I saw Shane straighten to speak, "There's power at the barn and last year we ran a single outlet to near the hog pens. I could put motion detectors and flood lights around the pens to warn the guard towers that there's something there at night. Plus, the dogs will sound a vocal alarm if anything lurks close by."
"Any other ideas?” I asked. People shook their heads. "Alright, I'll work with Sam and Anthony to secure the fencing and buildings we have animals in. Shane will be responsible to install floodlights with motion detectors. We should all watch for large dogs that appear friendly. We need to replace the three that died and expand our first line of warning. That's it for now. Meeting adjourned."
Abruptly I said, "Ira, there are several whole-bodied zombies lying near the chicken coop if you want to examine them. For Christ sake, be careful while you're poking around in those damn things. Let Albert or Vince know when you're finished so they can bury the carcasses."
June passed and turned into the hot, humid days of July. It seemed strange how things that mattered so much a few years ago had no effect on our lives now. The fourth of July, Independence Day, came and went without any recognition. England didn't exist in our minds, so independence from some long dead and forgotten king no longer held importance. We weren't citizens of Iowa in the United States of America. We were survivors in one of an unknown number of compounds across an unending landscape where humans tried desperately to survive the ungodly zombies. And then we dealt with the incidental renegade human outlaws while the world we'd known in the past slipped farther from us each month.
With no unmanageable incidents, we drifted into the dog days of August. At eight months pregnancy, Kira’s once slender frame looked as if a huge tree stump protruded a foot from her stomach. She tired easily and needed to rest often, but she was always happy to be pregnant with the second and third of our children.
When Kira punched me in the back, I jumped and sat up in bed. "Is it time?" I asked.
"My water just broke, it's time."
I looked at the clock, almost 5 a.m. I flipped the lights on and knocked loudly on the door to Paige's room. With my pants and shoes on, I took Kira's hand and walked her into the hall and toward the elevator. Paige hurried around us in her nightgown grinning from ear to ear. "I'll go get Ira and Marcie," she said as she raced down the hall. It was Friday, August 25th. Ira had eagerly anticipated the births for the last three days. For weeks, I'd hovered around Kira trying to help. Finally she good naturedly ran me off. Paige cackled with laughter at my clumsy, feeble, attempts to be useful. For the last three weeks, I'd feared Kira would single-handedly decimate our supply of canned dill pickles we'd put up for the winter. But finally the day was here, and I'd get to meet my children.
Two hours later, Kira and I had a new son and daughter, and Paige had siblings.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The summer and fall harvest went well but caused a shortage of personnel to can the massive amounts of food we required. The entire population worked twelve-hour days, seven days a week for almost two months. In early September, Elsie mentioned that it was Labor Day. I snorted, "Hell, every day is Labor Day. Does today being a holiday mean we can quit five minutes early tonight?"
The original slow zombie attacks became less frequent and were dealt with as part of the normal routine. One other incursion by the two naked zombies was thwarted before they'd advanced fifty feet from the woods. I was alarmed at the level of skillful evasion they exhibited in dodging our attempts to hit them. We'd learned to keep several dogs near the crews working in the fields during the hot sunny days. They were a great first line of defense when they barked and howled incessantly as the zombies approached. Finally and thankfully, at the middle of October our work schedules reverted to more relaxed routines. Canned goods overflowed our storage space and we were able to sample the products of our labor. We went around patting each other on the back for the great job we amateurs had done.
Once again, we could send crews out to gather materials and equipment befitting our future dim prospects. Several of our foragers located flocks of sheep that we gathered and hauled to newly erected sheds with adjoining pens to hold them. Others looked for spinning wheels and looms to make use of the wool thread we anticipated harvesting.
Several of the Amish settlements raised sheep, so we concentrated our efforts there and were rewarded with a few shearing tools. But we only found two weaving looms and wanted several more. On Tuesday the tenth of October a three-person crew left Deliverance to find more sheep shearing tools, spinning wheels and weaving looms. Marilyn Deutsch, Frances Halcom, and Josh Garner left early that morning and were expected to return late in the evening. We grew concerned
