Doomsday Diary

Diary entry 196

I do not think I have slept in days, and I have had an eerie feeling that this may be my last entry. I cannot let my guard down; they are always looking. It has been 3 years since I left home, and I am not returning. I have found a real family since I left, and the good thing is, they are all like me. I know one day someone will find this diary, maybe all covered in mud and torn up, but someone will see. So, I might as well let my side of the story be known.

It all started when I found that locket. It was June 29, 2021, I decided to skip out on work. I just did not feel going, they were probably going to fire me soon anyway. It was such a sunny day; due to the radiation we do not get many sunny days so I could not let the good weather go to waste. I called my friend Kai and we decided to go shopping, if you can call stealing from abandoned malls shopping. A few of my friends were throwing a party in the old high school, so I needed some new clothes.

I remember how the wind rippled through my clothes, how the flowers smelled. Flowers were so rare so when you saw one, you just had to appreciate it. That day is something I will never forget, it felt so perfect. We had to ride the bus to the mall and let me tell you, public transportation after an apocalypse is the worst.

The bus ride was around 30 minutes. Me and Kai never spoke when we rode the bus together. These old buses were always so loud, it was nearly impossible to hear my own thoughts, let alone whatever nonsense she would be talking about. My headphones were my best friend on these bus rides, it was just me and the music. Time must have slipped away from me, the ride seemed like it was only 5 minutes long. I was too excited about getting my clothes to dwell on it for very long. We hopped of the bus quickly and proceeded towards the mall.

Right before we got to the doors, a woman frantically running dropped her locket. She had matted hair and was covered in dirt. I yelled for her so I could return it, she turned to look at me in horror; as if she had seen a ghost. She turned back and continued running. I figured she may have been having a mental break down, but she seemed so scared I was a little worried. I had picked up the locket off the ground to admire it. It was shaped like a heart, it had beautiful engravings on it. It reminded me of one that my grandmother used to have. Me and Kai continued into the mall, disregarding the ‘crazy’ lady. I tried opening it, but it was not budging so I just put it back in my pocket.

We finally reached my favorite boutique. Once I walked in, I looked for things to open the locket with. I saw a woman with a metal nail filer and asked her if I could borrow it, she looked at me weirdly but reluctantly agreed. I smiled as I pried it open, wondering if it would be a picture of the crazy lady’s ex-husband. It took some strength, but I finally got it open. There was reflective glass on both sides, I though it was a mirror at first, but then looking closer I realized it was not me that I was seeing. It was the shaped of a person, but it had no face.

Before I could say anything, the Boutique doors slammed closed, and a green smoke-like figure emerged out of the locket, I threw it and tried to run. Suddenly the entire store was covered in green smoke. Everyone was screaming, we had no idea what was happening. The smoke only lasted for about 2 minutes, once it cleared everyone looked at me for an explanation, but I knew just as much as they did. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I ran to open the doors and to my surprise, the crazy lady was standing outside. She looked even more frightened than before. I could not even get a word out before she ran. She was halfway out of the mall within a blink of an eye, almost like it was super speed, definitely faster than she was running before.

I looked back to try to find Kai, she looked over at me and started running. Three steps later, she stopped. I did not understand why so I walked over to her, only to see her feet cocooning. The cocoon was growing fast, swiftly covering her entire body. I did not have time to process all that I had just seen before it started happening to me too. It started happening to everyone in the store, it was like something out of a movie. I had never been so scared, but what emerged, was glorious.

I must have been like that for days because when I finally ‘hatched’ nobody else was around. I walked around the mall yelling for somebody, but to my surprise not a single soul responded. This place is usually a pretty popular area considering it is one of the only places that still had electricity. I tried to find a way out, but the overgrowth had blocked all the exits. I knew the overgrowth was getting bad, but it was nowhere near this bad when I first got here. After running around in circles for an hour I had finally found someone. It was Kai, she explained what happened. The locket gave us power, unlike anyone has ever had before. The people from the boutique popped out of the shadows and ran to hug me. According to them I was out for a month, but it turns out I was the lucky one.

We were being hunted, and not just us from the mall. There were more trinkets and lockets, filled with the smoke that were found all over the city. Now the government, or what is left of it, is hunting us down. Saying we are freaks and animals. There was no time to be a kid anymore, I had to fend for myself. Kai started training me immediately. Our powers were based around plants and animals. We grew gills in the water, could run like cheetahs, had butterfly wings, could manipulate plant life and so much more. Halfway through my first day of training I realized the locket was in my back pocket. I have no idea how it ended up there, but I felt safer with it with me. We were safe in the mall for months before somehow, they found us.

We were all laughing and having fun on the old mattresses when we heard glass break. Before we knew it, shots were fired, and bombs were thrown. We used our powers to take out the soldiers, we were stronger than then, but not strong enough. Only some of us made it out alive. Me, Kai, and Natasha, the woman who lent me the nail filer, were the only survivors. Shortly afterward Kai got sick, we tried everything we could, but we could not save her. The same happened to Natasha shortly after. When I lost them both, I had nobody else. I began jumping from city to city trying to find a home. It took me years.

Which brings us to the present, I found a home in Chicago. It was filled with people who were like me, but not exactly the same. All around the country these lockets were opened, and they contained different types of power. While we are all gifted, we all had different skills. They called themselves ‘aberrants’ They created some type of government within the city. On my way to the city hall, I found fliers everywhere looking for a locket, the same one that is around my neck. It was the first one that was opened, meaning it is the door to the other side. I revealed my locket to the president and was quickly offered a seat at the council. We spent months training all the citizens in the city to either protect ourselves from the government, or to train to go through the door. We are about to go through it now. There is a realistic chance I may never come back. Whether it is because we make a home there, or because we die there. I am writing this because I know someday people will find it, and they will know our story. We are not animals, or savages. We did not choose this. It was forced upon us. We want the same answers you do, and I just wish we could have worked together to find them. It is only human to choose survival, and that is what we are, humans. Humans who just want to live, humans who just want a home. I hope whoever is reading this one day understand that