Chapter 1: A Solemn Introduction.

My name is Derek. I have decided to start this journal, of which I will recount my day.  I thank my eidetic memory for being able to write in great details.  I'm 17 years old, and for as long as I've been alive I've known hell.  My story would begin as any other.  Born and raised, fighting for my life.  I don't know many people who have been jumping from camp to camp like myself though.  

If the world ever returns to how my elders say, and you're one of a civilized type then I might have some explaining to do.  You see, camps are a collective of people.  We watch each other, make sure no one gets dragged off into the dark. Aside from that, we ignore each other.  It's a bittersweet relationship at best. 

I mentioned something about being dragged into the dark, we don't know what they are, we don't know where they came from and to be frank, it's a bit cliche.  Even mentioning the cliche is cliche.  But we really do not know much about these monsters, whatever glimpses we get of them are nothing more than shadow.  No one has ever survived an encounter with one and no one knows where the bodies go.  Our camp is in a boxed canyon and we never find anyone.  

Anyway, not to be nonchalant, we call them Shades.  Until someone gets a good look at them, they're nothing more than moving shadows.  The worst part?  We can never see them with light, they are simply too fast.  It's almost as if they're afraid of light.  We seem to be safe as long as there is some sort of light around. Torches, flashlights, cellphone if you can get one charged.  Idel swears that he was saved by a single candle. We can't argue with him, he's alive still. 

As I said before, I was born after this all started.  I believe this is year 23 of The Scourge. It's hard to keep days in check, but I do believe it is currently 07/22/2177 at 15:37. Stories mark that 11/31/2154 was the beginning of The Scourge.  Skies blackened to tar, world-wide rolling black outs and suddenly hell on Earth.

At least I don't need to worry about breaking laws, apparently that sucked.