Day 13

Spent last night playing checkers with Andrew. He even has his own board, a cloth one that he got in a trade, and pieces that are just random stones and bottle caps and such that he's dyed to the right colors. It was actually pretty nice. Like I said, he's actually a smart guy, especially for a Mutate. He knows a pretty good bit about plants, and he has traveled around some. We swapped some stories, compared our travels. Turns out his childhood was about as bad as mine, as he got picked on for his smarts and eventually just left his tribe and never looked back.

He also gave me a warning about Terminus, the great city to the north of here. Never been that far north, but I've heard that all the highways lead there. Turns out it's pretty dangerous there, as the perimeter around the place is covered in kudzu. Hopefully that shit's died off by the time you read this, because right now the typical response, completely justified, is to hit it with any and every kind of fire you can gather up. It's a plant, made of vines and leaves, but it moves. It's not really very quick, but there's a ton of it in any patch, enough to easily attack with four or five vines at a time. And it will wrap around a person or an animal, completely covering and trapping them, and then just hold them until they die and rot and feed it. Kudzu is an evil, deadly plant; I've seen a village get half wiped out before it was stopped.

Today, I am back on my feet. Still not feeling back to a hundred percent, but it's important that I exercise and work out the last of the infection. Personally, I'm hoping to be back to my old self tomorrow, so I can work again. The townsfolk here have been pretty understanding about me being out of it, but I know that they're feeding and housing me in exchange for my services and skills, and it makes me feel guilty that I haven't been able to provide.

(*Pause, barely-audible distant voice*)

I CAN'T TELL WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, MAX, COME HERE! OR BETTER YET, JUST WAIT THERE! Yeesh...!

(*Pause, footsteps, another male voice*)

“Jacob, we've got a visitor at the gates. He's not just wanting in, he's demanding it, in the name of The Church. And he says it just like that, so you can hear capital letters. You ever heard of them?”

Yeah, I have. And not much has been good. Just one guy? You're sure? Alright, c'mon, let's go get a look at him, I-...Oops, recorder's still on. To be continued.