The Lost Journal Part 2 (A Secret Apocalypse Story) Read Online Free Page A

to get out of here. It’s not
safe."
    We made our
way back to the boat I had been hiding in. I laid Maria on the floor. She kept
asking for Jack.
    And I kept
telling myself I did the right thing.
     
Calm on the outside. Freaking out on the inside.

    The boat we were hiding in was a harbor cruise boat. It had multiple levels and
lots of windows. If the military were still looking for Maria it would not take
them long to find us. Although at that moment it appeared that the men in black,
the Special Forces soldiers had left the area. And for some reason the number
of infected had thinned quite a bit. I looked around the boat. The floor we
were on had a bar. I found some bottled water and forced Maria to drink it.
    She grabbed
the bottle and downed it in one go. And then she threw it all back up.
    "Slow down,"
I said as I gave her another bottle. "Small sips."
    She
reluctantly took my advice.
    "Where are
the others?" she asked between deep breaths. "Where is Jack?"
    I lowered my
head. This would be hard for her. But there was no point in sugar coating it.
No point in lying. "We made, well, I made the decision to leave you back at the
casino," I said. "I figured the soldiers wanted you. And only you. I figured
they knew you were resistant to the virus. I don’t know how they knew but they
knew. It was obvious that you were their target. They wanted you alive. The
rest of us were expendable. If we stayed, if we tried to fight those soldiers,
we would’ve been killed. Even if we surrendered peacefully they still would’ve
executed us."
    She
continued to drink the water, taking small sips. Her eyes flicking back and
forth as she thought about the implications of what I was saying, replaying the
events in her mind’s eye.
    "We fled the
casino," I continued. "We made it to one of the boats in the harbor. The
problem with our escape plan was that we were completely surrounded by those
soldiers. They were enforcing the containment protocol. They wanted us dead. I
put Rebecca and Kim and Jack on the boat. I provided cover fire for them as
they made their escape out of the harbor. If I hadn’t done that, we would’ve
been blown apart. We wouldn’t have gotten two feet without being torn to
shreds. I mean, we were completely surrounded; they were above us on the
bridge. They would’ve killed us."
    "Did they
make it?" Maria asked, worry all over her face.
    I nodded. "I
think so. They made it out of Darling Harbor."
    "You think
so? But you can’t be sure?"
    I lowered my
head.
    "Did they
make it!?"
    "I…I can’t
be sure."
    Maria
started crying. Her jaw was clenched. She was trying to keep it together. She
looked out the windows of our cruise boat. She looked out towards the main
harbor.
    "I had no
choice," I said, defending myself.
    She didn’t
answer me. She started shivering. She was going into shock. "Where will they
go? What will they do?"
    I shook my
head. "I don’t know. Hopefully they can get away from the city. Find a quiet
beach somewhere up the coast and come to shore."
    "We need to
find them."
    "No. We
can’t. We need to keep you safe. We need to hide."
    Pass the ammunition
    Maria was sitting down against the wall, knees to her chest, head tucked into
her arms. The whole harbor seemed to be deserted now.
    The casino
building was leaning at an angle. It looked like it was about to fall over. The
wreckage of the tank was still smoldering. Bodies were everywhere.
    Infected.
    Soldiers.
    Innocent
people.
    I wondered
how long it would take for more infected to make their way through here. I
wondered if the soldiers would be back to clean up this mess.
    One thing
was obvious, I needed more ammo. Maybe a spare rifle for Maria. She probably
didn’t know how to fire a gun but she would have to learn. Necessity was a
great teacher.
    I walked
over to Maria and knelt down beside her. "Maria," I whispered.
    No response.
    "Maria. I
need to leave you for a few minutes. I need to go down there and look for some ammunition.
I’ve