Journal Entry 2

There is trouble in bear country. Scat came running down the admin hallway before sunup this morning. He was yelling at the top of his lungs, Get up! They took our fuel. I jumped up off the couch and tackled him in the hallway. Okay, we get the point, I yelled back. By this time Everyone reside. Residing in the admin hallway was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes were everywhere, and no one was in a very joyful mood. Skat tried to squirm out of my hold as he said, Tony's been hurt. They beat him up. Tony's our engineer. He lives in the basement. He has been my friend, sort of, since before the world was turned upside down. Tony and I didn't run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, Tony was dating a cheerleader. Tony isn't very sociable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break. I ordered Scat to stay put in the admin hallway and grab some muscle. When I say muscle, I'm usually referring to Matt and Jonas. The three of us headed towards the basement. The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony made an attempt to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the far wall and let out a loud cry of pain. I tried to reason with him, Tony said as he spit out a mouthful of blood. They took all of our fuel. Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages. The Central Bobcats are from the east end of Lafayette Boulevard. We live on the west. We were rivals in football, basketball, volleyball, you name it. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world was turned upside down. The big difference between Central and us Is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies. The leader of the sin. Central Bobcats is a former high school wrestling champ. He is mean and leads by fear and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the Hulk after the comic book character. The Hulk doesn't barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants. Matt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn't have tried to stop the Central goons from taking what they wanted. Just then, Scat ran up behind me, holding a first aid kit. Scat is such a tiny little guy. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He can get into more trouble. Scat glared back at me. Tony didn't try to stop them, he said. The central goons beat up Tony afterwards. Tony just nodded in agreement. At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting and raving about getting even. I love those two guys, but they get hot under the collar fast and don't always think things through. We have some big guys in bear country. But we are not a match for the goons at Central.

Madie