SATURDAY JULY 23RD, 2011
(Goodbye, Swamp Queen)

5:40 AM
Man, we passed out.
We're still on the rooftop. The colors in the sky are noticeably different. A lot more reds this time.
"What did you dream of?"
Uh? Like. Seeing a haunted house? There was a ghost that startled me.
Why, what did you dream of?
"There was a face looking into my dream from behind a wall. Like a snake's face. I could feel it was there, because it didn't feel like it belonged in my head at all."
Uh. Okay. Maybe we should get moving early today, then.

5:41 AM
Went down the stairs, but the stairs leading further are blocked by a door that won't budge. We've gotta go looking around storage.
It's still all.. y'know... boxes and mannequins. But there's more rooms.
god I'm yawning

5:42 AM
okay we've checked a lot of doors.
what are we. looking for?
"another way down."
I'm just seeing a ton of boxes. some, like, metal pipe scaffolding, stuff that you can build makeshift stores out of.
a stack of flyers.
NO STEALING! NO ABUSE OF STAFF!
VIOLATORS WILL BE PUT INTO STORAGE.
huh. well luckily, we just had free samples last night, we didn't steal anything.

5:43 AM
"Dammit. There's nothing. Maybe there's a key in one of the boxes, but there's way too many boxes to just go searching blindly."
Yeah, I'd rather we not do that. And what if the key's not even up here but on some security guard downstairs? Or someone who's gone home!
"But then what? We're not climbing down this building on the outside. I don't have the grappling hook anymore, y'know!"
We might have to try and cross the border ourselves, now that we've had the rest.
"And potentially get into a shootout with the new border patrol."
Potentially.
"sighhhh. okay, yeah."

5:44 AM
..the way back is blocked by a lot of mannequins.
"Where did they..?"
Is someone in here with us?
"Aaaah!"
now there's mannequins behind us.
"Jordan, it's the mannequins! They're moving by themselves!"
I've gathered that now!
Stay back! Or, like, talk to us! We don't want to fight!
now the ones by the stairs are closer.
okay donnie, back-to-back, they move when we're not looking.
"No, they're still moving! I can see them!"
well then I guess we forced their hand.
Stay back!!! For fuck's sake!! We have weapons!
.."please kill us."
what?
"use your weapons. please. kill us."
it's a garbled and muffled voice. from within the mannequins.
do we. do we have to?
..a mannequin grabbed donnie's gun. dragged the barrel to its own forehead.
"kill us."

6:33 AM
There were a lot of them. It took about a dozen whacks in the head to kill the first one, and then once one had died, suddenly the doors to the staircase opened up, and all the mannequins from the other storage floors came up asking for a piece.
So we worked together, Donnie whacking with her rifle, me with Tiger Stripes. (We were not going to waste the last of our ammo on this. We would have had to switch to whacking shortly in anyway.)
And, steadily, we cleared the floors until there was nothing left asking for death.
I can't say this was the.. most pleasant experience, but. We made it to the mall proper.
The lights are off right now. I guess it's not a 24-hour mall. But that's okay. We're just looking for a Door.

6:35 AM
"Score!"
rabbit hole?
"Crisps! Beef jerky! Fruit! Ready-to-eat food!"
oh shit! are there any slim jims? grab what you can!
"I'm grabbing plastic bags! You get some drinks!"

6:39 AM
What about this hallway here? It looks unnaturally long for what the building's like on the outside.
"Gotta be! Let's go!"

6:40 AM
End of the longgg hallway. There's a door here. Here we go. On the other side will be another world, or maybe we'll be back on Earth. :D
…
It's a security office. Two big beady-eyed prawn-men in uniforms, who had previously been watching us steal food via the monitors in front of them, are now turned around, looking right at us.
This was not a rabbit hole door.

6:41 AM
RUNNING FROM THE LAW

6:42 AM
ducking in a clothing store

6:43 AM
I think we bamboozled them
"jordan…"
oh.
this is a clothing store.
the mannequins are all looking at us.
uh.
shhhhh!
we're not here! you didn't see us!
…
also, um. do you guys happen to know the way out?

6:44 AM
they pointed us to the bathroom across from the clothing store.
we're. sneaking. across.
looking around for security.
trying to be reaaaal quiet with our bags.
…
OKAY WE'RE IN
but this is still just the bathroom. option for male and female.
uh.
do we each try one?
donnie wants us to stick together.
okay. let's. eenie meenie miney mo?
men's bathroom.

6:45 AM
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, GAGGED CUSTOMERS ON TABLES, BINS FILLED WITH DISCARDED SKIN, EMPTY MANNEQUIN SHELLS WAITING TO BE FILLED WITH MEAT
AND SHRIMP-MEN WITH BONESAWS AND BLOOD-SPLATTERED VISORS LOOKING RIGHT AT US

6:46 AM
So that was the wrong room.
It was the women's restroom that was the rabbit hole.
Simple mistake.
Now we're stepping out in a T.J. Maxx. The lights are off here too, but at least the exit is right there, leading out to Earth, where it should.

6:48 AM
We're here! On Earth!!
Outside! In the red sky!

6:50 AM
A little looking-around told us we're in a town called Fresno. At first I thought that was an Italian restaurant, but, no, it's a place! In California.
And with a T.J. Maxx comes a parking lot, and with a parking lot comes the chance of hotwiring a working car!

6:54 AM
SUCCESS
WE ARE ON THE MOVE AGAIN
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP MILHOUSE

7:15 AM
Reached a town called Kernan.

7:20 AM
It's all the same, deserted streets, a notable lack of cars except for the occasional broken-down hunk. We've been passing a lot of graffiti, and I've made sure to slow down so I can write it down.
"CALIFORNIA DYING OF FEAR"
"LISTEN TO THE STOMPING SIRENS: FUCK IT ALL, JUST DANCE" there are a lot of drawings of what I'm pretty sure are Legsteps o_o
"MY DADDY'S GOT A GUN, YOU'D BETTER RUN"
"DRAW A STAIRWAY FOR MY GOD TO SPITE THE SOFA OF MY FAITH"
"WHAT DID DOCTOR CLOUD DISCOVER IN THE GENERA?"
"^ Answers."
"JORDAN DOOLING WITH THE TRILBY HAT"
"JORDAN DOOLING WITH THE TRILBY HAT"
"HEY JORDAN WITH THE TRILBY HAT"
"WHERE IS JORDAN WITH THE TRILBY HAT"
I'm seeing that message in a lot of hands. This has got to be what EAT was talking about. And I see it, I just don't get it.
Donnie's grabbing my hand.
"We're gonna find out together. I've got your back, and you've got mine."
Yeah. :)

7:36 AM
With no sign of people anywhere, I think we'd best keep moving. Leave this town. We've gotta look for people.

7:52 AM
Lots of vultures in the sky again.
"Look! On the side of the road! A hitchhiker?"
They're looking at us, but I mean, we're a moving car, we're a rare sight. They don't have any bags, or any broken car, or even any visible weapons. It's just some woman in greasy plaid.
"...she's walking into the road."
Well, roll your window down so we can talk, but I don't plan on stopping.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
...she's. still walking out into the road. and when I slowed down, so did she.
I think she's planning on
"WHAT THE FUCK"
SHE OPENED ONE OF OUR BACK PASSENGER DOORS AND JUST CLIMBED IN
"EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING"
"I have looked into it further."
What?
donnie "WHAT?"
stopping the car.
"The graffiti has many copycats by now. I believe some unrelated humans assumed it was some kind of inside joke or quote and are spreading it."
donnie "Hey! Hey! Who the fuck are you, get out of our car! I have a gun! You stink like a wet dog!"
she is looking at us, or, past us? hard to tell.
Are you.. Salmacis?
a very mechanical smile. "You remembered."
oh THANK FUCK
donnie's annoyed but is a lot less alarmed. "Okay, can you not do that kind of thing again?"
"You were in a moving vehicle. I was not going to be able to communicate everything in a brief few seconds as you passed by. If you wish to resume driving, we can talk on the way."
donnie and I are looking at each other

7:53 AM
Donnie's driving now, I'm in the passenger seat so I can talk with EAT. And they've scooted over to the opposite side so they can see me better.
Um. Hello, Salmacis!
"Disarming greetings."
How.. have you been? I like your.. Camper…
donnie "it fucking stinks"
well I think she's kinda pretty
"This was the nearest body on hand. I have been observing, inquiring, learning, as well as some other activities you are best ignorant of."
o_o
"Understand, I mean that not out of a desire to keep you in the dark. The other activities have involved a lot of killing. You asked."
I.. asked how you've been.
donnie "you're not gonna get a good answer. it's not a human."
"Actually. I have been scared."
o__o
"I am not used to not knowing something this large. The nature of Rapture. The changes coming to my planet. I am not used to feeling scared."
It's a rotten feeling, but if you can get past it, you get a lot of adrenaline!
"I am used to adrenaline. Each of my bodies has its own chemical rhythms, and adrenaline is easy to trigger. I am not used to not knowing. This is something of incredible size merging with us. This is not a force of military might, or even a new Fear, I am used to dealing with those. This is…"
An entire universe.
"..it is?"
You, uh. You didn't know that one?
"It had occured to me as a possibility. Where did you hear this?"
Oh, god. Tiresias, definitely. But there was a guy in New York too, who was the first to tell us. A government guy.
"They're holding back from me. The government does not surprise me, but Tiresias? He can normally be trusted. Do you know of his certainty?"
Uh! Not necessarily? It could have just been the closest way of explaining it to us at the time. Or.
.…
sigh.
let me just show you the journal.

8:07 AM
Got my journal back.
"Appreciated."
You're..
...you're welcome, EAT. o:
(donnie's tensing up. she's.. dammit, I know.)
"I see what you mean. It may have been a lie-to-children. However, it strikes me as close to the truth. This would explain why I cannot enter Xanadu myself."
It would? Wait, you can't?
"Whenever a Camper enters a Door, it blacks out, and I lose that body entirely. I have never recovered one of these bodies."
...Indisen…
"The presence of Indisen on Earth, outside of the Doors, complicates it for me. I would have expected my lost bodies to become the cadavers that they should be and just fall over on the spot. I would have expected all my missing Camper to be corpses in Xanadu. But they are not."
Is this also what the Camper Festival is? Because you don't know about that either. And it's a whole bunch of Camper, in Xanadu, doing their thing.
"These are all connected, I am positive of that."
donnie "This is all fascinating, but, what about the graffiti here in California? Someone's looking for Jordan. And, hell, we're here now. Should we be worried? Threatened? Should we leave?"
Yeah, EAT, you're kinda the only reason we're here.
...another smile. o_o
<_<
>_>
…
ouo?
"There is someone here in California who claims to know you. I have met him, though it was fleeting. He gave his name as Derek Taylor."
Derek?? Really?? O:
"You know the name, then."
He's!!! I mean, if he's who he says he is... then he's someone I know!! Someone I would want to meet!
Then! Where? Where did you meet him?
"I met him in San Francisco, though I have no reason to be certain he is still there."
Argh! But why? Doesn't he know the first rule of asking someone to meet you somewhere???
"I'm just the messenger on that one. He said to tell you he would either be in San Francisco or Los Angeles."
Huh. Okay, that's.. helpful!
"I said I would look into it, and I did." smiling again. "This is, as you put it, the overture of our continued friendship."
!!! :D
...car swerved. donnie definitely didn't like that.
I mean. right. I am.. pleased you are approaching this so respectfully.
"We have no reason to obstruct one another. Everything I have seen from you, from both of you, suggests you are an ally. Victoria, do you hear me too?"
I think that's you, donnie
she said "I'm listening, yes."
"You are unsure of whether to trust me. I respect your trepidation; it has worth as a survival instinct. I do not believe I can simply talk my way into your good graces. But, if you two are willing to remain in California for a few days, I will earn your trust through action."
"...there's something you've failed to address."
"What's that?"
"Why? Why do you, the all-powerful god of whatever, want us to trust you? What are you planning on doing that is going to require our trust? I mean, require, to the point that you can't just do it anyway without us?"
"I can learn from you. I have already been learning from humans by observing at a distance. For more years than there are numbers, I have been doing that, I found comfort in it. Normally, when threats come, they are nothing to me, and I can just watch humans die to it. I grew comfortable in that too. But everything has changed and will continue to change, and for once it's something that is a threat to me, to my continued existence. I cannot just keep going by the motions. I need to change my approach. I wish to try."
...donnie is silent.
"I am making no effort to attack either of you. Do you acknowledge that?"
"I do."
"Do you have any more questions for me?"
"Yeah. Why does your body stink so bad? You had vultures following you, y'know."
"Those vultures were Camper."
"What?!" what?!
"As long as a body can contain my water, it is a valid vessel. Birds can travel faster than humans and gather information unheeded. As you have demonstrated, they do not arouse suspicion easily."
donnie, I just, I fucking love this thing
she rolled her eyes
"As for the stink, it's probably because this Camper had been dormant in a pile of mud for the last several months."
"Well. Thanks for.. getting in our car."
"Sarcasm noted. I'm learning what you dislike."
"Lesson for the future: Very, very few humans like that."
...........…<__<;;;;;

8:14 AM
and, as abruptly as it entered, salmacis opened a door and just fell out of the car.
donnie's breathing sighs of relief
and I'm just.. hand on the window.... goodbye, swamp queen.…

8:29 AM
Town of Madera. We've stopped to get our bearings. Maybe also to air out the car a bit.

8:30 AM
"So."
...yeah?
"I don't.. get it. But it is here. And it wants to help us. Says it does."
It told us that Bones is here.
"Bones?"
Derek.
"Wasn't he.. some friend of yours from Georgia?"
My best friend. We stayed at his house, and he wasn't there. I had hoped he wasn't dead. And he's here, in.. one of two cities.
"We need to find a road map for California. We need to start checking some buildings. Figure out which city is closer."

8:41 AM
trolling around, checking the buildings that might be of help. hotels. government buildings. if we can find a damn Publix or something, those have tons of magazines near the entrance. Donnie's checking out buildings on foot, but I said I'd take the car to look in the other direction. because I.. don't mind.…

8:48 AM
there's donnie, shouting and waving for me. I think she's found one.

8:49 AM
she did. and we're sitting inside this book store now, looking at the map.

8:52 AM
"Right. So. We're actually in a good spot here. San Francisco and Los Angeles are both.. really close."
Oh, neat!
"However, they are in opposite directions. We can either go 3 hours north and hit San Francisco, or 3 hours south and hit Los Angeles."
And so, if he's not in one, it's 6 hours in the other direction. Okay. That doesn't sound too bad.
"God, I really hope we didn't go all this way for him to just say 'nice hat' and that's it..."

8:54 AM
jesus, okay, yeah, the car does still.. reek.
we'll... leave it a bit longer.
there's no time limit on all this.

2:22 PM
We slept for longer than intended, in the cover of the bookstore, but we kept our stuff with us, and if anyone came by, they weren't interested in our car.
So we ate some of our snacks and got on the road again! I'm driving.

4:50 PM
"Slow down, do you see that?"
It's San Francisco. With a very blatant dome of blue sky above it.
Little specks are flying around the sky.
"Those must be the Ants. I wish I could make them out from here…"
The RAF, or the Anonymous going by the name of the RAF, must have amassed here as well, then.
This will probably be another place that cares about money.
"Shit."

4:52 PM
We were almost considering turning back and trying Los Angeles first when we saw another hitchhiker coming for our car. This one wasn't EAT, though. It's a young woman named Evi who was trying to get to an RAF meetup before her transport got grabbed by "the Morphs."

4:53 PM
The Morphs are the bird Fear. I've seen them come out of lightning, Donnie's seen them swirl around and change the landscape, and now apparently Evi's seen them grab whole cars and carry them away.

4:54 PM
She's trying to join the California branch of the Anon squad. They're going to stage an attack on the rich people who live in San Francisco and are calling for all volunteers.
"Didn't you hear? The billionnaires are partnering up with the Fears and causing the red sky!"
I.. don't think that's true.
But we'll drive her to this meetup.

5:30 PM
Well, much like Las Vegas, this place looks quite safe. There are some zombies in the streets, but they're not even hostile, they're just stumbling around.
Maybe the Fears are in cahoots here?

5:34 PM
The signage around here is rather consistent in calling this Sanctuary Francisco. Evi says that's legit. The name was changed.
That keeps it consistent with New Sanctuary.
I guess it's good advertising.

5:41 PM
She's directed us to a semidetached little house.
Donnie had a nap on the way here, but she's awake now. We're gonna go in and see.

5:44 PM
There's only a handful of people here.
The leader, as pleased as can be to see new volunteers, is a lady named Heaven.
There's also a gruff dude named Cody, who cannot keep his eyes off Donnie.
There’s three teenagers in Guy Fawkes masks, too. Tiger, Winston, and Jackie.
This is about as American a group as it gets.

5:46 PM
Hey, Heaven. So you guys are.. with Anonymous?
"They're not really called that anymore. They're just Rise Against Fear."
Yeah, but. There's already a branch of the military called that.
shrug "News to me."
Okay. And. Evi told us, on the way over here, that.. the Fears are allied with billionaires?
"Oh yes. There's a lot of documentation on this from leading members. I subscribe to the idea that the Fears are actually bribing the rich, as they correctly identified that's the language they'd listen to most, but that when the Fears have completed their plans, they'll just kill them all anyway."
Right. That's a reasonable supposition. But do you guys think.. the rich caused the red sky?
"100%. It's all the pollution, it's finally caught up with us."
......right. You got beverages here? I am parched!

5:50 PM
god they're utterly clueless.
oh, uh. hey. tiger, right?
"hey."
I'm jordan.
"hey jordan."
how's it. how's it going.
"boring."
yeah. I get that.
"do you want to ditch this place? there's a party going on a couple blocks away."
oh. really? are you sure that's, like. okay?
"yeah. heaven and cody have a plan they need us for, but that's not gonna be ready for a couple days. I just came here to get my DS."
oh fuck, what model?
"it's the 3DS! it just came out this year! it's so cool, it's like 3D movies but without the glasses!"
ohhhh!!!! dope!!!!
"do you have one?"
oh god no! I have an old DS.
"like a DSi, or a DS Lite, or...?"
the. the old one. the first one.
"oh..... damn. grandpa gaming."
don't you go there! we'll go toe-to-toe, and I can get really rowdy!
"haha! so, I'm about to head to the party with jackie and wince. do you want to come with?"
yeah! let me just go get donnie, and we'll follow you.

5:53 PM
Donnie's talking with that Cody guy.
Hey! Hey, Donnie. c:
"Hi! Jordan! Let me, um. You're not gonna believe this."
What, does he have a 3DS too?
"This is Cody. Or, as I knew him, CodeMaster64. He was my ex."
Oh!
Wow!
Damn!
"I know!"
cody "And you are?"
I'm.. DJay32. I mean. I'm Jordan. Donnie and I came all the way from England.
"To come here? Did even England hear about us?"
Oh! No! No, Anonymous are kinda obscure; I feel like I'm more famous. We came here looking for
"Well, who the fuck are you?"
I'm! The White Jester.
I probably shouldn't have said that.
"That... name is familiar. Okay, I'll admit, I've heard the name. Can't place where..."
I'm sorry for!! Insulting the RAF. A lot is happening right now. I came to get Donnie.
donnie "What's happening?"
a party. few blocks away.
"..that does sound like fun…"
cody "Go on, Don. We'll talk more later."

5:57 PM
ON THE WAY TO A PARTY

9:16 PM
It was, indeed, a party. Mostly young people who have nothing else to do. The music's a little too bland for my tastes, or, at least, I'm not familiar with most of it, so I found where all the gamers were hanging out and spent time there. :3
Donnie's gonna head back to the house, but I'm gonna stay a little longer.

9:32 PM
"FEAR AT THE DOOR!"
everyone's freaking out

9:33 PM
It's a. It's a zombie.
A single zombie.

9:34 PM
"HE KILLED THE FEAR!"
"THIS GUY'S AWESOME!"
Thank you, thank you. -w-
I guess I can get used to this crowd. :D

11:10 PM
Got back.
Heaven's got a cot for me to sleep in.
Donnie was waiting for me. We're gonna spoon... .w.
This place isn't bad. It's kinda a little piece of the world that was, frozen in time. And if everyone here is helpful, we'll be able to find Bones-- or confirm that he's not here, so we can move on! Maybe even pretty quickly.

11:11 PM
I just.. I wish that this place really is, I wish that it isn't too good to be true.

(Attached: “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me for writing this note, but I can’t ever think back to these times without cringing and wanting to cry. I don’t know how I made it out of all this alive, and how I managed to get into the mess in the first place is an even murkier subject. I don’t like spending too much time thinking about it, though, as I don’t want to fall back into that rabbit hole. It's a nonlinear subject, though, as those memories have been written over with words. In the end I, like him, was able to create. Right now it's undecided if I’ll be able to create my way out of this pit, but I am still creating context, meaning to these memories. I doubt I’ll be able to do what he does and create life, create sound, create the very idea of magnificence itself, but at least I’m able to create a reason to live out of the ruins of my spiritual death. At least I'm able to create HCEAT.”)