From the journal of Rebecca Martin, May 8

May 8, 2017

We sure are lucky to have found the Frank T. Weathers Senior Care Center. My hand needed a lot of help when we got here and Jackie was able to take care of it. The glass was halfway through my hand and the floor of the car I got hurt in was really dirty.

This morning at breakfast with everyone sitting together, Jackie told us about all the people here in the Care Home and their experience since the world fell apart. Apparently, they had all been in here since the pandemic hit their city. Jackie Morton and Jim Johnson were Medical Assistants here at the Care Home, Brad Crosby and Rick Alda were orderlies, Melissa Burns was the cook and Brenda Cummings ran their front desk. They were all working the night shift when the horde of zombies stumbled through their town. They blocked up the windows, reinforced the doors and got all of the patients to the second floor. The first floor was abandoned and it was quite a chore moving all the kitchen appliances to one of the exam rooms, as well as all the food and medicine supplies.
There had been a doctor on duty, Dick Butler, but he was bitten by the first patient to die and turn. He in turn bit one of the two nurses on duty, Beth Hall. She scratched the second nurse the night she turned and Marcy Stubbs turned five days later. They were just the staff that turned. There were 18 patients placed in this Care Home when they barricaded themselves inside.

The first to die were the patients that were oxygen dependant, those that needed dialysis and those who had to have their medicine to survive. They lost four patients in the first three weeks and three staff in the first month. After that, they lost at least one patient every two to three weeks for a couple of months, then it slowed down and we haven't lost anyone in the last six weeks.
The Care Home had been there for over twenty years and when they were opened, it was a great neighborhood. But in the last ten years, it went downhill and most of the houses and apartment buildings were torn down and replaced with either buisinesses or wharehouses so there weren't many places for people to live around. This kept the number of undead down in this area, while other parts of town had been over run.
The people at the Care Home survived by sending a few people out the back to the stores near them.There were at least seven corner markets and two deli's to feed the people who worked in this part of town. It was good luck for them that the horde rolled through in the middle of the night when all the businesses and wharehouses were closed. The stores were still stocked and the wharehouses had food, water and supplies that were being shipped through Belle on their way to larger cities. They had only had to go through a couple of stores and one wharehouse so far and had plenty of places to scavenge up supplies in the future.
We were the first live people they had seen in months, which made them lucky. After dealing with those bikers the day I found Rebecca, I knew some people would do whatever they needed to do to stay alive, even kill others to take their supplies.
James and I told them about our journies so far. He told them about Dorris and had tears in his eyes when he did. I told them about the  Jaspar County Circuit Clerk's office and all the people I had been with there. Then James told them about the Greenbrier and the tunnels underneath. After that, it became a meet and greet while we were introduced to all the other people here. We have decided to stay here for a few days and go on a scavenging mission with them to stock up for our trip.
The plan for the rest of today is just to rest and keep my hand as immobile as possible. Jackie is going to change my bandage and check my wound at some point today. One of the elderly patients was an English Professor and had a small library. I was looking forward to checking out the selection and settle down with a book. I hope the rest of our time here is uneventful.

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.