From the journal of James Cohen, May 31

May 31, 2017

Well, the rig broke down yesterday. It had started to sound rougher a couple of days earlier and there was nothing I could do about it. Before the world went to shit, I would have called the main office and they would have arranged for a place to stop on our route to have the truck looked at. Now, the phones don't work, all the shops are closed, the mechanics are probably zombies, and the rig is done. We limped into a little road side town and spent today finding a secure location off the main street. Tomorrow, we are going to have to search for another vehicles, like another rig, or a bus. Hopefully, we can find one in this little one block town.
The trailer is not as comfortable as anyone here would like, but unless we find an RV or tour bus, nothing else will be really comfortable either. A bus, unless you take the time to remove some of the seats, will not be really comfortable. If we get another rig, then the trailer is still the mode of transport for the majority of our group. It would be better if we can find an RV or a trailer and truck to pull it.

I don't know exactly where we are, but we didn't make it as far as I would have liked in the amount of time we have been on the road. Traveling in this new world is driving in short bursts and then stop to move vehicles out of the way, then another short burst of driving, etc. On the road, we've had to stop often to let the elderly people to walk around and go to the bathroom. Between stopping for them and having to move vehicles blocking the roads, we've only made it about half as far as we should have. But, you always have to roll with the punches, especially now, with the undead. We've had to stop for groups of them that were blocking the road. Sometimes, we stop far enough away to just wait it out, other times there are few enough of them that we drive up and take them out.
All of us are already tired of the drive and we aren't even a third of the way there. We have had to deal with zombies, traffic jams, deserted towns, losing someone in our group and mutant bikers trying to find us. And that's besides all of us having to deal with everyone else's stuff. They are crammed in the back, sitting or laying down on mattresses, for hours on end, with nothing to do but get on each others nerves. The only break they get is when we stop or they get their turn being my navagater up front. It would be better for everyone if we can get an RV. At least then, people will be able to sit at a table or on a couch. Also, other people should be able to drive it, so I can have a break from driving, which would be nice.
Walter is still not his old self after loosing his oldest friend, Fred. He was really broken up for about a week and would look around, like he forgot Fred was dead, sometimes. Walter told a bunch of stories from all the years he and Fred had been friends. After the first week, he got quieter and is still not as vocal as he usually is.
Esther is not doing well. She is having a hard time breathing, especially is she lays down. Her ankles are getting bigger since she is having fluid issues and sitting on the floor on mattresses isn't helping. She lost most of her appetite and Jackie is having to really keep after her to keep her hydrated. If I had to guess who we will probably lose next, it would be her.
Jackie's having a hard time with how this is going. Losing Fred was really hard on her. They have been together at the Care Home for over 10 years and she even took some dancing lessons from him. But it just happened, he didn't have symptoms for a while before dying. Watching Esther is harder for her. There is no medication left to help her with. Jackie thinks it might be congestive heart failure, but isn't able to confirm this. There is no place to get tests done and even if there was, there is no medicine left to give her. It is like life used to be 150 years ago or more. People just got sick and died. No hospitals, no medicines, no surgeries to fix faulty valves, no stints, just death.
This pandemic is like the Earths population control. I know when the black death came through Europe, the people who survived got to live better than they had before. People whose families were farmers for generations got a chance to go to the now half empty cities and learn a trade. This was not something that had been possible before. Well, if the human race survives this, maybe things can get better for us too.

But for that to happen, civilization has to come back. From what we have seen so far, that might not be possible this time. People still alive are either crazy, mutant bikers, or they are like us and it seems like the majority have chosen mutant biker. If there are people at the Greenbrier, I hope the are still decent people who want to survive and help people. If they are like those bikers, we are going to be so screwed.

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.