Status Report

The title almost feels in bad taste, but what else am I supposed to put?


I suppose you can consider this my official introduction. While my name isn't of much consequence, I go by Alex, and I guess I'm the one who'll be thinking 'Must blog. Must blog. Must blog.' now that... well, you know.

Well, Lyle got his wish and the camp has finally settled down a bit, though the word 'peaceful' isn't exactly one I would use to describe the current atmosphere. The phrases ominous still and complete and utter shock, however, come to mind. Everybody's around the fire, huddled closely for each other's warmth and comfort. They all seem so shell-shocked. A lot of them are wandering around like they're in a dream. Their eyes are blank and whoever isn't sobbing is just... staring. It's surreal and utterly terrifying.

As the chaos descended a little bit we realized that Zach wasn't the only one caught up in the attack. Two girls  ended up dead in the panic, throats slit and drained on the camp floor. Hayden thought they had fainted. Then he saw the puddle.

You could hear the scream echo for miles.

Me? I guess you could say I'm taking this at my own pace. Writing out what's happening is sort of cathartic, maybe I'll make a habit of it? I like the idea of Status Reports. Consider it my grounding in reality, even if my grounding is nothing more than a 1x3 inch screen and a few lines of text on a word processor.

Opinions are split as to what to do next. A few people think we should try and head back to the campgrounds with the trailer about five k away from here, but everybody is so terrified of leaving the fire and stepping into the crushing darkness of the forest that even the promise of civilization isn't enough to gain a reasonable reaction.

Most just stand there and stare.

It's a shame you never got to meet them. Zach posted plenty before he was... well, you know. But Danielle and Anna? Well, I guess they're just names to you. To be mourned by nobody but their family, their peers, and a single professor.

Speaking of the prof, he just asked me where Edward (yet another student, god there are so many of us) went. Says he went out to collect samples this morning and hasn't returned. Stuart's obviously shaken up, and now that I've told him Edward's gone his face has paled about three shades. He's the adult and so he has to try and act like he has is under control, but I wonder what purpose that serves? Deep down we're all utterly terrified of being the next slit throat and the prof has arguably even more to worry about - he's liable, afterall. I think the thought of losing another student is driving him nuts.

It's late now, so he says he'll go and look for Edward tomorrow. 'If there's a killer in the forest,' he says, 'then nobody is allowed to go into the woods alone. We travel in groups of two or more.'

Nobody argues because nobody intends to go out alone anyways.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a bit of time for this to sink in.

Alex out.