Richard is worried. Very worried. A lot of survivalist groups say he's doing too much. They joke that he is preparing for a world war, not just an epidemic. The mayor of the neighbouring town where we live easily grants us our building permits and other approvals, we have promised him a place for his family if he needs it, and we do no harm. Our 'madness' keeps the local economy going.

Richard is tense. He senses something. The whole group is anxious. We trust him. Other groups are letting off steam. Their shelter preparations are stagnating. Their stocks are dwindling. For many, they have been preparing for a year and a half and nothing is happening. Richard's instincts tell him otherwise. His instincts have never failed him. Richard has contacted my cousin's parents several times to ask them to join us, without success.

We ask about the news from outside. Another friendly group has built a shelter in a building in the city. Another group has built a second fortified farmhouse south of the forest. The outbreaks we know about seem to be under control. The government has given an explanation to the population for the installation of the military in the areas: terrorist groups. The truth is not being disseminated. The reality has been smothered in a flood of government information designed to reassure the curious.

Only conspiracy theorists and well-informed groups like ours do not believe the rhetoric of politicians. However, since we are not looking for scandal, the government leaves us alone. Our friends keep us informed of their daily lives, we of our work. The city is patrolled by the military every night. There has been only one new attack at the school. Fortunately, the only casualty was the caretaker's cat, which was eaten by a creature that was quickly controlled.

The ones from our farm kidnapped a critter by chance one night. They were on their way to a distant city to get some supplies. They stopped on the side of the road to change a tyre and were attacked. Three reactive soldiers and a bear cage quickly got the situation under control. They brought him back to study him without the government's knowledge. Our group locked him in the bear cage.

The doctor and the biologist took samples and made observations with the help of the whole team. It is not a cancer, but a bacterium that is transmitted via body fluids: blood, saliva, urine. The transmission is not airborne, which is a good thing, as it is almost impossible to protect oneself from the air on a large scale.

The bacterium seems to spread quickly inside a contaminated body and reach the nerve connections. It causes some cells to multiply and others to rot. Water contaminated by a corpse or excrement can be made safe by boiling. The bacterium is fairly resistant to antibiotics and disinfectants, but very resistant to light and heat. It dies at fifty degrees. We don't know much more about it, which is already a lot.

The observation of the creature makes us understand that it cannot stand light. It screams as soon as we point a simple torch at it. A spotlight or a strong light makes it scream in pain. Several soft parts of its body quickly decompose. The creature eats itself when a piece of its flesh falls off. We have offered it various foods. It only touches meat and blood. It seems hungry. A pig died. We gave its corpse to the creature, which devoured the two hundred kilos of the animal in just a few hours. Its hunger seems insatiable.

The bacteria seemed to consume the creature from the inside. After twenty days, and in spite of copious feeding, the creature dies. The doctor and the biologist autopsy it with the help of protective suits. Their theory of nerve control is confirmed. The nerves are digested and the brain is reduced by three quarters. Vision seems to be impaired. Despite being kept in the refrigerator, we cannot learn much more. The bacteria decompose the little flesh and bone that remains within three days. It is not slowed down by the cold.

For safety reasons, we blowtorch the examination table, the floor of the cage and the cage itself, as well as everything that has been near the creature. We pass on our information to as many people as possible via the Internet. We broadcast our findings in French, English and Spanish to other survivalists around the world who pass it on. Richard gets a bit of a rap from some government officials, but they allow us to continue to spread the word as long as it remains between survivalists and not on a large scale. They don't want a general panic.

Our team signs an agreement. A charter. If one of us is infected, he allows the others to experiment on him to learn as much as possible about the bacteria. We draw up a code of conduct for experiments that respects as much as possible the few humans left in us when we are infected.

We pledge not to sue if we are killed in battle or if we are killed by one of ourselves as a result of infection. The common good and the survival of the many becomes the priority over our own lives. However, if there is a remote possibility of healing or rescue, we will not abandon our own or any human in need of help.

Richard and his friends decide to cut down all the trees and destroy all the potential hiding places around the farmhouse, inside the fortification and in the immediate surroundings. Apart from the interior of the secure buildings, everything is exposed to daylight and can be exposed to floodlights at night. Thermal cameras are set up to cover the perimeter.

A stock of night vision binoculars is purchased. More floodlights are installed. We have a stock of wood sufficient to make a fire every day for a year. Survival is about learning to identify hazards, knowing as much as possible about them and thus knowing how to protect yourself or fight them effectively.

It's early morning. Melia and I are working the horses. We are trying to learn the art of farming in the old way, where horses replaced tractors. Always with the aim of preparing for the worst. Richard is next to us with his rifle. He watches the surroundings according to the code established by the group. Always an armed lookout. Always a means of escape (in this case horses) nearby. One of the soldiers calls out to us. We have to get back urgently. We run. The television is on the 24-hour news channel. Horrific images are being played over and over again.

It's a rally. A huge summer night market in a neighbouring country. Hundreds of people are walking around. Suddenly, there is screaming and shouting. Human and animal creatures attack and show themselves to the surveillance cameras. It is a massacre. The images are from the phones of a few people who were there at the time and who, thinking they were safe in a vehicle, sent them to relatives or posted them on the net. The journalists who rushed to the scene were preceded by the military. The area was cordoned off. Helicopters and drones attempting to fly over were shot down.

Journalists hear explosions. The military dropped mini-bombs on the area, leaving no chance of survival for those trapped, if any. When the bombs end, a huge cordon of soldiers in three rows lines up around the security perimeter. They are all armed with flamethrowers. Five metres apart between the rows and less than a metre apart along the row. The soldiers burn as they move towards the centre of the area. Shouts and screams are heard. An electrified fence preventing any exit from the area is installed and monitored by the military day and night.

Following this attack, the survivalists who had abandoned their shelters began to work hard again. They were followed by a large number of people who, in fear, started to stockpile and arm themselves. Riots take place in the country of the attack and in neighbouring countries. People are terrorised. Curfews and martial laws are introduced as a matter of urgency. Richard launches the dissemination of our research and survival guide on a large scale, via all his survivalist and military friends and especially via the Internet. No one in the government slaps him on the wrist. On the contrary, the government website linked to the download of our manual.

In the month that followed, fifty-eight other attacks were made known throughout the world. There is worldwide panic. All leaders try to communicate. Some countries isolate themselves. Others want to help each other. Others take the opportunity to attack their neighbours. It is a world war. Humans against creatures. Humans against humans. Every man for himself. No mercy. No compassion. Just as Richard had felt in his rheumatism.

All radio, television and satellite communications are interrupted. The world is killing each other to survive. The last news I get from the outside world is a letter from the government. Our uncle's house has been bombed. Our parents, our uncle, our aunt and our cousin have been bombed. We only have Richard left. We have no news of our friends and the rest of the world.