Chapter Five: Michael:

Location: Los Angeles, California

Diary Entry: Michael

Morning Ten

Nobody keeps track of what day it is anymore. Everyone is looking for each other in this vast sea of sand. Some people are still missing or buried under the sand. I don’t when or if I will find my girlfriend. Jun may be strong, but can she survive this sand wasteland? Nobody still has any answers as to how any of this happened. Everyone has been joining up in groups to survive. I have been on my own for these past few days. For some reason, being in a group seems too risky for me.

I grab food and water whenever I can. I can’t remember the last time I had a cold drink. Come to think of it, I haven’t had anything cold lately. You have to eat meat and vegetables in one day else they will rot. The supermarkets all over LA were picked cleaned days ago. It’s creepy to be looking down at this city given all that has happened. Jun and I used to sit on the rooftop and watch life going by in the lit-up night. Now, there is nothing. No lights, no traffic, and no signs of life. Everyone walked out of the city as soon as the sand hit. I probably should do the same thing too. I don’t get why I haven’t done that yet.

The feeling of loneliness is still there, but it’s gone quieter. Nobody knows what’s going to happen the next day. I gave up guessing yesterday. I don’t even know which direction to go now. I have heard some talking about heading to the sea. I can’t help but shake my head. How can you be sure that it’s still there? It could be dried up just like every river and lake in this state. Everyone that tries to go to the ocean has yet to come back.

There is an urgency to get out, but there doesn’t seem to be a point either. All you get is more sand and rusting cars. That’s another thing, we have no more use for electronics anymore. I threw my pager from this very roof last night. What was the use? I hated it anyway. There isn’t much to do on the roof where I have been staying for the past five days. My food supply is running low again. I sit up and sigh as look up at the empty morning sky. I guess it’s time for me to leave LA at last. It’s funny, Jun and I always talked about leaving this city. I doubt like this, though.

I rubbed the back of my head as I rose to my feet. I never was a planning person. Jun always took the lead. I found myself quite comfortable with that. She decided everything—where ate out, this apartment that I am sitting on, the things we would buy, and even what we would do on the weekends. Our friends joked about me being weak-willed, but I would laugh it off. Now, I think that they might have a point. Either way, I don’t think I can take going up and down the stairs of this apartment for another day. That part of my day makes me wish that we still had electricity again.