[April 19, 20XX]

This is insane. I don’t know what’s going on anymore, the world has gone to hell. Everyone is panicking, and I fear for my safety.

I’m not even sure how am I supposed to express my thoughts here. I’ve never written a diary before, but I feel like I need to. I need to let these things out somehow.

I guess I’ll try to keep track of what happened. Maybe that’ll help me put things into perspective, at the very least.

It started a couple of days ago. Whatever “it” is. I was walking back home, when I heard… something. It was like a commotion in the distance. Lots of police cars zooming around, as if a serious incident had happened; people walking faster than usual with worried looks on their faces, screaming at their phones… I didn’t know what to make of it back then, but it makes a bit more sense now.

I got a message on my phone, the emergency broadcast started showing up all over the place, vehicles with loudspeakers sweeping the streets… They were telling us to lock ourselves wherever we could, to avoid being outside, and to remain calm. Yeah, as if such a thing was possible.

I rushed into the closest building I found. I’m still here. It’s a really tall building, it looks like a bunch of offices on the inside. Some more people seem to have taken refuge inside just like me. I’m not sure how high up we are, but I can’t see the ground without peeking out the window.

Right after getting inside, I called my parents. They live two hours away from here, and apparently, they heard about this “incident” on the news. But nobody knows what’s actually going on, the authorities won’t say anything. They were also told to stay at home and lock themselves in. I hope they manage to stay safe…

_________________

You can hear the screams down there. It sounds like complete chaos outside. Police sirens, car crashes, gunshots… More people kept entering the building yesterday, but at some point, a small group went down and barricaded the stairs on the lower levels to stop anyone else from getting inside.

They saw something. They won’t tell us what it was, but it was bad. However, I think I have an idea of what it is. Some people have been posting disturbing stuff on the Internet. Videos. They get taken down, only for someone else to repost them somewhere else.

You can see these… people getting attacked by other people. They look rabid. It looks like zombies, like something out of a movie or a videogame. But… Even if it’s hard to believe, I can’t just disregard it, not with everything that’s going on.

The other people around here have also seen those shady videos, and they are freaking out and arguing with each other.

Also, all emergency numbers appear to be saturated.

My parents didn’t pick up the phone today.

My hands are starting to shake too much, it’s difficult to write. I need to rest for a bit. I hope this is just a temporary crisis.

I’m scared.

[April 26]

Phone reception has vanished today. No more access to the Internet, no more calls, nothing. Just… silence.

I was about to write down that I’m scared, but… Something tells me I’ll be scared for a while, so I think I’ll just refrain from doing it.

I was… hoping for some good news, eventually. A sign that help was coming, something that let us know that things were getting back under control. But the mobile phone signal disappearing is definitely not a good sign.

Remember how I talked about the sound of sirens, crashes, gunfire…? You can’t hear any of those anymore. The situation seems to have calmed down out there. The only problem is… it hasn’t. You wouldn’t hear the screams if that was the case. They don’t sound as often now, every day they become less and less common.

Electricity and water are still running, but something tells me it won’t be for long. TV still works, but all channels have the emergency broadcast on loop.

I think there is no rescue coming. Whatever happened, it’s really serious.

_________________

I’m sorry, diary. I know these tears are messing you up, but I can’t stop them from coming out.

I haven’t been able to get in contact with anyone. My family, my friends… I don’t know what I’m going to do. I should probably be thinking about working together with these people, but they don’t look promising either.

Everyone is losing it.

This building is massive, and lots of people ended up getting stuck in here, most likely hundreds. Some of them want to go out and take a look at what’s going on, some others wanna stay and wait for help… There’s plenty of water for everyone so far, but food is scarce. The cafeterias and vending machines have all been depleted, and people are getting hungry and desperate. I managed to snatch away some snacks, like chocolate bars and biscuits, but it’s not enough.

As I write this, right now, I can hear fighting in the background.

The sun is about to go down, I’ll leave it here for now. I want to lay low, and see if I can get some very needed rest.

Not sure if I’ll manage, though. You can hear some freaky noises coming from outside during the night…

[May 12]

Things have changed.

The vast majority of the people in the building are gone. Many starved to death. Others tried to leave the building, and we never heard from them ever again. Sometimes you’d hear screaming in the distance shortly after they left… The remaining people have been going out for supplies, but there would always be someone missing when they came back.

Looks like the surrounding areas are extremely dangerous, this building is one of the few safe places around. It’s ironic, I’m writing about the dangers lurking outside, when in reality almost nobody knows what’s actually going on.

We’ve moved to the upper floors. The people in charge don’t want us anywhere near the ground floor. Only those who are used to going out are allowed to stay on the lower levels. During the night, however, everyone goes up; no exceptions. I don’t know why.

It feels as if we’re being put into different groups based on what we can do. People like me can only do trivial tasks around the building, or assist the scavenging parties when they come back; and we seem to be considered a low priority when it comes to food, drink and commodities. I guess it makes sense, though.

There’s also… I’m not sure how to describe it, but some folks with clashing ideals have been gaining popularity and notoriety around the shelter. It’s always the same thing: to leave, or to stay.

I think it’s just stupid. It makes no sense to be fighting among ourselves in this situation! There’s not even that many of us left, I don’t think it’s more than 50 people in total. We should be working together, not fighting each other.

The main culprits are two guys named Liam and Julien. They’ve been at each other’s throats since day one.

Liam thinks we should secure safe shelters outside, so we can gradually start moving everyone out. His plan is to leave the city entirely, and settling down somewhere in the country, where long-term survival might be easier.

Julien opposes the idea. He still thinks that help is coming. Somehow, I find it hard to believe, yet a lot of people seem to cling to that idea as well. I suppose it’s difficult to let go of hope, but they’ll have to come to terms with the reality sooner or later.

I find this Julien particularly unsettling… Always walking around in a suit, looking down on everything and everyone… I think he was some kind of big shot in a company of some sort, something in the pharmaceutical industry. He wouldn’t shut his mouth about it, especially in the early days. As if it mattered.

[May 13]

I knew I forgot to tell you something yesterday! I made a friend. Her name is Nora. At least, I think she’s the closest thing to a friend I’ve had since this whole mess started.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I met her quite casually, while we were gathering rainwater from the rooftop. Right, I don’t think I mentioned this either, but electricity and water ran out a couple of days ago. It sucks.

But yeah, I just met her up there. And I’m not sure why, but she looked approachable, so I just kinda said hi… We’ve been talking from time to time ever since. I don’t get to see her a lot, but it feels nice when I do. I missed having someone to chat with.

There’s something mysterious about her, and I can’t quite tell what it is. It’s like she looks so sad all the time… But then she talks to you, and she hits you with this warm smile of hers! To be honest, even though she’s older than me, I like her a lot. She’s sweet and kind, like a big sister! Now that I think about it, she mentioned having a little sister, and she’s also in the building, although she stays all the time with Julien’s people, wherever they are.

She’s with Liam’s group, but her little sister is with Julien’s? I’m not sure how that works. She didn’t want to elaborate on the subject, she just said they had a “reason” to be where they were. Actually, she looked quite uncomfortable when talking about it, so I made sure not to pressure her anymore. It left me thinking, though…

Anyway, I’m glad I made a friend! I’ve been so lonely lately. Writing these words down has been my only way of coping. Fortunately, now I have someone else to share them with.

[June 15]

Julien and his goons gave us extra food rations today. Weird.

The separation between Liam and Julien has grown bigger. Both groups stay away from each other at all times, except when distributing loot from the scavenging parties, or when we have some kind of meeting to talk about stuff. Well, more like, to argue about stuff.

The groups keep their own storage of supplies, which get distributed evenly depending on the amount of people on each side. If there’s extra supplies, they go to a special backup storage we should only use in case of an emergency. The system seems to work as it is. So why would they go out of their way to gift us food?

It feels like they’re just trying to buy people over. By this time, it’s pretty obvious Julien has a personal grudge against Liam, and he’s yearning to get him out of the picture by any means.

I fear things might take an ugly turn at some point. A really, really ugly turn. And that man just seems so satisfied with this result. Always so arrogant…

I hate Julien.

[June 27]

Something’s wrong.

Several supplies were gone from the backup storage some days ago. Yesterday, they were found on Liam’s storage room. Nobody is taking the blame. Why would anyone do this? As far as I know, we’re getting enough stuff to survive, even if things are a little rough. Resorting to theft isn’t going to make the situation any better. At the very least, they could have asked first, right? But nobody did.

It doesn’t add up. Liam also thinks it’s suspicious. But nobody is listening to reason, they are fighting with each other now. Again. Someone even blamed me at some point. Can you believe it!? Why the fuck does it matter if I’m quiet and try to not get involved with all their nonsense!? I think they also tried to blame Nora. To be honest, I think everyone got the blame thrown at them in one way or another.

Things have been tense ever since. I thought we could eventually bond as a group and work together. But right now, everyone is staying away from each other, nobody trusts anyone but themselves.

I don’t like it.

[September 20]

It’s been a while since I wrote the last entry, right? Some “diary” this is.

Anyway, this is big. Julien just requested a meeting today. And you won’t believe what kind of news he dropped on us.

As it turns out, they now have a working radio. You know, those traditional radios that apparently work even when everything else stops working? I have no idea how any of that goes, but they have a dude who knows. The thing is, they contacted someone. The Army. Yes, you heard right, the fucking Army.

Liam went over and confirmed that he was indeed speaking the truth. The military have been active this entire time, and they are looking into a way to save us! Apparently, they have their own issues out there, it’s not as simple as just coming here and picking us up. Many of us still don’t know what’s actually happening in the world, they won’t let us out or tell us anything, “for our own safety”. I call bullshit on that.

Still, as uncomfortable as things have been, this has to be a good sign, right? Finally!

[September 21]

I take it back. There’s something fishy about this.

Nora came to me today. She was in pieces. I’ve never seen her like this, it took me aback. Seeing how we now have new hopes of getting rescued, the morale has improved a lot, everyone should be full of renewed strength. But… it’s like it had the completely opposite effect on her.

She just… cried. I tried to ask her what was going on, but she couldn’t tell me. Or rather, she didn’t want to do it. She said she needed to let those tears out, and I was the only one she could rely on for such a thing.

Damn it, I’m getting emotional about this again… I ended up crying with her too, it felt awful to see her like that. I don’t know what’s going on with her…

I’ll see if I can figure it out, somehow. After bonding with her over the last couple of months, I can’t stand seeing her like this.

I just want to help my friend. You would too, right?

******

Claire let go of the pen and stretched back on her seat. She looked out the window. The vast city extended all the way to the horizon, the last shy rays of sun washing over the sea of buildings.

Night was about to fall, and she should probably be getting ready to sleep, but she felt restless. She couldn’t get Nora out of her head. Even though she always had a gloomy side to her, that kind of breakdown was quite uncharacteristic. It felt off.

Claire stood up and headed towards the office’s door, dodging boxes and piles of books on her way out. She wasn’t sure about what she was going to say to her, but she wanted to meet her one last time before bedtime. If anything, she wanted to make sure she was okay, and provide her with some more support, if possible.

The main office area was as dark as it was deserted. Since almost everyone had an entire room for themselves, the common areas were usually empty at that time of the day. She walked down the hallway past the ocean of cubicles, towards the opposite wing of that floor.

…

She could barely see anything, but she knew the place enough that she didn’t need to see. Stumbling around in the dark, she approached Nora’s door. She was about to knock, but something stopped her from doing it. Something she didn’t expect.

She could hear noise coming from within. Subtle yet sorrowful crying, along with sniffling. And a voice. A male voice she didn’t know.

A knot formed on Claire’s stomach. She wanted to do something about it, but she somehow knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. She put her ear to the door, hoping to get a glimpse of what was happening inside.

A low mumbling, indecipherable. Claire stood still for a while, trying to make something out of it, clenching her fists with each sob that reached her ears. She didn’t need to peek into the room to feel Nora’s tears and distress.

She was so bewildered by the situation she almost didn’t notice the sudden silence, and the steps approaching the door. She quickly scurried away and behind a nearby corner. From the cover of darkness, she heard the squeaking sound of the door opening, and heavy steps walking out into the hallway. The door closed again.

The steps echoed down the corridor in her direction.

*ba-dum, ba-dum* *ba-dum, ba-dum* *ba-dum, ba-dum*

Claire felt like the sound of her heartbeat would give away her position. She pressed her hands against her mouth and held her breath. She knew she’d be in real trouble if she was spotted, she felt a dreadful sense of danger washing over her.

The unknown individual walked past her, unaware of her presence. The lack of light made it impossible to identify who he was though.

For an instant, Claire thought about rushing to Nora’s aid. But before she made any move, she stopped to think for a moment. Her heart was urging her to rush to her friend’s side, to help ease her suffering. Yet her instinct was focused on the mysterious man walking away from the scene.

‘This might be a bad idea… What do I do…? Nora…’

She pondered for a moment, and she took her choice. She had to, before she lost the only lead she had. She took off her shoes to avoid making any sound when walking around, then followed the sinister footsteps in the direction of the stairwell.

‘I promise I’ll come see you later, Nora…!’

…

Why that floor? It was an unremarkable floor. Neither Liam’s group nor Julien’s group lived in that area. The storage rooms were several floors higher, and the scouting parties operated much lower down. There was nothing there but empty rooms.

The only remarkable thing was the man walking a short distance away from Claire. He didn’t walk aimlessly. He wasn’t particularly cautious either. He knew where he was going, and she wanted to know too.

It’d be fair to say it wasn’t her business, she was sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. But even with all the risks involved, she needed to know more. Her friend was suffering, that man was suspicious, and she didn’t like the implications.

The man stopped walking, right after turning a corner. Claire couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore.

“How did it go?” a male voice broke the silence.

‘Julien…!’

“Not good. She’s onto us.” replied the man Claire had been following.

“Is she?”

“Yeah. She isn’t certain, but she has her suspicions about what we’re planning to do with Lilian.”

“I see, she caught on quickly… Well, it’s no wonder after all. Why would the military bother with us anyway? I swear, all these people are fools… Give them a little hope and they light up like a Christmas tree. But of course, the military are only interested in the infected girl. The possibility of a cure is a bait they can’t ignore.”

“Is this really going to be a good idea, though? We’re going to get rid of most of them anyway, right? Why wait?”

“The more we gain their trust, the easier it’ll be later on. Besides, we’ll need their help to make it that far anyway. Or do you want to go and risk your own life gathering supplies out there?”

“No…”

“Then you know what to do. And make sure you keep Nora on a leash. If she breaks down and tells someone before everything is ready, we could be in trouble. Threaten her, beat her up, whatever, I don’t care. Just… don’t make it too obvious.”

“Sure. Don’t worry, I know how to deal with her. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Huh… What is she to you, anyway? A toy? What a boyfriend you are. You’re despicable, Mr. Logan.”

“You’re one to talk…”

“I know.”