-- Cover Art --
-- [Part 1] My Doomed Survivor Diary:
*
I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
[Part 2] -- Coming Soon
*

This is the thirteenth track from Modest Mouse’s original debut album, Sad Sappy Sucker. The album was shelved upon completion and eventually released in 2001. How do you feel about this song? What are some of your favorite lyrics? What’s your favorite live performance of the song? How would you rank it among the rest of the band’s discography? How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)?
Studio version
SUGGESTED SCALE: 1-4: Not good. Regularly skip. 5: It’s okay, but I might have to be in the right mood to listen to it. 6: Slightly better than average. I won’t skip it, but I wouldn’t choose to put it on. 7: This is a good song. I enjoy it quite a bit. 8-9: Really enjoyable songs. I rank them pretty high overall. 10: Masterpiece, magnum opus, or similar terminology.
Rating Results 1. Worms Vs. Birds: 7.01/10 2. Four Fingered Fisherman: 6.67/10 3. Wagon Ride Return: 4.56/10 4. Classy Plastic Lumber: 6.98/10 5. From Point A to Point B (Infinity): 7.04/10 6. Path of Least Resistance: 4.11/10 7. It Always Rains on a Picnic: 7.25/10 8. Dukes Up: 7.45/10 9. Think Long: 6.44/10 10. Every Penny Fed Car: 7.39/10 11. Mice Eat Cheese: 12. Race Car Grin You Ain’t No Landmark: 13. Red Hand Case:

I’m someone who loves to take long walks on the beach in the early mornings when very little to nobody else is there. The sea spray on my face and the salt air in my nostrils always help make the eight hour shifts I spend behind a desk somewhat tolerable, and the sight of the sun rising out on the misty waves has always filled me with a sense of calm. However, that changed yesterday when I was out for my walk. It was a slightly rougher day; the waves were crashing on shore a bit harder than normal, and the wind was whipping something fierce. As I strode across the beach, I noticed something out of place being pummeled around in the surf like it was a pinball. When I drew closer, I saw it was a plastic bag which had been sealed with duct tape at the top. Inside was what looked like a book of some sort, and driven by curiosity, I waded into the waves up to my ankles to retrieve it. When I got back to my car, I managed to open the bag and found that the book was actually somebody’s journal, as stated by the inscription on the inside of the cover. It declared it belonged to a man named Anthony Hodgson, as part of an ocean crossing sailing trip from almost 20 years ago.
As I was late for work, I didn’t read any more of it, and instead, tucked it into my briefcase for safekeeping. I figured I could find out more information later on that night and try and return it to its rightful owner. When I got home that night, I immediately took the journal out and began reading excitedly. However, as I got further and further towards the last entry, my intrigue and excitement crumbled to dust, and it was replaced by some of the strongest dread and horror that I have ever felt. I wasn’t sure what to do with it once I finished reading. There’s not much I can do. I can’t send it to anyone, and if I turned it over to any newspaper or TV station, I’m sure it’d be dismissed as a hoax. Finally, I decided that the only place I could come to share it would be here, as I know many others come to share what they’ve seen and found. Let me know what your guys’ thoughts are on this. But, for me personally? What I’ve read has given me some of the worst nightmares I’ve had since I was a child, and will probably keep me out of the ocean. Forever.
Here are the entries:
July 15th, 2004, 3:34 PM
Well, here we are journal. Today is the day I’ve been dreaming about for most of my life. Ever since I was a little child, spending time at my aunt and uncle’s house in Maine, reading their old sailing magazines, I’ve always had the desire to make an oceanic crossing, using nothing more than my skill, knowledge, and determination to get me to the other side. After almost thirty years of waiting, it’s now finally my turn. And thanks in no small part to the group of friends I’ve forged in this journey called life! All in total, there are six of us who will be making this trip. Myself, Darryl, Xander, Winston, Holly, and Anastasia. It was Xander’s idea for us to begin saving and pooling together our money to purchase a sailboat over twelve years ago, and now, I sit in my cabin on what took what seems like an eternity to attain. Her name is the Lunging Lyon; a fifty-two foot Sparkman & Stevens Yawl from 1950, and God, is she one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. And for something almost fifty-five years old, she looks as good as the day she first entered the water.
We’re currently docked at a pier in Boston, and I can hear the others loading the final crates of supplies and barrels of diesel fuel onboard. Tomorrow, we will sail at the crack of dawn from here, with our bow squarely aimed for none other than jolly old England! I’ve done the calculations, and if we can average between ten to fifteen knots with the wind, it should be no more than a week and change to make it there. Almost three thousand nautical miles of the Atlantic lie between us, and the end of a journey that we will remember for the rest of our lives. I would love to keep writing, maybe even wax a bit poetic about this undertaking, but I can hear the other’s calling to me to help them, so this is where I have to end this entry. For a first one, and as someone who’s never written in one of these things, I don’t think it was that bad. Write later!
July 16th, 2004, 11:17 AM
Good morning, journal! We are officially on our way! We woke up at just a little after six in the morning, and after a last few consultations of our charts, and farewells with the harbor master, we cast off our lines, and used the diesel engine to motor out of Boston harbor. Once we were clear of the last marker buoy, we killed it, and opened up the sails. I’m happy to report that the second they did, the wind blowing from the west caught them, and we shot off like a bullet from a gun! Currently, according to the readout, we’re sailing along at a pleasant nine knots. Not what we were hoping for, but still adequate. I do have to say, though, there is an extreme, almost sense of peace already. Boston and all the rest of land is slowly, but steadily turning into just a thin line behind us, and with the Lunging Lyon under only sail power, the only sounds that can be heard are the creaking of the boat’s wooden hull as she slices through the water, the sails and the rigging as they are slapped by the wind, and the cries of the seabirds as they follow us out to sea.
And, of course, the shouts and laughs of my friends and I. Everyone’s spirits are at a crescendo as the object of many late night conversations turns from the stuff of drunken speculation, to reality. I should point out that everyone on board has a job to do. Darryl and Winston are the two with the most practical knowledge on sailing, as they’ve actually sailed from Washington state down to Baja four or five years ago as part of a competition. They’ll serve as the captain and the navigator for our trip. Thank God for them, or we’d be in way over our heads here! Xander and myself have some knowledge, but only from small trips, usually from Portsmouth up to Bar Harbor in Maine, so we are to help with piloting, while Holly and Anastasia will be working the rigging, raising and lowering the sails as needed, with our help, of course. Additionally, Anastasia will be serving as our cook for the duration of our trip. And considering some of the meals she’s made, I am all for that!
I just took a look at the depth finder mounted just beside the main hatch in the cockpit. According to it, the bottom is already over three thousand feet below us. I know many other people might find such a revelation scary, but as someone who’s loved the sea as long as I can remember, it’s thrilling. I can only imagine what strange and wonderful creatures swim and float beneath us, in the dark and cold waters, listening to the sounds of our hull creaking, reverberating for miles away, as sound travels farther in water than air. Darryl just asked me to take over the helm for a while, so I’ll end this entry here! Write again soon!
July 18th, 2004, 1:37PM
Well, I can’t exactly say good afternoon, as things aren’t as smooth sailing (pardon the pun!) as I would’ve liked. You see, we’ve come across a rather large fog bank, which almost seems to have risen up from the waves and ensnared all in its reach, ourselves included. You can’t even see twenty feet in any direction, and whenever a sound is made, it tends to bounce off the fog back to you in a rather sharp echo. We’ve had to pull some sails down and reduce our speed to six knots to be safe. To tell you the truth, journal, it’s really rather eerie. It almost feels like the entire world has been swallowed up and disappeared, and we’re all that’s left. Thankfully, though, Winston told me that he’s seen fog like this before, and that it won’t last longer than a few hours. I’m grateful for that; honestly, if it lasted longer, I feel it might pull on my sanity a little. The magazine articles and photos never showed or spoke about this, and I wish they would. It wouldn’t have changed my mind on this trip, but it would have prepared me for what to expect.
Something loud just splashed out in the gloom. None of us could see what caused it, but everyone topside heard it. It was only a single splash, one which echoed like the crack of a gunshot in the fog. When I asked Darryl what it could have been, he shrugged his shoulders. “It could be anything, Tony” he said, “Lots of things splash around in deep water. Could be a whale breaching, could be a shark going after a school of fish. Hell, it could even be a piece of flotsam getting tossed about by a particularly tall whitecap”. The explanation brought me more comfort; instead of a sense of unease about the unknown, my mind is now filled with natural explanations. According to the radar, we are about four hundred miles off the coast of the US, and the depth sounder shows the bottom has dropped away to six thousand feet.
We all need to keep a sharp eye out, so I’ll stop writing for now to help the others. Write again soon!
July 19th, 2004, 1:17AM
What. The. Actual. Fuck. Just happened? Not even four hours ago, myself, Xander, and Holly laid down to get some sleep, as we’ve worked out a schedule where we sleep three at a time, changing out during the night to allow the other team to rest. I’d just managed to drift off when I flew out of my bunk onto the floor. It literally felt as if the boat had slammed into another vessel. For a moment, that was my biggest fear, and after checking on the other two down below with me, who both had slight bruises from their own unexpected flights, I dashed topside to the sounds of chaos. Winston and Darryl were shouting back and forth to each other in confusion, and I could hear Anastasia moaning somewhere closer to the bow. When I asked what had happened, they told me they didn’t know. “It was like we sailed straight into a damn block of concrete!” Winston exclaimed to me.
When I went to check on Anastasia, I found her lying on her back on the deck. She’d cracked her head on the main mast, giving her a rather nasty bump on her left temple, and received a cut on her cheek. The three of us carried her down below and laid her down in the forward berth, where Holly is looking after her. She says she’ll be okay, but she needs to rest for the rest of the night. I, for the life of me can’t understand what we hit. It could have been a whale or a large piece of wood, but, nobody saw anything, and it was a perfectly clear night, something that Darryl tells me will end the night after tomorrow, as a storm is coming our way. And I’m fairly certain that the two most experienced of our crew wouldn’t jeopardize us so carelessly. If they say they didn’t see anything, then I believe them. I’ve gone back down below to try and catch at least an hour’s more rest before I help take over the late night to early morning shift at the helm. According to the charts and radar, we’re now about eight hundred and fifty miles off the coast, though I didn’t look at the depth sounder this time.
One additional thing to note, that may not have any meaning, but I’m still going to write down. There was one strange thing I noticed when I went topside and went to help Anastasia. There was a rather putrid scent in the air, something I couldn’t place. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said it was ammonia, but we have none aboard which could’ve spilled, so I don’t know what to make of it. Probably nothing, but still noting. Anyways, good night. Hopefully no more surprises!
July 20th, 2004, 4:37 PM
Good morning, journal! Things happily seem to be more on track today than they have been the last two! I’m currently sitting behind the helm, using my foot to keep it straight as I write. Most of the others have gone below to have dinner, which I’ll have myself when they’re finished. Someone needs to steer, after all! I’m happy to report that Anastasia is back up and, aside from the bump on her head, seems to be in good spirits. She’s currently making clam chowder, a favorite of all of ours! We’ve picked speed back up to about eleven to twelve knots with a strong tailwind; although earlier it died, causing us to have to tack back and forth before, regrettably, having to fire up the engine to carry us a bit farther. The sound of it was almost heresy out here in the silence, only broken by the wind and the waves. It was worth it, though, as I saw a truly amazing sight about half an hour ago. A sperm whale! It breached out of the water, not more than a half a mile away from us! Seeing that gigantic black leviathan leaping from the waves is a sight that filled me with joy, to tell you! It did so a few more times, seeming to move around in a circle, before disappearing below the waves. I’ve honestly never heard of a sperm whale doing multiple breaches in such a short succession, but there’s a first time for everything, I guess.
Anyways, I look ahead now, and in the distance, I can see the storm clouds on the horizon, lightning occasionally flashing in the dark grey fluff. According to the report we got from a tanker on the ship’s radio, it will be a bad one, meaning our initial plan to make it to England in just over a week is going to be extended to just about two weeks. Fine by me, as despite our setbacks and problems, I still am thoroughly enjoying this journey-
Good Lord, did that just startle me! I heard a loud splashing sound off our stern behind me, and swung around. There was nothing there, but it was so close I swear I could feel the water droplets hitting me on the back of the neck. Anyways, Xander’s coming up to take over helm duties, so it’s time for me to head below and eat! According to the radar, we’re now over a thousand and three hundred miles out to sea, close to the halfway mark of our trip! The depth sounder says twelve thousand feet of water lie between us and the seafloor. Write later!
July 21st, 2004, 07:18 AM
I….I don’t even know where to begin with this entry. I’m honestly lost for words, both in my shock. And my grief. I suppose there’s no other way to put it other than bluntly. Holly’s gone. Last night, we sailed into the storm at just a little after eight; the waves and wind became something fierce, something that I only read when reading novels like The Perfect Storm and The Old Man and the Sea. The waves crashed down on the deck with all the ferocity of a freight train, and the howling of the wind sounded like a banshee screaming into our ears. All of us, save for Anastasia, who was cleaning up dinner dishes in the galley were topside to keep the Lunging Lyon straight and true. But the storm battered about our sailboat like it was a child’s plaything in the bath.
I don’t know how big the swells became, but we would ride up one, and almost drop in a seventy five or eighty degree angle down into the trough before the next set. The lightning flashed, momentarily illuminating the hell we’d sailed into like it was the middle of daytime, and the thunder boomed and rattled my eardrums. Darryl and I were at the helm, fighting to keep the rudder straight while the others were working the rigging and the sails. Holly was working the rigging underneath the mainsail when it happened. A sudden change of wind slammed into us from the port side, shifting the boat sideways. It also caused the boom to change direction suddenly, swinging across the deck like a charging bull. Xander and Winston managed to duck under it, but….Holly didn’t. The huge wood and fiberglass projectile caught my friend on the side of the head and shoulders in its arc, and before anyone knew what was happening….she was gone. Knocked over the railing and into the churning waves.
For a moment as we panicked and looked around us, I thought I saw her in a flash of lightning, about fifteen yards behind the boat, waving her arms and her mouth open in a scream as she bobbed in the waves, kept afloat by her life jacket. But when the next flash came, not even four seconds later, I saw nothing. We couldn’t turn around in the storm; not unless we wanted to swamp ourselves and sink. We could do nothing but helplessly sail away from our friend. Xander hasn’t been able to stop crying. Holly and he were an item, and losing his life partner has destroyed him in a way I can only imagine.
The waves have lessened some since, but our boat has taken major damage. Both the radio and radar have been damaged in the storm, making any kind of call for help impossible, as well as knowing our exact location. To make matters worse, there seems to be something wrong with the propeller for the diesel engine, as when we discovered some tears in the mainsail, we lowered them to repair and continue under engine power. But, though the engine roared, we didn’t move at all. Darryl says he’ll check it out once the storm lets up a little more. For now…all happiness of this trip has flooded out of all of us. Now it’s marked by the loss of one of us. I just honestly want to get to England at this point. Will write later.
July 21st, 2004, 03:13 PM
The storm finally abated enough for Darryl to check on the prop. As the waves petered out, and we seemed to move into the eye of the storm, he donned a pair of flippers and a mask, and jumped overboard to inspect it. When he popped his head above the waves, his face bore a look of confusion and worry. Treading water beside the boat, he told us that the prop had been sheared half off by something. The one remaining blade had been bent so that it couldn’t turn anymore, but the rest was just…gone. I remember his exact words. “I’ve sailed for fifteen years, and I’ve never seen something like that happen in open water. You usually have to run aground to do damage like that”
Unnerved myself, I asked him to come back aboard. As he swam back to the swim ladder on the stern, I swear…I swear I saw something below the waves. A shape darker than the rest of the ocean, one that seemed to move on its own power, slowly rising up towards us. Whatever it was, it looked big. I fully admit, when I saw that dark shape, I couldn’t help but reach over the transom and grab Darryl by the arm, almost wrenching him out of the water. It’s beyond ridiculous, I know, but. Given our recent events, I feel on edge. Hell, we all do. Now, I sit behind the helm in the cockpit as I watch Anastasia and Xander try and sew up the torn sails. I hope they’ll do good progress soon; I want to be out of this area before nightfall. And more unnerving, is the fact that that ammonia like smell is back. This time, Winston smelled it as well, holding his nose and complaining about “That God-awful stench”. We looked around, but saw nothing. I’m beginning to regret being the one who thought this trip of ours up over a decade and a half ago. Write Later.
July 21st, 2004, 06:13 PM
Darryl’s gone. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the actual FUCK is going on?! Just before dusk fell, he came back topside, in one arm holding a waterproof flashlight; in the other, a brand new propeller. He told us that he’d brought a spare along in case of any emergency, and we felt a wave of relief wash over us that we’d be able to get moving. The storm wall was fast approaching, and Xander and Anastasia hadn’t finished mending the sails yet. He also had a yellow pony bottle, which he pushed the regulator into his mouth, and after picking up a wrench, put on his flippers and mask, and slipped back overboard. We all saw his light click on, and he slipped out of sight underneath the boat.
Every couple of seconds, we saw a burst of bubbles break the surface as he breathed out, and a quick flash of his flashlight swing around. For a few minutes, we felt the tension ease up, and despite the grim mood from Holly’s death, Winston told us a joke about sharks and a razor lined surfboard which made us laugh a bit. But then, that jovial mood deflated as quickly as a bully popping a kid’s party balloon. “Hey, what’s going on?!” we all heard Anastasia cry, and we looked over the railing down into the water. Darryl’s light was dancing about as if he was turning rapidly around from one side to the other, the air bubbles coming in faster streams. Then, two things happened in rapid succession. The first was that the beam from his light disappeared. It was as if he’d just snapped it off; one second it was there, whipping around, the next it was gone. And the second, was that a huge stream of bubbles came to the surface at once.
It was only for a second, and then. Nothing. We waited and waited, the seconds drawing into minutes, but our friend, and one of our two leaders never resurfaced. It was as if he’d never even been there. We debated for a few minutes about having someone else go into the water, and after many refusals, I finally relented and grabbed a mask. I wouldn’t be going in all the way, though; I would just drop down the swim ladder enough to see under the boat, and that was it. As it stepped down and felt the freezing water touch my feet, I felt goose pimples rise all over my arms and legs. I couldn’t understand why, but I felt my primal flight or fight instincts kicking in as I stuck my head in the water and shone another flashlight around.
I saw no sign of him. The water under the boat was completely empty of life. No fish, no sharks, nothing. And no Darryl. I swung my head around, looking off into the gathering gloom, but still saw nothing. As I turned and looked down into the depths, however, I swear I saw a flash of changing color. It could’ve been a trick of the ocean, but I swear I saw one patch turn from dark blue, almost black, to a very dark maroon. That was enough to make me yank my head out of the water and climb back up from the swim platform. “He’s not there” I said to the others. “He’s just….disappeared” We all agreed then, that nobody else would enter the water. We’d take our chances being battered around by the storm. Currently we’ve started the bilge pumps before it reaches us. I can hear them roaring away in the recesses of the hull as I sit at the galley table and write this. And..I can’t help but feel a creeping sense of dread as I close my eyes and recall that dark shape I thought I saw. Plus the changing color I swear I saw in the deep. But, I can’t let myself lose my cool. We all need to keep a level head if we hope to get back to dry land.
I’ll write again soon. I hope to God it’s with better news.
July 23rd, 2004, 02:30AM
….If you gaze too long into the abyss, you’ll find the abyss also gazes back at you. That may not be the exact quote, but who gives a damn. Not when you’ve looked into the eye of a monster. Still, I should tell what happened.
The storm reached us that night, and all throughout it and much of the next day, we were battered by it. I thought so many times that the wooden hull would break apart, dropping us all into the monstrous waves and stinging rain. But, somehow, she stayed afloat. It’s true what they say; they don’t make them like this anymore. As daylight broke, though, the storm increased in its ferocity, and we were forced to venture topside to steer the boat into the waves to keep from capsizing. Myself, Xander, and Winston went up after donning life jackets; we told Anastasia to stay below for her own safety. When we emerged, it was like stepping directly into hell. The rain tore at our faces, and the wind almost completely drowned out the sound of our voices. Lightning pierced the dark, and we worked with our remaining flashlights to raise what little sails we had left whole, and then began to try and steer towards what our compass and charts indicated was England. We had no idea how far we were from it, or how blown off course the storm had shoved us, but we had to try. For three hours, we were battered and beaten, but we seemed to make headway.
That was when a familiar sensation struck our boat. The same concrete slamming sensation as before, making it feel as if we’d come to a dead stop in the waves, which began to wash hard down into the cockpit. Thankfully the main hatch was closed, so no water got down below. “What the hell did we hit?!” I heard Winston shout to be heard over the howling wind. “Hell if I know!” Xander called back to him, and I saw his flashlight beam shine down into the water. “I don’t see-“ His voice cut off. “You don’t see what?!” Winston yelled back, but there was no answer from him. Feeling a piercing fear seize me, I shone my own flashlight beam up to where he’d been, near the bow. It illuminated him, still kneeling and clutching at the railing, staring down into the sea. “Xander, what the hell’s the matter with you!” I screamed as loud as I could. Slowly, he turned to look up and back at me. What I saw made me feel as if the blood in my veins had been replaced with ice. I have never seen Xander even a tiny bit afraid before; we always said he was the most courageous out of our group. But, now his face had turned a shade of pale I thought only corpses could hold, and his eyes were about as wide as they could get. His hand holding his flashlight trembled. As I looked, I smelled that putrid stench once more; this time, though, it was overpowering.
That was when I heard Winston scream. I swung my beam back portside, and the beam. Oh, good God almighty…the beam landed on a scene that, however much longer am I alive, I’ll see whenever I close my eyes. Winston was still there, but…so was something else. Something which had come from the sea itself. My hand trembles as I write this next part. It was a fucking tentacle. An honest-to-God tentacle, looking like something out of the old 20,000 Leagues under the Sea movie from the 50s. But, unlike that, this was very much alive. I saw every detail in slow motion. The giant club of the tentacle, big enough to wrap around the mast and filled with dozens of huge, wide suckers. The arm of the tentacle, as thick as two men standing next to each other. It all was a dark maroon color. And then, I saw Winston.
Oh, God no. The tentacle had wrapped around my friend with the strength of seven boa constrictors, squeezing him so tightly I saw his face turn red, even in the biting wind and rain. He feebly pressed his hands to it, trying in vain to push it away. And then, as quick as one of the bolts of lightning flashing overhead, he was gone. It was so quick I only saw it as a blur, hearing a gigantic splash as he was yanked below the waves. I forgot all about steering the boat and scrambled for the side in some misguided and foolish attempt to save him. I shone the light’s beam down into the dark waters. And fuck me running, do I wish I hadn’t. Because it shone directly into an eye.
An inhuman eye the size of a wall clock. One which looked back at me with a cold and predatory gaze. The pupil contracted in the light, and it shot back underneath the boat. To the other side. Xander… I turned to scream for my other friend to get away from the railing. But…he was already gone. I hadn’t even heard him get taken over the wind and the rain. His flashlight rolled around on the deck near where he’d been kneeling. But he was gone. That’s when I saw another tentacle rise above the railing a few feet in front of me. It felt around on the deck, seeming to move by a sense of touch as it searched for its next meal. For me.
All courage left me, and I abandoned anything topside and dashed below. I slammed the hatch closed behind me and locked it, knowing full well if it really wanted to, the tentacles could easily rip it off its track. Anastasia was shaking when I ducked down below and saw her. She’d been looking through the side windows and seen what had happened to the other two. To Winston, her husband. As much as I was terrified, I went to her. I held her in my arms to console her, and we sat there, sitting on the hardwood floor, listening to the sickening sounds of the tentacles moving underneath us over the hull and breaching the waves to search the deck. After a while, it stopped. The storm lessened a little, the waves ceasing their merciless battering of our boat. Anastasia finally drifted off to sleep in my arms, and I carried her to the forward berth. She needs sleep. So do I, but I can’t bring myself to fall asleep. I know I’ll be haunted by nightmares of that tentacle and eye. And I know it’s still there. I can still smell that ammonia scent, even through the closed windows and hatch. For now, though, I’ll just curl up on the galley seats. I don’t know what else to do. There’s nothing else I can do.
Who gives a fuck about the date
This will be my final entry in this journal. I don’t even know how many days we’ve drifted aimlessly on the waves anymore. The storm finally passed, and the waves have remained relatively calm ever since. If it weren’t for knowing what lies beneath them, I might almost call it peaceful. It’s anything but, though. Our food and fresh water is almost completely used up. All our remaining sails tore in the storm, and Anastasia’s in no shape to sew them up. And, unfortunately, I never learned how. It wouldn’t matter, anyways. Our rudder is gone. I know, because when I opened the main hatch and stuck my head out, I saw it, floating on its side about a half mile away from us. No doubt torn off by that creature, leaving us completely dead in the water.
I know what it is now. I was too terrified and confused to put together the pieces in my mind, but now, all the marine biology knowledge in my brain has allowed me to identify it. Architeuthis Dux. A Giant Squid. One far larger than has been seen by scientists before, at least sixty or seventy feet long, judging by the size of the eye I saw. A creature that has for centuries terrorized sailors, giving rise to the legend of the Kraken, pulling ships below the waves and preying upon the floating sailors. So many marine biologists and historians said that the stories of ships being pulled down to their doom were conjecture, wise tails. I can confidently say that they’re absolutely full of shit. The stories were right on the money.
The Lunging Lyon is slowly sinking. The pumps gave out yesterday; both Anastasia and I heard them die. When I went topside to check on them, looking around as if I were a fucking owl to make sure I wouldn’t be grabbed, and lifted the hatch to the engine compartment, I saw water in it. For a while, we tried bailing it out, but soon gave up. What’s the point, anyways? We can’t call for help; we can’t escape in the dinghy lashed to the deck, as we’d be set upon by the beast. That damned smell is always here now; one that signals its presence, along with the scrapes of its tentacles along the hull. We’re fucked any way we look at it.
And this morning…Anastasia stepped overboard. I don’t think she could take the waiting anymore. I awoke just in time to see it. She’d become closed off since the day before, barely saying a word. I couldn’t make out what she was thinking. But, I awoke, and saw the hatch to the cockpit was open. Feeling a new sense of dread course through my veins, I ran to the open hatch, just in time to see her step off the stern railing. I heard the splash of her dropping into the water. The sound of the tentacles rubbing on the hull stopped. And then, nothing. Silence.
I’m alone now. Well, not completely alone. That fucking thing is still there. The rubbing and scraping has started again. As I write this, the boat has sunk lower into the water. The entire transom is almost underwater, and as it bobs up and down in the waves, I can see it, sitting just below the surface behind the boat and waiting patiently. Staring at me with that cold, unblinking eye. It knows as well as I do that I don’t have long. Which is why I’m going to place this journal into a bag after I’m finished writing this. I’ll seal it with a roll of duct tape which floats around near my feet, and then I’ll throw it overboard, as far away as I can. Maybe, with some luck, it’ll wash ashore somewhere. So someone can know what happened to us.
The transom is lower in the water now, and the tentacles are beginning to reach over into the cockpit. I’m going to stuff myself into the forward berth as far as I can, and shut the cabin door. If I’m lucky….maybe I’ll drown before it can reach me. I don’t want to be torn apart by that monster’s beak. Like the others were. Please, whatever you do. Beware the open ocean. Monsters, real ones, dwell out here.
Goodbye.

Hi everyone! I learned how to spin yarn in the Fall and loved it so much that I impulsively bought a second hand Louet S15 wheel with a single pedal and Irish tension. (I was hoping to buy a Lendrum double pedal wheel but couldnt find any used ones in my price range or in my area to pick up.) This Louet is old and is in working condition but definitely hasn’t been maintained well by the previous owner.
I’m wondering if anyone who has bought 2nd hand wheels before can offer some tips on how to clean it up and get it spinning smoother?
The Lendrum I used had more metal parts vs plastic parts so i’m not even sure where to put oil on this Louet? When should I consider replacing the leather irish tension strap or brass piece?
The flyer hooks are tarnished and rough enough that the friction on my yarn keeps causing it to snap. Can I replace these or is there a metal polish that wont rub off on the yarn?
I’m open to all tips and advice as this is my first wheel!

Trying to put in a sound system original radio.

Hello, hi!
So we kind of all got fucked with the IoT radio network deployment. It was a lot of different things that happened with COVID, chip shortages, excitement around the concept of cryptocurrency. It was a perfect storm that sent HNT to the moon.
But then reality kind of put a damper on things. Miners weren't making the amount of money we though they would. Where are all these IoT devices that are supposed to use these radio waves? Why are these manufacturers allowed to sell me a miner but then never GIVE ME MY MINER!?
Trust and belief in Helium's vision for decentralized network for IoT devices has effectively evaporated. I have little faith left in the IoT side of Helium's network development because I feel like I've been left holding the bag in some ways. Especially now that focus is moving over to 5G and MOBILE.
How is trust regained in the face of so much fear, uncertainty, and doubt?
Give miners away. For free. And maybe even pay people who bought them already.
I believe that there is potential for a radio network that can track low energy devices in physical space. I believe this because there are low energy devices that can be tracked in physical space using radio waves. If a single network can cover a vast amount of area and track those devices, it would be monumental indeed!
But the roll-out and deployment of the IoT network just didn't work out according to plan. Too much happened, too fast, and too many people got left holding the bag.
What would happen if instead of trying to sell IoT miners, they were simply given away to anyone interested? The IoT network is only as valuable as the number of functional miners operating simultaneously. When consumers have to spend their own personal money, if they don't get what they expected they're gonna bail. HNT earnings not up to snuff? Accept the loss. Unplug. Try to recoup some of that loss by selling the miner.
But what if the miners were free? And if the miner broke down, you could just swap it out with a functioning one. At no cost. You still get to keep every fraction of a token that miner gives you. It would be like if you had a miner, you could get free money! For free!
Suddenly, having some weird router you don't understand hooked up in your living room doesn't seem like such a big deal. Maybe you check it every once in a while when you notice it hasn't magicked money into existence but otherwise it's almost no responsibility and (short of electrical and internet costs) is almost like pure profit.
Well: Someone has to pay for it. Someone has to eat the shit and pay up. But that "someone" likely has the most to gain.
Say you're an IoT device developer looking for an alternative radio network to have your device work with. Now imagine if there was a decentralized network designed specifically for tracking your type of device. If that network was big enough and reliable enough, it would seem like a perfect fit. Sure, at some point you'll have to pay up to use the network, but it's big enough and reliable enough that it might just work...
Now imagine that your company was the one handing out little plastic boxes for free. If you're a company, you likely purchased a pile of HNT before letting loose. You know that even though you're paying out the nose to hand out those plastic boxes for free and that logically it's a total loss with no gain, you're not actually that worries about the cost. You're thinking about the network that you built. A network so large and reliable that someone, at some point, might pay you to use. You see the potential upside even if it takes some time. That little HNT pile you snapped up before letting loose? It starts to seem maybe a little more valuable.
Now more IoT device developers are noticing. Trackers are starting to hit the market and the network is astoundingly robust considering it's being given to the public for free and the public is also basically maintaining the entire thing themselves. Devices on the network start to take hold. The network is being used more. More people are paying to use it. More people are paying more attention to their little magic money box, maybe buying a tracker with their profits! Hey! Cool! I'm part of this!
Whoever is going to be smart enough and bold enough to eat shit and pay up to hand IoT miners for free is going to make themselves incredibly successful.
XOXO,
Gossip Girl

[WP] You are the commander of the International Space Station. Abruptly, all contact with Earth is lost and the station now appears to be in orbit around an alien planet. With supplies running low, you decide to take your crew down to the seemingly habitable alien world.

The station had more supplies than necessary for dealing with the obstruction of space traffic while the Space Elevator was being built. However, as the elevator was being locked into position when we teleported, we didn't have that many more supplies than usual.
Alarms blared when we lost radio connection. More alarms blared when not a single satellite could be found. Even more when visuals showed not Earth below us. I could only imagine how this would go down on Earth. At least I got to watch the first cargo car from Canada climb the Elevator.
But we were running out of food, and reluctantly I let everyone know that we were heading to the planet to get food.
A week and a half later, we crammed as many space capsules as possible full of supplies, loaded people in ignoring safety restrictions, and launched down for what appeared to be the best place to go.
Fifteen hours later we landed, while the empty station still orbited above us.
-----
"This just in, while the space elevator was being tested, the ISS has disappeared. Multiple nearby cameras reported seeing the station engulfed by light, and not a single piece of debris was left behind. While construction of the internals of the space elevator is going to continue, the first satellite release will be one to look for the ISS, and- hold on.
"This just in, a signal has been detected by space telescopes around the world in unencrypted morse code. It- please, tell me- yes, yes, I know someone called a code red, but do you think- OK, OK, I'll continue.
"The signal says 'HUMANS. WE HAVE TAKEN YOUR ASTRONAUTS TO A DEATHWORLD TO SEE HOW THEY SURVIVE, AS PER PROTOCOL. IF THEY DIE, YOU WILL BE INVADED. THIS MESSAGE AND THESE ACTIONS WERE PERFORMED BY AN AUTOMATED PROBE.'. More coming at six."
-----
The SpaceX Dragon shuttles spent extra fuel to touch down on land with our supplies, while the Russians simply took a heavy landing. Everyone was fine, and we immediately set up a camp. Axes cut wood and the Russians had the framework, flooring and walls for a log cabin that could house all of us within the day, while the rest of the crew made weapons. Spears, bows, that's mostly it, but someone had the good idea to go looking inside a cave. "Good."
They found many things, chief among them an angry now-food animal. We don't really have a choice about what to eat, so here goes to hoping the cooked local food isn't poisonous. The meat itself was already salty, and Calvin (biologist) suggested that it was to counter an infection.
Sunset was interesting. The blue sun here really color-shifts the landscape. Additionally, this planet doesn't have a moon, so the night was quite dark. Unlike in all the artwork, alien flora is not bioluminescent.
The next morning, the Russians continued the log cabin while the rest of us dug out an outhouse well and away from the sea. We also cleared out the cave from earlier; it had a waterfall, and became our shower area. That afternoon, the cabin using alien wood was complete and we started to move supplies from the shuttles to the cabin. Next stage is going to be securing camp and a food source.
-----
"So!" Kevin, designer of the Space Elevator, slammed his hands onto the table in frustration and opened the meeting. "We have a problem."
"You think?" The Canadian minister of defense snorted. "We're already pulling a big budget here that was supposed to pay itself off, but now the elevator needs constant use!"
"Not really," Kevin said. "The UN pays us the cost of operation and the cost of construction in return for unlimited anti-xeno military launches permanently. This project took around a billion dollars, we'll get that back in no time. We also get to scan and see every single component that comes through the elevator. It's a win for military R&D, a win for budgeting, and a win for preparations for the war."
"And? What defenses do we have that they can't defend against? None. We have no intel on this enemy. For all we know, they attacked because Humanity built their first space elevator!"
"We can't solve that. What we can do is load every laser array we can onto geostationary satellites, and then a couple nukes in case they decide to destroy them. No, no, back to point." Kevin sighed. "Our problem is the space elevator itself. It isn't designed to withstand an attack. Someone cuts the cord below geosynchronous level and we're screwed, though at least the counter-counterweight system gives us five cords from geosynchronous waypoint station to the space station. Now, the only way to do that is with a giant plasma sword, but if these guys have FTL..." Kevin let the point hang in the air. "Once the invasion starts, our orbitals are on their own."
People were silent for a while.
"Now, the question is... What is a deathworld, and how long can the ISS last? It's been two weeks and everyone has finally gotten their acts together, but the ISS is going to be almost out of food, even on rationing." Someone else asked. "And when are we going to talk about putting R&D on FTL?"
-----
Note: The space elevator is a single cord going from a space station far, far above geosynchronous orbit (so high up it has Earth gravity away from the planet!), through a space station in geostationary orbit. As people and supplies move up towards the upper station, to ensure pressure on the cord is equal, giant weights move towards the planet, lessening the centrifugal force the weights have, and by extension, the cord has to pull. This is called the counter-counterweight system, and four of these connect the geostationary unit to the space elevator's people-station.
The cord is used by semi-circle atmo-sealed cars moving up on one side and down on the other. The cord itself is two feet of carbon nanotubes covered in a centimeter of lead and then another foot of square stainless steel, so the nanotubes are safe from cosmic rays. The foot of stainless steel has cutouts so gears can latch onto them so the cars can pull themselves up, and the stainless steel is square to the cars stay oriented relative to each other. At the stations, cars are detached from the cord to be undocked, allowing others to pass through. The cars themselves have five latches that hug the cord and can be undone to pass another car or to dock at a station.
The gravatic station is far, far larger than the geostationary station, which is mostly supplies and some industry for in case the cord gets cut lower, though each station does have four weeks of food and water recyclers just in case.
-----
Kronfol turned to his boss. "These... Humans, they had survived unnaturally long. Most species can't even take the gravity of the planet, but looking at the data their probe has pulled, this isn't even full gravity for them. Look, the three from the subspecies that don't feel cold even built a shelter for the rest in just tacks! And the two from the ones that love slugthrowers are hunting! Not to mention they were smart enough to bring supplies down with them. They're enemies on their planet, they should have destroyed each other by now!"
Kraffool added. "Yes, but one from the polite subspecies are organizing them, and the ones from nations of conquest - which there are only three of - they are securing their landing site against the wildlife. They're succeeding!"
"True, true," The boss replied. "But I doubt they'll survive much longer. They've been sleeping for a mere third of a cycle for the past couple cycles, they're going to have to-"
"That's their full sleep cycle." Kronfol interrupted. "They can eat the local ecosystem, too, so they can replenish their supplies. They might be small, but they can still outrun us. And then there's stamina. The probe... I'm not sure it made the right choice."
"No matter," the boss continued. "That species just built their first surface-to-space structure, they won't be doing anything... radical."
-----
Day 3
Today, we scouted around a bit and re-enforced the camp against more wildlife. We found another cave, it looks like this place once flooded, dissolving veins of softer rock. Still, this one is rich with material, so we're going to use some wood, carve out a furnace into the rock, and smelt a pickaxe. Minecraft time, whoo!
On another note, we fully moved into the cabin. The SpaceX chairs make good enough beds, and the Russians have already turned the animal from last night into a rug. Speaking of the Russians, they found some wheat-like stuff and immediately made a vodka barrel. They say it'll be done in a week.
Still, the days are around twenty-three hours, and the gravity is eight-ish meters per second per second, and there's a fair bit of oxygen, so overall this is a pretty good planet to land on.
If only there were someone watching us, then they could pick up our distress beacon. This can't be a coincidence.
-----
Day 4
Totally forgot to do this yesterday, but yeah! I picked a sanity journal out of the emergency supplies and it's mine. MINE!!
In saner terms, we're making great progress. Furnace is in, low-quality iron pickaxe acquired. Americans were making gunpowder by running water over the... outhouse... to collect sodium nitrate to make bullets with. Vodka is untouched, if it were the Russians would have killed us all already.
I'm trying to direct people to collect silicon for advanced electronics. We have the information required to make a solar panel, and I plan to get back to the ISS sooner or later. We got metal and the Europeans are making swords and bows with steel. Still...
Anyway, I was going over the pictures from orbital and there looks to be more ruined space stations in orbit of unknown design. I figured we weren't the first, but this is still troubling. So we're going to go head to what looks like another landing site not too far from here sometime soon. Judging by the state of the other satellites, ours is the only autonomous functional one; the rest don't have solar panels and have appeared to have died.
So, we need to build and power a car. Winter is going to be a problem, this planet's axis isn't that bad but it still has seasons, and I don't want to figure out what'll happen to the crops the hard way.
Now, onto what productive stuff the Russians and Americans built, they got a farm running. I'm hoping for at least one yield before we go, and I'm not sure if everything they planted are even seeds, but I can't control that.
Day 5
Got a car today! Did it by building a motor by coiling copper in a loop and pulsing electricity through really fast, or so says the technician. I'm not going to complain, slap a solar panel and some batteries on top of a frame built out of the Russian shuttle and everyone's happy.
We packed the entire camp and moved out towards the other landing site. It looks somewhat fresh, so these aliens may have been aiming for our location as well. I can't wait to find them; we're bringing solar chargers and a linguistic AI that techie developed while trying to make a new language a couple years ago and saved to a local device.
Theodore rocks!
In other news, we're going to arrive tomorrow at midday, judging by our position relative to the ISS. We will make it back into space, back home, and then after that I'm never going higher than a commercial jet flight ever again.
Also, the Russians killed another animal. So we have that, too.
-----
"The Humans move directly towards the Renni. Should we be worried?" Kraffool asked.
"No," The boss replied. "They will fight and kill each other over supplies, I'm sure of it. That's how most get eliminated. Still, what you say is... concerning. How do they know that the Renni are there?"
"Their orbital habitat is still operational," Kraffool said. "Instead of feeding on ground-fed laser projections, their large communication prongs also hold sun-absorbant solar units. They left due to lack of supplies, not failing life support. As such, they have orbital communications, and though the station was found in low orbit it is functioning fine in geostationary orbit."
"Wouldn't the life support fail on the dark side of a planet?" the boss asked.
"No, sir. They charge batteries with the power during the day to be used at night. Additionally, they appear to have intentionally turned down - though not off - life support to conserve power." Kraffool replied. "I am concerned-"
"You have voiced that concern to me already," the boss cut Kraffool off. "You have no reason to be. Go."
Kraffool bowed on the way out.
-----
"Attention people of the world," The United Nations speaker began. "We are here today to bring to you the results of a week of unprecedented international cooperation in the face of one of the largest threats Humanity has ever known.
"The Canadian government has agreed to lend use of the Space Elevator to launch geostationary laser orbital defense arrays. There is no way to use the space elevator to launch them in Low Earth Orbit, and they must be laser arrays, as kinetic rounds are far too slow in space. The United Nations will pay the Canadian government for the one billion dollar cost of building the Space Elevator, as well as the cost of operating it for the Earth Defense Network. Of course, private businesses are free to use the services of the Space Elevator as well.
"Additionally, the design and construction of said laser arrays will be using a standardized design loaded with a single nuclear bomb, to detonate if the station is forced to resort to kamikaze tactics.
"These stations will be first spread out over populated zones, then over land masses, and hopefully over the entire planet. We are not sure what customs the aliens use, nor what a deathworld is or how long the ISS can survive in such an environment. If they were sent in orbit of Mars, there is a chance that the invasion would occur within the week."
The speaker let that sentence hang, before continuing. "The production of arrays has already started, and the first are expected to be launched by the end of tomorrow. Humanity will prevail!
"In other news, we have received a transmission from the alien probe, now in confirmed lunar orbit."
HUMANS, YOUR ASTRONAUTS SURVIVE, FOR NOW. THEY ARE HEADED FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH ANOTHER COMPETITOR, WHERE THEY WILL MOST CERTAINLY DIE. YOU ARE LUCKY YOURS ARE EVEN ALIVE RIGHT NOW. WE WILL MEET SOON. PREPARE TO SURRENDER, OR DIE.
"To that we respond:" The speaker continued. "We will survive, or die trying."
-----
Day 6
So, today we met them! We left a solar-powered AI at their camp and are just going to sleep in car for now. Looking at satellite footage, we can see that our camp is fine.
This planet has a magnetic field, thank god; we're currently at around 40 degrees north and, well, we can't measure east-west without some kind of definitive line. Add that to we're the only satellite still there, as GPS satellites were left behind, so we can't get any precise info.
Still, that means that compasses work here, so that's good. The aliens' tech all seemed powered down.
Speaking of which, official first contact was - and this could just be me going insane - really funny. One of the Russians stumbled into a trap, and then they showed up while we cut him down and just stared at each other. We wandered into camp, gave them some water because they didn't land close to any and as a show of goodwill, left the translator AI, and then left.
Air pressure here does a slight pitch change to microphones, but whatever. They still work.
The aliens themselves are something to behold. Eleven-ish feet tall, quadrupedal with a torso attached to the top like a centaur, but instead they're part... some furry animal, I'm not a biologist and Calvin has no idea what they are. They're aliens, after all.
So far, our immune systems are holding up, but that's the next thing to worry about after winter.
Vodka: untouched, second barrel in the making. Guns and ammo: acquired, though the Americans won't make them for anyone else. New animal: tastes like ham. I don't know why, it looks nothing like a pig, but we can all agree it tastes like salty ham.
Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow to see how the AI did. First contact, baby!
-----
"They didn't kill each other." The boss said. "Why did they not kill each other! We've taken millions of planets like this, they didn't kill each other!"
"Well, the Humans demonstrated intelligence, strolled in, left them a gift of water and a metal box, then left." Kronfol said. "The Renni were too shocked to do anything, after being alone for ages. They spent ages talking to the metal box. Additionally, the Humans brought more 'solar panels' with them, so their electronics on the ground are also powered."
The boss sighed.
Kronfol continued. "Additionally, the Humans have been fortifying their homeworld. The first thing they did was blind our probe by shooting another at it which ate the probe, so we don't know much else other than they started putting radioactive satellites in orbit."
"And," Kraffool added, "The box the Humans left was an algorithm for a translator."
The boss choked on air.
-----
"Today, under the threat of an alien invasion, and a mere day after announcing our cooperation efforts for the Space Elevator, we have decided to take this threat even more seriously." The UN speaker said. "As such, today, after a unanimous vote from every country on the planet, following a plan laid out by citizens of the world and supported by millions overnight, Humanity unites!"
The cheering that filled the chamber made the speaker pause for a full minute. "That plan will be followed to the letter, as voted upon. This includes the merging of all militaries, and the election of an Electorate to lead Humanity. The election will follow the Universal Constitution laid out in the plan. As of noon, Eastern Standard Time, on the fifth of December, 2031, welcome to the Terra Firma System Union. Terra Firma or Terra Nova, we will prevail!"
The cheering that followed was deafening.
-----
Zaryos looked at the box.
It was a metal rectangle plugged into a series of black squares. It was inert, yet was left beside the water as a gift. She recognized electronics when she saw them, however, and decided to not pour water over it.
The gravity here was twice that on her homeworld and she could barely move. The other four Renni had been unable to do as much as make a shelter, and hers had collapsed multiple times as she was unused to dealing with such heavy materials.
The two-legged small ones had bounced through this gravity a bit uncertainly, and not quite naturally, but they obviously had a much better time in it than she did.
Still, without access to her worlds' Power Laser network, she was unable to do so much as send out a distress signal. She went to sleep still talking to the box, watching it, trying to figure out how it was supposed to help her. Or spy on her. She didn't know how it even survived this gravity, but it looked well-built.
The black boxes were arranged in the sun, and while not much research had gone into solar panels on Renqui, her homeworld, she knew that they powered the laptop. How did they get down here? she asked herself. Do they know where we are? I don't, but if they can help us...
She shuddered as another thought came to mind. What if they're working with the ones who put us here? But we have no other option other than to trust them... argh! Why is this so hard? Why do I both want to run and hug them? What part of me do I trust?
-----
Day 7
Week one on the surface. We're going to leave tomorrow in order to get back to the vodka in time.
But more importantly, the translator worked! It picked up on context and soon the entire language was translated. So we came back in, opened the laptop, and started talking.
Apparently, their electronics are fried, as they use a constantly-fed high-powered global laser array, instead of solar panels. Still, we're going to sleep in that honestly not bad cave we found, and then head back to our camp. We'll see if we meet back up again.
In other news, we gave them the solar charger and phone, so they can talk to us. No need to encrypt the channel, it's better if we don't anyway, so others can listen in and join the call.
-----
Zaryos watched the small ones come back in, open the box, look at the functioning screen for a bit, then say something. It took the box a moment, but it said it in a neutral tone in Raphuii. It had poor grammar, but it worked.
TESTING, TESTING. RESPOND "I UNDERSTAND" PLEASE YOU IF UNDERSTAND MESSAGE THIS.
Zaryos would respond, and then ask "Who are you?" And launched Second Contact for her people. But all that was overshadowed. They were going back to their own camp the next day, but left another device. It had a battery, and would charge using solar panels, which were the black boxes, so they could continue to talk.
The small ones didn't have a global laser network, but instead a global wired network. This meant that they didn't have the infrastructure to power their space station, so instead they added more solar panels and batteries to it. They said that the translator would slowly work out the kinks in each of their languages, and that they were surprised it worked so quickly.
Still, things were finally looking up.
-----
"What did we get from the remnants of the alien satellite?" A War Council member asked.
"Not much." Another replied. "It's still in transit back here, but the components are low-G only. So we're going to research it in the space elevator."
The room was silent for a moment.
"We got another message, this one from another probe in solar orbit," Someone said at last. "Let's give it a read over."
HUMANS, THEY LIVE. FOR NOW. WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR MILLENNIA, THEY WILL DIE. IN OTHER NEWS, FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN YOU AND THE RENNI HAS BEEN PERFORMED. FEAR NOT, NOBODY SURVIVES LONGER THAN A WEEK, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF USING THAT PLANET FOR OVER TWO MILLION SPECIES CONTESTS. THIS GALAXY IS OURS.
"Well," Kevin commented, walking into the room. "That's ominous."
"What are you here for?" Someone else groaned.
"Because," Kevin said, "We don't have FTL, but we just discovered Hard Light, and perpetual motion, all in one go."
-----
"What now?" The boss asked.
"Well," Kronfol started, "The Humans on Earth, they..."
Kronfol leapt at the Boss, pulling out a knife and leaving a fatal wound behind. "They taught me freedom."
-----
Lights flashed throughout the corridors as Kronfol and his sister Kraffool ran for the nearest escape pod. Already, the next message to the Humans was being sent out. The two siblings ran for the nearest pod and jettisoned. At this range, they'd only be able to reach the deathworld, but the two had already decided on their next course of action. It would be preferable to other outcomes.
As the entry burn commenced, Kronfol thought over what he had learned from the Humans. They valued freedom, and had made an entire society around it, and they had been the final catalyst for uniting. A united Humanity, with their new technology, would crush The Empire. And so, the two had decided to run. They couldn't take it anymore.
The pod automatically deployed parachutes. It was designed to be functional while EMPed, so it was all manual. As they descended towards the plant far, far away from the Humans, the siblings knew that their new life wouldn't be kind.
People didn't last long in that position anyway, it was only a matter of time. This new life would, they hoped, be kinder than the one that they had just left.
-----
Lights flashed on the screen as the ISS picked up a radio signal from the Renni. They were being attacked by animals. I immediately turned the 'car' around towards them. It was still recharging after the latest two-hour boot of use, but it would get us close enough.
We arrived and immediately set to work scaring the scaly things away. Giant komodo dragons, but beyond crushing people they had little to go in the way of natural weaponry. We let the car sit and recharge; we were close enough that we should be able to reach our camp anyway, though it'd be tight to do so before sunset.
And then, we saw something from the cameras on the ISS. Our camp.
-----
Lights flashed in the control room as the Humanity's first self-sustainable spaceship departed from the geostationary ring of the Space Elevator and ascended next to the cord towards the gravatic station at the end of the elevator.
Hard Light Perpetual Generators powered Hard Light Ion Engines, all of whom put out unholy amounts of power, forcing the ship to accelerate as though it were a roller coaster. As the ship began to decelerate using Hard Light Ion Retro Thrusters, people cheered.
Factories were already turning over to produce Hard Light goods. As Kevin continued to organize the creation of thousands of laser batteries, the world switched to green power nearly instantaneously. It was literally free, after all.
And a scientist in a corner of the globe, whose last name was Hildew, began to draw up plans for something much more important.
-----
Lights flashed in the room as the new Electorate, elected within the past two days, stood before the crowd. As per the TFSU's new systems, only the achievements, personalities, and a small speech from each candidate were supplied, and the people voted on that information alone.
"Another message has arrived. PREPARE. We are running out of time, but we will fight, fight for freedom, for our siblings on the ISS, and fight, fight for freedom! Terra Firma or Terra Nova, we will prevail! We will survive, or die trying! Humanity has decided, in a message to whoever is threatening our home, you will pay for it!"
-----
Day 8
Bringing the Renni to our camp, it's much safer. Our camp appears to have people loitering around - we're sure they're not animals. I'm writing this early because today was eventful.
So, the Renni were attacked by a pack of animals, and now these guys are in our camp. Still, it isn't all bad. I could imagine how many other ways First Contact could've gone sideways. Or official, at least. A prevalent theory is that more aliens are the ones who dropped us from the sky. But there is no motive; then again, these are aliens, after all.
Overall, it wasn't a bad day. We're low on food, but we're heading back to camp anyway. The Renni have much larger food issues due to some kind of limited diet, and are slowing us down so we'll only reach after sunset, but it'll probably be fine.
I feel like I'm missing some crucial piece to a puzzle. I don't like it at all; I want to get back to camp.
Day 9
Aliens at camp were defensive at first until we walked up and unlatched the SpaceX Dragon shuttles. Then they understood that this was ours.
Russians made several more batches of Vodka, and are preparing to drink the first one soon. Americans have finally been convinced to make more people guns. Russians are building a cabin for the Renni. Americans are helping the Europeans mine for resources to begin smelting higher-quality steel, and a proper forge. Europeans are building a wall. They almost completed it, too; the slightly lower gravity is doing wonders for stamina, and we're all still doing enough exercise to prevent atrophy, though I suspect it wouldn't be so bad in the first place.
New aliens are talking to the translator, at least with the Renni and us talking through it they get the idea. Plugged it into solar panels and we're all good to go. We tried talking, but it failed. We'll try again tomorrow.
-----
Kraffool was busy finding the materials necessary for making an ax to chop wood. She eventually found it, but not before they had to go back to sleep.
I wonder what it's like to be able to sleep for as little as the Humans.... she wondered as she fell asleep in the small shuttle.
The next day, she continued, and managed a not-too-shabby shelter. Then, they slept again. It was tiring work, but they were alive, and it was theirs.
-----
Zaryos had been walking for a quarter of a cycle. She needed sleep, yet these Humans were only acting tired, not exhausted.
At their new camp, more aliens were waiting; after being shown the translator, Zaryos and her group had to sleep on the ground for a bit, as the Humans' cabin was too small. Still, they made first contact with yet another group.
The next day, some of the Humans built a new cabin, others built a wall around the camp but not a farm they had created a bit further out. The even newer aliens simply talked to the translator; at some point, the small light on its side began to flash green and they opened first contact with this new group as well.
Zaryos and the other Renni, however, mostly just slept.
-----
The War Council watched the release of the first of many laser arrays to come. As it began to burn towards Asia, another popped out of the geosynchronous station to take its place.
Above, the space station was almost complete. People were still working and living up there, as it would be a great control center, having visuals of the fight and now just relying on probes and cameras. It was a risk, but people decided that it was worth it. It would be a volunteer mission only. Well, voluntold, but still technically able to back out.
They were getting ready. If they were ready fast enough was the question.
-----
Hildew looked at the results from her latest experiment. She checked them over one last time, then hit the call button on her phone.
We have it. All it took was Hard Light, and all that took was a slight extra scientific catalyst.
We have FTL.
-----
YOU HUMANS ARE CAUSING TOO MUCH TROUBLE. WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE EMPEROR, THE DEATHWORLD TRAILS ARE NULLIFIED AND THE ASSIMILATION STARTS NOW!
-----
Day 18
It's been a while, and it's been busy.
So, the new aliens we got translated on day 12, and until then we just made them houses, expanded camp and farm, and other general maintenance.
Then, we started making concrete and the first thing we did with it was build foundations - and basements - for the houses. After that was done, we began to dig out a launch site. We're going to head back to the ISS, no matter what.
And then that takes us to today, where I finally remembered to fill out my journal.
Oh, also: We got high-quality steel, now we need to find a way to weld it together.
-----
The ship bounced around the Sol System as though it were a playground.
Gravitational Enhanced Propulsion (GEP) FTL, which had been dubbed the Hildew Drive, had been discovered. Ships were built outfitted with them and Hard Light engines, and of course Hard Light generators. Still, even with all that, Earth's defense fleet was still small, as the laser arrays took priority over the ships.
Then, deep space radars picked up the approaching fleet drop out of interstellar FTL just for a moment to engage system FTL. And things continued to move forwards.
The ships were launched. The last of the millions of laser arrays were launched. More ships were built even as they came out of FTL on the dark side of the moon.
Humanity wasn't ready, but if they bought themselves enough time, they would be.
-----
Laser targeting systems hoped online. Blast shutters closed over nonessential windows of the Space Elevator. Ships launched en masse, some being completed in transport. Missile silos readied themselves, deadmen's switches flipped, and nuclear bombers loaded their cargo bays. Across Earth, Humanity dug into the ground, and prepared to fight.
On the dark side of the moon, a scant few probes sent a signal regarding new contacts. As per protocol, Humanity's First Contact message played out to the fleet. When the probes were fired upon, the messages changed.
TFSU TO UNKNOWN FLEET: YOU ARE TRESPASSING UPON SOVEREIGN SPACE. YOU HAVE FIRED UPON TFSU-OWNED AND OPERATED INFRASTRUCTURE; LEAVE OR IDENTIFY YOURSELVES IMMEDIATELY.
The response was the fleet beginning to streak towards Earth.
EMPIRE ASSIMILATION FLEET ONE TO TFSU: SURRENDER OR DIE.
TFSU TO EMPIRE ASSIMILATION FLEET ONE: WE WILL SURVIVE OR DIE TRYING.
The fleet Freebird I Pulsed right in front of the incoming fleet. Shots were exchanged, and then Freebird I pulsed out before they could be targeted.
This pattern repeated itself twice more before Freebird II joined in, hailing fire from behind and disabling several ships before leaving. At random intervals, Freebird I and Freebird II attacked the Assimilation Fleet 1. As the assimilation fleet grew closer, the geostationary laser defense array fired. Multiple ships exploded.
Then, while being both randomly and systematically cut to pieces, the admiral began to finally fire back. Beams of light destroyed the entirety of Freebird II.
But that wasn't enough. Under constant laser-fire and being harassed from space, the Assimilation Fleet, who only ever saw surrenders, was demolished. With one last nuclear meltdown of an explosion, TFSU High Flyers MFC 000-00-014 destroyed the flagship of the Assimilation Fleet.
-----
Elsewhere, on a large planet with many de-powered space stations orbiting it, another ship appeared. But unlike the last, it chose to go here. Information from the demolished Empire probe had directed this ship to this planet.
Automated docking protocols with the ISS engaged. And far, far below, people cheered.
-----
Day 18-2
More people came. Humans. In an FTL ship. They docked with the ISS and we had a video chat. They're coming to rescue us. YES!
-----
The Boss was mad.
A Human FTL ship was rescuing the Humans. The Assimilation fleet had seen it's first total defeat since its inception, and the Emperor was breathing down his neck.
Maybe Kronfol had been right.
-----
Zaryos was in awe.
The Humans had invented FTL just to rescue nine people. She watch them engage in a video call with the ones who docked to the space station, and as they left for the planet's surface. She watched them streak down in a re-entry burn, heading right for them. The last month had seen Humanity do many things, and she was glad to have a new species as a friend.
They were being rescued.
-----
The War Council cheered.
"We saw the ultimate destruction of Freebird II, but Freebird I managed to pull through. We did it, people, we did it!"
And then, they got the news.
-----
The ISS was being pushed into FTL. As our rescue ship began the two-minute charge to Pulse, I looked around.
We scattered satellites all over the planet, and dropped even more supplies on the ground. We would be back for the survivors, but for now, we were needed back in Sol.
I watched through the window as a swirling mass of color with black and white lines chasing each other across it took over from the stars. A tear rolled down my cheek.
We had done it. We had survived. We had made first contact. We had made friends.
And we had made enemies. But I would deal with that another day. Because, most of all, we had finally made friends, with aliens, but also with ourselves.
-----
[34,864] characters excluding this last part.
Well, won’t you look at that, my longest writing project so far was posted in eleven parts to a writing prompt.
Anyway, I’m not sure whether to continue this further. It has potential, but my mind is being slushied by personal life (school isn’t really that bad for now).
Credit to u/RevenantThyamis for the prompt. Credit to u/gafser for getting me to write a part 2.
Special mention to u/LalaAnAbsolute for sticking with the story the entire time, and getting me to write parts 3 and above. Thank you to everyone!

I was a trucker. This happened to me four weeks ago.
It was about 11:34 pm, and it was raining heavily outside. Real torrential stuff and the trees were all freaking wagging like dog tails. My windshield looked like a waterfall, and my headlights could just barely illuminate the road ahead of me. I've driven through storms before, but I'd never seen anything like this. It was a real pain in the ass. But, it was also kind of cozy at the same time, me being in my nice warm truck and listening to the rain pattering on the roof. It was so soothing that my lids started to feel a little heavy, and the coffee wasn't helping all that much.
Up ahead, I could see someone walking along the side of the road. As my headlights neared the figure, I saw that it was a man. All he was wearing was a dark green overcoat, dark trousers, and muddy boots. I was frigging flabbergasted. Why would anybody be out in this kind of weather? Plus he wasn't wearing the appropriate attire.
I started feeling kind of bad for the guy. Now, us truckers aren't allowed to take in hitchhikers. We need permission to allow someone else into the truck. Not to mention it isn't always safe to allow some random person into the vehicle. But I'm a pretty empathetic guy, I was just raised that way. I just didn't feel right to leave that man out there in that crappy weather. Plus, I'm a decently big guy, so I thought I could handle myself if this guy tried anything.
I honked my horn and slowed my truck to a stop. The man stopped walking and looked over at my truck. I rolled down the windshield and called to him.
"Hey! Do you need a ride? It's pissing down out here!"
The man cocked his head to the side and continued to stare at me.
"Its alright. I'm just a truck driver! I don't bite!"
The man stood there, silently regarding me. Then he started walking towards my truck slowly. I rolled my window back up, and then I opened the passenger door for him. When he appeared at the door and I got a close-up look at him, my eyes widened.
This guy was huge, bigger than I was. Real tall, and sort of "wiry-strong" built. His face was really weird looking. It was long and very sharply featured, and his jawline was very narrow. His nose was broad and flat, his lips were thin and colourless, and his hair was long and slicked back, reaching down to the base of his neck. His skin was as pale as the damn moon.
The strangest thing about him though was his eyes. They were big and very vibrant green in colour. I'd never seen anything like them before. They kind of reminded me of a cat's eyes. They were just... uncanny.
The man entered my truck, sat down in the passenger seat, and shut the door. Then he put his seatbelt on. He didn't have any luggage with him or anything. All he had was the clothes on his back. However, I did notice something in one of the pockets on his overcoat, and I thought it might have been his wallet.
"So, where do you need to go?" I asked the man, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
The man just glanced at me and said:
"Are there any towns near here?"
"Do you need to go to any specific ones?" I asked.
"No." Answered the man.
"Well, would it be okay if I drop you off in the town I'm heading to?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine."
We drove in silence for a few minutes. The only noise was the rain pattering on the roof, and the mechanical whirring of the windshield wipers vainly trying to keep the windshield from being engulfed. The man was mostly just staring out the passenger window, or occasionally glancing at the windshield. Eventually, the silence got a bit awkward for me, so I tried starting up a conversation.
"So uh... what's you're name? Mine's Keith."
The man glanced at me, his green eyes emotionless and uninterested.
"Lyall." He briefly replied.
"So, Lyall, where're you from? Have you always lived in New Hampshire?"
"I'd rather not say where I'm from."
"Oh, that's fine. Sorry for asking." I replied with a small smile.
"Have you always lived here?" He asked.
"Yeah. I was born in Bartlett and lived there until I was ten. And then my family moved to Clarksville." I replied.
Lyall then turned to fully face me, and I had to stop myself from looking away from his eyes. They were just so damn... intense. Like full-on soul-gazing.
"What are the smallest towns in this county?" He asked.
"Um... I can't really think of any off the top of my head. But, I'd say most of the towns around here aren't super big. This county's the least populated one in the whole state." I replied.
"I see." Replied Lyall.
Things went quiet again for a little while. But then Lyall leaned back in the passenger seat and let out a wide yawn, and I got a full view of his chompers. My god, they made my frigging jaw drop. His canines were enormous, much bigger than any I'd seen on any other person before. Big and curved, kind of like smaller versions of a Chimpanzee's. Lyall caught me staring.
"Its not polite to stare, y'know." He said.
I shook myself out of my stupor and tried to think up an excuse. And, well, it ended up being a crappy one.
"Sorry, Lyall. Its just... uh... My brother-in-law is a dentist and he likes talking to me about... dentistry stuff and... I've developed a bit of a... fascination with teeth." I said with a red face.
Lyall just stared at me. God, his eyes were like daggers. Then, he smiled slightly, and I felt anxiety begin to swell up in my mind.
"Oh, he's a dentist is he? What's his area of expertise?" He asked.
"Um... he's a..."
Lyall cut me off before I could think up an excuse.
"You must know. I mean he does talk to you in detail about it. So, what is it? Orthodontic? Periodontal? Pediatric? Prosthodontic? Endodontic? Cosmetic? Or is he just a general dentist?"
I weighed my options. I didn't know any of them. So in the end, I just settled on a general dentist.
"Oh, he's a general dentist. He doesn't really discuss his procedures with me or anything." I replied with an awkward smile.
Lyall eyes narrowed, and I felt like crapping myself. He looked frigging scary with his eyes like that. Hell, he looked scary anyway, but his glare just made him even scarier.
"He's not a dentist, isn't he?"
I looked down in defeat
"No. No he isn't."
Lyall just sat there, pretty much scolding me with his eyes. And then he turned away from me, faced the windshield, and sighed.
"Just so you know, these fangs aren't actually mine. They're implants. You know, cosmetic surgery? I'm... into body modification."
"Are you? Oh that's cool. Sorry for staring and all that bullcrap about dentistry. I just... didn't want to seem rude or anything." I replied.
"Well, just don't lie. Truthfulness is a better virtue." Said Lyall.
Silence returned, much to my relief. Lyall was pretty damn difficult to talk with. I just couldn't look into his eyes for very long, and those teeth weren't exactly pleasant to look at either. Plus, I kind of found him to be a bit stuck up too. His listing off all those dentist professions just to stump me was kind of unwarranted. I would've given a piece of my mind about that if he weren't so damn scary-looking.
Not feeling like talking to Lyall anymore, I decided to turn the radio on. I went onto one of the news stations and stumbled upon a pretty disturbing story. A vagrant had been found dead about five miles away from our location. He'd been mauled something fierce, limbs had been torn off as well as his bottom jaw.
"Jesus christ." I breathed as I listened to the gruesome incident.
Lyall just sat there staring at the radio, and then he reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a plastic bag that looked like it was filled with beef jerky. He opened up the bag, pulled out five strips of jerky, and shoved them all into his mouth.
Despite his loud and rather gross chewing, I eyed the jerky. It looked pretty damn good. Lyall noticed my hungry eyes, and he pulled out three strips and offered them to me with a small smile.
"Want to try some?"
"Yes please." I said with a grin.
I put one of the strips into my mouth, and Lyall watched me eat it with a somewhat amused look on his face. Much to my surprise, it wasn't beef jerky at all. It was pork jerky.
"This stuff is really good, did you make it yourself?" I asked.
"No. I... bought it at a... roadside barbecue."
I swiftly scarfed down the other two strips. God, that was probably the nicest jerky I'd ever tasted. It was like heaven in a piece of desiccated meat.
"Kinda messed up what happened to that hobo. A big bear must've gotten him. Oh, I saw a frigging massive Black Bear near Shelburne once. God, it had to be about seven feet and probably four-hundred pounds at least. Looked like a damn grizzly. My dad would've given his left hand to shoot that thing." I said.
"Not much honour in shooting a beast. Up close with a knife, spear or your bare hands is better. It's more even that way. Gives the beast a fighting chance." Said Lyall.
"Easy for you to say. You're built like a goddamn bear." I remarked with a smile.
"Eh, you have a point." Replied Lyall.
"Now, I can find it feasible to fight a wolf or maybe a puma with a knife, but no way in hell with a bear. Especially a grizzly. Kodiaks and Polars are just out of the question. Fighting any animal bigger than a dog with your bare hands is completely out of the question, Lyall."
Lyall turned to face me and grinned. There were tiny bits of jerky still stuck between his big as-hell teeth.
"You want to know what it's like to get bitten, by a bear?"
I cocked an eyebrow up at his question.
"Have you ever been bitten? Crap, have you actually fought bears?" I asked.
Lyall ignored my question and then leaned towards me, and I couldn't help but shy away from his nasty-looking chompers and those goddamn eyes. His breath stunk too.
His voice a hissing whisper, he told me what it felt like.
"It feels like having three bear traps clamping onto your arm, the spikes sinking into your flesh like butter. And then the pressure increases and increases until the bone cracks in half like a stick. Bears also like to go for the jawbone too, because that's how they often fight with each other. Bears tend to attack humans like they're other bears."
My skin turned pale white as Lyall's words slithered into my ears. Lyall backed off, quietly chuckling. I started laughing nervously a little myself.
He suddenly leaned toward the windshield and squinted his eyes. Then he sat back against the chair.
"There's a gas station up ahead."
"Oh good. I need to top up my coffee and maybe get some food. And I need to take a piss too. You need anything?"
Lyall shook his head.
"No. I'll wait in the truck."
I slowed my truck to a stop just outside the gas station. When the dome light came on, I noticed Lyall's eyes suddenly flash yellow for a split second. You know like when you shine a torch at a dog or a cat and their eyes start glowing? It was kind of like that. I was weirded out for a second. But I quickly ended up just disregarding it as me just seeing things out of tiredness.
I stepped out into the pouring rain and howling wind, fastened my jacket, and then ran for the gas station entrance. The guy behind the counter looked half asleep, and the light on the ceiling was dim and emitted a faint buzzing sound. In short, the place looked like a craphole in serious need of renovations.
The first thing I needed to do was use the restroom. Judging by the state of the main area of the building, I mentally prepared myself for what I would witness in there. I opened the door and much to my surprise, found the restroom to be surprisingly clean. There wasn't much of an odour either. I walked in, shut the door behind me, and entered one of the stalls. I've just never liked using urinals, too pee shy. I emptied my bladder into the bowl, flushed, and then washed my hands. The hand wash they had smelt like heaven.
When I exited the restroom, the clerk was no longer behind the counter. I just shrugged it off and thought that he was maybe sleeping in the backroom or something. The poor bastard looked like he needed it. I grabbed a bag of chips and got myself a fresh coffee from the coffee machine, and then I left the money for it on the counter.
When I got back to my truck, Lyall was gone. He'd left a note on my dashboard. He thanked me for giving him a ride, and he'd also left me fifteen dollars, and that bag of delicious pork jerky too. Bitchin. I drove away from the gas station, now continuing my journey alone. Although we'd only known each other for about two hours, and he'd scared the crap outta me a couple of times, I'd be lying if I said I didn't kind of miss Lyall. At least I'd had someone to talk to. Trucking can be pretty damn lonely sometimes.
I arrived at my destination around at 5:47 in the morning. I dropped off my cargo, and then I booked a room in this cozy little motel. I had a nice sleep for about three hours before being woken up by a loud knocking at my motel room door. I groggily got up, put my trousers and jacket back on, and answered the door. My eyes widened like saucers when I saw two cops standing at the doorway.
"Mister Devereux?" Asked one of the officers.
"I am." I replied.
"We need to take you down to the station for questioning." Said the same officer.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"We'll explain when we get there."
When we got to the station, I was frigging shocked by what the police told me. The clerk at the gas station we stopped at had gone missing. And what made it all the more shocking was the CCTV footage that they showed me. The security camera at the back of the gas station had captured a dark figure ripping open the backdoor and entering the building. As soon as I saw the footage, I knew that it was Lyall.
The next footage they showed me chilled me to the bone. This one was captured by the camera in the main room. It showed me entering through the sliding doors, checking the place out, and then heading to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, the footage showed Lyall opening the door to the storage room behind the counter, grabbing the clerk, and pulling him into the storage room before slamming the door shut. God, he'd frigging rag-dolled the guy.
The footage after had been captured by the camera in the storage room. It showed Lyall biting into the clerk's neck and tearing out his throat. Then he slung the man over his shoulder and walked out the backdoor and then vanished into the woods behind the gas station.
I watched this all in silent terror. After showing me the footage, the police started questioning me. I told them everything. How I'd picked up Lyall from the side of the road, drove to the gas station, and how he was gone when I returned to my truck. I told them that I thought he'd just gone off on his own and I'd had no idea that he'd attacked the clerk. Luckily, they believed me. But they did ask to check my truck out for any clues, such as Lyall's fingerprints and stuff.
I had to phone the company I worked for and explain to them what had happened. And well, my ass ended up getting canned. I was stuck in that town for a week, and my god it was the worst week of my life. Stuck in that motel room, staring up at the ceiling from my bed, ruminating on the fact that I'd sat inches away from some animalistic maniac for over two hours, and been chummy with him. How I'd been in a restroom nonchalantly doing my business while an innocent man was being ripped apart in the other room. The nightmares I had were fucking horrific. Even now, after all this time, I'm still hit with them late at night.
It felt like heaven when I finally got my truck back and could leave that town. But of course, now I was no longer a trucker. After I gave the truck back to the company, I headed back to my hometown and now I'm working in my parents' diner again. Can't say I won't miss trucking. Thanks a lot Lyall.
Something strange happened to me a couple of weeks after the incident. Two FBI agents (I think) showed up at my house and started asking me questions about Lyall. They told me they needed a bit more information to help with the case, as they'd still not managed to find either him or the body of the gas station clerk. They wanted to know everything about him, even the most minute of details. What he looked like, how he moved, how he talked, and even how he smelt. They wrote down every single thing I told them, no matter how brief. They thanked me for my time and then they left.
A short while after that, another weird thing happened. When I was manning the counter at my folks' diner, this woman came in. She was wearing sunglasses and a scarf. She looked almost exactly like Lyall. Tall and lean, and a long face with a narrow jaw. She had different coloured hair though, auburn compared to Lyall's deep black.
She sat at one of the booths, and she noticed me staring at her. She then grinned at me, and much like Lyall, her canines were huge. I promptly told my parents that I didn't feel well, and finished work early that day. When I got home, I locked all of my doors and windows and stayed in my bedroom for the rest of the day. I frigging cleared out my closet and turn on every single light in my bedroom. And I didn't dare look out of my window blinds. Unsurprisingly, for me anyway, a trapper went missing that night.
I don't go out much anymore. And I sure as hell don't pick up random people off the side of the road anymore either.

- Need everything gone ASAP. BUY EVERYTHING!
- If the prices seems not right or too high, just propose me something. You might be surprise. I don't have the knowledge of price market at the moment. Worst I can say is no.
- No trades, shipping at your expense
- ASC seller rating : https://airsoftcanada.com/itrader.php?u=4613
- eBay seller rating : https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/838patches
​
G&P M870 Breacher - Sping - $200
Sold like this: https://i.imgur.com/nnNll6F.jpg
​
- 6x shells holder
- Skeleton stock
- Original breacher muzzle break
- Original rail covers x3
- Some extra parts
- Krylon tan painted
- Come with 1 mag
​
GBBs
https://i.imgur.com/Qas1fIg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BIlvppc.jpg
​
EMG / SAI 2011 DS 5.1 with gold color barrel - $240
- 1x original mag
​
WE 1911 Desert Warrior with Kimber trade - $240
- 3x mags (2x Stainless, 1 x black)
- Real Blackhawk 1911 CQC Holster with belt attachement
​
Optics
https://i.imgur.com/NkDVubh.jpg
''Layzers''
https://i.imgur.com/r3lokQh.jpg
​
1 - Vector Optics Grimlock 1-6x24 - New - $120
2 - PEQ-2 battery pack w/red dot laser - New - $20
3 - LA-5 / PEQ 15 dummy - It's a plastic box - New - $10
​
1 - CNVD-T replica - no purpose except you look like a real G - See through - $40
2 - Eotech EXPS3 replica with trade and quick detach mount - Good condition - $40
3 - Leupold MK4 replica - 3.5-10x40 with Geissele replica mount in FDE - Good condition except the camo tape, have some glue residue - $60
5 - Vortex Razor HD 1-6x24 replica with trade - Geissele mount replica in FDE, Magnification lever, Killflash and lens flip cover - That thing is beautiful and well built - New - $300
2 - AN/PEQ 15 dummy - It's a plastic box - New - $10
4 - LA-5 PEQ - New - Red laser and white light - No pressure switch - $50
​
Parts
https://i.imgur.com/4D6hceL.jpg
​
1 - Accu-Tac bipods replica in FDE with rail mount - New - $40
2 - Surefire Supressor replica - 4 prongs flashhider - FDE Glass Breaker - $60
3 - Magpul PTS (Real) handgrip for M4 AEG - FDE (?) - $20
4 - Magpull PTS (Real) MOE Stock - FDE - $40
5 - TangoDown foregrip replica in AOR1 with quick detach mount - Almost new - $20
6 - Magpul MOE RVG foregrip replica in FDE - Almost new - $20
7 - TangoDown foregrip replica in FDE with quick detach mount - Almost new - $20
8 - Troy Industries replica Tan BUIS with trade - New - $20
9 - Troy Industries replica Tan BUIS no trade - New - $20
​
Parts #2
https://i.imgur.com/XwtN97M.jpg
​
1 - DBOYS Rail covers - New - $10
2 - VFC URX 7'' (ES version - one block) - New (Barrel nut as some scratches, was really hard to remove) - $30
3 - ACM RIS w/ trades - Black with old paint - Used - $20
4 - ACM plastic handguard for M4 - New - $10
5 - ACM Plastic stock for AR - New - $10
6 - G&P M4 stock - Used (Was sanded) - $20\~
7 - HK416 grip for AEG - $5
8 - VFC HK416A5 grip for GBBR - Finger groove is sanded - $5
9 - M16 marksman grip for AEG - No bottom plate - $5
10 - Grip Pod GPS.02 (Real) - New w/ scratches - $50
11 - TM FPS reducer w/ all rings - New - $10
12 - PDI FTE muzzle brake - New - $60
13 - SCAR-H flashhider - Used - $10
14 - VFC M4A1 AEG barrel - New w/ scratches - No flashhider - $25
​
Accessories
https://i.imgur.com/AM680RP.jpg
​
1 - PEQ-2 battery pack w/red dot laser - New - $20
2 - PEQ-15 dummy - $10
3 - Harris AN/PRC152 dummy - Used (removed some inside parts, not affecting the integrity) - $10
4 - MSA PRC PTT (Real) - 21in total - Used in very good condition - $60
5 - Flashlight mount in tan/FDE - New - $10
6 - Ops-Core shroud replica - New - $5
7 - Norotos NVG shroud replica - New - $5
​
MOLLE Pouches
https://i.imgur.com/gmkB5DR.jpg
​
1 - Blackhawk M60/dump pouches - OD Green - Light use - $20
2 - Blackhawk dual pistol pouch w/ retaining insert - OD Green - Light use - $20
3 - Pantac Side dual smoke pouch - Coyote Tan - New - $10 each
4 - TAG 2x2 M4 mag pouch (4 mags total) - Ranger Green - Light Use - $20
5 - Flyye .45 single stack mag pouch w/ insert - Coyote Brown - New - $10 each
6 - Eagle Industries 9mm mag pouch w/ insert - Coyote Brown - New - $20 each
7 - Tactical Tailor Grenade pouch - No Malice clips - M81 Woodland - New - $10 each
8 - Eagle Industries Grenade pouch - Coyote Brown - used - $10 each
9 - Pantac Dual M4 mags pouch - Coyote Brown - New - $10
10 - TAG MBTIR radio pouch - Coyote Brown - Used (Small piece cut) - $20
11 - S.O. Tech CIMP, the “El Dwiggo” Medical Pouch - OD Green - Slightly used - $40
12 - Tactical tailor Canteen/Utility pouch - No Malice clips - Coyote brown - Used - $20
13 - Eagle Industries RLCS MBTIR pouch - Ranger Green - Used - $15
​
Gear
https://i.imgur.com/ymIiItr.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ymIiItr.jpg
​
1 - Tactical Medical Solution Foxtrot Litter - Black - New - $160
2 - ATS RAID II Pack - Black - New - $180
3 - TAD Stealth Jacket (Real) Gen 1 - Black - Medium - Used - $120
4 - Emerson ''Crye'' Combat Pants w/ Kneepads - Waist: 32W / Inseam: 32 - Khaki - New - $40
5 - FFI ''Crye'' Combat shirt and pants w/ real Crye Kneepads - Medium / Regular - M81 Woodland - New (But lightly faded) - $120 set
​
Gear
https://imgur.com/hCKmApT
​
1 - ATS Cobra pack with 2x TAG GP pouches, 2x ATS Nalgene pouche, 1x Eagle Ind MBITR pouch - Ranger Green - Used - $250
2 - ILBE Issued ruck - MARPAT - Used in very good condition - $180
3 - ILBE Assault pack with Tactical Tailor Admin pouch - MARPAT - Used in very good condition - $100
4 - Propper APCU Level 5 Softshell - Alpha Green (Foliage Green) - Medium - Almost new - $60
​
Other
https://i.imgur.com/0PmnejE.jpg
​
1 - Olaes Modular Bandage 4'' (Real) - Expired but good seal - $5 each (2x left)
2 - CAT tourniquet (Real) - Used but never used - $15 (2x Grey CAT SOLD)
3 - H & H Compressed Gauze (Real) - New w/ good seal - $5 each (2 left)
4 - Triage cards - New - Free with other medical purchase

I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
*
After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
*
I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X
*
Thanks for reading! If you want more from this universe check out The X and Wye Anthology Series
-- Jack
*

This is the twelfth track from Modest Mouse’s original debut album, Sad Sappy Sucker. The album was shelved upon completion and eventually released in 2001. How do you feel about this song? What are some of your favorite lyrics? What’s your favorite live performance of the song? How would you rank it among the rest of the band’s discography? How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)?
Studio version
SUGGESTED SCALE: 1-4: Not good. Regularly skip. 5: It’s okay, but I might have to be in the right mood to listen to it. 6: Slightly better than average. I won’t skip it, but I wouldn’t choose to put it on. 7: This is a good song. I enjoy it quite a bit. 8-9: Really enjoyable songs. I rank them pretty high overall. 10: Masterpiece, magnum opus, or similar terminology.
Rating Results 1. Worms Vs. Birds: 7.01/10 2. Four Fingered Fisherman: 6.67/10 3. Wagon Ride Return: 4.56/10 4. Classy Plastic Lumber: 6.98/10 5. From Point A to Point B (Infinity): 7.04/10 6. Path of Least Resistance: 4.11/10 7. It Always Rains on a Picnic: 7.25/10 8. Dukes Up: 7.45/10 9. Think Long: 6.44/10 10. Every Penny Fed Car: 7.39/10 11. Mice Eat Cheese: 12. Race Car Grin You Ain’t No Landmark:

Not for promoting - strictly for sharing love of the 90s
Tracklist (year in parentheses if not within 90s)

• AK Skillz - Check Tha Flavor
• Black Moon - I Gotcha Opin
• Common - Resurrection 95 Mix (inst)
• DJ Krush ft Big Shug - Most Wanted Man
• Emanon ft Dr Oop - Detour (2002)
• Forty Winks - For The Traveller (2006)
• Gang Starr ft Inspektah Deck - Above The Clouds
• Handsome Boy Modelling School - The Projects
• IG Off - Red Cent
• Jurassic 5 - In The Flesh
• Kankick - Kanstrumental 6 (2000)
• L - lost in the post...
• Mr Scruff - Vibrate (2002)
• Nas - The World Is Yours
• Ohmega Watts - Wind It Up (2004)
• Pete Rock ft Method Man - Half Man Half Amazing
• Quasimoto - Astronaut (2002)
• Rob Swift - Dope On Plastic (Inst)
• Sonic Sum - Paste (2000)
• A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God (Remmmmmmx)
• Ugly Duckling - If You Wanna Know (2001)
• Via Tania - Lightning & Thunder (2003)
• Wagon Christ - Ain’t He Heavy, He’s Ma Brothuu (2004)
• XYZ… also lost in the post

Florida Panthers (36-28-7) @ Philadelphia Flyers (26-32-12)

• Game Time: March 21, 2023 @ 07:00 PM EDT
• Venue: Wells Fargo Center
• TV: Panthers: BSFLX, Flyers: NBCSP
• Radio: Panthers: WQAM, Flyers: 97.5 The Fanatic
• NHL GameCenter

Final: 6-3 Flyers

Linescore

	1st	2nd	3rd		TOTAL
Panthers	1	1	1		3
Flyers	1	4	1		6

Scoring Summary

Per./Time	Team	Description & Video Link	Score
1st 01:15	FLA	[Matthew Tkachuk (34) Tip-In, assists: Carter Verhaeghe (28), Eetu Luostarinen (23)]()	1-0 FLA
1st 04:43	PHI	[Joel Farabee (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Noah Cates (19), Egor Zamula (3)]()	1-1
2nd 08:42	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (6) Snap Shot, assists: Brendan Lemieux (6)]()	2-1 PHI
2nd 14:17	FLA	[Brandon Montour (13) Snap Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (44), Sam Reinhart (27)]()	2-2
2nd 16:54	PHI	[Scott Laughton (16) Backhand, assists: Tony DeAngelo (27), Egor Zamula (4)]()	3-2 PHI
2nd 18:05	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (7) Backhand, assists: Noah Cates (20), Joel Farabee (19)]()	4-2 PHI
2nd 18:55	PHI	[Ivan Provorov (5) Backhand, assists: Tyson Foerster (3), Morgan Frost (21)]()	5-2 PHI
3rd 13:49	FLA	PPG - [Sam Reinhart (27) Wrist Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (45), Brandon Montour (47)]()	5-3 PHI
3rd 17:59	PHI	Empty Net - [Morgan Frost (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Tyson Foerster (4)]()	6-3 PHI

Penalty Summary

Per./Time	Team	Type	Description
1st 01:28	PHI	2:00 Minor	James van Riemsdyk Holding against Marc Staal
1st 13:35	PHI	2:00 Minor	Tony DeAngelo Slashing against Givani Smith
3rd 10:58	FLA	5:00 Major	Radko Gudas Fighting against Brendan Lemieux
3rd 10:58	PHI	2:00 Minor	Brendan Lemieux Instigator against Radko Gudas served by Tyson Foerster
3rd 10:58	PHI	5:00 Major	Brendan Lemieux Fighting against Radko Gudas
3rd 10:58	PHI	10:00 Misconduct	Brendan Lemieux Misconduct against Radko Gudas

Scratches

Panthers	Flyers
Sam Bennett	Justin Braun
Anthony Duclair	Kieffer Bellows
	Tanner Laczynski

Game Stats

	SOG	FO%	PP	PIM	Hits	Blks	GVA
Panthers	44	49%	1/4 (25%)	9	21	8	4
Flyers	24	51%	0/2 (0%)	23	22	22	10

Panthers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Eetu Luostarinen	0	1	-1	1	0	0	0	0	16:49
C Eric Staal	0	0	-3	2	1	2	1	0	15:25
C Carter Verhaeghe	0	1	0	9	0	0	2	0	19:12
C Sam Reinhart	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	24:07
C Colin White	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:51
C Aleksander Barkov	0	2	0	7	1	2	0	0	23:35
C Anton Lundell	0	0	-2	3	0	0	0	0	15:02
C Nick Cousins	0	0	-2	1	0	0	0	0	12:51
D Marc Staal	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	20:09
D Aaron Ekblad	0	0	-2	0	1	1	0	2	19:07
D Brandon Montour	1	1	1	5	1	0	0	0	24:20
D Casey Fitzgerald	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:31
D Gustav Forsling	0	0	-3	1	0	0	1	2	18:39
D Radko Gudas	0	0	-2	3	1	1	0	5	13:57
D Josh Mahura	0	0	-2	1	1	0	0	0	14:16
LW Matthew Tkachuk	1	0	0	4	0	2	0	0	22:53
LW Ryan Lomberg	0	0	-3	1	0	1	0	0	14:04
RW Givani Smith	0	0	-1	3	0	0	0	0	7:20

Panthers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Alex Lyon	18	23	78.3%	56:16
Sergei Bobrovsky	0	0	-	0:00

Flyers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Scott Laughton	1	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	11:18
C Kevin Hayes	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	15:07
C Morgan Frost	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	0	17:33
D Travis Sanheim	2	0	3	2	2	0	1	0	17:21
D Ivan Provorov	1	0	-1	1	2	0	2	0	21:13
D Rasmus Ristolainen	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	19:32
D Tony DeAngelo	0	1	2	2	1	0	2	2	20:51
D Nick Seeler	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	2	10:45
D Egor Zamula	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	13:09
D Cam York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15:52
LW James van Riemsdyk	0	0	0	4	1	2	0	2	14:12
LW Brendan Lemieux	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	17	13:58
LW Nicolas Deslauriers	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	8:21
LW Noah Cates	0	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	19:27
LW Joel Farabee	1	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	20:38
RW Wade Allison	0	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	15:04
RW Tyson Foerster	0	2	1	1	3	1	0	0	17:37
RW Owen Tippett	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	18:19

Flyers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Carter Hart	41	44	93.2%	59:34
Felix Sandstrom	0	0	-	0:00

Metro Division Scoreboard

Blue Jackets (5) @ (6) Capitals - 3rd 02:07
Maple Leafs (2) @ (4) Islanders - 3rd 13:53
Hurricanes (3) @ (2) Rangers - Final
Wild (2) @ (1) Devils - Final
^{Last Updated: 03/21/2023 09:38:05 PM EDT}

​
A rule breaking truck driver takes a forbidden detour.
​
Don't Feed the Pumpkins
I'm typing this as a record of what has happened to me. If someone should find me out here, where ever here is, this is what happened and who is responsible. Also, out of the dozens of vehicles bogged down in this field, mine is the Blue Jay 2013 Freight Liner. If I should die and it is recoverable, it should go to my son, John Grainger in Antioch, Illinois.
I left Litchfield Illinois around 2pm on Halloween with a last-minute load of pumpkins destined for the Antioch Walmart. Despite the fact I was once that told Illinois is the #1 pumpkin producer in the country the itself state appears to be in the midst of a shortage. I was due in about 8pm, but I was trying get in by 6pm and after unloading, I was going to visit my wife Carly and my son for Halloween. It was going to be the first Halloween in my son's life that I was going to be there for trick o treating. My wife was making a big deal out of it and John was 10 now, so, she said he would be “scarred with disappointment” if I didn't show now. So, I probably should have gotten better sleep the night before and sue me, I was gear jamming and popping go-pills like popcorn. Don't look down on me, don't be fooled, this is just the nature of the trucking industry. Everyone does it and I'm not afraid to tell it like it is.
Just after Normal on 39 I hit a wall of traffic. I could hear on the CB that there is a hazmat incident up ahead and they require special teams to clear it off. I, like the other truckers, get to gabbing on the radio, looking for shortcuts. To my surprise, after scrutinizing this route several times before, I was informed about a “gutshot” shortcut just ahead that could get in me into my destination at least an hour earlier, even with the fact I had sat in the backup for at least 45 minutes at this point. A second comrade in gears piped in and stated that the shortcut was closed. The first driver contradicted him and stated, he had used it two weeks ago, it was wide open country land you could go 70 the whole way, and the only town along the way had burned down in an industrial accident 30 years ago. The second trucker chimed in again. He said it was closed for tonight and only tonight and not to use it. I disregarded the second trucker, exited the interstate and followed the directions of the first trucker.
Well, Carly, you always said it would be this way. You always said, I needed to learn how to follow directions to not cut so many damn corners all the time. You always told me didn't put in the work, and the funny thing is, for the first time, on this drive, get there, I did. Sure, I cut all the corners, but I wanted to to put in the work. But you're right, I never put a second of effort in, and if this is how it ends, I suppose you're right, I never will. But I guess, one way or another, you're getting what you've wanted, what you text me, what you don't tell me about, and what I didn't care about. I was coming home for him and damn it, I know it won't hold up in court but I want my boy to get the damn truck!
Anyway, I found the road, 2 lanes clear to the sky, surrounded by corn and then pumpkin fields forever. My straight shot, I pushed 80 the whole way flying on cracked asphalt, diesel, and go-pills. Ahead, there were barricades and I applied the brakes and barely stopped in time. I got out and saw they were chained up with a padlock to concrete posts in the ground. In theory, I could blast through them but I would sustain serious damage. The ground was a bit wet so I didn't think I could cross the ditch and field and not get stuck either. The barricades were not official in the least. They had a sign on them made out of it mailbox stick-on letters which said: “Do Not Feed The Pumpkins”. As far as I could see from my cab and binoculars, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the damn road. I said hell and I knew it would take hours to reverse course and get back in time – in time to even unload much less make it in time to go trick o treating.
And I said it wasn't worth it. I didn't bother to call. I'd just show up now. Because it wasn't my fault. So I started back, turning around with great difficulty. I traveled back 2 miles and saw small signs for a rest area. I must have missed it the first time, too deep into the zone I suppose now. I needed to pee and probably eat a bit before starting a roundabout way back, so I stopped. It was a little old 2 story joint with a small dinner on the 1st level and looked like 4 or 5 small motel rooms on top and oddly an outhouse for a restroom. I want to emphasize the outhouse because that is how you'll find and catch this guy, the guy who did this to me. It was Bill Shaw of Shaw's Shack, who did this to me. It had a sign with the building, it too was made of stick-on letters and vaguely resembled a huge ransom note. It read “Yes! We are open! We are the only rest area for 67 miles and 1 of 2 “tombstones” for the late great town of Pumpkin Grove Illinois – the former pumpkin capital of Illinois. Ask Your host, Bill Shaw about the Pumpkin-beef-bean stew!
The parking lot had three vehicles in it, not including my own, a silver Prius, a grand cheeroke with wood panels, and an older model chevy pick up truck. I went inside. The dinner was small, set in a rustic décor with old license plates nailed to the walls. The cafe had eight counter seats and two smaller tables near the two windows. There were two witnesses to what happened that night, to what Bill Shaw did – at least partial witnesses. There was the older man with stringy white hair and octagonal glasses – unfortunately, I didn't get his name. There was that irritating millennial – All I remember is the metal crap in her ears and lip. Hell, if I die and John starts ever pulling that crap, I'll come back and haunt the crap out of both of you. Anyway, now, I wish I could remember their names or something else about them to put here. I didn't care about either one of them enough to remember.
I guess that goes for Shaw too. He was a bit taller as sometimes I couldn't see his face while sitting at the counter because of the low lights in the ceiling blocking his face. He had gray hair. Hell. That's it. Anyway, the old man said he was part of a historical society, said he spent the better part of his past two years tracking down anyone or anything about Pumpkin Grove. The college student – of course – it was college student said she was from the school newspaper, looking for a spooky story. When she asked me where I was from, I didn't respond.
Shaw came from the kitchen with two big bowls of the famous Pumpkin-beef-bean stew for first two. He seemed taken back by my presence for a bit before saying “howdy” and trying to get real friendly with me. He asked what media I was from. I told him I wasn't from no media and I was trying to get through the barricade up ahead. Neither of the other two seemed to know about the barricade. Shaw said he didn't know anything about it either. I was suspicious of him then because of the lettering on the signs. But I didn't push it. I wanted to eat and he said my choice was the stew or stew. So the stew seemed fine. He said he wished he had more time to chat with me but he promised to tell the story of Pumpkin Grove to the two others but I was welcome to listen and ask questions. I didn't say it but I couldn't care less, I was going no where fast and I needed to eat.
He started off by saying he and his wife are among a handful of survivors of the fire that consumed the town of Pumpkin Grove some 30 years ago on Halloween night. Then his story descended into a cross between a rambling fading nightmare and a ghost story. He said, without hesitation, fear of consequence or remorse that he was accessory to a murder in his childhood. Specifically, some 40 years ago, again on Halloween, he was friends with a small group of young men including one named Donnie, who was a little slow and had a slightly misshaped head. He was picked on a lot by the Gerst Brothers, notorious town bullies and teenage thugs of a bad seed thanks to their neglectful alcoholic single father. Long story short, he said, the Gerst Brothers lured Donnie, himself and another 2 boys out to a pumpkin field where they gave back Donnie's missing dog. Apparently they kidnapped the dog and wrapped every inch of it in duct tape a few days ago. They watched us try to peel and pull the duct tape off while the weakened, hungry, and thirsty dog whimpered away its last in the field. Unbeknownst to any of us, Donnie had a pocket knife and he lost it as the Gerst Brothers cackled around him and the dead dog. He leaped up as they laughed and sliced the vein on their necks. One of the Brothers died quickly while Donnie and the two others fought the other to death. Shaw said he just stood there, covered in arterial blood splatters, watching Donnie and the others finish off the Gersts.
Much of the town was shockingly grateful to hear the Gerst Brothers were dead and everyone was all too happy to sweep it under the rug rather than have 4 of their sons incarcerated for decades when they were needed to help with the town's bread and butter – the Pumpkins. So, they buried the Gerst Brothers in that field and grew pumpkins on their corpses and no one really talked about it. The town paid off their father, who was too inebriated most of the time to care and he gleefully drank himself to death on the payoff only about a year later.
I didn't have much of a reaction to the story. The historian on the other hand, was hesitant to stay and keep writing and he made a brief protest concerning whether or not the story was true and whether or not he could legally listen to it. Shaw said it was both true and legal. After all, there was nothing left of the town and the remains were long gone and he himself, would not bare witness to himself. The college student's dumb metal encrusted mouth was agape in a mix of horror and disbelief.
I was waiting, patiently, might I add, for my stew. Shaw promised it would be up soon. He continued the story, stating that the fields produced abnormally well afterwards and 10 years later he was visiting his parents with his girlfriend for the annual Pumpkin fest. It was just that the pumpkins weren't just more numerous and larger, or more resistant to the rains and the fungus, they were alive and nothing could keep them tame or from spreading wider and wider. And everyone thought this was great at first, the profits were never higher but then weird things began to happen. Equipment went missing and two farm hands were crushed by a wagon full of pumpkins tipping over onto them in what was at first called a freak accident. Shaw recounted how he took his girlfriend through one of the patches and the vines seem to wind and grapple her legs, of course, Shaw's folks passed it off as her not being used to the mud but Shaw said he knew better.
Shaw continued to describe that over the days that led up to Halloween, the Jack O Lanterns on people's porches and elsewhere began to do some unusual things. Things like seemingly move by themselves from dusk to dawn, changing the carvings of their faces slightly, or appearing to “jump” off a table onto the porch without damage or apparent cause. On the morning of Halloween, Shaw said that he found his black cat, Lucky, incinerated in front of a jack o lantern as if it had breathed fire on to it from its mouth though they had long ago blown out the candle inside.
After the cat burning, the elderly man from the historical society tossed his spoon in his bowl. Shaw asked if something was wrong. The elderly man got up to leave and he said it tasted like bitter cold bull and his story was bull and thanked him for nothing. After checking the remaining contents of his bowl of stew, Shaw chased him out of the door, to his car, asking him what direction he planned to go home. When he peeled out of the parking lot he was headed southwest. Shaw came back in and threw up his hands.
I tell nothing but the truth, he said, most people can't handle it. Part of me wanted to go, but I was cozy there, it was warm and the story, while bull to me at the time, was entertaining enough. The SJW sitting down the way looked exhausted, barely keeping her eyes open as Shaw finished out the story. In short he said, Donnie approached him at dusk on Halloween while he and his family sat on the porch eagerly awaiting trick o treaters. Donnie said the Gerst Brothers are alive in the pumpkins and that they planned to burn the whole town down tonight. Donnie said, he had to tell Shaw because Shaw wasn't supposed to die, he was supposed to watch.
I rudely stopped him and demanded more stew. I was still hungry and the stew was somehow unsatisfying. When he returned, he finished the story, stating the town was suddenly engulfed in flames and their house in particular with Donnie on the porch, flash burned to the ground like napalm from an exploding pumpkin. He escaped with his family and his future wife in the pick up truck sitting outside now.
The college student said she felt like she needed to lay down, that she didn't think she could make back to the campus to the north. Shaw attended to getting her one of the rooms upstairs. I stayed down stairs and went to the back for more stew. I rubbed my eyes intensely and felt as if I too should stay for the night. But in the tug of war between fatigue and dexrine, the dexrine was slowly coming out ahead.
Next to the stew was a cutting board and a knife and on it was some bluish whitish powder which I found peculiar. On floor was a bottle of medication. It was Insomnex – a sleeping pill I use when I'm coming off of dexrine. The stew was dosed.
I ran to my truck and pulled out my dexrine and my revolver. As I climbed out of the driver's side, I could see Shaw running out of the dinner with a huge kitchen knife. I ducked under the trailer and back out on his side and pointed the gun at him.
What the hell I asked as I slowly advanced on him with my snub nose pointed at his head. He dropped the knife. He said, I just wanted to puncture your tires, I had to do something to stop you. I know you want to go north and I know you might be crazy enough and your truck tough enough to smash the barricades but I can't let you. I can't let anyone else go through, he said hysterically. I asked the dumb question about whether or not he set the barricades and just as I previously suspected, he did.
I'm supposed to watch, Shaw cried. No one can get through tonight, no can be allowed to. I told him to shut up as he rambled on about how he and his wife took it upon themselves to ward off travelers on Halloween Night. Its a cursed road tonight, he said, we're cursed to stay here and this is the best we can do to stop it from spreading. Its been calling us for 30 years, he went on, we tried to walk away but it kept on spreading, the pumpkins, he said gritting his teeth in anguish.
Maybe it was the dexrine and the insomnex working together, hell maybe it was the stew by itself but I just started to laugh as I guided Shaw back into the dinner and proceeded to duct tape him down to the dinner chair to make sure he could not cause anymore harm to anyone else until the police arrived. I had some cash on me, I wasn't a criminal, I wasn't going to make it seem like I tied him up and dinned and dashed, I was in the right, I was doing the lawful thing. So I left him exact change, no tip for the food. In the process of making change for myself, I found the padlock key in the cash drawer, I was certain of it at the time as I waved it in front of Shaw and he gasped and thrashed behind the duct tape the hardest.
I got into my truck and gunned it north towards the barricades, which, as I suspected was easily opened with the key I confiscated from Shaw. I got on my CB and started making emergency calls to the State Police, I gave them my name, the location of the diner, and Shaw's name. I was in the middle of nowhere so it didn't surprise me when I got static and no acknowledgment. I had no bars on my cell phone either but that is typical of central Illinois.
I was going along about 70. The sun was almost down but I hadn't seen the moon yet. I turned on the radio and found a classic rock station. The song was Born on the Bayou from CCR. The opening riff perked me up and reassured me that I had done everything all well and all good. If things held, there was a chance, I could get my freight unloaded and see John tonight. I was eagerly tapping the steering wheel waiting to bust into “When I was just a little boy...” But just as the lyrics should have entered, the radio station seemed to have accidentally reset the song, it just started over.
The sun faded away entirely and yet no moon came up. The sky was so dark but I didn't remember seeing any clouds or expecting any for that matter. The song continued restarting itself, the same opening again and again. I flipped through the other stations and all of them had it playing. Eventually, the digital clock on my dash began to spin wildly like the LCD numbers on the tuner while in scan mode. The truck buffeted and shook side to side despite my headlights showing no cause for it.
To my shock, ahead, in the distance was single traffic light. It was went from green, to yellow, and red, as any other traffic light but there were no lights or towns on this road. I slowed to 40, then 35 then to 30 as I entered an unnamed densely populated area with small buildings, stores, and houses and one traffic light. I came to a stop at the light and I looked around, locked my doors and tried to glimpse where I was. Where ever I was, I felt, I felt like I shouldn't be there. There were dim orange lights in some of the rooms of the houses at the edge of the intersection.
I looked up at one of the windows and I saw a figure with large head in the window. I couldn't believe my eyes at least not until the figure turned to face outward. It was a jack o lantern, a classic one with a black glow where the eyes, nose, and mouth sat. It was held up right by a thin vine structure that seemed to grow and stretch as it stuck its head out of the window and let out a barely audible shrill whistle and stared directly at me.
I gunned it. I blew the red light as the town seemed to collapse into nothing by dark green swelling pumpkin vine and a sea of glowing jack o lanterns in my side view mirrors. I hit the radio off because all I could hear on it was that whistle filtering through. I drove and the mass of jack o lanterns grew in the mirrors. I glimpsed the left and right windows and the plains were glowing black with more pumpkins rolling and creeping towards the road.
The road began to warp and bend as I started to red line my truck. The buffeting side to side became difficult to control as the engine groaned. I couldn't explain how the road began to shift nor how the moon, blood orange began to circle around me from horizon to horizon. Aside from the moon, I thought I was making progress as I couldn't see the vines nor the hundreds of blacklight pumpkins swirling after me.
The moon slowed and dipped down and I started climbing a hill. As I crested, the moon filled the entire windshield and more. It spun and then settled on a black light pumpkin face and bore down on the cab.
I don't know what happened next but I woke up in my cab. The was engine smoking. All I could see was mud and putrid rotten pumpkins as far as I could see. My Blue Jay was sunk up to the cab down in mud, vines and rot. It wasn't going anywhere in it without some serious assistance. To my right and left I saw dozens of other vehicles, most of them at least ten years old, also up their doors in mud and rot. Swarms of flies were visible all around in the boiling midday sun. I'm not really sure how long it has been or what time it really was because the clock on my phone is broken and simply reads as 99:99. I don't know what day it is. I have no cell signal and no radio.
Carly, I need to be honest with you. I cheated on you. Maybe a dozen times. I did it before I thought, before I knew you were doing it to me. I can't live by the rules of trucking, or marriage or anything. It is the road and you command it and that is the only rule. But now, I'm worried I've broken my last rule. I have no food and no water. There is no road here. There is only rule of a blazing sun with jack o lantern face that never sets. I fear that in time, unless I find help or help finds me, I will be feeding the pumpkins.
​
Theo Plesha

Diving deep into the mind of Onno van Kemenade, part 3 of this guide explores the many fantastic labels this one man has conceived.
• Ayurveda Records Amsterdam-based progressive breaks label Ayurveda Records is yet another record label founded by Onno van Kemenade. After gracing esteemed labels Songspire Records, Immersed, Sekora and PRGRSSN Records, Into The Ether kicked things off for Ayurveda Records with his first breakbeat record 'I Feel It'. Over the following year, other artists venturing into breakbeat have touched down on the label including fellow Songspire Records alumni Qualysto, trance duo Holbrook & Skykeeper under their Galatea alias and mysterious new artist Platiman Orynsky better known as Platory. Whilst the label may not release anything new very often, it goes without saying that it's progressive breakbeat of the highest quality when they do.
Beatport • Instagram • SoundCloud • YouTube
• Blue Magenta Blue Magenta is a label that was formed by Into The Music Management owner Onno van Kemenade and founder of Manual Music Paul Hazendonk in April 2022. Focusing on the more melodic side of progressive house, the label has steadily signed and released more than 20 records from a diverse mix of artists over the last year that sound great both on and off dancefloors. On this label, you'll find new names like A97 and Radio 1 And Two rubbing shoulders with the familiar faces of Blu Attic and Ceci of Sommersville Records and Songspire Records as well as a growing number of other artists being signed regularly.
Beatport • Instagram • SoundCloud • YouTube
• Kiksuya Records Deep house and organic house is the focus of Onno van Kemenade's Kiksuya Records. With several releases between them, the label's most frequent flyers Nōpi, Somelee and Greg Ochman lead a growing family of artists crafting beautiful, textured productions incorporating lush indiginous instruments, rich tribal vocals and sounds most commonly heard in the wild. Best suited to environments outside of clubs, releases on the label are perfect for transporting listeners to a completely different world both at home and relaxed daytime gatherings.
Beatport • Instagram • SoundCloud • YouTube
• Sommersville Records Welcome to fabulous Sommersville, where the beats always shine. Not content with the roaring success of Songspire Records, Onno van Kemenade started another progressive house label exactly three years later and history has repeated itself. Converging on the label are names found on Onno's other labels including Jackarta, VovaWave, Qualysto, Covayelle and Deeparture and MXV, Jope, Haen and BetweenUs from further afield. With weekly releases, as well as the forthcoming introduction of their brand-new concept 'Hidden Gems' which highlights three new exclusive tracks each time, an endless stream of unforgettable, driving, energetic progressive house is never far away.
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So, been playing this mode the past 5 days, maybe 100 different characters....a lot of 5 minutes deaths.
First 7+ day survivor was a combat spec'd fire fighter who lived long enough the deep wound actually healed on its own (guess lucky, only 7 days to heal), even with slow healer. He got killed in the train yard south after my damn inventory was open and i couldn't close it in time (mostly play on a steam deck). Didn't help the helicopter event happened while he was there...
Had a fitness instructor adreniline runner last 14 hours with 1500+ fire kills, but he died of thirst after the last of the horde dropped dead, but too far to get to water.
Most recent character is a veteran, former scout, athletic, outdoorsman, lucky, fast learner, cat's eyes, and all the negative traits I could stack, except slow healer (which I always take, but it is a death trap in this mode). Got lucky and found a needle (foraging right outside of starter house), stitched up. Went to loot a house nearby and set off an alarm. Game over right? Well turned out this actually helped, with some quick dodging I manage to ditch most of the zeds so headed to farm. On way to farm luck #2, avoided most zombies since most got attracted to house alarm, but got followed by 3 zombies, 1 with an embedded axe. No weapon but the trusty foot stomp, +1 fireaxe. Got a tea cup, bowl and a mallet from the farm, 4 cans were useless without a can opener and couldn't carry them anyway with 12 carry capacity and no bag. Decided to head north to radio towers and from there cabin with well. 2nd choice was south to cabins by lake (unsure if I made the right choice, but with weak stomach and no way to boil water..). Got foraging to 5, only found 3 bullets though (main reason for going veteran), berries and rose hips are plentiful, but can't get enough calories to not lose weight and of course I have no trapping or recipes for trap (just read 30 rose hips per day will keepweight level).
Hit barracks past power lines, scored a backpack (finally something other than a plastic bag which I couldn't really use since I was wielding spears to save my axe from deteriorating). Also picked up military coat, camo pants and a can opener. Located a generator in a shed, don't think I will use it though given how impossible it is to find gas or a cat with a battery not at zero.
Feeling confident about this guy, need to find a way to get higher calories, may need to relocate to a lake for fishing unless I get lucky and find a trap recipe magazine. Waiting oit helicopter event in cabin, then plan to go forage in farm fields and hope for some seeds.
Finally a few tips:
Foraging - important, eat all berries except holly, discard those unless you want to die. This challenge mode seems heavily weighed towards foragong and living outside towns (hardly any deep forest zombies).
Positive traits -
Atheletic, but need to keep it at 9 for endurance recovery boost. I could not escape starter area without high endurance, run skill or adreniline junkie.
Outdoorsman - important for foraging and cold resistance after you get over the first one.
Lucky - loot is so low and foraging so important, you need that little extra boost.
Optional - cat's eyes, fast learner, maybe a bonus foraging, trapping or fishing trait
Negative traits: prone to illness, high thirst, slow reader, weak stomache, conspicuous (starting cold makes stealth impossible), pacifist, thin skinned, smoker, short sighted (don't like the forage penalty on this, but need the points). Fear of blood, maybe if not a veteran, just keep a clean pair of clothes for sleeping.
On spawn, immediately pull glass from wound and try to get to a window with shades before they burn. Rip sheets and bandage. If you get burned, just restart. Bonus if you can grab a water container of some sort in kitchen.
Try to foot stomp a zed and grab shoes, without shoes your game is pretty much over.
At this point you can try to loot nearby houses, though after so many restarts I think it is hardly worth it, maybe you get lucky and find a needle (in all my restarts found 1 needle and 1 suture needle).
Otherwise get to farm, hope for some food, forage for chipped stone and branches for those spears. Kill zeds and get as much clothing layers as possible. Try to get that cold healed asap, otherwise you are just a zombie magnat. Get foraging to lvl 4 for rose hips. After that game is open to lots of choices.....
Oh yeah, be sure to get a radio and monitor when the helicopter event happens, if you are outside then it is likely game over, or you will have to relocate to greener pastures..

First Previous
Chapter 2: Now Is Found
​
The moment the Into the Black entered Sol, the human’s home system, various transmissions and radio signals poured in. At first, the captain and the rest of the crew thought that humanity was well and truly alive. But upon closer inspection of the deluge of signals they were receiving, they realized they were nothing more than automated warnings, echoes, and ghost signals bouncing around the countless derelict ships, stations, habitats, and arcologies that surrounded nearly every world and moon in the system. The place was a mass grave, far greater than any of the previous systems. In fact, this system was the most developed Ohmata had ever seen. The Galactic Union’s capital is the most advanced system in the GU, and it pales compared to the level of development of the human home system!
The sheer amount of death and destruction was frightening. Entire fleets worth of ships clumped together in the void of space. Their own mass creating a small gravity, pulling them together and fashioning massive hulks. While also creating hazardous clouds of metal debris, more than a few moving fast enough to rip the Black to shreds, should they not be vigilant. Constructs the size of cities floated aimlessly, stuck within the confines of the star’s influence. Mobile defense platforms, which once bristled with the finest weapons humanity could field, lay battered and broken amongst the many wrecks that called Sol home. Humanity did not go down without a fight, that much was for certain. If anyone ever called them cowards, Ohmata would simply show them the recorded footage of their home system to prove the naysayers otherwise.
There looked to be more metal strewn about from the battles and destroyed ships alone than in every GU fleet combined, and more than a few worlds, too. The difference in the ships was obvious. The human vessels were boxy, utilitarian. They did their jobs, and they did them well. Many of which appeared to be nothing more than massive guns someone built a ship around, then put more guns on that.
The Nemesis were different; they weren’t boxy and rigid angles like the humans, but not totally smooth either. They had a far more organic look with multiple bends and curves, but the surfaces seemed to be rough and bumpy, and unlike the human ships, almost none were symmetrical. But though they were asymmetrical, there existed patterns in the various derelicts. As if they were variations of preexisting models, updated and expanded upon with time. In comparison, most GU ships were a happy medium. They had the bends and curves like the Nemesis, but were neatly symmetrical like the human ships.
Looking past the destruction and death, the system was fairly average. Four rocky worlds, four gas giants, and several smaller bodies here and there. The gas giants still had the broken remains of floating cities scattered across them, while their moons contained colonies and stations galore. But what was most interesting were the third and fourth rocky worlds. The fourth one had depressingly little green on it. It was mostly red, with an occasional white streak indicating clouds. It was highly developed, ruined cities ranged across its surface freely. But it bore the marks of war none the less. It would be a prime candidate for collecting samples, as long as the surface wasn’t too hazardous. Humanity did have a fetish for nuclear annihilation towards their end, after all.
The third planet, the third planet was something else. It was a grey husk devoid of life. Its moon had a massive crater denting its facade, with many smaller ones marking its surface. They stood out prominently. Fresh wounds of war contrasted against natural meteor strikes. The debris from the lunar surface and whatever had caused the impact was already starting to form the semblance of a ring around the planet. And like everywhere else, the surrounding space was choked with battle debris, though most had collected in the planet’s “proto ring”. There was so much debris that they could barely scan the planet, and what parts they could get to was so irradiated that a signal couldn’t penetrate from such a distance. Which meant if they wanted to scan the home world of these legendary humans, they would have to get closer. Which, frankly, was currently impossible.
“Nix’Fa, can you maneuver through that debris field?” Ohmata asked, while peering down at her console.
“No ma’am. A shuttle may get through, but it won’t have any of the equipment necessary to scan the planet. At least, not at any reasonable rate,” Nix’Fa replied. She, too, was looking over her console at potential flight paths.
First Lieutenant Qhaax spoke up from her station. “We may not need to actually scan the planet to learn more about humanity, captain. Most of the planet is a flattened, irradiated death pit, but the debris field around it still contains warships from both sides, some in remarkable condition. In fact, several derelicts appear to still have power, even after thousands of years. We may be able to board them using a shuttle and extract data from any intact computer systems we find. And while not exactly human, there is a Nemesis ship relatively close to the edge of the field. It would be a good first target.”
“Then we’ll change our plan to that. Qhaax, contact Kitern and tell her to get her marines suited up, send a techy or two and some researchers with them as well. You’ll have to contact Tentzonta to get her to let some of her engineers loose for once, and Glevar for her researchers. Though you won’t have to convince her, she’ll be jumping at the opportunity. Nix’Fa, start plotting them a course, and we’ll go from there, understood?”
The two responded with a crisp, yes ma’am, and got to work on their respective tasks.
-
“Kitern, can you hear me?” Ohmata’s voice called out from Kitern’s suit’s comms.
“Loud and clear, cap, whatcha need?” Commander Kitern responded as she stowed away several more energy cells for her weapon. She was a digitigrade, feline like mammal known as a Lioranian, with thick paw like hands that held deadly claws within them. They were still thin and nimble enough to manipulate objects accurately, but most importantly, pull a trigger. Her kind also had a slightly elongated snout, long tail, and top forward facing ears. Their eyes were dark, but a few bore mutations which lightened the iris to a sky blue. And their pupils are vertical, but would dilate periodically to give better depth perception and low light visibility. Her species’ coats ranged from a dark tan to a bright yellow gold and had multiple coat patterns of varying intensities. She personally had a dusty tan coat with slight stripe markings originating from her spine, but quickly fading as they reached around to her abdomen and chest.
“You already have a basic rundown about what to do. But I just wanted to remind you, we marked an entrance for you through some old battle damage on a derelict Nemesis ship that is close to the edge of the debris field. Enter, make your way to the power source, secure the area, and set up a pressurized zone if possible so the techies can work in peace. If you can’t, oh well, they can work in their suits. Also, you see anything living, as unlikely as that is, don’t go shooting it. Try to capture or reason with it, but if it does anything stupid, then do what you and your girls do best.”
Kitern smiled maliciously. “Aye, aye, captain. We’ll keep the civvies alive and kick’n, get the goods and be back in no time.”
“Then I leave the rest to you. Oh, try not to mess with the shuttle’s controls while it’s on autopilot this time. It’ll be weaving through a debris field too compact to get the Black into. Any rescue efforts will take a long time, longer than what you’ll have, so don’t touch the throttle like last time!” Ohmata raised her voice jokingly, playfully reminding Kitern of the last time they were on a shuttle together in such conditions.
“Ha! Dontcha worry, I’ll be in the back. Onsa will be in the pilot’s seat for this go. She’s a better flyer anyways,” Kitern played.
“Alright then, get done and come back, preferable alive. Ohmata out.” There was a click as Ohmata closed the channel.
“Hmph, always do.” Kitern had been staring at a random wall while talking to Ohmata. With the call over, she turned to her squad. “Alright girls, get your shit together and get to the shuttle. Oh, and keep your hands to yourself, Hran is coming along, I don’t want any complaints from him, or hands where they shouldn’t be, got it?” she barked, eyeing each of the three other marines, more specifically the youngest two.
“What if he lets us?” one of said marines asked jokingly.
“It’ll be a cold day on Ca’tab before that happens, Asteli,” Kitern replied.
“You never know, we might just wear him down finally, right Gre’Namra?” the perky Venanian replied.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Namra, and I doubt it. Men like to be wined and dined. Take them out, pay for a fancy meal, maybe buy them something. You know, the usual,” her counterpart, a Drae’Ildan, responded.
Kitern sighed. “Or how about not harassing anyone and act like a decent sentient, you hornbags? Now, shut it and get to the shuttle. Dentala you’ll have your work cut out for you keeping track of these two today.”
“Not as big of a job as keeping track of you, I pity Onsa,” Dentala said as she lifted a heavy kinetic slugger with a red hand, another Venanian.
Kitern chuffed deeply, her species version of a chuckle. “Me too! But, you might wanna put on a glove before we go out. Might help with the whole vacuum thing.” Dentala looked at her hand, surprised that she had forgotten it, before slipping one on. It attached to her bracer and made an airtight seal, forming an armored gauntlet. With that, the four marines left to join their fifth member in the shuttle.
As they left the locker room, Asteli mumbled under her breath. “We wouldn’t do that. We’re not assholes,” she said, addressing Kitern’s assertion of harassment.
“Well, you sound like one,” Gre’Namra replied quietly. After that, they kept their heads down and trudged along with their commanding officer.
A short jaunt later, they were passing through the hangar bay’s airlock. They were greeted by the Black’s only two shuttles. One, small and cramped, meant for scanning dangerous locations that they couldn’t get to with the ship. Logically, that would mean it was best suited to scan Earth. But even its equipment was not powerful enough to breach the radiation. Not without descending into the planet's atmosphere and becoming so irradiated they would practically glow in the dark. And while they could get Aphosi to pilot the shuttle remotely, its scanners aren't able to scan such a broad area like an entire planet. They were more meant to target small, specific locations.
The second shuttle was much larger. It was built to transport supplies and the handful of rovers they had in storage, to make excursions to planets. The smaller shuttle had permanently extended wings and large thrusters on the rear. The larger of the two, simply dubbed Shuttle One, could fold its wings. And had a variety of thrusters located across the ship for better maneuverability in space, and atmospheric thrusters embedded in the center of each wing for flight in atmo. But it also had two large engines in the back for forward thrust, just above its rear ramp.
Walking over to shuttle one, Onsa, the other Lioranian in the squad, was already waiting for them in the pilot’s seat. In the rear seating area were two engineers and two scientists, wearing grey, lightly armored EVA suits that looked to be made of cloth, but were instead a variety of advance polymers and flexible but insulative materials. Most of the helmet was a large, one way transparent material, allowing for increased awareness while sacrificing protection. In comparison, the marine’s helmets had no exterior window, instead a suite of miniature sensors embedded in their black armored helmets allowed them to see through an internal display screen. The helmets appeared to be smooth metal from a distance, only up close could you see the microscopic sensors embedded in them.
The marine’s suits held many of the same features as the civilians, but were black and had thick armored plates over vital areas and on select parts of their extremities, with thinner, non-metal armor segments filling in the gaps. Both suit types had an array of pockets and hideaways, each holding their respective tools of the trade. Regardless of the accessories, or level of protection, each was specially crafted to accommodate for the unique physiologies of the different species.
Had the ship and its equipment not made with each of their species in mind, they would have worn generic multi species suits. Instead of the pre-built features tailored for their specific anatomy, they would be covered with a thick insulated, pliable material that fitted over the horns, tails, and crests and shrank until it was tightly pressed against every nook and cranny. Aside from personalized helmets, each species’ leg sections and gloves/gauntlets catered for whether they were plantigrade, digitigrade, or for how many digits they may possess.
Hran being a male Venanian, had small horns jutting out from his temples. But because his horns were so small, his helmet did not need any special features. Thus was fairly plain. It looked like a sphere that had been slightly squished in on the sides. Unlike the females of his species, who had much larger, curved horns, their helmets were marked with two twin armored segments sticking up like antenna. Otherwise, their helmets were just as “stubby” as his, for their flatter faces. At least, in comparison to the other species onboard.
The Shednae with their elaborate head crests and long faces, had a stubby mohawk like metal protrusion for their crests to fit in, and longer helmets to account for their heads. The Drae’Ildan’s helmets were similar to the Shednae. In fact, they could be mistaken for one another if not for the lack of a head crest. Lastly, the Lioranian helmets were quite plain, aside from the extended “snout” for their slightly longer faces and two nubs to house their ears located on the top of their heads.
Those with tails were likewise afforded a special area to put them, instead of the shrinking material normal for such species. The Shednae have a small knob like space for their short tails. While the Venanians and Lioranians had long thin tails, they could be coiled in the suit. Drae’Ildan suits had a much longer and thicker tail section that looked burdensome but was quite flexible. Their suits were also equipped with a much larger array of sensors to assist them, as the Drae’Ildan’s natural sensory organs were significantly dulled in such tight confines.
“I see the grunts have finally made their appearance. Why did you bother bringing so many guns with you? It’s a derelict that has been floating dead in space for thousands of cycles. There won’t be anything living on board.”, one of the engineers nagged, as the marines ducked into the shuttle. Though her helmet was on, it was clear she was a part of engineering by the orange stripe running along the left of her suite, and left sleeve. Mimicking their uniforms.
“And a fine hello to you Kass, you too, Hran,” Kitern said as she sat down across from the two Venanians and buckled in. Hran simply nodded silently. Kitern continued, “And as for your question, we have no idea what we’ll find. You want to be stuck out in space with no way of protecting yourself if something is there? Yeah, I’m sure it’s empty too. Doesn’t mean I’m taking any chances.” Kass snorted at her reply.
“Shavizi, Jurwa, what about you two, think we’ve over prepared?” Kitern asked the two scientists to her left. Their stripes were blue.
“One can never be too prepared! Though the heavy slugger seems a bit excessive, but as long as you don’t drop it on me, I have no complaints,” Jurwa, a Shednae, said gleefully, practically bouncing in her seat.
“I agree, organic enemies aside. The ship may have automated defenses still functioning. If so, they will have to be dealt with accordingly.” Shavizi added. Yet another Venanian.
“See Kass, they get it,” Kitern grinned smugly underneath her helmet as she leaned back and buckled herself in.
As the others sat down and buckled in, Onsa turned in her seat to see if they were all ready. Everyone confirming they were. She turned back around and started up the shuttle. Quickly putting it into autopilot, but still keeping her hands on the controls just in case. The shuttle slipped out of the bay, passing through the atmospheric retention field, and pitching down and to the left, heading for the derelict Nemesis ship.
As the debris field is so dense and dangerous, the Into the Black was several hundred kilometers away, clear of any potential danger. As such, the trip would take around five minutes before they reached the field, another six to navigate the debris, as it was so hazardous. The Nemesis ship in question was near the edge of the debris field, but still mostly intact, with some power readings emanating from within, a perfect target for research.
-
“We’re coming alongside it now. Once we have successfully magnetized to its hull with the docking clamps, I’ll decompress the shuttle and you can open him up,” Onsa called out, just barely turning her head back in their direction.
Kitern activated her comms so everyone could hear her clearly once the air was siphoned out. “Gotcha. Scans show two distinct points of power readings. Both look to be in the same place, or at least really damn close. We’ll take a right once we get into the ship and follow the corridor until it leads to a three-way intersection. Then we make a left, then a right, and we’ll be on track. The room in question will be along that corridor. Keep your eyes and sensors open for anything that looks Nemesis-y.”
“Oh, like the entire ship?” Kass chimed in.
Kitern rolled her eyes. “Onsa, give a countdown.”
Onsa nodded her head. “Affirmative. Decompression commencing in three… two… one… starting.” There was an audible hiss that slowly faded away as the air in the shuttle was pulled back into storage tanks for later use. “Decompression complete, safe to open the door,” she confirmed over their comms.
“Opening door. Don’t go floating off,” Kitern joked as she pressed a button near the hatch, causing it to slide open silently. Before them was a gaping hole in the side of what looked like a ship that had grown large warts. The human beacons had mentioned that the Nemesis ships weren’t smooth, but the reality was a bit more unsettling up close. The humans weren’t sure why the Nemesis ships were so… bumpy. But they knew it wasn’t actually part of the building process, as newly refurbished or repaired Nemesis vessels lacked the warty exterior. But they had seen no importance in investigating the reason, as they had no tactical or structural advantage. Humanity theorized they were damage, but what could cause metal to ripple and bubble? So it remains a mystery to this day.
Kitern lifted a foot, causing the magnetic lock on that boot to disengage automatically, then re-engage when she put pressure on it. Allowing her to walk forward until she was looking down into the hole. Kitern put a foot on the lip of the shuttle, and bent forward, pushing herself into the opening.
As Kitern floated into the ship, she could see the corridors were circular, with strange partitions along the edges. The partitions didn’t seem to move or close, so she guessed they were more decorative support beams than actual doorways. A second later, she put out a hand to stop herself from colliding with the far wall, and pushed downward, boots magnetizing to the floor. Upon magnetizing, she immediately lifted her weapon. It was a small energy-based firearm, similar in size and function to an SMG.
Looking down both directions of the corridor showed nothing of interest other than more of those strange support beams and closed bulkhead doors on either end. She noted the twisted metal and battle damage in the corridor caused by whatever had impacted the hull.
Before everyone had touched down, she started making her way toward their objective. She continued on until she reached the bulkhead door at the end of the corridor. It was not fully closed, only partially, allowing someone to grip between the two sections and pull them apart. She did just that. As the door slowly opened, Dentala came up behind her and lent her strength to the task. Grunting in exertion, they pulled the door apart until they could easily walk through. Kitern silently fist bumped Dentala on the shoulder in thanks before she continued on, weapon held at the ready.
As they proceeded through the derelict, signs of battle began to appear. At first, it was only a few scorch marks or kinetic impact craters on the wall. Then, what looked like dried blood from some ancient creature. It had aged into a sickly dark green color with a hint of yellow. A quick scan showed that no genetic material could be retrieved, it had long degraded into nothing. Though some sort of information could certainty be gleamed from the stain if they searched long enough, but the sample was unimportant, as it was not a focus of the mission. Pressing on, the signs of battle intensified, as well the amount of spilled blood. At one point, an entire corridor looked like it had been painted in viscera.
The team could only speculate on what had happened. Was it a mutiny? Civil war between surviving Nemesis forces trapped in the Sol system? Or perhaps the humans had something to do with it? But there was one thing on everyone’s mind as they walked through the ancient carnage. Where were the bodies? They hadn’t passed a single corpse yet, just blood stains.
“Captain Kitern, do you suppose we can slow down and so I can scan the ship a bit more? I can’t get a proper reading while moving like this,” Shavizi requested from the back. She had some sort of tool and was waving it back and forth across the surface of the corridor.
“You can scan the ship when we stop, and that will be when we get to those power signals. And once we make sure the place is secure,” Kitern responded, weapon still up at her shoulder as she swept the hallway.
“If that is your order,” Shavizi relented, but still attempted to scan everything they passed, incomplete or not.
It didn’t take long before they arrived at where the Black said the power readings were. They had weaved about the ship a bit more than desired. Several bulkhead doors were completely sealed shut, causing them to detour, but they managed it in the end. They were now standing in front of a large single door; it was nowhere near as large as the bulkhead doors that sealed off entire corridors, but it was large enough to allow passage with room to spare on all sides.
It too bore damage from whatever conflict had occurred within the ship. The door’s access panel was damaged, and the surrounding wall panels warped. Preventing them from directly interacting with the door.
“This is the place; my scanner is already picking up power readings from here. Hran, be a dear and get out the interface tools. We’ll see if this door has power first, instead of brute forcing our way through first thing,” Kass stated. Hran silently carried out his orders, unpacking a variety of tools they may need.
After pulling off several of the panels to see if they allowed access to the door’s wiring, they eventually found the right one. Sadly, a closer inspection revealed that the door, like nearly the entire ship, had no power, meaning it couldn’t be opened by the press of a button like they wanted.
“Oh well, do what you do best, Kitern,” Kass shrugged as she and Hran began packing up their tools.
“Eh, worth a shot. Privates, if you please,” Kitern motioned to the door for the two young marines to take a crack at it. They both replied with a crisp, yes ma’am, and quickly got to work trying to pry open the door.
It took a little more effort than they thought, but over time it slowly slid further and further open, until Gre’Namra wedged herself in between the door and frame, and used her entire body to push it open. Asteli joined in when it widened enough for the both of them. Together, they pushed it fully open, the door slowly recessing into the wall. Revealing an old dusty room with several long bed-like pods.
“Thank you, girls. Now clear the room while you’re at it. Though by now any baddies would have chewed you up,” Kitern ordered. The two did just that. Thankfully, the entire room could be seen from the doorway, so there really wasn’t any clearing. Just looking behind the pods for anything not so friendly.
During their little search, they noticed one bed had several lights flickering on its side. They pointed it out to the others. Immediately, Kass and Shavizi pushed them aside to get to it. Drooling over it like children being offered sweets.
“I wonder what this is?! After so many thousands of years, it still has power. I thought those beacons were incredible enough, but this is something else!” Kass said to no one in particular.
Shavizi had been scanning the bed, as well as its neighbors, while Kass looked it over. “Hmm. The pods have a sliding covering that encloses the occupants. All the others are open, yet this one is closed.” Shavizi tapped at her scanner a bit. “Wait… the other energy signature… it’s coming from inside it!” she said astonished, while moving a hand over the top of the slid that covered the pod. As she did, thousands of years’ worth of dust floated away from where she dragged her hand. Allowing a small amount of light to break free from within.
Noticing this, Shavizi leaned forward and peered inside the pod. Her eyes went wide as her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “GET BACK! DON’T TOUCH IT!” she screamed, but was too late. Kass, who was now crouched down near the base of the bed, had pressed a finger to one of the flickering lights just as Shavizi yelled her warning. All Kass had time to do was turn her head up and mutter a confused, “huh?”, before the covering of the pod slid open, unleashing its occupant onto the galaxy.
First Previous
Hello once again! First things first. If you see the name Osan, please point it out to me. It is supposed to be Onsa, but the program I use to write the story changed the name to Osan for some reason. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger! This chapter is meant to help further detail the various species and their features, and of course set up for many things to come!
Also, in my last story. I had a lot of flashback sequences to add in fluff and give backstory to the MC. While I don't want overuse it in this story, I do want to have flashback esque sequences that are basically just battles of the Human-Nemesis war (recorded combat footage recovered from human ships and installations), introduce new characters, or maybe give further development to preexisting characters. The flashback sequences will be called Orphan: Tales of the Past and won't begin until a certain point in the main story. Once that point is reached, the side stories will pop up every once in a while in place of the main story chapters. Or, if I fell as if its safe to push the story ahead, you'll get the main story and a side story in one week.
That's it for the week folks! See you next week!

RELEASE NOTES 1.31.22.0

If you are playing on PC, outdated packages in your community folder may have an unexpected impact on the title’s performance and behavior.
If you suffer from stability issues or long loading times, move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title.
[All Versions] How to Install a New Update Safely

NEW CONTENT/FEATURES

• Optimized the “Checking for updates” phase to reduce the booting time of the simulator; improved the download speed in the installation manager; improved loading time before booting to the main menu
• Added a new assistance option to customize the intensity of turbulence experienced during flight (based on current altitude, environment, and weather conditions).
• Turkish and Korean languages have been added into the sim
• Added an input key to toggle Flight Assistant Panel
• Spotlight Event Pack: a pack of activities is now available in the Marketplace, which contains a curated selection of 13 Spotlight Events from the past. Please note: completing these activities will not count towards Spotlight Event related achievements.

General Bug Fixes

• Several crashes have been fixed across the title
• Fixed a bug in the purchase flow of MSFS Marketplace
• Keyboard shortcut to toggle Screen Narrator on/off has been added
• Control Options menu stops reset to top when assigning a button.
• “Set Departure”, “Set arrival” & “Zoom to Details” are now appearing when Airport Icon is clicked
• Fixed aircraft visibility issues with their interior and exterior model
• Corrected an issue that caused some multiplayer planes to display a purple texture on their Glass cockpits.
• Fixed Engine Governor being incorrectly labeled
• Fixed game freeze during boot
• Added parameter to cfg that allows to fix the legacy flight model integration of the accelerations that was causing wrong accelerations and g-force calculations in the legacy flight model. Integrated collision constraint response into the force calculation for g force estimation when on ground. This allows to have 1.0 when still on ground even with some suspension systems that don’t have enough force to counter gravity.
• Fixed issues in the building generation that could caused crashes
• Various localization improvements

Menu

• Fixed airport considered as water if runways have undefined surface type
• Added Weight & Balance visualization for rotorcraft.

Navigation/Traffic

• [Partially Fixed] Glass cockpit externalization has been reworked. There’s no intermediate window anymore; each glass cockpit opens a distinct window with the glass cockpit name. Window position and size is saved when ending a flight.
• With multi-layout screens cockpits, mouse collision for glass cockpit externalization is now received only by the current active glass cockpit.
• Navlog timer no longer resets when user closes and reopens it
• Fixed SimConnect injected traffic planes not following the assigned flight plan
• Fixed live traffic planes incorrectly following departure procedures
• Fixed live traffic planes staying stuck at hold short in some airports
• Fixed live traffic planes staying at low altitude after takeoff
• Fixed SimConnect injected traffic being often unable to depart from the departure gate
• Fixed traffic planes causing performance issue in the world map
• Fixed live traffic planes sometimes not showing nameplate
• Fixed live traffic planes sometimes spawning at an incorrect location and unable to move
• Fixed live traffic planes staying at low altitude during go around
• Fixed a crash where ATC uses an invalid runway number
• Glass cockpit: Waypoint with no associated city now show an empty city field instead of random characters.
• Glass cockpit: NavigationData expiration year is now properly displayed when date range extends over two years.

Weather

• [Partially Fixed] Heat only thermals are limited in height up to the cloud base (except under clouds)
• Limited and tuned negative thermals around clouds and hot ground.
• Reduced thermals close to ground.
• [Partially Fixed] Improved thermal slanting and cloud alignment.
• Reduced “blue” hot ground thermals in rain, with altitude and with high winds
• Reduced mountain turbulence with altitude
• Maximum vertical wind speed in storm clouds / TCU has been increased
• Fixed a cloud popping issue when updating Live Weather data
• Fixed a problem where in water presets, water would be iced for the physics but displayed as water in the rendering.
• General Live Weather improvements
  • Live Weather now uses server time instead of local time to avoid inconsistent or no live weather
  • Date of METAR files is now checked before ingesting the data to avoid replacing current METARs with out-of-date METARs in case of CDN issues; this also reduces bandwidth usage
  • Fixed an issue that would potentially stop the game from retrieving clouds
  • Fixed an issue where incorrect weather was injected while retrieving new data, potentially causing abrupt wind and pressure changes as well as cloud popping
• Fixed a Rendering issue where clouds were ghosting into the sky at horizon

Activity

• Fixed various issues on leg start in bushtrips
• Training activities are now recorded in logbook
• Fixed an issue that caused the P-51 to run out of fuel too early in Reno races
• Fixed an issue that could cause the engines to shut down when first starting a mission.
• In Bushtrips, the Description Box displays incorrect values for the Flight Length, Flight Duration, and Number of Legs

Glass Cockpits

Garmin G3000 / G5000

• Fixed incorrectly rendered lists when the number of items in the list was very large.
• Fixed various instances where FMS would not automatically tune the primary approach frequency when loading or activating ILS/LOC/LDA/SDF/VOR approaches.
• The GTC Airport Information page will now display the primary approach frequencies for all ILS/LOC/LDA/SDF approaches at the airport in the Freq tab.
• The PFD traffic inset map’s range labels are now always displayed in the bottom left to avoid conflicts with other map elements.
• Fixed long approach names from overflowing the approach button on the GTC Select Approach page.
• Miscellaneous map memory optimizations.
• Fixed a bug where on-route direct-tos incorrectly inherited the turn direction of their target legs.
• Fixed a bug where the initial course of an on-route direct-to was set in true degrees instead of the expected magnetic degrees.
• Fixed a bug where the flight plan would become corrupted when syncing a world map flight plan with an approach and at least one enroute waypoint but no departure or arrival.
• Advanced VNAV no longer tries to capture descent altitude constraints during climb phase.
• Added aural alerts for TIS/TAS/TCAS traffic and resolution advisories.
• Added support for choosing aural alert voice type (male/female).
• Enabled the Direct-To buttons in the GTC Waypoint Information and NRST pages.
• Most aural alerts that trigger at the same time will now be played back in a queue instead of overlapping each other. Note that some alerts are still allowed to overlap others.
• New CAS warning and caution messages are now accompanied by an aural chime.
• The active NAV source is now reset to FMS when the system is power cycled.
• Fixed a bug where the VSR navigation data bar field always displayed dashes (‘––––’).
• Selecting a waypoint in the GTC Direct-To page (either via the keyboard or the Nearest tab) that matches the current Direct-To target will now load the appropriate existing Direct-To information.
• Selecting a waypoint in the GTC Direct-To page (either via the keyboard or the Nearest tab) that is in the primary flight plan will now cause an on-route direct-to to be created when the Activate button is pressed.

G1000 Nxi

• Fixed an issue that caused the G1000Nxi to pan very slowly in Legacy interaction mode

Garmin GNS430W / GNS530W

• Fixed some page navigation issues where the right knob push would not close dialogs

VFR Map

• Fixed an issue where the plane’s CDI source would change when opening the VFR Map
• Optimizations for reducing memory usage
• Added support for VR in-game panel zoom axis

Aircraft

General

• FLO mode transition now takes into account density altitude
• Fixed Load % to display the correct individual engine power.
• Fixed a bug on WASM & TS glass cockpits using the zero pitch line of the PFD. The line now represents the 0° of the aircraft
• Fixed contrail effects on some planes
• Corrected an issue that caused the P-51 Bunny to display a white screen instead of the radio.
• [Partially Fixed] an issue that caused some lights on the B747 and A320 to incorrectly react to interaction with their controls.
• Corrected an issue that caused LEFT/RIGHT_AXIS_BRAKE_SET to incorrectly affect both brakes.
• [P-51 Mrs Virginia] Landing gear doors animations are now working correctly
• External HUD : Variometer is no longer displayed on external HUD when not relevant to the aircraft.
• [Checklists] Fixed inconsistent XML parsing behavior between PC and consoles
• [Known Issue] LS8 can be pushed towards the ground when using winch launch method

Helicopters

• Engine power jump was reduced during the governor activation.
• Added an engine trimmer. If the helicopter has this feature, it is now possible to slightly change the nominal engine/rotor RPM that a governor is trying to maintain. Please, refer to the new input commands in the Control Options menu: “ENGINE TRIM RPM INCREASE” and “ENGINE TRIM RPM DECREASE”
• The throttle control logic for multi-engine helicopters has become more consistent.
• Fixed Tail rotor increment for better controllability with gamepad Helicopter profile (without tail rotor assistance)

Airbus 310-300

• Significant sound improvements in all areas of the aircraft (numerous reports are covered in this).
• External lights adjusted for a more realistic experience.
• Pressure system bug resolved.
• Improvements to T/D logic.
• Flight deck door resolution improved on Base version.
• FMS symbol tweaked to be more realistic.
• VOR* to VOR transition in capture bug resolved.
• Landing weight calculations on FMC for imperial fixed.
• Sliders added in EFB.
• VOR1 RMI disappears when overlapping VOR 2 needle bug fixed.
• SPD LIM mode premature bug fixed.
• Galley latches repositioned to closed position.
• Console unit flood light moveable.
• Trim wheel integral light now added.
• Glass added on outstanding cockpit gauges.
• Added magnetic variation to navaids.
• Autobrake commands added for hardware.
• INIT B & LW bugs fixed.
• RSK a waypoint to VERT REV bug fixed.
• Loading co-route character removal bug fixed.
• Custom PBD can now be added on new waypoint page and entering directly into F-PLN.
• When selecting INHG in options, perf calc bug fixed.
• Negative temperatures in EFB, now inserting correctly.
• vPilot COM 2 bug fixed.
• Sticker on door bug fixed.
• Cargo doors now use brake accumulator.
• Chrono bug fixed.
• SEC FPLN crashes fixed.
• CG prompt in FUEL PRED adjusted to ZFWCG.
• Some light leaking fixed.
• ATC/AI audio bug fixed.
• Triggering secondary approach more than once crash fixed.
• VHF2 and 3 now audible in cockpit.
• Volume knob pull to mute working in A310.
• Players voice now heard when talking to ATC.
• Fuel page line amber when it should be green.
• EFB checklist upon scrolling bug fixed.
• Brake accumulator logic improved.
• LBS when over 100,000 clipping fixed.
• Extra fuel/time now gets calculated when an ALTN is selected.
• EMER LTs state in Cold and Dark bug fixed.
• ATHR to GA keybind bug fixed.
• INIT B selecting values bug fixed.
• Stab trim movement during different HYD pressure bug fixed.
• Overall hardware compatibility improved with HoneyComb Bravo, Saitek panels.
• APU fire test conditions logic improved.
• Ailerons position bug fixed in 15/0 state.
• VONavaid Identifier Sound not working fixed.
• Unable to query sim waypoint database from REF page fixed.
• Fixed HSI changes on selector in flight deck.
• Wiper no longer moves with no power.
• Fixed loudspeaker not making sound.
• Fixed issue where aircraft systems freeze mid-flight.
• Entered temps not appearing on weather page of f-plan fixed.
• Expose current altimeter reference value fixed.
• Fire Loop lights on switched to AC ESS instead of AC EMER bus.
• ADF needles now point to true bearing not magnetic.
• Fixed abnormal behavior when choosing NONE STAR approach and transition.
• WASM API nav data waypoint structure adjusted.
• Updated translation files.

Bell 407

• Engine performance increased to match more closely the real-world behavior.
• Now it is easier to overstress the rotor RPM and torque under heavy load.
• The helicopter is easier to stabilize now in cruise flight with trim and assistances turned off.
• Low rotor warning sound now sounds when the battery is switched on.
• Annunciators illumination is stronger now in DIM mode.
• Altimeter barometric scale values now match up with the simulator values.
• Gauge illumination is toned down preventing it to being overblown on maximum brightness settings.
• Auto-trim switch has been removed.
• Force trim switch has been removed.
• Pedal stop functionality added (limits left pedal movement during flight) above 50 kts.
• Rotor rotation animation in multiplayer is now functioning.
• Rotor brake is functional again.
• Used fuel type in the weight and balance settings is JET fuel.
• Added Turkish language translation.
• Added Korean language translation.
• Pedal animation on the connecting rod is fixed.
• Interior collider adjustments. The camera doesn’t clip into the main panel anymore.
• VR support adjustments. Full VR support.
• Reference cruise speed now shows the correct value on the aircraft selection screen.

Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

• Fixed an issue that could prevent part of the speed brakes from properly triggering on the 747.

Guimbal Cabri G2

• START mode behavior improved on EPM
• Better synchronization between engine RPM and rotor RPM
• In Direct To Page, magnetic bearing is displayed instead of true bearing
• Throttle handle animation is now working correctly
• Fixed miro drift on ground contact with helicopters. Fixed Cabri skid suspension settings; Cabri now stable on ground.

Cessna 172 Skyhawk G1000

• Fixed ground steering during takeoff to compensate for crosswind

Cessna Citation CJ4

• MFD: Fixed battery electrical indications always showing 0
• AP: Fixed altitude capture not engaging in TO vertical mode
• Disabled unused COM3 radio receiver
• Adjusted brightness of Standby Indicator
• Fixed the AoA indexer not indicating the correct AoA
• Fixed sim checklist stuck in After Starting Engines checklist
• Fixed wrong state indication on APPR button tooltip
• FMC: Fixed ARRIVALS page not working when airport features approaches not tied to a specific runway
• FMC: Fixed discontinuities piling up when editing procedures
• YD/AP DISC Bar now disables the Yaw Damper
• Fixed Overspeed Warning audio not always working
• Fixed an issue with the Direct To initial Course being incorrect
• Fixed an issue where the FMA would always show LOC1/VOR1 even when nav source is NAV2
• TOGA button on the Thrust Lever is now active
• Added automatic VOR tuning functionality
• Added the FLT LOG page to the FMC and flight tracking
• The FLT LOG page will show on the FMC after landing based on the setting in DEFAULTS
• Added ability to ident the transponder on the FMC ATC CONTROL page
• Fixed an issue where fuel used tracking on FUEL MGMT page 2 was not correct
• Reduced pitch instability and adjusted elevator authority, tweaked roll rates at various speeds to keep light control feel but reduce excess performance
• Adjusted flaps to achieve a better compromise between approach angle and flaps pitch/lift moments, reduced flaps drag at both flaps levels
• Slightly increased top end engine thrust to address a few reports of insufficient climb power
• Increased gear down drag
• Increased gyro stability to reduce excessive turbulence impact
• Adjusted load stations to be more in line with real loadout
• Added additional groundwheel friction to avoid skidding during moderate crosswind landings
• ILS data is now loaded from the approach FAF origin facility to allow for nav-to-nav and auto-tune even when scenery runway data does not have the appropriate ILS reference information
• Fixed bugs related to visual approach loading and visual approach vnav guidance
• Fixed missing basic aural alerts
• COM input now allows to enter 136.xxx frequencies
• Limit types of airports displayed on the map to show only suitable ones

Cessna Citation Longitude

• Fixed incorrect pitot heat logic.
• Fixed the AILERON(S)_LEFT/RIGHT key events commanding ailerons in the opposite direction as intended.
• The engine auto-start and auto-shutdown procedures (Ctrl-E and Ctrl-Shift-E) now function correctly.
• The standby instrument now automatically adjusts its backlight levels.
• Autothrottle no longer requires gear and flaps to be retracted to change from TO mode to SPD/CLIMB/DESC modes.
• Taxi auto-tests now require engines running to begin evaluating.
• Fixed broken external animations for non-default liveries.
• Fixed incorrect load station count in cfg, and adjusted passenger load positions to match standard 8-seat configuration.
• Increased ND elevator trim limit to prevent AP from running out of trim authority at low altitudes and high speeds.
• Fixed AFCS control panel APR button tooltip.
• Added BRAKE FAIL and GENS OFF aural alerts.
• The G5000’s active NAV source now defaults to FMS when starting a flight.
• The AFCS control panel UP/DN wheel now changes pitch reference when the AP is in PIT mode.
• Fixed broken rotate animations on the CRS knobs.
• The 500-foot touchdown callout will now sound as appropriate. Also added other touchdown callouts from 450 to 50 feet.

Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny”

• Fixed in VR elevator not moving.
• Fixed engine audio from nearby Jenny aircraft can be heard within cockpit.
• Added Phone EFB with Compass, Indicated Air Speed, Radio and XPDR functionality tied to core sim.
• Added electrical system for the EFB.
• Added EFB section to the Flight Manual.
• Added right bracket in cockpit to Show/Hide EFB.

Daher TBM 930

• Increased maximum nose wheel steering angle to 28 degrees, and increased speed at which nose wheel steering starts becoming less effective to 10 knots.
• [Partially Fixed Increased brightness of taxi and landing lights.
• Pulse lights no longer draw additional power when landing lights are on.
• Fixed broken door animations for non-default liveries
• Fixed handling of electrical battery key events.
• Improved compatibility with hardware that send electrical battery and external power key events every frame.
• Fixed AFCS control panel APR button tooltip.
• The overspeed, stall, and landing gear aural alerts will now sound as appropriate.
• The G3000’s active NAV source now defaults to FMS when starting a flight.
• Fixed broken rotate animations on the CRS knobs.

Darkstar

• Fixed several issues related to entering a frequency on the transponder of the Darkstar
• External Camera display now rotates without stretching the view.

DG-1001E

• Improved adverse yaw, balance, handling qualities and spoiler drag
• Improved stall to match stalling characteristics as described in the flight manual (wing drop)
• Winch launch now requires the technique as described in the DG-1001E flight manual: "During ground roll and initial take-off push the control stick to a forward position to prevent excessive nose-up pitching rotation during initial take-off. After reaching safety altitude gradually pull back on the stick, so that the glider will not pick up excessive speed. Don’t pull too hard. After reaching release altitude pull the tow release knob. Recommended winch launch airspeed 110-130 km/h (60-70 kts.).

Douglas DC-3

• Upside down illegible writing on rear door stairs in Blue stripe Livery.
• Landing light switches are no longer reversed.
• Underside beacon light illuminates correctly.
• Multiple items can now be manually completed with evaluation mode.
• Landing gear text decal is no longer obstructed by open passenger door switch.
• DC-3 Aux tanks correctly feed the engine.
• HUD correctly indicates state of flaps.
• DC-3 cockpit model - Nose rivets remade.
• With the propellers feathered moving the prop control affects all the propellers.
• DC-3 cockpit model - Screws no longer clip through window frame.
• Beacon Light switch is targetable.
• Instrument texture no longer disappears when zooming out in external/showcase view.
• The user can’t hear the wind on takeoff even if all audio is turned off.
• Red yellow cargo image in liveries selection is consistent with livery in free flight.
• Blue stripe image in liveries selection is consistent with livery in free flight.
• Image for ole dusty livery in selection screen does match the livery in free flight.
• Mesh switch turns off and now the state of the switch correctly indicates it is off.
• Carb Air temperature correctly matches sim.
• Beacon light underneath fuselage can now be turned on.
• There is now a switch in cockpit to toggle on/off beacon light.
• Quickview 3 in cockpit camera is positioned correctly.
• Tooltip indicates correct state of Master Ignition switch.
• Off position on the right fuel selector now fixed.
• Cold dark switch use failing to show fuel pressure is fixed.
• Checklist for starting engine now says to wait 2 seconds.
• Scroll wheel issue with Desired Heading knob has been recoded.
• Spawning at night on runway, Cockpit lights now are on.
• Typo present in Hangar Description has been rectified.
• DC-3 Thumbnails now match the model.
• AUX Fuel gauge needles are fixed.
• Incorrect string on AUX fuel weight and balance fixed.
• Hole in cargo doors from inside cargo bay hold fixed.
• Various light leaks fixed.
• Texture improvements throughout the model(s).

Grumman G-21 Goose

• Fixed duplicate key name errors.
• Fixed cockpit camera clipping through floor.
• Fixed typo in cockpit placard.
• Fixed typo in loading screen trivia.
• Fixed engine audio from nearby Goose aircraft can be heard within cockpit.
• Added Phone EFB with Radio and XPDR functionality tied to core sim.
• Added Switches to Show/Hide EFB and Turn ON/OFF Avionics (including switch audio and decals).
• Added EFB section to the Flight Manual.
• Updated translation files.

H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”

• Yoke interaction with VR controllers simulate a yoke instead of a flight stick.
• Weight and Balance screen no longer contains debug text.
• Flying very far past Vne now triggers a crash.
• Modern avionics added.
• Clipboard updated with new features.
• Auto-pilot added.
• Green navigation light orientation.
• ATC/ICAO params.
• Prop animation issue on one side.
• Clipboard items missing check once clicked.
• CHT, Oil, Radiator temperatures have been adjusted.
• The blurred propellers no longer cast shadows.

LS8

• Improved adverse yaw, stall and spoiler drag

Ryan NYP “Spirit of St. Louis”

• VR controller interaction influence fixed.
• Multiplayer Art issue fixed (the front was hidden on other Ryan).

Wright Flyer

• VR users can launch the aircraft properly now, the throttle is automatically set to 100% once the catapult is triggered.
• Cockpit collision added.

World

• Fixed Statue of Liberty standing in water

Airport

• Fix terraforming issue on taxiway at HECA
• [Partially Fixed] Fix taxiway bridge issue at RJTT causing aircraft crashes
• Fixed Queenstown airport not updated with World Update 12
• Fix taxiway bridge issue at SBGL causing aircraft crashes
• [Partially Fixed] Fix taxiway bridge issue at LFPG causing aircraft crashes
• Fixed wrong airport names in Australia (Coober Pedy)
• Fixed terraforming issues include the crack on runway 26 at ESSA
• Fixed the possibility to set a seaplane base as departure without a seaplane

World Update 1 – Japan

* POIs:

• Fixed Rainbow Bridge night texture.
• Nagasaki Airport RJFU:
  • Fixed Control Tower LOD transition.
  • Added collisions for few missing objects.
• Hachijojima Airport RJTH:
  • Fixed windsock direction behavior.
  • Fixed multiple objects LOD transition.
  • Added collisions for few missing objects.

World Update 2 – USA

* POIs:

• Fixed Alcatraz Water Tower LOD transition.
• Fixed the satellite imagery cab be seen on the terrain below New River Gorge Bridge.
• Added marker to Lowry Avenue Bridge.
• Fixed Rainbow Bridge Niagara Falls texture.
• Fixed Haystack Rock position over terrain.
• Fixed US Grant Bridge textures and blend with the aerial imagery.
• Fixed Yosemite El Capitan terraforming clipping.
• Fixed terrain and imagery blending of the Lewis and Clark Bridge.
• Fixed Navajo Bridge terrain blending.
• Fixed collisions size of the Monument Valley.
• Fixed Rainbow Bridge Niagara Falls LODs transition.
• Added collisions to the US Air Force planes on the Airport Graveyard.
• Fixed United States National Arboretum is missing textures near the top of the pillars.
• Fixed Glen Canyon Dam ground textures clipping through the Dam.
• Added missing building to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
• Added collision to Bixby Creek Bridge.
• Fixed United States Capitol LOD transition.
• the Las Vegas Strip is now searchable by name.
• The Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls.
• Fixed Fort Knox LOD popping.
• Added collisions to Sunshine Skyway Bridge buildings.
• Fixed missing texture on Lowry Avenue Bridge.
• Atlanta Airport KTAL:
  • Fixed the Ground services clipping at parking RAMP 312 CARGO, parking spot N ramp 312 and airliners gate H-4.
  • Fixed flipped textures of Delta hangar and Atlanta Fire Rescue buildings.
  • Added collisions to all buildings.
  • Fixed Bridge on a taxiway.
  • Fixed night lighting disappears at short distances.
• Friday Harbor Airport KFHR:
  • Fixed few terraforming issues.

World Update 3 – UK & Ireland

* POIs:

• Fixed Goodison Park LOD popping.
• Added and improved collisions for the following POIs: 100 Bishopsgate, Wembley Stadium, Blackpool Tower, Durham Cathedral, Floors Castle, The Blair Castle, Blenheim Palace, The Royal Botanical Gardens, Goodison Park, The Eden Project.
• Fixed St James Park missing texture.
• Fixed Emirates Stadium model and textures (include misspelling billboards).
• Fixed Eilean Donan Castle Vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Canterbury Cathedral LOD pops.
• Fixed Stamford Bridge LOD 1 and LOD 2 switched.
• Fixed Blackpool Tower texture clipping.
• Fixed Kew Garden floating bespoke building.
• Removed TIN spikes around St. James Park stadium.
• Fixed Windsor Castle LOD popping.
• Fixed Pontcysyllte Aqueduct LOD popping.
• Fixed Glass Pod on British Airways I360 position popping at different distances.
• Fixed Goodison Park missing textures under Sunroofs.
• Fixed Floors Castle texture and Added missing texture.
• Fixed Scotland flag display on Edinburgh Castle.
• Fixed Archbishop’s Palace Maidstone texture and LOD popping.
• Fixed Villa Park Stadium LOD popping.
• Fixed Kew Garden alignment with the satellite imagery footprint.
• Fixed Anfield Stadium LOD popping.
• Fixed Glamis Castle Grass vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Caernarfon Castle displaying.
• Fixed Wales Millennium Centre LOD transition.
• Fixed Forth Rail Bridge’s Northside pillar missing textures.
• Fixed Forth Rail Bridge displays Cars climbing.
• Fixed Twickenham Stadium and York Minster LOD popping.
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport EGGP:
  • Removed Light pole in middle of a taxiway.
  • Added missing collisions to multiple buildings.
• Barra Airport EGPR:
  • Fixed few taxi path issues.

World Update 4 – France &Benelux

* POIs

• Fixed the Mont Aiguille collision. It is now possible to land at its top.
• Fixed Stade Jean-Bouin collision.
• Fixed Stade Vélodrome LOD transition.
• Nice Cote Airport LFMN
  • Fixed runways center lines missing in both runways.
  • Fixed waypoints and nav procedures issues occurred.
  • Added collision to multiple buildings.

World Update 5 – Nordics

* POIs:

• Fixed Viking Stadion / SR-Bank LOD popping.
• Fixed Road traffic driving underneath Storseisundet Bridge and Svinesund Bridge.
• Fixed Petäjävesi Old Church and Uddevalla Bridge displays double markings.
• Fixed Cars driving through Copenhagen Opera House.
• Fixed Copenhagen Opera House LOD popping.
• Added collisions to the Tjörn Bridge.
• Fixed Kullen Lighthouse vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Øresund Bridge terraforming issue.
• Fixed Brøndby Stadium spawning.
• Fixed the Bolt Arena missing collision.
• Fixed Roskilde Cathedral Cars driving up the building.
• Fixed Helsinki Ice Hall LOD popping.
• Fixed Blue Water Arena missing collision.
• Fixed Arctic Cathedral LOD popping.
• Fixed Aalborg Stadium missing collision.
• Fixed Tromsø Bridge Road traffic under and beside the Bridge.
• Fixed floating TIN artifacts/crane near Helsinki Olympic stadium.
• Fixed Hallgrímskirkja Church missing collision.
• Fixed Eleda Stadion LOD popping.
• Fixed Ullevaal Stadion LOD transition.
• Added collisions to the Ylisto Bridge beams.
• Fixed Sparebanken Sør Arena LOD popping.
• Fixed Sölvesborg Bridge vegetation clipping.
• Stockholm Arlanda Airport ESSA:
  • improved LOD transition of several buildings.
  • Added collisions to all buildings.
  • Fixed terraforming issues include the crack on runway 26.
  • Fixed big crack in runway 26.
• Svalbard Airport ENSB:
  • Added missing collision to Airport hangar.

World Update 7 – Australia

* POIs:

• Fixed occasional displacement of dynamic flags on Sydney Harbour Bridge.
• Fixed vegetation clipping and placement issues at Anzac Bridge, Sydney.
• Fixed vegetation clipping at Mooney Mooney Bridge.
• Fixed flashing geometry on Tasman Bridge, Hobart.
• Adjusted photogrammetry exclusions at 568 Collins Street, Melbourne.
• Minor enhancements at several other locations, e.g., clipping vegetation or water exclusions.
• YSHL Shellharbour Airport:
  • Minimized visible LOD changes of hangars and other buildings.

World Update 8 – Iberia

* POIs:

• Fixed location of Fort of Sao Joao Baptista and Covão dos Conchos.
• Fixed or adding collisions:
  • Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre.
  • Royal Palace of Madrid.
  • the Museu Nacional d Art de Catalunya.
  • the Estádio Algarve.
  • Bom Jesus do Monte.
  • Alqueva Dam.
  • Aldeadavila Dam.
  • the Museum of Art Architecture and Technology.
  • Estadio Jose Alvalade.
• Fixed LOD popping:
  • Montjuic Castle.
  • Estadio Da Luz.
  • Episcopal Palace of Astorga.
  • Covão dos Conchos.
  • San Pablo Bridge.
  • Torre Mapfre.
  • Basilica de La Sagrada Familia.
  • Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre.
  • Puente Nuevo.
  • Fort of Sao Joao Baptista.
  • Estádio Municipal de Aveiro.
  • Estádio do Dragão.
  • Hotel Arts.
  • Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos.
  • El Monumento Natural de los Mallos de Riglos.
  • Palacio de Deportes de Santander.
  • Catedral de Leon.
  • the Alamillo Bridge.
• Fixed Montjuic Castle vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Z-fighting in front of the Museum of Art Architecture and Technology.
• Fixed Estádio Cidade de Coimbra double markers.
• Fixed Puente Nuevo Cars path.
• Fixed Guadiana International Bridge 2D footprints over the satellite imagery.
• Fixed Freixo Bridge- car traffic driving up below the Bridge.
• Fixed Third Millennium Bridge Cars traffic issue.
• Fixed Maria Pia Bridge- Cars climbing up to top of Bridge.
• Fixed Luís I Bridge displays Cars traffic path.
• Fixed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium seats texture.
• Fixed Castillo de Santa Barbara texture gaps.
• Fixed the animation of the Gondola on the Vizcaya Bridge.
• Fixed Bom Jesus do Monte trees clipping into the building.
• Fixed Alqueva Dam texture.
• Fixed Alcázar de Segovia terrain clipping.
• Fixed Pena Palace trees clipping into the POI.
• Fixed El Flysch Zumaya and El Capricho Villa POIs name spelling.
• Fixed Rande Bridge Cars path and trees clipping into the POI.
• Fixed Aldeadvila Dam vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Alcázar de Segovia trees clipping into the POI.
• Fixed El Monasterio de El Escorial Z-fighting.
• Fixed Monumento a Alfonso XII Z-fighting.
• Fixed 516 Arouca bridge vegetation clipping.
• Pico Airport LPPI:
  • Fixed double windsocks.

World Update 9 – Italy & Malta

* POIs

• Fixed Duomo Di Orvieto LOD popping.
• Added missing collisions to Basilica San Francesco.
• Fixed Torri Di San Marino LOD popping.
• Fixed Diga Di Santa Giustina terrain LOD popping.
• Added missing collision to Torri Di San Marino.
• Fixed Faro Di Capo Caccia cliffs collision.
• Fixed Castle of Corigliano Calabro vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Fort Manoel collision.
• Fixed Castello Di Graines collision.
• Fixed Caserta Royal Palace collision.
• Fixed Place Moulin Dam vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Fénis Castle textures issues.
• Fixed Potola Palace bridges terrain blending.
• Fixed Fort St Angelo vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Castelsardo invisible terrain issues.
• Fixed Palazzo Pitti Z-fighting and LOD popping.
• Fixed Fort St Angelo vegetation clipping.
• Fixed National Stadium Ta’Qali collisions.
• Fixed Fénis Castle vegetation clipping and Added collisions.
• Fixed Parish Church of Mellieha missing textures.
• Fixed Mi.Co. Gate 2 vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Basilica San Francesco vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Maxxi the National Museum collisions.
• Fixed Lighthouse Of Genoa powerlines, DEM and generic buildings clipping.
• Fixed Allianz Stadium vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Viadotto Sfalassa vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Basilica Di San Pietro vegetation and TIN clipping.
• Fixed Basilica Di San Petronio TIN clipping.
• Added missing collisions to Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
• Fixed Castelsardo Z-fighting and vegetation clipping.
• Fixed Grotta Di Nettuno vegetation clipping.
• Marina Di Campo Airport LIRJ:
  • Fixed double windsocks.

World Update 10 – USA

* POIs:

• Fixed Mount Washington Hotel terraforming.
• Fixed National Park of American Samoa’s Marker position.
• Fixed textures stretched in Royal Gorge Bridge & Park’s Rock.
• Fixed Z-fighting on the roof of the Getty Museum.
• Fixed the Smithsonian National Museum of American History display name.
• Fixed the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse marker position and windows textures issues.
• Fixed the vegetation clipping into the Independence Temple.
• Fixed the New Orleans bridges collisions.
• Fixed the US flag in Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.
• Fixed the Longaberger Company headquarters and Fort Massachusetts collision.
• Fixed LODs transitions for the following POIs:
  • Split Rock Lighthouse.
  • Kentucky State Capitol.
  • Indian River Inlet Bridge.
  • World War II Memorial.
  • Cabo Rojo Lighthouse.
  • Yerkes Observatory.
  • Montana State.
  • Mount Washington.
  • Theodore Roosevelt Dam.
  • the Independence Temple.
  • Fort Massachusetts.
  • National Gallery of Art.
• Lake Tahoe Airport KTVL:
  • Added collisions for few missing buildings.
• Block Island Airport KBID:
  • Added collisions for few missing buildings.
• Dallas Forth Worth Airport KDFW:
  • Fixed few terraforming issues in the airport.
  • Runways types are now defined.
• Others:
  • Fixed the Water cracks present at Seven Seas Lagoon near.

World Update 11 – Canada

* POIs:

• Fixed TIN buildings exclusion near Hatley Park National Historic Site.
• Fixed blend of Samuel de Champlain Bridge surrounding terrain.
• Fixed the double markers of the One on the World map.
• Fixed Cars floating above Pierre-Laporte Bridge.
• Fixed Cars flow over Jacques Cartier Bridge and Angus L. Macdonald Bridge.
• Fixed big Nickel POI name.
• Fixed the vegetation clipping through Burrard Street Bridge.
• Fixed Z fighting on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
• Fixed LOD popping of Cape Bonavista Lighthouse cliffs and Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic cliffs.
• Fixed the vegetation clipping into the zipline at the Cape Enrage Lighthouse.
• Fixes Pierre-Laporte Bridge terrain alignment.
• Fixed the vegetation clipping into the A. Murray MacKay Bridge and Thousand Islands Bridge.
• Fixed Lions Gate Bridge alignment with tterrain and road.
• Fixed terrain spikes going through Jacques Cartier Bridge.
• Fixed Holes in terrain all around Citadel Hill (Fort George).
• Fixed terrain LOD popping around Parliament of Canada.
• Fixed terraforming at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
• Fixed TIN data displays next to Fisgard Lighthouse.
• Added missing building on the Canadian High Arctic Research Station.
• Added missing building for the Cambridge Bay Radar Station.
• Fixed collisions of Jacques Cartier Bridge, The Lions Gate Bridge and The Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

40th Anniversary Edition / Sim Update 11

• Meigs Field KCGX:
  • Fixed Z-fighting in runway and tarmac.
  • Fixed taxi to parking after landing.
  • Starting in KCGX helipad while helicopter is selected is now available.
  • ATIS is now available.
• Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport VHHX:
  • Added collisions to multiple buildings.
  • Fixed the too low glideslope.
  • Fixed the ILS range for runway 13.
  • ATIS is now available.
• Princess Juliana Airport TNCM:
  • Added collisions to few missing buildings.
  • Fixed the LOD transitions.
• First Flight Airport KFFA:
  • Fixed Z fighting on pathway.
• Helipads/Heliports:
  • Lingotto Building LIBH:
    • Fixed the too High collision preventing smooth landing.
    • Fixed Z- fighting on the roof of the building.
  • NYC Heliport KJRB – Added collisions for few missing items.
  • Tokyo Heliport – Added collisions for few buildings.
  • US Bank Tower Helipad:
    • marker is now centered over the helipad.
    • Fixed LOD transition.
  • Heliponto Mirante Dona Marta SMDH:
    • Heliport collisions has been fixed.
    • Fixed LOD transition.
  • Menara Telekom Tower Helipad:
    • marker is now centered over the helipad.
    • Fixed Z-fighting on Water near the tower.
  • Bitexco Financial Tower – Fixed LOD transition.
  • London Heliport EGLW – Removed building appeared inside the Airport perimeter while photogrammetry is off.
  • Needles Lighthouse – Lighthouse Light is now spinning.
  • Issy-Les-Moulineaux Heliport:
    • marker is now centered over the helipad.
• Glider Airports:
  • Itakura Gliderport RJT1 – Fixed ground and runway textures.

Game of the Year Edition

• Voloport:
  • All Voloports are now possible to use as helipads.
  • Issy-Les-Moulineaux Heliport- Voloport is now available as helipad.
  • La Defense Voloport is is now available as helipad.
  • Fixed LOD transition for all Voloports.
  • Fixed Le Bourget Voloport name spelling.
• Lugano Airport LSZA:
  • Collision has been Added to multiple objects.
  • Fixed floating lights around the airport.
  • Fixed Z-fighting on airports’ tennis courts.

Top Gun Maverick

• Fixed the clipping through the rocks at Seneca Rocks Peak.
• Fixed Haines Knob collision is size.
• Fixed collisions in Germany Valley Quarry.
• Fixed French Gulf Marina has LOD transition.
• Fixed LOD popping in Riffle Lake Dam.