scared her was that his lower jaw had been sheared away, giving her a clear look down his throat. Before the janitor could grab her, a gleam if metal whirled and the janitor fell. Aki shook herself and turned. Hannah had saved her, once again displaying her expert skill as a fencer. "Don't falter now Aki, we need all three swords at work." gasped Hannah. Aki nodded gratefully and looked for Zeke. He was nowhere to be seen. Dread clutched at Aki's heart again until she spied a lone figure to the side running away from the battle. It was Zeke. "You useless arsehole!Coward!Help us!" screamed Aki as she and Hannah hacked into the mass of grown-ups. Behind the pair of frantic girls, their three friends stared wide eyed at the scene.

Aki was tiring and so was Hannah. The number of grown-ups barely seemed to have diminished, despite the number if their bodies. Both swords were caked with blood, and the two fighters were equally drenched with sweat and blood. They had to keep fighting, or all would be lost. Suddenly, Aki heard a metallic sound akin to glass shattering and a wounded cry.

Hannah dropped, gasping while holding her midsection. A jagged fragment of her broken swird quicered from her body. The rest of the sword lay in pieces on the ground where Hannah had in her exhaustion, struck instead of the grown-up she was aiming for. Hannah mumbled,"This is bad." Shahana rushed forwards to drag Hannah back, but a sudden rush among the grown-ups drove her back and covered Hannah. Christine grabbed Zeke's discarded sword and attempted to hack away the grown-ups on Hannah, but a large diseased man chraged into her and strangled the hapless girl. Alice started to scream as she witnessed her friends slaughtered. The grown-ups were still tearing into Hannah, and the large man carried the limp Christine away, no doubt to be eaten later. Aki was still fighting the grown-ups, but was now being pushed back rapidly. Shahana once again went for Hannah, but two grown-ups trying to get to Hannah for their share of food veered towards her so abruptly, she did not have time to scream as they plowed into her.

Aki could hear the sounds of chewing and bones breaking. It tore into her heart that her friends were dying or already dead. Instead of desparing, a rising sense of fury started to grow. The students were dying one by one, and the grown-ups were never satisfied in their hunger. They would hunt down every kid under eighteen until they overrun the entire country. And she could not let that happen. With a burst of aderanaline, Aki waded into the throng of grown-ups and strted to tear into their ranks. She laughed at the blood that spurted from the grown-ups that fell to her sword. Bam! That's one less grown-up. To worry about! She was going to win! She hacked deeper into the grown-ups, strength still not flagging. She was about to cut down yet another grown-up when soemone barrelled into her, throwing off her slash. Aki screamed in fury and slashed at the intruder. A voice called her name, and the frailty of it cut through her battle fury. She looked down at the jntruder she just slashed and started.

It was Alice.

Alice smiled weakly, though her eyes still showed signs of madness. She opened her mouth to say something else, but she was engulfed by the still numerous grown-ups. "NOOOO!" wailed Aki. She mercilessly cut diwn the marauding grown-ups and reached Alice. She looked terrible, trembling from the bites and cuts the grown-ups inflicted. Aki dropped her sword and cradled her best friend. Alice still wore her beatific smile, staring past Aki. She whispered,"Friends." Aki nodded, tears flowing. "So true, sister." Aki hugged Alice as the grown-ups closed in.

The Strong Always Protect the Weak and Infirm

"We shouldn't have brought Quince."
"What do you expect me to do?Leave with only you to accompany me?"

Matt, Leon and Quince were running from a pack of grown-ups which smelt Matt's blood from a just inflicted wound. They were getting better at hunting them. First the runners, now literal bloodhounds thought Matt bitterly. Leon carried Quince, who was burning with yet another fever. They were running out of medicine for the sick, especially Quince, a cancer survivor. Frail, but with a mind sharper than Leon's wit. The three boys had gone out in search of more supplies, specifically medicine. The reduced number of scavengers was a precaution established by Matt, who did not want to risk more kids getting killed. They were currently running up flights of stairs in a residential block, grown-ups shambling after. A good thing was the bloodhound grown-ups were not runners too. Leon, though quite strong, was already tiring. Matt was lugging three boy's worth of weapons and a bag full of supplies. The two were exhausted, until they finally reached the top.

The three boys rushed through the door that lead to the roof and slammed it quickly behind them. Leon laid Quince gently on the floor and then went to help Matt put his back on the door, which was already shaking from the dozen or so grown-ups trying to push through. Quince stirred and woke, which caught the other , two boys' attention. Leon quickly scanned the area for an alternative exit and spied a vent. He called, "Quince get through the vent there! We'll follow behind." Quince stumbled towards the vent and peered down. His small body could fit through, but the tall and lanky boys would get stuck, leaving them open to the grown-ups. Quince said, "I can't go." Matt yelled, "What do you mean no?" Quince explained weakly which drew the results he feared. Leon and Matt insisted he go. Quince nodded, energy still falling due to illness.

Matt stood at the ready, a hand on his police baton he looted and a hand in his jacket pocket. Leon helped walk Quince over to the vent. Before they could reach it, Matt shouted a warning and the grown-ups crashed through the door. Matt released the hand in his pocket and threw the object he was holding into the throng of diseased adults. An almighty boom shook the entire building and sent the three boys staggering. Ears ringing, Matt drew a breath of satisfaction at the success of his grenade. Luckily he found a lone soldier wandering the area long ago and looted it, taking its single grenade and knife. As the dust cleared, he saw hands reaching for him.

Matt stumbled back, uttering a cry as the first grown-up that had survived bit his arm. Half of its body had been blown away, but its sheer hunger propelled it forwards onto Matt. Yelling in pain, Matt moved back, dragging the persistent grown-up with him. More destroyed but still alive grown-ups emerged from the wreckage and one by one, bit Matt and latched on. Matt, now with four grown-ups biting him, moved back further from the rest of the grown-ups but closer to the edge of the roof. Matt, through his rapidly fading mind, thought, I win. He and the grown-ups on him fell ten stories down. None survived.

Leon watched as Quince feebly went through the gate of the vent. Once he entered, Quince turned around to once again persuade Leon to try to escape with him. Leon shook his head and quickly shut the vent's gate. Quince looked devastated, but with Leon's urging and Matt's grenade's resounding explosion, Quince turned with a bag full of supplies and escaped through the vent. Leon turned in time to see Matt fall off the building with several grown-ups. He muttered, "Let's find out if there's a God or Devil today my atheist mindset." He braced as six grown-ups encircled him. Leon sent out a silent goodbye to Quince as they were upon him.

Quince looked back at the building as he made his way back to the mall. He acknowledged his friends' sacrifices and cried. He clutched Leon's laser and Matt's watch to his chest and set out.

Depression kills us more than war

"You should come back in Diana."
"No."
"Its cold.."
"No."
"..and the grown-ups are still about."
"Go away."

Misha and Gina looked at each other and left Diana alone on the roof of the mall. Diana had shifted her sleeping bag and belongings to the roof since Ryan died nearly a month ago. The only time anyone ever saw her was when Gina or Misha went to bring her food or when Diana walked past the supermarket to go outside to visit the graves of Ryan, Endo and the markers set up for the rest of the kids who had died. The shovels the kids had used were starting to rust despite Leon's best efforts to keep them maintained. Diana constantly clutched Ryan's Boy's Brigade cap in her left hand, refusing to talk unless she chased away her friends. Diana and Ryan had been good friends, perhaps given time, they would have become more so.

Diana stared into the streets, eyes registering the emptiness and ears receiving the silence other than her breathing. Before the disease, the streets below her would be filled to the brim with people and vehicles. Some of them included her and her friends and family. Friends. They were getting picked off one by one as the days went by. Diana still didn't know what had happened to her family but knew for certain her parents were dead. Or diseased like the grown-ups still living. If you were eighteen when the disease struck, you're dead. Or lived as a crazed, kid-hungry adult. Tears broke out in Diana's eyes at the thought of the disease. The students had barely survived seven months of complete mayhem and some of her closest friends had died. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. That was what killed all of them. Not the disease. Some got overconfident, some too scared or were just plain clumsy. What was the point of fighting, when everyone was going to die in the end? All of the kids would end up killing each other over food if the grown-ups had not got to them yet. Diana sat there and cried for the first time since Ryan died in her arms. She thought she had no more tears left.

Night had fallen. Diana was curled up in her sleeping bag, trying to sleep. She could not. She was terrified of her nightmares, which had grown more profound a month ago. She stared into the night sky, hoping to both sleep and to stay awake. Her thoughts shifted rapidly among her friends and the times they had. Swimming, cycling,barbecuing and more. She thought of her friends Misha and Gina. Ryan. William, Zhen, Gabriel, Sean and Bryan. It would be selfish of her to be up here, worrying her friends all the time. She should go back. Diana shook her head. She wanted to go back home. She did.

"What?!" cried Gabriel. Sean looked shocked while Aaron cursed. Gina had just gone up to give Diana her breakfast but discovered her dead. She had slit her throat, Gina shakily recounted. Ryan's knife, which was with her, was bloodied. Aaron and Gabriel went up the roof and brought Diana's body down to be buried. One of the shovels broke as they dug her grave behind the mall, next to Ryan's. Gina placed Ryan's cap in Diana's cold hands while Misha helped to put on Diana's cap. Diana's one solace that she did not die devoured alive by grown-ups.

If you must die,never die alone

"You heard about Zhen and Nick?"
"I told you not to mention that again."
"Sorry."
"Enough."

Bryan and Endo fell silent at Ryan's admonishment. While both had been friends with the two recently dead kids, Ryan had been particularly close to Zhen. The three boys were patrolling the perimeter of the kids' new hideout, the derelict supermarket in the nearby shopping mall so close to their former school. While there was some food to last them a week, Matt still regularly sent out scavengers to forage for more. Most of the kids thought this was pointless since the mall and the school were in the same area so searching their surroundings made the foraging moot. However, a hypothesis suggested by Elias was that Matt wanted the scavs to search for signs of their dead friends for a proper burial. Elias had been shouted down.

Endo was the biggest boy in the group, dwarfing all the teachers back in school. He was tough, brave and a served as a de facto ward for the sick kids. Ryan was the group's second-in-command after Kumar's death, and he dedicated himself to fulfilling his duty as a leader. Bryan, while not as strong as the other two, was agile and acted well as bait for grown-ups. The three boys had even been in the same CCA, thus bonding them further as a team. Now they were on the lookout for grown-ups as the mall had not been properly boarded up yet. The team of kids Matt had sent to build barricades had yet to return with their escort, and the patrol was getting nervous.

"Are they dead?" Bryan asked nervously. Endo glared at him until Bryan backed down. Ryan gave no sign he heard, but he suddenly raised a hand. "Shush, someone's coming." The three readied their odd collection of weapons. Heavy breathing and running footsteps were heard, and the three relaxed. Grown-ups couldn't run, that's why ambushes and trapped kids were what killed most of the students. Ryan called, "How goes the defenses?" The running increased in intensity at his call, and Endo stepped forward, now wary. Endo said, "What happened?" The dark shape in front of him lunged successfully tackled Endo, knocking away his club and brought him to the floor. It was a grown-up.

Bryan yelled in surprise and backed up quickly, bumping into another human sized shape. He turned, thinking it was Ryan, and went down with a grown-up biting at his neck. Ryan swung his torch and knife, catching another running grown-up in the face. It recoiled, face spurting blood and pus. Ryan spared a glance at his friends and gaped, Endo was already dead an arm and a leg dangling from the hands of the grown-up that tackled him. Bryan was sliding away face down from the supermarket, grown-ups dragging him away. In the three seconds that Ryan caught glimpses of his friends' fate, the grown-up he sliced hissed in fury and grabbed him, tearing at him with its hands. Ryan heard shouting coming from the supermarket, and prayed the rest would arrive in time. All he could do was try to stop the grown-up on top of him from tearing him into pieces.

Ryan knew he was losing as his punches got weaker and weaker while the grown-ups attacks became more unbearable. It howled in fury and threw its head back. Ryan thought it was going to bite him but it suddenly leaped off him. He realized his friends had arrived to help, however late it might be. He saw Damien run his makeshift spear through the grown-up that had been tormenting him, and saw two more go down from rocks thrown by the kids. Ryan felt himself lifted up from the floor and brought inside the supermarket.

Diana and Misha were working on Ryan frantically. The rest looked on restlessly. They had managed to recover what was left of Endo but failed to find Bryan. He was assumed dead. Diana held Ryan's hand as she dabbed at his forehead with a towel. Under Misha's torch, she could see his exposed muscles through his horrible cuts on his body. Ryan asked weakly, "Are they there?Endo and Bryan?" Diana tried to humor him, "They're here, they're resting up. You'll see them later." Ryan closed his eyes and said, "No." Diana hesitated, and Ryan continued, "I can see Zhen. And Nick and William and Kumar and the rest we've lost. My dad. Mom." Diana shook her head, crying, "You're not dying." Ryan opened his eyes and responded faintly, "I am." and died.

Overconfidence Undermines Us

"I'm staying here Matt."
"What?"
"Me too."
"You can't be serious?" spluttered Matt.Zhen and Nick looked deadly serious.Matt was at a loss. After returning from the failed raid with news of William the group of students finally decided to leave the school. Now Zhen and Nick were refusing to venture out from what had been their safe haven for half a year.Matt tried to persuade them, "Look, I know you guys aren't fighters but without you two we'll be lacking two of the biggest brains I've seen. You two had come up with so many ideas to help us survive. We need you." Despite Matt's pleading, the two boys were adamant on staying.

"The school, or at least this classroom is pretty defensible. Most of the teachers had already been driven off or killed. With only the two of us, we don't need much of supplies either. If anything goes bad, we can always run." Zhen argued. "Run how and where dammit?" retorted Matt. Zhen tried to protest further but Matt cut him off, "Look, if you two hole up here and the grown-ups break in, how will you run? Take a dive through the window and plunge four stories down? What about supplies? Neither of you will be able to fend for yourselves if you go on a raid." This time Nick replied by setting his face and crossing his arms. Zhen looked apologetically at Matt and said, "Sorry Matt, you have to do this without us. Good luck and be safe." Matt refused to shake their hands as he walked out of classroom 4/4.

2 Weeks Later...

"We should have gone with them Zhen."
"Don't start on me Nick I know what I'm doing."

Zhen and Nick had barely survived the past two weeks, scavenging what little number of houses that had not been picked clean by the rest. More times than they could remember, they had to run for their lives when chased or ambushed by grown-ups. Now they were trapped in classroom 4/4 as the remaining teachers pounded on the doors that seperated them form their prey. Zhen held a garden rake while Nick wielded a length of iron. They stared uneasily as the doors rattled with alarming intensity as the teachers threw themselves against the blocked up doors. Nick said, "They're gonna get in." Zhen snapped, "They haven't got in for six months, they won't do so now." Nick could hear the uncertainty in his friend's voice, and that only worried him more. Zhen looked in disgust at his friend and sighed. "Alright I'll see what i can do to reinforce the doors." As he got up, the rattling stopped. Zhen crept closer to the doors and heard footsteps tromping away. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Nick. "You see Nick? Nothing to worry about." Too late did Zhen hear a sudden rush of footsteps towards the door.

With a mighty crash, two large boil-covered arms smashed through the doors and grabbed Zhen by the throat. It pulled, trying to force Zhen through the hole. Nick cried out in fear and started forwards, iron bar in hand. Before he could reach the struggling Zhen, another crash sounded and more teachers broke through the second set of doors. Nick glanced frighteningly at Zhen and with a grunt, smacked the bar on the diseased arms. The arms pulled back and released Zhen. Zhen fell gasping and looked up. Through his blurry vision, he saw Nick tearing into five teachers, preventing them from getting to him. As his vision cleared, Zhen saw Nick get bitten in the arm by one of the teachers. He lost his grip on his weapon and the teachers wailed and fell upon him. Nick's screams cut through Zhen's blurred senses. Zhen watched as another teacher reached for him. Zhen closed his eyes and thought, I am a fool. The school had finally fallen to the grown-ups.

A Simple Mistake can be Fatal

"Open the doors Will."
"But.."
"DO IT!"
William gulped and broke out his lockpicks and wrench.He bent and started working on the locks.Matt,Aki,Zeke and Leon watched his back,eyes scanning the area for grown-ups.The scavs had chanced upon a warehouse and had decided to search it after a heated discussion.It was getting dark,and creeping into a likely empty warehouse at night was not appealing to the kids.Matt was apprehensive as well but decided to risk it.Supplies back at classroom 4/4 were running low and he wanted every possible location for supplies searched.Even a creepy warehouse didn't lower the urgency of starvation.The growing night was silent except for William's clicking with the lock.He wiped sweat of exhaustion and nervousness as he worked feverishly on the lock.

"I can't unlock it."
"What do you mean?We've been waiting forever."
"I'll have to break it."
Silence followed William's answer to Matt's question.William's last resort was used twice,with the second time resulting in the death of Kumar.His wrench created such a racket that it definitely attracted every grown-up within a kilometre.Matt though about the weaker and injured back in the class and sighed.He said dejectedly,"Do it." Leon and the rest stared at the kids' leader.Aki exploded,"What the hell Matt?We lost Kumar not two weeks ago?What if we lose another this time?" Matt rounded on her and said with his cold steely voice,"You want the others to go without food?What about Quince,Hannah and the other injured?" Aki fell silent,Matt's cold logic winning out.Zeke muttered to himself,"We're all gonna die anyway."Leon heard him and shook his head,as usual not sharing his opinion.William hefted his wrench and smashed the warehouse lock once,then twice and at the third time,broke it.He and Leon grabbed the heavy doors and pulled it open.

William peered into the cavernous space that was the inside of the warehouse.He looked a bit more and said,"I don't think theres anything in here guys." Matt pointed out they had not went in to search it yet,and the rest grudgingly agreed.Leon tossed his powerful laser to William.Just as William took two paces deeper into the warehouse,pale hands reached out from inside and grasped him.The kids' best and only lockpicker only had time to say,"Oh." Before he was pulled in.

"NO!" yelled Matt.He tried to rush in,but Zeke restrained him.Crunching started to come from the darkness.Aki and Leon rushed up with their weapons to hold off the grown-ups that emerged from the warehouse.Leon felt something roll into his shoe and realised with a pang that William had tossed out his laser back to him.The kids retreated,Matt still kicking as he was dragged away from his dying friend.Only when they were far away did they hear a single loud scream.

Even the Strongest must Fall

School

“Open up!” yelled Matt. The cardboard covering the small door window shifted and a fearful eye peered at the scavenging party. It scanned the bloodied boys and girl that formed the party and went away. A second later the cardboard was shifted back into place and a click was heard as the door swung in to admit them. The kids rushed in, grateful to be away from their pursuers. The crazed, hungry and diseased teachers that roamed the school.

The scav party dumped their weapons and bags on the classroom floor. No one cheered their return, or rummaged their bags to see what they found. The only thing that caught their attention was the missing kid in a normally five person scavenging party. It was Ryan who broke the silence, “Who did we lose?” “We lost Kumar, isn’t it bloody obvious?” snapped Matt. Everyone groaned, tension somewhat lessened now that someone had initiated conversation, however tactless it was. Matt and Kumar were good friends and attended Muay Thai classes together. To lose ever calm and strong Kumar was a big blow to the remnants of the student body of Crescent Secondary. Leon tried to offer Matt a bottle of water but the former Council President waved him away and went to plop himself in the corner. Silence ensued for a few more minutes before the rest of the scavengers decided to distribute their finds.

Matt stared blankly at the wall behind Nick as he read off the list of names of the remaining students in the school. He heard nothing, except the blank void that was Kumar. He could still see the first and last look of terror on Kumar’s face as he was dragged into the night and into the throng of teachers. His screaming had cut off with a horrible crunch. Matt should have seen it coming, what with the night and dark corners. Shortcuts were never worth the time nowadays, and he had to learn it the hard way. He sent out a silent prayer to his departed friend and fell asleep.

Nick stood in front of the group of students, taking roll call.

“Ryan.”

“Here.”

“Diana.”

“Here…”

“Aki.”

“Nick.”

“Leon.”

“Here.”

“Damien.”

“Still alive.”

The list went on, ranging from the Normal to Express classes. All were in their graduating year, and all of them regretted not saving the younger kids. They were holed up in Classroom 4/4. Cardboard and furniture were stacked against the doors and windows to prevent the teachers from breaking in. The doors were locked to, the keys were lifted from the janitor, mercifully dead from the illness. They were in the care of Zhen, the library assistant who read up on everything including security. Fighting and killing were what occupied the rest of the students for half a year. Fighting and killing everyone over the age of eighteen. The diseased ridden “legitimate” adults that roam the streets, devouring any kid less than eighteen stupid enough to go out alone or unarmed. The students had, after overcoming differences and panic, had devised a routine for everyone. Every three days, or two if supplies were running low, a scavenging party of five students would head out and find edible items for the group. Sometimes the party would also bring back books, usable scrap for their barrier and once, a collection of kitchen knives and butchering equipment. Normally three good fighters set out with two gatherers. This time, Matt had set out with Kumar, Aki, Zeke and William. William learned how to pick and break locks, making him an exclusive member of the scavs. Kumar and Matt had their martial prowess, and Aki was their strongest girl second to the fencer Hannah, injured badly after a fall. Zeke had the sharpest eyes, even with his thick spectacles. 

Ebook: Maybe I'm Alone(3)

Entry #3

3 days since 1^st entry

Hello again, George here. I left off at the part of where I first discovered my house was truly empty. The dust on the furniture was so thick that the furniture looked like it was plastered with sodden rabbit fur. Now, my mother is, or was, I regretfully must correct, a complete neat-freak. The slightest amount of disorder or dust among the Kingston household was swiftly identified and dealt with. Two things I realized: One, mom would always make sure the house was spotless at least on the inside no matter how tired she is. Two, I could not have slept long enough for such a large amount of dust to gather in the house. I was stumped at this realization. I panicked; calling for my parents, my sisters, hoping one of them would answer. Nothing so much as a whisper reached my ears then. I wished for my family to answer, but their voices were never heard of again. Already I have forgotten what everyone’s voices sounded. Family, friends, everyone, even that grumpy old man who used to always take walks and only talked once or twice  around the cul-de-sac my house is situated in. This is yet another of my deepest regrets of bring alone. Since there is no electricity, I could not watch all those homemade videos Dad was crazy about recording on the television to remember them by. All I had was photos. But only photos of my immediate family. What was the most terrifying about the Disappearance was that everything that contained a picture of someone who existed, whether I knew them or not, vanished, leaving only empty frames, banners, mugs you name it. It’s both amusing and horrifying to see a blank white picture frame which contained a dog floating above a lawn.

I must stop here; the memories are too much to take. I must sleep anyway; the candle is burning low already.

G E Kingston

Ebook; Maybe I'm Alone(2)

Entry #2

2 days since 1^st Entry

Ok, first off I should begin from the very beginning, since the Disappearance. The details are sketchy, but I’ll try to put in whatever I can remember. What I do know is that I was 19 when I woke up on a Sunday to find that my house was devoid of human life. At first I thought my family had gone out for breakfast and left me behind, an occurrence which appeared several times. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. When I next woke up I think it was late afternoon. I remember my digital clock displaying sometime in the afternoon. I dragged myself out of bed and still thought nothing of the house being completely silent. It still disgusts me even now that I had detected nothing amiss then, and proceeded to yell at my now missing mom that I was awake or apologizing for sleeping in I can’t remember which. I could hear the Griggs’ German Shepard Buck barking, but he barked all the time so I didn’t bother to see what was wrong. When I tried to turn on the tap in the toilet sink to wash my face, nothing came out. Not one drop of water. I still thought nothing was wrong, until I went down to the living room and discovered everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Only THEN did I finally realize something was terribly wrong.

I must end this entry, my third pet dog since the Disappearance calls for his feeding.

G E Kingston

Ebook: Maybe I'm Alone

Entry #1

Unknown days since the Disappearance

My name is George Ethan Kingston, son of Marcus Jeremiah Kingston and Lisa O’Neill. I am the oldest of three kids. I have twin younger sisters, both twelve. I am son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle, friend and many others. And I am the last person in my country, as far as I can tell. I’m not sure exactly when this happened since I did not have the good sense to log the time or notice the emptiness. I am supposedly in my early thirties now, as far as I could tell and boy, am I sure lucky to have survived this long without turning insane. I’m keeping this journal from now on too record my life till the point of my death. This is my story.

G E Kingston

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentine’s Day. It meant nothing to me back then. Its importance only increased from meaningless date to regular date day when I met Luke.

 I never viewed myself as one of those fashion-obsessed, giggling maniacs eyeing every jock and booing the emos, nerds, non-jock types. Seeing Luke, the withdrawn boy who transferred recently made me giggle like them diva zombies. His dirty blond hair hung in a curtain emo style, had this football throwback jersey and held a Guide to Calculus. He looked like Dr Frankenstein turned to fashion instead of monsters. Every girl stared at him like he was dirt, but I stared at him like I stare at horror movies. Drooling. Well, figuratively. Amylase (like the enzyme, yeah) whispered to me, “Kat just look at that loser. He looks like a…an” I shrugged and muttered, “A perfect match.”

Well, Amy tried not to talk to me after that little incident, though she has forgiven me already. I followed, or ‘stalked’ as Sid termed, that “weird tall dude” everywhere. I chose the sane things he ate in the cafeteria. Tried to sit as close as possible to him in every class we shared. The best yet, was hiding behind the dumpster when he walked past (It was a desperate situation then!). Luke finally noticed my noticing though, one day after school.

“You’ve been following me everywhere, doing the things I do. Don’t, it makes me uncomfortable.” Luke muttered when he cornered me after the last bell rung. We were the only ones left in class. He tried not to look into my eyes as he said it. I blushed, turning redder than prissy Miss parker’s Ferrari. He glanced at my expression and grinned, showing not-so-white white teeth. I returned the favor and smiled crookedly, grinding my teeth in a wave. I stammered an apology, but Luke shushed me and said, with embarrassment, “We can be friends. For now. Then you can mimic me however you want…Katherine?” I nodded faintly at his guessing my name correctly. He left the classroom quickly, leaving me standing there like a red London telephone booth until Amy found me there ten minutes later.

Luke was reluctantly accepted into my circle of loners, a paradox yes, but no one cares except the grammar Nazis or vocabulary nerds or whatever. Six became seven. Kat, Amy, Sid, Fred, Grace, Heather and Luke. A lucky number I felt, but my girlfriends thought otherwise.

“I don’t know what you see in him Kat.”

“He’s so creepy the way he looks at us sometimes!”

“Can’t we boot him out and call it a day?”

I rebuffed their comments with the same answer I now always use to skeptics on my relationship. The blunt yet dreamy sentence of, “Luke is just, so, COOOOLL!” Everyone gave up by then. Luke started to change once he entered our Loner’s Circle.

He started wearing red and black outfits, my favorite colors. He wore different hoodies of various colors when red and black ran scarce. He listened to metal and House. All these sudden changes of tastes served to tell me one thing: He changed for me. I went over the top when I realized it. So I readied myself for the next step.

“Luke, I like you. Like, like like you.” I blurted in front of him. In the cafeteria. Full of people in earshot. Everyone started laughing except my friends and Luke. Luke looked at the nearest group of divas, which promptly shut them up, then gazed at me. His brown eyes pierced into my blue-green ones. Like them prison searchlights when looking for an escaped convict. In this case, the searchlights were looking for truth. They must have found truth, for Luke broke out into that grin which always gave me that little thrill and said, “Best news ever. Let’s.” I laughed in joy and hugged the silly boy.

Okay, maybe you’ll start to doubt my story-telling skills but that’s exactly how I remember it. We started going out regularly, since we got two pairs of parents’ approval. We watched movies, cycled, ate, studied, and did everything that could be done together under the sun. We were happy.

“Hey Kat, catch!” yelled Luke as he threw the Frisbee. I caught in, but not before hitting the grass. “I flashed thumbs up to my boyfriend as he rushed forward concernedly. “Nicely done.” he praised as he helped me up. “Perfectly done, you mean.” I retorted. Luke held up both hands in surrender. He was wearing the exact same outfit that day I first saw him, which brought back three month nostalgia back to me. We tossed the Frisbee among one another a few more times until I caught it again and threw it with Luke written on my strength.

The Frisbee soared and landed on the empty road. Luke ran to get it and stopped at the pavement. Left, right and left again as his parents had taught him. He confidently strode towards it and picked it up. He held it aloft like a trophy and called, “Caught it!” Then he flew to the right, Frisbee flung out of his hands.

It didn’t reach me; its target was never me.

My target wasn’t the Frisbee either. Mine was the prone body of my boyfriend lying in front of a dented car.

Two weeks, it had been. Two weeks since the doctors cleared Luke from the operation room and moved him to a public ward. Two weeks Luke had been lying there as if asleep. Two weeks I felt half of me had been torn away. I tried to visit him every day. To sit at his side and hold his hand. To lay a wet cloth on the head I so loved. To tell him I love him and please would he come back. Luke never stirred. Not a flicker or a twitch. Frozen except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. I envisioned Luke as if he was just taking one of his many power naps. I cried too many times. Repeated his name over and over, hoping to hear mine from his lips. Until 14^th February last year. I was at Luke’s side again, chanting his name as if it was the only word I knew.

“Luke.”

“Luke.”

“Luke.”

“…”

“K...”

“Kat…”

“Luke!”

“Luke.”

“Luke…”

“Katherine.”

He never called me Katherine unless he was trying to say "I love you".