THURSDAY JULY 14TH, 2011
(Guy Fawkes)

10:02 AM
I dreamt of metal orbs flying down out of the clouds, filling the world with electronic noise.
I saw this happen out my bedroom window but didn't really pay attention to it.
Instead I just played Half-Life.

10:06 AM
Donnie's awake.
We're ready for the day.
This won't be so bad. Together, we can face anything.

10:11 AM
everyone’s wearing a Guy Fawkes mask today
great
I hate you guys

10:15 AM
This dude’s giving the masks out. Advertises them as “our symbol.” To tell who’s human from zombie.
Okay. I can live with that. Even if it means I can't tell who's human and who's... not?
What did I even see last night.

10:20 AM
There seem to be less people alive than usual.
That is, I see a lot of dead people lying in the streets.
a voice speaks to me, do you want to see
..that message keeps appearing in my journal.
it means they're here.
..screams.

10:24 AM
an alley filled with guts.
from the sounds of the crowd, this was human once. maybe a group of three.
someone's saying this was caused by the Black Dog. the Omen, someone's correcting.
a trail of blood leads out of the alley and off down the street. Donnie wants to follow.
fuck. okay. I guess I'll go too. o_e

10:28 AM
Gunshots, more screams. We’re definitely going the right way.

10:30 AM
People are hiding in the buildings, slamming their windows shut.
There's a smell in the air. Something rotten is following us.
"Zombie."
...yep. it's just a zombie shambling our way.
"More of them."
More of them?
..oh. we're surrounded by dead people. and they're just.. picking themselves up off the ground.
sigh. fucking Archie.

10:35 AM
Where’d Donnie go?
Fuck. She must have run off in the frenzy.
No no no no no

10:39 AM
Barking.

10:41 AM
That one didn’t sound like a bark. It sounded like a human trying to be a dog.
Tiger Stripes, we’re gonna have to face another Fear.
That, or some dude dressed up as a dog.

10:45 AM
This is the building where we found the dead mayor or whatever. There's no Door here anymore.
The uncanny barking’s coming from the back.

10:46 AM
…SHIT
DONNIE
Big black dog's standing over her, snarling.
Get away from her, you bitch.

10:47 AM
I FUCKING HATE DOGS
WHACK
SMACK
GIVE ME BACK MY GUITAR
MOTHERFUCKERRRRR
GET BACK HERE.
I want my Tiger Stripes back. ._.

11:03 AM
When I got here, the Omen was standing over Donnie, and she was unconscious.
She was covered in blood. I was freaking out.
But it turned out she was only bitten on the shoulder. It’s.. actually, it didn’t get much flesh. Only a little.
The blood must have been from the fucking dog.
Anyway, I got her back inside the building, and I found a first-aid kit in a bathroom. She’s good, breathing, cleaned as much as I could without taking off her clothes.

11:08 AM
She woke up and asked for some water. She’s fine now.
"I saw it when we were crowded by zombies. I wanted.. I needed to make sure I went after it. If I have a chance of actually helping people…"
You did the right thing, Donnie. ._. I'm just so worried. It's really risky to go confront a Fear, let alone one we don't even know.
"Lots of them have been willing to talk. But this one really is just a dog. Are we sure it's a Fear? It might just be another weird monster from the rabbit hole worlds."
People are saying it's a Fear, and I.. guess I trust them on it. We can always ask EAT about it?
"You're so trusting of that one…"
Well. It's, like.
I don't know.
I keep thinking these things can be charted, can be explained, can be followed, but none of it is consistent.
This one had a chance to kill you, and it only bit you.
What is there to understand about the Fears?

11:14 AM
Donnie wants to go back out there.
I insist we stay, just for a little bit.
I will protect you.

11:32 AM
Zombies outside.
No. Don’t go out. Let them come in.
It's just you and me right now.

1:54 PM
wrups, Donnie's waking me up; I dozed off a little there.
cursory glance, no zombies got in. they shambled off. good.
"jordan"
yeah? :)
"jordan."
..yeah? o:
she's looking over at the
oh
the window
it's a guy fawkes mask... face… breathing through its mouth, looking in at us
how long has it been standing there
"it was there when I woke up"
"Please let me in."
fdisfdifa
that was its voice.
are we. are we gonna?
"not a chance."
right.
yeah.
good.

1:56 PM
CRASH
Some dude's got the Fawkes Thing on the ground, outside. They're grappling and attacking each other.
Maybe we should at least, like.. take this as an opportunity to sneak out back?
Donnie's agreeing

2:04 PM
..what do you think it is? Some kind of Fear that can.. transform your face into a mask?
"It reminds me of ghost stories."
Like. BBC Christmases.
"Yeah. What? I guess."
Well, what should we call it?
"Uh. Mask.. guys? The names are usually your thing."
Hm.
Guy Fawkes... but freakish... fucking freakish... a motherfucking ghost…
The MotherFawker?
...she's patting my head. "You can call it what you want. I'm not gonna call it that."

2:05 PM
She wants to go back to kicking some major zombie ass.
Well. ..alright.

2:58 PM
Okay, I’ll admit, it is pretty fun to kill zombies just for the sake of killing zombies. .w.

3:09 PM
All the zombies are running away.
..oh hey, it’s the dude who stopped the MotherFawker!
He’s wearing a Fawkes mask, and he looks quite happy to see us.
..wait a minute.

3:10 PM
RUN

3:14 PM
THE MOTHERFAWKER, HE IS THE MOTHERFAWKER
SOMEHOW
MAYBE THERE’S MORE THAN ONE

3:15 PM
Wait.
Why do we keep running.
We should stand and face this thing.
Donnie’s all for it. Okay, so let’s do it!

3:23 PM
..I guess he’s not coming.
So let’s go to him.

3:30 PM
Where the hell is he?

3:35 PM
I see nothing. The town seems completely empty.

3:40444444444444444444444
i am alone
i have been alone for 13 years, to the day, since 2011
donnie never even existed, that was just a story I told myself, someone to accompany me through a horror story
i am completely alone
i cant find anyone
and it is so cold
the snow is falling in england in the middle of july
the air
is abnormally cold
thermometer says were twenty degrees below zero
this is cold
and no one's reading...

3333333333333333333333333
5:03 PM
What. Where am I. What was.
That sign mentions St. Louis.
Yes. Of course.
I'm in St. Louis. It's.. 2011.
What the fuck was that?
That was, like, spiritually cold. The coldest thing I've ever felt.
I’m.. warming up now.

5:11 PM
Okay. I feel better. Relatively speaking.
I found Tiger Stripes! :DDDD
It's covered in dog slobber, and a zombie was kicking it around like an idiot, but, I found it!!
But where the hell is Donnie.

5:18 PM
I found her. She was in an alleyway, huddled up behind a trash can.
She looked kinda.. unstable.
So I gave her a hug.
We’re all better now. Not sure what the fuck just happened, but we’re better.

5:22 PM
The town looks completely destroyed. And now it looks damp, thawing over that sudden ice storm.
I think the Fears won.
In a matter of hours, the Fears won. And that was only a couple of them.
We’re thinking we should start heading out now. Before the Fears pick off stragglers.

5:35 PM
We hit the Missouri border. It’s a river.
On the other side of this river should be the city of St. Louis. ..’cause we were in East Saint Louis, see.

5:40 PM
Okay, found a bridge.

5:43 PM
…splashes.
Coming from below.
Maybe we should just.. walk on.
They're just splashes.
We don't have to know what's causing every little noise... <:D

5:49 PM
..okay, it's been constant, I've gotta know, going over to the side of the bridge, what the fuck IS that
that’s a lot of fish
fish fish
rising
WAVES OF FISH
like the headcrabs
but FISH
AND RISING OUT OF THE WATER
AND OH MY GOD THAT’S A GIANT TENTACLE
it's all just writhing around down there
kinda disturbing to look at

5:54 PM
WELCOME TO MISSOURI
GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE RIVER

5:57 PM
now what's that noise
"oh my god."
oh.
tidal wave…
that'll put the fear of god in you
TAKE COVER

6:00 PM
The streets are absolutely flooded now.
This is carnage.
..this is EAT. >___<

6:02 PM
People are walking out of the river.
..Camper.
The Camper are walking out into the streets.

6:03 PM
We’re hiding in a shop. I hope they don’t look in the window.

6:06 PM
did they see did they hear did they sense us
..no. u_u;; Phew.

6:10 PM
I think it’s safe to leave the shop now.

6:15 PM
There’s fish flopping everywhere.

6:24 PM
I hear struggling nearby. o_o

6:27 PM
It’s a Camper and an Anon.
Guy Fawkes mask, y’kn
…oh that’s the MotherFawker.
The mask’s mouth is moving, it’s definitely him.
I think the Camper wants to fight it.
..let’s watch.

6:29 PM
…the MotherFawker just keeled over and died, right there on the spot. o___o
Is it.. safe?

6:30 PM
no
NO
WHAT
THE CAMPER
JUST
ITS FACE
ITS FACE BECAME A GUY FAWKES MASK
ITS EYES HOLLOWED OUT, BLACKNESS UNDERNEATH
ITS NOSE BENT AND MORPHED
ITS CHIN AND JAW CRACKED AND GROUND AROUND UNTIL FIXED IN A PERMANENT GRIN
IT GREW PLASTIC FACIAL HAIR
AND ALL COLOR WENT FROM THE FACE TO ITS CHEEKS
oh god we are so running right now

6:35 PM
so so
the motherfawker is like some kind of virus
once it’s done with your body it kills you and hops off to a new host
Just what the fuck. o_e;;
WHAT IS IT.

6:49 PM
PEOPLE.
We found real people.
They led us down into a bunker. Filled with more real people.
They made sure neither of us had so much as a Guy Fawkes mask on us.
So these guys are clean.
Oh god yes.

6:54 PM
This guy here, name is Sean Hayes, says the MotherFawker’s another Fear, called the Host. My virus theory was right, it seems.
Sean tells us that this Fear invasion was long in coming. “It was gonna happen eventually; we were an ambitious bunch and the Fears had their eyes on us for a while.”

7:32 PM
Apparently, the East/St. Louis branch of the RAF has been winning towns back and tricking Fears into going into completely deserted areas.
It hasn’t been easy. They’ve lost many more men than they really should have, and they’ve even resorted to enslaving regular humans in order to have all the men they needed for some of their plans.
I remember hearing that Anonymous was Chaotic Neutral at its finest. It does amazing things, but then it can also do some downright horrible things too. So I guess I’m not.. entirely surprised these guys have resorted to slavery. Disappointed, certainly. Disgusted!
But.
...that was that corner of the internet for you.
But yeah. The Fears have known for a while that this is where a lot of rebels have been hiding. These guys are really just surprised it took them this long to strike.
I asked why they didn’t prepare for this.
“We did. What we didn’t prepare for was the Omen.
“We had no idea that thing even existed until last night. It moves like a cloud, and its eyes burn your mind to look at. We thought it was just a regular dog, but no. It’s a Fear, alright. It snuck into our defenses; as I said, we thought it was just a dog! It can disguise itself way too well. It tore us apart. Our plans were shattered. Hell, it left a lot of us with nothing but minor injuries. That’s what scares us the most. What the hell is it trying to do, y’know?”
Y..yeah. .__.;;
Note to self: Don’t let Donnie leave your sight.

9:30 PM
WHAT THE HELL
That dude over there just went crazy. He’s attacking everyone who comes near.
I’m.. gonna try to see what I can do.

9:33 PM
..he called me “Rael.”

9:35 PM
I bonked him on the head with Tiger Stripes, and then he just.. ran out of the bunker.

9:40 PM
..I’m. I dunno.
I’m gonna look around.
Donnie’s coming too.

9:51 PM
This alleyway leads to an Aztec temple.
Rabbit hole.
I guess it’s time we drifted out of town.

10:03 PM
We’ve been looking around this temple for a while now.
It actually seems to be more of a maze than anything else.

10:09 PM
The ceiling is getting higher.

10:20 PM
The maze stops here.
There’s a steel door here.
We’re gonna try to break it down.

10:26 PM
CRASH!
In here’s.. huh.
This is the Camper Festival.
The crowd looks a lot bigger than last time.
On the stage is Muse. They’re playing “Citizen Erased.”

10:30 PM
That was a pretty bad performance. o_o
Matthew Bellamy apologized for it. “We’ve been doing this every day for two months now.”
The crowd is shouting “EXOGENESIS.”
The band looks exasperated.
Bellamy is saying that they’re tired of playing the same songs. “Don’t you want to hear something else, like.. ‘Stockholm Syndrome?’”
“EXOGENESIS!”

10:31 PM
Wow, that takes balls.
They’re playing “Stockholm Syndrome” anyway!
..what
The crowd stood up all at once.

10:32 PM
Are they really
They’re storming the stage!

10:33 PM
…oh my god.
As the crowd tears them apart, Muse keeps playing. They’re improvising some of the most beautiful progressions I’ve ever heard.
They’re turning “Stockholm Syndrome” into a progressive masterpiece, and yet the Camper doesn’t care.

10:34 PM
oh god
Bellamy’s piercing scream marked the end of Muse’s career. .__.

10:35 PM
Next up is Yes.
They look terrified. o_o;;
donnie "let's get the fuck out of here"
okay

10:39 PM
We’re out in the concert lobby.
Dream Theater is here.

10:40 PM
They look so relieved to see fans who aren’t Camper. .w.;;

10:53 PM
We’ve just been standing here, chatting and laughing about things.
John Petrucci is an awesome man. :3

10:56 PM
I asked how they hope to survive.
“Well, we’re just gonna.. keep playing!” LaBrie sounds determined, but not too happy.
Mangini says the crowd loves his drum solos, and he loves playing them, so he could go on for a while more.
In fact, that seems to be the general consensus. They still enjoy playing, so they can continue for a while.

11:00 PM
Donnie asked them what they knew about the upcoming Rapture.
Silence.
..John Myung. “It’s coming faster now.”

11:01 PM
We’re leaving now.

11:05 PM
We’re in the town of Carrolton, Missouri. According to the signs.
It’s quiet, as every other town seems to be these days.
We’re just looking for a house so we can sleep.

11:11 PM
I wish we can figure this Rapture business out.

(Attached: “Camper Festival promised some good bands, even bands who had long since disbanded, and performances were powerful to start out. Show quickly lost steam within few days. Show kept going. Weeks later, show still going. Months later, show still going, bands clearly not into it anymore, made me grow to hate some of my favorite songs. Crowd picky. Food pretty good. Never did get to see DragonForce play. Not ideal, one star.”)