A Survivor's Diary

Among the countless archival evidence established over the years, this diary is a good source of information on what happened during the Pandemic of 2015, and what followed afterwards. Of course, this is but one reflection of an array of different experiences, but when grouped together with other sources a larger picture begins to form.

This particular diary was written by a native of the old city of Ottawa, in a country once known as Canada. At the time of the outbreak he was in his late-twenties. Interestingly, for those scholars in the field, he considered himself a version of a "survivalist". A group of people known prior to the literal years of survival all humankind faced at the outset of the Pandemic who prepared for the end of days.

While this man's diary is thick and full of detail, for brevity's sake we decided to include portions to get a general idea. Another interesting note is the psychological change that occurs, within the man himself, and those around him.

The Pandemic
I survived the initial violence, obviously, and am content enough to wait it out in the safety of my apartment building while the violence outside abates. For posterity I will explain what happened these last few weeks, the madness that overcame the world, and the few living who struggle to stay alive. The body count is too high to count, and none of us whole-heartedly believe anything but luck will carry us through this. Good thing I'm lucky then hey?

At first news reports were talking about a new bird flu that was hitting major cities, the first of which were Los Angeles and San Francisco. This was not as shocking as one may think though, as the last two years running there was an increase in seasonal viral epidemics. This was just believed to be the spring outbreak that everyone had come to expect. Perhaps there was something more to this, a conspiracy maybe, but I doubt it because the world's population was increasing, the weather patterns were erratically shifting, and global connectivity was at its highest yet. Myself, I had already taken to storing a stockpile of food and water for emergency situations, more for weather than disease as tornadoes had moved into the Ottawa Valley with force in 2014 and large areas had been hit already. I was also a soldier in my younger days and kept a collection of firearms, ammunition, and kit with me "just in case". Many had joked with me about my habits and ideas, but I fear that most are now dead.

The virus was not the flu. This became apparent about a week after the first cases, hospitals were already filled with people jockeying for a place in line to get the latest flu vaccine. Bite marks were reported, the sick people getting aggressive with the hospital staff, or with their family members if they were forced to stay home. I had never before trusted the whole vaccine program, it doesn't make sense to bring all the sick people together with the healthy. Life adapts and so does the body. Well, as a character in a famous movie once said, "Life will find a way," Except we're not dealing with a few dinosaurs, just millions upon millions of blood-thirsty savages! Yet I digress. By the second week, the middle of May I think (maybe the 16th?), entire countries were declaring health emergencies. Schools were shut down, as were the borders. This was world wide too, not just a first-world scare. Since it clearly started in the States, the Chinese were quick to try and prevent it from jumping the ocean by ceasing exports for a few weeks. This conveniently coincided with a military push in the Spratly Islands, an area in the South China Sea that is highly contested by many countries, including a few of America's allies. The virus had already jumped the ocean by then, in fact it spread so quickly that when the first cases began appearing scientists said it was already global.

Here in Ottawa the city ground to a halt. Its residents familiar with the routines of small outbreaks and sudden tornado landings that it had become a fact of life. The normal conditions of a city-wide shut down were usually from a few hours to a day or three, not two weeks. It was hard to determine who was sick at first, because it took a few days for the symptoms to even show and by then you had already spread it to those closest to you. The fever hit hard and fast though, the symptoms I've personally seen too many times within the last few weeks to even dare to forget. Beyond your regular fever symptoms they began to bleed, foam, shout, growl, and eventually bite and tear. Most of the young and elderly victims were less aggressive, instead becoming extremely confused and bleeding to death. They were too frail. Those that changed… didn't die like in the zombie movies. A lot of my fellow students' reactions were that The Walking Dead was actually happening outside their doors. Fools, the lot of them. That attitude killed many people, waiting for someone to die before destroying the brain. Only they didn't die, they lost their rationality. Like rabid wolves were these infected people, loping about on all fours, screaming rage and frustration for what I take as an insatiable hunger come over them.

It has been a month of this now and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the blood-curdling screams suddenly cut off by those gnashing, foaming-at-the-mouth beasts. They remind me of those nature programs where the lions gorge themselves during the wet season, overly confident on the abundance of food. I've lost track of how many I've killed, luckily though they are the opposite of zombies when it comes to gunshots. They've become wary of them, yet that hasn't stopped them from coming back, or looking for different ways in. I've got a fourth floor vantage point for our main shelter, but it'll be some time before I'm willing to completely clear the building and take to the roof. I need more people to help me out. So far it has been just my girlfriend and a few others I've taken in. We have managed to clear a few floors however, taking extra supplies and furniture to burn. Rice has become the staple diet for now, but there are still a ton of canned goods with better nutrition waiting for me. I just need to be patient, whittle their numbers down some, and clear a series of safe hidey-holes between here and the grocery store. If it's picked clean I may have to take the residential areas one by one. It's a last resort, but we've only enough food for another month or two, and winter will be around the corner from there. If you think things are bad now in summer, just wait to see how they will go when the electricty isn't heating your home and powering your stove. I miss the electricity.

The Sudden Decline
I am still alive.

We held out, our patience true. An odd thing has been happening these last few days, the infected beasts have been disappearing from the streets. They had taken to fighting and killing one another for food, as though they were starving. I've thought about this a lot and I believe that they are every bit as suceptible to the things that kill us, be it starvation, dehydration, disease, or bleeding out. It is relatively safe to take to the streets on occasion, so long as you're quick and quiet. I've acquired those hidey-holes and made my way to the Billings Bridge mall. The grocer had some food, but was mostly picked clean. I did get some new frying pans and pots for cooking though! Everyone back at the apartment was overjoyed. I found one of those feral things in a store bathroom, vainly trying to lick a bead of moisture from the toilet. It did not have the strength to stand, even to its knees. With the electricity cut off, the ones stuck inside are dying from thirst, most are already dead. We won't be able to stay in the city for very long unless we do something with the bodies piling up.

Sidenote, my tomahawk and machete are making great work of themselves, as I thought they would all those years ago. The noise from the guns are fine if you need to scare a few off or snipe from the safety of inside. If there are more than a handful though, they ignore the risks and charge. I was afraid of getting close to them at first, what with the virus and all. My first close quarters kill was one of desperation not choice. I'm sure I didn't get blood in my eyes or anything, but we'd since taken precautions and worn biohazard-type coverings. The weak ones are easy to dispatch, but the healthy ones… stay away from the healthy ones. They have fought their way to a full stomach, and they've started to form territorial packs.