January 6th

Jimmy Varn reporting in and I am still alive.

Shit, have Chuck and Annie really been gone for five days?

Today’s hot meal is toast for my peanut butter sandwich. The bread is pretty damn stale so I am toasting it. I am fucked on supplies. Chuck’s preparation for the apocalypse was apparently this generator, a whole lot of condoms in the upstairs bedroom and guns. I picked up one of those pistols and they are so fucking heavy. I have to admit that I am afraid to even try loading one.

Back to how I met Chuck and Annie. I must have been really exhausted because I slept the night and through most of the next day. I got up once to pee and the door was locked. I knocked and Annie opened it for me. I didn’t ask why I was locked up but she gave me an excuse anyway.

“We were worried that you might die in your sleep and come back as a zombie,” she said.

Don’t ask me how, but I could tell she was lying again.

I pissed and went back to sleep. When I awoke again, it was already dark. I knocked on the door and Chuck let me out.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you,” I said. “May I have some food?”

“Of course, man,” he said. “You are part of Home Base now. As long as you obey the rationing rules we’ll be okay.”

Chuck laid out the rationing rules and I thought he must have been drinking. It boiled down to three cans of food a day, two bottles of water and one beer a day. I was privately amused by his lack of nutritional knowledge but I kept it to myself.

I had a feeling these people were hiding something. They acted weird around me and it reminded me of how you act around children. There was another level of facts that they weren’t letting me in on.

You would think after the bullshit at the bookstore, I would be anxious to ditch these people. That wasn’t the case at all. They had a house, a sleeping bag, a generator and food I could eat. I felt pretty confident that I could handle whatever secret they were holding.

I finished my meal and went back to my room. It was dark and they wouldn’t let me have one of the candles. I didn’t make a big deal of it. I actually felt safer when they locked me in again. I intended to stay up and think but I went right back to sleep.

The next day I got up bright and early. I felt good after two solid nights of sleep. I figured today I would have to help out and by doing so; I might get a better idea of what was going on.

We all ate breakfast. My can of rations was a can of pinto beans. It was better than nothing. After breakfast, Annie put on a big coat and Chuck put his shoes on. I figured we were all going out. I got my jacket too.

“Hold up, Jimmy,” Chuck said. “You’re not going out today.”

“Really?” I said. “I’m ready. I know you said you needed me to help scout and get more supplies.”

Annie and Chuck looked at each other again. That was starting to get on my nerves. “Not this time, Jimmy,” Chuck said. “Annie has been cooped up and I promised I would take her. Plus, it is dangerous out there. If you don’t have a gun, you would get creamed and you haven’t been trained yet. You just stay here and keep an eye on things. We’ll be back soon.”

“Sure,” I said. Annie visibly relaxed. “When do you think I can get some gun training? I probably need to get started right away.”

Annie tensed back up. Yeah, I thought so.

“We’ll talk about it when we get back,” Chuck said a bit harshly. “In the mean time, stay here. It is too dangerous for you to go out. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t” I said.

When they left, they locked the door behind them. The fuckers didn’t offer to give me a key.

And that was the last I saw of them. I have been sleeping in my sleeping bag in the study but last night it was freezing cold. I am moving to the bedroom tonight. I just hope they haven’t been having wild monkey sex and made the bed a biohazard.

I wish I could say I miss them but I hardly knew them. What little I knew of them has me a bit worried. For one thing, how did they find this house? Why did they invite me in and yet act like they were afraid of letting me have any freedom? Shit, if it wasn’t for all the guns they left behind, I would almost guess they meant to leave me alone.

Whatever. I’m logging out and shutting down for the day. I have an epic game of Monopoly to play.