Day 530: I'm not sure what day 530 is, exactly. I think it's the number of days from the day this all started. The Quonset Manager told me it was day 530 and he got really upset when I used today's date. He said they don't use that anymore at the head office. We use the new time now.

 

And I have to fill out an application, apparently. So, there's that as well.

 

I'm supposed to keep track of daily events and The manager suggested I write down what happened. I suppose I should start at the beginning.

 

I used to work for OTR: Flatbed Division and if you ever worked flatbed you know you get paid by the mile. I got hired to take a crane counterweight up to Anchorage Alaska. Over weight, over sized and when you get paid by the mile, it's a full month to drive it up there. I got the job because I knew we didn't have the right permits and I didn't care. The permits would have been easily fifty grand, but the fine for getting caught would have been just a few thousand.

 

Yeah. Technically I'm a smuggler. So sue me.

 

I got to Anchorage and dropped off the load. I had to wait a few days to find a load back down to the states. Dispatcher hooked me up and south I went. This was a legal load so it was going to go much faster. Diesel I believe. I preferred flatbed, but there wasn't any flatbed loads out of Alaska, so you take what you can get. You don't get paid for dead head, after all. Sooo... Maybe two weeks total? Multiple stops as I recall.

 

That's until the crazy lights in the sky.

 

The highway from the US to Alaska is crap. Parts of the road is frickin' gravel in  sections. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. I got out, make it down the road, found someone else stuck in his car. I'm lucky that first night wasn't that bad. About eight of total abandoned their four wheelers and we made it down to the nearest town. There was only one off ramp. Just as we made it into town, the fires were starting to be put out. Apparently the aurora caused surges all over the place and four different homes went up in flames. We were going down to see if we could find someone to help us. The sheriff or someone.

 

That's when the cargo ship plowed into the docks.

 

It was a horrific sound. The thing apparently had been going full bore. It smashed it's way up onto shore. Fortunately it didn't damage more then two buildings. But the force was enough to leave it well and truly stuck on shore.

 

Medical personnel was already stretched to the limit, what with there being no way to get to the nearest hospital. By car it was still over an hour away. They got used to handling things in town until a surgeon could arrive, if things got that bad. Well, things got bad, but no help was coming.

 

We all pitched in. The whole community of man thing. We went to help the injured off the boat. Four people died between the cargo ship running aground and the fires.

 

The next day things settled down. The power was still out, but the people in this port community was used to that. Some nice family offered to put us up. We were grateful and I said she'd get paid for it by my company, as soon as the credit cards started working again.

 

Time passed. a week. Two? a month? Someone had left to go to the city, don't remember the name. Doesn't matter. He came back to say that the place burned to the ground. Just about every modern building full off modern materials and modern electrical power burned. As it turns out, the four buildings that caught fire were the ones with the highest amp service in town.

 

That sobered a lot of people up. A group started talking about what to do. About this time the auroras were in full swing. We really didn't have any problems up until that point. Until the wolves came.

 

There were hundreds. They came in the night, all of them glowing. They flowed through the town like a wave. Anyone caught outside was dead. Anyone who didn't have their home secured were next. The home I was staying in had a pull down ladder to the attic. I hid up there. The couple I was staying with wanted to keep watching from the window.

 

They didn't make it.

 

The next morning the wolves were all gone. One out of five died that night. The wolves didn't even eat anyone, that's the crazy thing. They were just obsessed with killing. And there is... a fear of wolves. Something from our ancestors. Something primal. The situation was already bad, this just pushed a bunch into crazy mode.

 

The town mechanic had gotten some older trucks going. They used diesel for fuel and were so old they didn't need batteries to run. Once they hand cranked it, they just ran until you shut it off.Like a pull string on a lawn mower. I mentioned my truck was up the road and we went up, and we managed to tow it back to town. It was down hill and I just put it into neutral. It boosted people's spirits.

 

Then a bunch of people got  the idea of leaving town. There were only two trucks. Not enough for everyone. But there was going to be a plan. The sheriff and the mayor agreed. We had fuel. the cargo ship was shipping food. We're be good for a few months, at least.

 

That night I woke up to gunfire.

 

A group of people were trying to steal a truck. A gunfight broke out. The mayor, sheriff, and mechanic were dead, along with two of the thieves.

 

I wish I could remember their names. I really do.

 

Turns out the over seven people I collected on the road coming here were determined to get home, no matter what. I never really had a home. I have a post office box. No ties. No relationships. When you get paid by the mile, having a husband is a liability. The plan was to do this for a few years, then settle down when I was more successful. besides. I loved driving.

 

Loved.

 

Past tense.

 

I'm never going to drive again. It just... finally hit home. Wow. I really didn't accept it until I just wrote it down.

 

[Scribbles]

 

The five remaining had hooked up with three other locals and they stole a truck and made a brake for it. No idea what happened to them, except they went south.

 

The deputy was a nice woman. Tough as nails, but this was a bit much for her. She was married to the sheriff. Everyone gathered around to bury the dead. I got nothing but death stares.

 

There were 18 left that night and a young man by the name of Abraham stood up and gave a long speech. Defended me and said we needed to stick together. We could all move into the cargo ship. it was big, metal, and easily defended. It'd be cramped, but safe.

 

We all gathered some supplies and moved to the cargo ship. During the first move, a pack of wolves was nearby. Got the mechanic's wife because she was alone by her husband's grave. After that, only organized groups went out.