From the journal of Sean Glover, May 7

May 7, 2017

I haven't written anything lately because there really wasn't much happening. We have been scavenging more houses and have found some food and stuff. We even spent a day downtown looking through the stores. The girls got a real kick out of it because there are some stores that had some really high end stuff they would never have been able to afford to wear before the shit hit the fan. Elisabeth found a really great leather jacket that must have been made for some Hollywood starlette to buy, but everything fell apart and it was still in the store. I don't think she has taken it off since she found it, except to shower and sleep. Carol found this dress that reminds me of something one of those fifties housewives would have worn. It even has the puffy part under the skirt! She calls it her house dress and wears it when she is home. Carol found a couple of pairs of really cool cargo pants and a really thick jacket that will be great when it snows. Eric and I had fun looking at all the bikes and skateboards. We took one of each for us both and have been racing each other down our street and trying to learn tricks on the skateboards.
We found some really cool movies at this big house. We found a couple of awards and photos and I think it belonged to a director. He had a couple of movies on reels that were not done being edited yet and we brought them and the player back here. Eric seems to know how to set it up and we plan on trying to watch them this week, if he can figure it out. One looks like a western comedy and one looks like some kind of thriller. I can't tell who is in them from looking at the negatives, but I hope there are some big name actors in them!

Today, Eric and I were out doing our usual rounds, checking to see if anyone else alive has been around, checking the houses around us to make sure no one has been in one of them, that kind of thing. We want to keep an eye out, you never know who will just show up. We all know that we got lucky when we found each other and don't want to be caught with out pants down if someone bad shows up.
I could've sworn I saw something move in one of the windows in a house three streets over. I did a double check, trying to not be too obvious, and thought I saw something move again. I told Eric and we decided to keep moving, like we hadn't seen anything, and double back down the alley behind the houses.
It took us about 10 minutes to make our way carefully to the back of the house and when we went in, there were two sets of footprints on the floor in mud. We checked the whole house and in the upstairs room I had seen the movement in, we found some granola bar wrappers and an empty water bottle. There really had been someone there!
We made our way back to our house as quickly and quietly as we could, trying to stay as much out of sight as we could. When we burst through the door, the girls were suprised and had no idea what was going on. We told them what I had seen and what we had found. There will be more patrols now and we made a schedule so someone is always watching the gate to our place. We made sure no one can get through the back entrance and made sure the fence is really secure all the rest of the way around the property. It took us most of the rest of the afternoon, but we need to make sure we are as safe here as possible. I wish we had more people to keep watch, it would make us safer, but at least there are now five of us and not just me!
Carol and I are going to take turns walking around our neighborhood during the days, instead of the once a day that Eric and I have been doing it. Now, there will be two patrols a day and we are going to set up some booby traps in the house closest to us, so we will hear if anyone tries to get inside them. I said we should also set some up all along our wall around our place and Carol agreed. We are going to have to collect some cans and see what else we can find in the store tomorrow to use, maybe we will get lucky and will find something that takes batteries and will make lots of noise. One of my foster sisters had this little personal protection device that had a button that would make a really bad noise if you pushed it. It also had a cord with a little metal plate to put in a window and if the window was opened, it would make the same loud screeching sound. She used to use it in her bedroom door because our foster father had a habit of wandering the house at night and he would try to go into the girls rooms.
I sure hope whoever was in that house is a good person and not some mutant biker looking for a place to score supplies. I checked all the guns and we put them by the main doors and windows, just in case. I really hope we don't have to use them.

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.