Journal Entry 5

I went to the Market Plaza today to see if I could find a pair of new shoes. Old shoes, whatever. The ones I have are coming apart at the seams. My feet wouldn't fit into any of the shoes. I guess I will wear these a little longer. While I was shopping, I overheard some people discussing the Central Bobcats. They are causing trouble all over town. I'm not usually afraid of anything, but the Hulk seriously worries me. He is so evil. People say he is that way because his father was always beaten on him, especially if he lost a tournament. I don't know if this is true or not, or if it's just a rumor the kids spread around to explain his meanness. I do know that he never seems to have remorse about his actions. He actually enjoys hurting people.

Madie

Journal Entry 4

I dreamt about being home again last night. I swear, I could almost feel and smell the clean sheets. It felt like a weekend. One of those mornings when you had a great night's sleep, a familiar smell wakes you. My mom was in the kitchen making her famous biscuits. I miss those biscuits. I miss the strawberries. Strawberry jam. I don't know what woke me.

Madie

Journal Entry Three

I take back the I'm bored thing. Bear Country held a meeting to discuss what to do about our missing fuel. The consensus was nothing. Asking for the fuel back wasn't an option. Taking the fuel back wasn't an option, although two people who shall remain nameless That we should storm. Storm Central and take it back. Can you say Matt and Jonas? We voted this down because of the possibility of casualties on our side. We decided to put in place a security team during the night hours. Everyone over the age of 12 would be required to keep watch at two-hour intervals. Our resources are few and we don't need to be losing anything else. But we have strength in numbers and we can protect ourselves when necessary. At the meeting we also discussed the up and coming festival. Like last year, we planned to have a feast, music and games. The Journal Club will be putting up flyers to announce the event to the community. We invited everyone but Central. With luck, they won't grace us with their presence at this year's event.

Madie

Journal Entry 2

There is trouble in bear country. Scat came running down the admin hallway before sunup this morning. He was yelling at the top of his lungs, Get up! They took our fuel. I jumped up off the couch and tackled him in the hallway. Okay, we get the point, I yelled back. By this time Everyone reside. Residing in the admin hallway was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes were everywhere, and no one was in a very joyful mood. Skat tried to squirm out of my hold as he said, Tony's been hurt. They beat him up. Tony's our engineer. He lives in the basement. He has been my friend, sort of, since before the world was turned upside down. Tony and I didn't run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, Tony was dating a cheerleader. Tony isn't very sociable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break. I ordered Scat to stay put in the admin hallway and grab some muscle. When I say muscle, I'm usually referring to Matt and Jonas. The three of us headed towards the basement. The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony made an attempt to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the far wall and let out a loud cry of pain. I tried to reason with him, Tony said as he spit out a mouthful of blood. They took all of our fuel. Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages. The Central Bobcats are from the east end of Lafayette Boulevard. We live on the west. We were rivals in football, basketball, volleyball, you name it. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world was turned upside down. The big difference between Central and us Is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies. The leader of the sin. Central Bobcats is a former high school wrestling champ. He is mean and leads by fear and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the Hulk after the comic book character. The Hulk doesn't barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants. Matt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn't have tried to stop the Central goons from taking what they wanted. Just then, Scat ran up behind me, holding a first aid kit. Scat is such a tiny little guy. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He can get into more trouble. Scat glared back at me. Tony didn't try to stop them, he said. The central goons beat up Tony afterwards. Tony just nodded in agreement. At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting and raving about getting even. I love those two guys, but they get hot under the collar fast and don't always think things through. We have some big guys in bear country. But we are not a match for the goons at Central.

Madie

Journal Entry 1

I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza, and I paid a hefty price, but I desperately needed something to write my thoughts down in. You would think that a person living inside of a school building would have access to paper. Not in this school.

Except for the stash the Journal Club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper, of course, is already written on and serves no useful purpose to me. Not a lot to tell about bear country, except that things have been quiet for weeks. I am a little bored.

Actually, I am really bored. Everyone is off doing their own thing. I was hoping maybe I could get someone to play a game of cards. Spades, perhaps. It’s a fun game, but no one was interested. I even asked the library trio, Marty, Gretchen, and Cecilia. Day in and day out, they sit in the media center and read.

Surely they could have used a diversion. They weren’t interested. Marty said they were doing research. This sounded so funny. Somewhat interesting, so I asked if I could help. They all three looked at me and in unison said no, and before I knew what was happening,

they pushed me out of the media center, and then they locked the door. Here we go. Those three are a wealth of information. A little odd and secretive, and they are rarely seen alone, but they can be very helpful at times. I am only a little hurt that they didn’t want to play with me.

Oh well, their loss. The agriculture club is trying their best to supply us with a variety of fruits and vegetables, but an unfortunate accident with a bug infestation has damaged much of our crops. In an effort to keep us from starving to death, the Agriculture Club has asked for volunteers.

They need people to help with the crops that are left. I will be spending much of my time next week helping in the fields. Oh joy, It’s not that I’m... mind helping out, I just hate manual labor. Oh well, better to help now than to starve later. Madie.