MONDAY JULY 4TH, 2011

(Rael's Exodus VI: Wishful Thinking)

9:12 AM
I dreamt of leaving a beach.
Donnie’s still sleeping. She looks adorable. :3
..in a.. badass kinda way! .w.;;

9:31 AM
Now she’s awake. Hi there! :D

9:59 AM
We’re gonna go up to the bridge and see how Richard’s doing.

10:20 AM
I heard no footsteps other than our own this time.
I’m glad. c:

10:23 AM
Richard looks pretty tired. But he wants to keep going. He says we’re almost there. A couple more hours, in fact.
This’ll be my first time in America in.. eleven months. It’s a rather alien feeling.

10:49 AM
..holy fuck, I am hungry. x_x When was the last time we ate?
We’re going to the dining room place. There might be some food left over.
We said we’d bring some back for Richard.

11:03 AM
There’s still some pies left. Pork pies, cornishes, and.. huh, a lot of tinned beans.
Donnie can have the beans. I insist. >w>
..god, I’m weird.

11:18 AM
We brought the food back to the bridge. Richard took some cornishes and some tinned beans.
I’m having pork pies and sausages. Donnie wanted some of everything. Fine by us! :3

12:22 PM
The sea’s been so calm. I guess EAT does want us passing.

12:48 PM
Richard advises that we go get whatever things we have and be ready to go. According to his best guess, we’ll be arriving in the next half-hour.

1:04 PM
Okay, got my folder of CDs, got Tiger Stripes, got a bag I’ll fill with whatever’s left in the kitchen, got my outfit.
Donnie’s got her frying pan and a second bag for food, plus some books she’s found lying around. I spy Tolstoy.
..and her outfit, of course. She’s not naked. >_>

1:17 PM
Ooh, plenty of food here to grab.

1:26 PM
..Yates’ room! Hello, prog CDs.

1:29 PM
Yes, I did just snatch whatever ones I didn’t have. Shut up.

1:41 PM
Huh, Richard’s quiet.
…you’ve gotta be kidding me.

1:42 PM
Goddammit. Another suicide.
Why, Richard? Why? We were nearly out. >_<
We were nearly out!

1:45 PM
..oh my god, I get it.
We actually.. well… gah.
Richard killed himself because we reached America.
I can see land up there. But I can also see something else up there.
Fields of zombies.
As in, the land is absolutely covered in zombies. And these are all moving individually. They’re either Indisen or the normal zombies. If there’s a difference. A lot of them are watching our boat, very angry and hungry.
Tiger Stripes, please give us some strength. Please give us a lot of strength. This is gonna be carnage.
And how are we even gonna get over there? I don’t want to risk swimming. I might ruin this journal, for starters.

1:48 PM
Donnie’s trying to get the boat moving.

1:50 PM
She’s got it! Goddamn, I love that girl. >w<

2:07 PM
..we have officially reached America.
Heading to exit the Exodus now.

2:15 PM
Goodbye, R.M.S. Exodus. You did your last job very well for Queen and country.
..I see a sign nearby. We’re in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
And the zombies are everywhere.
Well, Tiger Stripes, old pal… it’s time to get back to work.

2:17 PM
EAT THIS
EAT THAT
EAT SOME OF THIS
EAT A LITTLE BIT OF THAT

3:53 PM
THERE’S NO END
My arms are aching.
The zombies just keep on coming.
Donnie’s still going on. What a trooper.
If she can soldier on, I can, too.

4:17 PM
We found a shop not filled with zombies. We’ve barricaded the door for now. We just need to rest.

4:53 PM
Donnie’s ready. I guess I am too.
There’s a map of the town here. We’ve planned out our course.
We’re just gonna get out of the city, and find some place not filled with zombies. Then we’re gonna figure out where to go next.

4:59 PM
Okay. Out into the chaos.

5:39 PM
EVERY DIRECTION IS FILLED WITH THE UNDEAD
IT’S LIKE ATLANTA ALL OVER AGAIN

7:49 PM
We’re approaching the outskirts of the city.
The zombies keep coming, though!

8:32 PM
Oh god, finally, they’re all gone.
We’re just gonna rest.
Here.
On the grass.
Pain in my limbs. x__x

8:40 PM
I hear thunder.

8:41 PM
Oh my god, that is not thunder, that is the thunderous footsteps of a large mob of motherfucking zombies in all directions.
Getting up now.
Tiger Stripes, we just don’t get a break.

8:50 PM
HERE COMES THE STORM
TIME TO RIDE THE LIGHTNING, DICKWADS!

9:02 PM
They keep coming.
And coming.
And coming.
Oh my god.
Blood raining from the sky after Tiger Stripes smacks each one.

9:22 PM
..holy fuck.
It’s the gas mask guy! The what was it THE GRIM REAPER!
Up there in the sky! Death!
"Rise, my huddled masses! Wretched refuse of this teeming shore! Be thou my tempest! Toss these exiles to their golden door!"
what door
what is he talking about
Donnie says it's a metaphor
we're uh we're aching already and he's summoning more

9:24 PM
We've ducked into a building, this was once a restaurant
We don't have long before they realize where we went
Just hide in the kitchen, catch our breath

9:25 PM
Wait. Hang on.
"What?"
This kitchen is familiar. Where have I seen this before? Rows of counters, and a giant.. oven…
donnie's looking closer "it says B-4000k…"
Is this just... a coincidence?
"It has to be. This was in Blackpool. This was where we…"

9:26 PM
I walked back out the way we came in and found a completely different place.
Donnie, come here.
she's bewildered
"A post office? This was a restaurant. We absolutely ran into a restaurant."
So. So this is rabbit hole shit.
now she's annoyed "Oh. No, of course it is."
But is this how rabbit holes work? Looking like.. actual places we know were in the real world?
"They're magical portals, Jordan. They can work however they want."
But there's, like.. a logic…
"Look out there! We're still in Atlantic City, but a different part of it. The zombies will all still be gathered near that restaurant, and obviously we're nowhere near them now. If we're careful, we might be okay."
Well. Shall we look for a different building? A place to sleep, and a place not so close to this, um. Portal?

10:42 PM
We found what used to be a hotel. Some of the doors were knocked off the hinges, so we got into a room, and we found a bed that isn't such a mess.
It's quiet outside, with no sign of zombies. Not even if we poke our heads out the window and listen really close to the distance.
I think we made it. I think we actually made it.
We’re actually in America. .w.
That was one hell of a voyage, for sure.
…not to mention, one hell of a welcome party. >_>
EAT said the Fears were watching out for us, that they want to get a look at us now that the Harlequin’s gone. ‘Cause we’re X factors.
Looks like Gas Masky is another one of the Fears. Looks like he controls the zombies. And it looks like he’s focusing his attention in the States for now.
Lovely.
I get the feeling we’re gonna be seeing a lot of Fears over here. And of course, all the monsters that aren’t Fears.
Maybe we’ll also get to see Bones.

11:00 PM
One other thing’s been stumping me for an incredibly long time is the elephant in the planetary room itself:
Rapture.
We find out information about it a lot, but we still don’t actually know what it is.
I’ve been hearing a lot of theories, mostly conflicting ones, but no matter what, the link to all of them is that it’s coming. Whatever Rapture is, it’s coming, and it’s related to both Indisen and the portals Doors. The Doors are key.
What could individualistic sentience possibly have to do with gateways to another universe? There’s more to all this, clearly.
What more, “Rapture” is generally a good thing, right? It’s, like.. Christians generally say it’s the day Jesus returns, or it’s associated with him in some way. That’s a good thing. Should we be fearing it?

11:11 PM
I wish we can make it out of this alive.
I wish I can find Bones.
I wish I can find Danny, for that matter.
And Fentzy. I wish I can find Fentzy, too.
I wish for all the strength Tiger Stripes can give me.
And I wish Rapture wasn’t coming.

11:12 PM
I don’t know why the hell I make all these wishes at 11:11. It’s just a superstition. It’s not like it’ll ever come true.
But still, I feel like I need to.
I dunno. I guess I’m a wishful thinker.

(Attached: “Coincidentally, not long after witnessing the primordial formation of the Earth, the Devil took me to a more recent time– the Incans are more recent than the start of the planet, that’s what I mean– where we ran into EAT herself. I don’t remember how the conversation got to this point, but eventually that Camper was pointing a finger down a temple’s elusive hallway.
--- Look, this discovery is groundbreaking in its implications! This hallway leads to places beyond the stars, places beyond the farthest stars! Whatever is down this path is something contained in the deepest pits of the deepest corners of the deepest regions of deep space. And somehow, that something has a passage leading right here. And this is what humans call ‘the underworld.’ So we need to see.
I distinctly remember looking at the Devil and his omega face glancing expressionlessly back at me. Whatever either of us was thinking, we weren’t saying; this memory is entirely without context.
The next thing I remember, I woke up in a bus stop in the rain.”)