Diary of a Survivor (Book 3): Apocalypse

by Pike, Matt J.

  I really think that’s healthy. Just having it all at arm’s length for a day has freshened me up. Sure, other things have most definitely led the charge, but it’s helped. And while I know everything is actually a day closer to happening than this time yesterday... I don’t feel like I’m a day more jaded or worn out, or exhausted, or stressed, or on edge, or crazy.

  I like this feeling and would like to find a bottle and cork to store some away for later.

  *

  It was a big crew that headed down to the jail on foot this morning – anyone who was in charge of any part of the running of the oval was coming down. You only get one shot to set up and this was it, so it made sense to do it right. I was really worried it was going to get messy with everyone having their own vested interests. I headed down on Phoenix with Jonesy and the usual crew to get a head start and prep what we could for their arrival. I also voiced my concerns with the others.

  We took a ladder with us and headed to the broken v-shape in the wall on the east.

  We were able to get down to ash level easily enough and were soon climbing the inner wall of the compound. After working our way through to the back of the main building, we eventually sourced a set of keys and went about figuring how much of the place we could open up before the others arrived.

  The answer was pretty much everything. Certainly all the wings in the main prison area were accessible, which gave us everything we needed to plan our bug-out location. And lots of planning was needed. Core to that was deciding what this place would be. Initially we were searching for a halfway house – a gateway to the west – that we could house some supplies in, use to regroup, stock up and go. But the jail challenged that plan at even the basic level.

  This place was a fortress. We all knew there was a chance it was the sort of place that could hold us in the city. The truth is, I think everyone has the sense that if we lose our place in the city and head permanently west, we may never get it back again. We have put in so much to make the oval the centre of New Adelaide, well, no one wants to give that up without a serious fight.

  Besides which, while the fish out west are great, nothing else there is – nor will it be for a long time. We’d be starting from scratch there. I think everyone is as scared of that as they are of losing the oval.

  So, in the end, despite all my worries about people getting bogged down in the details of their needs, it actually ran pretty smoothly. In fact, the only person who got his nose out of joint in any way was Kent, when he realised he would probably lose all of his work in the greenhouse and have to start again with next to nothing. That aside – this place has everyone’s seal of approval. The general feeling was most of the details can wait until such time as we may need this place. Meanwhile, Kelly, Ye-jun and I will ferry down bug-out supplies and any spare tool and piece of building material not being used to make Jonesy’s weapons of mass destruction.

  *

  Tactical note to self – if we do lose the front and get overrun in the city, it’s probably not ideal to leave any trebuchets lying around for the enemy to have, given it’s the only thing likely enough to break the jail’s walls. We’ll have to find a bug-out plan for weapons, too.

  *

  After lunch we headed out to check the situation at the Botanic Gardens – it was somewhat deflating. Apart from road access being impossible for them, we are very limited in all other defence aspects. There’s just no way we could stop foot traffic from getting through – at all.

  Monitoring this area is going to cost another two lookout positions. But we don’t have another two people to give. We consulted the map to try to find another solution – any way to shut down that area with a minimum of head count. There was talk of getting really aggressive, pushing past the Botanics ourselves and posting a lookout on the other side of no-man’s land in Hackney. While the idea had potential, there was no single point we could find that would act as a sure spot to catch all enemy movements headed our way. Without that guarantee, it just wasn’t worth the risk.

  But it did lead us to realise we have to do some serious planning around how much to make of this weakness of ours. It’s there, plain as day… and to do something meaningful about it is going to cost us more than we can afford. So, do we ignore it, or put in some yet-to-be-thought-of solution using gaffer tape?

  The more you think about this world, the more problems you see, the more you need to fix. Like the Death Star didn’t have enough exhaust ports already.

  We headed back, somewhat defeated, leaving Jonesy in paradise rigging his booby traps. I think he likes making them more than he does building siege weapons – and that’s saying a lot.

  *

  We lost Jonesy on one job and gained Shane for another. We figured now was as good a time as any to go bullet hunting. Is it wrong that we treated the whole exercise like an Easter egg hunt? Well, we did. We figured we were searching for small shiny metallic objects... anyway, that was enough of a similarity to go with it. At one point I was curious as to what the whole Easter egg tradition represented and Kelly reckoned it meant new life or something. That made the connection to our bullet hunt a little harder to make, so we just kind of ignored it. So, apologies to Jesus and whoever else is left that may be potentially offended by it... but it made a shitty job somewhat interesting, so, ya know.

  Kept us entertained for a couple of hours, too. We had a big win about 20 minutes after we started digging when we found a second cabinet buried not far from the first – chockers with cartons of ammo. It also had another six handguns for our collection. There was also another spot a few metres further back from the street, which we decided was the supply room, which was more ammo-rich than the cabinet.

  So, we have to get everything cleaned and inspected to make sure we trust it, but generally, huge ammo win.

  *

  There were plenty of discussion points at the feast tonight with the jail, the ammo and what to do about the Botanics. The biggest point of discussion was the latter. I guess it’s so front of mind that it’s probably getting far more thought than it deserves as one likely weak point. But, once you have knowledge like that in this world – you really can obsess. Jonesy says he’s well into his set-up and by the end of tomorrow the place will be harder to cross than Fort Knox (his words, I don’t think people actually crossed Fort Knox, but still).

  Given everything comes down to our numbers, we have pretty much collectively said, ‘that’ll do’ to Jonesy’s booby traps. So, we kind of all know there’s a potential problem but there’s not much we can realistically do about it. Jonesy has provided the gaffer tape solution and we’re going to roll with it. What else can we do? Apart from get the negative thoughts out of our heads.

  I think I’ll find that harder than most. A big part of our DNA at the oval is playing smart and staying ahead of the game; this whole situation just doesn’t sit well with any of that. Maybe I’ll let it brew in the back of my mind for a while and if things don’t escalate I can maybe find something else to make it safer.

  *

  It’s been a big day and I am totally drained. I wish I could stop thinking of scenarios. It’s really doing my head in. In fact, I might raise that as a suggestion at tomorrow’s feast – total ban on anyone conjuring up any new threat scenarios. We have enough to deal with.

  Every time I think of something new – some other tactic Norwood could use against us – it shines a completely unwanted Hollywood premiere strength light on how utterly unprepared we really are for this whole thing to go down. This then leads to a bunch more work to get up to speed for defensive option E or J or X or whatever we’re up to now, as well as the drain it has on our morale.

  To be fair, I don’t know what more we can do. We’ve seen the enemy up close and have a fair idea of their strengths. We’ve also got a fair idea of how they’ve gone about their previous attacks and we’ve based our defences on that. That’s all you can do really.

  In fact, sometimes I wish this whole damn thing would
just start. That would be easier in a way. It would require action but it would be a whole lot easier on the thoughts in my head.

  I can almost hear my dad now – be careful what you wish for.

  ***

  February 11, 2015

  Yeah, it’s been a few days since I’ve written. It’s actually proving difficult to find the time. The days have been filled with ferrying supplies to the jail and de-ashing the entire place to make it liveable again and generally putting out fires (fixing defensive weaknesses).

  The nights have been something else altogether.

  In fact, mentally I have shifted to a completely different place. Alyce visits me every evening, stays the night, then we go about our work as usual the next morning. It’s only been a few nights but I find myself counting down the hours each day.

  I’m not sure if all of this is an entirely good thing. It can be dangerous letting yourself get close to someone in this world. But then again, maybe it’s equally as dangerous to block that sort of stuff out.

  Either way, there’s something about Alyce... and us... that’s pretty powerful.

  At the very least it has totally rebalanced me around the Norwood threat. I was dedicating every waking moment to that and, while it made me focused and productive – it was draining me at the same time. It feels like I’m in a healthier place around that.

  Last night they spotted the ash sweeper on Greenhill Rd. It cleared another 250m, which means it’s now opened up a couple of possible roads to flank us from. Apparently they also had a car in tow. There were another four people inside, who spent their time facing our way, looking through binoculars and generally strategising.

  I’m not sure if they’re aware of our nearby lookout point or not. If they are, they don’t seem too concerned about being seen. If not... actually, how can there be a not, surely they can’t think they’re not being watched?

  They’re coming. Soon.

  I’m not the only one going through this. We’ve been talking about it a bit at nights. Everyone had been looking quite zombified with the ridiculous amounts of prep we were doing and we kind of had this group realisation about how important it is to stay as fresh as possible.

  We only got a taste of what happened between Norwood and Fullarton, but our guess was the Norwood hubbers had been planting the seeds of war well before they attacked. They were keeping Fullarton on edge, wearing them out mentally before the battle even began.

  Who knows how long that may have gone on for, had we not stepped right into the middle of it all.

  It’s not hard to see why Norwood would do that, either. They have the numbers. It’s a massive tactical advantage, so they can work away on a smaller force in shifts – around the clock – for as long as they want. It’s psychological warfare that wouldn’t take long to have an effect on the enemy.

  Our mission is to be ready to go the moment they set foot on no-man’s land. Then give them everything. We have all the advantage while the fighting is a few hundred metres from the wall. So, we must be ready to go whenever.

  Who knows, that could be tonight. It really could.

  It’s maybe why this connection with Alyce is just so intense. Not only does our connection go back to when the skies used to be blue, it’s my complete getaway from the negative thoughts that dominate my days. Anyway, it’s a lot of things to me.

  *

  Oh, I managed to get a plan in place around the trebuchets, should the worst happen. We’ll destroy any that we abandon. But we’ll use the cars to tow some back to secondary positions within the city walls if we look like getting overrun – one trebuchet for each car in the mayhem (Jonesy’s close to finishing more). Then I’ve found a spot in the new hospital lobby where they can be towed and stay out of sight from the enemy.

  We can’t bring them all the way to the jail right now, as we don’t want the roads heading there. And it’s certainly too much for Phoenix... even three Phoenixes... to tow.

  So we can get them out of sight and covered up as we bug out. Then we can either get them back as we need them, or salvage the materials for building out on the coast.

  Best get back to not thinking about war too much.

  ***

  February 13, 2015

  Last night Asha spotted a couple of hubbers attempting to cross no-man’s land at around 3am. She didn’t pick them up until they got to within about 40m of our border. She fired a warning shot to encourage them to cease and desist. They must’ve seen the general direction of the shot, because instead of running they fired back – idiots. She called it in to base before engaging. After a quick exchange of fire, one was down (shot), while the other fled.

  That’s the scene that greeted us when we arrived. As well as a very shaken Asha. I’m not sure if it was what had happened (you know, shooting someone), or the thought of the many potentially worse outcomes that could’ve occurred, or how quick it all happened, or a combination of everything, but she was hurting. Actually, we all are. That’s a serious escalation from Norwood. In reality, it’s probably the moment this situation has gone from a status of potential to actual.

  And it all happened so fast – over before we could get there.

  As for the response... we had a team ready to fight within a few minutes. Not ideal for Asha had it all gone pear-shaped, but it’s pretty good considering the logistics.

  Actually, I’m not even convinced by the above statement. I think it’s just an auto-comment to try to find a positive in the situation. There’s a whole lot of not positive in this, I know that. Hell, my hands are still shaking.

  As for the guy in no-man’s land, well, he wasn’t dead when we got there. He was actually screaming in pain. This gave us a whole bunch of problems we hadn’t really thought about at all. Travis wanted to leave him there, hoping he would bleed out or whatever, while Nate wanted to finish him off from the safety of the lookout, while Asha suggested going into no-man’s land to see if he was OK. Basically, three totally unappealing options, for their own reasons. Whatever we did, one of us was doing something they didn’t want to do.

  It’s funny – in a not actually funny kind of a way – the first actual incident to happen and it is something we are totally unprepared for... yet we’ve been preparing for weeks.

  Anyway, Asha was determined to finish her shift, so Travis, Nate and I decided to keep her company. As far as the injured Norwood guy was concerned, we decided to do nothing until first light. If the enemy decided to wave a white flag and retrieve him, we would let them. I think everyone was hoping something would happen to take any awful decision away from us.

  No one came for him from the east. Then, just before dawn, the cries of pain stopped. As first light hinted over the top of the hills, Travis and Nate dragged the body up to the start of Rundle Rd in Kent Town – a good 400m. Asha and I covered them from the lookout.

  We didn’t just dump him there, well, we did... but we left a note on the body – cross no-man’s land and the same will happen to you.

  It’s probably a good result, given the circumstances, really. A strong message. Yet we did the decent thing and put the body where they could retrieve it without raising tensions again.

  I’m not sure they’ll view it the same way in Norwood, but what else were we going to do?

  So, whether we like it or not, this thing has started. There’s no going back now. It’s a thought that makes me feel determined, scared and numb... at the same time. This is big. This is huge.

  *

  Thankfully, Asha was in pretty good shape when she arrived back to camp in the morning. She was definitely shaken, but she was good. Well, as good as you could seem, I guess.

  *

  Everyone is wearing that battle of thoughts on their face today. I feel the added pressure of finding that right mental zone myself – to be the definition of being chill, or as Shane would calls it, staying frosty. But I’m realising how flaky I am right now as well. And not just this – everything. My emotions are going into overdriv
e around everything. The Alyce thing – am I ready? Do I want that? Is it putting me in the best place to keep me alive, or is it taking my eyes off the ball? And what would Fi think if she knew? Why am I even thinking of this when there is so much more to concern myself with?

  I’m a bit of a mess right now. I’m just hoping it will naturally settle. I just have no idea how to make that happen.

  *

  We had discussion over the North/East Tce lookout this afternoon. We feel it’s a risky strategic point, now that one person has returned to Norwood probably knowing its location. That is not a situation you want to be putting anyone in by themselves. It would be potentially pretty easy to cross no-man’s land out of sight further south, then sneak into the Botanic Hotel and take out the lookout before they knew what hit them. Then who knows what damage could be done before we found out.

  So it’s two people on the night shift there from now on, with the second being a lookout for the lookout. Shane is also heading out today to rig up some sensor lights and booby traps inside the hotel, should anyone try to take it.

  *

  I am losing the frosty with each thing I think about at the moment. Frosty has melted.

  *

  Nate has this theory. He reckons they’ll try to time their attack with the new moon, which looks like it’s a week away, tops. It makes sense too, I guess the darker it is when they make their move, the better it is for them crossing no-man’s land. We should really assume Norwood are thinking about things at that level of detail. Even if they’re not, we are entering a pretty dangerous week of conditions, with already faint moonlight dying a little bit more each night off to, well, nothing in a week.

  This does not help the pool of cool water that used to be was my state of frosty.

  Nate reckons even in 2-3 days it will effectively be nothing in the current visibility conditions. That is far from good news.