Are you there, world? It's me, Sarah.

Sarah Evans
QZ Zone, Central California

Well, well, well. This is a very odd turn of events. Hello there, friends. I mean, I suppose you're all friends by default now, right? If your Zone is anything like mine, there's not really enough of us left to be enemies.

The place has been buzzing with rumors that the Internet had suddenly appeared again, but everyone was too afraid to look. I'd brought my laptop with me, when I fled to California...I've mostly been using it to play games, when I'm allowed to use energy. Though I guess we're in a pretty good spot as far as that goes - the people in charge of the Zone here set up solar panels and windmills, and I guess our water, when it gets recycled, also adds power to the generators?

I don't know a whole lot about that. It just means most days we have power. And that's good.

Anyways, I finally decided I'd look. Because if it was true, that meant there were other people still out there who were alive, like us. And if it wasn't...well, if it wasn't, it just meant we went back to not-knowing, right?

I'm really glad you're all here. I hope you're all real.

I guess others have shared a little bit about what happened to them when this whole thing started, so I will too. I was living in Iowa when the news reports came in. I didn't have a TV, so the first I heard about it was people posting videos on Facebook of that news reporter whose face got torn off, going "have you fucking seen this?!?"

Well, yeah. I mean, only in every zombie movie ever. "Mass Hysteria," my ass. I grabbed my cat, my clothes, and my laptop, sent a mass text to my friends in Iowa that I was leaving for California, and got out. My family was out here, after all.

Except they weren't, when I got here. I forgot the cardinal rule, I was too worried about getting to them. Get somewhere remote. Get out of the population centers - that was always the plan. I wonder if they went to my uncle's house...?

Anyway, they weren't here. But a few of my friends are here with me, so that's nice. And they let me keep my cat, so that's doubly nice. Mostly I cook, or look after the few kids that managed to make it into quarantine. I try to be positive. It's really hard not to fall into depression...but I've got those sorority skills that have helped me try to be more optimistic.

I hope my sorority siblings are okay. There were a few sporadic posts on Facebook before the internet went away, and a few texts before cell towers stopped working. Now I've got nothing at all.

Thanks for letting me be honest with you guys. I'd better go - it sounds like the hunters are back, and I'll probably need to help plan the next few days' worth of meals.

Until next time,
Sarah