Kellie's Diary (Books 1-3): Decay of Innocence Read online

  The one that tried to get me wasn't moving its legs, it was just kinda crawling It looked like it had broken legs. I wonder if they feel hurt? They dont cry or laugh or talk, so I dont know if they have any feelings. They look like us, except they walk funny, smell bad, make weird sounds, and dont look like they get hurt even though they have blood all over them and lots of bites. Oh, and they try to bite me. Actually, they look like theyre dying.

  I saw a lot of the school... theres a bunch of kid monsters walking around too. I think I see one of my class friends. I guess you really DO turn into a monster if they bite you. I have to be really careful.

  I see the other side of the fence. It looks really bad. Lots of cars are smashed together and there are lots of people on the ground. I think theyre dead maybe. I dont like crying, because the boys make fun of the girls when they cry, but I'm getting really sad and scared right now. I keep wanting to cry, but then I see the monsters and all I want to do is run away. Then I dont think about crying anymore.

  It looks like a car broke the fence. I think maybe I can run around the cars and stay away from the monsters.

  First, I want one of the fruit snacks. My tummy is growling, but I dont want to eat all my food, just in case I see someone else thats hungry.

  Okay, I'm going to put you back in the bag where youre safe, and I think i'm going to sleep a little more. When I get up I'll try to go home. When I get to a safe place, I'll let you know.

  Hi Barbie. I'm sitting inside a car right now taking a break. I've been walking and running for a long time. I found an empty car that had a blanket inside. I am a little cold so I'm trying to warm up. I forgot my jacket at school, but Im not going back there, no way. At least I have my long pants on.

  This morning had a lot of clouds and I was worried it was going to rain, but it didnt, it was just colder than yesterday. I had one of the bags of carrots, because I need some vegtables sometimes. Thats what Mom says anyway. I havent seen her yet, and I havent seen any of my family yet, or our car, so I don't know where they are! I'm really scared that monsters got them.

  Oh my gosh that was close! I saw a monster get really close to the car, so I moved closer under the seat and didn't move. It walked by and didnt see me.

  I think I got lucky. I made it down the long street that goes to my school. I'm still trying to remember how to get home. My dad always talks about street names and knowing where you are all the time, so I really need to remember. A lot of the time he kind of talks forever so I dont always listen, but now I wish I did.

  I think it might be a couple more street lights I have to pass before I turn. Now I remember! There was a Cheesy's right where I turn to go home! I just need to find the Cheesy's!

  Chapter 8

  I want to go home. I want Mom and Dad right now. I can't leave the car. I should, but I cant. I've been crying for a while. Don't tell anyone, Barbie, but I haven't cried like this since I was a baby. I'm scared, I'm tired, and I feel sick. It's really messy and cold in here. There's a lot of blood everywhere too. I'm still inside the same car. I was opening the car door because I was about to leave and I heard something fall outside, I think it was a trash can.

  Then I heard a car alarm going off, the really annoying ones I sometimes hear in the middle of the night. It was really loud. Then I saw a monster walking right to me! It saw me! I came back inside fast and closed the door. The car alarm was still going, and then I heard a bunch more of the sounds that they make. I look outside and there are lots and lots of monsters! I can't count them all, there's too many! I wanted to get out of the car, but they were too close to me and if I tried to run, they'd bite me.

  I can't believe I'm crying still! I'm sorry Barbie, I don't like crying, I feel like a little kid, and I'm not that little anymore! I still want Mom and Dad to be here with me. I don't want to be alone anymore. There was just so many of the monsters! They all saw me and got closer and closer to the car! They started hitting the windows trying to get in to get me! I never really looked at their faces much, but now I wish I didnt. Theyre scary, but they look sad too. But mostly scary.

  They kept hitting the window, and then one of the windows in front broke! I didn't know what to do, I had nowhere to run away, so I just crawled under the seat the best I could. I was screaming the whole time for them to go away, but they dont listen! It looked like there was just more and more of them. I felt the car being pushed a little bit. I knew I was going to get bit. I closed my eyes and kept screaming for Daddy and Mommy.

  Then I heard this loud BANG! A couple of the monsters fell down, and I didn't know what happened. Then I heard a truck drive by really slow, and then I heard more bangs and the monsters started falling down and dying. I think those bangs I heard were from a gun! Some of the monsters turned around, and then there were more bangs, and then the truck started driving again down the street. It sounded like they were laughing and cheering! The monsters started following them and left me alone. But Im still too scared to move, and that was a long time ago.

  I still feel like I'm having a bad dream. But then I remember that my parents wouldn't EVER leave me at school like this. On regular days I'd be playing with friends, but right now I feel like I'm running from them. It's been hours. I really need the bathroom. I'm not hungry anymore. I don't want to leave the car again! What if there's more monsters hiding out there? I need a safer car, this one has a broken window, and I don't want a monster trying to get me.

  I haven't moved in forever. I cry a little sometimes, but most of the time I've been here just quiet. I'm scared to move, and I'm scared to think about anything. But maybe I need to keep going. Maybe my mom and dad are still close by! Maybe my sisters are okay! I have to go back out there to find out. Cheesy's can't be too far from where I am, and then I can remember the rest of the way home.

  Okay Barbie, here it goes.

  Chapter 9

  I made it! I can't believe it! I found the Cheesy's! It took me forever, but I just kept on going down the same street. I stopped at a bus stop real fast because I just had to tell you! I remember that we didn't have to turn a whole lot to get to school, so I thought if I just keep going straight I'd find my way. And I did! I'm glad its still day time, because I might get lost a lot faster in the dark.

  There are still monsters around, but theyre all kind of far away from me. I was thinking about going inside Cheesy's, but there are an awful lot of monsters around. The street gets big here, and there a lot more crashed cars.

  I just remembered that I have a friend that lives close by here! Her name is Rosie, and she comes over to my house a lot. Shes not a best friend, but we play a lot. Maybe she made it home! I'm going to talk to you in a little bit, I want to try and see if I can find her or her mom.

  I'm sitting inside Rosie's room now. I've been here for a while, but I just now started talking to you again. I'm shaking a lot right now, I'm scared again. When I was walking down the side street to get to her house, a monster saw me and chased me all the way down the street! He wasnt running very fast, but he was making a lot of other noises, and when I stopped to get my breath, I looked behind me and saw 3 more monsters! So I just kept running. I think I went all the way around the block! There was a lot of cars around that I ran between, so they slowed down a lot.

  I got to her front door and it was locked! Thats probably a good thing, youre always suppost to lock the door if youre not home. I heard the monsters that were chasing me, so I ran around the side of the house and saw one of the windows open a little. I couldnt reach it, so I had to climb on top of the trash can. I got inside and closed the window, and I looked out the front window and the monsters were on the other side of the street.

  I went upstairs to Rosies room, But then............. I saw Rosies mom inside there. But she wasnt her mom anymore, she was turned into a monster! Part of her neck was gone and she had so much blood on her! She made this sound like she was puking, then she chased me! I went to run away but tripped on one of the stairs going back down. Rosies mo
m fell too but she went all the way down the stairs. I heard this really loud cracking sound, and she didnt move anymore.

  I felt like I had to look in all the rest of the house to see if there were any more monsters. There wasnt, and I went and locked all the windows and doors that I saw. I feel really sick, maybe I' going to puke too. I hope not, it hurts when I get sick like that. I dont know, I'm sick in my belly, the inside of my head is spinning in circles and I want to cry again. Rosies mom was such a nice mom, she shouldnt have to be a monster. Now she's gone, and I still dont know where Rosie is.

  My dad used to talk about this story in the Bible when God takes all his people back to heaven, but then there are only bad people left. Is that what happened? I hope not, I'm not a bad person, and neither was my friends or teachers. Neither was Rosie's mom. So I dont know if God got mad or what. Maybe it was something else. I dont know, I just know that this is really getting scary.

  Its super scary at night. Last night there was a lot more monsters around, but when it was day it wasn't so many. There was still a lot around the cars and the street, but I think they like night better.

  I think day time might be worse. Because in daytime I can see the monsters faces, and theyre really gross and freeky. Parts of their faces are gone, sometimes their teeth are gone, I saw a couple that had their eyeballs missing. Some of them crawl around because they cant walk, like the one in the school playground. They walk really funny, sometimes because their legs are bent the wrong way. They don't really run either, and when they do they kind of fall down, but then get up and keep going. They all have lots of blood on them, I think its from all the biting that they do.

  I wonder what kind of monsters they are. I know about vampires, wearwolfs, and ghosts, but I dont know what they are. I dont think theyre vampires, because they dont just bite necks, they bite everywhere. Theyre not wearwolfs because theyre not dogs, but they kind of act like them, the way they bite and growl. And theyre not ghosts - ghosts cant hurt you because they dont have bodies.

  I feel bad for them, but I dont know if they know that their bodies are broken. Its really confusing because they still look like people, but I dont know if they are.

  I feel like I want to sleep again, but I dont know if Im safe. I locked all the doors and windows, and Im here in Rosies room still, but I'm too scared to sleep. I'm going to try anyway, Barbie. Good night, see you tomorrow.

  Chapter 10

  Mon, Jan 25 1993

  Hi Barbie. Wow, it's 10:30 in the morning! I didnt think I was going to sleep so much. I had a really weird dream. Can I tell you about it? It started good, then got weird, then got scary.

  I was at home with Mom, Dad and my sisters, except they were grown up. I think I was a grownup too, I felt a lot bigger. We were having a big dinner together, I think it was for Christmas, but then a bunch of the monsters came into the house! They started making a mess of the house and chasing us around. I thought they were going to bite us! But then they didn't, they started stealing the food on the table and eating it! Then they came over and started biting all of us anyway. That's all I remember.

  You know I thought maybe the last couple of days was just a dream, but I don't think it is anymore. I think monsters really did take over. That means a lot of people died. Is that like the war stuff Dad always talks about, when lots of people were fighting and they died? Because this isnt like anything I learned in school.

  I'm really hungry again. I have a little food left in my bag, but I still have to go kind of far to get home. I may have to borrow some food from Rosie. She probably wont mind, we share food all the time. I'll be right back.

  Ok well, I got some food, but I dont know if I'm hungry anymore. Remember yesterday when Rosies mom was a monster and she fell down the stairs? She's still there, and I think she died. She hasnt moved at all. I was really scared trying to go down the stairs, but I got all the way down and walked around her. Her head was twisted up a lot, so I think her neck broke. Her face was cut up, and her eyes and mouth were open.

  It was really hard to look at, I started feeling like I was going to cry. She was such a nice lady. I feel really bad for Rosie too, if she sees her mom like this, she's going to be so sad. There was a blanket on the couch downstairs, so I put the blanket over her. I dont know, I think thats what I need to do. When people get taken in the ambulence, they get covered with a blanket. I thought maybe an ambulence would help, so I ran to the phone in the kitchen, but it wasnt working. I dont know what to do about that.

  I sat in the kitchen for a few minutes. I think it was a few minutes. I just sat there really quiet. I heard a couple sounds outside from monsters, so I made sure I was still quiet whenever I moved. I dont remember thinking about anything, I was just sitting there. I got up and looked in the fridge, but the fridge wasnt really cold inside anymore. A couple things inside were kind of stinky, so I left it alone.

  I went in the pantry and found a bunch of food - crackers, granola bars, cans of food, macaroni and cheese, cereal, bread, peanut butter, all kinds of things. I can't carry all that in my bag, it would be way too heavy. I remembered there was some plastic bags under the sink, so I took one and put some crackers, granola bars and peanut butter inside. There were some sandwich bags too, so I put some cereal inside them. She has the kind I like, the fruity flavor.

  Oh, also in the pantry, next to the trash can, I found a flashlight. It turns on, so I think I have to borrow that too. It gets really hard to see at night because a lot of the outside lights aren't working. Do you think someone will fix them? Even if they do, a flashlight is good to have. My dad likes to say “just in case.” I think he's right for once.

  I got out of the kitchen and I saw her mom on the ground again. I started feeling funny in my stomach, so I went to the downstairs bathroom and I kept feeling like I was sick. Nothing came out, but it kept feeling like I wanted to throw up. I never did. I guess thats good, it always kind of hurts when I throw up. I think I have to eat something, but I'm not sure I want to.

  The only thing helping me feel better is talking to you, Barbie. I'm glad you can't turn into a monster.

  I think I can make it home today. I really hope my family is still there. I'm going to try and eat, and then go home. I'll talk to you later, Barbie.

  Chapter 11

  I'm home now, Barbie. I know, I cant believe it either. But I'm not happy. Im really sad again, and really scared. I'm sorry I'm scared all the time now, but this really IS scary whats happening. Mom and Dad and my sisters arent here. I dont think there were any monsters in here because the house isnt a mess. Rosie's house was kind of a mess.

  I had to get in through my bedroom window, I think they forgot to lock it. I can close the glass part, but I cant put the screen back on. I also had to figure out how to climb over the fence. It's made of really hard metal, but it's not the chain fences that some people have. There wasnt a lot of places I could put my feet on to climb, but I used one of the fence posts to help me get over.

  I scraped my leg and knee when I came over the other side. So when I got in I went to the bathroom and found the bandaid box and fixed it up. It stings a little, but I've had worse cuts than that, like the time I fell off my bike and hit my head really hard. I had to go to the doctor to get stitches for it. I still have a scar over my left eye, but its not that bad.

  Ive been by myself this whole time, but now I'm home alone. It feels really weird. I dont know why, it just does. Its so quiet. Usually Mom has the TV on, and I hear my sisters in their room. But there's nothing, and it freeks me out. I dont understand where they went! I didn't see their car when I was coming back here. Did they go somewhere else? I dont know where though. My grandparents live in cities farther away, and they wouldnt go somewhere like that without me.

  Maybe they went another way. Dad sometimes takes these shortcuts around other streets if there's a lot of traffic, so maybe thats what happened. But I don't know where his shortcuts are, so its going to be really hard to try and find them. I thin
k I'm going to wait here for them to come back. If they can't find me out there, they'll have to come back soon.

  I hope they can make it back home. I made it all by myself, and I bet that would make them really proud of me. Whenever the monsters go away, I hope they start treating me more like a grownup.

  The lights in my house don't work anymore. I don't get why yet. Mom has candles in her room, so I might use them. If I can find the matches and figure out how to use them. I don't want to use the flashlight if I don't have to, but I'm hanging on to it anyway. That reminds me that I should find where Mom and Dad keep batteries. I don’t know when these are going to go bad so I should have extras.

  I think I'm going to hang out in my room and wait to see when they come back. At least I have Mr. Floppy with me too. Out of all the bunnies I have, he's still my best. Maybe I'll read some books to him, I think he needs some storytime.

  I'll talk to you in a while Barbie. Even though nobodys here, it's still nice to be home.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Part 2

  Chapter 12

  December 4, 1993

  Hey Barbie! I just got back from the library again. I found a lot more good stuff, but the best part is that I brought back a bunch of road maps. I know how I'm going to get to Grandpa's now! Oregon really is a long way from Texas, but if the pioneer people did it, I think I can too.

  First there's this long freeway that goes all the way to California, called the 10. It's kind of far from here, I have to go on this other freeway before I find it. Then I stay on there for a really long time. Then one day, I'll make it to the beach in Los Angeles. Then I just follow the beach all the way up to Oregon!