From the journal of Charlie Fast Fingers Pearson, May 10

May 10, 2017

We ran into a large group of the undead yesterday. We had made it most of the way down the mountain and had reached a line in the forest. The trees stopped and plowed land began. There was a twenty foot area of just dirt and then an orchard of fruit trees, mostly from the mountain. I did see some other fruit trees that would have to be brought to the island, too. Past the orchard, we could see more plowed land and a huge garden or vines and bushes. Most of it was looking kinda sad and like it needed watering, but there was still fruit and vegetables that we could see.
Marty had just said we should keep moving when I saw a shadow through the trees. I grabbed his arm, shushed him and we all stayed where we were, waiting. More shadows joined the first and soon there were at least twenty of those shuffling undead fucks coming through the orchard towards us. We were in deep shit.
The group pulled back into the forest and we made a plan. There were a couple of trees that had small forts built about ten feet off the ground. I guess tree forts are one of those things that are a worldwide way for kids to play. We climbed into the two we could see and into other trees nearby, above where we hoped the undead could reach us. Then we got ready with our make shift spears and other weapons. The plan was to wait until we are surrounded, then take them out one by one from above.
The plan was working fine until one of the platforms started to move in the tree. The zombies were pounding on the trunk and it was making the fort shake. The people in it, Sally, Martin, Shane, Dave and Amy, climbed up higher in the branches and were not able to keep killing the undead surrounding their tree. I yelled that it was OK, we'll take them out after the rest of us take out the ones around us.
It felt like hours, but was probably only around thirty minutes, when Terry took out the last one below our fort. I looked around and saw that everyone had finished off the zombies below them, except for the people in the other fort. The rest of us climbed down and quietly snuck up on the undead reaching for our friends. There was no contest, they didn't even look around when the ones next to them started to fall. It was only like five minutes later that we were done and the rest of us climbed down to the ground.
We cautiously walked back to the edge of the trees and then quietly discussed what we should do next. Should we make a loud noise to see if any other undead come to see what made it? Should we just go all gung ho and storm across the orchard and garden? Should we send in a couple of scouts to look around?
The vote settled it and we all yelled and screamed for about thirty seconds. Then we waited. Nothing happened. We waited for an hour, giving any zombies time to find us. Nothing. No zombies, no dogs, no sheep. Nothing.
After another half hour, we headed across the open ground, through the orchard and into the garden. It was a beautiful sight to see. Something to eat that wasn't fruit. Even if we didn't find anything else to eat or any animals, this was enough to make me happy and I bet I'm not the only one.
We found the village and we were right about it being close to the shore. From the top of the hill on the edge of the village, we could see around twenty huts, at least ten boats and nets strung up everywhere around the huts. I couldn't see any movement and we decided to search the village as a group, hut by hut. We didn't find anything else, alive or undead. When we were done, we gathered in the center of the village in the communal space. We built a fire in the large stone ring there and some of us picked vegetables while others found what we needed to cook on the fire.

Dinner was a quiet meal and everyone was really tired, so it was early. We had chosen a group of five huts in a tight circle that was slightly apart from the others. They probably belonged to the chief of the village and his family, but now, they are ours. We made a schedule for keeping watch and then settled in for the rest of the night.
This morning, we cooked some rice we found in our hut, picked some fruit and a few veggies. The plan for today is to search all the huts and collect all the food, as well as anything else useful. Then, we are going to set up some kind of fence or barrier to keep out any undead that might be left. I am so fucking happy to be off that mountain. Now, we just have to figure out what to do next.

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.