January 12, 2025
It’s really hard to not focus on the bad shit. There isn’t much positivity these days for a puny human like me. It’s always running, always hiding, always looking over your shoulder, waiting to be caught. It’ll happen one day. There’s nowhere safe for us anymore.
I had a scare about a week ago while hunting a bit further away from camp than usual. I was after a young buck, but he darted straight out into a clearing. Before he got halfway through, 3 hungry vamps were latched on, draining him. I was so scared I didn’t move a muscle until they finished eating and had been long gone. I don’t really know how long it actually was, but I couldn’t feel my nose or toes for hours. Never did get to eat that night. Wasn’t hungry with all the adrenaline in my system. Woke up famished, though.
I know I said vamps and sky fae are the biggest threat for me up here, but in truth, there aren’t really a whole lot of vamps left anymore, either. There are definitely more vamps than humans in the world, but not nearly the numbers there used to be. Most of what’s left outside of the populated areas are feral, almost ghoul-like. Driven only by the need for blood. The Nosferatu used to stay hidden in the dank, dark places of the world but with the near-extinction of humankind, they venture out now, in search of their dwindling food source. They can’t survive on animal blood forever. After a while, the lack of human proteins takes a toll on them.
But I’d rather deal with them than the vamps who still have their wits about them. Those ones like to take the humans they find and create blood farms and worse. 6 months ago, I’d stayed at a camp for a few days just for some social interaction, general information gathering, and resupply. While I was there, I quickly bonded with a little girl about 8 years old. Christina was her name. She was insatiably curious. She wanted to know everything she could get an answer to. I answered everything, in a way that she could understand, the best I could. It’s a shame she couldn’t truly be a child. In a world where we are all the last ones, I felt she needed to be as prepared as possible.
When I left on the third day, she wanted to come with me. Said she had already lost her family and everyone in the camp just wanted to hide the bad stuff from her, as if that would ensure her survival. I told her I couldn’t take her with me because I couldn’t be sure I could take care of her. There were more people in the camp to help provide for her and I was only one. I explained how oftentimes I go hungry because I can’t find food and that was no life for her. She begged and begged and said she just had a feeling about me. Eventually, I called over a couple I’d met in my dealings and the four of us made a deal that they would not only take responsibility for her but would also be completely upfront and honest with her. She seemed to feel a bit better after that but was definitely holding back tears as I left. Honestly, so was I. As a matter of fact, the flood started before I was a hundred paces away. Hell, I’m tearing up now.
Anyway, I was only a mile away before I completely changed my mind. All of a sudden, I was sure I could manage both of our survival. I could teach her to hunt and make stew and we could keep watch over each other. She wouldn’t be 8 years old forever. I turned around and headed back. I never saw Christina again. In the short time it took me to trudge two miles, they’d been raided. All I found was a few of the refugees who’d tried to fight back with their throats or hearts ripped out. I’d given Christina a bag of her own that I’d found in an abandoned cabin and I found it again, stamped into the snow next to some big tire tracks. They’d taken most of the camp. omg, the things they must be doing to her…
I’ve heard stories of their “facilities”. People being kept barely alive so that they continue supplying blood, men and women being tortured for fun, children being sold to the richer vamps for their depraved fantasies. It's a true nightmare come to life.
If I had just listened to her. If I had heard her when she said she had a bad feeling. I always trust my gut and it’s been right more times than not. She and I were cut from the same cloth; I should have listened to her…
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