I woke up. My neck hurt. That's what I get for sleeping on the couch. But I couldn't sleep in the same bed as Terri for obvious reasons. Number 1: We don't know each other at all really. Just shared some stories. Number 2: ...I'm kind of a cuddler. There. I said it.
Anyways, we went walking into the Dogscape. As I walked along with Terri, I realized the wailing of the dogs... for the first time in nine, ten years. Each bark sounds different, like they're all still their individual selves... and they seem to be in pain. Real pain. They're in it worse than us, and for the first time ever, I felt... truly sorry for them.
And then of course some Halfdogs showed up. With Terri's SMG and my hatchet, they weren't that big an issue.Their corpses, however, did attract some of the Tick Swarms. They feasted upon them for a while. Draining blood. a couple latched onto the eyes and drained them until they were shriveled fluidless sacs... then when there was no blood left, they let the Halfdogs go, to be assimilated into the undying mass. Without any of the major anmimals left in the Dogscape, the ticks have thrived along with mites and fleas to the point that they're the only remaining insects on Dogscape. When the Ticks run out of resources from one thing, they move on to another... and some of the closest were us. The Tick Swarm pursued us for a while. We tried to outrun it but some latched on to our skin and began sucking our blood. I felt the almost miniscule needle-like body parts enter my skin, into my bloodstream. I felt them draw the blood out, sucking it, hopefully until we were nothing.
Like hell am I gonna get murdered by something little, bloated and fat in the Dogscape. Like fucking hell. I ripped the ticks off my body, then helped Terri get some off hers. I crushed them under my feet as they were picked off. The majority of the Tick Swarm decided to go pester the Dogscape itself for a while. We had a couple deep punctures, but Terri said she had a kit somewhere. She pulled it out of her bag and handed it to me.
There were syringes, antibiotics, creams, bandages, rubbing alcohol, vitamins, water, food supplies, camping equipment... and a whole lot of pistols. The bag was heavy too. I could barely keep it off the ground. "Holy shit! You come prepared?"
"Yeah. Like hell am I going to let this cesspit take me down. And as long as you're hanging with me, same goes with you."
"There had to be more! This has been here for 10 years."
"I got a pick-me-up from my brother. He's alive too, and lives in the area. Kinda runs a caravan of supplies for survivors. His name's Richard Stone."
"So you're... Terri Stone?"
"Yes, since you asked. And yes, that also means I'm single... not that it matters in this hell."
For the record, she wasn't flirting or anything. If it wasn't the wailing masses of Dogflesh we were stepping in it would be the fact that I haven't had good hygiene in ten years. She simply stated it as fact and moved on. I appreciate her for it.
We had all the nasty wounds disinfected and bandaged up. We kept walking in silence for a while. Once I heard a dog paw snapping in the forest. I looked around and saw a Lizardman scurry out of sight. Weird. I expected them to rear their ugly heads again.
Thankfully, we found a barn that hasn't been completely assimilated and made our way to the roof. I'm typing this down now on the opposite roof of the barn. I hope she doesn't find this blog. Oh well. Well, I'm about to go to sleep. These shingles are a bitch to sleep on, but it's better than... whatever happens to you when you become part of IT. I hope I never find out.
I have to get some shuteye though. I'll keep everyone posted later.
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