With Spring Comes the Fall (25 page)

Posted by Josh Guess at 
11:35 AM

I have lost count of the number of times I have said this lately, but we are home again. We pulled in with our convoy about half an hour ago, and I am very glad to be back. Jack's folks are in the process of unloading our gear, and ours are prepping containers of food for the trip north. 

Zombie attacks have been heavy since we left, at least as heavy as the were before. The fire pits are pretty much full of ash at this point, and we need to detail some people to start emptying them out before too long. Evans has made a lot of progress in understanding exactly how this plague works, or so he told me when he caught me on my way in. I am sufficiently tired enough that I am fine with waiting until later to hear what he has to say. 

My brother is very happy to see his wife and kids again. I know they missed him dearly, and to be honest, I missed them a lot as well. Same goes for my sister and her family. Funny that it took the end of the world to bring me closer to my siblings' families. Distance kept us from seeing one another before, and our everyday lives kept us so busy that just spending time together could be a chore. 

We are all closer now. Jess has always been shy and quiet around my family, and people she doesn't know. But I have watched her change since all of this began, watched the shell she built around herself crack and crumble away. She is so much more assertive, almost brutally open with her opinions and views. But she also spends time with my family and their kids, doing everything from babysitting to sharing recipes, to teaching my sister the basics of shooting, unarmed combat, and all the like. 

Marrying Jessica was never in question for me. Though I feel some dim pain in my heart that some might not like the fact that my wife happens to be of a different race than I am, it was never once a factor for me. She is hard working, smart, and funny. Her sense of humor is as twisted and dark as mine, balanced out by a sense of wonder and whimsy that is childlike in its purity. She is a rare and special person, and my life is endurable in all other ways as long as she is in it. 

In a nutshell, I missed her a lot. But I am home now, and with luck I will be here for a long time. We have much work to do, and with the trade between the compound and Jack's group in Michigan, we now have real resources to draw on. We can make this place truly secure, and a real home to those that live here. 

Despite the reoccurring problems we run into, I think that overall we are a good group, dedicated to each other's survival. And in the world as it is now, that is more important than anything. 

Posted by Josh Guess at 
11:33 AM

Zombies have been hitting us all day. Not a great many of them in any one spot, but sort of a low grade fever of them constantly. The bodies are starting to pile up, and none of the equipment and materials we got from Michigan are put into use yet. That means no snazzy new wall sections to help keep the undead at bay.
Evans wants to give us a detailed and full report of his findings later today, and I am super excited about it. He claims to have a good idea what causes the dead to come back to life (of a sort) and why they are so intent on eating people. While this information won't do anything to make our situation better, it might be useful if we survive long enough to have folks that can create new medicines.
I need to get out to the perimeter shortly, to take over for someone. Most of them have been on the walls for four hours, fighting constantly, and everyone needs to eat and drink. Hoping that today won't turn into another marathon. I don't think I have it in me.
I really hope that Evans has some idea why they seem to keep gathering on us and attacking, and that he has some idea of what we can do to stop it. This is getting frustrating.

Posted by Josh Guess at 
11:22 AM

Evans wowed us yesterday with an amazing report on the pathology of the zombie plague. I want to do it justice, so I am saving that post for tomorrow.
Because, sadly, there are tough choices ahead of us today. The group of people that tried to take our armory by force last week are in trouble again, before we could even come up with a consensus about what to do about their previous offenses. We have been debating it very carefully, since there are children involved, but the amount of discord today's acts have incited make it imperative the we do something now.
This morning all of them and their kids sat out in front of the building we use to house our bulk grains and other food. They all sat against the front, not letting anyone in. One of the sentries on patrol around the compound saw this and asked them what it was about. They told him that they all wanted to leave, to strike out on their own, but wanted to load up a vehicle with all the food they could carry. Apparently they were acting like this was a totally reasonable statement, which most of the people here disagree with. We have no problem with them wanting to leave, but they aren't going to take more than their fair share with them. No way are the rest of us going to be weakened because they feel entitled to whatever they want.
So now all of them are locked up. The kids are being watched by my sister and a few others, but at the moment the adults have no means of communication. I am just one of many voices, and I am very glad that deciding what to do with them isn't on my shoulders. Rich and Treesong are weighing options, being two of the more levelheaded people, and Rich being our "Judge" for lack of a better term. I am betting on exile with what they can carry, and the kids getting the choice of going with them or staying. I'm guessing that way because I have already heard them talking about it. Courtney has already promised me that she will be explaining the situation to the little ones as soon as we know exactly what that situation is.
I hate to think that any parents would walk away from a place that is safe for their kids. My hope is that the children choose to stay, but I don't think that kids that young will be able to grasp the reality of the situation well enough to make an informed decision.

Posted by Josh Guess at 
10:33 AM

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

It's not very often that I miss a day on here. In the midst of the stress all of us deal with every day, from worries about food to the ever-present worries of a zombie attack, this blog is my release valve. Yesterday was a really tough day for all of us, both physically and emotionally. We decided on exile, and as predicted the children of our troublemakers decided to go with the parents. But we have learned our lesson from our first exile, however, and this time we bound the adults to the seats of the vehicles we took them out in.
We dropped them off about fifty miles away. It took all day to get there and back, and we left them with enough food and water to last them a few weeks, more if they stretch it. We gave them some tools and a few weapons, along with some other things they will need to survive. I hope they live, though they might become a danger to us, only for the sake of the kids with them.
But on to more positive and exciting news. Evans gave us his full report on what he has discovered about the zombie outbreak, from studying several of them, and I will sum it up for you here.
Upon dissection of a zombie, he discovered a dense growth in the skull of the creature, covering the brain and creeping through it very thoroughly. This growth, which he believes is a bacteria, seems to pervade pretty much every system of the human body. Based on the behavior of the zombies, he thinks that the bacteria infects us while we are alive, and learns our nervous systems, our brain functions, our muscular control, etc. At the moment of death, it seems that the bacteria gains full control for the first time, which explains why the longer a zombie has been a zombie, the more coordinated and clever they get. Practice makes perfect and all that.
He notes that each area of the body seems to have a specialized version of the bacteria running through it--long, tough fibrous ones in the muscles, soft and porous ones in the stomach, to absorb and distribute nutrients  to the colony and the tissues of the human host. He tells us that the bacteria is both feeding the human cells while secreting something that keeps them from dieing off too quickly, and slows down the deterioration when the body does begin its inevitable spiral into decay.
This is a lot of speculation, of course, but it does make sense based on the observable data. It does leave a few things in question, such as why a few zombies seem to be mindless but otherwise living people. (Maybe they died and were taken over so quickly that the bacteria managed to restart their systems, pump blood and all the like, without allowing any real brain function...if that is the case, then some of these poor bastards might be human again with the right medicine...)
That is what his research boils down to at present. I am sure that more findings will come down the road, and I will pass on to all of you what we discover.
At least we have some clue now why the attacks have become more common, more focused. If we could find a way to keep them at bay so we didn't have to fight almost every day, we could accomplish a lot more. Any ideas you guys might have would be appreciated, just post them in the comments.

Posted by Josh Guess at 
9:36 AM
 

[This is a post by Treesong.]
Since Patrick and Josh have written about my recent injury, I thought I'd take this opportunity to let everyone know that I'm alive and well, or at least as well as I can be after being shot within a few inches of my femoral artery. I know enough about anatomy to know how lucky I am to be alive today. Also, since I'm not able to do any manual labor at the moment, I may as well write about recent events.
First of all, thank you Patrick for getting me out of harm's way. I think their goal was just to scare us off with a minimum of gunfire, but who knows what may have happened if I'd been left there alone and wounded. I knew you'd have my back, though -- and sure enough, you did. Also, thank you to our good Doctor for mending my wounds and keeping me alive.
They shot me first, and I don't think that was a coincidence given their attitude toward people who believe differently than they do.
On the one hand, John Hastings and a few of his followers seem especially fond of having protracted political and theological discussions with me. They probably do this in the hopes of either converting me or showing others in the Compound the errors of my ways. Given the amount of discussion I've had with them, and the fact that most people around here don't have the patience for long-winded philosophical conversations in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse, I feel like I've actually ended up with a closer bond to some of them than the rest of the people who live here.
On the other hand, when the chips are down, they see me as The Enemy, along with anyone else who doesn't fit their strict religious beliefs. If we're in a community meeting together, we can discuss and debate rationally with each other, and sometimes we can make progress. But when tempers flare, and people start grabbing their guns, I'm little different from the Zombies to them. In fact, now that he's an exile, Hastings is openly advancing a hateful philosophy which insists that the Zombie Apocalypse was brought about by "sinners" -- which basically includes anyone who disagrees with him on matters of theology and politics.
I hated to send those kids into exile along with their parents. Even though they were swayed by a charismatic leader, the adults had earned their fate. But the kids were too young to really understand what was going on. All they knew is that we were asking them whether they wanted to live with their parents or not, so they chose to live with their parents, even though it meant exile. We gave them enough supplies for a couple of weeks, though, which is good. And though the adults among them may be hateful toward outsiders, they're fiercely protective of their children, so I have high hopes that the children will be fed and sheltered as long as possible, and hopefully survive all this.
It was really good to see Courtney again after the convoy returned. Given the uncertainties of her trip and my close brush with death, you have no idea how happy I was to see her smiling face again. It was good to see Josh, too, and everyone else who left -- but I've known Courtney the longest and the best, and we had plenty to talk about after our respective brushes with death and diplomatic weirdness.
I've been joking with Courtney that she must be a better diplomat than me. She came back from her negotiations with a suped-up bus and a tentative trade deal, whereas I came back from my negotiations with an ounce of lead in my hip.
Oh well. Better luck next time, eh?
On a personal note, I find a certain cosmic irony in the fact that I've been wounded at this particular point in my life. Given the hard labor involved in running the Compound and fighting off the hoards beyond the gates, I was just starting to achieve my lifelong dream of becoming an accomplished athlete. I've struggled with health and fitness all my adult life, and I was a "nine stone weakling" when the Zombie Apocalypse hit. But I was really starting to impress everyone with my growing athletic abilities. And now, I'm back to Square One, barely even able to stand up and walk across the room. Evans says the bullet only barely nicked the bone, and that I should be fine given time to heal. Still, though, it's frustrating to be set back weeks or months by a single act of senseless violence.
On the bright side, I have a lovely and talented field medic who has volunteered to help me through my recovery. Her name is Bridget, and she's one of the survivors from Carbondale who I've been spending a growing amount of time with lately. Courtney likes to tease me about the fact that I've struck up a budding romance with someone who shares a name with my matron deity, the Irish Goddess Brighid. And I like to tease Courtney back by saying that she's just jealous, and that I would love Bridget even if her name was Ralph.
It's good to find new love even in the midst of all of this horror, and good to be able to joke with old friends even when our situation is dead serious. ESPECIALLY when our situation is dead serious, come to think of it.
Thank you, Bridget, for finding me in the midst of all this madness. And thank you Courtney for always being there for me. And thank you Rich and Paula, and Chris Klarer, and James, and Dan, for all of your contributions to the serious work of trying to figure out how to run a community humanely and justly in the midst of what we've all agreed can fairly be called an apocalypse. We've had our own heated debates at times, but I'm glad we were all able to make it out of Carbondale together, and glad we've been able to contribute in our own diverse ways to the Compound's efforts to get organized.