Another pallet contained a mix of farming tools and seeds. This pallet also included a box of books, including instructional books on farming and gardening. Patrick also found useful items such as collapsible water bottles, water purification tablets, fishing kits, snare wires, and rope.
The last pallet contained boxes of clothing. It was all army stuff, in various sizes, including shirts, pants, underwear, socks, gloves, hats and rain ponchos. Other than clothing, this pallet also contained sewing kits, Mylar blankets and other household items.
In the corner of the gym where the cots had been, Nat discovered several tents, tarps and ground pads, as well as a tote containing a bunch of camping gear including a camp stove with several small propane tanks.
They had somehow overlooked one box sitting off to the side. It contained some things that made sense, like a couple of compasses, several maps, a couple of whistles, a GPS unit, and some note pads, but also some items that raised eyebrows. There was a stack of cash money and a bag of coins, as well as one small bag of gold coins and a larger one containing silver coins.
Ern commented on this. “A fiat currency is only as strong as the government behind it. So those dollar bills might be useless. Gold and silver though! that has always been worth something!”
Now that the items had all been sorted out, the question became what to do with it all.
Shelley had the idea of storing all the medical equipment and medicine in the nurse’s office, which was located right behind the main office. Rachel was quick to volunteer Christine, stating the young woman had the required experience from working at the veterinary clinic. Christine did not look pleased to be pressed into service by her mother and shot her mom an annoyed look. She recovered quickly, however, and the two young women got to work.
The main office was to be set up as the armory. Most of the group were not comfortable with having weapons lying around, so a locked office felt like a better alternative. John and Bill took the lead on sorting organizing and storing the weapons.
Craig and Ethan volunteered to be pack mules and lug boxes to the new clinic and armory, while Rachel, Melissa, Patrick and Rosa took on the task of organizing the rest of the supply drop.
Ern wanted to have a look at the furnace and water heater and took off after appointing Keith as his helper. The oriental man looked confused but then just shrugged and followed the old man.
Sarah and Nancy took Claire into the kitchen to see about preparing meals.
Everybody got busy with their tasks and the hours passed quickly in the dim school interior.
That evening, Ern asked for everybody’s attention after supper. He volunteered himself to be the resident maintenance man. His experience in building maintenance made him the perfect person for keeping their new home operational. He announced that the furnace was in excellent shape, with a reserve of fuel that would last for months to come. He stated confidently that they’d run out of food before they ran out of heat. Then was embarrassed as he realized what he’d said.
Emily spoke next. The English woman had an update regarding the radio. Apparently, setting up the radio was proving to be a challenge. Several components had to be found first in the pile of boxes. Emily was the only person qualified to properly identify the components, so the exercise consisted of Joe and Jack taking turns bringing her gear to look at. Eventually all the required pieces had been found and brought to the media room. Maria had discovered a roof access hatch in the library, and the plan was for somebody to install the antenna on the roof the next morning.
Joe went next, providing a brief update regarding the new ‘clinic’. He stated that all the medical items had been moved to the new clinic. Shelley and Christine would have keys and man the clinic when required. Joe himself would be called upon for any serious injuries. The first band-aids and painkillers had already been distributed.
The armory was also set up. Bill and John would be the primary custodians of the weaponry and the room would be kept locked. Interestingly, several group members expressed interest in learning how to use the guns. John immediately started to plan some training sessions.
The most exciting news had been left for last. Ethan had volunteered himself to be a lookout from the media room and had been scanning for newscasts at the same time. He caught two short broadcasts and recalled them for the group.
He was flicking channels at random when he stumbled onto the first one. A couple of people had holed up in a television station and were broadcasting a desperate plea for help. Their building was surrounded by the undead, and several windows had been smashed by the time they managed to get their signal broadcasted.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Trouble at W.K.O.N. Channel ten
The video feed had not started yet, showing a black screen. However, the audio was working. Ethan stared at the black screen, fascinated by the voices he was hearing.
“Is it on? ... Yes?”
Scuffling sounds could be heard. “Let me get in front of the camera. Ok I’m ready.”
More scuffling sounds. “Turn it on Pete. No. Not that one. I see a red light on that camera. Switch to another camera!” This as the screen showed a green wall and some cables on the floor.
The scene switched two more times before a disheveled man came into view. The image was slightly out of focus as the man stood in front of the newsroom desk.
What Ethan could see in the slightly hazy looking image was that
