The Dystopian Diaries

by K. W. Callahan

  The lobby looters were now fully roused. They were up, darting about, shouting at one another, and in the initial phases of looking for something to put out the Molotov cocktail’s flames.

  This was my moment. If I waited several more seconds, the alcohol-fueled flames were going to die or be put out, and our plan would likely fail. Manny was counting on me. Sandra was counting on me. Benjamin was counting on me, even though he didn’t know it. Even Emma upstairs, sitting alone in the dark ventilation closet, was counting on me. The pressure was unlike anything I’d known before. Even though I’d been through high-intensity moments in the hotel business, I’d never experienced anything close to this. This was truly a life or death moment, something I don’t think most people ever experience, and something I hope I never experience again.

  I held the gun out in front of me, aiming at nothing in particular. I actually tried to keep my shots away from any of the people in the lobby – I mean, just because they seem like scumbags, doesn’t give me the right to shoot them. Then I began to fire.

  I worried that if I actually shot any of these people, it would only make things worse. I reasoned that then they might seek revenge. I figured that if we just took Benjamin, what would they really care? They’d have lost a play thing. But if we shot one or more of their people, they could get pissed and attempt to hunt us down. I ended up firing all of the remaining bullets in the gun – I think there were seven in total.

  The gunfire, paired with the flames from the Molotov cocktail, had the intended consequences. It pushed the looters away from the side of the lobby where Benjamin was tied. I did my best to regulate my fire from the gun. I fired the first three shots in rapid succession to catch the attention of those in the lobby. I fired the next several more slowly, then I paused, fired another, and then another over the next few seconds in an effort to buy Manny a little more time.

  After the Molotov cocktail, and at the onset of the gunfire, confusion in the lobby reigned supreme. The lobby looters didn’t know what the heck was going on, having been rudely awakened from their drunken slumber by an explosion of fire and then an explosion of gunfire. They rapidly abandoned their efforts at putting out the Molotov cocktail and fled for cover toward the lobby stairs leading to the street level. Amidst the confusion, no one seemed to notice Manny race into the fray. I’ve never seen the guy move so fast. He was over to the chair in which Benjamin was tied, had his boy’s bindings cut free with a knife, and had beat a hasty retreat with Benjamin in tow, in mere seconds. It was incredible!

  As soon as Manny and Benjamin raced for the relative shelter of the stairwell in which I waited, gunfire erupted from behind them. I don’t know if the looters were shooting at US or just firing randomly. Either way, it only added to the frantic pace with which we made our retreat. I felt bad for Benjamin. After being tied up for so long, his legs weren’t working right. He stumbled and fell several times along the way. Thankfully, Manny was able to help him to his feet and half haul him to the stairwell.

  Once they got inside the stairwell with me, I closed the door behind them, helping to shelter us all from the hail of gunfire ripping through the lobby. Before all this began, I had set the stairwell door lock to latch behind us, hoping that this would buy us an extra few minutes to make our escape upstairs. In the dim light of the lobby’s outer perimeter, I’m not sure anyone even saw us duck into the stairwell. I hope not. It will make us harder to find, IF they even look for us, which I’m hoping they don’t.

  Once we reunited with Sandra and Emma in our secret ventilation hallway hideaway, we spent the next hour just trying to catch our breath, calm ourselves down, and get poor Benjamin cleaned up as best we could after his experience downstairs.

  1:49 p.m.

  I can’t believe how long we slept. I think we were all exhausted after last night’s rescue mission. In fact, I think we’re all STILL pretty tired.

  We were finally able to rouse ourselves about an hour ago. After a security check to ensure that none of the looters were around, one at a time we snuck out to the locker room just outside the ventilation hall for bathroom breaks. It won’t take long with five of us down here for the place to start stinking. We just don’t have enough spare water to use on extra flushes. And while we might be able to suffer through the smell of overused commodes, I’m afraid it might attract the attention of others (i.e. the looters downstairs). They see (or smell) a bunch of used toilets up here, and they’re going to know that something is up. Then they might start sniffing around (literally!), and find our secret closet.

  After our bathroom breaks, we ate a decent lunch. It’s the same old fare, but it really hit the spot after not having eaten for a while.

  I think that being up for so long not just to prepare for the rescue, but then conduct the rescue itself, took a lot out of us. There was so much pressure leading up to the actual event, I think the lead up was more exhausting that the actual rescue. Now I think there is just a general sense of relief. But that relief is also paired with a lot of nervous tension regarding what our next move should be. I think we’ve all come to the conclusion that we won’t be able to hold out comfortably in our current location for very long. In fact, I don’t really think any of us are particularly comfortable, and we haven’t even been here for an entire day yet. The closet is super cramped with five of us jammed into it. The kids have already moved their bedrolls out into the ventilation hallway so they can spread out. The area remains secluded and secured by the locked door, so it’s fine; but the adults all admonished them to stay quiet and keep lights to a minimum just in case any of the looters find their way up here. We also asked them to keep their ears open for sounds of intruders.

  We’ve been spoiled having beds to sleep in and natural light available. Being stuck back down here again in the closet really stinks, especially when it’s with other people. It’s hot, it’s cramped, it’s smelly, it’s dark, and it’s overall pretty miserable.

  I think it’s time to discuss our next step.

  4:49 p.m.

  We’ve spent most of the afternoon discussing where to go from here. We’ve talked about all sorts of ideas ranging from staying put or trying another hotel to moving into an office building or even trying to make it out to the suburbs.

  We all came to a similar conclusion; an office building seems to be the best and most realistic bet. We figured that another hotel would probably already be occupied much like the Seville is. Staying put is an option, but not a very good one considering the company we’re currently straddled with. Trying to escape the city would open us up to all sorts of dangers. And once we reached the suburbs (should we make it that far) we have no idea what the situation is there or what could be awaiting us. Manny and his family barely made it to the hotel from their condo. God only knows how we’d make it dozens of miles to Chicago’s outer suburbs.

  But we have an array of office buildings around us. And I’m willing to bet that not many people have occupied them. Most offices don’t have much more than a few vending machines to offer food other than the light snacks that might have remained in employee desks or a break room fridge.

  So I guess that’s where we’re headed…tomorrow I think will be the day. Once again, we’ll have to haul as much of our stuff with us as possible. I think that water will be our main concern since we won’t be able to carry that much with us. And what we do take will have to be mostly for drinking. If things pan out at our new location, and we can get settled in quickly and safely, we might be able to make another trip or two back to the hotel depending on how things look. We have an office building in mind that’s just across the street and down about half a block from the hotel.

  I’m really starting to get sick and tired of moving all over the place. I feel like a pinball just bouncing around. I’m constantly in a state of flux. I wish I – WE – could find a spot to settle for more than a few days or a week at most. This is really getting old.

  We decided that night or the early morning hours (s
ome time when it’s dark) is the best time to make our move. That means tomorrow night (if we can hold out that long here without being discovered) will probably be our best opportunity and will give us time to get packed and ready. But I already told Manny and Sandra that if anything doesn’t look right when we’re ready to go – the looters are out and about, there are people on the streets or whatever – we might have to revise our plan for a more opportune moment. While I want to get the hell out of here, I also want to do it safely.

  So now it’s just a waiting game. What’s new? Seems like that’s all the last month has been – one long waiting game. I just hope we don’t encounter trouble along the way or once we get to the office building. I still have the gun, but now we don’t have any bullets. I can’t even fire a warning shot to scare people off.

  September 23rd

  10:41 a.m.

  Today has been packing day…RE-packing day I guess I should say. We’re sorting our remaining supplies. We’ve made several piles based on the things we want to take with us on our first trip and items we’ll to come back for if opportunity allows.

  None of us seem up for this. I think we’re all pretty exhausted at this point. But the thought of a spacious office area with huge picture windows out over the city in which to settle down certainly sounds appealing after being holed up in this closet again.

  I think it’s going to be a long day of waiting. After our breakfast (we’re all sick and tired of eating non-real-meals – snack foods just aren’t cutting it anymore), I suggested a few card games. Everyone declined. We’re all in kind of lethargic moods. The situation seems to be weighing heavy on all of us.

  We have however come up with a tentative plan for leaving tonight. We figure that around six or so, Manny and I will sneak out and try to get a general idea of where the looters are so we can try to plan the best exit route. Getting to the street level shouldn’t be too difficult, but all five of us trying to sneak out the hotel’s main entrance without someone seeing us might prove more difficult. We’ll probably have to go through the sidewalk grate in the basement. That’s why Manny and I want to get a better idea of the situation before we go. I don’t want to be running smack dab into armed looters just as we’re about to get out of here. Then we could all end up tied in the lobby like Benjamin was. And after having thrown a Molotov cocktail at these people and shot at them, they may not be as forgiving to us as they were to Benjamin (and that’s not saying much considering the way they treated him).

  I think that for right now, I’m just going to try to get some rest, play out tonight’s escape scenario several times in my head, and kill as much time as possible.

  4:45 p.m.

  What a LONG…BORING…DAY!

  Even though I’ve spent the whole day resting, I feel even more tired than when I woke up this morning. This whole ordeal is taking a huge toll on me both physically and mentally.

  I tried to convince Manny and the family to play some cards or talking or doing SOMETHING to make the time go faster, but they’ve all declined. I think that we’re all pretty sick of being stuck with each other at this point. I’ll admit that I certainly am. I mean, I like Manny and his family, but I’m used to being a single guy. I don’t mind helping them out, but I wasn’t expecting to be straddled with a family of four. At first, the companionship and security that came with extra people being around was kind of nice. But after the whole Benjamin ordeal, I’m wondering if they aren’t more of an albatross about my neck. They eat the food that I collected, drink the water that I found, use the hiding spaces that I created, and then get themselves into situations from which they need rescuing. It’s not like they’re bringing a whole lot to the table other than trouble. But what am I supposed to do? I can’t exactly tell them to hit the bricks. Well, I guess I could, but I’m not going to. What right do I have? Everything that I have came from the hotel. It’s not like I have any more right to it than they do.

  No, we’re all in this together now…like a marriage. I guess it’s for better or worse from this point forward. I just hope it isn’t for worse.

  God, we still have another hour before Manny and I check out the situation downstairs. I’m so ready to move. Even if the office space doesn’t work out, at least it will be something different. I think that a change of atmosphere might serve everyone well.

  7:42 p.m.

  Well that was certainly unexpected. So we were all set to go. Manny and I headed downstairs to scope out the situation, and guess what?! The looters had all vanished!

  The street level was empty, the lobby was deserted, and we even made a careful sweep of the guest room floors to ensure that the looters hadn’t moved upstairs…and NOTHING!

  I guess they’ve gone – hopefully for good.

  But now what? I was actually kind of looking forward to moving. But the only reason we were moving was because of the looters. Without them here, what’s the point? We’ll only be hauling all our stuff to a new location, which could be a lot of work, not to mention, dangerous.

  Oh well, I’m not going to worry about it now. I’m too tired for this. I literally feel exhausted. I think all this stress is killing me. And I’m not going to start moving supplies right now. Knowing my luck, we’ll just get all the stuff back upstairs into the guest rooms and the looters will return. For now, I just want to go back upstairs and sleep on a real bed again for about a day and a half.

  September 24th

  9:13 a.m.

  Well that was fun…NOT!

  I just got done talking to Manny. The entire family crashed in the guest room next door last night. We decided to stay on the ninth floor since we didn’t feel like walking all the way back up to 15. Anyway, he said that Benjamin wasn’t feeling well this morning. He said that the boy’s head hurts, he’s feeling clammy, his stomach is queasy, and he’s nauseous.

  Manny is worried. So am I. I mean, this could be something Benjamin ate, a stomach bug, or…well, we won’t consider the alternative. But I guess we have to. This could be bad, and not just for Benjamin, but for all of us.

  Manny said he asked Benjamin what the looters were arguing about when they shot the one dude in the lobby and hauled the other two outside to be executed. He said that Benjamin told him that the one guy had contracted the Su flu. The other two had been hanging out with him so they were suspected of being flu carriers simply by association. That’s why they had been shot so swiftly, to stop the chance of any further spread of the disease.

  Great, just great. So does that mean that Benjamin has the Su flu? I guess that only time will tell, but I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not sticking around to find out. I’m all for helping Manny and his family, but there comes a point where I have to look out for number one.

  10:57 a.m.

  Okay, I’m preparing to relocate once again. Manny said that Sandra wasn’t feeling well either, so I figured it was time to cut ties for the time being – at least until we figure out what this thing is. I don’t want to be rude, but I think that we all have to be smart and play it safe. I unlocked a total of four rooms so that Manny, Sandra, Benjamin, and Emma could each have their own room. That way they can remain quarantined until we figure out what this thing is or it passes.

  I’m leaving them with enough supplies for several days. If they all become as sick as Benjamin appears to be at the moment, I don’t think they’re going to be eating much. But they at least have enough water, which can be critical in combating the flu…at least the NORMAL flu.

  I guess that as with everything, this will once again turn into a waiting game. Goddamn, I’m sick of this waiting shit. All life seems to be lately is goddamn waiting.

  2:09 p.m.

  I’m moving up to the 11th floor. I’ve heard a lot of coughing coming from next door – Manny’s room. I don’t know if he’s got a cold or it’s the Su flu or what. I don’t want to chance something wafting over into my room. The last thing I need is to be infected with this shit…whatever it is. Ugh! This could get real messy, re
al quick.

  Tomorrow, if nothing has changed, I’ll start bringing up some of the remaining supplies from the fourth floor. Yet another thing I’m getting sick of, playing fucking musical chairs with these goddamn supplies. But I’ll do what I have to do.

  September 25th

  10:11 a.m.

  I went downstairs to check on Manny and his family this morning. After getting down there, I ended up not even knocking on any of their doors. I heard coughing coming from inside Manny and Sandra’s room. I heard retching sounds coming from inside Emma’s room. And Benjamin’s room was eerily silent.

  No thank you. I don’t want anything to do with what’s going on in those rooms, Su flu or not. I mean, I feel terrible about abandoning them, but what am I supposed to do? I’m not a doctor. Even if I was, if this is the Su flu, there’s nothing I could do for them.

  Maybe I’ll come back later and check in with Manny. I don’t want to abandon these people completely. Times are tough enough now without having to deal with the flu, Su or not.

  1:37 p.m.

  I brought most of the remaining food from former stashes up to my room. It didn’t take as long as I thought. Supplies have gone much faster since Manny’s arrival. What a waste. All that food consumed. And for what? So they can all get sick?

  On my last trip, I stopped off at the ninth floor. I took a face mask with me so I could check up on the group. Manny was there, but he only cracked his door a little to talk to me. He looked and sounded terrible. He said that the family was really sick. Sandra had moved in with the kids so she could care for them. The place was fast becoming a cesspool of filth and stink. I guess the kids are barfing and crapping their brains out, and none of them have the energy to go get more water.