Occisor

3- The Message

November 4, 2103

Sorry my last journal was a little sassy. I was in a bad mood. Whoops. I'm not going to erase it though, because I want who ever reads this to know the full experience. Even my emotional teenage roller-coaster. I also want you to know that I'm really not a girly girl. Seriously. I reread my last journal, and I sounded like a total girl. So, just ignore that whole thing because that's not how I usually act/think/write.

                   With all my regrets,

                                        Emma

Soft auburn light bathes the world in unearthly brilliance, creating a work of art that artist only dream to paint. Silver white snow caresses the tops of mountainous peaks. The world is finally at peace.

I stretch my legs out of the cramped positioned they were in, still continuing to look at the creation of light that was blooming before me. I loved getting up before everyone else, it was just me and the splendor of the wakening earth. It was around 6:30, and the sun was just rising. As an early riser, I would get my peace and alone time for about an hour, until everyone else in our group started waking up.

Well almost.

Bangs and shouts come from inside the grocery store. I quickly scramble down the side of the building from the roof, my heart pumping faster with the anticipation of the cacophonous noise. They aren't supposed to be up for another hour.

I sprint inside the store to see Alex, yelling his head off. He is marching up and down the aisles, banging a pot with a wooden spoon.

"WAKE UP WAKE UP SLEEPY HEADS. TIME TO GET UP OUT OF BED." He blares.

"OMI-GOD. SHUT UP." Jessica shrieks, with the most annoyed look plastered on her face.

"GROUP MEETING." He shouts again, still banging like a drummer boy.

"That's not a thing." Charlie responds, pulling on a shirt.

"NOW IT IS." Alex yells, even though everybody is awake.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP? GOD, I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP. I HATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE." She screeches, holding her pillow on top of her face.

I just stand there laughing at this absurd scene. I start the fire, putting the logs and brush in a tepee style, just like I had learned so long ago at camp. I start cooking breakfast while everyone gets up and changes from their pajamas.

"Ugh, not beans again." Charlie says what we are all thinking. Lima beans. For some weird reason, the only food that was plentiful after the epidemic was lima beans. Actually, it's not weird at all because everyone hates the repulsive starchy beans. That's all we've eaten for breakfast this past week, lima beans, lima beans, and more Lima beams. Gross.

While I'm stirring the disgusting legume, Alex, Charlie, and A.J. sit next to me by the fire.

"That was very rude way to wake up us this morning Alex." Charlie fake scolds.

"Sorry, I guess I need to work on the rooster wake-up call. But, I have a very important proposal to make." He responds, his eyes on me the whole time. I shift uncomfortably at his stare, trying to distract myself with the beans.

"Let's hear it." Charlie leans in, obviously interested in what Alex has to say.

Alex looks around, making sure that everyone is there. "Well..." he starts, looking down and fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. A clear sign he's nervous. "Hmm, I'm going to start at the beginning. So, a few days ago, I was minding my own business, just taking a stroll out in the great outdoors. When all of a sudden, BAM! I get hit by a pigeon! I was pretty stunned, cause I was like, where the heck did that come from? So it's like squawking and flipping out, and I'm pretty sure it's having a seizure. I bent down and picked it up, and I realize that it has a blue ribbon tied loosely around its neck. It also has a tiny scroll tied to its feet. I untie the scroll and the pigeon goes squawking off, flying all sideways and crooked. So, after that whole ordeal, I untie the scroll and read what it says.

 Dear fellow survivor,

I am greatly pleased to see you have received this. You must be confused on how you are reading this, but all of these answers will come in time my dear friend. If you are reading this, you must be lucky enough to be alive like us.

We have formed a group in Washington D.C. Here we are abiding in the white house, and we have a sizable assembly forming. Our goal is to unite the survivors of the terrible disease that has almost brought us to utter extinction, Occisor. So, we bid you to yield yourself to our reserve. We have food, clothing, and medical supplies. We ask of you to come, either young or old, healthy or malnourished, alone or in a group. We just want to create a safe haven and rebuild the world, one piece at a time.

                                       -The Reliquiae

Alex looks up at us as he finishes reading the letter. The rest of us sit there, looking at him in shocked silence.

"They want to rebuild the world? Back to how it was?" Charlie questions.

"I think so. And I think we should go there." Alex says softly. A couple minutes go by in silence, all of us wrapping our heads around this foreign idea.

Finally I speak. And all my confusion and anger tumbles out, "Are you insane?! Travel almost 2000 miles?! How... What..." I can't even finish my sentence I'm in such astonishment. The nerve of him to even suggest this overwhelms me. We are the only ones in this conversation. Now I know what he was trying to as me yesterday, when we were on our walk. He was going to talk about this to me because he knew that I was the only one with a smart opinion. I love Charlie, but he's an idiot, and so is Jessica. Even if A.J. had an opinion, he wouldn't say it because he never talked. So it was up to us to make a decision.

"I don't know how we will get there. I haven't thought that far in advance. But just think about it. Food, supplies, people." He coaxes.

I guess I'm afraid to say my real concern. Leaving my little town. The town I was born and raised in; where my parents chased me around the playground at the park, where I hit my first homerun in tee-ball, where I broke my arm playing tackle football. Where I went ice-skating with friends during winter, swam in the lake during the summer, played soccer with my brother on the fields. Where I had my first kiss under the sycamore tree, and my first heart break in front of the library. All these memories were engraved here, and I wasn't ready to let them go just yet.

"Emma, listen to me." He says very gently. "We have nothing left here. You have to let go. They're gone. All of them... they are all gone." My throat closed up. I wouldn't go. I couldn't go. No. They're not gone. No. I couldn't breathe. The walls started closing in. Not again. Not here, not now.

"I need... I need to go." I stammer, hastily getting up and half sprinting to the door. I hear Alex calling after me, but I ignore him. By the time I'm outside, I'm in a full run. Tears are streaming down my face, and I don't know where I'm going. All I know is that I have to get away.

November 4, 2103

It happened again. The panic attacks. The last time I had one was after my family died. I used to get them sometimes before Occisor struck. I'm not going to lie, it's really scary. First your throat closes up. Then you have a hard time breathing. Finally, the walls start closing in on you. And the whole time you are completely paralyzed. You can't speak, breath, or move.

The only thing you can do is leave the situation you are in. And that's what I did. I started walking to my house, but then I realized that the memories would hurt too badly. So I went to my tree. It's a big oak tree behind my house. My parents first planted it when they moved in, so it's about 17 years old. I had put wood slabs in-between the boughs of the trees as sort of a seat. Then, I put blankets and pillows and snacks; it was all very cozy. Alyssa, my best friend, and I would sit up there and talk for hours. I miss her.

Once I get there, it's exactly how I left it. I had actually left some candy bars because Alyssa was supposed to spend the night. Then school got cancelled and it started breaking out...

                        -Good night my friend