Hansel – Cairo – January 15, 2087

My little sister asked me to document my journey on the mainlands. She says that maybe one day someone will read it. So here I am, sitting in the newly built Cairo Central Supply Center, with dirt and sweat caked into my favorite scarf, jetlagged as all hell, writing in a stupid journal. All while she sits comfortably at home. The things I do for family.

This month’s mission started out calmly enough. We needed to build at least three supply centers in cities on the mainlands, and conduct a recon mission in Washington DC. All nine of the cities on the grid were stocked with plenty of supplies.

Early in the month, we focused on making and delivering supplies to address shortages as they arose. All the while, we gathered intel and resources that would hopefully help in our primary mission objectives.

As the situation developed, our plan started to become clearer. Walker focused most of his farming efforts in the Mediterranean region, which was getting hit hardest with infections. Meanwhile, our very own wannabe pirate John Starling proved he’s not all washed up yet, building a crucial supply center in Washington which we could use as a hub for recon. Further down the coast, I met up with Sid in Jacksonville to exchange some knowledge and resources.

I knew I’d get along well with Sid as soon as I met her. She’s got a killer style that is distinctly New Catalonian. She’s full of interesting stories. And she doesn’t expect me to be someone I’m not. The type of kid sister I wish I had. Sid the Kid! Catchy.

Our time hanging out at the port in Jacksonville did not last long though, because right around then is when everything went to shit. We couldn’t keep up with the rate of infections, and cities all over the grid started running dangerously low on supplies. Washington got slammed worst of all, and they couldn’t stop the plague from taking hold. A city that had held strong for as long as I can remember, taken to its knees in an instant.

Starling got out of DC before it was too late. That’s lucky for him, but we had work left to do there. Sid needed to focus her efforts on building a second supply center in Lagos, so the recon task fell to me. I knew I had to get in and get out, as fast as I could.

I docked at the southwest waterfront and walked over to the supply center. It was constructed in the middle of an old arena of some kind. I’ve heard that back before the plague, people had so much free time and money that they would pay to watch other people hit a ball with a stick and run around in circles.

A man at the supply center told me that there’s a working train that runs to Chicago from Union Station. Even more exciting, I learned that there are also five other known colonies of survivors in North America. The man also informed me that we won’t be able to use the city’s underground subway lines to get to Union Station. Apparently it has been shuttered for decades, and the only remaining form of public transportation in DC is the streetcar that runs along H Street.

That information will have to be sufficient, because I didn’t stick around a minute longer than I had to. And it’s good that I left when I did, because I headed East just in time to meet up with Walker and Starling and help build our third supply center.

By the time we were done, the plague had also reared its ugly head in London, Lagos, and Cairo, and we were on the brink of a full-scale pandemic. Our three supply centers were well placed to help Washington, Lagos, and Cairo to stem the plague’s spread without significant loss of life, but London was not so lucky. We’ll have to monitor the situation there in the coming months. For now, I suppose I’m just glad to be alive. I’m going to head on back to the havens to regroup — but first, off to the markets to find myself a new scarf.

For the next entry in the Haven Journals, see February 15, 2087.