Book 1 Journal Entry 2

Book 1 Journal Entry 2


There’s trouble in bear country.
Scat came running down the admin hall before sunup this morning yelling at the top of his lungs. “Get up, Get up. They took our fuel. They took our fuel. “
I jumped off the couch and tackled him in the hallway. “Ok, Ok, Ok, we get the point.” I yelled back.
By this time everyone residing in the admin hall was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes everywhere and no one was in a very joyful mood.
Scat tried to squirm out of my hold. “Tony, …Tony’s hurt. They beat him up.”

Madie and Tony in high school
Madie and Tony in high school
Tony is our engineer. He lives in the basement. He has been my friend (sort of) since before the world turned upside down. We didn’t run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, he was dating a cheerleader. He isn’t very socialable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break.
I ordered Scat to stay put in the admin hallway and grabbed some muscle. When I say muscle, I am referring to Matt and Jonas. We headed toward the basement.

Scat, Madie and Tony in admin hallway
Scat, Madie and Tony in admin hallway
The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony made an attempt to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the wall and let out a cry of pain.
“I tried to reason with them.” Tony spit out a mouth full of blood. “They took all of our fuel. Oh Geez! I hurt.”

Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages.
The Central Bobcats were from the East end of Lafayette Blvd we lived on the west. We were rivals in football, basketball and volleyball. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world was turned upside down. The big difference between central and us is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies. The leader of the Central bobcats is a former high school wrestling champ. He is mean and leads by fear and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the hulk after the comic book character. He doesn’t barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants.

The Scat holding a first aid kit
The Scat holding a first aid kit
Matt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn’t have tried to stop central from taking what they wanted. Just then, Scat ran up behind me holding a first aid kit.
Scat is such a tiny little guy. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He gets into more trouble.
Scat glared back at me. “Tony didn’t try to stop them. They beat him up afterwards.”
I looked at Tony and he just nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting a raving about getting even. Love these guys but they get hot under the collar fast and don’t always think things thru…
We have some big guys in Bear Country, but we are not a match for the goons at Central.


Madie

Book 1 Journal Entry 1

Book 1 Journal Entry 1

Madie with new diary
Madie with new diary

I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza. I paid a hefty price. But I desperately needed something to write my thoughts down in. You would think that a person living inside a school building would have access to paper. Not in this school. Except for the stash the journal club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper of course is already written on and serves no useful purpose to me.

Marty, Gretchen and Cecelia in the media center
Marty, Gretchen and Cecelia in the media center
Not a lot to tell about Bear Country except that things have been quiet for weeks. I am a little bored. Actually, really bored. Everyone is off doing their own thing. I was hoping 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 they 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. And they locked the door. Those three are a wealth of information. A little odd and secretive and they are rarely seen alone but they can be very helpful at times. I am only a little hurt that they didn’t want to play with me. Oh well, their loss.

Tate and Kylie standing in their garden taking notes.
Tate and Kylie standing in their garden taking notes.
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.

Madie