Hey guys, sorry for the wait. Let's cut to the chase, this was what Clint wrote next:
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ENTRY 5:
I’m not sure what the hell’s going on right now. I'm at the back of the convoy with Lauren and Kagenori, who's at the wheel. We were driving fine. Before we left, Grillo had told us not look at anything outside the vehicle, and especially not to fire off any shots. There was a 90% chance that it wouldn’t kill anything. I almost broke that rule when I caught a glimpse of something pressed against the window right beside me. It had pale skin and a wide open mouth that covered half of its face. I just shuddered and ignored it. Everybody else seemed to have the same idea.
That was a while ago. However, Grillo just stopped completely, and nobody knows why. You see, the “road”, if you could call it that, is extremely narrow and he’s blocking everything in front of us. Fuck, maybe he'll get going soon. Being out here at night is pretty horrific.
I swear, it’s been at least ten minutes and he still hasn’t moved an inch. Kagenori’s getting pissed. He wants to go and see what's going on. Lauren’s trying to convince him that it won’t end well, since Grillo hasn’t even stepped out, but he seems adamant. To be honest, I’m close to go checking it out myself.
Shit, Duke just came out in front of us, holding a rifle. He’s walking towards something in front of where Grillo stopped. He’s yelling at it now. He sounds pissed. What the hell is going on? Now he’s raised the weapon. Grillo just stepped out and tackled him to the ground. They’re wrestling now. Kagenori's run out to see what’s going on. I need to know as well. I’ll write down what happens later.
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ENTRY 6:
Well… that was fucked up. I got there just in time to witness Duke putting Grillo into a rear-naked choke. While he was gasping for air, Duke got up and started shouting again. Grillo was begging for us to stop him in between labored breaths. That’s when I saw what was in front of the vehicle. It was Duke's copy. The one that we’d seen during the first days we landed on the island. Although, maybe it wasn't the same one.
Duke was hysterical. “What the fuck do you want from me?” He screamed at it. His copy just stood there, staring at him blankly, almost taunting him. “Don’t let him touch it!” Grillo shouted at us from behind. I didn’t know what to do in that moment. Neither did Kagenori. I could see Novex running up from behind us, but he seemed hesitant to do anything. We just remained passive observers. Duke was starting to get close to the thing. Very close. It looked as if he was about to throw a punch any second. I turned to see Grillo fishing a pistol out of the vehicle. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked him. He didn’t respond, instead he just pointed the gun directly at Duke. “Don’t fucking do it!” He pleaded. Duke just ignored everything. That’s when he raised a fist. Grillo got the shot off just in time. Duke’s blood splattered everywhere as he fell to the ground. Nobody moved after that. We all just stared in anticipation, waiting for his copy's next move. I saw Kagenori slowly inching his way back to the vehicle. The thing stayed put. It just stared at Duke’s body. But… its facial expression was different. It almost looked disappointed.
That’s when its body started changing. It was hard to explain. I just remember it looking surreal. Its skin seemed to be bubbling and it was growing taller. Eventually, it started walking away backwards at a speed no human should have been able to move at. As soon as it was out of sight, Grillo screamed at us to get back in our vehicles. We obliged. That's where we are now, driving again. Lauren’s asking us what happened, but I don’t really feel like reliving it. Kagenori hasn’t said a word. I’ll ask Grillo about it later, I guess.
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ENTRY 7:
We’ve finally stopped near a clearing. Grillo's gotten out of the vehicle and is signalling for us to do the same. Couldn’t tell you how long it’s been, but I’m cramping up. I eventually told Lauren what we had saw, but she had no response to it. She’s just been staring at her lap. I’m not really sure why we aren’t driving anymore, but I definitely see lights in the distance. We must be going the rest of the way on foot. I’m going to talk to Grillo now. See what he says.
Alright, it seems he doesn’t know much about it either. He’s only been told what to do upon direct encounters with it. Apparently, the number one rule is that you CANNOT initiate contact with it under any circumstances. As long as you’re in its peripheral view, it can imitate your appearance perfectly. It’ll also never attack you, given that you don't touch it first or take any action that may harm it, like running it over. You’re just supposed to walk away from it. I asked him what was supposed to happen once you’ve touched it. His response was short and cryptic. “That sets it free. We can’t have that.” I tried asking him what the hell that was supposed to mean, but he changed the subject. “We gotta walk the rest of the way.” He said. “Can’t pull up in the convoy. Grab all the weapons.” This was… disconcerting, to say the least. But it looked like I wasn’t getting any further answers out of him. I just did what he told me to do.
We started heading towards the clearing. Through the brush, we could see the outer limits of the city. There was a big, wall, looked like stone, spanning the place. There was also a large gate surrounded by guards. I could also see some buildings peeking out from the top. I’d nearly forgotten the sound of everyday city hustle at this point. This was a glimpse back into the old world.
That’s when Grillo dropped the bomb on us. He had no fucking plan. Apparently, he actually used to be a guard for Paradise X. However, he got kicked out for reporting the rampant misconduct his co-workers participated in. Yeah, it looked like this place was beyond corrupt. The other guards would beat, harass and rape their way all around the city with no accountability, and he got sick of it. He only came here for revenge. He was about to kill as many of them as he could before they stopped him. “I never had guns before.” He said with a twisted grin. “They won’t see it coming.”
Look, Grillo's a good guy but… this is madness. He told us that we could go back. That he wouldn’t hold it against us. The problem was, we didn’t know how to get back to the settlement. Novex had a similar story to Grillo. He sure as hell wasn't helping us either. Well, it looks like we could either try and brave it in this shitshow of a jungle or hope for the best in the city. This shit is looking bleak.
I’m listening to Grillo and Novex discuss the plan of action right now. Everybody else looks horrified. Kagenori’s got his face buried in his hands, Christian is praying near a tree and I think I saw a tear roll down Lauren’s eye. But… I seem to feel nothing. In fact… now that I think about it, I’m actually kind of excited. Is this just blatant denial of my situation, or am I actually going insane? Who the fuck knows. The best thing I can do right now is focusing on not getting shot. Apparently, they don’t use the enhanced guards outside the walls. Again, they were too important. However, it seems like Grillo doesn’t always know what he’s talking about. All we can do is hope for the best. The plan itself was simple. Novex would put on a Paradise X uniform he took from the convoy and walk towards the guards. If he didn’t get immediately shot down, he’d open fire. That’s when the rest of us come in. With all the attention on him, we’d take care of the others. After that, we’d use the guard’s keys to unlock the gate and wreak further havoc. Now, I’m not planning on simply walking around and slaughtering random guards. I wouldn’t last a minute that way. I’ll hide somewhere. Let it cool off and explore the city. After that… who knows. It’s not like I have much time to think right now, anyways. Grillo’s counting down already. He’s got nine fingers up. Eight. Seven. Fucking hell.
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ENTRY 8:
I don’t know how I keep getting so lucky. I got skimmed by two bullets, but that was it. I’m hiding behind a dumpster in an alley right now with Christian and Lauren. I don’t know where Kagenori is, but I know that Novex was shot dead by the guards as soon as he walked out there. We managed to get rid the rest of them while they were busy with him. I remember seeing Grillo take a bullet in the shoulder, Kagenori in the thigh, and one destroyed Christian’s ear. But this time, Grillo was right. None of those damn super-soldiers were there. However… we were also pretty much out of ammo. It didn’t take long before we heard shouting coming from inside the walls. After we unlocked the gates, we were met with a large statue of some dude with a hook for a hand. A bunch of civilians started staring at us as well.
Here’s the thing… I expected the quality of life in Paradise X to at least be decent. However, it looked horrendous. Everybody had bags under their eyes and their tattered clothes barely hung onto their skinny frames. They all looked like disconnected zombies. The city itself looked like a post-nuclear Gotham. There were tons of skyscrapers, but they were foreboding and dirty. There were destitute buildings lining the place and every street seemed to be cracked. It was filled with what I assumed to be roving police squads and the amount of people sleeping on the sidewalks was both astonishing and disturbing at the same time. I swear, I saw some dude getting the shit kicked out of him in plain view of everybody and nobody intervened. Not even the police. But that’s probably because they were running towards us.
However… they didn’t have guns - only what looked like batons and knives. That’s when Grillo went all out. He emptied the last clip of the rifle into a cluster of police before using it as a melee weapon. He was hurling loud, aggresive expletives at them while he did this. God, he really hated this place, didn’t he? I needed to get the hell out of there. The last I saw of Grillo was him getting picked up and tossed into a windshield by an enhanced. I ran away from that whole situation until I was about to pass out. Civilians kept looking at us, but they didn’t seem to give a shit. At this point, I still had three bullets left. I looked back to see Christian and Lauren not far behind. They also looked to be on the verge of puking. I didn't see where Kagenori went.
That’s where we are now, hiding behind this filthy dumpster trying to catch our breath. I don’t know what we’re going to do next. I don’t know what we’re going to do at all. I've killed so many people... but... I don't really mind, to be honest.
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ENTRY 9:
Shit. A couple of cops are walking by us right now. We decided to hide directly in the dumpster, just to play it safe. My eyes are watering. Lauren just silently gagged. It smells like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’m not sure what I can do. I have a gun, and they don’t. I could probably jump out and force them to give up their weapons. Maybe I will. Wait. I just noticed that one of the cops has a tattoo on his forearm. Could it be ? Holy shit, it is. It’s the Chicago Cubs logo. This motherfucker's from Earth.
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