Apocalypse Diary of a Survivor [Book 3]

by Matt J. Pike

***

  January 30, 2015

  We didn’t get in until late last night. There was plenty of food left over for us though, and not a soul had left, all awaiting our return and to hear about what we had seen.

  So, we told our story. We all kind of took turns leading storytelling duty, or jumped in to add a detail that may have been missed or was really relevant in the context of something else. By the end of it there wasn’t a detail left out I don’t think – nothing of note, anyway.

  Seeing the looks in everyone’s eyes summed up the level of danger we were in. We were barraged by a thousand questions and answered as many as we could. It was a lot for everyone to take in, even us... especially us.

  Eventually the conversation turned to what we were going to do next.

  If the small piece of ash clearing on The Parade was the path they were using to get to us, they had about two kilometres to dig through before they could be in spot to breech our defences and change the game in the city forever. The last 500m of that was over totally exposed no-man’s land, where they’d be sitting ducks to us... if we were prepared.

  They had vehicles... and access to many more. Who knew the size of the potential fleet that could invade if our walls were breeched. And while we absolutely know they will be back, we also know that right now they are finding lucrative, and less dangerous, grounds elsewhere. It keeps them away for now, but it also makes them stronger with each trip – more food, more vehicle finds, more weapons, more morale. Next time we meet, they will be just as confident as last time, but stronger and better prepared.

  So, whatever the length of this window of opportunity to prepare, we have to make the most of it. Fishing trips to the beach are already a distant memory. Every second, every thought, every minute’s work must be done under the single driven focus of preparing for war.

  There were a bunch of ideas getting thrown around, but it was decided an all-in in the war room was the way to go.

  *

  ...which is exactly where I’ve gotten back from as I write now. It was a pretty intense meeting – a lot of passion from a lot of people. So many ideas were thrown out, but with limited people resources and, potentially, time, we had to focus on the big stuff. Lana and Shane actually did a really good job of keeping everything as focused and on-track as possible.

  So, after all was said and done this morning, here are the plans:

  A secondary wall – along each vehicle access point into the CBD, built behind the first. The distance back will vary, depending on the location, but essentially, the second wall will lock them in after they breech the first, leaving them totally exposed until they break through wall No.2. We will scout all available points of advantage at each location, so no matter which way they try to come in, we can get ourselves into advantage in the moments they are at their weakest.

  Weapons – that’s where we’ll need to think thoroughly about exactly what we can use to cause as much chaos as possible. While they are stuck between walls, we need to unleash hell. Shock and awe. The problem is, we don’t exactly know what that is yet. Shane has been put in charge of making this happen, and I fear for the Norwood hubbers as to what he’s going to come up with.

  No-go roads – we are going to booby trap certain sections of roads within the CBD. Nothing too fancy, just litter the roads with anything sharp we can find that’s likely to cause a puncture. These will be stretches of street we just don’t use for our daily needs, but which may potentially slow down the enemy. We will also be lining the road between the two walls with sharps as well. Every vehicle we can take out before they get close to home is a bonus.

  No straight lines – We must also be wary of creating long straight lines of road. If the enemy do manage to get on our turf in numbers, it’s not just the big rig that would be a weapon. If they had the room to get cars up to a decent speed that could spell a bunch of problems for us – lethal problems. It’s just another reason to make sure the road network I slow for us and maze-like for the unfamiliar.

  Reassess wall protection – the defensive walls we’ve created within the CBD, particularly around the oval, were designed with an invasion on foot in mind (back in the days we thought we had the technological advantage). That has changed and so does how we set up in defence. Ashleigh – the newbie dad with the two boys – is taking charge of this.

  Bug-out locations – we know they’ll make a bee-line for the oval on arrival. If everything we’re doing in preparation doesn’t hold them back and we are overwhelmed, we need a back-up location. Survival is the key. And we always have to have a plan for the worst-case scenario. We need to give ourselves enough supplies to make it through to the beach and build shelters that can see us through a winter. Simple stuff, travel light – cut and run basically.

  And finally, my favourite...

  Catapult – once Jonesy’s got the six cars up and running, he is going to start constructing a catapult. Apparently it’s something he’s always wanted to do and he’s seen a couple of documentaries on it... as you do! Anyway, the theory being, when they do head our way, they will have nearly 500m of open ash to plough through before they can roll into town. And a large catapult... or two... has the perfect range to hit them.

  It’s a genius idea in this post-rock world and almost the perfect weapon in our situation. It does make me wonder about Jonesy, though.

  In fact, I think he must’ve had a screw loose pre-rock... or it’s coming loose now. He’s got a few siege weapons he wants to build to hit them while they’re in no-man’s land. There’s also something called a ballista, which is essentially a giant crossbow! I can’t even imagine the damage that would do to cars... or people... eww. But he reckons he knows exactly how to make all this stuff. It’s almost like his entire life was leading to the moment where he could use these skills in a positive way... and now it was here. Never seen the man so excited... and I’m including the moment he rolled into the oval with the first working vehicle.

  Note to self: I must always appreciate the fact he’s on our side.

  So that’s the plans. Meanwhile, Ye-jun, Kelly and I will continue to monitor their progress beyond no-man’s land. We’re going to hang back for a while, though. We are assuming what we saw yesterday was pretty much the daily routine in Norwood – it sure looked that way. So, we can assume they have no night lookout shift and they pretty much roll out an hour after dawn and back an hour before dusk – give or take. It gives us something to work around.

  Anyway, we need to map their roads as mission critical. It’s a great way to stay at arm’s length from them, but matching up what we’ve already seen with their movements, should really help tell us more about their plans.

  We also need to monitor their progress of clearing the ash west down The Parade. We need to know if that’s something that is ongoing and, if so, how fast it’s happening. That will tell us when they’re likely to clear their way to no-man’s land... and when we should be ready for war.

  We’ll also be involved in scouting second wall locations and planning our defences around that with Shane, and helping Jonesy find some ammo for his catapult.

  Excited, nervous, scared… and most certainly busy!

  *

  Kelly, Ye-jun and I spent an hour or two poring over maps before we hit the road just after lunch.

  Defence wise, there are 10 roads coming in from the east and another five from the south. The east is still the priority, as that’s the obvious attack point for them – it’s the closest and it’s where they’re digging towards. So, starting at North Tce – where they breeched the other night – and working our way across each intersection to South Tce, the first three streets are so much more likely to be their way in, so they’re the highest priority.

  Based on the map, and our memories of how each of the intersections currently stand (in terms of rubble on the road and the state of the surrounding buildings), we drew up plans of where we thought the secondary walls should be constructed.

  We’re als
o going to try to source some ammunition for the future catapult. Oh, apparently I should stop using the term catapult, as Jonesy is planning to build what’s called a trebuchet. It’s a type of catapult… just different. And this difference appears somewhat important to Jonesy as he’s corrected me three times on the matter already. So, there you go – trebuchet. At the end of the day as long as it can launch a heavy object over a decent distance at high speed, I don’t care what it’s called.

  PS – the fact he knows the difference between these two things fills me with more confidence that he will build something seriously kickass. It would be another game-changer back our way too, because it would make crossing no-man’s land – on foot or in vehicle – one scary trip to make.

  The most abundant resource to hurl towards the enemy would be rubble. It’s probably the second most available commodity in the CBD, behind ash. And, while that’s great, Jonesy reckons the best results, in terms of accuracy, would be something round, smooth and consistent in size and weight.

  See, the whole trebuchet firing system is a bit trial and error. You put the payload in the sling, which is connected to a throwing arm. At the other end is a counterweight, and once the engine is triggered into life, gravity drops the counterweight, which sends the payload in the sling hurtling forward, well, hopefully, hundreds of metres away. Once you’ve fired, you can move the angle of the trebuchet to change your aim, then adjust how high you position the counterweight to control your distance. It’s a pretty inexact science really, but you can get the aim pretty spot on after a few firings – says Jonesy. Of course, if each object you put into the sling is a different weight and shape, that all affects the accuracy and distance. And if you’re basing your next firing off the results of the last, well, the more similar each projectile is to the one before, the more accurate you’re going to get.

  So, while rubble is great, in the heat of battle, say facing a fleet of cars and trucks approaching us from the east, the pressure will be on, and the more we can do to put more odds in our favour, the better.

  And, really, our first likely need to use this thing would be when the Norwood ash clearing truck starts to do its work in no-man’s land between the boundaries of our lands. This is why the trebuchet can be a genius part of our defences. If we can keep that ash cleaner from doing its job, we can keep their fleet out... and that big rig. If we can do that, I don’t think they’ll attack us. Or, if they do come on foot again, it puts the power back in our hands.

  Oh (again), everyone seems to be adopting the term ash sweeper for Norwood’s truck. Must remember to stick with that term.

  The best fit for ammo we could think of – and by a long way – was a bowling ball. The same size and shape. Well, bowling balls come in many sizes... 6-14 pounds if I recall correctly... and the weight is written right on the side of the ball! Nothing we have thought of yet is going to give the potential results a bowling ball can.

  As for hurling a bowling ball through the air at speed – that is lethal and would scare anybody daring to enter no-man’s land – on foot or in truck! I would not want to be crossing that land myself, knowing I could be clipped off this mortal coil, completing the world’s most violent spare. There, bowling pun complete. I feel better now.

  The problem with this ideal ammo, though, is actually locating some in the CBD. There used to be a bowling alley on Hindley St but it closed several years ago. That would’ve been perfect. Still, there are a few sports stores in the city. There are a couple in Rundle Mall. I’m not sure if they stocked bowling balls, but it can’t hurt to look when we roll by there today.

  If we can’t find what we need there, our choices become extremely thin. There were only three bowling alleys in Phoenix range of the CBD. One at Norwood – forget that! A second at Woodville – the now wastelands out west – another bust. The third does have some potential though. Cross Road Bowls. It’s south of the city and not too far under the tsunami line.. potentially ideal conditions to find hundreds of rounds of ammunition without putting our lives at risk to get it.

  Anyway, that’s a story for another day. Hopefully we get some paydirt in one of the city sports stores.

  Which all leads back to today’s mission. We would swing by the site of the Rebel Sport and Amart Sports stores in Rundle Mall on our way up to the East Tce wall, where we’ll start to draw out plans for our second line of defences.

  *

  It wasn’t the ideal start to the day’s proceedings with the sports stores coming up a complete blank. The first stop was Rebel, since it was on the first level in the Myer Centre. Access proved reasonably easy. Whatever the ash depth, it was no match for the ground floor ceiling height; we simply walked on in. There was a dank smell inside, emanating from all the tsunami deposits that had landed in the foodcourt in the lower ground level, then just festered and fermented for months. It was nasty, but I think I’ve smelled worse. Once you got past the grime on the tiles of the ground floor and the smell from below, the building was actually in seemingly good shape. You could see the high water mark on the poles that lined the atrium, from the lower ground to the fifth floor. Somewhere around level three was where the waters reached on rock night. It was a pretty frightening visual reminder, actually.

  The escalators on the west side took us directly to the Rebel entrance. We tested them a few times for structural integrity before committing ourselves to the climb, but the waters hadn’t been at their fast-flowing best when they spilled inside the centre. We were fine to climb.

  The store itself was a mess. The exterior glass had been pulverised by the waters, which had clearly pushed into the store and punched through the display windows at the front. The roller doors remained somewhat intact, just twisted and bowed. Access was easier through the window frames.

  Inside, it just looked like a giant washing machine had been put on muck cycle with sporting apparel, general filth and a film of ash everywhere. We spread out and started digging through the mess to see what we could find. We called it a loss after well over half an hour – with nothing more than the discovery of some footballs and basketballs to our credit.

  It was a short trip to Amart Sports in the City Cross complex. Again, entry was fairly easy, and again, we had to make our way to the first floor. This time, the water destruction within the building was a lot less noticeable. While everything in the store was water damaged, there was no ash and most of the stock remained somewhat close to where it was displayed pre-rock. But, as far as bowling balls go, it was a bust.

  I guess it wasn’t a total shock, or disappointment, to be honest. It just meant another trip outside the CBD was on the cards at some point. Besides, today was mostly about the wall.

  *

  We were soon at the North Tce/East Tce intersection once more.

  With the initial wall, we had used the building frontage to do the work for us. So, the wall at this intersection ran from the front corner of the Botanic Hotel on the south side to the front corner of the Royal Adelaide Hospital on the north. It meant a lot less work but it also meant the wall wasn’t necessarily straight across the road. It ran at an angle to take advantage of the best building points to run off.

  The same angle would be required on the secondary wall, too. It meant the shape between the two walls would be more of a trapezoid* than a square or rectangle.

  *I can’t believe I ever got to type trapezoid in a sentence. I knew some of my maths skills would be required in real life someday… but this is a time to reflect and acknowledge.

  Anyway, once we’d confirmed the plans for this intersection would work, it gave Shane a chance to see if his lighting plans would work in around that. While he was off doing his thing, I put two and two together on another problem – the trebuchet.

  I just drifted off into imagination about what it would actually be like on this spot, with the second wall in place, the enemy coming at us, shots being fired and the general mayhem and destruction of battle. Then about the trebuchet and how that may w
ork in the heat of the moment.

  Now, there’s still a lot to work out with designs and everything – plus the eventual location we’d put it in for best effect – but seeing the battle space from ground level and putting myself in the potential moment made me realise those walls may be the biggest enemy in this weapon being effective.

  Wherever the final location, the trebuchet would have to be positioned behind the second wall – that just made sense from so many practical angles. The only problem is, those operating the thing would never be able to see where their shots went – they would be firing blind. And you need to know where your shots go to hone the next one and so on. That meant we would need another person on the wall, or in the lookout, or somewhere else with an eye on the target range, to see where the shot went then relay that information. Again, this is something that wouldn’t normally be a problem, but when it was game on… it definitely could be.

  It was certainly a problem for another day, but I told myself to make sure, when we were practising, that we practiced under the sort of conditions we may face when shit hits the fan.

  Small observation, I know, but I feel I made the most of my time when Shane did his thing.

  Another three hours later and our work was done for the day. We had to make a few changes from the map version, based on buildings no longer standing, or large piles of rubble providing easier options, but generally we were ready to rock.

  *

  At tonight’s feed the conversation centred around what all the signs we found from the Norwood crew might mean, in terms of their current movements and future tactics. We just threw all the facts out there and let everyone loose with their theories. The ones we couldn’t dismiss started to stick as serious possibilities.

  We all considered them prime suspect for the gunfire battle that ended about a week ago. We’ve decided they made a play for TTP. They certainly looked as though they felt they were untouchable when we saw them – how they behaved and how they moved without too much of a care on their turf. I mean, they weren’t on high alert at all. So, we figured they must know whatever happened in that gun battle won’t go on to affect them. How do they know this? Well, they were involved.