Wither With Me

CHAPTER 17 - DIARY

[April 19, 20XX]

This is insane. I don't know what's going on anymore, the world has gone to hell. Everyone is panicking, and I fear for my safety.

I'm not even sure how am I supposed to express my thoughts here. I've never written a diary before, but I feel like I need to. I need to let these things out somehow.

I guess I'll try to keep track of what happened. Maybe that'll help me put things into perspective, at the very least.

It started a couple of days ago. Whatever "it" is. I was walking back home, when I heard... something. It was like a commotion in the distance. Lots of police cars zooming around, as if a serious incident had happened; people walking faster than usual with worried looks on their faces, screaming at their phones... I didn't know what to make of it back then, but it makes a bit more sense now.

I got a message on my phone, the emergency broadcast started showing up all over the place, vehicles with loudspeakers sweeping the streets... They were telling us to lock ourselves wherever we could, to avoid being outside, and to remain calm. Yeah, as if such a thing was possible.

I rushed into the closest building I found. I'm still here. It's a really tall building, it looks like a bunch of offices on the inside. Some more people seem to have taken refuge inside just like me. I'm not sure how high up we are, but I can't see the ground without peeking out the window.

Right after getting inside, I called my parents. They live two hours away from here, and apparently, they heard about this "incident" on the news. But nobody knows what's actually going on, the authorities won't say anything. They were also told to stay at home and lock themselves in. I hope they manage to stay safe...

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You can hear the screams down there. It sounds like complete chaos outside. Police sirens, car crashes, gunshots... More people kept entering the building yesterday, but at some point, a small group went down and barricaded the stairs on the lower levels to stop anyone else from getting inside.

They saw something. They won't tell us what it was, but it was bad. However, I think I have an idea of what it is. Some people have been posting disturbing stuff on the Internet. Videos. They get taken down, only for someone else to repost them somewhere else.

You can see these... people getting attacked by other people. They look rabid. It looks like zombies, like something out of a movie or a videogame. But... Even if it's hard to believe, I can't just disregard it, not with everything that's going on.

The other people around here have also seen those shady videos, and they are freaking out and arguing with each other.

Also, all emergency numbers appear to be saturated.

My parents didn't pick up the phone today.

My hands are starting to shake too much, it's difficult to write. I need to rest for a bit. I hope this is just a temporary crisis.

I'm scared.

[April 26]

Phone reception has vanished today. No more access to the Internet, no more calls, nothing. Just... silence.

I was about to write down that I'm scared, but... Something tells me I'll be scared for a while, so I think I'll just refrain from doing it.

I was... hoping for some good news, eventually. A sign that help was coming, something that let us know that things were getting back under control. But the mobile phone signal disappearing is definitely not a good sign.