Lewis Vedder's Journal: Beginning.
I was a few days shy of being 18 when I read about the drunken attacker in the woods. I never would have seen all this coming. My family was here on business. My father was a journalist traveling abroad. We moved a lot. He was rarely home, spending much of his time hunting for people running away from Ukraine. My mother was a doctor, and not a nurse either...She was a legit ten years of college doctor. As for myself and my siblings, My brother and I were born and raised going to American schools. Our sister, however was fluent in Russian, Japanese, English, and German. She was two years younger than myself and four years younger than my brother Nathan and already showing much more promise than most kids. Since our school work was at home we never did have many friends. So as siblings we were very close.
One night when our father was out on business our mother got a call saying she was needed at the hospital. She didn't return home until morning, and when she did there was something bothering her. We assumed she was just tired and went about our business. We lived out in the rural regions of Chernaurus, a few miles short of Berezino. We made the decision to head down there. On our way we noticed a large crowd of military vehicles riding away from the city. They were armed beyond words, with guns I'd never seen in the flesh before. Upon arrival we were halted by a crowd calling themselves the CDC. They asked us to step out of the vehicle and if we had contact with anyone with strange behavior. They searched us from head to toe, and then went on to tell us the city was to dangerous for visitors. They told us to lock our doors and secure our home once we returned, and avoid strangers with strange behaviors.
We left. I don't know how long they held the city, but something strange was going on. We returned home to find the door open. No sounds other than the TV blasting some Russian gibberish. Casey said “Berezino has joined several other cities under martial law...” I remember noticing blood on the handle before I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the woods in front of the house. “Don't move from this spot until I say to move.” She tried to cling onto my sleeve, but eventually eased her grip. We stepped into the house and I grabbed my old Baseball bat from behind the door. I remember whispering to Nathan: “Someone might be in the house..” We quietly traversed down the hall following the tiny driblets of blood. I shut the television off, and about that time I heard something drop in my mothers room.
We slowly but steadily made our way over there. We turned the wall and there we found our intruder...dead, but bleeding, full of holes. This man was our neighbor... He was in his 80s but had a key to the house in case he ever needed anything. He could hardly walk, let alone hurt our mother, however from what we saw he was the only one hurt. We stepped over the body, the image of his pale, lifeless body now burned into my mind. We walked into our mothers room. She was standing there, but something was wrong. We could smell something, a foul odor unlike any we had encountered before. Her skin was pale and lifeless, but her stomach was rising and falling. “Mother are you okay?” I said. I remember exactly how it happened. She lunged at me, and I fell backwards. I dropped the bat; Nathan yelled and ran for it. He picked it up and brought it down on her skull... I froze everything went silent. My mother...Casey came running in. She fell to her knees and screamed at the sight of what we had done. Nathan ran to her and explained: “We had to kill her, she tried to hurt Lewis.” I was still frozen where I was. This was to change in an instance as outside the clattering of an engine was coming to a halt. Then a voice: “We've confirmed that the spouse of James Vedder has contracted the virus, the house will be sterilized.” James Vedder was my father, but how did they know his name...? I quickly came to my senses and got everyone out of the backdoor. The unknown crowd breached the front and set the building ablaze. We ran. We ran away as our family home became dust in the cool autumn breeze. We never looked back, We knew exactly what we had to do, survive and endure. We live only for each other, but there are no happy endings in this new world.
Two days pass, it had been nearly a month since patient zero. We were hole up in a large apartment building. These few days felt like months. As the sunset we would jump at every sound, every leaf brushing against the window, every dog barking in the distance, and every vehicle traveling down that abandoned road. In the distance, we could still hear scraps of metal falling from the town hall that had been struck by an airliner. This busy city, now a ghost town. We heard the sea, the wind, and the rain. The worst of all though, were the blood chilling screams of the infected. A few days of this, and we had enough. We packed our bags, and headed to the southern town of Balota, where we had reason to believe a safe haven was starting.
Unfortunately upon arrival we found the rumor to be false. However, We were not alone here. A group of three survivors approached us. All showing signs of instability. Their faces were worn, skinny, and unshaven. We took some time to get to know them. They suggested we travel together...I was a fool. Why did I agree to this..?----- They fed us stories about a survivor zone in the east, and we followed them. I just...why...?
The very next morning we awoke to the sounds of screams, I tried to reach for my bat only to find my hands bound. I shook my head to see my brother sitting across from me. In the distance I saw the survivors beating and torturing my darling sister Casey...They had ripped the clothes from her, and all over her body were black and blue markings. She was bleeding from her mouth, and her eye was swollen. This went on for three days, and on the third night, they threw her towards us. She had been violated, tortured, and her mind had been shattered. She was crying her eyes out, screaming at me...just me. She told me it was my fault. That I was the reason she was tortured. Her final words were devastating...”Lewis, You killed our mother, drove our father away, and now you've killed me too. I HATE YOU!” She fell down to the ground. Her body covered with blood, dirt, and who knows what else. She died, right there. Right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to save her.
That same night Nathan and I broke free of our ties. We gave up on the past, We gave up on our family, on Casey, our life as we know it. We broke the rope that held us down, and that same night, We slaughtered those who had wronged us. Those who wounded us in a way that will never heal. That is the day we decided that life couldn't get any better than the thrill of killing. We hunted survivors of all moral codes. We hunted good, and we hunted evil. The world took the only thing that mattered to us, so we would deprive it of everything it has.
Sadly, it'll only be me...for Nathan vanished one night...I hope He'll soon return.
Casey...I miss you, and...I hope You'll forgive me when we meet again...
-Lewis Vedder.
I was a few days shy of being 18 when I read about the drunken attacker in the woods. I never would have seen all this coming. My family was here on business. My father was a journalist traveling abroad. We moved a lot. He was rarely home, spending much of his time hunting for people running away from Ukraine. My mother was a doctor, and not a nurse either...She was a legit ten years of college doctor. As for myself and my siblings, My brother and I were born and raised going to American schools. Our sister, however was fluent in Russian, Japanese, English, and German. She was two years younger than myself and four years younger than my brother Nathan and already showing much more promise than most kids. Since our school work was at home we never did have many friends. So as siblings we were very close.
One night when our father was out on business our mother got a call saying she was needed at the hospital. She didn't return home until morning, and when she did there was something bothering her. We assumed she was just tired and went about our business. We lived out in the rural regions of Chernaurus, a few miles short of Berezino. We made the decision to head down there. On our way we noticed a large crowd of military vehicles riding away from the city. They were armed beyond words, with guns I'd never seen in the flesh before. Upon arrival we were halted by a crowd calling themselves the CDC. They asked us to step out of the vehicle and if we had contact with anyone with strange behavior. They searched us from head to toe, and then went on to tell us the city was to dangerous for visitors. They told us to lock our doors and secure our home once we returned, and avoid strangers with strange behaviors.
We left. I don't know how long they held the city, but something strange was going on. We returned home to find the door open. No sounds other than the TV blasting some Russian gibberish. Casey said “Berezino has joined several other cities under martial law...” I remember noticing blood on the handle before I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the woods in front of the house. “Don't move from this spot until I say to move.” She tried to cling onto my sleeve, but eventually eased her grip. We stepped into the house and I grabbed my old Baseball bat from behind the door. I remember whispering to Nathan: “Someone might be in the house..” We quietly traversed down the hall following the tiny driblets of blood. I shut the television off, and about that time I heard something drop in my mothers room.
We slowly but steadily made our way over there. We turned the wall and there we found our intruder...dead, but bleeding, full of holes. This man was our neighbor... He was in his 80s but had a key to the house in case he ever needed anything. He could hardly walk, let alone hurt our mother, however from what we saw he was the only one hurt. We stepped over the body, the image of his pale, lifeless body now burned into my mind. We walked into our mothers room. She was standing there, but something was wrong. We could smell something, a foul odor unlike any we had encountered before. Her skin was pale and lifeless, but her stomach was rising and falling. “Mother are you okay?” I said. I remember exactly how it happened. She lunged at me, and I fell backwards. I dropped the bat; Nathan yelled and ran for it. He picked it up and brought it down on her skull... I froze everything went silent. My mother...Casey came running in. She fell to her knees and screamed at the sight of what we had done. Nathan ran to her and explained: “We had to kill her, she tried to hurt Lewis.” I was still frozen where I was. This was to change in an instance as outside the clattering of an engine was coming to a halt. Then a voice: “We've confirmed that the spouse of James Vedder has contracted the virus, the house will be sterilized.” James Vedder was my father, but how did they know his name...? I quickly came to my senses and got everyone out of the backdoor. The unknown crowd breached the front and set the building ablaze. We ran. We ran away as our family home became dust in the cool autumn breeze. We never looked back, We knew exactly what we had to do, survive and endure. We live only for each other, but there are no happy endings in this new world.
Two days pass, it had been nearly a month since patient zero. We were hole up in a large apartment building. These few days felt like months. As the sunset we would jump at every sound, every leaf brushing against the window, every dog barking in the distance, and every vehicle traveling down that abandoned road. In the distance, we could still hear scraps of metal falling from the town hall that had been struck by an airliner. This busy city, now a ghost town. We heard the sea, the wind, and the rain. The worst of all though, were the blood chilling screams of the infected. A few days of this, and we had enough. We packed our bags, and headed to the southern town of Balota, where we had reason to believe a safe haven was starting.
Unfortunately upon arrival we found the rumor to be false. However, We were not alone here. A group of three survivors approached us. All showing signs of instability. Their faces were worn, skinny, and unshaven. We took some time to get to know them. They suggested we travel together...I was a fool. Why did I agree to this..?----- They fed us stories about a survivor zone in the east, and we followed them. I just...why...?
The very next morning we awoke to the sounds of screams, I tried to reach for my bat only to find my hands bound. I shook my head to see my brother sitting across from me. In the distance I saw the survivors beating and torturing my darling sister Casey...They had ripped the clothes from her, and all over her body were black and blue markings. She was bleeding from her mouth, and her eye was swollen. This went on for three days, and on the third night, they threw her towards us. She had been violated, tortured, and her mind had been shattered. She was crying her eyes out, screaming at me...just me. She told me it was my fault. That I was the reason she was tortured. Her final words were devastating...”Lewis, You killed our mother, drove our father away, and now you've killed me too. I HATE YOU!” She fell down to the ground. Her body covered with blood, dirt, and who knows what else. She died, right there. Right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to save her.
That same night Nathan and I broke free of our ties. We gave up on the past, We gave up on our family, on Casey, our life as we know it. We broke the rope that held us down, and that same night, We slaughtered those who had wronged us. Those who wounded us in a way that will never heal. That is the day we decided that life couldn't get any better than the thrill of killing. We hunted survivors of all moral codes. We hunted good, and we hunted evil. The world took the only thing that mattered to us, so we would deprive it of everything it has.
Sadly, it'll only be me...for Nathan vanished one night...I hope He'll soon return.
Casey...I miss you, and...I hope You'll forgive me when we meet again...
-Lewis Vedder.