Yesterday morning brought no sightings of Julie along the shores of Waskaganish, Undead or otherwise. It was both good news and bad news for us. Inevitably she was going to die but in not seeing her among the horde, there was the chance that she had been able to end her life before the infection turned her into something horrible.

The Undead throng seemed to grow overnight and were now pressed so tightly against the edge of the water. Any wrong move would likely have toppled them all into the drink. Captain Kanelstrand had made the decision to leave the bay today. The horde was just to close and while they couldn’t physically walk across the water to us, there was no way of knowing if they could walk across the bottom of the bay and ascend the anchor chain. No need to take any chances at this point.

Once the decision was made the crew of the ship morphed into a totally different entity. They became the crew of a fully functioning cruise vessel once again and it became their purpose to see to the safety and comfort of their guests on board. It really was an amazing site to behold. If there had been time to crack open a few cases of Dom Perignon, there likely would have been a few toasts.

The ship itself was a bit jerky when it first started moving. Perhaps it was from sitting idle for so long. Hopefully not from an engine issue. That would be the worst of luck now to be stuck out here in the middle of the ocean, especially when the Mechanical Engineers have all been lost along the way to the outbreak. Regardless, we still managed to get going and get moving. And not a moment too soon.

It might have been the movement of the ship or perhaps just a moment in the collective mind of the Undead but it seemed that as we started to retreat, they started to advance. En mass they moved forward into the water, almost as if they were marching in formation. Did they think to follow us? It would have been comical if it hadn’t been scary. What if they had done that while no one was watching them? We might have mistaken their absence as disinterest and not pursuit. We never would have seen them under the water, especially because they weren’t floating to the surface.

Knowing that there was going to be time to spare where the survivors couldn’t help the crew, Ben and I called a Town Meeting with the help of a few other outspoken survivors from Waskaganish. Captain Kanelstrand had already given us his permission to discuss implementing some sort of work schedule so that the ship remained clean and free from pests and garbage. Plus it guaranteed that everyone would get clean clothes and food on a daily basis.

Many of the survivors were happy enough to go along with the proposed schedule. They were happy to have found a place that was safe and they were not about to complain about a little work that might need to be done.

Then you encountered a few of the other survivors. They would have been what you would have called wealthy and privileged before the Undead. One woman swore up and down that there was no way that she would be “forced” to pick up garbage, wash clothes, or cook meals for anyone. Out of the 650+ survivors on the ship, there were 17 people who felt the same way as that woman. Most of them were older, probably in their early 60s but still very healthy. Heck, they had made it this far hadn’t they?

Preferential treatment will not be given, of that much I’m certain but the ship is not mine. It will be up to Captain Kanelstrand to deal with them and I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m sorry that this is short tonight but it was a long day in the laundry for me.

The Next Day