Living With the Dead: The Hungry Land (11 page)

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Best Laid Plans

Posted by Josh Guess

Early this morning, one of the five men from Mason's team pulled into the compound in a truck that looked like it had been rolled down a cliff. Mason was with him, unconscious and injured. They were the only two survivors of the excursion north to try and help the trapped survivors near the Ohio border.
By that I mean that none of the group they went up there to help made it either. The guy that managed to get back here is asleep right now, completely exhausted, and Mason is still out cold. Looks like he got a pretty bad thump to the head at some point. Before Darryl, the guy who escaped and brought Mason with him, dropped off to sleep, he gave us the bare bones of what happened.
Our people got there and observed for a few hours, set some traps, and then tried to draw groups of zombies away from where the survivors were holed up. Long story short, it was working until some smarties caught the pattern in what Mason and his guys were doing, and caught them all by surprise. Darryl isn't sure how it happened, but apparently somehow the other truck we sent North got out of control and slammed into the building the locals were shut up in to stay safe from the swarm. He said you could hear the people scream from where he was, nearly a quarter mile away.
I'm not sure what happened to Mason exactly, but Evans says he'll be fine.
I'm glad that those two made it back, but I and most people around the compound are stricken by the outcome of their trip. It's hard to lose people, even one. Four at one time is extremely rough emotionally, and every one of us feels it a little differently. No, the men we lost weren't related to any of the rest of us by blood. Blood can be important, but so too is the bond that grows from living in close quarters. Giving of yourself for the betterment of the tribe.
They were good men, strong fighters, and decent human beings. In my job, I have to be cold and calculating at times, like figuring the loss of the truck that crashed into the apartment building of the people that they were trying to save. The weapons and fuel inside. Even the work that can't be done by the men we lost, or by Mason and Darryl until Evans gives them the go-ahead.
Make no mistake, though. I see every lost brother or sister as a blow to the compound, and to all the people in it. It isn't made any easier to know that they were lost in service to strangers that we owed nothing to, however noble that may be. We've undergone (and, I suppose, are still undergoing) a strange evolution. We've been hard as coffin nails when the need arose, practical and pragmatic in our assessment of the world around us and what we have needed to do to survive in it. We can take pride in the fact that our lost citizens gave their lives during the act of living in accordance with their ideals--the protection of those who wish no harm on others, who can't defend themselves.
Still, that hard-nosed bitch called realism has to step in. The plain truth is that had we not sent our men north, they'd probably all still be alive and healthy. Given that our people were the ones who breached the safety of the apartment building, it's safe to say that the chances of the whole group of survivors there being killed would have been a lot lower if our boys had stayed home.
There isn't anything to be done for it, though. We'll cry our tears, have a service, and then move on. Our men might have died heroes' deaths, for all I know, but they're still dead. It's going to raise some interesting points of debate at council, whether we should allow these kinds of outings in the future. We've been pretty liberal with running out of town and even out of state to help others. Maybe the time has come to look at how feasible that is in the long run. Even of we only lost a person every other trip, the attrition rate on our population will end up being awful.
The attrition of our spirits would be just as bad, if not worse. And that's the last thing we need.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Ever Changing Wind

Posted by Josh Guess

The last two days have bought us storms of unusual intensity and amazing duration. The winds have been the worst part by far, so powerful that the zombies outside the walls have been knocked over. More and more of them have started acting strangely when the wind comes up, tucking their heads and stopping in place. It'd be an excellent chance to put some arrow in them if the damn wind weren't so strong that it throws off the aim of the archers on duty.
Our reservoirs of water here in the compound, as well as the big one up the road that feeds this side of town, are full. That's good, since spring in Kentucky tends to be very wet and then very, very dry. We're hoping to build a few more cisterns and get some new water barrels in place by the time the next rains come. Jess actually came up with a good idea for easy water storage: garbage cans. There are plenty of unused ones around, from the big stores around here, and we can clean out others that we bring in from neighborhoods. I'm hoping we can just use those for holding irrigation water. I don't fancy drinking out of a container that might have once held dirty diapers, no matter how much it's been cleaned.
The worst part of the storm is that the bridge on the west side of the compound, the little one over the creek that we blocked up to create a reservoir behind it, has finally given way. It was severely damaged before, but we managed to fix it and make it usable for travel. Not so much anymore. The dam we built against it to hold that part of our water reserves is mostly intact, but the bridge itself is done for. The winds knocked over a huge tree onto it, and the weakened supports just couldn't hold out. more than half of it has caved in under the weight, and it doesn't look like we'll be able to repair it any time soon.
Before The Fall, that damn bridge caused all kinds of trouble in this neighborhood. It was damaged often and had to be repaired by the county, sometimes twice a year. Big chunks of asphalt would break off, exposing the steel beneath. Years and years of that all lead up to this, which is a total failure.
It sort of underscores the fact that while we've been extremely lucky in some ways, there are still things that are going to be beyond our means to fix for a long time yet. The bridge is an obvious and recent problem, but remember that most of the dwellings in the compound are houses. Old houses at that, which means that there are constantly things going wrong with them. Shingles coming off here, a door off its hinges there. My brother has taught a lot of basic carpentry and repair to the people here, and we've looted supplies and materials for most of the last year.
But none of it will last.
Nature beats its fists on us, hammering us with gusts of air that can topple men alive and dead. Ceaseless water invades the cracks and crevices, wearing away seals and rotting wood. It's as if the world is trying its damnedest to destroy what was, to 
make 
us build something new. Maybe something better.
In practical terms, it means that what would have been easy repairs before The Fall have become major annoyances. In time, I can see us razing the homes here and building structures more adapted to a world without the economy, production capacity, and infrastructure to make the traditional frame home really work. Lacking power enough to heat or cool our houses is frustrating, and we'd love to build in a way that is more efficient and that doesn't need electricity to accomplish it.
If we manage to survive that long, we'll eventually have to do it. The homes we have will crumble around us or be heavily damaged, and we will run out of the things we need to fix them at some point.
You know, the tree that hit the bridge was one of the last inside the compound. We cut down most of them over the last year to make sections of the wall and to use for firewood now and then. The copse of trees right next to the bridge was hit hard, but a few older ones were left.
Today, that patch is bare. Now it matches the rest of the place. I wouldn't say we took our vengeance on the trees or anything, but then I wouldn't not say it either.
Well, I'm off to the farms with a lot of others who are going to put in extra shifts. Time to make up for the planting we missed because of the weather. Eight hours of labor on top of my already full day of work here. Pinch me, I must be in heaven.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Half Day, Half Blog

Posted by Josh Guess

It's a nice morning. A little more crisp than I care for, but overall it's pretty good. The sun is shining, the sky is clear. There are less zombies at the walls than usual. Hell, I've even gotten through a big portion of my work. What's left can be handled by the trainees. I think I'm going to take a day and spend it learning something. Maybe Jess can teach me chainmail. Might go to the forge and see if Pat can make me less of a ten-thumbed jackass with a hammer-flailing fetish.
Something different, anyway. It's pretty rare since we've been back in the compound that I have free time to spend on other things. Yeah, I know we had our little party, but even that was done in a carefully scheduled period between regular shifts. I want to get out of the office and add something to my repertoire.
I don't think just having a good time when you can is the most productive thing for us to do. I mean, there's nothing wrong with blowing off some steam now and then. It's almost a physical need for us. I'm just saying that ONLY doing that in your spare time won't help the compound out in the long run. People need to spend some free time learning other skills and trades. Many people have already done so, including my trainees. I've got a pretty wide skill set to begin with, but I feel like I've fallen behind a little.
Since we managed to get so much done yesterday, I won't feel bad about not going to the farms.
I wonder what I should go work on...something new, or something old that I need to practice. It's just too good a chance to pass up...
I'll be back tomorrow

Thursday, April 14, 2011

A Simple Plan

Posted by Josh Guess

I had an interesting time yesterday. I spent the second part of my day with Patrick, who was nice enough to teach me some of the basic principles of metalworking. Not that I'd dare try my hand at it alone or anything, but I know a lot more now than I did yesterday. I get a warm fuzzy going on when I have new knowledge floating around my brain. It's a good feeling.
My trainees did a nice job on the rest of my work yesterday, and all of them are coming along nicely. There have been enough challenging situations lately that they've been pretty thoroughly tested. I think any one of them could fill in for me on a given day safely, though we've yet to find any person that could take Dave's place. My brother is a very unique guy: super smart with an intuitive ability to assess problems and solve them in the simplest way. I don't mean that as a negative--his ideas aren't simple, but the methods we have to fix things around here are. It's a testament to his ability that he can work with what we have at our disposal.
Which brings up an interesting topic. The small trench and berm that he started on out at the farms has been pretty damn effective in keeping zombies from wandering onto our land so quickly that they can mass. He's eager to do something similar at the compound itself, and it's a big enough project that the council itself will have to vote on it, since it will require a lot of our reserve of diesel fuel to run the big equipment. There's a few people working on a bio diesel setup, but it will be a while before we'll be able to produce anything in quantity.
The outside of our wall, as of right now, is a mixture of traps, pits, and stakes that slow down the zombies that  seem to constantly wander around outside. To a smaller degree, it slows down swarms as well, though given recent events it's clear that the defenses aren't adequate for larger groups.
Dave wants to ring all of that with a trench about six feet deep, with a berm of dirt on the outside. It's a good idea. Also, a LOT of work.
But, I think it would be a good thing. One problem that has been slowly creeping up on us is the sheer emotional exhaustion of living in fear all the time. The last few big zombie attacks have been repelled successfully, but they've also made us more afraid. Actually seeing the dead manage to get inside the wall was enough to make most people start toting weapons at all times. We're a determined bunch, tough as nails, but only idiots aren't scared when their lives are in danger.
We feel like that almost all the time. It's draining. Living under the threat of a breach is awful, and Dave's idea would help many of us feel safer. It isn't just psychological--we would actually be safer. The cost/benefit analysis of it seems to lean toward doing it. I think it would be worth the fuel spent, but I'm just one voice on the council. We'll see how it goes tonight at the meeting, and I'll let you know the outcome.
If any of you out there are feeling the same weight on your shoulders, I hope it helps to know that there are others out there who share your burden. I know it won't make things completely better, but anything you can do to make yourselves more secure will help, I promise you.
Be safe. But also, 
feel 
safe.

Thursday, April 15, 2011

Joining Forces

Posted by Josh Guess

Back in the fall (I'm so used to capitalizing The Fall when I refer to the initial outbreak of the zombie plague and the worldwide chaos that followed that it takes an effort not to do it...) there was a huge swarm of zombies that threatened the place now known as North Jackson. You may remember that we sent Will Price and a contingent of other people there to help with the fight.
There was also a helicopter. During one of the largest assaults, it came from nowhere to deliver ruination on the zombie swarm. None of us knew where it came from, and haven't seen it since. Early today the people of North Jackson learned the truth behind that little mystery.
All over the country, small groups of soldiers who managed to survive the early waves of violence have banded together. Well, they were small at first. The helicopter that swooped in to help the folks of North Jackson was only passing through, killing what zombies they could before their munitions or fuel ran out. The men that were in that chopper moved on for another two hundred miles toward another group of soldiers they'd been in contact with.
Many such groups came together slowly over time. The men who helped North Jackson met with others. More joined over time to bring their total to more than four hundred. Each group had hoarded MRE's and many other supplies in much the same way the rest of us have--by looting the hell out of any cache we can find. The difference is that while many other groups of survivors put down roots in one place and tried to rebuild, these soldiers moved around, amassing a huge reserve of supplies and taking it with them as they went.
Those four hundred made it to the gate at North Jackson today. The email I got described their caravan as a line two vehicles wide, stretching so far that the end of it curved out of sight. The soldiers had several tankers carrying diesel fuel with them. All were nearly empty.
When their fuel began to get low, they made the choice to go to a place that they knew had a sizable population. Somewhere they knew was defensible and with enough infrastructure to handle their numbers. I'm proud to say that those four hundred soldiers stopped at the gate and asked for permission to enter, offering their services as full time guards for the walls of North Jackson.
NJ accepted happily. Though there will be a lot of additional planting needed (which will mean clearing and securing more nearby land) the people there are thrilled to have so many new faces. With the extra population, they will be able to mount an effort to clear the areas near the main complex in no time.
We've had bad experiences here with soldiers, but I want to give that some context. The Richmond soldiers weren't as bad as they could have been. Yes, they took our home through force, or at least the threat of it, but overall they were more restrained than your average marauder. There weren't constant rapes (a few, as I've mentioned before, but that happens in every group of people) and they didn't oppress the remaining citizens here, really. They were hungry men who had nearly run out of food. They were desperate, and lost their way.
I've always had a great respect for the military. I can't say enough about the pride that comes to my heart when I think about men and women making the willing choice to protect others. To serve their homeland. Soldiers are people like anyone else, and like any other person some of them lost their way after The Fall. How could they watch their brother and sister soldiers die and be eaten in front of them and not be scarred? How could they not be changed?
But also like other people, many of our surviving servicemen and women have adapted. The vast majority of those that live are stronger for it. The frankly huge hoard of supplies the new citizens of NJ brought with them is enough to feed the thousand or so people there for a few weeks by itself. Those brave soldiers collected all of that so it wouldn't go to waste. They had always planned to join up with a stable group of survivors, and thought that they might need bargaining chips to assure acceptance.
It wasn't necessary, but the folks at NJ appreciated it. Would have been hard to feed so many new people without it.
I'm happy for our friends to the north, and thrilled that so many of our men and women in uniform have managed to survive. It's a good day.