From the journal of Jenna Bless, April 5

April 5, 2017

     After all the excitement last night, we all slept late this morning. When I woke up, it was wierd to hear voices and laughter around our truck. It had been so long since we had been around anyone else, it made me feel really shy for a few minutes. I looked into the bed of the truck and saw that Williams was still sleeping and decided to wake him up so I didn't have to meet all these people by myself.
     He didn't wake up easily. I had to crawl into the bed and shake him. He never really slept long when it was just the two of us so I felt kinda bad about waking him up. But from how light it was and how many voices I could hear, I thought it was probably late morning. He grumbled as he opened his eyes and glared at me like his look alone could make me disappear. Then he looked up and realized how late it was and grumped "shoulda woke me up earlier". Whatever!

     The kids noticed us first and started running towards us and yelling for the adults. Two little girls grabbed my hands and pulled me towards the largest group of people walking towards us. We were introduced to everyone and I know I will never remember everyone's names. The group is pretty large. One of the leaders, I think her name is Linda, said they still have 44 people. She was really sad when she said it and there was a little moment of silence. Then she said they used to have 63 before last night.
     Williams and Linda walked a few feet away with her husband, Aaron. I was surrounded by kids and Williams told me to go play with them for a few minutes. It was really weird playing after having to be a grown up for so long. It took me a few minutes to really feel like I wasn't doing something wrong by laughing. Then I got into it and it became fun. There weren't any other teenagers here, so I had to play with little kids, but we jumped rope and played hide and seek in the circle of vehicles. Some of the other adults joined Williams and the others after an hour or so and it became a group discussion about whatever around the fire.
     I watched them for a few minutes and was just starting to feel left out, I mean, I should know what was going on! I helped save these people, too! Then he motioned for me to join them and I felt silly. He was trying to give me a break and I should be grateful. I still went to join them, though. The kids were disappointed and tried to hang onto me to make me stay. But I told em I needed to go. They groaned, but let me go.

     I sat down in the spot made for me by Williams and tried to pick up the conversation. He leaned over and whispered that they had two people that got bit last night. One was a young mother, Stephanie, whose son was killed last night while she was carrying her daughter. For now, the little girl was being left with her mom. The other was a girl, Rose,  who didn't look much older than I do. They had been moved into one of the SUV's and were being watched by their doctor, Ben, and his only nurse, Kim. Last night, the other nurse had been killed while carrying Stephanie's little boy, Tim. We all knew what would happen to them but no one knew what to do. Everyone talking about any ideas. Should we make them leave? If we did, did Crystal go with her mother or stay with us? Could we force them apart, even knowing that Stephanie was going to become one of the undead? Should we try to save them? Was there any point? Had anyone heard about someone surviving a bite or did everyone turn? We didn't know the answers to most of these questions so it made making a choice hard.
     The area we were circled up in seemed pretty clear of undead. Everyone was tired and unsure of what to do next so it was decided that we would stay here today, unless we had to leave because of a herd of zombies coming. Food was made, everyone ate and the kids went back to quietly playing. I didn't know what to do with myself, until Williams told me to do what I wanted to do. I could play or stay and be listen to the adult talk. He told me he would tell me what was said later if I wanted to play, so I did. After lunch, we took turns reading out loud from one of those popular wizard book series and it was really nice to relax for a little bit. Tonight, we are going to have a hot dinner and I can't wait. The food is so much better with Amanda and her guys cooking. Williams just heats things up from a can and I never learned how to cook anything, so I am not any better.
     The little kids are laying down for a nap right now, so I am just laying her writing. I might even take a nap myself. Yeah, I think I will.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.