Ok.. ok.. let me just write down what happened here. This morning when we woke up, it was still snowing, but it looked like it was about to let up. I decided to go out to the car and brush it off anyway. I told Hector to tell the others that I'm going to the car and staying there for about a half hour until the car gets enough juice to drive it down and pick them up. No sense in all of us trudging through the snow. It wasn't even much, just a couple of inches, but I wanted everyone else to remain comfortable.
There was nothing out there but white, and if I saw a zombie coming from anywhere, they would stand out against the snowy canvas and be easier to see. I got to the car no problem at all, and then ate my breakfast of canned pineapple. There wasn't much to do while in the car, so I got a bit of extra sleep. Roughly nine in the morning, the car had a charge of 10 percent, so I decided to turn it on and drive it back to the apartments.
We gave it a couple of extra hours to charge up at that point, while the four of us debated whether or not we should attempt to reach Rhinelander. The car would need a full a day, maybe more, of being in the sun to have enough energy to take us more than 400 miles north. We ultimately decided to leave now, coast when we could, and make it as far as possible before dark came. And that was a HORRIBLE IDEA!
Because we didn't make it. We were just south of Rockford, IL, until we ran headlong into a mean blizzard. It was literally like driving into a while fall of fury. It must have been dumping an inch of snow every ten minutes, and we soon couldn't see where the road was anymore. I drifted off the road and got us stuck in a snowbank. Dammit, if only Thaddeus would have let me go when I wanted to, I could have grabbed them and beat this storm!
We couldn't stay in the car. We had to brave the blizzard and walk through roughly a foot and a half to two feet of snow to find shelter. We spotted a sign almost nearly covered in sticky wet snow and were able to make out that it was for a truck center. That was our destination, but just as we were about 100 feet away, I felt something grab my right calf deep in the snow and bite me. I screamed out in surprise, panic and pain, in that order. I fell backward and yanked my foot away when the leather rose from the snow. I heard its skin creaking and crinkling, obviously near frozen and trying to advance toward me. My screams alerted everyone else, and they rushed over to help. Hector ended up throwing his ax at the zombie aiming for its head, but he missed and it sunk into the leather's shoulder instead. It didn't even turn to them; it just kept coming towards me and fell on top of me.
I grabbed its face trying to keep him from biting me. If it weren't for it being nearly frozen, I might not have been able to fend it off. Even its current condition, it was still pretty strong. I damn near lost my fingers trying to force his jaw shut. Just when I thought I was about to lost the fight, I heard the bone shattering crunch of the ax being driven into the back of its head. Wallace got to him, yanked the ax out and swung it at his skull.
But that wasn't the end of it. During the commotion, we failed to notice the two other leathers rise from the snow behind us, both moving as slow as the one that just attacked me. Wallace must have been infuriated by the leather attacking me, because he charged at the two raising the ax. In a split second, I realized what was happening. I yelled at Wallace to stop, to let the zombies come to him, but he didn't. On his way rushing through the deep snow, he was tripped by another zombie at the bottom and a fourth rose from the snow right where Wallace fell and was on him instantly... There was nothing any one of us could have done.
And then I remembered the rifle. I had it slung behind my pack because I felt I didn't need to hold it since I would have seen them coming, even through the blowing snow, but I cursed myself for remembering it so late. Once I had it out, I immediately fired on the four zombies. The two on top of Wallace, I took out first, and they erupted in flames, burning him in the process. There was nothing to be done about that. He was already being eaten. The two that were walking towards him began coming towards me, so I shot each one, their immolating bodies falling in the snow and melting a hole around them.
My mind went numb. I was bit. Wallace was dying. I was waiting on more leathers to rise from the snow. I don't even remember hearing Temperance screaming. When I finally snapped to, I noticed her holding his bloodied, charred remains. I saw Hector with his ax again looking around for any more undead surprises, and that's when I knew I had to do something, a last ditch effort. I told him he had to chop off my leg. His eyes went wide, but he nodded.
It didn't go well at all. There was so much deep snow everywhere that I had no solid place to lay down. Hector tried to clear snow away, enough so that I could lay down on the ground, but I told him I didn't have time for that. It had to happen now. He needed to swing as hard as he could at my leg with me standing up. I yelled at Temperance a few times until she turned to me, and I told her what was about to happen to me and I needed her help. She has the makings of a true nurse, because she was able to leave her husband behind to rush to my aid. I had her strip some cloth from Wallace's shirt and tie a tourniquet around my leg, above the knee where Hector was going to chop. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and used it as a bit, and then nodded to Hector. I closed my eyes and turned my head and I heard the swishing of the snow as Hector ran to me and then I was hit with explosive pain.
It was not a clean hack. I don't know what I felt worse, or felt more pain from. The ax cutting into my skin, severing my muscles, or chipping into my bone. He must not have gotten a good angle with the swing. I groaned in agony through my wallet bit, surprised I was still standing, and motioned Hector to do it again, but just as ax came a second time, I started to fall and Hector landed a glancing blow on my knee instead. I fell backward on the snow, having lost my bit and I cried out. I yelled at Hector to just hurry it up and he stood over with the ax, bringing it down again, but it only drove me further into the snow. I was on the verge of passing out when after the sixth swing, I felt the ax finally go all the way through.
The tourniquet held, and I lost very little blood compared to what I would have without it. Then Temperance pulled out some rubbing alcohol and Wallace's old flint, and I knew I wasn't done with the pain yet. She sprinkled the alcohol all over my stump and then used the flint to light it on fire. THAT'S when I passed out.
We managed to make it to the truck stop, dragging me behind. I've been up for about twenty minutes or so, trying to keep my mind off the pain, but I can't. It really isn't helping when I'm writing about it. Temperance has already changed my dressing once, and said that the cauterization seems to be doing OK. She tried to hide her anger, but let's just say she'd never win at poker. I know she blames me for Wallace's death. I do, too.
Hector came over after Temperance tended to me, and he cracked a joke saying that together, we add up to a full man. I don't know how, but I managed to laugh at that. I told him how much this sucks, that I know fully now what he had to go through. He asked me if I could still feel it, my leg. I made a conscious effort to move my leg where there used to be one, and surprisingly still felt it. I even felt the wiggling of my toes. It's an extremely eerie feeling. He said I'll eventually not feel it anymore. The brain just had a hard time letting go. I had to thank him for what he did for me, but I also told him I'm worried that we may not have done it soon enough. We both remembered Carmello, how when he got bit on the hand, he chopped it first, and THEN killed the zombie. That was a hardcore man. The virus literally did not have a second to move up his arm. Me on the other hand, several minutes passed before he started chopping off my leg. Even though the ax was covered in zombie blood, I knew because of my Class 3 immunity that it wouldn't infect me, only the bite would. Was it able to travel up my leg fast enough? I don't know. I'm feeling okay now, but we'll have to wait and see how I feel in the morning.
God have I fucked up, and it's all because of me forgetting those fucking batteries! We could have made it back by now! Wallace would have been alive, and I wouldn't have been bitten. And what happens now? Even if I'm perfectly fine tomorrow, the car's stuck in the snow. There's AAA to tow us out, and there's no department of transportation to clear the roads! We still have 300 miles to go. How are supposed to make it back there on foot? Winter's already appeared, and it will only get worse. This isn't even close to the worst kind of snow storm I've seen.
Night three without Kat. I can only imagine her reaction when she see me - if she sees me - come home. I wonder if she thinks I'm dead yet. I just want to see her again. I'm starting to feel scared that I won't. I try to remain positive, but I'm so afraid Hector didn't chop my leg off in time. I need to see her again. God, I know I haven't believed in you much and I've said some pretty blasphemous things about you, but please forgive me for all that. I know this is just the desperate attempt of a man trying to ask God for one last favor, but please help us make it out of this! I really, really could use a deus ex machina...
Until tomorrow...hopefully...
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