joseph--reed

[joseph--reed]

Of course, it was too good to be true — Joe knew that a find this rare was going to attract the attention of unwanted visitors and no he was not just talking about those who are infected. Thankfully he already had first dibs on the ‘luxury’ items and to be quite frank he did not need to overfill his bag as he’s already gotten more than enough to survive for a little while longer. Now, Joe is not one for games or people. Joe has encountered multiple people on his journeys before hardly anyone of those encounters ended nicely. Unfortunately, Joe has fell victim to an attack or two before in the past which makes him even more sceptical about being around others — especially strangers. You can never be too careful these days, people are savages. They don't care about others and only care about themselves and rightfully so. This world.. this new world isn't made for the weak-willed and only those who want to survive will.

Joseph studied the woman in front of him very carefully, trying to pinpoint any weaknesses or anything he could exploit to give him the upper hand in their drawing dual. Both guns were aimed at one another, ready to shoot if necessary. His eyes caught onto the slight tremble in her hand as she steadied the gun, aimed right between the eyes. "Never shot anyone before?" Joe questioned with a slight cocky smirk as he gestured to the shake present in her hands. "The fact you've already come into my find and made demands is quite ballsy. Especially with a rusty old gun that looks like it needs repairing."

"I've never seen you before." Joe said as he held his gun steady, aiming directly at the woman's head. He didn't care if he had to shoot her, she'd just be another number in his book. During this pandemic any shred of humanity Joe had left was long gone, these two years have drained him of all life. He used to be so compassionate, loving yet that all wasted away when this became his new normal. "Listen I've already got what I need so how about you lower your gun and I'll lower mine? I'm not really in the mood to have bloodstains on my clothes today anyways."

Today has been a good day, there's no point in Joe killing her. He means nothing to her and all she's done so far is holding a gun in his face, that is something he faces on a regular so this interaction doesn't even phase him in the slightest. Better yet he didn't want to start a war, who knows if she's part of a faction or a cult or some weird gathering — you'd be surprised how many of those formed once the world went up in flames. The last thing Joseph needed was some cult leader wanting his head on a pike for killing one of their lackeys.

"Are you on your own? Part of a group? What kind of bullshit am I working with here?" Joe questioned whilst still holding his gun the air. Please for the love of God don't let this be another ambush. Bullets are sacred these days and he doesn't need to be wasting rounds trying to take out a bunch of crackheads fighting over a can of tinned peaches.

Here’s to surviving the apocalypse

03.05.2035 It has been roughly two years since the world went into lockdown due to a worldwide pandemic that swept the nation within a blink of an eye. The cause of all this mass hysteria is a virus which affects the tissues in the brain, permanently altering them to change the human body. Currently, there is no cure although the world health organization has tried countless times to manufacture a vaccine however each trial for a vaccine has so far been unsuccessful. Therefore a worldwide lockdown was imposed for the virus to be contained. Even with a lockdown, there have been many casualties due to this virus and the numbers of the infected only seem to be on the rise.

 It’s a dark and dangerous world out there, every man or women for themselves. Many people formed pacts, groups they can rely on to survive others chose to go at this world alone. There is no right and wrong in this world, many people who went in groups have now become infected and the same can be said for those who went at alone. It’s survival of the fittest and you’ve got to work with what you’ve got to make it because not everybody is built to survive this harsh pandemic. My wife and daughter being among the many who didn’t make it. Not a day goes by that I don’t long for their existence. It still haunts me that I had to leave them that way, in that house, the house we were all supposed to live in, grow in, die old in yet it seems fate had cruel intentions instead. 

I don’t believe I am one of the lucky ones. Who would want this life but then again who would want that life either its all one big catch twenty-two and the “lucky” ones are stuck in the middle trying to survive on the bare minimum. The government are supposed to help but they hardly do shit. They’ll hand out scraps to the common folk and keep anything worthwhile to the rich assholes. Yet they’ll have their military parade about the streets vowing to “protect us” when we all know that’s a facade. God, I hate people in the office. 

“Okay enough of that.” Joseph mumbled to himself as he placed his pen back into the middle of his diary before carefully closing the black leather book and stowing it away in his bag. He knew if he continued to write he was going to go on a tangent about how he hates the oval office and that would just be a waste of paper. That diary is there to document any thoughts he has about the pandemic, not his political views. For that, he can get a spray can and deface a public building however he would rather not be thrown into any kind of government solitary. Just as he is pulling away from his bag his eyes catch a glimpse of the wooden photo frame that is beside his bed. A soft sigh escapes his lips as he leans over and carefully picks it up, his icy blue hues scanned the picture as his brain relived the memory. The photo consisted of him, his wife and newborn daughter at the beach together. Oh, how he longed for better days like those in the past. “I miss you both.” The male whispered to himself before gently placing a kiss to the glass. He took another moment the gaze at the photo before setting it back in its rightful position. “Another day of this bullshit.” The dark-haired male spoke to himself as he started to get geared up for the day ahead. He needed to find some new supplies, mostly he needed food but any other equipment he could find along his way that he could trade for food would also be a bonus. 

Joseph got himself dressed in his usual ‘work’ gear before he loaded up his bag with essential supplies for his trip. He took one good look around the room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to pack anything before he set off for his day out. It is still early hours of the morning, the sun only just rising but in this day and age you needed to start any essential travel very early otherwise all items of value will be gone. It’s not the world we were all once used too, there are no self-checkouts, contactless payments, take-aways, click and collect. there is none of that, supermarkets seize to exist as we once knew them, you get rations — if you can even call them that. Most days you can’t even get basics like bread because they are gone within an instance or the government ‘forget’ to restock your designated food area. Most folk try to survive on their own without having to wait on government hand me downs, it’s a hard life but it sometimes works out more beneficial if you know how to play the game. 

“It’s a beautiful day.” Joseph murmured as he stepped outside his house, taking his first steps into the world as he set off in search of supplies. The sun beamed down on the dark-haired man, The male still had a slight twinge of blonde in his locks however his natural colour dominated. Joe took a slow walk through his town — town as if you could hardly call this place a town, it was just houses and a few rationed shops barricaded in by the military some life huh? “Out again Joseph?” Mary — one of his neighbours called out to him as he made his way to the gates which gave him access to other areas outside of his town. “You know me, can never stay still.” A dry chuckle escaped his lips- Joseph wasn’t one for small talk nor did he want anyone to pry into his life. “Do rememb—” Joseph quickly put his hand up to silence Mary. “Do remember there is still a curfew and anyone outside the gates after 9 pm will be locked out there. I remember. It’s been the same message every day for the last two years.” Joseph replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to try and not get infected.” With that, Joe closed the conversation and exited his town.

 Stepping outside the gated community you could tell the world is in an Apocolypse. Inside those gates, people were still desperately clinging onto normality however it’s a whole different ballgame once you cross that line into the real world. Everything is falling apart, buildings being blown up, mother nature taking back her earth. Everything manmade seems to be crumbling, this city didn’t even look like a city no more. There are no cars, no mass crowds, no architecture. It all just looks run down and out of place, it is not eye candy that’s for sure but this is the new normal and it has been for the last two years. 

Roughly about 35 minutes into Josephs journey is where it started to get interesting. He knew from doing this routine every day that the first hour or so he would never find anything worthwhile. Maybe a scrap here and there but nothing worth any value. Finally, he has managed to stumble upon a small cottage, untouched. No forced entry, no broken windows and it is all perfectly intact. A rare yet exciting sighting. “Now now what do we have here..” The male mumbled to himself as he observed the cottage from a good distance. Although it seems untouched that doesn’t mean it actually is. People have gotten craftier these days and this could easily be a trap therefore he knew he had to be cautious before entering the cottage. Just as he was about to move in closer that was when he heard the dreaded noise of an infected. “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Joe grumbled as he pulled out a small pair of binoculars to scope the area to try and find the bastard. “Gotcha.” Joe whispered as he locked sights on the infected who was currently lapping its way around the front of the cottage. “Time to deal with this.” He ran his hand through his hair before carefully creeping behind a set of knee-high stones that were perched in the front garden, thus giving him enough cover so the infected doesn’t seem him. 

Gingerly Joe peered up from over the set of stones to gauge what kind of method of attack he’d need for this infected. It only seemed to be a stage 1 infected given by the bite mark on their arm and the small lacerations down their neck and back. A very recent case, An hour or two give or take. Was this person trying to get into this cottage? Is this the place it all went pear-shaped for them? Either way, Joe couldn’t fixate on the questions at hand, he needed to get rid of it and fast. He waited for the right moment before he tiptoed up behind the infected and grabbed it by the neck making sure to cut off any air supply. Of course the infected didn’t go down without a fight as it wriggled its way around in Joe’s grasp however it was unsuccessful and after a few moments of thrashing around it soon died. “And that’s that.” Joe concluded by dropping the lifeless body to the ground and stepping over it before walking up to the front door of the cottage. He placed his hand on the cool brass before giving it a turn, nothing. It’s locked. “Pickin time.” He muttered as he crouched down before grabbing his lock pick set from his bag. It was a tricky old bastard but he got there in the end. 

With the door now open Joe stepped foot into the cottage and to his surprise, it is actually untouched. “Holy shit.” He said as he made his way into the kitchen as he started to raid the cupboards, taking any supplies he could before some other bastard stumbled upon this find. “Peaches, spaghetti, soup.” With every item, he placed in his bag Joe was taking a mental note of what they were. Just as he was about to move into another room he heard the floorboards of the front room squeak. God damn it who the fuck has found this place already? Joe drew in a quick breath before he grabbed his 9mm from his holster, he carefully pulled back the hammer and took off the safety as he kept the gun to his side as he moved towards the door. The closer he got the door the higher he raised his gun, who the fuck was he going to find today?  @elsierenshaw

[joseph--reed]

Here’s to surviving the apocalypse

03.05.2035 It has been roughly two years since the world went into lockdown due to a worldwide pandemic that swept the nation within a blink of an eye. The cause of all this mass hysteria is a virus which affects the tissues in the brain, permanently altering them to change the human body. Currently, there is no cure although the world health organization has tried countless times to manufacture a vaccine however each trial for a vaccine has so far been unsuccessful. Therefore a worldwide lockdown was imposed for the virus to be contained. Even with a lockdown, there have been many casualties due to this virus and the numbers of the infected only seem to be on the rise.

 It's a dark and dangerous world out there, every man or women for themselves. Many people formed pacts, groups they can rely on to survive others chose to go at this world alone. There is no right and wrong in this world, many people who went in groups have now become infected and the same can be said for those who went at alone. It's survival of the fittest and you've got to work with what you've got to make it because not everybody is built to survive this harsh pandemic. My wife and daughter being among the many who didn't make it. Not a day goes by that I don't long for their existence. It still haunts me that I had to leave them that way, in that house, the house we were all supposed to live in, grow in, die old in yet it seems fate had cruel intentions instead. 

I don't believe I am one of the lucky ones. Who would want this life but then again who would want that life either its all one big catch twenty-two and the "lucky" ones are stuck in the middle trying to survive on the bare minimum. The government are supposed to help but they hardly do shit. They'll hand out scraps to the common folk and keep anything worthwhile to the rich assholes. Yet they'll have their military parade about the streets vowing to "protect us" when we all know that's a facade. God, I hate people in the office. 

"Okay enough of that." Joseph mumbled to himself as he placed his pen back into the middle of his diary before carefully closing the black leather book and stowing it away in his bag. He knew if he continued to write he was going to go on a tangent about how he hates the oval office and that would just be a waste of paper. That diary is there to document any thoughts he has about the pandemic, not his political views. For that, he can get a spray can and deface a public building however he would rather not be thrown into any kind of government solitary. Just as he is pulling away from his bag his eyes catch a glimpse of the wooden photo frame that is beside his bed. A soft sigh escapes his lips as he leans over and carefully picks it up, his icy blue hues scanned the picture as his brain relived the memory. The photo consisted of him, his wife and newborn daughter at the beach together. Oh, how he longed for better days like those in the past. "I miss you both." The male whispered to himself before gently placing a kiss to the glass. He took another moment the gaze at the photo before setting it back in its rightful position. "Another day of this bullshit." The dark-haired male spoke to himself as he started to get geared up for the day ahead. He needed to find some new supplies, mostly he needed food but any other equipment he could find along his way that he could trade for food would also be a bonus. 

Joseph got himself dressed in his usual 'work' gear before he loaded up his bag with essential supplies for his trip. He took one good look around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten to pack anything before he set off for his day out. It is still early hours of the morning, the sun only just rising but in this day and age you needed to start any essential travel very early otherwise all items of value will be gone. It's not the world we were all once used too, there are no self-checkouts, contactless payments, take-aways, click and collect. there is none of that, supermarkets seize to exist as we once knew them, you get rations — if you can even call them that. Most days you can't even get basics like bread because they are gone within an instance or the government 'forget' to restock your designated food area. Most folk try to survive on their own without having to wait on government hand me downs, it's a hard life but it sometimes works out more beneficial if you know how to play the game. 

"It's a beautiful day." Joseph murmured as he stepped outside his house, taking his first steps into the world as he set off in search of supplies. The sun beamed down on the dark-haired man, The male still had a slight twinge of blonde in his locks however his natural colour dominated. Joe took a slow walk through his town — town as if you could hardly call this place a town, it was just houses and a few rationed shops barricaded in by the military some life huh? "Out again Joseph?" Mary — one of his neighbours called out to him as he made his way to the gates which gave him access to other areas outside of his town. "You know me, can never stay still." A dry chuckle escaped his lips- Joseph wasn't one for small talk nor did he want anyone to pry into his life. "Do rememb—" Joseph quickly put his hand up to silence Mary. "Do remember there is still a curfew and anyone outside the gates after 9 pm will be locked out there. I remember. It's been the same message every day for the last two years." Joseph replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to try and not get infected." With that, Joe closed the conversation and exited his town.

 Stepping outside the gated community you could tell the world is in an Apocolypse. Inside those gates, people were still desperately clinging onto normality however it's a whole different ballgame once you cross that line into the real world. Everything is falling apart, buildings being blown up, mother nature taking back her earth. Everything manmade seems to be crumbling, this city didn't even look like a city no more. There are no cars, no mass crowds, no architecture. It all just looks run down and out of place, it is not eye candy that's for sure but this is the new normal and it has been for the last two years. 

Roughly about 35 minutes into Josephs journey is where it started to get interesting. He knew from doing this routine every day that the first hour or so he would never find anything worthwhile. Maybe a scrap here and there but nothing worth any value. Finally, he has managed to stumble upon a small cottage, untouched. No forced entry, no broken windows and it is all perfectly intact. A rare yet exciting sighting. "Now now what do we have here.." The male mumbled to himself as he observed the cottage from a good distance. Although it seems untouched that doesn't mean it actually is. People have gotten craftier these days and this could easily be a trap therefore he knew he had to be cautious before entering the cottage. Just as he was about to move in closer that was when he heard the dreaded noise of an infected. "Fan-fucking-tastic." Joe grumbled as he pulled out a small pair of binoculars to scope the area to try and find the bastard. "Gotcha." Joe whispered as he locked sights on the infected who was currently lapping its way around the front of the cottage. "Time to deal with this." He ran his hand through his hair before carefully creeping behind a set of knee-high stones that were perched in the front garden, thus giving him enough cover so the infected doesn't seem him. 

Gingerly Joe peered up from over the set of stones to gauge what kind of method of attack he'd need for this infected. It only seemed to be a stage 1 infected given by the bite mark on their arm and the small lacerations down their neck and back. A very recent case, An hour or two give or take. Was this person trying to get into this cottage? Is this the place it all went pear-shaped for them? Either way, Joe couldn't fixate on the questions at hand, he needed to get rid of it and fast. He waited for the right moment before he tiptoed up behind the infected and grabbed it by the neck making sure to cut off any air supply. Of course the infected didn't go down without a fight as it wriggled its way around in Joe's grasp however it was unsuccessful and after a few moments of thrashing around it soon died. "And that's that." Joe concluded by dropping the lifeless body to the ground and stepping over it before walking up to the front door of the cottage. He placed his hand on the cool brass before giving it a turn, nothing. It's locked. "Pickin time." He muttered as he crouched down before grabbing his lock pick set from his bag. It was a tricky old bastard but he got there in the end. 

With the door now open Joe stepped foot into the cottage and to his surprise, it is actually untouched. "Holy shit." He said as he made his way into the kitchen as he started to raid the cupboards, taking any supplies he could before some other bastard stumbled upon this find. "Peaches, spaghetti, soup." With every item, he placed in his bag Joe was taking a mental note of what they were. Just as he was about to move into another room he heard the floorboards of the front room squeak. God damn it who the fuck has found this place already? Joe drew in a quick breath before he grabbed his 9mm from his holster, he carefully pulled back the hammer and took off the safety as he kept the gun to his side as he moved towards the door. The closer he got the door the higher he raised his gun, who the fuck was he going to find today?  @elsierenshaw