The Park (Evenstad Media Presents Book 1) Page 8

  ENTRY END

  JOURNAL 02CHRISTINA

  ENTRY 007

  DATE: 4/3/2074

  Tomorrow, we're leaving the house. I know Julia shouldn't. I can see it whenever we talk about it. But she's insisting, and it's not my place to tell a grown woman what she can and can't do, no matter how much I might worry about her. But I am insisting on going with her. She didn’t want me to, at first, but I have my limits, my conditions. That's one of them. She's been ignoring this whole situation we're in for the past three months. I can't just let her go out there and jump right back in.

  Good lord. As though that didn't happen to me. And to the others, probably. But I can't let myself let her do that. It just doesn't seem right. Not when I'm supposed to be protecting her.

  I won't let us go too far from the house. I want to make sure we can get back if something happens, or if Julia just can't handle it. I don't know if she can go back to ignoring the game, now, but I'll help her, if it comes down to that. I'll even take her medallion so she doesn't have to worry about finding it. I'm committed to this, whatever the outcome might be. I'll keep her safe. Just that simple.

  Right. Because things in this game are so fucking simple.

  ENTRY END

  JOURNAL 06RITA

  ENTRY 006

  DATE: 4/3/2074

  Well, I hope you're happy, Evenstad. I think I have to give Blake head today. He's starting to get antsy about things, and I can't afford to let anything like that happen. He might just leave me. And he's too valuable as a source of information. So yeah. I have to do something to keep him around, and flashing my boobs just isn't working as well as it used to. Warn the censors, I guess. And if I make it through this, I expect a bonus for this part. And all the other ratings increases I've probably given you.

  It's not that he isn't cute. You cast him very well, in that regard. But he's so fucking stupid. I've been happy with it so far, don't get me wrong, Evenstad. But stupid is not a turn on. If you do an all-star comeback show and somehow rope me into it again, can you at least make the cute guy moderately intelligent? Just a thought.

  But he gets this game. So I've got to keep him around. Once I got him convinced that none of it was real, he started spilling. The kid knows video games, and apparently this is just like a video game. He's not applying very much of it, so far, but he's got it all in his head. I'll apply it, I just have to get it out of there.

  Which means he has to stay.

  Which means a blow job.

  Do you see what you've brought me to, Evenstad? I hope it's worth it to you.

  ENTRY END

  TO: Niels Evenstad

  FROM: Frederick Evenstad

  SUBJECT: CESU Order

  SENT 4/1/2074 AT 11:19 a.m. EST

  You were right. We got the contract. US military wants 5000 to begin with. And I am sorry about the last email I sent you. I shouldn't have doubted you. You've proven yourself time and again to be in control of things. I'm much more calm about it now that this meeting is over and went well.

  Take care, Brother.

  Frederick Evenstad

  Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Technologies

  JOURNAL 08DESIREE

  ENTRY 007

  DATE: 4/4/2074

  I have found her. I have found the woman You sent me for, God, and I have seen what must be done. When I saw her face, You revealed to me the Devil in her soul. She is the ultimate evil, and You have placed me here so that I might remove her from this Earth. I, Your humble servant. It pains me, what I had to do to Justice to get away, but he will awaken soon. I checked his pulse. He was only unconscious. I shall take any punishment You see fit for that.

  I fear that the other woman with her must share her fate. She has been tainted by the Devil's evil touch. They were kissing. Two women. A woman and the Devil. An abomination either way. If You can save her soul, please do. But the Devil woman, she must no longer blight the Earth. This, I shall do for You.

  Amen.

  ENTRY END

  08

  JOURNAL 04JUSTICE

  ENTRY 008

  DATE: 4/5/2074

  She fucking killed her dead. I don't know what I think. I just know what I feel. I feel like fucking killing that bitch in the business suit. Desiree didn't do a damn thing. We could have lived this all out in innocence. I know I didn’t always fucking plan it that way, but it could have happened. Instead, she killed Desiree. I got there just in time to watch her fall. I couldn't save a fucking bit of her. Whatever that psychotic bitch used against her, it charred all her skin, all the grass. I couldn't even save her medallion. Melted. Once I realized it, I even had to leave her corpse there. I just… the radiation, or whatever makes these fucking medallions work. I couldn't have done a damn thing if that killed me. It still might, as far as I know. Or maybe it was safe. Maybe it doesn't fucking matter. That seems the highest probability. Sure, I'd like to survive it out to the end, but I'm seeing that it ain't fucking likely.

  So I'll just survive long enough to get things done. Desiree was weak. She obviously wasn't in her own fucking head anymore, and that bitch just flat out murdered her. So she'll see just what it's like. If I die in the process, I don't give a fuck. She'll pay, and that's what matters. Desiree deserves that much.

  I'll do it for her. I failed to keep her safe, but that's over. It's too fucking late for her, but not for her memory. Now, I don't believe in any kind of God or nothing, but she did. And I'm swearing to whatever fucking God she thinks might have loved her: I ain't fucking letting this go.

  ENTRY END

  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 rea
son 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 3rd, 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

&nbs
p; 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?