Living With the Dead: Year One

by Joshua Guess

  The ice made the world shine and sparkle. You could still see what was under it in some places where the snow had been thin, and it was beautiful. Everything had this layer of diamond covering it, yes, but you could still see what lay beneath. I was hit by the sheer awesomeness of it. It may not seem very important to some of you, but I'm a strange guy.

  Taking small pleasures where we can find them is vital to continuing to survive. Life in our world of the dead is so hard at times, and there is little to console us at the end of the day. We go to sleep when there is enough heat to ensure that we won't die of exposure in the night, knowing that the next day will be just as difficult and full of danger. Our survival instincts make us go on, to do our best. To live.

  Taking a moment to witness and appreciate something as simple as the amazing power of nature to candy-coat the world in a single night helps me. I think a lot of people get through the day by finding small joys in the everyday routine. Watching a leaf dance in the breeze. Making someone smile.

  Shooting a zombie in the face. That one seems to do it for a lot of people.

  We're going to be busy over the next few days, trying to stock up on firewood and supplies if at all possible. The rain made a lot of the snow melt, but there's still a lot of it out there. Since we've seen how badly the zombies outside fare on the ice, we want to take advantage of that while we can to really prepare for a long haul here. We are trying to find more propane as well, so that we can use the generator more often. As it is we only use it when we have to in an effort to conserve fuel. That first day was so bitter cold that we really didn't have a choice but to turn it on, though I regret the need now...

  I will try my best to post in the next few days, but no promises. My hope is to hear something (anything, really) from Patrick soon, and Gabrielle or Aaron might be posting again in the near future. Be safe, be warm, be cautious.

  And for your own good, take a look outside tomorrow and try to find something beautiful to enjoy.

  at 8:30 PM

  Saturday, December 18, 2010

  Cold Hard Numbers

  Posted by Josh Guess

  It's been a busy few days. There was a minor zombie attack yesterday when it warmed up just enough to make the ice weak. None of them managed to even break a window before we cut them down, but it was a reminder to all of us that we aren't at home anymore. The safety of the compound combined with the winter weather made it hard for many of us to be so constantly on the alert, which is understandable given how mentally and physically draining that can be.

  Today, though, is cold enough that all the melt froze over, harder and slicker than before. So for now, we're good.

  I've been in touch with a lot of people over the last few days, trying to get a feel for how everyone is doing. Patrick is still out of contact with us, though I'm not at all surprised by that. He's trying to get all the way to Florida by himself, so we don't expect him to have a lot of free time (or the ability more often than not) to talk with us. Gabrielle and her group are doing well. Very well, but I will leave that for her post tomorrow. She'd kill me if I ruined the surprise.

  I've talked to Courtney briefly about her exploits out in the wider USA, but she's insanely busy managing the relief effort so I don't know if she will be able to post anything in the near future. I have been trying to encourage Aaron to come out of his shell a bit more, wherever he is, and write some more posts on the blog. He's got the free time to do it with his injuries, and I think for the most part the kids have their camp secured...

  I've talked to Jack's people in Michigan, and they are doing well. Their food supplies are holding up, power is fairly strong considering the cloudy skies and dimmer winter sun, but otherwise everything is good for them. Except that most of the people a his compound are really, really pissed about Will and the Richmond soldiers taking our home from us.

  You have to remember, Will was something of a hero to those folks. Not that we didn't regard him with a lot of respect, but Jack's people saw him do amazing things. Heroic, stupidly brave things. They saw his mind work in creative and powerful ways to defend their home, which makes his betrayal of us that much worse. I've cautioned those I've talked with to keep an open mind, because in the end our lives right now boil down to survival. If, down the road, Jack's people need the food that my former home provides, it would behoove them to keep civil. There aren't a lot of options for most survivors, and I would hate to see Jack's people cut off if they were in dire circumstances.

  That's why none of us went there when we ran. Jack offered us a safe haven, confident that his vastly superior numbers and distant location would keep his home from being threatened. None of us were willing to risk it, though, and I'm glad that Jack is the kind of thinker that sees the wisdom of neutrality when feasible.

  The reason I spent so much of my day yesterday and this morning trying to get in contact with people was actually because of the SnowTroopers. (Yes, I finally gave in and started calling them that. Because it's shorter and easier than "Cold-resistant zombies" and frankly, it just sounds cool as hell.)

  I've been trying to get some info from the others about whether or not they've been seeing these types of zombies and in what kind of numbers. Around here there are only a few dozen at any given time up and about. Gabby previously reported that there were a similar number where she is located. I thought, before yesterday, that the number of them relative to the number of normal zombies was about the same as the smart zombies, maybe one in ten.

  Apparently I was wrong. Jack's folks have reported seeing hundreds of them in big herds up north, sometimes entire groups of hibernating zombies getting up and moving. Thank god that they're so stiff from the ice in their bodies that they have a hard time moving at first, because that makes them easier to kill. Courtney has gathered reports from most of the people she's met, and the numbers vary pretty widely across the board. Some places have swarms of hundreds, while others will have maybe a few out of a group of a hundred rise while it's still cold. I don't know what to make of it, but I'm going to keep trying to figure this out.

  I need something to work on, besides this blog and staying alive. Being stuck in this nursing home means that my world has gotten a lot smaller in the last few days. I want to do something bigger to help out the rest of you. So keep me informed, alright?

  Gabby will be posting tomorrow, and I think you'll enjoy it.

  at 9:06 AM

  Sunday, December 19, 2010

  Scrubs

  Posted by Gabrielle

  We've got some good mojo going on here. Our group has decided to stay for a while in the small town with the two hospitals. I know Josh told you guys that we had some exciting news, but I don't know how big a deal it will be to people.

  There are resources here, a lot of them. We have access to electricity from the generators, and between the two hospitals we're pretty well stocked up. There's a LOT of stuff. The weird thing is, once I posted about this place, some survivors that live near here figured out where I was talking about. They started coming here in small groups for medical care.

  At first, it was just some people who needed stitches or a bone set. Maybe some antibiotics. Then they would leave, giving us food or other necessities in payment. That was how it was the first few days. Then, people started showing up with vehicles packed with their stuff. Most of them needed medical attention to some degree, but a few just wanted to be close to doctors and nurses.

  Some of them have brought us even more medical supplies, and they aren't charging for any of it. It makes sense. If you want to live next to what might be the only skilled treatment within a hundred miles, you want those professionals well stocked. So now we have a community growing here, increasing every day. Not big numbers, of course, but about triple what we had just a week ago. I know we couldn't share this place so easily if the newcomers weren't bringing supplies, but as long as they do none of us can see any reason to turn them away.

  Evans and our new doctor feel that this is
an excellent way to build good relations with the outside word. I agree, though some are still angry that we have to charge for our services. Also, we are really only running at about half capacity, since our second doctor (who still doesn't want his name shared, so we'll call him Doc Two) hasn't dealt with the sort of injuries and illnesses we've been managing since The Fall began. He's an Oncologist, and before the dead began to rise, a pretty wealthy one. He hasn't seen ER duty since his rotation in med school, so he's back on a refresher with Evans.

  That's the big news. Slowly but surely we're building a group of people around us. Most of them have said that they want to come with us when we leave, and that's great. More survivors with us means that humanity has a chance to survive, and with me and the Doctors here to keep them healthy, those chances just got better.

  at 8:50 AM

  Monday, December 20, 2010

  Across the Ice

  Posted by Josh Guess

  Just posting during a lull to let you all know that we're under attack here. The ice is still everywhere, but that isn't stopping a large group of zombies from getting up the hill to the nursing home. There are more than we've seen in one group since we've gotten here, maybe sixty all together, and they seem to be concentrating their efforts on the western wall, the one we use as a watchpost. The window we've been using as a lookout has been shattered, and a few of them actually got into that room.

  Thankfully we were awake when it happened, and the lookout responded fast. He backed out of the room when the first crack appeared in the glass, and locked the door. We came in through the shared bathroom and cut down the zombies in there before blocking off the broken window.

  They're still out there, and while the sound of their frozen hands beating on the walls and windows has slowed, it hasn't stopped. We're going to bite the bullet and get onto the roof to start picking them off. Which uses ammo we can't easily replace as well as sending out a huge dinner bell to any zombies within a few miles.

  And to any people out there as well...

  Got to get to it, just wanted to update you all. Will post tomorrow if things have calmed down by then.

  at 8:10 AM

  Tuesday, December 21, 2010

  Better Living Through Chemistry

  Posted by Aaron

  This is Aaron again. Figure I'd post up another update for everybody.

  So a bit of advice for those out there surviving the zombie apocalypse. Attempting to remove a bullet in one's leg without any sort of heavy medication is dang near impossible. However, having an eight year old attempting to remove the same bullet is downright terrifying. Fortunate for me, I watched Evans and Gabby do this enough to at least have some idea on how to walk someone else through it. That and I know a good amount about the human body. Maybe not the exact names of certain things, but where they are and what they do most definitely. So thanks to Allan (one of the four that was trapped with me) I no longer have a bullet in my leg. I'm still unable to walk on it though, but at least now it has the chance to heal properly. But honestly, this isn't why I'm updating. Don't get me wrong. I'm very excited about having that bullet out, but some things are far more important.

  Like, how we managed to secure the school. Yes, we're secured. The raiders for the most part are dead, though a few did escape. I doubt they'll get very far though. Like Josh, we're under a bit of siege, though not by nearly as many, thankfully. This school is not even remotely zombie proof. I've gotten the kids to work on boarding up the massive windows in the classroom I'm held up in, and we've blocked off most the other entrances on our side of the school (it's too large to explore throughly at the moment). I've been told they/re actually trying to make this place a bit of a maze, in case anyone else tries to invade our temporary home. Of course, it's a home we just stole from some other folks. I know in the last post I painted them as raiders and such. But honestly, I don't know for certain. I can only assume the fact that they fired upon our group which had a bunch of children in it that it was the case. Then again, they might not have known. They didn't really put forth much of an effort to flush us out of the room, though they might've just assumed we'd eventually starve to death. It's a hard call. Can't really ask them now, can I? Oh well. Still I have five dead children and three dead adults, so forgive me if I don't seem too terribly upset about it.

  Ugh, I really wish Gabby or Evans was here about now. I was glad to hear they were doing well wherever they are. Still, this leg is killing me. Maybe I can have Philip figure out some way to use the chemicals in the lab to make some sort of heavy duty painkiller.

  Oh yeah. Yeah. Philip found the chemistry lab. Rather Gregg found it, but Philip put it to use. It's find was a major contributer to overtaking and ousting the occupants of the cafeteria. Basically the run of it is this; Philip used to go to a public school before the fall, and anyone whose been to public school knows that most schools come equipped with chemistry labs in varying degrees. Typically they store the chemicals you work with in one of the large glass cabinets that are surprisingly easy to break into. Philip sent Gregg (via the vents) to find this school's. Apparently this school got a substantial amount of state funding, because it had a very nice chemistry lab. Even had a working eye wash apparently. Imagine that. Even had all the chemicals properly labelled or so I'm told. So a little bit of saltpeter, some sugar, a little bit of baking soda, some aluminum foil and two Bunsen burners later, Philip and his group had a handful of smoke bombs. I'm not sure how the battle went exactly. However, I'm told Philip and the other kids took down 5 of them before they even had a chance to react. The last three made a run for it. One of those guys was knifed down by Tanya and Gregg. The other two got away or so it sounds anyways.

  I'm not sure how I feel about what the children did to be honest. Part of me is proud that they did what was necessary for survival. The fact that they've killed now, that worries me. Gregg and Tanya both seem so much more withdrawn, though they follow Philip around like puppies. Philip's more or less taken charge of things here, since I'm mostly out of commission. Though he does come to talk to me at great lengths now, discussing this plan or the next. He's a smart kid with a good head on his shoulders. Though, I feel like he's enjoying this being in charge thing a bit too much. Still, what am I gonna do? I'm pretty much immobile, and unlike me, he's not gotten anyone killed, yet.

  at 2:07 PM

  Wednesday, December 22, 2010

  Looking For Direction

  Posted by Josh Guess

  It has become painfully clear that we can't stay in this nursing home for much longer. The snow and ice are almost gone, whisked away by a night of rain and temperatures in the high thirties. That let every cold-proof zombie have free reign to get to this building over the last day. We managed to fend them off long enough to secure ourselves in a couple of rooms, but we're heading out today.

  I'm glad we took the time to harvest supplies the other day. There were lots of cars to siphon fuel from, and we even managed to squeeze in some more gas cans for each of our vehicles. The food we've found here will replace a lot of what we've used over the last few weeks. We're as well stocked and provisioned as we can be, better even than we were when we left the compound.

  The only real problem is that we don't have a destination in mind. We don't want to head toward any of the places that the Richmond soldiers know about--we'd rather not endanger our allies by taking refuge with them. We have a few ideas about where we might go, but most of the safe spots we've heard about aren't much more than rumor and speculation. The driving factors for us are simple:

  We're a group of more than thirty people, and anywhere we go has to be suitable for those numbers.

  We're fugitives from our own home, which means that moving back toward that home is not an option.

  We've got full tanks of gas for each of our vehicles, and enough extra to refill twice each.

  The last one is the most pressing. We've got to assume that the fuel we have is all we're going to get. We have to plan our exit s
o that wherever we end up, we don't run out before we get there. Today is going to be our last day here any way we cut it, that's certain. This morning is the time when we'll decide where we're headed.

  I knew we wouldn't be here forever, but I had hoped that we could at least last out the month. There's plenty of propane left in the generator, more canned food than we can take with us, and a total lack of living human beings anywhere nearby. The reality remains that this nursing home just isn't as defensible as it could have been given the right time and materials, but we don't have either.

  Gabrielle and her group are doing well, so maybe we'll try to get where they are. It would take a lot of driving and a lot of luck, but I don't think it would be any more difficult or risky than trying to go somewhere we've never been in hopes of finding anything near as good as the place we're leaving. There's always the option to head in the direction of Courtney and her roving group of people, but when she left the compound to run her mission of goodwill and to lend aid, somehow I didn't see her having to give that aid to us. That's a flimsy option, anyway, given how often they move around and how patchy communication with her is.