areas are what we consider to be relatively safe zones. These are the rural areas and outlying towns and farms, and we think in all likelihood there are entire towns which have been spared the devastation. The end goal is self sufficiency, and we have the resources at our disposal to rebuild better than we had before. We just have to go and get them, and establish ourselves at points where we can support each other and combat the threat.
“I’m not going to lie to you. Not everyone will welcome our efforts with open arms. There are likely groups that are existing to take advantage of the situation and establish themselves as warlords or kings of certain territory. They will show no mercy and shoot first, without asking questions. We will deal with them when the time comes.
Nate paused to gather his thoughts. “We are going to head to the condos at the corner of the road. They are ideally situated, and provide a good measure of security. There is water there, and people can actually have their own condominium, not just a room in a school. They have no ground floor, and you won’t have to worry about getting your ass chewed by a ghoul every day.” People brightened at the thought of resuming some sort of normalcy. “We will still have school and training, we will just be in a different area. We will begin cleanup tomorrow. We want to be completely moved in two weeks. Any questions?”
The room was quiet, then Frank raised his hand. Before Nate could explode, I said “Yes, Frank?”
All eyes turned to Frank and I could see him reveling in the attention. “What if we don’t want to leave?” He asked smugly, as if this was a revelation I missed.
I decided to burst his bubble. I addressed the group. “Does anyone wish to stay in the school?” No one raised their hand. I could not blame them. We had fought for this place, but it was time to move on and get busy living.
Frank looked defeated. I had no pity for him, or his new friend. “If you want to stay, you’ll get two weeks of provisions, one firearm, one blunt weapon, and a hearty ‘Good Luck!’” A huge part of me wished he’d stay, but I knew Frank would never be self-reliant. He preferred to live off the work of others. Hence his political career.
“Okay people. Let’s get to work!”
19
The next five days were busy. We spent a lot of time casing the condos, and we had to be on the lookout for roaming bands of zombies as well. There seemed to be an increase in the number of zombies out for a stroll, and I wondered if the ones from the city were finally making it out to the ‘burbs. We got lucky with the first building, as it was relatively empty, just stinky from rotting food. We did find a dead old woman in one of the bedrooms, but it looked like she died of dehydration instead of the virus. We moved five families into the condos, and set them up with provisions. Nate took on the task of securing the water supply, and after an interesting moment with a ghoul in the high grass, declared the water secure.
Charlie and Sarah were clearing out the second and third buildings, and it was rather entertaining to hear “Heads up!” as another zombie came flying out of a window to smack noisily on the ground below. We figured it was easier to toss them out the windows than drag them down the stairs and make a huge mess. It was tricky, killing them without serious fluid loss, but Charlie and Sarah were pros. Their backup teams were pretty good, too. Funny what it takes sometimes to have a successful career change.
The weather was getting colder, and I really didn’t notice any difference in zombie movements. They were still trudging along, and there were the occasional faster ones, but nothing out of the ordinary. When you live in a zombie-filled world, that is.
I was taking the RC (Recon Car) down the interstate, checking on passageways and clearance for vehicles. Martin Oso was with me, but we didn’t talk much. I needed to be able to move a semi truck, so clearance was a priority. Strangely, the freeway was mostly clear, and I was able to make extremely good time. I headed past New Lawrence and towards Joslin. There were more cars on the roadside, and I saw more than one which was occupied by ghouls. They looked to be in pretty sorry shape, having turned near the beginning of the Upheaval and been stuck ever since. One was barely able to lift its head to watch my car go by. Poor Stinky.
I crossed the river and from my vantage point on the bridge, I could see quite a few zombies wandering the streets of Joslin. They were kept in check by the river, but I was sure they had fanned out to the surrounding countryside. Martin stiffened a bit at the sight of so many zombies, but we were safe on the bridge.
We rolled past Casino Street, and I was sorely tempted to go take a look, but I had a feeling that place was wiped out by people having one last fling before the end. I spotted my exit and took it, keeping an eye out for the usual problems. Martin was curious as to our destination, since I had kept it from him the whole trip. I pulled up to a high gate, and stopped the car. The whole area was surrounded by a high man made hill, too steep for zombies to navigate and perfect for keeping safe what I considered precious cargo inside. There was a guard shack next to the gate, and a sign that said “NO ENGINE BRAKING” Moving out of the car, I approached the guard shack as Martin scanned the street we had turned off of. No zombies yet, but you could almost feel them coming out of hiding and shuffling in your direction.
The guard shack was empty and I approached the gate. There was a lock and chain on the gate, and I figured the key was long gone. I pulled out my crowbar and with a few yanks, broke the lock. I threaded the chain through the gate and it made a huge clanking noise. Martin jumped at the sound and there were several answering groans from the area. We had to move fast. I just hoped that I wasn’t jumping into a yard full of zombies.
I pushed the gate open and Martin hopped back into the car. He drove into the yard and I closed the gate behind the car. I put the chain back and secured it with a karabiner. Easy on, easy off. Just as I secured the gate it pushed violently back at me. I stepped back and looked through the slits. Sure enough, there were five ghouls that wanted to party. Not yet, boys, but I’ll get to you later, I thought. How, I had no idea, but something would come to me.
Martin got out of the car and looked around. We were in a storage facility for cargo containers, the kind you see stacked by the thousands by docks and rail yards. They were stacked up six high, about as tall as a five story building. There was a container fork truck over on the side, and we were looking at about a thousand containers, and I could see more down the hill. Perfect. All I needed now was a way to move them. There was a small parking lot of trailers to put the containers on, and an old truck ready to roll. Better and better. It would have been great if I had a clue how to drive the fork truck to move the trailers, and even better if I knew how to drive the truck to get them to where they were needed, but I didn’t. I think Charlie knew how to drive one, maybe Tommy, but I wasn’t sure.
Martin looked around and wondered why I was so happy. “What was the point of coming here? There’s just a bunch of old containers.”
I enlightened him. “How tall are the containers?” I asked him.
Martin looked closely. “About eight feet or so”
“Think a Z can climb one of them?” I asked cryptically.
Martin looked again. “Not really. Maybe one in a thousand might manage it.”
“Could you walk on it, patrol on it?” I asked, looking at one nearby.
Martin finally got it. “A fence! Perfect! And if they tip it over, it still blocks them! Are we taking them back to the condos?” He seemed eager to get started.
“That we are, Martin, old son, that we are. But first, we need to figure out how to operate the fork truck. I have no illusions about the two of us able to lift one of those things.” I said, pointing to the machine. “That’s your job.”
Martin grinned and hopped over to the cab of the fork truck. As he opened the door, a zombie fell out and landed on top of him. He shrieked and pushed the Z in the chest, narrowly avoiding snapping jaws. The Z was dressed in overalls and hardhat, and likely turned in the machine. It was pretty well decayed, and its skin slipped and tore off as it struggled to get closer to Martin and he struggled to keep it away from him. They danced back towards me, and I nearly drew my knife when I spotted the towing chain on the ground. I grabbed it up and looping around my hand, I swung it with everything I had at the zombie’s head. He must have been more decayed than I thought, because his head came right off his body and sailed off into the weeds by the office trailer. The headless body dropped immediately, and Martin was nearly taken off balance since the thing still gripped his
