this morning I felt much better. I hadnt slept much but I felt I was past it now. The world we live makes you a hard person. Feelings are expensive and you keep them in check. If you dont, it can cost you your life. You lock them up in a tiny corner of your mind and only let them out when its safe to do so. Dad had saved several chickens so we had eggs, ham and fried potatos for breakfast. Me and Matt both ate heartily. We spent most of the day recounting our lives since the infection. Dad was quite choked up after I told the story of the dead head horde that nearly did us in. He said he would like to meet Jay sometime.

Dad talked about the first summer and the sickness. It was bad. Nearly half the survivors were wiped out by it. Once it had passed, it was gone. There had been other travelers and none of them had gotten sick. Kim and Monte had deicded to leave Lemmon after the sickness as people there started acting strange and some of them started living a communal lifestyle in the school gym. They said it was a bizarre existence with nightly wife swapping and other odd behavior. Matt told of the religious people he had run into. Dad said there occasional church serivces but none since the sickness. Monte then took me aside for a while. He said we needed to talk. I noticed he was wearing one of the 9mm pistols I had left at dads house. He had always been kind of a fudd when it came to guns. Only hunting style rifles, no semi-autos etc. I wanted to play told-you-so in the worst way but I thought better of it. He said my wife spoke of me after the outbreak and the fact my planning ahead that so many of the family made great fun of me for had probably saved all their lives. He said that all the ammo and weapons I had laid in had helped drive off dead heads and a group of bandits that attacked the farm. He apologized profusely for all the sport thye had of me in the past but I waved him off and told him not to worry aobut it. Petty shit like that doesnt fly in this world. You put aside stupid differences and plow on if you want to survive. That night we all had a drink and toasted to absent companions.