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Day 46 As soon as I run into the storeroom, I slam and lock the door. A few of the infected followed and pounded furiously. Mark and a few of them came out from the supervisor’s office to check the commotion. “RUN!” I yelled. The horror on my face explained everything. Everyone bolt for their lives. Felicia and Francesca ran towards the locked door, heading towards the air vent. “Not that way!” I shouted. It was too late. Francesca opened it and three infected jumped on her. Felicia scream

Thanks for the encouragement and feedback! It really helps to improve my writing

Day 45 If the world hadn’t ended, I could never imagine strangers would gather around and have dinner like this. It reminds me of how the tribes in Africa would eat together in a community. The village chief would gather everyone around the fire, and they will tell stories and laugh. Even though I don’t understand a single word they said, their faces look the same as what I’m seeing now. Everyone is smiling and connecting with each other, even when only a few hours ago death literally comes ban

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it;)

Day 44 I told Mark about what I heard. The army is based in Lincoln High. That’s where Tristan studied. And that’s where mom and dad went to look for him. There's a chance that they are still alive. I had to go look for them. Even though I’m scared to death, I will go or die trying. At that time, I didn’t really know why I told Mark. I didn’t expect him to go with me. It’s too much to ask from a friend. Maybe, it’s my way of saying goodbye to him. His reaction to my decision was less than e

Day 42 It is a two metre drop from the air well to the attic, easy enough. I can easily climb back up even without Mark’s help. But the ball rolled very close to the edge which will be another three and a half metre drop if it rolls over. It’ll be nasty if there are any infected below. Since the attic is not converted into a room, the sides are not covered with a wall. And since I’m the lighter one, I decided to go down to get the ball instead. If anything happens, Mark can pull me up easily.

Thank you for the kind words It's my first time writing paranormal/sci fi genre. The pacing is really quite different from normal fiction!

Haha.. nice pun to that!

Thanks! Nice to start writing again after exams

Glad you liked it!

Thanks, I'm not too sure what's wrong with the formatting. But I'll ask around and fix it.

Day 14 Mark woke up by my stomach growling. The midday sun blazes down in a fierce column of light from the air well above. He sat up and grabbed the baseball bat next to him by instinct. His eyes are still adjusting to the light as he blinked. “It’s just me.” I said, feeling embarrassed for startling him. After eating only algae for so long, Mark’s biscuits only made my stomach craved more solid food. But at least I don’t feel so weak any more. The moaning below has died down quite a b

Day 13 I woke up with a loud thud outside my room. It sounded like it comes from the balcony below. The sky was almost dark at that time. The moaning weren’t any louder than usual, but I can hear the faint sound of leather boots, treading across the parquet floor outside. Could the front door have been broken down? Why didn’t I hear it happen? One of the bedroom doors below creaked slowly. My heart skipped a beat and I held my breath. I cursed myself for not having a knife by my bed. My roo

You find yourself when your life is in disarray. But when the world crumbles, you find life instead. The world ended before Daniel turned fifteen. He watched the horror unfolds from his window, and as his will to live fades, he realized that he is not the only one who survived. This is a tale of friendship, love, survival and about finding yourself when the world is no longer around to define you.

Day 11 The nights are pitched black these days. Not a single light remains in the entire city. Not from the cars that piled up and choked the streets below, not from the broken street lamps or from the buildings across the road. The penetrating darkness almost felt like you are being suspended in outer space, only if the world is silent as well. But there is the constant moaning, haunting the streets day and night. I missed the sound of the cicadas, the noisy bustling traffic and the distant b

Thanks for the comments Gary. I just posted the way overdue epilogue. I hope u enjoy it!

17 June 2014 To: JMeier@gmail.com From: SamuelM93@hotmail.com Cc: Re: Hey Dad, How is life in Sweden? Babe and I haven’t heard from you in two months, and I just want to check if everything is okay with you. It’s been raining like crazy in Boston for the past few days. Everything seems so grey and gloomy here. Being in a big city can be quite lonely. Everyone here seems so cold and preoccupied, and no one really talks to anyone else. At least in California, people pretend to be friendl

Thank you for the kind words. I will certainly work on the epilogue soon! Cheers

One of the things that came to my mind writing about jealousy is that whether it is nature or nurture. I would imagine it is a mix of both and that's why I would think Keith would at least feel some insecurity about sharing Samuel's affections. You are right in that he doesn't feel or understand it fully since he does not have the social narratives about monogamy norms. I would also imagine how he would view affections from a practical perspective, i.e. it is not a finite resource and therefore irrational to hoard it.

Thank you for encouragement. I had originally intended to write a story with 32 chapters (hence the title). Unfortunately, exams are here and I need to put off writing for a while. When I first started, there are two major themes I wanted to tackle. It didn't take long to realize that I might have bitten off more than I can chew. One of it is autism, seeing the world from a very different lens, yet making it accessible to readers is already tough enough. The second theme is the fluid nature of love and relationships, with incest as the subtext to see how much of our social constructs had impeded/served us. I might write a sequel to explore the second taboo more if I'm brave enough after exams. But thanks again for taking the time to read and comment. Cheers!

I'm so glad you picked up on that. Autism was quite an emotional topic this semester and the use of animals as therapy in its consistency really helps in their social skills. One of the take away for me while writing/researching this story is that many autism programmes emphasized too much on what they can't do. It only ends up daunting and alienating them.

Thank you for the feedback, and you are spot on for that. I had three autistic friends and they are different as anyone else. The only thing I would say they have in common is the amount of patience you need to get to understand them. Unfortunately, I didn't really try hard enough to get under till this semester. I'm in the midst of editing the story to make it more accessible for readers. Hopefully, the coherence and flow gets better.

Thanks for the comments. I had known 3 people with ASD, two of them Aspergers. One of them (the sweet one) I had dated. The story wasn't based on them however, but I do agree people need to know more about them. Two of my Aspie friends are pretty much hated and misunderstood because we had thought them to be difficult. One of them we had called her the queen of silence because we can't play any music or even use the photocopying machine close to her. My interest in this only came this semester when I read more about this condition and I stumbled upon a forum of gay autistics. It was quite touching and eye opening for me. It kind of shed light on one of my friend who had pretty warped values (let just say he abhors violence in a pretty criminal way), because the way they are cut off and had formed their own reasoning about the world. One of the humbling experience about that friend, is that none of us knew because he was diagnosed after he got into pretty serious trouble with the law. We always thought he was unemotional, but his own self-discovery made him more personable after that. The protagonist, despite being a savant, has some developmental prosopagnosia (hence the title), hypersensitivity to sound and light, and some sensory integration challenges. Unfortunately, autism is the less taboo issue that I'm tackling because most of the incest theme, which I thought was perfect to paint their unique way of looking at the world.

Thanks Alex, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had wanted the story to be longer but unfortunately exams are coming and I had to punctuate it for now. I might add an epilogue or sequel to tie up loose ends. Thanks for reading!

Thank you, it's been a learning journey for me as well. I had a few friends who are ASD and I always fascinated to see the world from their point of view..