Journal 88

The drastic change in weather has caught everyone by surprise. It is so horribly cold. We weren’t expecting this kind of weather for at least another month. Marty thinks the meteor showers and the earthquakes caused the sudden onset of winter. All the excess debris in the atmosphere has messed up the weather patterns.

We woke up yesterday morning to a foot of snow on the ground. All ten of my toes have turned into icicles and I have on three pairs of socks. Tony, Pete, Jonas, and Matt set up the portable heaters in the main lobby. It’s too cold to sleep in individual classrooms. I guess we will be camping out in the lobby until the weather decides to warm up. Last night Matt, Hemy, Jonas and me all snuggled up to each other trying not to freeze. (A small note Jonas is a blanket hog.) There were other similar groups around the room. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a long horrible cold winter.

Please, please, please don’t let the weather stay this cold for too long. I hate having to sleep with everyone. I like my privacy, but my room is currently doubling as a walk-in freezer. Not really but it could be if needed.

Victor is still sicker than a dog. He is running a high fever and is breathing like a locomotive. The boy has been unconscious since yesterday. He looks bad and sounds even worse. Tony has been guarding Victor like a mother hen. He hasn’t left Victor’s side in two days. There are people in Bear Country who believe we should abandon Victor outside to die so that no one else gets ill. You should have heard the protest when Tony and I moved Victor from the basement up to the main lobby. I thought a war was going to break out and divide Bear Country down the middle. Pete was very quick at calming the situation. He is very good at bringing out the guilt in people.

I understand the concerns of the people who would like to see Victor removed from Bear Country. It’s self-preservation. No one wants to die. I understand their concerns (I partly agree), but we can’t let Victor (no matter what kind of pain in the butt he has been in the past) freeze to death and die of pneumonia. He may die anyway. We have no medicine. If he is going to recover, he is going to recover on his own. Victor is currently resting in a corner of the lobby away from everyone else with Tony by his side.