The Palimpsest

ENTRY: 728A

hEadditing out ?pazt +t+h+e cavE +[LOG PARTIALLY RESTORED] used the canoe to push past the barricade outside of D-%78 (UNKNOWN LOCATION>TRANSLATION IN PROCESS); Kuong (??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) said that the canoe was too bulky to carry through the tunnel, so we may as well put the engine to use. Phelps (??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) lit the hydrotorch + blew the canoe engine, resulting in a lyon-sized hole in the steel of the barricade/ canoe destroyed- pretty nifty.

ENTRY: 729B

[LOG LOST]

ENTRY: 732A

Went through the low water at D-%41/ saw three mutations, one on the shore, the other two in the trees= we decided to instead travel around to thye longff widehb roadf (<??? TRANSLATION INCOMPLETE/ LOG DROPPED)

ENTRY: 733A

Kuong + Phelps say they’re high off cave moss fumes- K says he sees rings behind his vision + P says he is seeing flashes of light- both are giggling- I think just two jagoffs screwing with me, but just in case I’ve taken a moss sample for -P----- (TRANSLATION LOST) / didn’t want to touch the stuff, but oh well- also blood samples- mine included- + stashed the vials in my pack. / Will test vials when we get back to Base. Not noticing any symptoms on my part except general annoyance at K + P- Approx. three miles to go.

ENTRY: 734B

Myra (>??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) surprised we wiggled out of the cave then past D-%78 with full packs + nary a scratch. Dumped our packs at the entry for decontamination procedures even though Kuong says they don’t do anything to them- just make us wait for our loot/ I agree with him for once. Base holding steady at 29.4 Celcius, air quality grade 7, minimal rust around outdoor doors. Four new shipments in, twelve outgoing. Hoping to soon make contact with Holos Trade Inc. after they cross over D-%91 [LOG DROPPED]

ENTRY: 736B

Myra + Goose (>??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) finally got around to testing our blood samples; found a few micros + some bacteria but that’s to be expected since we were outside the perimeter- Goose gave me an aspiring pill, injected me with a knarly shot in my ass + told me to get Kuong + Phelps to the tent azap/ doubt they will listen to me- I told Myra as such; she ignored me + said we needed better protocols about bringing bactyeruia-onto>Base= remninded me ojf the tfime-when-thesickness-FIRst-came+we-all-had-tyo (LOG DROPPED)

ENTRY: 736D

Movement detected outside perimeter at 13:07, 18:26 – 19:32, 21:03. No visuals.

ENTRY: 737C

Rhosh (??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) dropped my pack off today at my bivouac/ counted out the goods= all in all a good haul, as the nursery rhyme goes. Two bottles of aspiring for headaches + cramps/ a coffee mug, slightly chipped, from YORK ROAD NURSERY + KOI POND COMPAN/ pair of scissors/ a blue sweater with a small hole in the sleeve/ three pencils/ a razor blade, somewhat dull/ six assorted vegetabal cans/ a dog collar with a tag reading DAISY/ four paperback books/ one hardcover book/ one sheet of thick plastic/ a small plastic lyon toy/ one short-handled kitchen knife/ two well-preserved pairs of blue jeans/ an empty jar, lid missing/ gardening shears/ a half-finished roll of tape. I’m going to donate the books to the library after I read them. I’ll trade the rest.

ENTRY: 741D

-P----- (TRANSLATION LOST) kicked me out of the lab today so he could test the moss sample I took from the cave so I went + found Myra. Brought a pouch of moonswine up to the wall + talked about Sam (??? VOCALS TRANSLATED) / We haven’t talked about him in a long time= booze made things easier.

ENTRY: 743A

Dropped off two of the paperbacks at the library tent; shelves were pretty empty but still have three more books to read from my pack. Still no contact with Holos Trade Inc./ Phelps ultrapeeved they haven’t shown- Goose said pro’bly late due to acid storms out near D-%90/ Base holding steady at 28.7 Celcius, air quality grade 5, extended rust around outer doors- will need to reinforce wax sealing before the start of F-77shedter09—(<??? TRANSLATION UNAVAILABLE)

ENTRY: 745C

Opened my hardcover book + found a surprise. Had picked it up at the library near D-%75; we saw four mutations, so we had to get a move on + Phelps was almost caught because >he>>>{++++???? (<??? TRANSLATION LOST) when we ducked inside the building + starteffed-a-fyiire-cause/MUtationsss/.huntttm [LOG DROPPED]

[LOG RESTORED] ‘Climate Change & the World of the Future,’ by T.W. Rivers (>TRANSLATION CONFIRMED) Was looking forward to reading this one cause usually everything people thought would happen is wrong + it’s funny + I tell Myra + we have a good laugh, + I like to make her laugh.

Pages were stuck together + I had to pry them open/saw someone had taken a knife + carved out the inside of the pages. Something fell on my lap + I picked it up + it was a necklace/ not like the one Myra gave me last F-77shedter09—(<??? TRANSLATION UNAVAILABLE) cause this one is shaped like a heart + is pretty dirty. I scrubbed it up a bit on some grass- shine starting to come back/ Chain is ruined- all brown -left black marks on my fingers. Ultrapissed that some dead jagoff cut a book like that for a waste of a necklace.

Sometimes I want to go back in time just to shake whatever jagoffs were alive + yell at them, Treat things nicer! Maybe if people had treated things nicer then we wouldn’t be where we are today.

ENTRY: 747E

Siren went off+ woke everyone up at approx. 22:45 = something burrowed under the wall. Searched Base in groups. Ended at approx. 2:27- no mutations present. Hole too big for a rabbit but presumably the siren scared off whatever came in. Rhosh says we need to send out teams to scout for tracks- pretty sure he means me + Kuong + Phelps. Ultratired now cause up all night.

ENTRY: 748A

Kuong is missing.

ENTRY: 748C

Kuong still missing. Filled in the hole with fresh wooden stakes + rocks- temporary hold but better than nothing; Goose worried about Kuong/ me too/ Phelps in a rager. Rhosh insists outer doors remain closed.

ENTRY: 749B

[LOG LOST]

ENTRY: 752B

Surprised again. Picked up the heart necklace to take down to the trade table + it clicked open. First I thought I broke it + was ultrapeeved at myself because traders trade less for broken things / when Old Sue tried to trade this knarly lightbulb= all clear glass + wire, but Kuong tripped near the trade table + knocked the bulb + it fell + shattered on the ground. Old Sue was ultrapissed + in a rager cause the trader offered her three times less when the bulb broke. Kuong ran away + laughed but felt bad because every time we have gone out scouting he’s tried to find another lightbulb for Old Sue= we never find an unbroken one.

So I was ultrapeeved at myself because I broke the necklace, which on its own wouldn’t get me a lot at the trade table but with the sweater thrown in I could pro’bly get some more books- but then I realized that the necklace had a little clasp on the outer edge of the heart piece + that it was meant to open.

+ then! I looked closer + saw that there was a photo on one side of the heart- oldtimey /ruined= young man with a big smile. Which was nice so I looked at the other side of the heart + my own heart just about broke because written in a fancy etching in the metal was the word ‘Sam’. I started to cry because was this my Sam?

But we don’t own a camera here + the young man looks nothing like my Sam even though he could have grown up by now but even then, I don’t think his face would have changed that much, or his hair. Plus it’s an old-time photo? So it can’t be my Sam anyway but I’m still crying just to see his name written out some way beautiful like that.

I’m wondering if this could be a message from Sam? I’ll have to ask Myra although I think she’ll get upset if I show her my discovery.

ENTRY: 753C

Left evening meal early to read; can’t focus cause everyone is so miserable cause of Kuong. Pretty sure he’s gone for good- Rhosh + Phelps want to go look but -P----- says no. Myra spent all day in her bivouac crying.

ENTRY: 754A

Dreamed about Sam again last night.

ENTRY: 756B

Crying again. Stupid swine-me, bivouacked up with my tears + snot + a dirty necklace. Took out the oldtimey photograph of the smiling man first= taped it to the wall of my bivouac. I know it’s not my Sam + it’s hard to look at his smile but can’t toss the photo either. Used the kitchen knife I gathered at last scouting + scratched Kuong’s name on the Sam-less half of the necklace. Now Sam’s name is written in fancy glyphs on one side of the heart, + Kuong’s name is etched in my messy knife-writing on the other half.

ENTRY: 759A

Movement last night detected outside the perimeter at 2:47, 12:34, 13:09. No visuals. Driving me ultracrazy to think what is happening out there. Phelps says he heard scratching at outer doors on his watch. Whole Base is one big pulse of anxiety= all worried because we need more wax from Holos Trade Inc. to keep doors tight /they are not here.

ENTRY: 760C

Goose says might not be mutations outside the walls, that maybe bigger animals are coming back. We haven’t seen them in so long but it could be a deer or maybe lyon, although Goose says lyons didn’t live around here when they were alive the first time. Hoping not mutations or lyons cause if Kuong is still alive he’s out there with them.

ENTRY: 762C

-P----- gathered Base together + told us says Holos Trade Inc. pro’bly isn’t coming. He says it’s too late in the year to be able to pass over through D-%95 safely. We need wax + cement + foodstuffs from Holos + everyone feels ultra-anxious. Went back to my bivouac to stare at the heart / the photo of maybe-my-Sam. Haven’t shown Myra yet.

Last year when Holos Trade Inc. came to Base their leader, a tall man with a missing nose, looked at the movie discs Myra + I had gathered to trade + asked, Weren’t there three of you last time? We ended up trading the discs at another table + Myra sat on top of the wall for two days straight, not talking to anyone even me + Goose. I don’t think I’ll show her the heart with Sam in it. Not yet.

ENTRY: 764A

More holes dug under the walls last night. Actually hoping it’s a lyon instead of the other possibilities.

I’m wearing their names around my neck.

ENTRY: 765D

Just woke up- did Rhosh open the doors?

ENTRY: 765E

Approx. 24:13, sirens going off all over Base. Can hear Goose yelling. Can’t find Myra. Hoping she found her safe space= so scared of going out again in the cold night/ -P----- will be ultrapissed if I don’t go out now, + can hear some sort of wailing- scared to leave my bivouac. But Myra always says that I am brave + I like to make her smile + what if Myra is out there alone? So I am going to leave just after logging this + I am wearing the heart necklace around my neck + I will feel like Kuong + Sam are-standing.nextTO-mEe-+maybe=th-ir?>love-ff-will?protec---me?-[(<??? TRANSLATION INCOMPLETE/ LOG DROPPED)

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