Journal Entry #2 (Original Dystopian Story)

July 20, 2023 7:34pm

I’ve never had such a close call in my life. Today I was going house to house scavenging as usual (businesses aren’t worth the trouble anymore) and while rummaging through a kitchen pantry I heard a thump and crash from under the floorboards. I’m always cautious, I always clear a residence before I begin to search it. I didn’t expect there to be a nest of them under the house. My first instinct was to run, people always say to go with your gut and trust your instincts but I knew that would be fatal. There’s no way in hell I could outrun those things. So I did the only thing I could do, I froze. I didn’t even breath for what felt like hours. You see, there are telltale signs of nests generally. The main thing is the creatures don’t seem to have the dexterity to work doors so most of the nests I’ve seen have the doors completely destroyed. I operate on a policy of avoidance so if I'm suspicious of a residence I don't even approach it. I don’t have any idea why this house was different. Maybe they were trying to be more discrete or perhaps they just found easy crawlspace access, I probably won't ever find out. It’s hard to know how many of them there are in a nest. I can handle myself in a fight with one or two but most nests are ten plus. I slowly backed out of the kitchen, then the parlor and finally onto the porch. As soon as my feet hit the sidewalk I sprinted for my ride.

You might think that I had my pick of the litter for sweet rigs in the end of the world, while that is true you also have to be smart. I drive a VW Jetta TDI, I know, I know, they cheated emissions and fucked the environment but I think the environment is the least of my concern at this point. The thing is, diesel is pretty easy to come by. I find one sixteen- wheeler and have enough to fill the tank 5 times over, plus this girl gets 55mpg when you treat her right.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, running for my life. I fired up the engine and threw the car in drive just in time to see a grotesque figure hurdling at me full tilt. I squealed my tires as I took off toward home watching those unnatural bastards shrink in my mirror. Some might think it was a cowardly move to run. Why didn’t I stay and fight you ask? Well I’ll tell you, those things are faster, stronger, harder to kill and never seem to tire. Plus I’m a big believer in the “he who lives and runs away, lives to fight another day” adage so sue me. My take for the day in scavenged goods? I found a couple skin magazines (we all have needs), a nice set of leather gloves and 3 boxes of Kraft mac’n’cheese. Tonight I will dine like a KING and do so wearing some sweet biker gloves.

Entry #1: https://steemit.com/fiction/@akuda/journal-entry-1-mountain-money-original-work-2017719t121847784z