[u]Jack Marino:[/u]

[i]Today, Matt and I spent a good few hours reinforcing the outer barricades, beyond the courtyard. Shelton seemed adamant that this first line of defense before the school itself was essential - it kept the enemy out of biting range, and allowed us space and time to pick them off from a distance. Additionally, we have begun constructing watchtowers on this outer wall, and Shelton has written up a schedule for watch duty consisting of his men, and a few other volunteers. 

We haven't had any trouble outside the barricade for five days now, apart from the occasional straggler. Overall, things are pretty safe in our corner of the world - I hope they stay that way. Laurel has been through a lot over the course of this year, and though she knows I'll always be there for her, leading the camp is taking it's toll. Thankfully I have Shelton to bear some of the burden, God knows I'm no military man.

Hoping for a better tomorrow,
Desmond Williams[/i]

The closing line of the journal entry echoed serenely in the mind of Jack Marino, as he, too, wondered if tomorrow would be better. Hell, we wasn't even sure if he'd be alive tomorrow - but he tried not to let it get him down. The man, Desmond, had ended every single journal entry with the same line. For the former Congressman, it almost sounded like a campaign slogan: "A Better Tomorrow". Yet there was a certain charm to it, a peculiar optimism that must have kept Desmond going until the end - and kept Jack reading from the hundreds of entries contained within the simple-looking black hardcover journal. 

The call of a crow outside tore Jack from his thoughts. Sighing, he closed the book and had a look around the spartan accommodations of the Cougar Rock Campground Check-In Building. The structure seemed almost entirely undisturbed from human contact since the start of the crisis, to his pleasant surprise. It looked as if not many people decided to call Cougar Rock their home after things went to shit, which meant better opportunities for Jack during he stay there. Granted, Cougar Rock was just a point of rest. He planned on staying a day or two, then continue along the road southwest to the town of Ashford. However, during his brief scout of the park he realized he just may have a shot at hunting there, and hoped to replenish his food supply before departing.

Outside, rays of warm bright light poured in through the front window, and, apart from the occasional bird call or the rustling of the leaves, the park was eerily quiet. Jack missed the sounds of nature - the omnipresent presence of a forest exuding life around you. Hell, he missed the bustle of a city - even the incessant bickering of congressmen in Washington. He missed it all. But this world, filled with the dead and the desperate, this world was the one he knew now.