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January 17th.
MGR found no tracks that were followable. The wind was blowing a little too hard, and with the walking dead moving about as well, there was no way to get a clean follow on them. With nothing to go on for that, we opted to hit the house with the generator early yesterday afternoon.
Because of the overall level of tension with everyone, we came up with a plan that made everyone feel safe. We wanted to send a team of people that had experience, was able to work together, but one that also wouldnt leave Bastion unprotected, nor would it totally neuter our ability to respond to MGR fast. Kevin Mike and I got The Factory on the line, and theyve committed to sending assistance if needed, but they dont have the firepower, nor the vehicles. Plus, coming from the edge of the city is scary, because if the undead presence is flaring up, they cant respond either.
They are unreliable, but in a pinch, theyll send help.
Anyhoo, we opted for a team I was infinitely comfortable with. Myself, Patty, Abby, Angela, Harold and Blake. Wed roll out in the deuce, and the HRT. The humvees would be left back for the QRF, and Kevins entire team minus Hal was then still available to pull security for Bastion as well as respond as the QRF should MGR be attacked again. If that happened, wed abandon our house clear, and head back to staff Bastion immediately.
We left the campus at about noon, anticipating wed need twenty minutes of transit, two hours of clear, and then twenty minutes back. In reality the house was closer than that, but with the snow, we figured itd take longer.
It did.
The side roads the house I took us to were all still covered in about six inches of smooth, ice crusted snow. You could hear it crunching under the wheels as we went. As long as we took it slow, we were fine on the roads. What was disturbing though, was the presence of undead on the side road.
The house was maybe two miles down a tiny road that connected two slightly more major streets in town here. One of those old cow paths that people built farms on a century ago. As time went on, less cows walked on the path and more wagons, then cars, and here it is now as a road with five houses on it.
Anyway, with just five house on it, there was little intelligent reason for there to be about fifteen undead walking up and down the road. It was also strange because the snow surface on the road was still fairly smooth, indicating that the undead hadnt wandered there recently. Very odd.
The first couple of undead were in the road, and I simply drove the HRT right over them. The plow blade makes for a highly effective zombie smashing weapon, and it also saves us the time and physical risk of getting out of the truck. When we got close to the house in question, I realized that we were in a bit of a pickle.
The house was nestled in the elbow of a corner in the road. The driveway was small, and opposite the house was an twenty foot drop to a stream. We had damn little area to drive the vehicles. I parked the HRT in the curve of the road, completely blocking it, and Angela parked the deuce in the driveway. I dont know how she managed to turn it around so smoothly and back it up perfectly, but she did, and it was awesome.
Right at the house as we were parking we saw three undead. Two of them immediately started at the vehicles, trudging through the snow as fast as their disorganized, frigid bodies could move. I slid out of the HRT, walked around the front of the truck calmly, took a breath, got rid of the heart in my throat and bad memories of being shot in the head, and put the first one down. Lining up that beautiful red dot on a head makes shooting quickly so much easier. The first bodies impacted the crust on the snow, and nearly disappeared under it.
Abby was out the other door of the HRT simultaneously, and she needed two rounds to put the second zombie down. Hers fell sideways into an overgrown hedge at the front of the house and never quite made it to the ground. It was a pretty, young woman in a thin summer dress. She looked very out of place in the cold of January. The reddish grey mist of her brains looked very strange painted across the porch behind the hedge.
What a world.
From the driveway behind Abby and I we heard Patty snap off a round from her AR at the third undead coming down the road. She was accurate on her first shot I can happily report, and within a minute, we were ready to breach. I remembered the layout of the house pretty accurately, and I knew it was narrow hallways, and lots of small doors. It was an old house, and if youve ever been in old, small houses, they are kind of claustrophobic. When we checked inside the windows we could see a few moving figures, so we knew the breach would be violent.
As a result, I decided Id breach the house on point with a 12 gauge. Nothing against the M4A1, but I wanted the knockback power of a shotgun. The 5.56 rounds are so high velocity, they can frequently buzz right through someone and barely stagger them. However, buck shot from a 12 gauge to the chest does a bit more than stagger someone. And besides, close is often good enough with a shotgun.
We breached with a team of three. I was on point, Harold second, and Abby third. Abby and I are a pretty well oiled machine for this, and Harold in the middle was added comfort. Hes a good man, and a very good Marine. Royal Marine to be specific. Have I mentioned I dig his accent? It reminds me of watching Guy Ritchie movies. I had Angela make noise on the far side of the house as we prepared to go in the door. Hopefully she would attract the undead inside away from us.
I pried the door open with the halligan and we were in. The house was tight, just like I remembered. The main hallway led straight, then hooked right sharply. To the left was the kitchen and living room. Bedrooms were all off the right side of the hallway, with the stairs up after the hook right. Does that makes sense to you? Makes sense to me. I hate describing shit like this, I feel like I suck at it.
The hall was clear, and I went left into the kitchen. An older lady was in the doorway at the end area of the room, facing towards the dining/living room. She was gone, and after calling out contact, I bucked her up side the head with the 12 gauge. Her head disappeared, and I stepped over her body into the dining room. Immediately after stepping through the door jam I saw two more zombies turning from the windows to face us.
I saw Angela through the window, and after racking another shell into the chamber of the shotgun I motioned for her to get down. I didnt want her to catch any errant shotgun blast bits through a window. Once I saw she was out of danger, I blasted the dead older man in the upper chest, disconnecting his head from the rest of his body. He went down on his knees for a moment before falling face down on the hard wood floor. The other undead was just a young teen boy. Hed been bitten several times on the neck and chest, and judging by the blood on his grandparents faces, theyd done it to him. I pumped the scatter gun, and put him down, breaking the window behind him in the process.
The rest of the house clear was fine. We took our sweet ass time checking the upstairs, as each door was locked. The whole house smelled bad too, so there was no way of telling if a room had a zombie in it just by smell alone. No fun. Fortunately, no injuries, no deaths, no problems.
We radioed Bastion all was well on the breach, and started clearing the house. As usual, Patty and Abby took everything not nailed or screwed down. Blake and I focused on getting the generator in the basement out of the bulkhead door, which meant shoveling an assload of heavy snow, covered in ice. Unpleasant work, that.
The generator was a beast though, which is nice. It took Hal, myself as well as Blake the better part of twenty minutes just to get it into the back of the deuce. Heavy fucker. The old guy also had some pretty awesome handyman books in the basement too, which we grabbed. Blake was impressed by them, which meant they had the how-to on stuff he didnt know how to do. New information is great. As Ive said before, Google is still down.
Which reminds me we need to hit the town library. Im sure there is a ton of useful information still there. Books on practical knowledge that we really need. Farming, agriculture, construction, electrical engineering, all that jazz. Maybe theres a book on how to build a small hydroelectric dam, or solar cells, or something thatll help us out as we slowly and steadily run out of resources.
Gotta be renewable Mr. Journal, or why bother?
We were on site for longer than we figured, about three hours. As you might know, anytime you are anywhere longer than you want to be, youre opening yourself up for exposure, which means attack. Luckily the only thing we saw was a scattered walker or two. Nothing really pressing that we couldnt deal with. Most of our haul for the day was the generator, bedding, a few tools, nails, screws, bolts, the books, and a shotgun with ten shells.
I was unable to turn the HRT around, so we had to drive the long way home. The roads we took led us very close to the area of town where I saw a few of the fires from MGR, so we naturally were nervous we were driving into an area that had hostiles. We saw nothing moving, nor any fires, and we didnt encounter any hostility, so that was nice. I didnt really feel like getting into a prolonged firefight after having to lift that motherfucking generator. Im still sore today.
Not much else to report. We left the generator in the deuce for delivery to MGR in a day or two. I am not looking forward to hauling that fat bitch up the stairs. I wonder if theres a way for us to hook it into the power grid for the building in the basement. One floor down is a lot better than five floors up. Of course one more generator running means more gasoline consumption, which is shitty. But, the electricity there will help them get through the winter.
The dog situation here has been sorting itself out nicely. Angela and Amanda have been doing the rear gate feeding thing, and the animals have been much quieter, and far more obedient as a result. They are now largely staying at the gates, waiting patiently for us to feed them twice a day, and theyve even barked a few times when an undead came nearby. They are serving as an excellent auxiliary warning system for us. I just hope we have the food to maintain it. Some of the kids are getting attached to the nicer, cuter dogs, and that scares me. One more thing we can disappoint the kids over. I guess let it ride as long as we can.
Syl is the same. Michelle said shes getting better at being around people. We can now have two people in the same room with her and she wont get violent. Doesnt sound like much of an improvement, but its something. Michelle also had James and Mike trudge over to the cabin to get some photos and keepsakes for her. Now her room is far more homey and maybe thats what is helping.
Mallory is the same. Getting better, getting used to having just one arm.
MGR is quiet, for now. We are setting up a plan to establish ambush points to get the jump on the folks if they attack again. There are a few small storefronts we can get inside, and when and if they try to come at the tower again, surprise motherfuckers. Were behind you, on the surface. Hard to retreat through gunfire with no cover.
Granted Id rather they just disappeared, but Ive got the sinking feeling that isnt in the cards for us. These people are crazy or desperate, and if losing one of their number wasnt enough to scare them off, not much else will. I guess well see what happens.
Something I noticed yesterday that I didnt say anything about was Abby and Hal. There was a moment when the two of them were inside the house, alone, and I caught a glimpse of them through a window. They were talking, and when Abby turned away to go do whatever, Hal gave her a playful pat on the ass. She turned, DIDNT glare at him, then walked away.
Theres something in the air between those two. I am not displeased by this. Im hoping that Abby moves on from Gavin, and if shes going to, Hal is a damn fine man to do it with. Kevin has said nothing but good things about him since they got here, so Im sure hell be worth her time.
Kids.
I might take a few day shift at MGR here just to relieve some people there. Were slated to move some folks in tomorrow, and I can easily insert myself into the rotation when we bring the generator and supplies. Well see.
Im off like a prom dress. Widescreen porn awaits.
-Adrian
NEXTENTRY
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January 15th.
MGR was forced to engage another small round of attacks late this morning. Ethan, Kate and Nick were ready for them this time, and when the tower took fire, they returned equal or more fire accurately, with one confirmed KIA on the enemy.
Apparently they were attacked by the south this time by a group numbering somewhere between 4 and 6 hostiles. They maneuvered on the tower providing cover for each other while Ethan observed them from the roof. Eventually the team radioed us that they were about to initiate contact, and when Ethan felt they’d run far enough, he pulled the trigger. One man was running across the street at about a hundred fifty yards out, and Ethan put one round through the guy as he crossed the yellow line in the middle of the street. Well, where the middle line was under the snow. We got some serious snow the past few days, and it’s still all over the place.
Anyway, the report is that the man went down in a heap and stayed awful still. Ethan said he put the round through the man’s chest, and any weapon in that kind of caliber hitting a target that close, that’s not wearing any kind of body armor… Well. I’d bet the man’s lungs and heart were scrambled like eggs.
The dude face plants in the road, and the rest of the group stops cold, taking cover. Ethan held his fire and waited, and after… I think he said a full minute, the man got back up, and he turned, looking for his other friends. This time, his intent was not to help them, or continue his part in the attack on MGR, but to eat the people he came there with alive.
Showing some compassion, Ethan put one round through the man’s skull, blowing it clean off his shoulders. What’s left of his body is still in the street down there right now, and that was about eight or ten hours ago. The rest of the group slinked away, staying in decent cover for their retreat, and haven’t returned yet. Our three felt like it was a better tactic to let them escape and think over what happened, and how we handled it, than simply dropping them as they ran. Lord knows, Ethan and crew could’ve put at least one or two more of them down. After dark Ethan or Nick are going to slip out to retrieve his weapon and check on their route in or out. I’m guessing we might have some footprints or tire tracks we can follow out. Of course it’s a little windy right now, so there’s a good chance that’s a fool’s hope.
Plus, let’s face it. I am not a profoundly lucky dude. I can safely say I spend more time looking up from the bottom of the drain at the toe, than being the toe.
MGR didn’t require a response from us, and judging from the accounts of the events, they handled it very well. Unless these morons come up with a new tactic, I think we have them handled for the moment. Famous last words.
Mallory’s arm is doing well, and she’s finally out of the medication haze they had her on. She lost everything below the left elbow though. The stub, or whatever you want to call it is healing well, and she says the pain is manageable. Sucks to see her like that though. It’s certainly weird to see someone that previously had two arms doing things without one. Well, trying to do things with just one. She’s got to learn how to do a lot of things over again. I had this pang of guilt or something while seeing her. I almost wanted to ask her to “take me back” or something, at least so I can help her or something, but that’s all that white knight bullshit again. She doesn’t need emotional complications on top of healing issues. There are plenty of people that can help her here that aren’t going to mess with her head at the same time.
I met with Jenna, and she’s 100% right. Our food stores are going down faster than we’d anticipated. I think the births of the children, the Syl theft, as well as just feeding Syl might have a lot to do with it. We’ve also had some sick kids, and we’re feeding them twice quite a bit. Once for them to throw up, then once again slower so they keep it down. I also don’t think anyone had an idea the impact of Kevin and Michelle’s group was going to have on us. Granted, they brought food, but it wasn’t much, and now they’re eating out of our stores. We can barely keep up with egg production or milk right now.
Food is a serious concern right now for me. It was bad before when Syl was stealing from us, but now that we’re into the thick of winter, moving around is a bitch, and there’s little left to search for anyway. We’ve pretty much got what we’re going to have. Grow it or go without shall be our motto. I talked with Jenna and Ollie while Patty and Abby were there, and after taking a pretty careful stock of the situation, we’re looking at maybe putting the oldest cow down for meat.
James has also said that he will double his efforts outside the walls to try and get us a deer, or something we can eat. Of course he dropped a fair amount of deer already, and I’d hate for him to hunt the area’s deer extinct or something. Although, I can’t imagine more won’t come through eventually, and if we have to hunt them into oblivion for a year, it’ll be worth it to get us through to the summer where we can plant far more crops to get through the following winter and so on and so forth.
We’d start fishing too, but the lake is freezing over. The ice isn’t thick enough for us to ice fish on either just yet, so that’s kind of a shit situation too. We’re discussing better ideas on rationing too, as well as amping up Ryan and Becca’s hydro production, but that’s a down the road thing. Maybe three or four more days, depending on how things settle out at MGR.
Despite the snow, and the shitty road conditions we might deal with, we need to get some supplies one way or the other. We need at least two more generators. One needs to go to MGR so they have extra electricity, as well as a second generator in the event the first dies, and we also need a spare generator here. The solar panels and batteries here in Hall E are going to start shitty production with the snow on the roof, so we need to run more generators to stay warm. The stoves help all over town here, but some of these dorm buildings are deceptively large, and get pretty cold, pretty fast.
I know a place sort of near the other house we hit a few days ago where there’s a generator. It will be a tough drive if the snow is as deep as I think it might be, but we can manage. We still have that technology. I forget what else is in the house, but the generator alone is worth going for. I think there’s two other houses right near it as well, and despite thinking long and hard about it… I can’t remember what’s in them. Like the fading memory of a dream, what I remember searching for while on the other side is leaving me. I feel like I’m on a clock here… Better get moving eh?
We’re meeting to plan the run tomorrow morning, rehearsing everything, getting some other shit done, and then heading out. If MGR has a set of tracks that we can follow, then we’ll change plans, and possibly launch a heavy recon to find out where the attackers are coming from.
Either way, it’s time for Adrian to kick some doors in again.
-Adrian
NEXT ENTRY
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January 13th.
Ethan came over the radio yesterday afternoon, calm as a cucumber, with gunfire in the background. Those of us with radios reacted immediately to his short, simple message.
“Taking heavy fire at MGR. One casualty, critical. Requesting immediate QRF support.”
I haven’t heard a message like that in a long time. I mean years. I’d forgotten how badly it chilled you to the bone. I also forgot just how fast it got your heart pumping.
Kevin came over the radio in response just a few seconds later, “copy that. QRF gathering and enroute.”
It took us just five minutes for our pre-agreed upon QRF force to gear up, saddle up, and get the fuck out of the gate. As we piled into the two humvees and the HRt there was a mixture of fear and adrenaline coursing through us. We knew we were driving into danger, but we also wanted to be there for our friends, and nothing, nothing at all would get in the way of us getting to the people we cared about.
Caleb drove the HRT with me in the shotgun seat. In the humvees we had Kevin, Quan, Kate, Roger, Nick, and Joel. Pretty much the majority of our heaviest hitters. We left a good number of our second tier shooters behind for security in the event the school was attacked. Abby, Mike, Harold, Angela and Patty for example.
“Out of the gate. ETA ten minutes,” Kevin said as we pulled away, gunning it up Auburn Lake Road.
Ethan responded a few seconds later, “Better hurry. We’re going to have a KIA here shortly.”
Never something you want to hear. KIA. Killed in Action. A dead body. A dead friend. My resolution broken already, just 12 days into a 365 day long year.
“Roger that,” Kevin said.
The roads were clear right up to the area where the police station was. In the road there we swerved and ran over a couple of dead that were walking towards the sound of the gunfire at MGR. Right about as the rear tires of the HRT were bumping over the smashed corpses Kevin asked Ethan to switch to the more secure military comms and give us an update. Ethan’s intel came into our ears, crisp and clear.
“We’re taking fire from the north and west. You’ll be coming in from the south west if you take the normal route, so be careful. As best as I can tell, we’ve got three or four shooters in both locations. They’re got high powered rifles, and are firing accurately. I’m more or less suppressed at the moment. Right now I believe they are maneuvering on us, trying to get to the base of the building. If they get to the gate, we’re bent.”
“Roger that. We’ll adjust course to approach from the west attacker’s rear. Maybe we can flush them out. Who is the wounded and what is the severity of the injury?” Kevin asked him.
“Mallory took a round to the left arm just above the elbow. Lower arm is trashed. I’ve got a tourniquet on her and the bleeding pretty much under control. She’s in a lot of pain, and lost a lot of blood. She’s gonna need fluids stat.”
As much as I may or may not be angry with her for leaving me, or wanting to be happy without me in her life, I did not wish ill upon her. I always deep inside understood what she wanted. She didn’t deserve to get shot like that. No one deserves to lose an arm.
The PJs exchanged some fancy medical jargon that I won’t even try and regurgitate. I didn’t understand it then, and I certainly won’t do it any justice. Over the comms we discussed driving hard into the back of the western shooter’s positions, and engaging them with overwhelming fire superiority. Shock and motherfucking awe.
We saw them and they saw us pretty much at the exact same time. Two shooters were crouched down behind a car parked on the side of the street. They weren’t firing when we turned onto the street, but as soon as they saw our vehicles rumbling down the road at them, both shooters spun, and leveled off to shoot at the windshield of the HRT. Caleb ducked like a mongoose and not one moment too soon. The windshield spider webbed right where his face was and a massive round punched through the glass. I hate a loud “PUNK!” noise as it passed out the back of the HRT. Must’ve been a heavy duty round.
I had my window down already and as soon as the round hit I leaned the weapon out the window and thumbed it to full auto. I pulled the trigger and fired as a tight a grouping as I could into the space where the men stood, sending plumes of dust and snow into the air as rounds skipped off the pavement. The two men dove over the car as we slowed down and Caleb sat up, they ran with all their might and around a corner. We pursued, stopping the vehicle at the small intersection near MGR. We got out and pulled security, having watched the two shooters run as fast as they could away.
Our main concern at the moment was Mallory. Chasing down the attackers was secondary seeing as how they’d ran so fast. Ethan came over the radio as we started to form a perimeter saying the north side attackers had retreated as soon as I started to fire on full auto. I guess there’s a instinctual thing when you hear the tearing noise of 500+ rounds per minute coming out of a gun that isn’t on your side of a fight.
Once the other guys were sure we were safe for the moment, we got our PJs upstairs to Mallory, and they stabilized her. I remained outside on the north corner of the tower for security. I was useless to them inside. I’m better at hurting people than fixing them, sadly.
We remained at MGR as a force for an hour while they got Mallory patched up enough to travel. It was clear after talking in depth with Ethan and the folks at MGR that the attackers had some skill. The attacked on two fronts, used accurate suppressing fire to free up movement elements, and had a clear and concise plan to attack the tower to get inside. I won’t go so far as to say they were professionals, but they clearly had a very good idea of how to do what they wanted to do. Not a good sign at least. This is where I talk about regret in doing things hasty.
We had to get Mallory back to campus pretty fast, and we also had to beef up the numbers at MGR, so Kate and Nick, our flight crew folks elected to stay there. We also left them with their M4s, as well as a SAW and a thousand rounds or so for it. If they need to suppress attackers, that gun will buy them time. We were very lucky we left yesterday with just a single wounded person. Granted, Mallory is now down her left arm forever, but I’ll chalk that up as us being a little lucky. Had that bullet hit her about eight inches to the right, it would’ve ripped her chest apart, and she’d be dead.
She’s stable right now in the clinic. I spent some time with her, but they’ve got her sedated pretty good. I can’t imagine the pain she went through. Poor woman has already been through so much, and now she’s without an arm. Life’s a bitch right?
Kate and Nick are still at MGR until we come up with a more stable, solid plan to staff the location. We are now working on having two people on watch 24 hours a day. It isn’t enough to just have the cameras. Speaking of which, we saw just a little of the attackers. They stayed pretty far out, and the cameras aren’t the best anyway, so we saw very little of use. In good news, I don’t think they knew the cameras were there, and we saw them exit to the north towards the area where we saw the most of the fires the other day, which may or may not mean that’s where they are. We’re also debating mounting a recon in force to those areas to see if there’s a hornet’s nest to kick.
We’ll see. Security first.
What a rush though. Felt good to be a part of the team that kicked some ass, despite not actually shooting anyone. I guess that’s the fight we want to win right? No one died, and we all walked away, as did they.
Martin finished his plan to upgrade the doors yesterday as well, which was sheer coincidence. We’re making a plan to upgrade the doors immediately. I think the plan was for tomorrow, but I’m not entirely positive. Kevin and Mike were working on it.
What I can certainly say is that with the clear need to upgrade the staff levels at MGR we need another generator for there, as well as increased food on hand, and food production. We also need a better sewage system than just bagging it and dumping it back here. We can throw it out the windows, but that isn’t sanitary in the least…
Of course an apartment building in a town with no electricity or running water doesn’t have a lot of options. We’ll see. I’ll leave that plan to someone far smarter than I.
We’re moving a few of the hydroponics stations to MGR. We’ve got a few that are already well growing that can spruce up their fresh food on hand, and we can also relocate about ten chickens there as well. I think they can build a coop on the roof to make it work. Feed for the chickens might be difficult, but fresh eggs will be good. Water will be a concern there too, with added mouths, but… We’ll figure that out too. We’re also probably going to have to abandon the construction on the waterfront tower due to a sheer lack of manpower. As important as it is to build the towers, dealing with actual threats as they come to light is more important than a guard tower overlooking a lake.
Fucking logistics of this shit kills me. There’s just no easy solution to anything.
Jenna came to me right after dinner and pulled me aside. I was talking to Michelle about how Syl was doing at the time, and for a moment, I thought Jenna was doing some kind of jealousy power play (which might be the case, as I’ve clearly shown, I’m a fucking giant dildo when it comes to women).
Jenna raised the concern that we’re going through our canned goods at a pretty good clip, and the chickens aren’t laying as many eggs the past few weeks as they have been, so we’re actually not looking good on the food stores. She said she wanted to show me more of the deal, and I said I’d see her tomorrow, depending on how the day went, and whether or not we went to MGR to supply them, and start the work on the door upgrades.
I’m very tired, but we’re all sitting here waiting for the radio to fire up again. I am sincerely hoping that the idiots that attacked us the other day don’t attack again, but if they do, we’ll be ready for them.
I just hope they aren’t ready for us.
-Adrian
NEXT ENTRY
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