Day 1

My name is John Brighten, and despite the circumstances I am in good health. I wish the same could be said for the rest of the world. I am not sure what happened or why, but I remember hearing about the apocalypse back when I went to church. Maybe this is it?

I have not had anyone to talk to for a long time, so I thought that maybe a journal would help keep me sane. Maybe someone will read it someday and know that I existed. It is a nice thought. Mostly all I think about these days is my existence.

I do not know the dates, but I do know that the sun has risen and set many times. I am glad that it still does. At least the dark ones have not taken that from us.

Anyone who reads this probably knows about the dark ones, but you may know them by a different name. No one told us if they are aliens or demons or genetic mutations or what. Maybe they have a real name. I call them the dark ones because I heard someone else say it before they died and it made sense.

I know very little about the dark ones, but perhaps what I do know will help someone someday. I’ve only seen dark shapes and purple flashes, but I think they are about as tall as humans. Physical barriers seem to hinder them, so they are not ghosts. And they only seem to come out at night, though I have no idea why.

I have survived this long due to my personality, I think. I am INFP, so I have always shunned social circles and tend to retreat to safe places. I am very good at finding safe places, in fact. Places where people will not look. And since I am still alive, it seems to me that they are places the dark ones will not look either.

Despite my personality, I am starting to feel alone. We INFP types do not hate people. We are just very nervous about strangers and like to keep a close intimate circle of friends. I had a wife before all of this happened. I still have not found any trace of her. I imagine she tried to strangle one of them when they first came. She was ENTJ. Thinking of her makes me smile.

I know it is safer to be alone, but I still feel lonely. I went out searching today to see if I could find anyone. There was nothing to suggest human life, not even a corpse of an animal. I wonder how the dark ones make things disappear.

Maybe I should find a place that I can run to if I am ever caught. I do not believe that hiding will work forever, but it is the best solution I have found so far.

I found a big hatchet today. I’ve never been a fighter, but it makes me feel good to have some sort of weapon in case I am ever cornered. I don’t like feeling trapped.

Food and water are easy to find. They are everywhere, left behind. A lot of things have spoiled since the power has gone out, but there is plenty of junk food and bottled drinks. I’m probably going to get fat at this rate. I think that is a little bit funny. Maybe my sense of humor is suffering?

I am amazed that I have had so much to write about today. The sun is starting to set. I need to find a place to hide soon.

Night 1

I have not quite gotten used to the eerie wails of the night. I assume the sounds are made by the dark ones. They remind me a bit of sasquatch calls. The real ones, I mean. Not the Hollywood growls.

I never really believed in sasquatches to be honest. My wife grew up in the northwest. She was an expert on what was and was not real evidence. I like to think of myself as a realist. Although to be fair, reality is not very pleasant right now. I’d much rather escape into a good movie and forget reality for a time.

It is very hard to sleep, knowing that the dark ones are lurking about. I’ve not seen any purple lights, but I know they are out there. I can feel it. I used to go to sleep in order to forget everything that was happening. It’s a very good way to deal with stress if you can manage it. And terror, though I have found it difficult to fall asleep when I am terrified. Maybe someday I will live long enough to be used to all of this.

Day 2

Found a collapsed building today that actually had some space in tact under all the rubble. It looks like a nice place to escape. I have to crawl to get inside, but I don’t mind. In fact, I moved some loose bricks around to make it even harder to get in and out. I figured if the dark ones are chasing me there’s no point in hiding there, but if I need a place to escape to I want it to be as hard for them to get into as possible.

I wish there were a way to booby trap the entrance or have something that could collapse over it in order to make it even more hidden, but I’m not clever enough to come up with anything that does not look conspicuous.

The sun will probably set in about an hour now. I wonder if I should try to gather some food to store in my new safe hole. It is probably too late tonight. I need to find a place to sleep for the night. I don’t want to use the new safe place until I feel like I have too.

I try not to sleep in the same place twice in the same week. I tell myself that it makes me harder to find. I don’t know if that is true, but I do remember my wife telling me that the best thing to do if you are lost is to stay put so you can be found. It seems like a logical conclusion, if that is true, to keep moving if you do not want to be found, right?

Maybe tonight I will sleep in the blue van that is still crashed into the lamp post. I have not slept in a van for a while. I am getting used to cramped places. I used to take up most of the bed when I slept. My wife used to complain that she could not sleep well at night because I kept hogging the blankets. I wonder when the last time I used a blanket to sleep under was?

Night 2

I actually got some good sleep last night, though I woke up terrified and disoriented. There was plenty of shrill howling last night, but no lights and no sightings. Not that I was looking for anything.

I wonder if I have become too exhausted to be cautious in my sleep. I certainly hope not. As far as deaths go, going in my sleep would not be bad. I do not think the dark ones would allow me to die painlessly, though. I still remember the screams when they first came. Screams of people that the dark ones attacked.

I never tried to fight back. I hid. That’s what I do. I wonder if that makes me a coward. I wonder if any other cowards survived. I wonder if my wife would be with me now if she had been a coward.

I should go out and do some exploring today.

Day 3

No luck finding other people or bottled water today. I did fine a metal pole that’s a bit sharp on one end. It isn’t a great weapon, but I could probably use it to poke at anything trying to crawl into my safe hole. I think that I will move it to my safe house later today.

I plan on trying one of the abandoned houses tonight. I’m not sure if it is very wise, but I have been alone for a long time. It would be nice to sleep in an actual bed for a change. Or on a mattress, at least. I do not have much hope for electricity or running water, but maybe something besides potato chips. Maybe even some wine.

I’ve only had wine once. Even after I stopped going to church, I was always afraid of what alcohol might do to me. Maybe it’s time to start drinking. My wife would be so happy. She liked to loosen up with a beer every now and then. I never saw her drunk, so she must have been good about controlling how much she drank.

Come to think of it, if this is the end of the world then I should be able to find a Twinkie somewhere.

Night 3

There were purple lights. I am sure of it. They were only there for an instant, but I cannot believe I was imagining things. I feel so foolish for trying to sleep in a house like everything was normal again. I have hidden under the bed, so I…

(THE JOURNAL ENDS HERE FOR NOW)

~Joshua