Epidemic

From the journal of Grant Elliot:

September 25th:

School was boring today, as usual. Nothing exciting to report. News says there's a pretty serious disease outbreak in Boston, which is near Grandma and Grandpa's house. Hope they're healthy.

September 27th:

Saturday! Finally. I slept in until noon today, and it felt great. Going to go for a run later, after I finish my math homework. Mom hasn't been able to contact Grandma and Grandpa. They're pretty fragile as it is, so I'm worried about them getting sick. The news says the disease is spreading. They haven't said what it is yet. Off to have mexican for lunch with the guys.

September 28th:

Pretty fun night last night. Stayed up late playing Xbox with everyone and eating way more pizza then I probably should've. They've placed a military lockdown on the east coast states above Virginia to try to quarantine the disease. No one in or out. Still no word from the grandparents. Mom is getting really worried.

October 3rd:

The disease-scare has shut down the schools for today. No one seems to know what the disease is still, but apparently it's to Texas now. Mom is having us stock food and blankets in our old bomb shelter under the house, just in case. Marcus doesn't really understand why we're doing it. He thinks we're building a fort in the bomb shelter. I wish I knew what the disease did.

October 12th:

Still no school. supply trucks have stopped bringing supplies into Bend, so everyone is rationing. Everyone wears gas masks and clothing that covers as much skin as possible whenever they go outside. But going outside is pretty rare now. Everyone is scared.

October 20th:

We haven't heard any news reports since the 18th. TV and internet has been gone for about a week, followed by radio. last report was that the disease was in Utah and the southern parts of California and Nevada. The only healthy states left are Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, along with the northern parts of Nevada and California. It won't be long before it's here. Whatever it is.

October 25th:

It's in Bend. Mom doesn't let any of us out of the bomb shelter for any reason. They sounded an alarm through the whole city early yesterday morning, and we went into the shelter. Mom, Marcus and I haven't seen anyone infected by it, but we know it's out there. How will we know when it's safe to go out?

October 26th:

Not much has changed. We mostly play board games and draw or write to pass the time. It's hard to tell how much time is going by down here since it's sealed off from the sunlight. I don't actually have much to say. I'm just writing to have something to do.

October 29th:

We're running low on water. Apparently Mom didn't think we'd be down here this long. She talked to me about it while Marcus was sleeping last night. She went out with a few empty jugs to get more about an hour ago, and hasn't come back yet. I wonder what's taking her so long?

October 30th:

She's been pounding on the door for eight hours now. Mom is infected. I opened the door for her and she tried to bite my throat. She had pasty skin, her eyes were caving in to her face, and her lips were torn off and blood poured from her mouth. I managed to fight her out and lock the door, but not before Marcus saw. He's not taking it well. He's been crying most of the time since. I tried talking to him, but he won't listen to me. He won't eat anything either. No water and no food is going to kill him quicker than the disease. I can;t let that happen.

October 31st:

There's more of them now. I can hear them out there with Mom, slamming the doors. It's not going to hold much longer. They're going to kill me. I saved Marcus the suffering and used the pistol that Mom brought down here to kill him. If anyone ever finds this, please don't judge me for doing that. I wanted to save my brother from whatever awai