I also need to take them down without killing the undead. I need to take them down step one, which seems simple. Take the sample which is step two. However trying not kill them, that was the hard part. Well, that wasn't dangerous part; the dangerous part was trying to get them simple while they're still "alive". I needed to figure out a way to take their blood without getting bit myself. This will have to wait until tomorrow, tonight needed to studying the undead some more. I don't know what goes on at night for them. They could be active during the night or not active - I don't know but I do need to plan. After deciding I was going to stay out all night and watch them and take notes I also took the materials that Tony provided for me to get the samples. It was something that needed to be done but I wasn't going to rush it because for every growler out there, there was a ticker but for everyone ticker there are about ten to fifteen growlers surrounding it. That's all I can really say about how many tickers and growlers are out there and are in a ratio that I don't completely understand it.

As the sun begins to set I'm on my way outside of the science building on the campus of Columbia University one of the worlds that are now confined in hell with seven individuals trying to find and understand what the hell is going on in New York City. Here I was 20-year-old lesbian studying the habits and movements of the undead trying to understand them and what goes on during the night with them. To be completely honest you don't really hear them at night and I wanted to know why. I want to understand them do I can take them down better and so they can be easier to predict and their movements and what really goes on. I don't think they have a cognitive thought or conscience for that matter. They only seem to have motor functions like walking and attacking anything that makes a sound really. I want to know why they do what they do during the day and to understand what they do during the night. As the sun sets on this cold day in February I ask myself why I'm doing this and I know the reason why I should, why I am doing this because I care. I mean yes it could be a biological weapon or a chemical weapon that any government on this planet could have deployed here and yes it could just be nature taking back what is her planet. Then again we don't really know and that's why I'm sitting on top of a trunk near Columbus University watching growlers and tickers to understand their movements and what goes on at night. As it gets darker, as the sun gets lower - honestly the sunset is the most calming and peaceful thing that really helps me right now but at the same time I know it will only last for a few moments and then darkness comes but I also find peace in darkness I think this is why I do what I do- I see the same amount of undead and nothing seem to change in their behavior. For the peaceful moments that not only I see and feel but so others can see and feel them too. As it gets darker I don't see any more or any less activity from the growlers that are about a few feet in front of me and off to the side the ticker seems to be doing what a ticker does and make that weird ticking sound in the same even pitch. It just seems that their movement was a routine like it was rehearsed to some unheard-of song but no one can hear them.

As the minutes turn to hours and hours turn into a day I was still wide awake from my night of observing. Nothing was different and everything was the same between growlers and tickers at night and day it didn't matter to them and I wrote that down. As the morning sun warms me up I took out some granola and water and had a light breakfast truth be told this was the first meal I had in about 3 days besides the drinking and eating very little and then the apartment. To actually have a real meal well what consisted of a real meal felt good in my body. Now comes the hard part I need to take down some growlers and some tickers and to get some samples from them. This might be hard I have to do it very quietly going to be overrun by the undead but I know I need to do this I know I need to get the samples back to the science building to be analyzed and understood. But I also need to do it safely so I don't become one of them. I also needed to put distance between them and myself and get two samples from two different growlers and find another ticker. This was going to be a hard and long day but I needed to get these samples now.

There was one growler close to the trunk and I made my way down and got close enough to it without being detected. I needed a way to bring it down without it fighting back. Maybe I can hit it once in the head and take the sample or take its legs out. I think I will just do both. It had its back to me and I was going to take its left leg out and hit it across the head then use my body to hold it down while I take the sample. Easier said than done. I needed to be fast, so I made my way to its left side and quickly hit the leg from underneath it and a blow to the head. It went down without protest and I got on top of it. Its head was facing down and I have one arm trap beneath my leg. I was scared that I wasn't heavy enough to hold it down but I was. I mean I lost some weight because of the food I've been eating but also gain some muscle from what I've been doing. I took out a syringe and the tube and stick it in the neck of the growler. To be honest I wasn't expecting anything to come out of the growler but something did. It was the black like substance that ooze from their ears and eyes came out and into the vial. I thought this was an after product from being bitten not something that was in them. After the vial was filled I took its head and my hand and smash it on the pavement as hard as I could until it wasn't moving. It was time for the next sample and to find a growler that wasn't surrounded by others. I move a few blocks away from where I took the first sample and saw one that was alone. It looked like a kid so I thought to myself "this is easy" but at the same time it wasn't. A kid died and was trapped here. I move in close and hit its back and it fell with some protest but no noise was made.

After I was done I killed it. A part of me knows I have to take them down no matter how old they are or what they look like. I knew I have to take down these things so others can live but it still gets to me every time I see a kid even though let one died right in front of my eyes to see how the change starts. I shook off that feeling and went looking for some tickers instead of hiding from them. This was something so crazy that I couldn't believe any of this was real until I have all that I need and go back to the seven. I think I'm going to them the seven from now on. It has a ring to it.

After walking around and making no noise I find a ticker. It was standing beside a burnt out car doing it thing. Making weird noises. This was going to be hard because these things make noise. I wonder if a sound pitch to its sound will attract others to it or not. I have nothing to lose except my life and everything to gain from this experience. I made my way to it and notice that it was about a half a foot taller than me. Damn it why did this one have to be a ticker I thought to myself. I need a sample from it and I will get it, I just needed to think of another way of taking this one down because of its size. After coming up with a plan I was going to take out both legs an arm and then hit the head. This was going to be a lot of work for a vial but the seven needed this. A lot of people needed this even if they didn't know that I was the one doing it. Damn the ticker didn't land on its face but on it back instead. This was going to be super dangerous if I was careful. I had one arm under me and the other was bent at an angle and I had to hold its head still with one hand while the other is sticking the needle into its neck. The same black substance fills the vial and I took out my knife and stabbed it to kill it. I needed one more ticker sample then I can get the samples back to the seven and call it a day. After an hour of looking I finally find another ticker, and it's alone. I was happy about this and it was started to get late. It was about my height and build so it was an easy take down since I've done this before three times now. I was finally finished and made my way back to the seven.

I radioed them and told them that I have all four samples from different growlers and tickers. Jamie answers and was happy that I got the job done even if I almost got bit in the process of doing. Making my way back to the seven I radio the school to let them know I was safe and helping some people out and that I'd be back soon. Jimmy's voice came over and she yelled at me for leaving the way I did, Sally also yelled at me and told me Tabi hasn't been eating since I left. I felt bad and told them I'd be home soon. After that small talk, I was back in the building making my way to the room. The first one to greet me was Jamie and how she was thankful for me doing this and then Iris who wanted to take the samples and start studying them as soon as possible. I told them it wasn't a problem and that they can always call on me. But what we all didn't know was that something a lot worst was about to begin in the weirdest of ways, it was something a lot bigger and harder to kill.