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Book 1 Journal Entry 1

Book 1 Journal Entry 1

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Journal 1

I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza. I paid a hefty price. Nevertheless, I desperately needed something to let me vent and chronicle my thoughts. You would think that a person living inside a school building would have access to paper. Except for the stash, the journal club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper serves no useful purpose to me.

Not a lot to talk about Bear Country except that things have been quiet for weeks. I am a little bored. Everyone is off doing his or her own thing. I was hoping that maybe I could get someone to play a game of cards, spades perhaps. It is a fun game, but no one was interested. I even asked the Library Trio, Marty, Gretchen, and Cecelia. Day in and day out the three of them sit in the media center and read. Surely, they could use a diversion.

They weren’t interested. Marty said they were doing research. This sounded somewhat interesting so I asked if I could help. They all three looked at me and in unison said “No”. Before I knew what was happening, they pushed me out of the media center. In addition, they added insult by locking the door. Those three are a wealth of information. A little odd and secretive and they are rarely seen alone but they can be immensely helpful at times. I am only a little hurt that they didn’t want to play with me. Oh well, their loss.

The agriculture club is trying their best to supply us with a variety of fruits and vegetables but an unfortunate accident with a bug infestation has damaged much of their crops. In an effort to keep us from starving to death, the agriculture club has asked for volunteers. They need people to help with the crops that are left. I will be spending much of my time next week helping in the fields. Oh, joy! It’s not that I mind helping out. I just hate manual labor. Better to help now than to starve later.

Book 1 Life in Bear Country

Book 1 Life in Bear Country

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Journal: Prologue

I’m not sure exactly what day this whole thing started. I never watched the news. I was a kid doing my own thing. I didn’t care what was happening around me as long as I could spend time with my friends. I remember my dad saying how sad it was that a mother of three small children had died from the flu. Then someone else died, then someone else and then quarantine. Life fell apart after that.

The local authorities told us to stay in our homes. Stay away from other people. Don’t go out in the streets. Doctors were working on a cure. People panicked; they left town to get help from other hospitals. This was a mistake. Almost instantly, the news reported stories about epidemics, people dying by the hundreds, then the thousands.

My dad was a part of the homeland security team. He was working with the town government trying to keep things under control. Unfortunately, his efforts and the efforts of others didn’t help. The virus continued to spread. The death toll continued to rise and soon bodies began to pile up on the streets. It was awful. Our entire town smelled like death.

My mother died first. My heart hurt so badly. I wanted to die. My father was already sick. I could tell his heart was broken too. He died a couple of days later. I lay on my bed and cried hoping death would take me too. The only thing that took hold of me was hunger.

Millions of families were destroyed. Parents died leaving their children to survive on their own. Death preyed on the smallest survivors. Babies died in their cribs. Toddlers starved to death because they couldn’t get out of their homes. The survivors, the so-called lucky ones, began to group together and form gangs. The Bears formed when a dozen people moved into the Bear Country High School on Lafayette Blvd. We survived but life wasn’t easy.

I have always wanted to be a writer. I think my dad bought me my first journal when I was in the 1st grade. I have kept a journal ever since. This is my story. The following journal entries are a brief view of my life.

Madie