Chapter Seventeen
I remained on the perimeter of the town and inside the heavily secured, “Fort Baxter”, my grandpa and father would be proud of what I accomplished. A few of the neighbors walked through the front fencing and made their way up to the front door of the house and knocked, “Baxter, are you in there?” I opened the door to find Tom and his son in his arms. His son was blue and motionless, “He was attacked Baxter. My little boy was attacked.”
“Tom, there is nothing you can do. Take him home and give him a proper burial.” Tom didn’t reply and turned, walking towards the exit of the fencing. I walked out of the house, through the front and out to the perimeter fencing. I thought to myself, if one of the neighbors can easily make it through the fencing and Tom’s son was attacked, then the town’s perimeter must have been breached. Those infected creatures would now be roaming the town and none of the families in the surrounding rural area were safe. I was not even safe from the neighbors. How would I be able to determine who was infected and who was not? I returned to the home, after placing additional fencing above the original fence. It was now over seven feet tall and was also re-enforced with wood and metal.
I walked with the dogs, through the back yard and into the corn. It was early November and the air was becoming crisp, but it was still unseasonably warm. The sun was slowly being eaten by the horizon and the rays stretched across the colorful landscape. I turned and looked over the land and spotted a group of people driving from another group of infected. Better get down, my instincts called out to me.
The dogs were at my side, sensing there was trouble and began to lick at my hands. “Alright, alright, let’s get back inside, you two are probably hungry right?” We rushed from the corn field and back inside the house. I watched, as the group fleeing the infected began firing on them, shooting a few and then driving into the distance.
The frogs and the crickets were chirping and the insects were buzzing in swarms around the fields and ranches. I turned on the flood lights surrounding the house and climbed onto the roof of the house, making my way across the roof and to the satellite dish. If I could reposition it correctly, maybe I could bypass the communication blackout and get a signal. Satellite internet access is internet access provided through satellites and the service can be provided through low Earth orbit satellites. Geostationary satellites can offer higher data speeds, but their signals can not reach some polar regions of the world. Different types of satellite systems have a wide range of different features and technical limitations, which can greatly affect their usefulness and performance in specific applications. Latency is the delay between requesting data and the receipt of a response, or in the case of one-way communication, between the actual moment of a signal’s broadcast and the time it is received at its destination. Compared to ground-based communication, all geostationary satellite communications experience high latency due to the signal having to travel 22,236 miles to a satellite in geostationary orbit and back to Earth again. A geostationary orbit with a period equal to the Earth’s rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero.
An object, in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers. Communications satellites and weather satellites are often given geostationary orbits, so that the satellite antennas that communicate with them do not have to move to track them, but can be pointed permanently at the position in the sky where they stay.
In my telecommunications and technology classes, I was taught internet latency mentioned above, making satellite Internet service problematic for applications requiring real-time user input, such as online games or remote surgery. This delay can also be irritating and debilitating with interactive applications, such as VoIP, videoconferencing, or other person-to-person communication. It will cause most general market applications to behave unpredictably and fail, as these are not designed for the difficult compensation required for the high-latency connections.
The functionality of live interactive access to a distant computer can be impaired by high latency. While these problems may be tolerable for basic email access and web browsing, the use of character-by-character command shell or virtual private networks is almost impossible through geostationary connections.
For geostationary satellites, there is no way to eliminate latency, but the problem can be somewhat mitigated in internet communications with TCP acceleration features that shorten the round trip time, per packet, by splitting the feedback loop between the sender and the receiver. Such acceleration features are usually present in recent technology developments embedded in new satellite Internet services. All this information, I thought, seemed unimportant in learning at the time, however, at the time I was learning it my town wasn’t under quarantine and there wasn’t an infection turning people into zombies!
Satellite communications are affected by moisture and various forms of precipitation, in the signal path, between end users or ground stations and the satellite being utilized. The amount of time during which service is lost can be reduced by increasing the size of the satellite communication dish, so as to gather more of the satellite signal on the downlink and also to provide a stronger signal on the uplink. Large commercial dishes of 3.7 m to 13 m diameter are used to achieve large rain margins and also to reduce the cost per bit by requiring far less power from the satellite.
Typically, a completely clear line of sight between the dish and the satellite, is required for the system to work. In addition to the signal being susceptible to absorption and scattering by moisture, the signal is similarly impacted by the presence of trees and other vegetation in the path of the signal.
Two-way satellite Internet service involves both sending and receiving data from the remote VSAT site via satellite to a hub teleport, which relays data via the terrestrial Internet. The satellite dish at each location must be precisely pointed to avoid interference with other satellites. The two way satellite market can be divided into those systems that support professional applications, such as banking, retail etc. And those built to provide a home or small business users with access.
The key difference between these systems can be seen in their ability to support advanced quality of service controls. While systems for professionals such as those from iDirect will allow the operator to define and meet strict service level agreements, those used for consumer access provide a ‘best effort’ service level.
Home users tend to use shared satellite capacity to reduce the cost, while still allowing high peak bit rates when congestion is absent. There are usually restrictive time-based bandwidth allowances, so each user gets their fair share, according to their payment. When a user exceeds their allowance, the company may slow down their access, deprioritise their traffic or charge for the excess bandwidth used.
Each remote location may also be equipped with a telephone modem; the connections for this are as with a conventional dial-up ISP. Two-way satellite systems may sometimes use the modem channel, in both directions, for data where latency is more important than bandwidth, reserving the satellite channel for download data where bandwidth is more important than latency, such as for file transfers.
Internet connection: The ISP’s routers connect to proxy servers, which can enforce quality of service bandwidth limits and guarantees for user traffic. These are then connected to a DVB encapsulator which is then connected to a DVB-S modulator. The radio frequency signal, from the DVB-S modulator, is connected to an up converter which is connected via feed line to the outdoor unit. Satellite uplink: The block upconverter and optional low-noise block converter, which may use a waveguide to connect to the optional orthomode transducer, which is bolted to the feed horn, which is connected by metal supports to the satellite dish and mount.
Many IP-over-satellite implementations use paired proxy servers at both endpoints so that certain communications between clients and servers do not need to accept the latency inherent in a satellite connection. For similar reasons, there exist
special Virtual private network implementations designed for use over satellite links because standard VPN software cannot handle the long packet travel times.
One-way multicast satellite Internet systems are used for Internet Protocol multicast-based data, audio and video distribution. In the U.S., a Federal Communications Commission license is required only for the uplink station and no license is required for users. Note that most Internet protocols will not work correctly over one-way access, since they require a return channel. However, Internet content such as web pages can still be distributed over a one-way system by “pushing” them out to local storage at end user sites, though full interactivity is not possible. This is much like TV or radio content which offers little user interface.
I moved the satellite to the right and pointed it North, in the direction of the larger city, Salt Lake, climbed from the roof and went back into the house. My dogs, Sammy and Sally remained in the backyard and were running back and forth, chasing each other’s tail. I turned on the television and the computer, made a few adjustments and hacked into the military’s communication feed. I was able to gain internet access and television and immediately began doing my own zombie research.
The internet had numerous websites and information on zombie’s, movies and other useful information. Some of it has been just a novelty and was really not going to help me out. I did find one site that contained some great stuff. This will help me out immensely. There were several common themes noted and tropes that create a zombie apocalypse. Initial contacts with zombies are extremely traumatic, causing shock, panic, disbelief and possibly denial, hampering the survivors’ ability to deal with hostile encounters. The response of the authorities to the threat is slower than its rate of growth, giving the zombie plague time to expand beyond containment. This results in the collapse of the given society.
Zombies take full control, while small groups of the living must fight for their survival. The stories usually follow a single group of survivors, caught up in the sudden rush of the crisis. The narrative generally progresses from the onset of the zombie plague, then initial attempts to seek the aid of the authorities, the failure of those authorities, through to the sudden catastrophic collapse of all large-scale organizations and the characters’ subsequent attempts to survive on their own.
Such stories are often squarely focused on the way their characters react to such an extreme catastrophe and how their personalities are changed by the stress, often acting on more primal motivations than they would display in normal life. Generally, the zombies in these situations are the slow, lumbering and unintelligent kind first made popular in the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Motion pictures created within the 2000s, however, have featured zombies that are more agile, vicious, intelligent and stronger than the traditional zombie.
In many cases of “fast” zombies, creators use living humans infected with a pathogen, instead of re-animated corpses, to avoid the “slow death walk” of Romero's variety of zombies. These first came about with the 1985 film “Return of the Living Dead.” According to a 2009 epidemiological analysis, an outbreak of even Living Dead’s slow zombies “is likely to lead to the collapse of civilization, unless it is dealt with quickly.”
Based on their mathematical modeling, the authors concluded that offensive strategies were much more reliable than quarantine strategies, due to various risks that can compromise quarantine. They also found that discovering a cure would merely leave a few humans alive, since this would do little to slow the infection rate. On a longer time scale, the researchers found that all humans end up turned or dead.
This is because the main epidemiological risk of zombies, besides the difficulties of neutralizing them, is that their population just keeps increasing; generations of humans merely “surviving” still have a tendency to feed zombie populations, resulting in gross outnumbering. The researchers explain that their methods of modeling may be applied to the spread of political views or diseases with dormant infection.
Another article presented an official release, it read, 2011 CDC warning about the zombie apocalypse. On May 18, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an article, Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse provides tips on preparing to survive a zombie invasion. The article does not claim an outbreak is likely or imminent, but states: “That’s right; I said z-o-m-b-i-e A-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this....”
The CDC went on to summarize cultural references to a zombie apocalypse. It uses these to underscore the value of laying in water, food, medical supplies and other necessaries in preparation for any and all potential disasters, be they hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, or hordes of ravenous brain-devouring undead.
Through ancient voodoo and folklore traditions, shows like the Walking Dead were born. In movies, shows and literature, zombies are often depicted as being created by an infectious virus, which is passed on via bites and contact with bodily fluids. The Zombie Survival Guide identifies the cause of zombies as a virus called solanum. Other zombie origins shown in films include radiation from a destroyed NASA Venus probe as in Night of the Living Dead, as well as mutations of existing conditions such as prions, mad-cow disease, measles and rabies.
The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets, eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?” Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too! I thought to myself here it is, the mother load, everything I needed should be listed on this website. I continued reading and had a notepad close by, in case I needed to write down any information.
So what do you need to do before zombies or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies, to get you through the first couple of days, before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time, until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter, or utility lines are restored.
Below are a few items you should include, in your kit, for a full list visit the CDC Emergency page; Water, at least 1 gallon per person, per day, food, which you should stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly. Medications including prescription and non-prescription medications, tools and supplies, such as a utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.
Sanitation and Hygiene including; household bleach, soap, towels, etc. Clothing and bedding and a change of clothes for each family member and blankets, important documents, copies of your driver’s license, passport and birth certificate to name a few, first aid supplies. Although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane.
Once you’ve made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency. Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area. Besides a zombie apocalypse, this may include floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If you are unsure contact your local Red Cross chapter for more information.
Pick a meeting place for your family, to regroup, in case zombies invade your home or your town evacuates because of a hurricane. Pick one place, right outside your home, for sudden emergencies and one place, outside of your neighborhood, in case you are unable to return home right away.
Identify your emergency contacts and make a list of local contacts like the police, fire department and your local zombie response team. Also, identify an out-of-state co
ntact that you can call during an emergency to let the rest of your family know you are ok. Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., Brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take, ahead of time, so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.
If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts and infection control, including isolation and quarantine. “Just like what is happening in and to my town” I said out loud, great, now I am talking to myself.
It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals. Determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection. Learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, then how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases and how patients can best be treated.
Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but the CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders, to help those in affected areas. Reading all of this information and knowing what I know about viral, infectious outbreaks, it was most likely going to be lights out for anyone infected, or remaining in the town.
Chapter Eighteen
A day had passed, with little incident. I watched the landscape, through my windows, on the second floor of my house and pacing nervously from room to room. In the distance, there were families defending their yards and doing it very successfully, using large caliber hunting rifles to shoot the infected entering their ranches and property.
Dead in Love Page 19