My Personal Sunside

Chapter 1

Cooper's POV:

I'm not the greatest at relaying what happened, but I can sum it up. Currently I'm writing this journal in the dirt by a population sign, the town scratched out and the sign shot half to death, if you want to know.

I was with my friends, Ted, Carson, Noah, Charlie, Schlatt, Cameron, Swagger, Mason, Jay, Travis, and Toby. We were in an Uber going to some other town for a reason I don't remember. The driver stopped the car dead in its tracks, turning off the vehicle. We all weren't very concerned, simply expecting him to let us out. I was sat in the front seat next to the dude, and I noticed we were out of gas. I didn't say anything, as everyone else was having a great time saying jokes and such. I turned around to the guys, trying to catch onto whatever joke they were saying.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a gun click, so I turned back towards the driver. He held a pistol inside his mouth, facing it upwards to the roof of his mouth. I felt my body freeze in shock, then watching him pull the trigger. The sound made my ears ring, seeing the horrendous sight numbing my body completely. Blood littered the inside of the van, bits of pink and flesh sticking to the roof, windshield, window, and seat. I had some on me, but it took me a minute to click what had occurred. After my ears stopped ringing I heard a mix of screams and "What the fuck!" coming from the back rows. I felt my breathing quicken and I fumbled to open the door, throwing it ajar and falling out. I landed on the dirt, my hands shaking as my legs were too. I slowly stood up, stepping back as everyone else got out of the car in a hurry. I stared at the body in the driver's seat. It was slumped against the window, the remains of his head leaning against said window. The gun was still in his grip, leaned against the stick shift.

"Cooper!" Ted called, running to me with wide eyes. I drifted my gaze away from the scene, looking at Ted. "Are you okay?" He asked, his deep voice filled with concern. I nodded, looking at my shivering hands and seeing bits of blood, then raising the palms to wipe away blood from my face. Ted studied me, then looking at my hair. He gagged, looking away for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, Coop." He said, gulping back vomit as he reached up and pulled out bits of flesh and brain. He flung the bits to the side, his face getting more and more white as he finished.

"Its okay," My voice shook in response. Ted then ruffled my hair, as an attempt to get out the blood. It splattered around us, getting onto Ted's glasses and shirt. He stepped back, removing his glasses to clean them. I looked around at everyone who was out of the vehicle, seeing some throw up and seeing some sitting on the dirt road, hugging their knees up to their chest and staring off into the distance. I looked at Cameron, who was helping Mason stand up after he pulled a cigarette from his pack. I thought he stopped smoking, but I suppose he started after seeing a dude shoot himself square in the fucking face.

"Cooper, holy shit, you got the worse of it." Schlatt said, walking towards me. I looked at myself, my shirt, pants, arms, and hands having blood on them. I looked back up at the man in front of me.

"Thanks buddy," I replied, giving him an awkward laugh. He nodded, his face keeping a stone cold expression. He then turned around, walking to the van and grabbing bags as quickly as he could, throwing them on the road behind him. He closed the doors to the van and then ran around to grab my bag, handing it to me. "Get changed, there is a town nearby and we are planning to go to it." I nodded, opening my bag carefully and pulling out a shirt and jeans. I looked at Schlatt and called over Ted, having them shield me a bit. I changed quickly, dropping the shirt and jeans in the dirt. Ted and Schlatt then moved away from me, gathering the group for us to walk along the road to the town. I walked in front with Ted and Schlatt, Cameron walking behind us while people were gathering up beside us to see where we were going.

Now I'm sat in the dirt by the sign, using a dirty pen and an even dirtier journal to write this shit. I figured documenting our experience would be good for a video, considering all of our phones aren't working. They aren't turning on, even phones at full charge. Cameron already agreed to write this with me. Swagger might add in some sense halfway through, because he wants to give out his opinion on the situation. The rest of the group encourages the method of documentation, but they don't have legible handwriting or simply cannot write about what happens without breaking down. Toby is currently sitting next to me, being comforted by Cameron. Poor Toby, she is taking this shit harder most likely because of the hormones shes taking, and it hurts me even more to know that the whole group is in such despair and some sort of grief.

Swagger is walking around, looking at his watch to see the time while trying to find a person who he could talk to. I notice that this town is empty except for a few residents, but empty nonetheless. I think the reason why some of us are sitting by the road and not helping Swags is because of the blood splatter we have on our clothing or on our general body. Ted is sitting by our bags by the sign, the few of us who had to change clothes having our bags close to us. Toby had blood on her cheeks and nose, in a vertical pattern considering Cameron was sat in front of her in the van. Cameron, Mason, and I got the worst of the blow. The others were either shielded or heard the gunshot and ducked under the seat. Speaking of Mason, he is pacing in front of us desperately taking big drags off of his cigarette. He is shaking, and muttering words to himself. His eyes seemed to have been voided of whatever emotion he felt before. All they did now was stare at his cigarette or look at the sign to see what it said through the scratches and bullet holes. Travis is sitting on the other side of Ted, he hasn't said a word since we left the car. He had wiped his mouth with his sleeve before, considering that he was one of the people that were throwing up after the sight. He still seems sick, I feel bad for him.

All in all, this is Day One of being left in the middle of a forest or town I guess.