Plague

I have to tell you I don’t want to write this; my heart is broken; not really broken, crushed. I really thought since I lived to be sixty I’d pretty much had it made; bullet proof. I’d beat the threat of cancer, heart disease and pretty much anything else that could come along as you age. Then the world turned over; Global warming? Yeah now that’s a freaking joke.

I’m screwed; I’m all alone. My family is dead; neighbors are all dead, what the hell am I suppose to do? I have to tell you I’m thinking of taking my own life rather than face what will become shortly; how I’m I gonna feed myself? Grow a damn garden?

I’ve decide to write this journal; I found a plain white paged hard sided notebook; I’ll write until I make up my mind, what difference it really makes I don’t know but it just seems like the right thing to do?. I’ll sit under my little light and write this shit down; it fills the hours until bed time and keeps my mind from wanting to end this crap with a loud bang.

Let me lay out what has happened to this point; the most important stuff won’t take long; I ask that you read this journal to the end; I’ll put my most into it and hope not to bore you, times have changed.

Ebola, Rabies, Plague, Cancer the list goes on forever and new things jump on the list every month of the year. The newest is Zika, a virus that they thought was only transferable by mosquito’s bites; then through sexual transmission; now respiratory infection. The third world is all but dead or in the process of dying. But that’s not what took my family and the whole neighborhood in ten days.

I don’t think there is a name for it at this point, least one that’s stuck yet; who the hell really cares; they’re gone, my world has ended. My wife started coughing with a little congestion on January 17th, my daughter started up two days later; they both died in five days; five days, January 24nd marking the worst day of my life; do you have any idea what it’s like to have the woman you love and your only child dead? I walked around the house undecided what to do in a fog for hours.

I buried both my wife and daughter on the high side of the yard next to the fence; it’s the flattest area in our yard and the soil was pretty soft with the heavy rains of January. I had some concrete I’d picked up from down the street, a driveway was being replaced a few months ago, I had the thought of using it as stepping stones along the deck to the lower door to my shop; I used it to cover the swollen earth from my digging to cover the graves making them secure.

My neighbors haven’t fared any better; Buck’s wife died a day after my family died. I stood with him and talked about the future as we dug the hole; He was very depressed and told me his son was sick in the house. I helped bury his son two days later just a few feet from the broken ground of his wife’s grave.

Sitting in my family room just before dark; a family room without any family, I heard a single loud blast from what I think was a shotgun; it was close by, I’ll have to go check on Buck tomorrow after the sun comes up; I think I’ll be digging another grave tomorrow morning.

I’m alone now; one dog, two cats and four chickens, no family and no neighbors; they’re all gone. I wait for my time to come; I’m concerned with the animals. As soon as I think I’m coming down with the pox I’ll have to start leaving the doors and gates open so the animals have a half assed chance at survival when I’m gone. I’ll break open all the bails of bedding and dump the feed out so they can get to it; I hope to give them a fighting chance; it’s the least I could do for them.

All the news talks about is the plague; how many have died, how many are suppose to die. They’ve decided to just call it the plague like in the dark ages; we’re in our own dark ages now.

The news and TV is getting sketchy with long dead spells; the power went out yesterday for a full hour; then came on for ten minutes and then out for another two hours; I don’t think they have enough crews left to fix stuff as it goes down.

My Iphone 6L went off this morning with an emergency warning that power and telephone service might be interrupted; it’s been stone cold dead for three days; no signal no facebook nothing, why would they send out a warning when it’s been dead now for days? Crazy.

I pulled my two generators from the garage around the side of the house to the deck; the Traeger needs power to work; smoking all the elk and salmon in the freezers on the Traeger hoping to keep the meat good. I’ve got ten gallons of pure gas to run the generators, I hope it’s going to be enough to smoke everything and preserve what I’ve got or it’ll go bad fast.

Smoke billowing from the Traeger on the deck I heard a pounding on the front door; Sick guy coughing up huge globs of shit wanting something to eat. I cut a nice section of half cooked meat off the traeger and he went away; I hope he dies happy with a full stomach.

I’m so depressed; walked down the street slowly looking at all the houses. Most seem to be empty no movement; I can’t see any light from camp lanterns on inside; powers been out for six days straight. No smoke from wood stoves or cars on the street; I think the extended neighborhoods dead also.

Five houses down Ben’s laying dead in his driveway; no one’s stopped to bury him; I’m just too tired to dig another hole; my heart breaks, he’ll have to lay where he is; so sad.

I don’t know what I’d do without my animals they are the only company I have now; god I love the hell out of them. I realized there must be dogs and cats locked in houses as their owners have died. I’ve been going door to door down the neighborhood pounding on front doors to see if anyone comes to the door or if I can see any sign of animals in the house trapped. My biggest fear is that I kick a door in to save a dog or cat and get shot by the home owner that is still alive; a risk I’m willing to take.

I seem to have a following; dogs I’ve freed walk along with me as I kick doors down and break windows; they greet those set free; I throw treats to give them, something to fill their stomachs as I move along. I don’t think there is anything I could do that is more important in this world; time is of the essence.

Two weeks; I’m not finding any more animals alive now, it’s just been too long. I keep looking but the rewards have stopped; I’ve got to stop taking chances of cutting myself or sustaining injuries that I can’t take care of; I’m totally alone now, except for all the animals. Some are starting to move away finding their niche in the new world; some going wild very fast preying on others and forgetting who saved them from their certain deaths locked in houses and businesses. It won’t be safe to walk the streets for very much longer I’m starting to see packs of dogs running together.

This is a whole new world I’m dealing with; I don’t think I can continue to stay in my home. I can’t heat all of it and the waters finally stopped running. I think it’s time to down size into my travel trailer and the truck. I think I’ll slowly head south towards the warmer weather and away from some dangers that I’ve thought of in my area. Power, gas, water and of course all the other services that we learned to count on have all gone dead. What worries me is the dam system along the Columbia River; I know no one is caring for those infrastructures and depending on how they were set when everyone died they’d be in danger of failing. I don’t think it would be a good idea to be anywhere in the area if that happens, plus Hanford is just up the River and could pose a real threat.

I pulled out Tuesday morning with my dog and two cats. I put the chickens into a little wire crate in the back of the truck; I hope they don’t mind the wind. I’ve got maybe sixty dogs running along the sides of the truck and camper.

It’s so funny to keep thinking in the way of what day of the week or month, now nothing depends on the day of the week anymore.

I’m really surprised that the roads are clear of stalled vehicles; I imagined millions of cars left along the roads and freeways. I guess when people started getting sick they all headed home; makes sense, who’d want to be on the road when you’re coughing up a lung. My next problem will be getting some fuel into the truck; there’s no power anywhere so I’ll have to rig up my own system to refuel.

Genius; pull all the wires out of the electrical box, fire up the 3000 watt generator and jump the wires from the generator and the whole gas station comes to life. “Fill it up? Why yes thank you.” Nothing easier; thirty minutes and I’m all gassed up with extra gas cans filled and back on the road. I’m so surprised with myself I can’t take the smile off my face. I should have gas available for years with it stored underground and easy to get to; one worry off my plate.

Food; now that’s been a real torment. I’m going to save and horde canned food until it goes bad; I remember that should be around 18 months so I’m stocking up on canned food for the near future. Nothing better than a nice can of peaches after dinner. I’m not liking the canned meat but it’s better than going without; Spam; it’s what’s for dinner ahahahhahaa Yuck. Stopped by a Pet Smart and loaded fifty bags of dog food and hundreds of boxes of treats into the truck; my tired boys and girls are sleeping on their bags of food as we drive along.

I’m not making at lot of mileage with the dogs having to keep up running a long side the truck and trailer. I’ve started stopping every few short miles and letting the slower older dogs hop up into the bed of the truck so we can move along without stopping constantly. We keep picking up new dogs along the as they see us going by and just can’t keep from running along with us. I throw box after box of dog treats out the windows all day long too keep their energy up. The new dogs are eager to run along the side of the truck looking in and smiling as I throw them more treats; I’m slowly building an army. I’ve run into what might be a problem in the near future; small dogs can’t keep up with the truck. I’ve got them stuffed in every nook and cranny in the trailer and bed of the truck; I’m running out of room.

I’ve run the pack as far as they can go; we need a few days off to recoup and build strength. A couple of the smaller dogs need some medical attention; they must have had to fight off bigger dogs and they have bite marks that need to be attended too.

I’ve decided to find a truck and trailer that can carry my hoard; I’ve got close to two hundred dogs with me now.

I’m slowly learning to be the pack leader; I’ve have to put down challenges to my authority or risk the larger dogs taking over and preying on the weaker little ones. Since I control the food I haven’t had to resort to violence yet, but I can see it’s going to come to a head shortly. I’ve got two large heavy dogs of some mixed breed that are pushing me on every decision that I’m making. They don’t like being told what to do and are showing aggression towards me.

I hated to do it but they gave me no choice; thank gawd I had a big stick, really a pick axe, or I’d be dead and all my dogs would be on they’re own. Breakfast came early, I wanted to get on the road and make some head way. The two big dogs snapped at the little ones trying to get their food; stepping between them they teamed up against me snarling and snapping. I had to beat them both half to death before they stopped coming at me. I wrapped them in blankets and laid them on the back of the truck; they growled and snapped but it was clear they’d been beat and didn’t want to fight any further; I’ll give them extra food and hope they make a full recovery; nothing seems to be broken just badly bruised.

I’m shaken; my two biggest dogs have attacked me. I just barely fought them off; what if three or more dogs decide to test me as leader, I won’t stand a chance. I guess I’d better start packing my firearms 24/7.

My luck is holding out, I found a flatbed truck with a huge trailer attached, even better it’s full of gas and started right up. The whole pack is now riding instead of running all day long. I’m making good progress towards Northern California stopping just to pick up more dogs as they run along the truck and trailer. I wish I had a picture of the whole mess; two hundred plus dogs, four chickens and my two cats riding shotgun, what a picture that’d make.

Making camp just outside of Yreka, California for the night; everyone is tired and hot from the road. I have so many food bowls the whole truck trailer is surrounded, makes me very happy.

Bellies full of food the big dogs 75 strong head out into the woods to look around and get some exercise since they now ride all day. I hate to think they maybe hunting but I don’t think they stray too far; miss the truck pulling out tomorrow morning is a death sentence and they all know it.

I’m going to head South down to around Mt. Shasta; lots of water and not far from towns I can slip down into to fill up on provisions. I’m hoping to find a nice small house or cabin with a big barn or multi door garage that will give shelter to all my animals I’m packing. After that I’ll just have to see where we all should end up for a permanent place. Lots to think about food, water, safety; I have no idea what to look out for in Northern California. Oregon has damns, nuclear dumps, Ammo dumps, all kinds of things that without care are going to spill or blow up. I’m now below all that and the winds should keep it all North of here if my guesses are correct, time is going to tell.

All the big boys and girls came back to camp just at sundown; they seem to be happy and I haven’t been challenged since the beatings in front of all the dogs. Under the truck and trailer is solid dog as far as the eye can see, everyone seems to now have a place and dog snores are filling the night. I’ve got an early start tomorrow; we will have to search to find the best place to make a home and I expect it to take a number of days.

Everyone is fed and watered we are pulling out just after dawn. Heading down the interstate I see the biggest Pet Smart I’ve ever seen. I pulled over a hundred beds from the store and we are now filled in every spot with dog food and treats, what a treasure trove; we are set for several days if not weeks. Stopping at a grocery store I’m stocked up on everything canned; getting tired of canned everything but it keeps us moving in the right direction without having to search for food.

Driving slowly along the I5 I have to wonder how I’m the lucky guy that the plague ignored; what special gift did I pick up along the way over my life of colds, flu and runny nose that the plague just can’t seem to break through; I haven’t seen another human being in nearly six weeks now, just me and my animals.

Pulling into Weed California driving very slowly though the empty streets winding around a few stalled cars and a few burnt buildings I’m surprised to see that the fires didn’t spread like you’d think they would; I wonder if maybe there was still snow on the ground here when the world ended for everyone but me.

Out of the corner of my eye I’m sure I saw a fleeting shadow, the dogs all start to bark and I stop as fast as I can without throwing the dogs around on the trailer. All the big dogs jump down off the trailer and truck staring down a long street I’ve stopped in the middle of. I see the shadow again moving between piles of debris and cars heading for cover, the dogs all see the same thing. A hundred and fifty plus eyes are now are looking at me; GET EM! I shout and all the dogs race down the street a cacophony of sound as they sprint after the phantom. Now I’m hoping I haven’t put my dogs in danger; I’m sure it was a human and would probably be armed and dangerous with over seventy five large dogs chasing them.

I can hear the chase as it goes between buildings and the sound wavers as it finds straight paths back to the truck and trailer then blocked by buildings and trees; whoever it is, is giving the dogs a good run.

Suddenly silence; my heart stops what if the dogs take the person down, hurts or kill them? I can’t leave the truck or the smaller dogs will start to try to jump down and it’s just too tall for them to make the jump. I stand at the side of the trailer looking down the long street hoping I haven’t caused a tragedy.

Minutes go by the silence is deafening; my eyes water looking for signs of my dogs and what they were chasing, dread fills my brain as my ears struggle to hear what’s going on.

I see one dog slowly coming out from a side street, blocks down, then more, the whole pack slowly turns the corner heading back for the truck and trailer; I see a figure walking head down defeated in the center surrounded by my pack of dogs. I pray to god that they haven’t hurt this person; my heart booms just seeing another human. I can’t wait to talk to him, learn his story, his survival against all the odds.

A few of my dogs run forward making a long line of dogs with the figure still slowly walking in the center of dogs. I start to pickup and off load all my dogs. Still a few blocks away I can now see that the person is clearly a she, her long red hair blows in the wind and the dogs seem happy not menacing. I call out and wave; my little dogs are racing down the street to join the crowd running in circles around her. She finally raises her head and looks towards my waving and calling to her. She gives me a slight wave and all the dogs start to bark and jump around; they know they’ve found a very special human.

Her name is Rose; I’m the only human she’s seen in weeks.

I think I’m in love; I’ve got to find us all a home now.

It took over an hour to get the excited dogs to calm down and load up, I’m the most excited. I fixed Rose a huge lunch and she says it’s the first good meal she’s had since the world ended.

Rose sits in the passenger seat of the truck with both my cats fighting for her lap; I hope we can all become a big happy family. Time will tell; wish me luck, I’m one happy guy. One world ends and another starts up; Rose calls me the dog man, that suits me just fine.

From the Ramblings; Plague.

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