From the journal of Correctional Officer Steven Williams, May 8

May 8, 2017

Two days ago, Gary and I went to scout Aspen. We figured with it being just the two of us, we could get in and out without being seen if anyone was already there. We drove to the edge of downtown and left my truck hidden there, we didn't want the sound to draw any undead or even anyone alive. We wanted to watch anyone to make sure if they looked like good or bad people. The group also gave us a list of stuff to look for that we might find easier in this rich town.
First, we went downtown and went through some of the stores. We used a couple of shopping carts to get the stuff back to my truck and stored. Then we started going down the streets and checking random houses for any signs of life.
We had only gone down five or so streets and were checking out this really sweet house when I saw a couple of young men walking down the street towards us. We ditched inside really fast and made our way quietly up the stairs to an upstairs bedroom. Gary handed me a granola bar, since we hadn't eaten yet, and we spent about 30 minutes watching them. They seemed to be on patrol, but were not  doing a great job of looking around. If they had, they would have seen our footprints in the yards of a couple of the houses they had passed.
Gary and I talked about it and decided to leave the house and try to follow the boys to see where they were staying and if they had anyone else with them. It was a good thing too! They must have seen movement in our window and although they tried to act all calm, we could both tell they were freaking out a little bit and figured they would come check out the house we were in. Gary said we should leave our garbage so they would know someone was here, for sure, and then we could see how they would react.
We had just ducked into the house across the alley when they came down the alley and went into the place we had been. When they came out, they immediately headed back the way they had come from. I could tell from the way they were moving that they thought they were being really suave about it, like there was nothing out of the ordinary. But, it was obvious that we had rattled them.
Turns out, they are staying in this compound three streets from where they saw something. They made it back there in like 15 minutes and shortly after, they came back out with three girls. They spent the rest of the afternoon reinforcing their fence, gates and house. We really must have freaked them out.

From what we saw, they seem to be good people. Most of them are pretty young, maybe a little older than Jenna, and they don't know as much as they think they do. It seems like they got most of their information from movies and T.V.
Gary and I waited until the sun started to go down and then snuck back to my truck. Then we drove back to our group and had a meeting to discuss what we saw. It has been decided that as soon as Henry is able to be moved, we are going to go to Aspen and see if we can get in touch with the people we saw there. The compound they are staying in would be perfect for both of our groups to stay in together and we can really help them get the place way more secure. I hope they are as nice as they seemed. I'm sure Jenna would enjoy having people closer to her own age around. I know she gets along with the kids and the adults, but she must miss people her own age.

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.