Day One Hundred Four:

Day One Hundred Four:

Turns out that if you mix Etch a Sketch with Burnt Steel Wool in the correct ratio you get Thermite. Now, in case you don’t know what Thermite is since I didn’t know what it was, Thermite is basically what you would get if you mixed an actual dragon’s breath, with the surface of the sun, with an active volcano, with the center of the Earth with… you get the idea.

For some reason Thermite has a hard time burning through ceramic. Josh explained this, but before he got anywhere near to being finished I asked him how he knew all this. All he said was, “Kids have easy access to the internet these days.”

With that said, he rigged up a piece of ceramic at an angle on the door where the lock was and put some of his magical mixture on top. Then, using the worlds cheapest sparkler he ignited his homemade lava which mostly ran down the door but did appear to have made a small hole. That was when Josh turned to us and said, “This is going to take a while, I’ll let you know when we’re in”.

Aj and Victor wandered off but I stayed since, this was probably the last fireworks show I would ever get to see. What started as a small hole turned into a dent, the dent grew into a crevice and the crevice turned into a crag. Also, if those words aren’t in the correct order, sorry but you get the idea of where I am going here.

Before long Josh didn’t have to use the ceramic, he just packed the hole with powder and ignited it. Some would burn down into the door while the rest burned at an angle through it. I asked how much of the stuff he had made and he only laughed.

After about 3 hours of work we could see through to the other side of the door. It was still locked, but Josh said it was only a matter of time before we were through. And with that, I am going to sleep where I will probably dream of volcanoes.

Day One Hundred Three:

Day One Hundred Three:

Row row row your boat gently down the stream,
Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily
Life is but a bombed out possibly radioactive still smoldering dream.

The first Toy Store we went into was non-existant. Just trying to figure out where it might have originally been was a challenge since any way of telling what street we were on, or lot we were in had been vaporized. I think at one point I was able to find what might have once been a Tonka truck, but it also could have been a wheel chair or a car or who knows? On a positive note, there were no ex-humes either which was nice.

After canvassing the area to make sure there wasn’t an entire toy store hidden underneath mounds of glassed over rubble, we went back to the boat. Before we got to our next destination we knew we might be in luck. Several of the buildings on the far end of the island were still standing along with various cars, trees, items you would expect to see in a world that didn’t need to explode in order to protect itself.

Unfortunately, this also meant there might be monsters waiting to rip our faces off but we made it to the half toy store without incident. I say half, because the other half was completely collapsed. After searching for about an hour we found a very dirty giant stuffed panda bear, a couple functional bicycles that we goofed around on, Optimus Prime, and drum roll please…

3 Etch a Sketches!

At first we were thrilled when we found them because we figured we’d hit the mother load. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an Etch A Sketch supply warehouse and because of that, the store wasn’t carrying 26,000 of them. Just three. One of the three was cracked open but we figured maybe it would still be usable so we took it as well.

With our top secret mission accomplished we returned back to the naval base. You might be wondering why Josh didn’t go with us on this voyage, because I know I was suspicious as all hell when he said he wasn’t joining us. But, according to him, while we were out scavenging for Etch a Sketches, he would try to gather up the rest of the necessary items he would need to make whatever can combine with an Etch a Sketch to open an impenetrable vault door.

Either that or he would set up some type of trap and we would be slaughtered the second we set foot on the Naval Base. Then again, he could have killed us day one if he wanted but, I don’t know. Still having a hard time trusting someone new I guess. Part of me still thinks Victor will try to cut my throat in the middle of the night. AJ is the only person left on this planet that I feel comfortable with.

Speaking of AJ, he’s been much more quiet than usual. I don’t know what is going on in that big head of his but, I hope he is ok. Can’t really afford to have the only person I trust go insane.

Back at the Naval Base we weren’t gunned down, but we weren’t greeted by our new friend either. He was back inside, along with a bunch of cheap sparklers, a mound of steel wool, some various ceramic pots, and what looked like a drug dealer's scale.

Either Josh really does know what he is doing, or he's on some drugs and we've been completely wasting our time. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Day One Hundred Two:

Day One Hundred Two:

Josh showed us a fairly detailed map of the area today. Apparently, the map was the militaries before the military got sick like everyone else and showed pretty much everything that had been destroyed and/or quarantined. Is quarantine the right word? Hmmmm, it showed all the houses that had been cleared from top to bottom by soldiers.

At some point they had pretty much gone from Big Coppit Key on the East end of the island and worked all the way across to the bridge that connects the Naval Air Station to Stock Island. Similar to Sugarloaf Key to the East, they also flattened Stock Island with whatever ordinance they had on hand. According to Josh, on the plus side they did evacuate the entire island before blowing it to hell. Not that it mattered, everyone besides Josh died anyway.

This only left a few unknowns. Right off the Eastern Coast of the Naval Air Station is another Key called the Shark Key. From the map it looks like there are maybe 30-40 houses although if they were like everyone else then, the occupants of those houses all took shelter at the Naval Base like everyone else. A second question AJ had was whether or not Josh knew if the military knocked out Cuba. Although it's at least 100 miles across the ocean, you have to figure that some of the 11 million people over there might be uninfected and as a result, might be heading North to escape. I don’t know why they would wait this long to try to escape North but, a threat is a threat.

That leaves the underground portion of the base I mentioned yesterday. We were all set to explore it. We got our flashlights, weapons, protective padding, shoelaces tied, everything! Then after opening a door with all sorts of security clearance warnings that Josh had never ventured past, we walked down a flight of stairs and…

And found another much more serious door. A door that would probably need to use dynamite as a doorbell. On the plus side, whatever is in there definitely isn’t getting out. On the negative side, now we are all really really curious. And although there might not be any cats left for curiosity to kill, it is bound to annoy us to death if we don’t figure out how to get in there.

Josh mentioned he might be able to get past the door if we could find a toy store. According to him, there were two on Key West, if they hadn’t been completely bombed out. Pending that one of the toy stores was still standing, we would need to rummage around inside and find as many etch-a-sketches as possible. When we asked him why he only replied with, “I will explain why if you actually find them otherwise, who cares.”

Strange kid.

Well, it’s official. To paraphrase Chevy Chase if you remember who that was, “We’re on a quest, a quest for fun! Praise Marty Moose!” Also, I’m going to try to track down a copy of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Might be fun to have a movie night on this island.

Also, sorry if I fucked that quote up. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that movie, or a working television for that matter.

Day One Hundred One:

Day One Hundred One:

You know how I can tell I feel safe here? My biggest concern today was whether or not to titled the 101st day One Hundred One or One hundred AND one. I decided on the first since I think and is supposed to represent a decimal point.

Yeah, life on the island is good.

At first we were all thinking of requisitioning some of the nicer houses on the island but the more we thought about it, the more we thought it would be more prudent to stay together inside the confines of the Naval Base. Eventually we might branch out if we decide to stay put but, for now this makes the most sense.

Plus, during the last few months Josh was able to make the place pretty cozy. At first he was using gas powered generators to keep things running but then he managed to set up a pretty decent solar grid. Even has a makeshift shower in one of the rooms which is nice.

Victor was thrilled because we were able to give him his very own completely sterilized sectioned off section of the base. Josh even had a few leftover hazmat suits which he cleaned up and gave to Victor. A nice replacement for the filth and stench encrusted gear that we've gotten to enjoy for the last couple weeks.

Tomorrow we're going to explore the lower depths of the Naval Base with Josh. I can't imagine any ex-humes surviving down there for however many months they would have been stranded but I never would have imagined humanity turning into whatever it is now so who knows.

Day One Hundred:

 Day One Hundred:

If anyone reading this still remember the band Pearl Jam, for the entire day I haven’t been able to get the chorus of their song “Alive” out of my head for obvious reasons.

100 days, or more importantly, 100 not deaths. Cue the fireworks.

To celebrate our 100th day alive, we took a tour of a mostly dead island! Apparently, the people inside the Naval Base had held on longer than most but like the death camp that Aj, Victor, and I got to be part of eventually the sickness got through. When it did, every single person on the island either killed themselves or had this poor kid Josh do it for them.

Fortunately for him, some of the people in the Naval Base had enough strength to take care of his parents and siblings when they got sick. I obviously didn’t mention it to him, but it is interesting that one person being immune to this disease doesn’t necessarily mean anyone else in the family will luck out as well. Must be some type of recessive trait that… wow. Look at me talking like a scientist. Yeah, must be the third helix of the DNA reconfiguration of the Saturn Moonbeams celestial pull.

Right, back to talking about what I actually know about. Namely, our current situation.

So after the tour Josh showed us where we could set up shop if we wanted. Like everywhere else, food isn’t much of a problem. Everything we could ever want within reason can probably be found on this island. The only real hazard seems to be the fact that some of the lower levels of the base might have some Ex-humes still alive and kicking but other than that… for all extents and purposes this is paradise.

I haven’t talked with AJ or Victor yet, but if I had to guess I would say we will all be staying put for a while here and getting to know our new barefoot friend.