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5 years after The Rising, 1 year since the Perfumer appeared
I found this journal while on a supply run. Figured it would be a good idea to write things down for any future gens that find it, like a historical document of what's going on in my life during this apocalypse. So, it’s been about five years since The Rising, that's what me and the others have been calling the start of this apocalypse when the dead started walking. At first there wasn't really a way to protect against detection by them except to hope the barricades held when they wanted in or that they didn't smell or see you if you had to get too close. That all changed about a year ago tho, someone found a way to temporarily make the Risen more docile and to better hide from their senses. They’re called the Perfumer by everyone, mostly because they refuse to tell anyone their real name, they used to make homemade perfumes before The Rising. They apparently found out somehow that floral or nature scents in general could hide their scent from the Risen , and sense the eyesight of a Risen is poor enough that they won't see you unless you're right in front of them, this made them practically invisible for a time. Our group leader and scientists said it works by tricking the sense of the Risen into thinking we are part of the flora and therefore not food. As long as we don't get close enough to them for their eyesight to work and we don't make too much noise near them then we can walk right past them with little to no worry.
The Perfumer apparently stopped by while I was on the supply run to show some new scents they had managed to produce. From what folks are saying the Perfumer managed to get the supplies needed to start growing roses properly so they were able to get them added to the line of scents they can produce. They also started testing other ways of using the flowers' scents than just perfume. They made some balms out of the more medicinal flowers and plants to help cover up the smell of fresh spilled blood better since that can sometimes have difficulty being masked by the perfumes. It seems they also had an excess of seeds this time around so they added them to their trading pool for those that want to grow and maintain their own flower beds.
My friend, Liv, bought a couple seed packs for me since I had expressed interest in a garden before. Once these flowers grow they will make a good emergency stash to take with me on supply runs if I don't have enough perfume or don't have something to trade for perfume at the time. Plus they’ll look really pretty in full bloom which will be nice.
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I met the perfumer once. It was a month before this past supply run that I went on and they came here to trade for supplies, food, clothing, tools, those types of things. They wore a pretty standard looking outfit for those travelling without a group, the only weird thing was that they wore a motorcycle helmet that had a tinted visor the whole time, I guess they didn't want anyone to know what they look like or what their gender is. That's perfectly understandable though since they seem to travel alone, the Rising allowed for a lot of sick and twisted people to roam about doing whatever they want to people, better safe than sorry in the Perfumers case.
They didn't speak during the time that I met them; they mostly used a really basic form of what I think was sign language mixed with charades and exaggerated body language. They did have some pieces of paper with them that they wrote things on, I think it was for the things that they couldn't get across with their gestures. I don't think their mute or something like that cause when they were playing with some of the kids I heard them humming, dunno if they were signing something or just making an acknowledgement to what the kids said though. Even though they didn't speak or make a sound beyond the occasional hum their personality still came across pretty clearly. They were bubbly and positive as well as dramatic, hands and arms and papers were all but flying all over the place as they showed off their wares and did their best to answer questions. I even saw them entertain some of the kids for a few moments with their over-the-topness.
It was as I was heading home for lunch that I saw Jim, our leader, lead them towards the research buildings. I figured it was to talk with the researchers and doctors of the group about how the perfumes work and what they had already found out about the effects of the perfumes on the Risen. That's probably where the researchers got the ideas for these experiments I have been hearing rumors about them wanting to perform. I don't know how many of the rumors are true though, especially since some of them seem to be pretty out there, such as using the flowers to make a cure for the Risen or using the flower scent to control the Risen and turn them into our own personal army. Pretty crazy rumors but entertaining to listen to. I wonder if the Perfumer has heard of these rumors or not, I'll have to ask next time they come around if I get the chance to.
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It's been a couple days since I last wrote in here, but, well, some things that might turn out to be pretty important have happened since I last wrote. One of the Elders of our group is dying, as far as the medics can tell it is from nothing more than old age, which is an honest miracle nowadays. Now, I have never known this guy personally, I had seen him around some, sure, but never met him one-on-one or knew him personally. The reason that I am writing about this is because of what was announced along with his impending death. When he dies he is going to have his body given over to the group's researchers so that they can use the time between his death and Rising to experiment.
The researchers have been looking for new ways to use both the floral scented perfumes and the natural scent of living flowers to keep the Risen passive. There have been rumors, like what I mentioned last time, that they have an experiment that they want to try but they need a fresh body for it. With the medics giving the Elder an estimate of a week left to live max, then they may be getting the body needed to do the experiment sooner rather than later. I guess I'll finally get to find out which of the rumored experiments is true if whatever it is works.
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Welp, todays the day. Rick, apparently that's the Elder's name, was pronounced dead ten minutes ago. From what I know it should take an hour at minimum for him to Rise since he died peacefully and calmly, it could take longer though depending on what the experiment is that the scientists want to do. The only reason that it will take that long is because he didn't die with a whole lot of adrenaline running through him, like someone would if they were killed in a fight with a Risen or while running from a hoard while on a supply run, which would have sped up the progress and possibly made him even more aggressive than he might currently turn out to be if the experiment fails.
Holy shit, it worked!!!! Okay so they knew that the perfume worked to calm the Risen but they didn't know if it would work on someone as they were Rising, as a newly Risen is practically feral and will go after anything that sets off its senses even slightly. So the experiment was to cover the body in natural grown flowers by tying them to the body and making flower jewelry like crowns and bracelets. They would do this after the person died but before they Rose to see how potent the calming effects actually are and if it will prevent the new Risen from going feral. This would mean we would have less to worry about should one of us get infected or die on a supply run or patrol as we would have a way to prevent them from attacking us straight away after they finish turning.
Jim has said that when the Perfumer next returns to our settlement for trade that they will tell them of what they have discovered since it was only made due to the Perfumer's perfumes. I wouldn't be surprised if this news makes its way to the other settlements we trade with first though before the Perfumer gets here since the gossip mill works fast among the traders, especially the ones that visit the other nearby settlements.
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It's been probably a month and half, or something like that, since the experiment worked and guess what? The Perfumer showed up today! Apparently we were the first settlement that they visited on this trading run so they hadn't heard about the experiment and its success yet. Their reaction to it was super wholesome and cute though.
One of the scientists along with Jim went over to them. I was too far away to hear what exactly was said but you could practically feel the excitement and happiness coming off of The Perfumer. They started jumping in place and clapping their hands, wiggling around in what was probably something similar to a happy dance you would see a little kid do. It was honestly kind of adorable. Made them seem real young too, whenever someones asked how old they are they always give a number in the twenties (changes based on the year obviously), no ones sure if that's their real age or just a number to appear older and sometimes they can pull of the maturity to make you think that those are the real numbers, and then they go and do something like that little happy dance/wiggle thing and suddenly they seem like there in their teens at best. Of course it doesn't help that their kinda on the short side, probably around five foot no more than five-foot-five, hell i'm five-six and their a little shorter than me, ‘course that could also be due to the fact that they have shitty posture and don't stand even remotely straight unless they are excited over something or are talking with Jim or someone about something serious.
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It's been a day or two since my last entry in this journal but a new rumor is going around about what Jim and the scientists discussed with the Perfumer. According to the rumor mill we now have an exclusive, either contract or deal, not sure which, with them that means when they have a new and experimental perfume formula or similar then we get a portion of it to test with ourselves, and we get it before they put it in the trade pool for the other settlements to get as well. I dunno how true this is or if it's just wishful thinking but it sounds like a really good deal to me. It would mean the scientists have more material to make safety devices with for supply runs and the Perfumer would have more help in finding uses for the floral scented perfumes and other such creations.
I wonder if this will mean that The Perfumer will come around more often than once a month or so for supplies and information on the movements of The Risen? It would be nice to have the chance to see them more often. They seem like they would be a good person to be friends with.