Sophie Morrigan's Journal

[Kozera]

Entry #1: The Escape

Today it happened. I finally got away.
I got away from the city, but it was more than that.
I got away from bad experiences, bad memories, bad company, bad government, and bad tendencies.
I've never felt so fulfilled in my life.
It's like the day I received my M.D. all over again.

Except I know things will only get harder from here.

I woke up this morning, and I knew it was the day. First thing I did was walk down to the rations terminal. For some reason, I felt disappointed that it was closed. It's closed every day, and I am disappointed again each and every morning. Occasionally they take pity on us, they throw us some scraps, or those sad, self-advertising bottles of "water." I've always hated them. They taste like the sludge from the city drains, scraped off the shining boots of the CP and funneled into toxic plastic cases. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed water to survive, I would pour it right back into the gutter where it belongs. We don't get food either. We get pills, and fiber cakes, and soft pink calcium powder that tastes like chicken bones. That's probably what it is.

I was so hungry. And then I saw a man die. He went into a room near the terminal, that I had never seen someone go into. It looked condemned, and CP were always guarding it, keeping a watchful eye. How couldn't I have known? They shot him right in the skull. He was a deaf-mute, the CP didn't know sign-language. I think he was pleading for his life, and the CP gunned him down. I wanted to be sick right then and there, but I descended on his body like a vulture, salvaging his tokens. He only had 44, but that was enough for a business license.

After getting my license for medicinal practice, I headed back near the terminal. My curiosity had gotten the best of me. The murderer CP was still there, watching the room. I waited for an hour, just moving around the plaza, staying isolated, and then the perfect distraction. A large man had rushed the District 6 Hardpoint, and the CP were swarming. The door guard moved away to observe, and I sprinted to the room. The door was so light and quiet as I slipped in, closing it quickly behind me. I could see the guard moving back to his place through the smoggy glass window, and I ducked behind the counter. I noticed a switch under the lip of the counter, and I pressed it, revealing a stone passage lined with crimson lights.

I dashed in, not bothering to search for a close switch. It was like a black void. I felt like I was traveling through deep space, the air filled with such a bitter odor that I could barely breathe. My immersion was occasionally broken by deep red lamps that penetrated the blackness, leaving me with beacon points that kept me from losing my sanity. It was a short journey to the Gate. I had heard so much about it, I felt somewhat disappointed when I saw it. It was a sewer gate, small, with white paint that was bloated and cracking away from the rusted bars. It took nearly all of my strength to rip the closing mechanism loose. Stepping through that gate was the most exhilarating feeling of my life.

[Kozera]

Entry #2: Friend or Foe?

It's been a day since I've been able to sit down with my journal. I've been walking this whole day. My feet are sore and swollen, but so is my heart.

It's beautiful out here.

The sky is a sweet shade of blue, there are critters bouncing between the massive, creaking woods. The ground isn't shaped cement, it's rich moist soil, and decaying golden leaves. The sunlight swimming between stretched branches, turning the dusky sky bronze. The water. Ohhh the water. It's clear, natural, trickling, sweet. I've never tasted water so fresh. It's probably dangerous to sip it directly from the streams, but it tastes like the earth.

The water lead me to friends too. Gavin Rin, who attended medical school with me for a few years also escaped the city, with his friend Mike Vanhool. I must've walked miles before I found the first stream, and after washing my face in it I noticed a man, who turned out to be Mike, a few hundred feet down-stream. He looked startled, but I gave him a friendly wave and made my way over. He invited me to stay with him and his friend, Gavin, who I recognized the second I saw him.

We hung out at the campfire they had made, and a strange lady descended a large rock behind us. At first we were alert, but she seemed harmless. Her name was Quinn I think. We made idle chit-chat for a while, she asked us if we had any spare shotgun shells. Apparently she had been out for a while looking for traders. After explaining to her how difficult it was for us to find any food sources, she mentioned that she had some food with her. I couldn't stop myself from asking if she had just enough to share. She seemed pretty reluctant, but she pulled out a small melon from her bags and cut us off some relatively generous portions. We thanked her and ate ravenously.

I fell asleep shortly after, and 3 hours later Gavin woke me up. Another wanderer had approached our camp. This one was a man, whose name I can't recall. I was too focused on the idea that he had a holstered, but visible, shotgun. Quinn asked the man if he was willing to trade her some shells, and Gavin and I woke Mike up, explaining that it was time to move along. I wasn't sure where, but I followed, grateful to have a traveling party.

[Kozera]

Entry #3: Crown of the World

I feel so different lately. Something is changing inside of me, I know it. I feel like when I was in City 45, I was an old grandfather clock, with creaking iron gears and a lead pendulum in my heart, beating in sync with the oppressive footsteps of the combine.

But then I left the shadow of the citadel, and the sun's radiant glow melted my iron heart. I feel like little drops of mercury, coalescing into a glimmering pool of understanding.

Everything is so... symbolic.

Maybe it's the thought of never being beaten into submission again for trivial defiance. Maybe it's something more physical. I still have a can of that disgusting "water" and the sloshing, chalky "supplements" in my pack. I don't dare poison my body again with these combine-approved foods. I've felt so much better since I left, and I'm having some questions about what they were feeding us. Maybe I can stay awhile in the JURY Laboratory for a bit tomorrow and do some research. I hope they let me in.

There aren't too many beasts out here that aren't the foul, mutated antlions. We did find a small herd of deer the other day though. Gavin and I managed to pick off a large stag that had a bit of a limp. Looks like he was caught in some kind of hunter trap, but got away with just an injury. I couldn't kill the thing, so I turned away while Gavin stabbed it through the throat with a carved spear.

Met a new friend on the way back to our highland camp as well. Dr. Caruso was his name I think. My memory has been failing me since the relocation. He was a middle-aged Hispanic man, and frankly, I couldn't tell if he was rude or just bad at making jokes. Regardless, he showed me to the Beles Inn, and then offered Gavin some assistance getting the bloody stag back to the camp.

The Inn is probably the only building in the whole town that wouldn't be considered condemned, and only because the current Innkeeper has been doing a stellar job at keeping it from crumbling to the floor. Nobody was there when I arrived, but it was clearly half-way through being cleaned. I walked around the reception and a bulletin board caught my attention.

A cleaning list for the Innkeeper.
A 'Wanted' poster, offering 1,000 tokens for PACt members, Dead or Alive.
A 'Dangerous Persons' poster?

Apparently, there's a girl who was under the care of someone who could not keep a close enough eye on her, and now she's wandering alone. The poster called this girl "Jaws", and I found that to be a pretty peculiar name. I think it mentioned that she was a mute, young girl with blonde hair and golden-brown eyes.

The thing that creeped me out the most was that she was claimed to be cannibalistic, and posed a threat to lone-wanderers. Attack with lethal force if necessary, but if possible, bring her to the Inn alive. They have some cages in the cellar, that's probably where she is to be held.

It's probably been a while since anyone has seen her, which means she has to be well-hidden. Our camp is pretty well-hidden. It's at the summit of the mountains, next to a massive spring. I hope we aren't invading on her space. We'll have to take turns sleeping, if she really is as dangerous as that poster made her seem.

[Kozera]

Entry #4: The Trading Post

Today was great. Well, mostly great.

Terrible start. A friend of mine in the city got a radio finally, which is great. When I was in the city still, he was the man I talked to when I needed some supplies. He's still the man I talk to when I need supplies, but now he's sending me crate-loads through the sewers. I guess he hears about possible escapees through word-of-mouth, and finds them before they leave, offering them some tokens to bring me the supplies. Regardless, every week I have to go to the tunnel, and the crates are hidden in the middle of some stones nearby. He says he's coming out soon and won't expect payment until he can get here. No point in having tokens if you're dead, I guess.

So I picked up my crates today with Gavin, and we needed somewhere to stay for the night. We were right outside Beles, but I can't trust anyone else near the crates unless we're at our outpost. We found a cave with a small entrance, and slipped inside. There was a hearth and some cooking supplies, but they had been dusted over so I thought nobody had been staying there for a while.

We started going through the supplies and Gavin stopped, shushing me. I listened a bit more carefully and I heard an engine idling outside. I heard the door shut, and the shuffling of some body armor. I turned off my flashlight, and Gavin moved up to the door and sprung back, saying he saw the feet of two people, but they weren't combine. I was initially relieved, but then I remembered the posters I had seen about the 'Pact' or something.

We stayed deathly still for at least 5 minutes, and Gavin and I tried to sneak out. We got out and behind some boulders, then shuffled out to the road, keeping a healthy distance. It was a young lady with a heavy kevlar vest on, and a man with a vest and a beanie. The lady yelled out to us and approached, and I knew she meant no harm.

She asked if we were the ones inside the cave, and we confessed to her that we were looking for somewhere to stay the night. I didn't mention the supplies. The man in the beanie jogged over next to the lady as she told us that crazy folk lived in that cave. My stomach dropped as I looked at Gavin. All I could think about was 1) How lucky we had been to not encounter these crazy people, and 2) How lucky we had been to be alerted about the danger in time.

They hopped back in their jeep and continued into Beles while Gavin and I picked up the supplies and started moving again. It wasn't long before we had reached our actual camp, and we piled the crates on top of each other, covering them with a tarp and falling asleep for what little remained of the night. We call our camp the Outland Trading Post, and hopefully we'll see some business. It isn't far from the JURY bunkers, so maybe they would be interested in some goods.