Migration
My continued info on how we got started.
....
I go home to gather what we deem necessary. You know, my wife, my Dad, armament, ammo, food, clothes, and tools. We take our two vehicles and leave for the base. Dad is confined to a wheelchair because of a stroke he had, and this is the hardest on him. Luckily his mind is still sharp, and his war experience in the coming days will be a great asset. We call the younger brother again, nothing. It’s been more than a week. Odessa is starting to worry now. The older brother is not budging, secure in his knowledge the police and society will not let him down. I say good luck to you, but Odessa is in tears as we leave. We have maybe a four dozen adults and about a dozen kids at the Depot. We start work as soon as possible. The ground just outside the chain link fence is a high school stadium. Plenty of lumber and metal materials to fortify our little base. By this time, what little people are left in the town are also fortifying their homes or just staying indoors per the government propaganda.
*Avoid large groups
*If you have fever, blurry vision, vomiting, Flu-like symptoms, contact your local CDC number (Listed at the bottom of your screen or flyer)
*Call this number if you witness suspicious activity or people with these symptoms.
*Stock up on supplies, stay indoors and wait to be contacted by the National Guard, the State Police, Local Police or Community Action Council.
It went on like this for pages, what to do, how to do it, mostly recycled stuff from the 50’s about nuclear survival. By the time we were settled in and started to add length to our fencing to ensure we had room to garden, exercise and room to just be out in the sun sometimes, the Major showed up. He was the 2nd in command at the Depot before it all went downhill. He came in all bluster and vinegar, mostly pissed about all the ones who fled the post and to the last ones here for letting us stay. We quickly pointed out he had HIS family with him. In a few minutes he quickly settled down and took in the situation. We were told in no certain terms he had not had contact with anyone higher than him for several days. Could the government have fallen so quickly? The Major (Major Kevin Garreth) advises us to check the sat transmitters. None of the men here knew how to work it, so he showed a few of us how to do it. ‘Unusual circumstances dictate unusual situations, I will deal with consequences later.’ We organized along the lines of the military. Everyone has a job and we do it. We are put where our skills are best used. Great. Since not many computers need fixing, I get to be a guard. Well we tested out on the weapons we had, and what we unlocked from the armory cabinets to see who could and could not shoot. This in the long run saves ammunition. Luckily (or unluckily) I was pretty good with the AR-15. My eyesight was not good enough to be a sniper, but I was okay with anything within 300 yards. Especially human sized at that distance. So I got to be a guard and worked my way up in the informal military hierarchy to Sergeant. I was given a 12 person team, 12 of us dumb enough to do what we were told. I had a few ideas, some were implemented, and some were not. Was I pissed? Sure at first but then I was not looking at the big picture.
Between them, Dad and the Major, we were getting the Depot very defensible. We took runs over to the Lowes store and Wal-Mart. Both had been closed ‘due to illness ‘or just no one showing up. The town itself was a ghost town, only us and maybe one other car, usually leaving. No foot traffic, a lot of abandoned vehicles, (why is that? You would think, only in the movies do people give up their car, this is America after all.) and a few houses with their front doors left open. Coyotes were EVERYWHERE. Damn vermin were bad enough before all this started sliding into Hell, but now much worse. If the Zombies want to eat them, have at ‘em, I say. We are still working at ‘collecting and securing’ (Let’s be honest here, we were armed looters. We never hurt anyone and actually helped a few people load up on stuff before we took ours and even after we invited them to come help us.)during this time, most news feeds were down, the sat-uplink at the Depot unresponsive, and the shortwave full of horror. But still, no Zombies, no mass riots, no nothing, just a lot of empty places. We met a fewer and fewer people and tried to get them to pack in with us. We either got the feigned smile (We-know-you’re-crazy, but-we-will-be-friendly-and-not-make-any-sudden-moves smile.) or the ones getting out of dodge for the hills. Harlan and places like that should be filling up with refugees by now. None decided to come with us. So we continued to pack it in and build. That was Sunday the 7th.
I told the Major I need to go talk to Odessa’s older brother and said I would use my truck to go see them. He told me to use one of the Humvees in case they would finally come back with me. The Major is strict by the book, but he knows the score on a lot of things. We were lucky, when we ‘appropriated’ the Depot, it came equipped with 9 Humvees (should have been 12, 3 were gone when we got here.) 6 large cargo trucks (6X6’s or the modern equivalent to a Deuce and half.) and 2 APV’s (Armored Personnel Vehicles. Kind of like small tanks with only one machine gun mounted on top). These would come in handy in the days ahead. We also had a Sherman Tank out at one of our parks, but we didn’t have enough parts to get it going again, and if we did we had no ammo for the main gun. So my Buddy John decides to come with me. John has his wife in the Depot and his son and daughter in law, who happens to be pregnant. He came along to get away from the constant carpentry work, since they found out how good he is at it. So off we trundle the empty streets to see if my stubborn brother-in-law wants to come with us finally.
The streets are really empty and a cold wind seems to seep into the Humvee. I mention to John, I have seen horror movies like this. We both laugh. Then a man stumbles into my path from out of nowhere. I slam on the breaks but the big truck just keeps sliding and then a sickening thud as the front bumper meets body. We both jump out of the truck as soon as it is stopped and run to the front to take a look. I can see a hand and arm sticking from under the truck. Oh God. I just hit someone, they may be dying. Think, what do I do? John looks around and says look, we are half a block from the hospital. We can see an ambulance sitting at the emergency entrance with its lights on. I ask John should I back up or what? He says wait and gets down to look at the poor guy I hit.
‘He’s still moving, I just think he rolled under the truck, he’s coming out from underneath.’
John grabs the guy’s hands and pulls. (I know, I know, not what you do in an accident, but what am I, a paramedic?) A rancid odor hits my nostrils as John, now sitting on the ground and bracing his feet on the truck, pulls the guy out. Maybe I should jog down and get the paramedics was the thought I had when John screams ‘Jesus’ and scrambles back from the truck on his butt, kicking with his feet.
This can’t be good, I should not look. The ‘person’ is wiggling out from under the Humvee, at least the top half is. The first Zombie I meet and I hit with my car. Sigh. John is now on his feet and moving back around to his door. I stand there perplexed looking at this half-man creature scrabbling across the blacktop, when the smell hits me again. It ‘sees’ me (or smells me, who knows.) and twists toward my feet. I am still staring like a rat watching a snake, looking at white glazed eyes looking up at me and a mouth snapping like a machine as it gets closer by the second, when John reappears and shoots it in the back with his pistol. The old gun’s (An old cowboy style .45 caliber) blast breaks the spell. Shit what am I doing? John pumps another round into it, but it is not stopping. I blink, it’s almost within clawing distance, and I move back, just 2 steps, but it triples my distance. Another blast hits where its heart should be.
‘John, shoot it in the head!’ I yell, nearly deaf from the shots so close to me. That’s the kind of stuff they don’t show you in the movies or on TV. Firing a gun, any gun, unless it has a suppressor is NOISY. You can lose your hearing quick. John adjusts his aim (I see it coming and start to turn, but of course am not fast enough) and ‘POW’ the head explodes. On us. All over us. Luckily in retrospect, neither one of us got any fluids in our eyes or mouths. It twitches a few seconds then stops. I look toward the hospital and see people coming this way. I tell John people are on their way here to see what happened, and we will probably have to deal with the police. I guess I was still in shock thinking that way. John grabbed my shoulder and told me to look closer. Squinting I noticed they were not running but kind of walking toward us.
‘Shit man, they are more of those things. Let’s get the Hell outta here.’ He is already around the truck and inside by the time I can register that they are a bunch of zombies shuffling towards us. I shake my head, look again and jump into the Humvee. Starting it up, I pull away and grimace as the rear of the truck goes up and over something. We have two choices at this point. Turn around in the street or drive through them. I ask John what he thinks.
‘Hell man, run over the dead sonsabitches.’
So I do. I floor the large truck and with the diesel engine whining we plow our way through the crowd. John tells me later he watched as we went by and they were pouring out of the hospital emergency doors. A lot had hospital uniforms on.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Beginning, Part Two
My continuing series of what has happened in my away up to this point. I will load all this into my NetBook and upload them when the up-links are clear.
.....
Fourth Morning
I get up early and take another look around town. It’s really quiet. Albeit the town is normally quiet but this is Christmas-Day-and all-the-Stores-are-closed, kind of quiet. I take a back street and go down by the National Guard Depot and have a look around. I have my AR-15 with me and some extra mags. Odessa does NOT know I am doing this. As I drive by I see there are soldiers there, but not really agitated or anything. So I decide to stop and have a chat. I am not really noticed until I walk up to the guy and say hello. He stares at me because of my non-accent (or Northern Accent as it were) I ask him how it’s going. He just kind of nods and looks around. He tells me that a lot of the brass are on the move but the National Guard in Kentucky is only activated around Louisville so far. He says a lot of people are leaving the cities. Official word is it is a terroristic act, just like on the news. He says he doesn’t believe it and he is getting his family and going East into the mountains until all this is cleared up. I ask about if he is afraid to be a deserter and he says better a live a deserter than a dead hero. His partner on duty just snorts and shakes his head. Thinks we are crazy and this will all be over in a few days. The guy I am talking to rolls his eyes and smiles. I bid a good day and leave.
That night we try the phones again with no luck. The power is getting spotty too. Odessa’s older brother the judge says the state police are treating it as a riot or civil disobedience. They were trying to blame all this on Tea Party’s getting out of hand. We had our first news about a small unrest (let’s call it what it was, an outbreak) in Lexington. I lay my plan on the table. Mr. Law and Order doesn’t think it will get that bad down here so he doesn’t think I should do what I am thinking. I talk to a friend of mine who works not far from me and he thinks’ it’s a great plan. His son is home from the Marines and they are coming with me on Friday morning.
Friday morning I met with my friends and we take our truck back to the National Guard Depot. We get there just after day break and discover it must be a good idea as other people have thought of it. Several pick up and a mini-van are sitting just outside the now unguarded gate. The gate itself has one side of the chain link off of the hinges and laying to the side. We cautiously get out with our weapons and even more cautiously creep up to the building. We can here several men talking, some yelling and even some crying (?). We come in the building at arms and notice no one is paying attention to us at all. There are a group of men standing around a table with a map on it and a woman with a crying child in one corner. The men are still arguing and pointing to the map. I clear my throat and suddenly everyone notices us. My friend John just looks at me with a ‘way to go’ smirk. They notice our weapons and scrabble to get theirs in line. I call out to whoa, whoa, take it easy and rest mine in a cradle in my arms. I tell them we are not here to fight and thought this place would be defensible against whatever is coming. An older, grizzled man with a beard (Whom I know I have seen in town. It IS a small town after all.) Claps his hands and makes a crazy sounding laugh. He says, ‘Son, we could use all the help we can get.’ John’s son the Marine is still a bit wary but was caught off guard by this reaction. Admittedly I thought people would fight over this place to keep it for themselves. I guess I was up North too long, sigh. We soon discover other like minded nuts, like us, came here and found the place empty. No guards, a few Humvees missing, some of the weapons lockers broke open that kind of thing. Only 3 men here are from the National Guard, they came back with the same idea. The woman and crying child is one of theirs. Since no fight is evident amongst us, we make plans.
.....
Fourth Morning
I get up early and take another look around town. It’s really quiet. Albeit the town is normally quiet but this is Christmas-Day-and all-the-Stores-are-closed, kind of quiet. I take a back street and go down by the National Guard Depot and have a look around. I have my AR-15 with me and some extra mags. Odessa does NOT know I am doing this. As I drive by I see there are soldiers there, but not really agitated or anything. So I decide to stop and have a chat. I am not really noticed until I walk up to the guy and say hello. He stares at me because of my non-accent (or Northern Accent as it were) I ask him how it’s going. He just kind of nods and looks around. He tells me that a lot of the brass are on the move but the National Guard in Kentucky is only activated around Louisville so far. He says a lot of people are leaving the cities. Official word is it is a terroristic act, just like on the news. He says he doesn’t believe it and he is getting his family and going East into the mountains until all this is cleared up. I ask about if he is afraid to be a deserter and he says better a live a deserter than a dead hero. His partner on duty just snorts and shakes his head. Thinks we are crazy and this will all be over in a few days. The guy I am talking to rolls his eyes and smiles. I bid a good day and leave.
That night we try the phones again with no luck. The power is getting spotty too. Odessa’s older brother the judge says the state police are treating it as a riot or civil disobedience. They were trying to blame all this on Tea Party’s getting out of hand. We had our first news about a small unrest (let’s call it what it was, an outbreak) in Lexington. I lay my plan on the table. Mr. Law and Order doesn’t think it will get that bad down here so he doesn’t think I should do what I am thinking. I talk to a friend of mine who works not far from me and he thinks’ it’s a great plan. His son is home from the Marines and they are coming with me on Friday morning.
Friday morning I met with my friends and we take our truck back to the National Guard Depot. We get there just after day break and discover it must be a good idea as other people have thought of it. Several pick up and a mini-van are sitting just outside the now unguarded gate. The gate itself has one side of the chain link off of the hinges and laying to the side. We cautiously get out with our weapons and even more cautiously creep up to the building. We can here several men talking, some yelling and even some crying (?). We come in the building at arms and notice no one is paying attention to us at all. There are a group of men standing around a table with a map on it and a woman with a crying child in one corner. The men are still arguing and pointing to the map. I clear my throat and suddenly everyone notices us. My friend John just looks at me with a ‘way to go’ smirk. They notice our weapons and scrabble to get theirs in line. I call out to whoa, whoa, take it easy and rest mine in a cradle in my arms. I tell them we are not here to fight and thought this place would be defensible against whatever is coming. An older, grizzled man with a beard (Whom I know I have seen in town. It IS a small town after all.) Claps his hands and makes a crazy sounding laugh. He says, ‘Son, we could use all the help we can get.’ John’s son the Marine is still a bit wary but was caught off guard by this reaction. Admittedly I thought people would fight over this place to keep it for themselves. I guess I was up North too long, sigh. We soon discover other like minded nuts, like us, came here and found the place empty. No guards, a few Humvees missing, some of the weapons lockers broke open that kind of thing. Only 3 men here are from the National Guard, they came back with the same idea. The woman and crying child is one of theirs. Since no fight is evident amongst us, we make plans.
The Beginning, Part One.
The next few posts are my way to unwind and give you all some background of how we have survived so far.
....
Since I was requested by the Major to log everything in my computer, (being the resident computer guru, Watson being the electronics guru, never studied. I am more of a hobbyist. Read: Hacker) I decided to restart at the beginning…
Where were you at the day JFK was shot? The Day the Twin Towers fell? The day the World (as we knew it) ended? I like most was sitting at home. I had satellite TV and rarely if ever watched the local news. I was always on the computer. My job entailed I be there anyway. Something that fateful day told me to watch the news. As was reported here [http://www.livingwiththedead.net/] locally it seemed to start in Cincinnati. I have since heard it kind of happened all at once. I know I am paranoid, but sometimes they are trying to get me…
Anyway we sat there dumbfounded by the news, some of the national teams had crews in and once and a while you would get a real ‘live’ action shot. At first it did look like a riot, and then it got bad. Rumors started with a gas bomb or worse yet a viral bomb (who knows it may have been). I was a fan of the Zombie genre, as well as other horror genres also. I thought it was more Resident Evil, not Dawn of the Dead. I drove into town to see how everyone was reacting. No one seemed to care. This frightened me more than the thought of Zombies running (uh, lurching) in the streets.
I am a computer geek, but I am also a gun aficionado, I get this from my Dad who is a WWII vet. Those who know me also know I was a ‘survivalist’ type. Had a generator, emergency stuff, had all kinds of books on medicines, plants, surviving nuclear war. You know, light reading. I already had a few rifles and handguns, Odessa was a better hand gun user than even me (gritting teeth while I say that), so off into to town to max all the cards to buy ammo and stock up on non-perishables.
We tried calling Odessa’s younger brother who is in Fort Thomas, going to NKU, but all the circuits are jammed. I told her, he had seen enough movies, if anything he was heading here now.
Three days later…
We know the house we live at is not defensible no matter how well fortified. Too many windows, it’s out in a field with a clear line of sight for 100 yards in any direction. All by it’s lonesome. Cattle fencing runs all along all the property but a few strands of barb-wire won’t do much to a zombie hoard. We called Odessa’s brother in Cincinnati again, still no answer, no getting through. My brother and Mom live together in Lancaster Ohio, same thing. I don’t worry about them so much as my brother is an avid hunter and has more guns than I. He does live in town though. He will probably go to his friends place out in the words outside of town near a swamp. His buddy, Barry has more guns than both of us put together; they should be safe there for a long while. Odessa’s older brother lives about 2 miles from us and is a local judge. He’s worried but not showing his wife, who works at the local hospital. She would be in the most danger. We talk it over quietly that night and he is going to use his ‘pull’ to see what he can dig up. The local police are on high alert but thankfully nothing has happened yet.
....
Since I was requested by the Major to log everything in my computer, (being the resident computer guru, Watson being the electronics guru, never studied. I am more of a hobbyist. Read: Hacker) I decided to restart at the beginning…
Where were you at the day JFK was shot? The Day the Twin Towers fell? The day the World (as we knew it) ended? I like most was sitting at home. I had satellite TV and rarely if ever watched the local news. I was always on the computer. My job entailed I be there anyway. Something that fateful day told me to watch the news. As was reported here [http://www.livingwiththedead.net/] locally it seemed to start in Cincinnati. I have since heard it kind of happened all at once. I know I am paranoid, but sometimes they are trying to get me…
Anyway we sat there dumbfounded by the news, some of the national teams had crews in and once and a while you would get a real ‘live’ action shot. At first it did look like a riot, and then it got bad. Rumors started with a gas bomb or worse yet a viral bomb (who knows it may have been). I was a fan of the Zombie genre, as well as other horror genres also. I thought it was more Resident Evil, not Dawn of the Dead. I drove into town to see how everyone was reacting. No one seemed to care. This frightened me more than the thought of Zombies running (uh, lurching) in the streets.
I am a computer geek, but I am also a gun aficionado, I get this from my Dad who is a WWII vet. Those who know me also know I was a ‘survivalist’ type. Had a generator, emergency stuff, had all kinds of books on medicines, plants, surviving nuclear war. You know, light reading. I already had a few rifles and handguns, Odessa was a better hand gun user than even me (gritting teeth while I say that), so off into to town to max all the cards to buy ammo and stock up on non-perishables.
We tried calling Odessa’s younger brother who is in Fort Thomas, going to NKU, but all the circuits are jammed. I told her, he had seen enough movies, if anything he was heading here now.
Three days later…
We know the house we live at is not defensible no matter how well fortified. Too many windows, it’s out in a field with a clear line of sight for 100 yards in any direction. All by it’s lonesome. Cattle fencing runs all along all the property but a few strands of barb-wire won’t do much to a zombie hoard. We called Odessa’s brother in Cincinnati again, still no answer, no getting through. My brother and Mom live together in Lancaster Ohio, same thing. I don’t worry about them so much as my brother is an avid hunter and has more guns than I. He does live in town though. He will probably go to his friends place out in the words outside of town near a swamp. His buddy, Barry has more guns than both of us put together; they should be safe there for a long while. Odessa’s older brother lives about 2 miles from us and is a local judge. He’s worried but not showing his wife, who works at the local hospital. She would be in the most danger. We talk it over quietly that night and he is going to use his ‘pull’ to see what he can dig up. The local police are on high alert but thankfully nothing has happened yet.
Home Coming
Well we arrived after midnight (2402 hours exactly) to our loved ones waiting for us in the pouring rain. Many road and bridges were swamped from all the rain, so the way here was slow and treacherous. They also had to be sure it was us; a predetermined radio call and countersign were used before we got too close. We have teams of forward observers away from Home Base armed with rockets we scavenged from the National Guard Storage Depot that would put a hurting even on our vehicles if someone were to capture them and return as a ‘Trojan Horse’.
We Laid Peter to rest in our cemetery, which is nothing more than a plot outside our walls, in the rain and then unloaded the trucks. It was near 0300 when I finally got ‘home’, a concrete block room inside the National Guard Depot we took as ours. My wife, Odessa, was extremely glad to see me. I almost missed our de-briefing the next morning at 0900.
Since we had the next few days ‘off’ (no guard duty, no outbound missions, etc.), I will take some time to relax, check to see how my Dad is doing, and look in on Eillen. Reports of her condition have not yet improved. Watson said I should take some time to write up the background, how we got here, who we are, that kind of thing. I may or may not get time to do that. I just want to relax and maybe take a small crew into to town and hunt for survivors, destroy some Z, you know, relax. We have had a few sightings of people running around in town quickly and from building to building. They didn’t have the bandit ‘look’ but who knows. I was told a small crew of heavily armed men came knocking while we were up in Lexington. The people here repelled their advances with extreme hostility. I feel better knowing that my Wife and Dad are safe even if I am not around. Sure, sure, hero complex, male chauvinist, some other label insert here. (I forgot control freak, thank you dear.) I am writing this little bit today after making my rounds and talking to people. The morale seems okay. People would love to widen our fences and make our home bigger. We’ve already looted Lowes for as much as we can, and even started an indoor garden there. We reinforced all the walls, used metal over the glass doors, and even opened the roof in some spots to let rainwater inside. We are building terraced vegetable gardens now that the weather seems to be warming finally. It seemed easier to leave some people there than trying to drag all the supplies to the base to make gardens. We do have some here, with a stream just out back and the soil is good enough, but having more than one food supply is just good thinking.
Watson just walked in and said we should have the solar panels working in a few days at Home Base and the ones on Lowe's roof is making the grow lights work at night enough that we already have some sprouts. Good thing I grew up on a farm or I could be bored out of my mind. Odessa’s job keeps her busy; she helps in all the food preparation, storage, and some cooking. At first she hated it, but she began to see she had a skill that could be put to use, feeding a lot of people with next to nothing. Well, that’s about it for now, the day is too dry and pretty to be cooped up in my room tapping on these keys.
I think I will grab my gear and head over to Lowe's and have a look around. The Major is sending some people over to transfer supplies and to send Watson over to check on his stills. I know this is Kentucky, but it’s not what you think. We are making fuel. I’ll tag along as guard for Watson, besides I want to see this still of his, I have some ideas.
Over.
We Laid Peter to rest in our cemetery, which is nothing more than a plot outside our walls, in the rain and then unloaded the trucks. It was near 0300 when I finally got ‘home’, a concrete block room inside the National Guard Depot we took as ours. My wife, Odessa, was extremely glad to see me. I almost missed our de-briefing the next morning at 0900.
Since we had the next few days ‘off’ (no guard duty, no outbound missions, etc.), I will take some time to relax, check to see how my Dad is doing, and look in on Eillen. Reports of her condition have not yet improved. Watson said I should take some time to write up the background, how we got here, who we are, that kind of thing. I may or may not get time to do that. I just want to relax and maybe take a small crew into to town and hunt for survivors, destroy some Z, you know, relax. We have had a few sightings of people running around in town quickly and from building to building. They didn’t have the bandit ‘look’ but who knows. I was told a small crew of heavily armed men came knocking while we were up in Lexington. The people here repelled their advances with extreme hostility. I feel better knowing that my Wife and Dad are safe even if I am not around. Sure, sure, hero complex, male chauvinist, some other label insert here. (I forgot control freak, thank you dear.) I am writing this little bit today after making my rounds and talking to people. The morale seems okay. People would love to widen our fences and make our home bigger. We’ve already looted Lowes for as much as we can, and even started an indoor garden there. We reinforced all the walls, used metal over the glass doors, and even opened the roof in some spots to let rainwater inside. We are building terraced vegetable gardens now that the weather seems to be warming finally. It seemed easier to leave some people there than trying to drag all the supplies to the base to make gardens. We do have some here, with a stream just out back and the soil is good enough, but having more than one food supply is just good thinking.
Watson just walked in and said we should have the solar panels working in a few days at Home Base and the ones on Lowe's roof is making the grow lights work at night enough that we already have some sprouts. Good thing I grew up on a farm or I could be bored out of my mind. Odessa’s job keeps her busy; she helps in all the food preparation, storage, and some cooking. At first she hated it, but she began to see she had a skill that could be put to use, feeding a lot of people with next to nothing. Well, that’s about it for now, the day is too dry and pretty to be cooped up in my room tapping on these keys.
I think I will grab my gear and head over to Lowe's and have a look around. The Major is sending some people over to transfer supplies and to send Watson over to check on his stills. I know this is Kentucky, but it’s not what you think. We are making fuel. I’ll tag along as guard for Watson, besides I want to see this still of his, I have some ideas.
Over.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Frustration is a constant companion
Well, it was a trap, kind of.
The streets were chocked with the ’dead. Getting to what amounted to be the center of town was not easy. We didn’t have enough ammo to clean out the town and the vans were not going to be able to crush our way there. Our radios cleared up for a while as it just kept pouring down the rain with very little lightning. Maria was telling us they called out again, but must not be able to receive, as here responses went unanswered.
Kelly (with his Southern draw sounds like Killee), who was driving said this feels like a trap. John in the back of this van echoed his words and my thoughts. I radioed to the second van to Peter, Jake and Ellien to get their vote on packing it in or not. We were a good 4 blocks away from the Bank and the streets literally crawling with zombies. That’s when the gunfire started. The vans’ windows blew out all around us, the tell tale scrape and scream of tortured metal told us we were under fire.
Now here were our choices, stay in the big targets or try to get out on foot. Neither which are great choices. Kelly spun the van in a circle on the slick street and pushed the old Ford’s engine for all it was worth. Sparks flew from nearby cars and chunks of pavement tore up around us as we motivated the result of automatic weapon fire.
The van following us had a worse time of it, several large holes in the grille and blood splattered windshield. John is yelling now he sees where they are and opens up on the roof tops about a block behind us. Kelly slides the van to a stop behind the other van and I jump out into the pouring rain to rip open the back door on the other van. Jake jumps out carrying Eillen who has a bloody head and deftly maneuvers them both inside our now windowless van. Peter lays slumped across the wheel, blood pooling over the dash. I move in to pull him out when Jake is yelling that he is dead. Bullets splang off of the metal of the van, return fire from John is joined in by fire from Jake at the back of our van. I reach in, grab Peter and drag him between the seats out onto the pavement. Grunting with the effort I toss Peter’s body into the van as a bullet slams the door next to my head, fragments of steel burn as they hit my face. All the while Kelly is screaming at me to get inside. The zombies smelling blood and hearing the noise start to close in on us. I jump in and didn’t have the door shut before we are careening down the street again. We turn the block and we are out of range and sight of the bandits who laid the trap.
I move up to the front seat again, and stare out into the rain which is blasting into the whole that was once our windshield. Peter at least won’t be coming back; he took a round in the forehead. Kelly is mumbling to himself about never volunteering again, I second the thought for a moment, but then I think if we just all gave up, then where would we be? Eileen is staring in shock at Peter’s body I notice when I turn around again to look over our group. Could have been worse I guess. John is reloading his rifle while Jake looks at a still staring Eileen’s head wound. Just a graze, bleeding will stop in a minute or so with a compression bandage Jake is administering. Damn this sucks. Like the world isn’t screwed up enough?
We meet the convoy along the road and I give my report to the Major. Nothing I could have done better he says. I want to take the APV back and root out these bastards, but the Major says we cannot delay and it could be a bigger trap waiting on us if we go back. He’s right. I just am pissed. We wrap up Peter in a canvas tarp and place him in one of the supply trucks. Eillen is still in shock but not bleeding anymore. Jake informs me her and Peter had a thing going. I didn’t know that. I am not much of a leader if I miss things like that. Jake claps me on the shoulder and walks away saying I did all that I could. Doesn’t feel that way to me. One of my crew is dead. I write this out in bitter frustration and if the bandits that did this can read this. I will be back. There are worse things than the zombies out there. Count on it.
Over.
The streets were chocked with the ’dead. Getting to what amounted to be the center of town was not easy. We didn’t have enough ammo to clean out the town and the vans were not going to be able to crush our way there. Our radios cleared up for a while as it just kept pouring down the rain with very little lightning. Maria was telling us they called out again, but must not be able to receive, as here responses went unanswered.
Kelly (with his Southern draw sounds like Killee), who was driving said this feels like a trap. John in the back of this van echoed his words and my thoughts. I radioed to the second van to Peter, Jake and Ellien to get their vote on packing it in or not. We were a good 4 blocks away from the Bank and the streets literally crawling with zombies. That’s when the gunfire started. The vans’ windows blew out all around us, the tell tale scrape and scream of tortured metal told us we were under fire.
Now here were our choices, stay in the big targets or try to get out on foot. Neither which are great choices. Kelly spun the van in a circle on the slick street and pushed the old Ford’s engine for all it was worth. Sparks flew from nearby cars and chunks of pavement tore up around us as we motivated the result of automatic weapon fire.
The van following us had a worse time of it, several large holes in the grille and blood splattered windshield. John is yelling now he sees where they are and opens up on the roof tops about a block behind us. Kelly slides the van to a stop behind the other van and I jump out into the pouring rain to rip open the back door on the other van. Jake jumps out carrying Eillen who has a bloody head and deftly maneuvers them both inside our now windowless van. Peter lays slumped across the wheel, blood pooling over the dash. I move in to pull him out when Jake is yelling that he is dead. Bullets splang off of the metal of the van, return fire from John is joined in by fire from Jake at the back of our van. I reach in, grab Peter and drag him between the seats out onto the pavement. Grunting with the effort I toss Peter’s body into the van as a bullet slams the door next to my head, fragments of steel burn as they hit my face. All the while Kelly is screaming at me to get inside. The zombies smelling blood and hearing the noise start to close in on us. I jump in and didn’t have the door shut before we are careening down the street again. We turn the block and we are out of range and sight of the bandits who laid the trap.
I move up to the front seat again, and stare out into the rain which is blasting into the whole that was once our windshield. Peter at least won’t be coming back; he took a round in the forehead. Kelly is mumbling to himself about never volunteering again, I second the thought for a moment, but then I think if we just all gave up, then where would we be? Eileen is staring in shock at Peter’s body I notice when I turn around again to look over our group. Could have been worse I guess. John is reloading his rifle while Jake looks at a still staring Eileen’s head wound. Just a graze, bleeding will stop in a minute or so with a compression bandage Jake is administering. Damn this sucks. Like the world isn’t screwed up enough?
We meet the convoy along the road and I give my report to the Major. Nothing I could have done better he says. I want to take the APV back and root out these bastards, but the Major says we cannot delay and it could be a bigger trap waiting on us if we go back. He’s right. I just am pissed. We wrap up Peter in a canvas tarp and place him in one of the supply trucks. Eillen is still in shock but not bleeding anymore. Jake informs me her and Peter had a thing going. I didn’t know that. I am not much of a leader if I miss things like that. Jake claps me on the shoulder and walks away saying I did all that I could. Doesn’t feel that way to me. One of my crew is dead. I write this out in bitter frustration and if the bandits that did this can read this. I will be back. There are worse things than the zombies out there. Count on it.
Over.
Real MayDay
Well, just like the military, hurry up and wait. We were packed long before midnight but told to stand down until the morning. Another fitful night cramped up in the APV. Nothing like being stuck in a METAL box during a thunderstorm. Lightning flashing down all around you. Luckily base camp is in an abandoned barn just east of Lexington, all the trucks are pulled inside out of the weather.
The storms are making radio communications, especially the short wave, very erratic. We heard that someone had taken the 'castle' and fortified it further. For those not around here it is an honest to goodness modern built castle out near the airport. Something about this just warms my heart knowing it is finally being used for it's intended purpose. We made contact with them and they seem to be a wee bit paranoid about others, and can't say I blame them. Maybe if we ever get time to come up here again we could meet up with them. The Major says we don't have the time or resources to go gallivanting around the country. I guess it's my geek-ness showing through. They seem okay at the moment and I really would love to get back home.
We finally were on the road about at about 1120 hours and we have finally made our way back to route 27 to head home when the radio man, er, sorry radio PERSON, Maria, caught something through the static. The gist of it is this; Someone is calling for help in Nicholasville. Said there are 2 families trapped in the Farmers Bank on Main street.
Now Nicholasville is not a real large town (at least where I am from) but a fair size one for this area, and was densely populated. Which means one thing; A lot of Z in the town.
The Major just asked for volunteers. I said I would go, and five others from my crew said they would too. Watson told me under his breath it seems like a trap. I said I got that feeling too, but we are not taking the whole convoy into town, so if it is, they won't be getting much. We stopped in the pouring rain long enough to find two vans along the road. With Watson's help and a jump start both vans came to life. We checked the fuel situation and they both have more than enough to run a few miles into town and meet back up with the convoy on 27 to the South.
Since I do not know the town well enough I get to be shotgun. Fine by me, although the rain seems to be increasing in intensity again. Check list time; Let's see, AR-15, 10 mags of ammo, 9mm, 4 mags of ammo, no holes in the body armor, and a sunny disposition. Yeah, I am all set.
Got to put down the NetBook in the APV. Will report back later, I hope.
Over.
The storms are making radio communications, especially the short wave, very erratic. We heard that someone had taken the 'castle' and fortified it further. For those not around here it is an honest to goodness modern built castle out near the airport. Something about this just warms my heart knowing it is finally being used for it's intended purpose. We made contact with them and they seem to be a wee bit paranoid about others, and can't say I blame them. Maybe if we ever get time to come up here again we could meet up with them. The Major says we don't have the time or resources to go gallivanting around the country. I guess it's my geek-ness showing through. They seem okay at the moment and I really would love to get back home.
We finally were on the road about at about 1120 hours and we have finally made our way back to route 27 to head home when the radio man, er, sorry radio PERSON, Maria, caught something through the static. The gist of it is this; Someone is calling for help in Nicholasville. Said there are 2 families trapped in the Farmers Bank on Main street.
Now Nicholasville is not a real large town (at least where I am from) but a fair size one for this area, and was densely populated. Which means one thing; A lot of Z in the town.
The Major just asked for volunteers. I said I would go, and five others from my crew said they would too. Watson told me under his breath it seems like a trap. I said I got that feeling too, but we are not taking the whole convoy into town, so if it is, they won't be getting much. We stopped in the pouring rain long enough to find two vans along the road. With Watson's help and a jump start both vans came to life. We checked the fuel situation and they both have more than enough to run a few miles into town and meet back up with the convoy on 27 to the South.
Since I do not know the town well enough I get to be shotgun. Fine by me, although the rain seems to be increasing in intensity again. Check list time; Let's see, AR-15, 10 mags of ammo, 9mm, 4 mags of ammo, no holes in the body armor, and a sunny disposition. Yeah, I am all set.
Got to put down the NetBook in the APV. Will report back later, I hope.
Over.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
May Day Ramblings
Happy May Day, or Derby Day here in Kentucky...
Well the rain has been pouring all day and the lightning flashing from the heavens to strike anything and everything. Base Camp is safe for the moment so we did not go out today to patrol and look for more resources. Spotter on the roof saw a crowd of Z's take a lightning strike and burnt to a crisp. He said it was almost like in the cartoons. They all turned black and then fell down in little crispy pieces. Seems the bandits stay in during bad weather but Zak does not care about the rain. They do seem to get confused when it thunders and cower slightly when lightning flashes in front of them. Strange that.
While I set here and after field stripping and cleaning all my weapons, checking my body armor for holes, I make my team take a much needed break. The sun's just about down but the west is turning pink even though the wind and rain still prevail. Soon we will head back south to our home, our little run to the North has netted us some resources, we made some friends and rescued some people being used as slaves by a local bandit warlord. (We made contact with some people via shortwave that had some info on some medicine in exchange for food and ammo. We had plenty of the latter, very little of the former.) We normally don't put ourselves in to danger, especially on a 'grocery getter' mission, but we can't let people suffer at the hands of other people. Worse things to suffer under we can't change.
It's nice to hear that there are other people out there are trying to keep society from complete collapse. I haven't been in Kentucky long, a few years, not a native, I came from up North. Glad I did now, I guess. My family is scattered around the country but like most folks, no contact.
Watson (well that is what we call our tech guru) has gotten sat-phones to operate and a few radios we have 'appropriated' from a Radio Shack up here. (Let's not kid ourselves, we are all looters now anyway.) Short wave is filled with all kinds of crazy stuff now a day. I hear the US government is not destroyed but hiding near where I used to live. They (whoever they are) made it to the Mountain. A few miles into the mountains above Camp David. Where I am from it is like a public secret, all the people who actually grew up there knew about it. A great hidden city built into the mountains. Concrete doors as thick as a tractor-trailer is long. Good luck to them, I guess we are on our own.
Worse news; The good 'ol US of A ain't the only ones suffering. The EU seems to be having a go at the outbreak too. China too. No word from Russia. That is if you can believe everything you hear.
I also heard some of the government big wigs were hold up at the CDC. I also heard they were capturing the early ones and transporting them there. I also heard a small tactical nuke has made a crater out of a good portion of Atlanta. At night we see all kinds of strange lights in the sky. Who knows. Us, Them, whoever them may be. What do I know? I guard people more important than me at the moment. Can't wait to get back South to my wife. We hooked up with a few groups not bent on world domination or killing you just to take what you worked hard to get. Makes me think we have a chance but dark days are yet ahead I fear. I sit here tapping this out on a solar powered netbook thinking how the whole world is suddenly 'green'.
I am also making a face while eating an MRE that is supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs. Then I think there are a whole lot of people worse off than me, most not had anything to eat in days, and not able to sleep without worry.
Just got word passed down, we are breaking camp soon and heading home. Good. I need to see my wife again, remind me I am human, well more human than these creatures I destroy. Can't say I kill'em, they are already dead. Well I will check in later, gotta help get things pulled in and pack our little convey home. More time spent stuffed into the APV at a whopping 25 miles per hour.
Oh yeah, anyone need help or anything let us know on this channel we will see what we can do for you.
Over.
Well the rain has been pouring all day and the lightning flashing from the heavens to strike anything and everything. Base Camp is safe for the moment so we did not go out today to patrol and look for more resources. Spotter on the roof saw a crowd of Z's take a lightning strike and burnt to a crisp. He said it was almost like in the cartoons. They all turned black and then fell down in little crispy pieces. Seems the bandits stay in during bad weather but Zak does not care about the rain. They do seem to get confused when it thunders and cower slightly when lightning flashes in front of them. Strange that.
While I set here and after field stripping and cleaning all my weapons, checking my body armor for holes, I make my team take a much needed break. The sun's just about down but the west is turning pink even though the wind and rain still prevail. Soon we will head back south to our home, our little run to the North has netted us some resources, we made some friends and rescued some people being used as slaves by a local bandit warlord. (We made contact with some people via shortwave that had some info on some medicine in exchange for food and ammo. We had plenty of the latter, very little of the former.) We normally don't put ourselves in to danger, especially on a 'grocery getter' mission, but we can't let people suffer at the hands of other people. Worse things to suffer under we can't change.
It's nice to hear that there are other people out there are trying to keep society from complete collapse. I haven't been in Kentucky long, a few years, not a native, I came from up North. Glad I did now, I guess. My family is scattered around the country but like most folks, no contact.
Watson (well that is what we call our tech guru) has gotten sat-phones to operate and a few radios we have 'appropriated' from a Radio Shack up here. (Let's not kid ourselves, we are all looters now anyway.) Short wave is filled with all kinds of crazy stuff now a day. I hear the US government is not destroyed but hiding near where I used to live. They (whoever they are) made it to the Mountain. A few miles into the mountains above Camp David. Where I am from it is like a public secret, all the people who actually grew up there knew about it. A great hidden city built into the mountains. Concrete doors as thick as a tractor-trailer is long. Good luck to them, I guess we are on our own.
Worse news; The good 'ol US of A ain't the only ones suffering. The EU seems to be having a go at the outbreak too. China too. No word from Russia. That is if you can believe everything you hear.
I also heard some of the government big wigs were hold up at the CDC. I also heard they were capturing the early ones and transporting them there. I also heard a small tactical nuke has made a crater out of a good portion of Atlanta. At night we see all kinds of strange lights in the sky. Who knows. Us, Them, whoever them may be. What do I know? I guard people more important than me at the moment. Can't wait to get back South to my wife. We hooked up with a few groups not bent on world domination or killing you just to take what you worked hard to get. Makes me think we have a chance but dark days are yet ahead I fear. I sit here tapping this out on a solar powered netbook thinking how the whole world is suddenly 'green'.
I am also making a face while eating an MRE that is supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs. Then I think there are a whole lot of people worse off than me, most not had anything to eat in days, and not able to sleep without worry.
Just got word passed down, we are breaking camp soon and heading home. Good. I need to see my wife again, remind me I am human, well more human than these creatures I destroy. Can't say I kill'em, they are already dead. Well I will check in later, gotta help get things pulled in and pack our little convey home. More time spent stuffed into the APV at a whopping 25 miles per hour.
Oh yeah, anyone need help or anything let us know on this channel we will see what we can do for you.
Over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)