I thought for sure that the internet was gone forever when I woke up this morning and my modem was flashing that one light, the light I never want to see blinking by itself. And it was like that for almost all day. I unplugged it and plugged it back in over and over, too, just in case it was the modem's fault. I don't remember what I thought had happened... I figured the cable had been severed somewhere, like some zombie had chewed into a wire. Or maybe that magical land of super-computers that powers the internet was abandoned, or destroyed. But it persists, apparently. Like some bacteria that can endure even the harshest environment. I don't know why the internet is still working and I don't know for how long it will keep breathing, but I couldn't tell you how happy I was when the other modem lights flickered on. First thing I did after checking the news was check my e-mail.
I got this from my mom:
Hey Chris. We love you. We're in Tahoe. No phones. Love you. I love you Chrissy--Loren. Bye.
Still no e-mail from my dad. No e-mails from my old highschool friends, either. Not even on Facebook, which has been disturbingly quiet for the past two days. There were nothing but IS EVERYONE OKAY? and WHERE ARE YOU? posts from friend to friend to friend. I've been searching public forums for anyone saying they're in Santa Rosa. There have been a few, but none of them responded to my messages. I get the feeling that most people are being a lot more active and productive during this disaster -- like trying to get to their families, trying to gather supplies, trying to help each other -- while I stick to my "wait it out" approach. So I'm not surprised to not hear back from people.
Also, it's been seventeen days. The news reports I'm reading now are coming from England and China (translated, of course) because most of the American sites aren't being updated anymore. I've been reviewing this timeline of events that BBC News put up that traces the invasion back to the meteor in Guerneville. This is how they described the event:
So then the timeline goes day by day. The next stages show the virus spreading from river-going tourist towns to bigger cities like San Francisco, Sebastapol, and Santa Rosa -- my hometown. Sonoma County, overall, escalated from a Level Zero to a Level Five in less than four days. After that the military was quarantining sections of California. San Francisco was evacuated. Los Angeles, San Diego... By the tenth day they were showing outbreaks in Chicago, New Orleans, and Miami. Now, on the sixteenth day, most overseas websites have painted the United States red and show blotches of red showing up on the other continents. They say that England saw its first outbreak at London Heathrow Airport and it simply skipped from one hospital to the next, people not handling the situation the right way, taking the virus further into the country. But apparently the British military has the situation fairly-well contained, unless that's just the impression they want to give.
I'm out of food.
I haven't broken through that upstairs window yet for two reasons. One, I didn't want to make any noise that would get me noticed when I had no need to reveal my hiding spot. Two, I didn't know what I'd accomplish by getting onto the roof. Access to other apartments, maybe. Even then, some apartments might have zombies in them. It didn't seem like a good idea. Or I mean it didn't sound like a smart idea at the time, when I had food, when I felt like I was safe here.
But now that I don't have food, I've changed my mind. I'm not going to run for my car. That was one idea. I could make it to Safeway. Hell, I'd at least make it to the gas station around the corner... But I think that if I'm going to make anything my first attempt, it'll be trying the rooftop. Plus I'll finally get to see how bad the situation really is. I'll be embarassed if there are like five zombies on the street... Considering how loud the moaning has gotten at night, though, and how much it smells like a compost heap outside, I'd say that the amount of zombies might rival the audience of a small concert. And even if I am spotted -- or smelled -- then I'll still have the second-story height advantage. So no one can really say that I'm doing the wrong thing. It's impressive enough that I've even built up the courage to try something like this. Part of me was tempted to just stay here. So what I'm doing is a big step for me and I'm sorry if I'm not the brave go-getter type trying to escape the city barricades. I just want to survive.
I'm going to break the window tomorrow morning. If I don't leave another message, it'll either be because I:
1. Found an empty apartment with better supplies.
2. Found survivors.
3. Got eaten.
4. The internet finally went down.
So that's it for tonight. I've eaten all my food supplies and had my last-meal bowl of maple oatmeal just an hour ago. The internet says I'll make it without food for 4 to 6 weeks. I'll find water, for sure, even if I end up coming back to my apartment. The tap has been running clean water for the last seventeen days. I'm also not sure how long that will last, either... Let alone this electricity... But I'm just saying that I've got 4 to 6 weeks to find some food. Maybe in the meantime I'll find another computer.
But if you don't hear from me again, then thanks for reading.
I got this from my mom:
Hey Chris. We love you. We're in Tahoe. No phones. Love you. I love you Chrissy--Loren. Bye.
Still no e-mail from my dad. No e-mails from my old highschool friends, either. Not even on Facebook, which has been disturbingly quiet for the past two days. There were nothing but IS EVERYONE OKAY? and WHERE ARE YOU? posts from friend to friend to friend. I've been searching public forums for anyone saying they're in Santa Rosa. There have been a few, but none of them responded to my messages. I get the feeling that most people are being a lot more active and productive during this disaster -- like trying to get to their families, trying to gather supplies, trying to help each other -- while I stick to my "wait it out" approach. So I'm not surprised to not hear back from people.
Also, it's been seventeen days. The news reports I'm reading now are coming from England and China (translated, of course) because most of the American sites aren't being updated anymore. I've been reviewing this timeline of events that BBC News put up that traces the invasion back to the meteor in Guerneville. This is how they described the event:
"...struck the earth outside of Guerneville, CA (population 2,441) on March 3 and was an event promptly obscured from the American media. Through information leaked on the internet the meteor was revealed to be the size of a shopping cart; it is made of a rough and porous element, slate-gray with a slight shine; the meteor was taken to a research facility in Humboldt County for further sampling. Witnesses claimed a gas escaped from the meteor after it landed which infected anyone nearby, explaining how the virus initially began airborne..."It's strange to think that I live so close to where this all began.
So then the timeline goes day by day. The next stages show the virus spreading from river-going tourist towns to bigger cities like San Francisco, Sebastapol, and Santa Rosa -- my hometown. Sonoma County, overall, escalated from a Level Zero to a Level Five in less than four days. After that the military was quarantining sections of California. San Francisco was evacuated. Los Angeles, San Diego... By the tenth day they were showing outbreaks in Chicago, New Orleans, and Miami. Now, on the sixteenth day, most overseas websites have painted the United States red and show blotches of red showing up on the other continents. They say that England saw its first outbreak at London Heathrow Airport and it simply skipped from one hospital to the next, people not handling the situation the right way, taking the virus further into the country. But apparently the British military has the situation fairly-well contained, unless that's just the impression they want to give.
I'm out of food.
I haven't broken through that upstairs window yet for two reasons. One, I didn't want to make any noise that would get me noticed when I had no need to reveal my hiding spot. Two, I didn't know what I'd accomplish by getting onto the roof. Access to other apartments, maybe. Even then, some apartments might have zombies in them. It didn't seem like a good idea. Or I mean it didn't sound like a smart idea at the time, when I had food, when I felt like I was safe here.
But now that I don't have food, I've changed my mind. I'm not going to run for my car. That was one idea. I could make it to Safeway. Hell, I'd at least make it to the gas station around the corner... But I think that if I'm going to make anything my first attempt, it'll be trying the rooftop. Plus I'll finally get to see how bad the situation really is. I'll be embarassed if there are like five zombies on the street... Considering how loud the moaning has gotten at night, though, and how much it smells like a compost heap outside, I'd say that the amount of zombies might rival the audience of a small concert. And even if I am spotted -- or smelled -- then I'll still have the second-story height advantage. So no one can really say that I'm doing the wrong thing. It's impressive enough that I've even built up the courage to try something like this. Part of me was tempted to just stay here. So what I'm doing is a big step for me and I'm sorry if I'm not the brave go-getter type trying to escape the city barricades. I just want to survive.
I'm going to break the window tomorrow morning. If I don't leave another message, it'll either be because I:
1. Found an empty apartment with better supplies.
2. Found survivors.
3. Got eaten.
4. The internet finally went down.
So that's it for tonight. I've eaten all my food supplies and had my last-meal bowl of maple oatmeal just an hour ago. The internet says I'll make it without food for 4 to 6 weeks. I'll find water, for sure, even if I end up coming back to my apartment. The tap has been running clean water for the last seventeen days. I'm also not sure how long that will last, either... Let alone this electricity... But I'm just saying that I've got 4 to 6 weeks to find some food. Maybe in the meantime I'll find another computer.
But if you don't hear from me again, then thanks for reading.
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