Survival Perspective

The Decline

Bryan, June The Tenth.

It's been months since I've found any remanence of clean paper until now, this fresh leather-backed journal will soon become the only entity I can honestly trust in these cold stomping grounds.

However I only managed to survive the beginning of Earth's decline due to the sacrifice of my family, My family is the only reason this journal is filled with these inane words. Throughout my travels I had banded together with some long lost friends back from the days of endless tests, Exams and teachings and more or less we were stuck together like a lid to a bottle,

First there was Arden and Tyler, Last I heard they were trying to raid a nursing home before we'd ran into each other. For what it's worth, Arden was the biggest addict I've known, But before the decline Tyler was and still is a finicky boy and Arden is forgetful, I suppose we all have our weaknesses however I leaned towards Arden more when push came to shove and we all got along like two birds and a branch, but then there was Corey, the variable was that we weren't best of friends but anyways back to the point. It was around dawn and the air seemed to remind me of the back-burning days, the sky was as if it had been washed out by the rain and a cynical gray scale froze the clouds, It was perfect.
I gasped cold air into my lungs through my palms for warmth, It never occurred to me that winter could be so fucking cold, And was kindred to a steel stiletto piercing my freckly skin.

My attention is reassigned due to a speed bump Arden hit a little to hard, I gazed around at the magnificent scenery you don't get to see much of these days It seemed to be a delicacy of sorts and I inquisitively lean forward towards Arden for some details about where we are heading he answered bitterly with We're traveling religiously followed by a smitten cackle, I raise my eyebrow to this thought, Arden wasn't the usually the religious type, I simply regard him with a slight smirk,  We're following the country road until we hit Broad Meadows.
The amount of clarity that had filled my heart upon seeing what I once called home was unparalleled, It almost gave me a feeling of real security and I really mean almost.
After a cruise down the main road We'd hit the Central Business District which had been littered with pretentious potholes and gruesome stains of what some call modern art. Broad Meadows was and had been a small little town we all had grown up in, I'd only moved here four years ago but much to my amusement, It was home. Every few minutes or so I'd glance out the window at crude childish memories until I was interrupted by an argument between Corey and Arden, It had seemed like a ripe moment to tell them to fuck up but I'm sure me and Tyler both knew what was up In an effort of sorts I nudge Arden on the shoulder and asked him how far we were from the gas station, There was no answer but we quickly came to a sudden halt and after a few minutes of wondering the perimeter my curiosity had grown upon each second until I was forced to succumb to the ponderous amusements that had been expected inside. I had wanted to venture the dark aisles of the once living station whilst they refueled our ride.

After scouring the aisles I managed to scrounge up an out of date Powerade, a packet of M&M's and an old wet Zoo magazine. We all needed to find a way to entertain ourselves in the decline somehow Right? I was alerted to a sharp scuffle behind the counter I spun on a dime only to find myself lost in the bloodshot eyes of a rotter. My heart exploded and my mind blanked.  I took a deep breath and ran through the aisles, stumbling in fear until  I fell and slid on the damp floor I open my eyes to see it's decaying face, And swiftly drew my blade from the leather holster I once stole from a corpse of what I hoped to be a ''donation'' The rotter had collapsed onto me attempting to rip the warm flesh from my neck but also managing to wind me at the same time, within the struggle I managed to hook my blade around into it's foul smelling head.  I take a deep breath in relief and sighed slightly giggling, Only to be alarmed by the sound of shuffling boxes from the behind the one place I forgot to check, The counter, A rudimentary habit, Two more rotters shambled towards me. My brain ceased. Am I finally going to die? what I was going to do? But throughout the hindering I remembered that I had an old pistol in my possession but with little ammo to spend, I pulled my idle companion from my belt and dropped the clip to see little more than three rounds I had found tucked into a dead rotters pocket I replaced the clip and aimed but it was too late. the rotters had piled onto me , As I struggled to aim the pistol, I soon became to realize that there was no way I would be able to curve my pistol around to shoot them dead. I was desperate and I was willing to whatever I could to survive I placed the cold steel into the rotters dead mouth and fired. And there I lay piled in rotters, With torn clothes that had been soaked with the blackish blood only familiar to a vintage rotter comparable only to smell of decaying flesh and I heard yelling outside and a door being kicked open. Breathless I use my remaining energy to whelp but with some luck my friends had found me. I was surprised they found me. the first question I expected them to ask was are you bit It never occurred to me throughout the situation that I had been bit, But the only thing that rushed through my head was the texture of my own blood on my dry cracked lips and it had felt as I went terminal.