Dead Land Journal October 10th 2027

still typing one handed, but i guess the hole in my arm is not as big as it looked at first. but why did it have to be my right arm?

we are now standing watch in shifts, which is something we should have been doing all along.

billy was cut up pretty bad, but will make a full recovery. mike burned his hands trying to get his gun out of the fire. we are still in the wal-mart parking lot in morrilton. we are down two vehicles and three drivers for at least a couple of days. we don't really need the extra vehicles, except when we do. we often use them to pull or push dead cars off the road. sometimes they'll start on their own we can drive them off under their own power, but most times they won't. i could try with the uni, but it is more likely to try to drive over them than to push them with its high ground clearance and bumper. it's got the power though. might see if billy and i can get a push bar installed on it.

snowed a bit today, fat wet flakes that were half melted when they hit the ground. but it tells us we need to get where we're going soon. i think we have ruled out most of the coastal regions due to risk of hurricanes. beverly and her family relocated to arkansas when she was five after hurricane katrina destroyed there home. she refuses to go within 50 miles of the coast.

i am looking for a portable shortwave receiver or better a transceiver. i still want to see if there is anyone else out there. that could get us a destination.

i think something needs to be done about billy. he needs a babysitter. i completely misjudged him. he is certifiable genius within his area of expertise. but he is dangerously irresponsible. i have smelled an unmistakable odor coming from his van a couple of times today, at least when the wind isn't blowing the in from the smoldering heap that was micheal's truck.

hey, i've self medicated a few times i don't begrudge him that, but one careless flick of a roach and his van will go sky high, but not nearly so high as billy has been the last day and a half.

going to have micheal teach the girls some gun safety while we are camped here. i am 99% certain that katherine was the one that shot me. out of the twelve shots she fired, the one thing she actually hit was my arm.

why does that not surprise me?

© 2009 R. Keith McBride