Journal 89

I haven’t picked up this journal in two days. My hands are freezing. My whole body is freezing. The portable heaters work fine if you are standing within a dozen feet of the units but if you are farther away, the room is like an icebox.

The snow continues to fall. The healthy and the sick have divided Bear Country. The sick is resting on one side of the room and the apparent healthy on the other. I have a stuffy head and sore throat. I have taken my place amongst the lepers. Victor is still surviving but barely. He remains unconscious. Marty is playing a doctor. With the help of Tony, Matt and Jonas, Marty has set up a makeshift hospital on one side of the room.

Marty has been reading medical books for the last couple of days. I’ve watched him flip through page after page in a dozen or so books. It’s a little scary but Marty says he knows what he is doing. Tony and Marty stuck a tube down Victor’s throat and poured in water, smashed apples, and powdered milk. I couldn’t watch. The thought of having something stuck down my throat makes me gag. Victor is so out of it he didn’t even flinch.

Kate, who I have not seen in ages dropped by Bear Country today, but Pete wouldn’t let her in. He has quarantined all of Bear Country. Kate came for help. Several people at the Spurs Fort are ill, including Joshua. I wanted to run out there and help the second I heard he was sick, but my loyalties are here at Bear Country. I don’t think I would have made the journey anyway. My head is so stuffy I can hardly breathe. Walking ten paces exhausts me. Kate asked Marty for medical advice. Several members of the Spurs are gravely ill. She looked sad that we couldn’t help more. I asked Kate to tell Joshua I would be thinking of him. I am feeling guilty.