afterthe4th

[afterthe4th]

Journal Entry 90

Date: July 3rd, 2044

Time: 7:41 am

Today will be my last day living in this cabin. I must have rationed the food and water I found incorrectly. I was supposed to be able to last at least a month without needing to search for new shelter again. But, I'm still grateful for the 3 weeks it housed me. It was the longest I've stayed in one place since 'the 4th' now that I think about it. The second longest was at the abandoned church I think? Wait no, it was at that Pearl something something resort hotel. If those stupid humans didn't throw that flare into the hotel lobby, the Gasers won't have been forced to travel up onto my floor. I would still be happily living there alone with Cat.

Just thinking about Cat makes me happy. I taught him how to play dead last night and it was absolutely adorable! As cliche as it is, it really does feel like it's just me and Cat against the world sometimes. Especially while we were in the cabin. I haven't seen a Gaser or human for 3 weeks. It has literally been just Cat and I.

But back to the hotel situation, of course, Gasers had to come and interrupt our little bunker. Peace nowadays is always too good to be true. I just wish I had more time to pack everything. They nearly got me too. Whatever, the past is the past. I should focus on finding a new place to stay. I thought I would be in Greenland by now, but obviously, that is not the case. I'm getting there though. Especially with the Nuuk transit map I found last night. I might be able to find a way to sneak on a bus. Of course, that's only if I actually get into Greenland. But, positive thinking. I've made more progress these couple of weeks than in the last few months. Things are turning around. I feel it. Just one step at a time. My next step? Finding a new place to stay at.

Looking through my notes again, I don't even know why I still have the flight routes in Greenland. It's not like I'm going to catch a plane ride anytime soon. Whatever, I'll keep it just in case. I think I'm going to transfer all my notes onto this notebook. It's so annoying having to switch tabs in order to look through them.

My next mission is to find the second half of this recording. It's important. I've managed to decipher the bits on the recording, but they don't leave any clear instructions. I need the rest of this recording.

Trip to Greenland progress:

The recording found on an old phone in a room in the fancy hotel. Unfortunately, it gets cut off.

Transcription:

This is 2 triple ‘f’ zero zero arriving at you with some news. Please welcome our hosts today Nora Ellis and Clover Quaranta. Before we being with our main discussion tonight, we would like to address all our fans from around the world how much your support means to us. We understand at difficult times like this it can be hard to find motivation and meaning in life. But we are here to support you as well. We have a website that provides a safe space to air out any struggles or thoughts. Of course, entry is free as always. We wel-

my notes:

"This is 2 triple ‘f’ zero zero arriving at you with some news."

2fff00 in the hex colour system is green

arriving is a synonym to landing

translation: Greenland

"Please welcome our hosts today Nora Ellis and Clover Quaranta."

Nora Ellis, the first letters are NE = North East

Clover = 4

Quaranta = 40

translation: North East 440 (coordinates?? meters?? feet??)

"We would like to address all our fans from around the world...we are here to support you as well"

translation: they will take in and save people no matter where they are from

"We have a website that provides a safe space to air out any struggles or thoughts"

translation: they are safe from any gasing

2. Maps of Greenland that may be important

Greenland Flight Lines

Nuuk, Greenland Bus Lines

CREDITS:

[afterthe4th]

Journal Entry 39

Date: May 13th

Time: 8:22 pm

Greenland???? I think Nuuk, Greenland might be a safe city. I tried to sneak into a grocery store last night for some food. I was waiting by the window for the people inside to stop talking and fall asleep. But what I heard them talking about was insane. They kept saying how they needed to get to Nuuk in order for their lives to resume back to normal. I didn't even know normal still existed after 'the 4th'. I heard them talking about stealing a plane? I guess one of them is a pilot. I think this is important. If Greenland really is a safe place without Gasers, I have to go there.

[afterthe4th]

Journal Entry 21

Date: April 25th

Time: 2:19 pm

They're dead. If being turned into a Gaser is death. My family is dead.

[afterthe4th]

Journal Entry 15

Date: April 19th

Time: 11:39 pm

This is ridiculous. I can't believe that they are deciding to name this world catastrophe as 'the 4th'. Are you kidding me? I understand that the government and world leaders are busy trying to understand and fix everything but come on! Give some respect to those who escaped the Gasers. 'The 4th' is such a ridiculous name. There is absolutely no way I'm going to be called one of 'the 4th' survivors. Absolutely not. I did not escape a classroom full of Gasers, almost die while trying to steal food from HUMANS, and almost die again while being chased by Gasers! Though, I supposed the last one isn't a very unique experience. But almost dying at the hands of fellow NON-GASERS while the human population is dwindling is absurd. 'The 4th' does not do justice to my struggles and certainly does not capture the severity of the situation! This should be called something like 'The Great Disaster of 2044' or 'The Decline of Humans'. Okay, I admit those names are pretty bad as well. At least they are dramatic!

While on the topic of horrible names. I finally have a name for the puppy. Cat. I think it suits him. He loves sitting around and sleeping all day. His fur color also reminds me of my childhood cat Meow. I guess bad naming has always been in my genes.

I still can't believe they just left him chained up to that table leg. How could they just drop everything and leave a little baby like that? Especially in a hotel where he isn't familiar with the setting and has no food or toys! But, in a twisted way, I'm glad they did. Even though I've only had him for 4 days, I feel much less alone. That first week and a half after 'the 4th' were hard enough trying to understand my new reality, being alone certainly did not help. I almost gave myself up to the Gasers a couple of times. Especially after being unable to find my family. They aren't dead. I just know they aren't. All I need to do is find them. Maybe they are out-finding me right now! Maybe Gasers got into our house so they had to flee! But while I look for them, Cat is here to keep me company.

I'm still having trouble finding enough non-perishable foods. Pearl Nines City Resort has got to be one of the cheapest fancy hotels ever. They have a grand chandelier every 2 meters but can't afford some travel mix or chips in their rooms? Ridiculous. At least water won't be a problem here. Each room has 7-8 bottles of water. I counted 14 rooms on this floor. I know I just need to find their food storage room, but, I've been putting it off. I'm still shocked I was able to find a floor without any Gasers. I almost ran out of breath running up all those stairs. In hindsight, this was a very bad idea. There could've been gasers on every single floor. I would have been trapped with nowhere to go but run in circles.

Never mind, after some more thought, I don't regret coming here. I was starving and had nowhere to go. Seeing this fancy luxurious hotel would have been a temptation for anyone. I also have Cat now too. If I had a redo, I would enter this hotel again just so I could find him.

I'm just dreading having to leave this floor. I don't want to leave my haven.

CREDITS:

[afterthe4th]

The 4th (world building)

On April 4th, 2044, the world changed. Humanity lost its spot at the top of the food chain.

The day started off as any regular day. Children playing in schools and adults laboring away at work. It was a normal and boring Monday. Until 4 pm struck. A quiet yet sharp and piercing sound rang out. Initially, no one thought anything of it. Why would they? People often get random bouts of tinnitus anyways. However, the ringing wouldn't stop. Only when people started rubbing their ears in discomfort and seeing others doing it as well, did they realize that they were not alone in hearing this ringing. No one knew what to do.

People naturally assumed that the noise was coming from somewhere nearby and that it would stop on its own. Maybe the sound was coming from an unusual fire alarm or maybe a horribly designed whistle. No one imagined that the sound, coming from seemingly nowhere, hit every citizen in every town, every city, and every country. The world was suddenly at the mercy of this random non-stop, high-pitched, irritating ringing.

It stopped at 4:44pm and people thought everything went back to normal. Except, it didn't. This ringing triggered something in people.

Scientists believe that this ringing only affected those who had a specific point DNA mutation. Point mutations are "the change of a single nitrogen base in a DNA sequence". It is the least harmful DNA mutation. However, from the autopsies done on the deceased affected by this ringing, they have found certain point mutations that occur in all the victims. Studies, however, are still ongoing regarding which specific point mutations lead to this vulnerability.

Those who had that vulnerability to the ring got triggered the moment it stopped. The color of their skin drained away until it became an ashy white, the collagen in their body seemed to evaporate as their skin began to sag, and most notably, their eyes changed. They grew wide and round. Orange streaks bleed out from the irises as they shrank, leaving the eyes resembling those of tarsiers.

In Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, the ringing stops as Faye exits the washroom. She speed walks back to the classroom relieved as she will finally be able to share her newly learned chess strategies with her fellow Chess Club members. She eagerly opens the door only to witness the change in action. Several of her club members scream in pain as their bodies transform while the others scream in terror. She stays frozen by the classroom entrance. The trigged suddenly stop screaming and instead, start making a low and broken groaning sound.

They slowly approach the non-affected students who start to get out of their chairs to back away. But, before they are able to fully escape, the changed students open their mouths as a light orangy-yellow gas starts leaking out and into the non-affect students' noses.

Faye stares in confusion as everyone stops moving. The only thing moving in the classroom was the gas. Suddenly, they start changing as well. The non-changed students started becoming transformed beings. That's when Faye has seen enough. She quietly backs away into the hallway and makes a run towards the exit.

This is why the 'triggered' are called Gasers. They are able to create some sort of poison that can change those without the point mutation when that gas enters their lungs.

CREDITS:

[afterthe4th]

The 4th

This is a science fiction story that is told through a diary. Faye, the protagonist, is a high schooler who has her world shifted when a mysterious ringing triggers people into transforming into non-human beings. She documents her thoughts, findings, and goals of this apocalyptic world in her journal.

(on-going)