The Oblivion Of Us

A post-apocalyptic story revolving around a journal and the contents of.

November 4, 2024: About 5 PM.

 

  I don’t know where I am. All I know is that the convoy known as SBN is moving south toward the outpost. I’m hidden about 270 meters from the first checkpoint. We’ve been followed by them for the last 20 miles. We went to the first of our outposts to hold up. We don’t know how long we’ve been followed, but we do know that they’ve killed about 4 of our guys so far. Christ, this is getting bad. 8 of us left and I don’t think we’ll last much longer if we don’t confront them.

 

  The SVT-40 is heavy against my shoulder and my eye hurts from looking through the scope for so long. Any minute now…

 

November 5, 2024: About 6 AM

 

  The battle yesterday was intense. We did our best to whip back the SBN, taking about 12 of their guys out. They weren’t expecting us to be ahead of the outpost, and when the shooting started, it was like nothing else. We lost two of our own, but SBN should be pretty wounded now. We should expect no further trouble from them. Thanks Chris and Tyler.

 

  I shot 4 with my SVT-40, and the others started to run. Rom opened up on them with a 1919 that we kept hidden in the outpost, and that took down most of the others, with Charlie and Rowan taking out one or two. About 10 got away, and took pot shots at us. One must have been an exceptional shot, because he got Chris and Tyler before I was able to shoot him. B*****d must have had a plate, because Rowan was on him with the SKS, but he stayed up and firing. We’ll check later and see if he did have armor on.

 

Nov 6, 2024: 9PM

 

  The b*****d did have armor. We walked up there after we were sure that they left. Checked the bodies for ammo and weapons. Got about 70 rounds of 7.62x54r out of the deal. Guy was carrying a Mosin Nagant and a Nagant revolver. And I thought I was the only one that used these old Soviet weapons. I kept his revolver and hid the Mosin away in case my SVT ever broke down. Figured that if anything, the revolver would be a decent secondary to my Tokarev. The others took whatever ammo, guns and knives off of the dead and we went to the outpost to drop off supplies and rest. I put my Nagant revolver next to my bed and the Tokarev under my pillow. These days, you never know when and where you will need it.

 

Nov 7, 2024: 6AM

 

  My turn on watch. This outpost is already pretty well defended with traps and homemade landmines around, but better to have the human “6^th Sense” out there also.

  I hate being on watch. With nothing to do, I just think and write in this damn thing. I hardly even know why I keep it anymore. Keeps my mind off things I guess though. Maybe writing about my experiences will help. You know, when soldiers used to get PTSD and they would think they were still on the battlefield? This is kind of like that except we’re living it.

  I remember when this stuff first happened. All of the sudden there were people killing each other. I asked around, and they said they didn’t know either. One of the guys said that the value of the dollar everywhere just crashed all of the sudden. Said it was an Islamic terrorist plot or something to ruin every country at once. No money=No guns and bombs. Except it didn’t work the way they wanted it to. With the Islamic countries rich and the rest of the non-Islamic countries bankrupt, it didn’t take long to see who the culprit was. When Russia found out, they were furious. In a last act before their government collapsed, they launched a prototype nuclear bomb hybrid over there. Destroyed just about everything. From what I heard before the last radio station went out, is that it turned most of those countries into glass. They said it looks almost like the ocean at times….

 

  I think I see something….

 

Nov 7, 2014: 1PM

 

  Shot 2 of the guys trying to sneak around. Saw movement to my left after taking out these 2 but couldn’t get a clear shot. Seems they are desperate, stupid, or pissed off. Maybe all three.

 

  I read through some of my journal entries. I never mentioned my name or past, so I think I’ll start here. We’re at the outpost still and should be safe.

 

  My name is Viktor Adamson. I was a history teacher at a high school in OKC. When everything started going down, all I had was my dad’s old Tokarev, and a few boxes of ammo. I hid out and shot, what used to be household pets, for food. I didn’t know what else to do. Possibly the only thing keeping me alive was the history I learned. Certain tactics used by the Romans, Greeks, etc. became very valuable. The first man I killed was for his water.

 

  He was part of a group of two others. They collected water from my pool of water and then poisoned it with oil that I had nearby for lighting purposes. I was hidden nearby and saw them. Infuriated, I shot from my cover and hit the first in the stomach. A poor shot, but I was trembling from the adrenaline and anger. The other two froze when I yelled out, “One move, and you’re in Hell!” I said it a bit higher than I meant to, but the effect worked. I got out of my cover and walked over to them. Told them to leave their friend, their guns, ammo, food, and other supplies behind. They quickly abided once I finished off the friend on the ground. This is where I got the SVT-40 and all of my ammo.

 

  Soon after I came off my adrenaline high and realized what I had done. I wretched and vomited in the bushes nearby. I reasoned with myself though, that they meant to kill me by poisoning my water supply. And that it would be no problem to them if I died or not.

 

Eye for and eye.

Nov 8, 2024: 2PM

 

  It’s a hot one today. Since it’s not my turn on shift, I figured I’d right in this and clean my guns before the humidity gets to them.

 

  Today was relatively quiet. No one in sight as far as we can tell. Played chess with Rom for a while. I’m getting better, but he beats me as usual. We will go looking for supplies in a couple hours. Might find something to pass the time while we’re out as well.

 

  All quiet on the homefront….

 

Nov 8, 2024: 9PM

 

  Back from looking for supplies. Didn’t find much. A couple CDs and a cassette. Finally found one that I actually will listen to though. Joe Cocker’s greatest hits. Might even ease my nerves some.

 

  Also reminds me of when I was teaching. I would play it for the kids when they had free time, since they wanted to know what kind of music and “Old person” listens to. After I informed them I was only 40, I played some Joe Cocker and Allman Brothers.

 

  After they stopped complaining, I decided that they could play some music on the radio, while I listened to my music on the computer.

 

  They were good kids though. It makes me sad to think that most of them didn’t make it through…

 

Nov 10, 2024: 6AM

 

  Went out again yesterday and didn’t have time to write in my journal. Didn’t find much, other than a couple books and a copy of that old comic book “Watchmen”. Rom immediately called it. Said I can read it when he’s done though.

 

  While we were out, I dug up my older journal, before I started this one. Judging by how grim my writing was, I must have been going through the five stages of grief.

 

  Understandable since the world ended… I’ll give it a read tomorrow and put some of the more “cheerful” excerpts in here. It will also tell a little more about me. I will also be writing on the inside of the cover, “For those who may find this, my life has been written here. Read, so that it may help you in the future. And don’t forget me, Viktor Adamson.”

 

  After all, isn’t one of the great fears is to be forgotten?

Author's Note

This story obviously isn't finished. I will be adding on to it every once in a while. Hopefully will have more soon.

Reviews

[CLRose]

Post apocalyptic stuff is cool. I like how you tied the protagonist's knowledge of weaponry into the plot to reveal more about the character. The writing style here is really simple, but it's simple in a good way as opposed to how many new writers (even myself at times) tend to "over-stuff the turkey" with unnecessary detail and description. The epistolary/journal form here you have is also a really neat way to start, although I'm not sure if I'm missing the beginning or if you are starting to explain background information in the chunk at the end. Either way, it's very rough, but really cool. You have a ton of potential with this to keep the writer guessing at what is going to happen by only giving them bits of information at a time--what a good story should do (IMO).
Kudos for the line "The first man I killed was for his water." You might want to begin the story with it.
I look forward to reading more of this.
Keep it up!

[RaptureRider#4]

Thanks! Later on the character will explain how he got this journal and even show/reference excerpts from his previous journal.
I noticed that through almost every book I've read, with the exception of some Sigma Force novels, they never gave a lot of info on firearm or gear. Maybe some vague details hear and there. I'll add some more possibly next Monday.