Wayne Gray

That tie-in will happen down the line. Admittedly, it's pretty far down the line (around chapter 21, I think?). This is a romance, for sure. There's a bit of suspense here and there, but it's mainly a romance. Thanks for giving it a spin!

Hehe. Well, they need comfort, particularly Mark. And he is finding it in Wayne. I’m glad you’re enjoying that aspect of their connection. Thanks for reading!

It’s hard to imagine a way she isn’t. Mark held on to hope, but after hearing the announcement, he’s trying to accept she’s gone. Right now, these guys need each other. That seems to have gained a sexual aspect now, adding to the tactile way they’ve interacted since this began. I’m glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

It is pretty sad. Reality is settling in, and it’s ugly. Concerning human on human violence, see my comments above. Thanks for reading, Dave!

Haha. If you’re looking for “science” behind them, look up the cordiceps fungus and the effects it causes in arthropods. These critters stop eating. They obey the fungus, using up their stored energy in doing so. They can do this because they don’t spend a lot of energy. They move slowly, and they’ve stopped doing the energy intensive things others of their species do. Now, the zombies are different. They DO eat. They feed on the dead, animals, fallen of their own kind, etc. But even if they didn’t, they can lay down and exist that way in a barely perceptive state for months, maybe even years. We’ve yet to see kids or pets. Or maybe they’ve just not been able to write about them. We’re dealing with a narrator with feelings, so he might have omitted the worst he’s seen, in an attempt to forget. Or maybe they just haven’t seen them yet. A full on farm would be a noisy enterprise - one way too difficult to defend by themselves. But we’ll have to see what they get up to. Thanks for reading. 🙂

Ah, interesting comments. Mark hung on to hope for Elizabeth. He needed to. But on hearing how widespread the event is, Mark began to accept she’s gone. And that did something to his resolve to avoid more with Wayne. He didn’t really think about it, but his resistance was just gone. Remember - they’re certain the other will eventually see their comments in the book. Do they always tell the whole truth? Did Wayne when it came to his thoughts around Elizabeth’s chances? They're steadily working on the infrastructure. Wayne didn’t write it, but Mark was the one insisting they go to town. He’s not sure why it’s so important, but it sure seems to be. I’ll confess something that may inform an important aspect moving forward - I DESPISED when TWD moved from being about zombies to being about how horrible people become when presented with an overwhelming crisis. It’s the same reason I hated Lord of the Flies, and I won’t add to that sort of literature. Take that how you will. you’re right about things getting hard. And I mean more than the innuendo version of that … Thanks for reading!

Thanks, kbois. It’s gotta be hard to figure out what is due to the situation and what has always been there. Even though Mark said he’d never thought of Wayne that way, it could be he just hadn’t recognized it until now. Or it could be totally initiated by the apocalypse happening around them. We may find out. That line is a funny one, but one considered possible by Wayne. He never thought Mark would be interested in him beyond being a friend. So … he does wonder.

July 16, 1993 Friday, 1015 PM Hey book. It's Mark again. I had Wayne lay down for a "nap," but I'm not waking him up like he'd asked. He has been going non-stop, only taking breaks to eat and piss since five am, and he is worn the hell out. He almost dropped and shattered a panel from the roof because he was so exhausted. I'm not worried about the panels - we have plenty of those. But there's only one Wayne. And if he fell off the roof and got hurt, we'd be screwed. So, no. He stays in be

Thanks, Dan. You’re nearing the conclusion of this one, I hope it satisfies you. 🙂

Luckily, I think they're safe from driving zombies. 🙂 We'll have to see how the guys do with the emotional stuff, and the physical temptation. That's a fun stage in a relationship, no matter how it ends up, or if it progresses more. I like writing their struggle with it. You're right about the gas station not working without power. This is 1993, though. So that means all cars can have their gas siphoned, as there were no theft proof systems for gas tanks back then. Plus, Wayne is an engineer. Even if there was, he'd figure a way around that obstacle. How Mark is feeling is tipped off by his actions. Wayne was surprised, by the intensity, but he's not complaining. Hehe. Thanks for reading, and for the comment!

Thank you. I’m glad it spoke to you. 🙂

Yep. See my comments on the post from centexhairysub on the fire engine. Oh, there are certainly other survivors. At least, there are right now. The longer this goes on, the more perilous staying alive becomes. Now that power is out for the county, that's about to get even harder. And the water will follow very shortly. At that point, people are truly in peril - without clean water, and without an easy method of getting it. The generator is an issue. They do watch carefully when they have to run it, but it's always a risk. Lights too, you're right. That can be seen a long ways off in the dark. Perhaps the only thing they have going for them at the moment is the thick forest around the house muffles both sound and blocks light a few hundred feet in. But in the fall and winter, that WILL change when leaves fall. A bug-out plan is always good. So to would planning a couple of supply caches, in case Bob's place is overrun. Thanks for reading, and for the comments. I've really started looking forward to writing this one. It's pretty damn fun.

That scene, where Wayne rushes into the house. THAT was his sin, really. He has shown that he can hew down these things - when he knows they're there. What happened to him is called a "jump scare" in the game which inspired this story. And inside, in tight quarters, that's where my characters die most often. You turn a corner, and BAM. Zombie. No time to ready a weapon, or to back up. You get attacked. At that point, you rely on your gear to keep you safe long enough to get a weapon between you and those teeth. Wayne was lucky, but he also prepared. He had on layers, and that mask. If he'd not had the mask, he'd at minimum been bitten on the face. And we all know what happens after that ... Yep, the firetruck is gone. But ... they didn't know if it was gone before the zombies knocked the door down or if it disappeared between their two trips. Which one it is does matter. In one case, the firemen left on a call, and someone shut the door behind them. In the other, the truck was there and surrounded by zombies when Wayne and Mark passed on the way to Bob's for the first time. Then it was gone, but the zombies remained the second go around. Which is it? We might find out. These guys are starved for reassurance. They need it, and the only place they're finding it is in one another. Mark seems relatively at peace with his body reacting how it will to the situations they're in. Wayne's not quite there yet, but he's learning to be from Mark. They both need touch and closeness from someone they trust and value. Again, they have that in each other. They've got a heavy lift ahead of them. The solar alone is going to be a brutal install. Forty panels is a HUGE job. Wayne might be able to get five done a day, if that's all he does, and the weather allows it. We'll have to see how he handles it. you may be right about that fence. That's another chore to get done, and it's one that really needs doing. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it. 🙂

Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it. You know, feelings have always sorta bubbled under the surface with these two - since high-school. Neither could put words to how they felt, just that something "more" was there. Now ... with the world falling apart around their ears, and with only one another to lean on, it's becoming harder to ignore. Stick with me. 🙂

I do! Thanks for being my test subject for this story, mr tim. I appreciate you! 🙂

Yeah. I can't fault him there. Glad you're sticking around, Dave. Thanks for the trust. 🙂

Thanks, kbois! Hahaha. Yes. That line. I'm glad you liked that one. But that's what Wayne was thinking, and really ... he's not wrong! You're absolutely right about touch, and about them needing one another. Mark hadn't really internalized how much he'd begun to lean on Wayne until the moment he thought Wayne had been bitten. That changed things.

July 14, 1993 Wednesday, 11 AM I'm not sure what's going on with Mark and me, exactly, but I felt like I needed to write. Maybe it'll help straighten out my thoughts some. We'd decided that the house was safe, and we'd hear anything trying to break in. That meant we could both sleep. The bedroom where Shelly had died we avoided and will until we can change those sheets. That left their smaller guest room. With Mark already crashed on the couch, I had finally wound down enough to take a ba

I've already said this above, but there's a distinct feeling of doom in those infected. So they both knew they were dying. That doesn't change the fact that Pamela and Bob faced their fate as well as they could have. The solar could be a huge benefit. It's silent, doesn't use fuel, and while it requires maintenance, Wayne is capable of that. Well, once he figures it out that is. Something happened in Wayne when he thought Mark was in trouble. We tend to protect those important to us, and Mark has always been Wayne's strongest social and emotional connection. He couldn't lose that. Thanks for reading and commenting. There's more to come. 🙂

Thanks, kbois! I'm glad you're digging it. It's hard to do some things from the journal perspective. But ... letting Mark participate in writing it too helps some. However, we only know what they do. And we only know what they're willing to say. I like the incompleteness of it. I think it adds to the suspense, knowing the narrator(s) might not be telling us everything ... 🙂

Thanks for the comment! I'd certainly like to think they can make it. We'll have to see for how long!

Pamela and Bob both did what was needed. FYI - in the game, someone who is infected feels "doom". They know they're dying, and they know what's going to happen to them. So there's that. But still, it took courage, particularly for Pamela, to do what they had to do. Going anywhere in a zombie apocalypse is going to be risky. But staying in one place is too. If you stay in a place long enough, little clues build up and the zombies are attracted to the area even without actively sighting or hearing the humans around. So anywhere you stay needs to be fortified, and it needs to have resources. There are resources on the farm, but if they choose to stick around, they will have to make sure they can protect the place. In the game, there's no explanation given for how the zombies keep going. I do imagine they draw sustenance from their various victims, but they also use waaaaaay less calories. Higher brain function is off, they don't run anywhere, most organs don't work/aren't required, etc. They can exist for a long time without any input at all. And they do eat corpses; there are plenty of those around. Thanks for reading and commenting!

You're right. This one is not for someone looking for a light, bright tale. It's a story of grit and survival, but it's also one of friendship and even love. They may not call what they feel that, but they're best friends, and they do love each other. Besides Mark's fading hope he'll see Elizabeth again, they are literally the only reason they keep going. But at least they've got that much.

Thanks, tim. They're absolutely in trouble, but so is the world. Relatively speaking, they're in good shape because they can lean on one another. That's a tricky thing. Acceptance while fighting what feels inevitable. Wayne is determined to hang on to his humanity, while Mark is focused on simply getting them through each crisis as it appears. The interplay between them feels good to me, and I like the equilibrium. There's more story to tell, and we'll see both guys again.

July 13, 1993 Tuesday, 1010 AM Hey, book. It's me again, Mark. Wayne couldn't write about what happened with the girl, so I offered. I figure it might help someone else if we're gone, and they find this. Wayne agreed, so here we are. Over the morning, more of those things migrated to stand around Wayne's house. Not right on us, but close enough that we'd be seen or heard if we tried leaving for supplies or to scout around. By my count, just from what I could see at the windows, at least a