From the journal of Sarah Richards, April 22

April 22, 2017

      Last night, Mom suggested we go back to the Towers to see if we could find any other supplies and to show our faces. That way, no one would wonder where we were. But early this morning, a crashing sound echoed out of the tunnel leading to the Towers. I know, I was the one on watch at the bottom of the stairwell. Mandy came down from our floor because she heard the sounds while on watch, too.

      Then, we heard the echo of gunshots and screaming. Glass was breaking and when we ran upstairs and looked out the window, we saw flashes of light on the first floor and then we could see fire started burning. From there, we could see the flashes spread from the first floor onto the other floors as the fight started being door to door.
      By then, everyone was up and watching the Towers. Pablo, Mandy's dad, was white as a sheet and had to sit down. He looked at me and Mom and told us how grateful he was that we had gotten him and his family out before the zombies got in. He even said he had been wrong about the guns and would gladly carry one from then on. Maria, Mandy's mom and her sister, Michelle, were crying and praying for the people still in the Towers. We all watched the Towers for the rest of the night and when morning came, there was only the occasional shot still being heard. It was over and the Towers were no longer controlled by the living.
     When the sun was up, Mom and Maria made everyone something to eat, but none of us was all that hungry. I pecked at my food for a few minutes and then gave up. How could I eat knowing that almost everyone we knew were dead. I bet some of them would even be coming back as those things. There was no going back now. We probably wouldn't be able to get inside. There were just too many of the undead and not enough of us, just me, Mom, Mandy, Pablo, Maria and Michelle. We had no idea if anyone else made it out and couldn't count on it.
     We are lucky to be safe and have the supplies that we have. If Mandy and I hadn't had the idea and put it into action, we would have all been in the Towers when the zombies got in and we would be fighting for our lives, if we still had them.

     I tried to take a nap early this afternoon, since none of us slept last night after the Towers fell. But I just kept seeing the faces of everyone who didn't get out. All the kids Mandy, Michelle and I went to school with. The policemen, the mayor, everyone. I couldn't sleep, so I gave up and Mandy and I decided to start searching the rest of Buckner to see if anyone else tried to stash anything here that we could use. I feel like I will never be hungry or sleepy again. I just keep seeing everyone dead or undead. I can't imagine being eaten alive and how much that must hurt. I hope it was fast and people didn't suffer too much.

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.