by Jeff Ping
Chapter 2: Day 2
The next morning at about 9:30 I wake up and get dressed. I head to the kitchen to make coffee, but to my surprise I find a full pot already made. After pouring myself a cup of coffee I go to the living room to watch some TV. Jack and Mindy are already up and sharing a can of peaches and coffee. Network news is sensationalizing the outbreaks. Panels of "experts" are questioning if it is really outbreaks of the Zaire virus or rioting mobs. But the field reports are pretty bleak; several west coast cities are under military control. Scenes of jeeps and hummers cruising down city streets play over and over. Soldiers are shown going door to door, gun shots are ringing out, and it sounds like a firing range. You can see where the front doors of houses are marked showing the number of residents. There are videos of people being attacked, and eaten. It appears that the city has really started to go to hell. Mindy starts sobbing and I turn the TV off.
Standing up I say lets go out and look around. Jack, Mindy and I head outside to check the place out. There is a locking gate at the drive. The lot is fenced on three sides with six foot chain link and on one side with five foot chain link. So we should be pretty secure from the infected. I wish it was eight foot high but the infected don’t display much cognitive reasoning skills just a blind urge to attack, climbing isn’t one of their stronger skills. The house is located in an area of orchards and small farms, there are only about 40 houses in a three mile range. There are probably less than 6,000 people in a 25 mile area. The city or Bay Area on the other hand probably had 100,000 to 1,000,000 people in the same area.
Inside the fenced lot there is my house, garage and an old outbuilding I use as a shop. The house uses propane for heat and cooking, but a wood stove I had installed could substitute for both. There is a septic system and a well. As long as we have electrical power for the well we should be pretty self contained. I suspect as people start to flee the population centers, foragers and bandits could be as great or greater problem than Zombies. We are located about two miles off of the old north south highway but we are at least eight miles from the main interstate so most everyone headed north will just pass right by us. We spend the day cleaning and securing the house and property. That evening the news is pretty much the same except the news readers are not as fresh and shiny as usual. A couple of the local news guys look as though they could use a shave and the perky co- anchor looks more frazzled than perky.
About 11 pm the lights flicker but stabilize and stay on. Jack and I decide we should start keeping watch. I tell him I will stay up and keep watch; he says he will relieve me about 4 am. I grab a book and my .38 and settle in for the night. About 3 am I hear the gate rattle. Creeping to the kitchen window I see a truck with only the parking lights on and a guy with a flashlight fumbling with the chain that secures the gate. I go out the back door, and circle around toward the gate. From the corner of the garage I say, "Can I help you?" He curses and fires a round off only about five feet in front of himself. "We need gas." He says. "Sorry, but I don’t have any to spare" I tell him. "I guess we’ll have to take what you have." He says. Now he is panning around the flashlight trying to locate me. The light plays across my face and he snaps off a shot in my direction. A shot from the front door smacks the flashlight out of his hand. He quickly turns and jumps in the passenger side of the truck. Tires’ spinning in the gravel the truck backs out of the drive and speeds away.
Jack comes out on the porch calls to me. "Are you OK, Ralph?" Jack asks.
"Yeah, but I feel stupid for coming out without telling you. If he had gotten a lucky shot or driven through the gate I would have needed backup. We better figure out a plan before it gets any worse. We should talk to the neighbors about guarding the road leading from the main highway 24/7." I say.
I go back inside with Jack and he says "We’ll talk tomorrow, why don’t you go catch some sleep I’ll let you know if anyone comes around". I go into my room and take a few minutes to calm down then quickly drop off to sleep.