March 6, 2035

Hello. This is for anyone out there reading.

My name is Kenny Lujan and I live in the mountains of Western New Mexico. I’m 41.

We’ve yet to be affected by what’s going on, but that may not be for long.

Today, I ran into a couple of guys I know and hadn’t seen in a while.

The guys said that the Pinehill Post Office was still running mail.

I told them I’ve not gotten any letters for about three weeks.

“No. Not regular mail. They’re not doing that no more,” said AJ from the driver’s seat.

“They’re running mail east and west so people can find out if their families in other states are still alive.”

“Get outta here!” I replied. I couldn’t believe my ears.

Apparently, some folks are using horses to deliver bags of mail.

“In the middle of all this?” I replied.

Long story short, I decided to write a letter and see what happens. I don’t have much else to do anyway. The orders for drone repair have died down since January, and the internet is out. The satellites are acting erratic, so that’s no help if you’re trying to use your CommsGOT to get a message out.

 

So, what’s happening here in the mountains of western New Mexico?

Not a darn thing.

And I prefer it that way.

But AJ and his brother said that they spotted some of these “runners” just outside Ramah, off Rt. 53. They saw about five. A mix of men and women.

This has me concerned since Ramah is only 20 miles from where I’m at.

“We hid in the truck over there by Lane’s Outpost, and watched them chase vehicles driving by. ‘Em sons of bitches run like the Flash,” Kyle said.

“And then they just kind of stood there waiting in the middle of the road,” said AJ. “Mouths making biting motions. We could hear their teeth and jaws snapping.”

“Right, right!!” continued Kyle excitedly. “We finally turned on the engine, they started running towards the truck, but we were far enough away. It was pedal to the metal until we lost them over there by Rt. 125.”

I was shaking my head as they went on with the story. I was fascinated, but kind of irked at the same time.

“Make sure you shoot them down, and aim at the head just to be sure,” said AJ as he rolled up his window and headed south towards Fence Lake.

 

Before most TV stations stopped broadcasting, I saw on the news reporters live talking about the “infection.” But then suddenly, in the middle of the broadcast, the signal would cut out.

Another station was showing footage of the sick people running like mad, chasing after others on the streets.

At some point, some crazies rushed towards the cameraman doing a live broadcast. The camera flew up in the air and slammed hard on the ground, cracking the lens. Laying there, it was just capturing the shoes of people running.

The whole thing looked like a scene from a zombie movie.

A second later a message appeared:
“We’ll be right back. Stay tuned.”

Another channel was showing footage of a drone flying all over Albuquerque. I’m pretty sure it was a Hawk 83Z drone. You can tell by the way it flies and the image quality. Those are really expensive.

Anyway, the drone was probably on autopilot because nobody was narrating. It just kept drifting over the city, showing smoke rising from different parts of town.

You could see traffic jams all along I-25 and I-40. Cars stuck bumper to bumper.

Some people had gotten out of their cars and were fleeing. It all looked completely nuts, but it was the only channel still showing anything.

After about an hour, a voice finally came on.

“Under government orders, everyone must shelter in place until further notice.”

Then the drone footage came back on but stopped after a few hours.

YouTube went down in mid-January. I read that the government was preventing people from posting videos and “conspiracy theories.” That’s when the first infected started appearing.

All the other video platforms shut down too. Then social media.

It’s like the whole country, and the world…went crazy.

I walked over to my dad’s RV to check on him. He was asleep and snoring loudly (I wish I could sleep like that these days).

When I tiptoed to leave, the sound of the door woke him up.

“What’s going on, Kenneth? Everything OK?” he asked, reaching for his cane as he sat up.

“Not really. AJ and Kyle said there are runners near Ramah,” I said calmly. “We have to start preparing, just in case they make it here.”

“That’s insane,” dad said. “Aren’t they just sick? You can’t just shoot sick people.”

“Well, the cops and the National Guard have been shooting them point-blank,” I said. “That drone was capturing everything.”

“Oh my God,” he replied, slowly reaching and picking up the shotgun hanging on his wall.

“If they get here, let me take care of them first. I need practice,” dad said.

“There is more ammo in the shed. Make sure you lock it up when you close the door,” I responded.

“Yep. Yep. It’s a matter of time before ‘dem fools start stealing too,” he replied.

I walked back to my cabin and saw Maggie in her crate, alert. Her ears were perked up.

I opened the door and she came right out, wagging her tail, wanting to go outside.

She’s almost six months old now. Hard to believe how tiny she was when I got her from a Native guy at the Home Depot in Gallup.

It’s awesome to have a dog again. Bertie Boy died a year ago and I hadn’t brought myself to get another one. Some stupid guy ran him over, didn’t even bother to stop. I found him already dead an hour or so later. Broke my heart.

Talking about more sad stuff, my wife and I signed the divorce papers in December, right before Christmas.

We called it quits mostly because of financials.

She wanted a big house in Rio Rancho.

I wanted this that I have now. A small log cabin.

I also couldn’t afford a mortgage for a house. The drone repair business is very competitive.

After 2031, when the economy tanked, drones were about the only thing one could still make money repairing.

She said she wanted something more.

My dad and I are not “preppers,” but living out here, offgrid, has forced us to build a reserve of food, ammo, and meds. I just hope this craziness doesn’t last too long.

What the hell was THAT?!

That sounded like an explosion.

Maggie is outside barking like crazy.

K. L.