The Park (Evenstad Media Presents Book 1) (10 page)

JOURNAL 06RITA

ENTRY 007

DATE: 4/10/2074

Well, I guess I've done it, haven't I? Blake's mine. Not
yours and your silly little social experiment or whatever you're officially
calling this thing. No. He's all mine. Amazing what a little bit of skin can
do. It was even worth the blow job, I'd say. I've sucked worse dick.

Anything I want, I know he'll do for me. Or at least try. I
just have to make sure that I ask him for things I know he can provide. Things
he knows. Things he can actually find. Or just to go the fuck away. I've
already gotten rid of him a few times so I could go out looking. Listen to me,
thinking you don't know. Sometimes it's easy to forget that you're right here
with me the whole way. You hid your cameras very well. It's a testament to your
skill. Or your pocketbook. More like the second one, right? Right. It's okay,
I'll take your secrets to the grave.

Assuming I die here. Who knows, though? I've got a hell of a
tool with this kid at my disposal. Pretty much whatever I need. If I squeeze
out a few tears, he might even make a good human shield. And a willing one,
more importantly. He's not exactly small. I doubt I could muscle him in front
of me in time to take a hit. Or get him on the trigger end of one of these
medallions. That'll save me a hell of a lot of trouble, and a lot of guilt. And
think about the good it'll do you. I can see the teaser now: manipulative cunt
leads young boy down wrong path. This week on our fucked up show. Or something
like that. Let the editors make it all pretty.

We'll just have to wait and see about all that, though. If I
do get out, I'll be seeing you, Evenstad. If not, I guess I'll save you a seat.
Do you want the smoking or the non-smoking section in Hell? Personally, I think
we should take smoking. It's not like it'll kill us at that point, right?

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 10MANFRED

ENTRY 008

DATE: 4/12/2074

I fear what I must do, now. It is not pleasant, nor is it
all that wise, necessarily. But alas, I can think of nothing more to make
myself useful. It is the best option. Not for myself, but for Craig. He does
not need me around. I simply eat his food and exist. I hold such a young,
brilliant lad back from properly surviving. I am a weight to him. Too old and
too weak and just generally too useless.

I have David's medallion. It will be enough to help me, if
it comes to that. However I do not see it coming to that. I do not see a reason
to fight. I do not see a reason not to cry. I am eighty-one years old. I should
no longer have to worry about what others would think of me, least of all
strangers watching television, or strangers trying to kill me, or strangers who
locked me in a trailer park for three and a half months.

It's not important, though. What matters is that I must
leave. Craig will do better, and I will leave him my original medallion. I
don't want to take it with me, and he has made far better use of it than I ever
did. I could not even use it to save David. I could not use it to save that
boy, Nathan. But by my abandonment, I will use it to save Craig. At least for
today. I will slip off into this trailer park and find myself a grave. Or I
will escape and find my grave abroad. Either way, my fate will be the same.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 02CHRISTINA

ENTRY 008

DATE: 4/12/2074

Someone found us. I don’t know how. Probably by chance. No
other way they could have come across us. I know we've been careful enough
about everything. Between her denial and my trying to keep her safe, we've been
fine.

Fate is a bitch. If one person found us, what are the odds
it's only one? Against everything logical, Julia and I found each other.
There's no reason for me to believe that that woman didn't find someone else to
be around. She could easily have been the first one. Someone's out there
watching us.

God damn it, I'm starting to sound like some psycho bitch. I
mean, I'm seeing the logic in Julia's plan. I sure as hell want to ignore this
whole thing, I can tell you that.

That's why we're leaving. I don't like it, but I'm doing
badly enough as it is, and Julia's showing the strain of this whole event. I
know it was her idea, but I wish she hadn't had it. I wish she hadn't come out
at all. It hasn’t helped. She's acting strong and all, but I know she's
breaking down. She doesn't want to, and it's not the same as she was, but it's
close. She's refusing to ignore it, but I can see it. She hardly sleeps. She
has horrible bags and dark circles. I'm halfway waiting for a streak of her
damn hair to turn white.

But there's more. There's always more. And I feel like shit
because of it. Sometimes, if I'm not asleep, either, my brain starts pointing
things out. Well, just one thing. Julia doesn't have a damn reason to be this
upset. And I know she does, but I keep thinking she doesn't. That lady didn't
come after her. She came after me.

ENTRY END

BREAKING NEWS: US Military Enters Multi-Million Dollar Deal
with Evenstad Technologies

4/3/2074 at 3:16 p.m. EST

On Tuesday, April 3
^rd
, United States Secretary of
Defense, Lena Browne, announced a $300,000,000 dollar deal with Evenstad
Technologies for the purchase of 5,000 Controlled Energy Storage Units (CESUs).
The announcement was made in accordance with the terms of their agreement, in
which Evenstad Technologies' Chief Operating Officer, Frederick Evenstad,
insisted on full disclosure of the purchase.

When asked about the rumors claiming that the militaries of
other countries have also been seen using weapons that appear to be of the same
or similar design (most famously, the Golden Orb Incident in Norway), Mr.
Evenstad had this to say:

"We are an American company. We will do good for
America and not her enemies. Of that, I can assure you. Anyone claiming that we
have sold these technologies to opposing military forces is leveling an insult
against this company, and hence against my family."

The US military intends to buy a further, unspecified number
of CESUs, barring any CONT, A11

JOURNAL 11SUSAN

ENTRY 008

DATE: 4/15/2074

Can't lie. Beginning to lose hope. I'm not made for this.
Can kill if I need to. I know that much. Not a hunter. Haven't found anyone
yet. Camping out in this trailer for the night. Looks like someone was here.
Don't know how long ago. They might come back.

Old trailer hasn't caught anyone. All traps still untripped.
It's harder than I thought. Too bad they don't have cashiering challenges.
Might win those.

I can still win this, though. It just could take a while.
Not ideal, but could be worse. I know I can make it through to the end. Unless
I die of old age first, I'll walk away.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 03BLAKE

ENTRY 006

DATE: 4/15/2074

I've got something for Rita. I just know she'll like it. I
think she will, anyway. I mean, it's not like she needs it. Rita's a fucking
badass. Like, the kind of chick you'd see in a vampire movie or some shit. She
can take care of herself. But I still want her to be safe.

I found a medallion out and around. It's a pretty nice one,
too. But, you know, anything would be better in a fight than her telekinesis
thing. I mean, she can lift shit and move it around, but that's really not much
when someone's got your head in their sights.

It's, like, a fist. An invisible fist, but it's really
strong. I don't know how to describe it, really. It doesn't matter. I know she
can use it. Either of us could but… I don't know. I think she should have it,
not me. I just don't feel right leaving her without any protection. It's not
right. I'll be fine. I've got my shotgun thing. I'll be good to go. No problem.
At least, I hope it's no problem. I still might have to go through and try to
find another one. Or two. Or ten. That would sure as hell be nice, God damn it.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 05CRAIG

ENTRY 008

DATE: 4/16/2074

Manfred's gone. He's been gone for a while, but I've been
working through things as best I can. I don't know why he left. There was a
note, but it wasn't informative at all. I'm sorry. That's all he gave me was
'I'm sorry' scratched into the door. Not a damn word about it. And he left
everything here. His medallion's still hooked up into the perimeter defenses. If
he'd told me, I would have helped him out. Disconnected it. And maybe gotten an
explanation out of him about the whole mess.

I didn't realize how much I would miss him, when he was
gone. I knew we wouldn't stick around together forever. If nothing else, he
would have probably died off before me. Yeah… too morbid. Bad mistake on my
part. It sure as hell won't help my mood at all.

I tell you what. This may all be ridiculous, and it may be
completely stupid on my part, and he might not even consider offering me up the
same courtesy, but I can't leave Manfred be. Assuming we run into each other at
some point before the game ends… when else would we run into each other? If we
run into each other, I'll help him out. I don't know how, but I'll figure a
way. He deserves that, a nice guy like him. He should never have been here. I'm
writing it down so that I'm accountable. Now there's at least some kid of
record, even if no one will see it.

ENTRY END

Unexpected Success for 'The Park'

4/17/2074 at 8:16 p.m. EST

Three and a half months. That's a hell of a life for any TV
show nowadays, especially a reality show. We can only watch people play mind
games and sidestep social pitfalls for so long before it loses its luster. Even
the most long-lived reality competitions eventually die off.

And then we have The Park. It's still in the number one
spot, and the ratings are still rising. Evenstad Media's making a ton of money
on it, and they only seem to be fixing to make more and more.

Of course, the whole success of the show is in the
characters. I know, I know, they're contestants, not characters. But those
contestants sure are some characters.

I know, I know, it's a bad joke. Sue me. But they are. I
don’t know if I can honestly believe that they were randomly selected. It's
just a little too perfect at times, the way some of them interact and react.

Personally? I prefer Susan. She's driven. More than any of
them, she wants it, I think. She wants it badly. More than the other
contestants. She's already killed for it once, and I doubt it's going to be the
last time we see that. Craig needs to watch out, when she finally finds him.
I'd be scared shitless if I knew she was out there looking for me, even if I
had a real electric fence set up.

I'll definitely keep tuning in every week, and I suggest you
all join me. You won't be sorry.

Phil Boggs

JOURNAL 05CRAIG

ENTRY 009

DATE: 4/18/2074

I just realized how fucked I am without Manfred around here.
Or after he left. Or something. I'm just… I'm so frazzled. I can't believe I
missed something so obvious as this. I don't have anything left if someone gets
through. My perimeter isn't flawless by any definition, and I know for a fact
that Susan, at least, is looking for me. I don't know how close she is. Hell,
maybe she's dead, but I doubt that. I really doubt that.

I have the weak laser thing, yeah, but I don't know how much
it's really going to do up against flesh and bone. I'm not all that afraid of
it, and I have it right up by my face when I work with it.

Which means I have to go out. Either that or sit and wait
and pray that I never have to fight anyone off. Which I'd rather not risk. If I
stick with that theory, that's when Susan'll show up. So going out it is. I
have enough protection that, if I don't find anything out there, I can be kind
of safe. Kind of. So I don't have to leave for long, I hope. Five or six hours,
at most, and I hope not that long. But I really need to track something down
out there. Otherwise, Susan'll show up and blast a hole right through my skull,
just like she did with Tina. Wouldn't that be lovely?

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 07JULIA

ENTRY 006

DATE: 4/17/2074

I have to write this journal while Christina's asleep. Of
course, she sleeps most of the time nowadays, anyway. Poor thing. She just
hasn't been right since that attack. But I have. That's why she can't see this.

I know it's wrong, but I liked it. I liked being that close
to death. It wasn’t my death, and maybe that's the big difference. It probably
is, I suppose. I'd be even worse off than she is if that woman had been coming
after me. I bet she would have, after she took care of Christina, but I don't
know. In her place… well, I can't say. I don’t think I can put myself in that
state of mind, really.

I know it's not right for Christina. She's been acting so
weird lately. Not herself at all. When I met her, she looked like power. Plain
and simple power and control, and nothing else about her. Now… I don't know.
She's cracking, I guess. Things are starting to get to her. She's told me a
couple times now that it would be best for me to just leave her, since she's a
weak link. But I cracked too. A lot more than she did, and for a lot less. But
she was there. I'm hardly just going to leave her to fend for herself now. It
wouldn't be right. And I'd miss her. A lot. Really a lot.

But I have an idea, too. I think I can get her to snap back
together. At least well enough for her to keep playing this game. Or it could
really wreck her up. Like, a lot worse than she is right now. A lot. But she
always tried to do the right thing with me. That meant letting me figure out my
own stupidity without a lot of interference. I don't think letting her sit and
go stale is good. I've got to take an active role in getting her put back
together. And I'm hoping that a trip outside is the right thing.

But I worry that it's just me wanting to go out, too.
Because I do want to. It was so exciting… I just have to think about it and
trust my instincts. What else is there?

ENTRY END