CHAPTER 34 - Bad Moon Rising

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It was the next three days later of the second week of the month that's gone and passed by in Z-city, centering the attention focused squarely on Safe Haven there.

Right over there on the rooftop, there is Eden focused on looking through the telescope as she's taking over the lookout duties at that very time of daylight, and it looks like she's making sure that no trouble or any threats are lurking in the shadows or anything near the perimeter of Safe Haven.

She was so focused on her concentration upon watching and looking through the scope, that she didn't notice that Sahara was approaching her from behind until she called for her attention, instantly making her jump slightly, caught by surprise, and swiftly took out a sharp army knife right at her.

Sahara gasped and her hands raised in defense but she didn't back away from Eden when she suddenly pulled her knife out. Then Eden blushed with embarrassment for her reaction and quickly holstered the knife back in its place on her person, and she asked Sahara what is the matter. Sahara replied to her that there is something the others wanted to talk to her about and Eden nodded to her that she'll be following behind later as she was busy with staying on her watch duties.

Sahara nodded and left her alone again, leaving Eden to continue her lookout to all the streets and corners of Z-city, for her to watch out for any more hidden dangers or other threats that will endanger their group in Safe Haven. Eden watched Sahara leave her alone and then turned back to gazing and looking through the telescope, with her sniper rifle and extra binoculars on the ready beside her, in case she might miss anything else or something.

After a few hours has gone and passed by on that day, Eden didn't leave the rooftop until the sun is slowly going down and it was soon to be nighttime then. Eden sighed upon seeing nothing during her day-watch duties, but she didn't let down her guard and kept being hyper-aware over everything in the surroundings as her concerns for her group have been intensified because of sudden foreboding feelings she's been getting from her inner self when she first got them since a day ago or so.

It looked like Eden was trying to find out and discover the cause of those feelings, not wanting to think that she's overreacting or that she's getting overly paranoid about it, because of her group now growing to slightly big numbers even though there are two to three more protectors among them by her side.

It wasn't until dinner has been made and this time, it was Ryu who came up and called for Eden to bring her over and she nodded as she told him in return that she was finished with her watch duties and is going to turn it over to whoever will be taking the night watch shift. Ryu nodded and admitted that Daiyu will be taking his turn doing that and the two of them went downstairs to join the others of their entire group for dinner.

As it turns out, it looks like Eden is going to find out the root of the foreboding feelings she's been getting, after they had eaten their dinner and Nadia and Ole Bessie went to clean the dishes, followed by Mother Ying helping Talia to clean the children in the bath-house and settle them to their bedrooms. Mark and Homer exchanged uncertain looks like there was something they need to discuss with the others and after a minute or two, with a little encouragement from Sahara, the two men finally told Eden, Ryu, Daiyu, and Sahara about the kind of materials they don't have available in Safe Haven, and they are necessarily important for the improvisation and increasing of the security measures in their safe place.

Eden suddenly felt the bad feelings enforcing into the worse kinds inside her gut as she calmly asked what they needed, and Mark explained as plainly and simply as he can, telling her the exact kinds of materials they need for the improvised security devices and safety alarms and such, and then Homer had checked and looked into the Map room on where those materials can be obtained at and pointed out the area where they are.

When Eden took one look at the spots Homer pointed out exactly in his theories or ideas of the places, her eyes instantly widened in shock and horror upon discovering and realizing where those spots are but she quickly maintained her cool and composure before the others noticed her expression and worry about it. Ryu was the only one who noticed it but he also didn't show it on his face so that the others wouldn't get anxious about it but he asked Eden gently about what is wrong with those places that Homer had pointed out.

Eden shook her head a little in negative response and said that she'll talk about it later on the next day but she told Mark and Homer that she and a selected few others can come with her for this retrieval supply run to get the materials they need as she promised determinedly to do so. Mark was relieved at this and nodded to her in gratitude for it, but she waved it off and told him that she understands fully that this is for the safety and security of their group living in Safe Haven.

Then Eden sorted out plans and made up preparations for the trip that the selected members and she will be going out into Z-city and grab all the stuff that they needed, but it looks like she's planning to bring the heavy guns--or the kind of deadly lethal weapons of sorts, needed to defend and protect themselves from the imminent worse dangers or worst-case scenarios that she believed will happen to her group on this particular supply run.

Ryu became a little more worried and wary when he saw the slightly dark grave expression on Eden's face and before he could demand at her what was wrong, she promised him that it was nothing bad and will explain it to him later before the next day arrives but she can't talk to him about it right now then. He looked like he didn't want to let go of this matter but he knew better than to argue, seeing that she was a little exhausted from her task being up there on the roof all day, looking out for the group as the watch guard, so he let it go for now.

Eden was relieved and her being relaxed when Ryu let her off but she knew that he will confront her about it the next time later on. She went off swiftly before he might change his mind as their meeting dispersed and they all separated to get to their rooms and go straight to bed, and Eden did just that as she brought her two children and her dogs to the big room they share and settle them in, tucking little Michael and Annie to bed with Archer joining in as usual, beneath the comfortable soft blankets.

After Eden put her kids into bed and they instantly fall asleep when they got completely wiped out and exhausted from playing with their friends and learning lessons from Talia, she watched them silently for a while, before she carefully got off the mattress and went to take a look out the window like she needs to confirm something with her dog Luna following by her side. As Eden took one glancing look out through the glass window, she appeared like she was mentally cursing herself upon discovering that she was right on her suspicions and was thinking about what to do about it before she returned to their room to lie down next to the sleeping children, trying to relax and be calm about it as she thought over it deeply.

It didn't take long for her to reach out for her journal and took it out from its hiding place, and swiftly went on writing another new entry into it, like she was venting out her feelings as they boiled and stir up inside her and needs to let it out before she might break down over it. Luna whined a little like the dog can sense her master's apprehension and anxiety and Eden reached over to calm it down and get it quiet before she continued writing.

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JOURNAL ENTRY: DAY UNKNOWN, 10TH MONTH OCTOBER, YEAR 2XXX

Hey, it's Eden again.

Does anybody remember that it's very ominous and eerily foreboding when there is a certain sign coming about at a time of the month, even if it's only a normal merry holiday at a certain time and date in each specific kind of month?

Well, sorry to dash on your hopes and rain badly on the parade over that. But this truly happened in my case, so to speak of sorts.

What I'm talking about…is not the merry holiday of Halloween that's celebrated yearly in October, which is this month exactly--no, I'm talking about the saying that is known to others called 'Bad Moon Rising'.

If you're wondering whether I'm being overly paranoid and superstitious about it--honestly, I'm not.

I'm being serious here…for me, it does happen literally.

And that was exactly a year ago, when the zombie apocalypse first happened, and I had finished working on and settling in my secure and safe place which is Safe Haven and everything else.

When you see a real Full Moon in October at any night, even the weird times or signs of it being so big and shining brightly up in the night skies with its eerie color and appearing like it's going to turn darker or into another color shade in blood-scary red, then that is seriously a bad omen and foreboding sign that something really bad is going to happen.

I remember it fully well when it happened that time a year ago when I was all alone and on my own as the only lone survivor in Z-city. And I could never forget it as long as I live and breathe, even writing it again in this journal entry right here.

Let me tell you what happened and remind you all about how it went down since then.

A year ago, I was cool and composed and all-around content after I set up Safe Haven as my secure safe new home and everything, and I was going out on a run to make sure of the perimeter near the area and see if I didn't miss anything that I shouldn't have, like spotting more supply shops to raid into or mark out the possible back-up places that can be used for safe houses or hidden storage units if I hoard and gather too many supplies that can't be kept all in one place inside Safe Haven.

I spotted something through the scope at a slightly faraway distance from Safe Haven that I thought was a potential place that I need to look into, but I foolishly went there without double-checking the area first because as soon as I got inside, I swiftly ran back out with a slightly large horde of Omega-Z chasing after me, and I managed to outrun and outwit them when I went around into an alleyway that has an escape ladder still stable at the side of one of the tall buildings and climbed right up on it before continuing with a dashing run to get away from my pursuers in parkour movements onto the top of the buildings, despite that, I already lost them and escaped upon nearly forgetting that Omega-Z can't climb at all but can only run after their prey.

Then another time, in the same month back then, I was scouting around at night, thinking that I had a spot of good luck upon hoarding into an electronics shop and was about to pack up some suitable devices and other goods that were going to be used as safety measures for Safe Haven. And that's when I nearly got caught into some sort of trap by a pack of Alpha-Z when they surrounded me but I managed to escape once more and again through a secret hole in that shop-building I got trapped into, and I found and discovered another weakness of the Alpha-Z upon using one of the devices as a distraction.

Once I got out of there safely and decided to stay put inside Safe Haven, being stuck there for a few days or a week or so, I was glaring up from the rooftop into the skies like I was blaming the gods themselves for putting me through these kinds of harrowing ordeals, but in reality, I was glaring daggers straight at the Full Moon shining down over me like it's the sole reason how I had gotten into those kinds of exhausting unexpected incidents and such.

Such as the rule that goes on my survival list when that happened is RULE #24: Do not jinx it. And I had followed on to that rule since that happened a year ago when the 'Bad Moon' comes the next time in October.

And that has still rung true and now has been going on in this new year, right then and there in October once more and again, when I checked outside into the night skies and saw the same foreboding ominous sign of the Full Moon, as I also called it as the 'Bad Moon' too.

The reason why I still thought this, was because I know very well that something bad or something even worse is going to happen during our run, and it didn't help that when Mark and Homer told me and requested that they needed specific materials for the security devices for Safe Haven, they pointed out that the area they need to check and go to obtain the supplies are right at the 'Danger' zones that I marked where most zombies frequent or live at as their hunting grounds or nests.

But I will make sure that I will plan and be prepared for the incoming event when this mission supply run happens, and I will also warn and prepare the others who will go with me on this trip and help me out in retrieving the needed materials that Mark and Homer asked for.

So the next time the new entry of this journal, it will be about what's happening next and how our mission run will turn out, hoping that it ended successfully good, and not very badly.

I pray that it won't turn out, in the end, that way in the latter part.

Until then, this is Eden signing off.

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After Eden finished writing the new entry in her journal, she finally felt relaxed and calm from her overwhelming thoughts and chaotic thinking inside her mind, laid back and relaxed more until her fatigue catches up to her and she settles down comfortably to fall asleep right next to her kids and join them in their deep slumber so that she'll be alert and ready for the next day.

Before her eyes closed, Eden seemed to be thinking and wondering about what was going to happen the next day and she seemed to be hoping or praying that nothing bad or something even worse is going to happen tomorrow or something.

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