It never seems to end.
The haze. The charred and dusty landscape. And the smell. The smell of singed matter. Burning oil. Charred flesh. Nobody here smiles anymore. Not after the 'Crisis'. There are only a handful of us left. We're running low on food, and theres no more clean water. I suppose its only a matter of time before we all succumb to what some are calling 'The Madness'. I don't know what causes it. I was finishing college when the 'Crisis' hit. Radiation, toxins, or even a feeling of hopelessness. We can see whats left of our city across the water. Its an eerie sight. Looking at where buildings used to be and seeing only skeletons. Skyscraper skeletons. I used to live in one of those decrepit hulks. Back before. They still don't know what caused it exactly. Most of us don't even remember where we were at the time. All we remember is the sound. The sirens. The sudden wave of heat. All I'm sure of is that one of them got the balls to do it. In less than a minute, the lies fell away, the treaties crumbled, and the 'Crisis' began. Conventional tactics were useless. I guess the only defense we really had was the belief that we would destroy each other. Even that defense crumbled when it came down to it.
Another survivor stumbled into our camp yesterday. He said he was from upper Vermont. We tried to force him to leave. The day our radio died, they reported that
Vermont was one of the places heavy with 'The Madness'. He wouldn't have it. He begged, and pleaded. We eventually killed him. We barely survived a handful of victims with 'the Madness'. The last thing we wanted was a crowd of them converging on us.
Like I said, I don't know what causes 'the Madness'. The first cases started showing up right after the 'Crisis' started, In the areas hit with the initial volley. They started becoming more and more widespread after the second and third waves. The symptoms are dilated pupils, feral behavior, and an insatiable bloodlust. For the first week or so after the attacks ceased, I could hear the screaming of the survivors on the island as The Infected slowly devoured them. Their final cries and pleas drifting through the skyscraper skeletons like wisps of fog through a forest. We merely tuned them out.
There was nothing we could do. We heard gunshots and explosions from the south last night. The last remnants of society trying to regain control I suppose. I've stopped caring.
Earlier today a navy ship beached on the shore. Several of our party suggested moving into it, until we saw the blood smears on the deck, walls, and windows... We promptly locked it up. Every now and then, we'll see a movement through the portholes, or hear thumping and snarling from inside. I guess even the military wasn't immune to 'The Madness'.
The sun is going down now. At the end of every day, I wonder, did we really destroy ourselves? I find it sad, that in the end, our worst threat was humanity itself. As I wonder if this is really the end, I look out across the water. The small rays of sunlight that manage to get through the haze cast a beautiful reflection on the brown green waves. As the last pieces of sunset dissapear, I wonder if we really will die out, leaving the only testament to humanity as a planet full of skyscraper skeletons.