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Day: March 2, 2024

Journal Entry 2

Journal Entry 2

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There is trouble in Bear Country.
The Runt came running down the admin hall before sun up this morning yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Get up, Get up. They took our fuel. “
I jumped off the couch and tackled him in the hallway.
“Ok, we get the point.” I yelled back as I grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to calm him down.

By this time, everyone residing in the admin hall was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes were everywhere and no one was in a very joyful mood.
Runt tried to squirm out of my hold as he cried.
“Tony …Tony’s hurt. They beat him up.”

Tony lives in the basement. He has been my friend (sort of) since before the world turned upside down. We didn’t run in the same circles but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, he was dating a cheerleader. He isn’t very sociable these days but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break.

I ordered the Runt to stay put in the admin hallway and grabbed some muscle. When I say muscle, I am referring to Matt and Jonas. The three of us ran toward the basement. The basement was a mess and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony attempted to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the wall and let out a cry of pain.
“I tried to reason with them.” Tony said as he spit out a mouth full of blood.
“They took all of our fuel.”

Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages. The Central Bobcats are from the east end of Lafayette Blvd we live on the West. We were rivals in football, basketball and volleyball. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world thru itself into chaos. The big difference between Central and us is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies.

The leader of the Central Bobcats is a former high school wrestling champion. He is mean, leads by fear, and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the Hulk after the comic book character. He doesn’t barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants.

Matt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn’t have tried to stop Central Goons from taking what they wanted. Just then, Runt ran up behind me holding a first aid kit. The Runt is such a tiny little person. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He gets into more trouble.
Runt glared back at me. “Tony didn’t try to stop them. They beat him up afterwards.”

I looked at Tony and he just nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting a raving about getting even. Love these boys but they get hot under the collar fast and don’t always think things thru…

We have some big people in Bear Country but we are not a match for the goons at Central.

A Meeting – discussing the stolen fuel

A Meeting – discussing the stolen fuel

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Shortly after the world fell into chaos, Matt, Jonas, Lisa and Madie took refuge in the abandoned Bear Country High School. Within a few years, their little gang of misfits grew from four members to more than three dozen. As a member of the original four, Madie was elected leader. There was no fighting or posturing for the role of leader, no one else wanted the responsibility.

Madie tried to make good sound decisions. The only person who ever opposed those decisions was Matt. Madie was certain Matt caused conflict for the fun of it. Madie called a meeting to ask for volunteers to travel to Wolf Valley to replace the fuel stolen by the Bobcats.

“Thanks for coming.” Madie said as she welcomed everyone to the meeting. “I don’t want to take up too much of  your time. I only have a couple things on the agenda. The Bobcats have taken our winter fuel. We need to replace what we have lost. I need three or four volunteers to travel to Wolf Valley.

In a display of “I am king of the warriors.” Matt jumps on top of a table. “Why travel all the way to Wolf Valley. We know where our fuel is. The Central Bobcats have it. He raised his fist into the air, “Let’s take back what’s ours!”

The calm silent room broke into cheers of “Fight, Fight, FIGHT!”

“Wait…Stop…Quiet!” Madie yelled. “Who hasn’t seen what the Bobcats did to Tony? He’s one of our best fighters. The Bobcats almost turned him into hamburger. Most of us in this room couldn’t fight our way out of a paper bag! You’re all idiots with a death wish”.

Madie took a deep breath. Her face was on fire. “I know everyone wants to pummel Central and take back what’s ours. I want that too but we are not strong enough. Risking the lives of everyone in this school is stupid. We don’t need to fight Central. We can travel to Wolf Valley and replace the fuel.

Marty spoke up, “Wolf Valley is 8 miles from here. Longer if we travel around the Red Hyena territory instead of going thru it.

“Look, I know it’s a pain and inconvenient,” Madie said as she jumped onto the table next to Matt “If it were any other gang or local tribe I would say, Let’s fight and take back what’s ours!”

“Why don’t we fight?” Matt said in reply.

“Because if we fight, one or more of us will die. I don’t want to die. Do you want to die, Matthew?” Madie said stepping up face to face with her good friend.

“Why don’t we vote on it?” Cecelia said from across the room.

“Yes, why don’t we vote on it, Mad-del-line?” Matt said in reply.

Madie thru her hands up into the air. “Fine, we’ll vote. Everyone that wants to fight Central in a fight to the death to get back our fuel raise your hands.”

Matt, Jonas and few others raised their hands. JT counted out loud and wrote the number 6 on the black board.

Madie smiled and cleared her throat. “All those in favor of making a trip to Wolf Valley, please raise your hands.” Madie looked at the sea of hands. “Looks like I’m gonna need those volunteers, Matthew!”

Irritated with the vote, Matt, Jonas and their supporters storm out of the room.