John Kautzner: 4/08/10

The rib I broke when I was seven has been hurting again. The pain has always come and gone with the storms, but lately it's just gotten worse every day. It hasn't hurt this bad since... Eh, I probably just pulled something at the gym.

I tried to go hunting the other day. There hasn't been any ammunition in Cape since it was used up last semester so my dad brought some down. I've heard rumors of secret ammo reserves hidden somewhere in the UC in case it ever happened again, but I've heard enough talk to know it's probably nonsense.

The hunting was uneventful. Everything I saw looked like it was in a hurry to get somewhere else. Not even a squirrel stopped to take a break. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I've begun to notice that every animal I see seems to be moving South. Is there more food down there this time of year? What need are they trying to fulfill? Food? Water? Mating? ...Safety? I'm not sure, but I don't have a good feeling about it.

At about 6 tonight when I was taking a walk, a rough looking older guy pulled over and asked me if there were any military surplus stores nearby. I didn't know. His car was filled with so much stuff, I couldn't imagine what he could be missing.

I talked with him for a while longer. All of a sudden, he got really serious and he said, "Listen, son. You seem like a really nice kid. This is going to sound crazy, but you should forget about work and school and everything, and just head for the coast."

I just stood there with my mouth wide open trying to think of something to say. I would have thought he was crazy if I didn't have this overwhelming feeling of doom lately, but instead I was really shaken by what he said. All I could spit out after a few seconds of silence was, "Why?"

After a pause he said, "There's a storm coming... A big one. I'm headed to the coast myself. You can even ride along with me if you want." His eyes pleaded for me to come with him, but in a moment he sensed that I wouldn't. "Here," he turned into his passenger seat and looked through a backpack, "you can have this." He handed me a very worn book. "Start reading that tonight," he said, and he drove off before I could thank him.

When I got back to my room, I looked through the book he gave me. It'll be hard to read because the cover is gone and some of the pages have been torn out. From what I can tell, it's some kind of survival guide for natural disasters. Discovering this chilled me even more. I'll read into it more tomorrow. For now, I need to take some painkillers for my rib and get some sleep. It has never hurt this bad!

There's a storm coming... A big one.