The rats began burning and running about, only setting fire to the rest of them.
Fred landed us atop another tall building. We immediately scouted the roof with our guns in tow, and we did not even try to open the door leading down into the building. No, we’re keeping watch on that door in shifts. Fred being our only pilot really needs some sleep, so we’re giving him all the rest of the day and tonight if he’ll take it. Del, meanwhile, is using some binoculars he found in the chopper cockpit to look about the city below. He says we’re in Salt Lake City, Utah.
DAY - 74
Yeah, every now and then, women do things like read someone else’s diary. My girl writes in mine. I’m just messing with you, Beth. Nice thing with the flare gun by the way.
Atop this building, we’ve had plenty of time to view what parts of the city below are covered in ghouls and which parts are seemingly safe. I’m pretty sure that it is Salt Lake City, Utah - if not for the mere fact that every ghoul seems to be wearing nerd gear, we can also see the huge Great Salt Lake that covers the Northern horizon for us. I had been looking at the huge, mountainous island out in the middle of the lake as well. I’ve got a map from Colorado still, and it has a lesser, detailed, regional map on the bottom corner of it. That island is supposed to be a wildlife park. So, immediately I was thinking, FUCK THAT. But then, upon further look at the map, there is a gray area to the western side of the lake - a huge area that is simply listed as Hill Air Force Base. We may be able to land there and actually find some more survivors. As big as that base seems to be, as compared to the smaller HAATS center, there should be some people that have made it as long as we have.
Fred and I devised a plan by the afternoon. It was in our best interest to land the chopper atop a grocery store that was visible and close to the lake. I could make out a hatch on the grocery store’s roof that undoubtedly led down into it. Being near the lakeside, that was at least one side of the store that ghouls wouldn’t much approach from. Every other direction seemed clear, too. Soon enough, we were loaded up and in the air making the plan a course of action.
The streets looked ravaged, and the ghouls in the area were of various types of disturbing shapes and forms. They really are taking different paths to attempt adapting for survival. As soon as we landed the chopper, we loaded up our shotguns for use in the store - we could have been going into a building full of ghouls, so it made more sense to take the guns that did more damage in one shot. We made it down the hatch successfully and into the stockroom area of the grocery store.
Immediately the smell of bad food hit us. It was almost enough to make us sick, but we forged on in our search for anything that was canned or boxed airtight. Beth and Ellen seemed to be snatching up crackers, snack cakes and cereals - Fred and I kept to getting beef jerky, sardines, Vienna sausages, Spam and sport drinks. We quickly made a nice chain of hands that got our food up and atop the roof.
Everything was going smooth as we loaded back into the chopper, but then we started to smell something. We could smell fuel of some sort. We found that our chopper was leaking fuel. It was only a busted hose, but still, it wasn’t something you’d want to just risk and fly anyway - one engine spark, and we’d be pieces for the whatever fish in that lake to nibble on. Fred risked flying us about a hundred yards to the bank of the lake near a ferry boat dock where we set down and killed the engine. I don’t think we’ve ever moved as fast as we did after landing. We got everything we could carry, wrapped and tied up in shirts and jackets. We struggled and managed to get everything onto the ferry dock where we found that a quite different boat was docked. I’m not a boat person, but the boat reminds me of the one they had in JAWS - nothing overly spectacular, but it wasn't a ferry - just another out of place vehicle expressing the chaos that occurred. We got lucky in having no ghouls close enough to us to really pose a threat, but now, while testing our sea legs and dropping anchor quite a ways from the shore, we are still going to sleep in shifts. Who knows if those fuckers in this area have learned to swim?
DAY - 75
I got up early this morning despite taking a late shift last night, too. I couldn’t stop wondering what could be in the lake.
Half of me was thinking that there would only be regular fish since the nanotech can’t survive in water. My other half was thinking that the nanotech may have already figured out how to survive in the water. Of course, that’s one of the underlying reasons we've been drinking only bottled water and sodas. I’m not going to put anything beyond the possibilities of the nanotech after the shit I’ve seen lately. Soon enough, though I found a book in the cabin all about the Great Salt Lake. I’m amazed at what I read: The only thing that lives in the lake is what is commonly known to people as Sea Monkeys - Brine Shrimp. Not much else can sustain life in the lake. Then I went on to read about the animals that live in the area and mostly occupy Antelope State Park - the island.
Deer, bobcats, elk, coyotes, birds, basically everything that we should stay away from no matter what. We’re actually safer on this boat than we have been anywhere on land.
By midday everyone wanted to raise anchor and get somewhere. We were all awake and wanting to get out of the lake. Ellen in particular said she couldn’t help but hear the soundtrack from the JAWS films every time she looked at the water. Then, Fred started quoting Robert Shaw’s lines from the film. I never thought about it until then, but he does kind of look like Robert Shaw.
We took our time and scouted the west banks of the huge island, Antelope State Park. It looks like a very wooded area. I only saw one animal, that being a duck, and it looked fine.
Still, none of us wanted to take the chance on boarding the island. Once at the northern tip, we could see where a long causeway connected the island back to the mainland. We headed west, though, as we kept our goal as being the Air Force Base. I found myself getting nearly hypnotized staring into the water of the lake. According to the book, the deepest point in this entire 100 mile long, 40 mile wide lake is only a depth of 35 feet. Then it hit me. Our boat was going to bottom out before we got to the Airbase unless they had a dock.
Late afternoon realized my fear. Our boat grounded out a good 20 yards or so from the banks of the Hill Air Force Base.
Everything would have been just fine if there weren’t already a shitload of dead bodies being pushed by the late tide against the sandy banks. There was obviously something of a massive genocide that happened. Or maybe this was just the dumping grounds from those left alive on the base?
We’ve managed to back our boat out about 50 yards from the banks of the base. We’ve dropped anchor, and we’re going to watch for lights to go on or off in the buildings on the base. It served us well as a plan last time in Gypsum, so why not do it again? I’ve managed to mount one of the laser sights onto my pulse rifle. The damne
d things can fire so accurately from so far away, that I should have myself something of a damned good, nighttime, sniper rifle. You better believe I’m going to use it tonight if I need it.
DAY - 76
We’ve been on guard since late last night. Miraculously, none of us are harmed, but we fought for our lives last night. Some of the bodies that were floating on the banks began to get up and move. They started to move in the water and underwater.
We all ended up using the pulse rifles as they were our only weapons strong enough to fire into the water with deadly force. Only when we saw pieces of brains or hair or skull float to the top of the water did we know that we had accomplished head shots. I’m thinking that we had to take out about twenty of the fuckers, at least. As we decided to get the boat moving again, Ellen spotted a light going on and off in one of the bunkers on base. After only seconds, Fred told us it was Morse code with the light sequences. Fred returned light signals with a flood light that's atop our boat railings.
We waited until daybreak until we ran our boat aground as close to the bank as possible. We grabbed our weapons and some food and jumped into the shallow water. I think neither of us stayed in the water more than a matter of seconds before reaching the shore. I had my sword pulled and ready, but luckily didn’t have to use it. Within only moments we were at the building we had kept eyes on all night. The bunker door opened as we neared it revealing a group of six individuals.
Airmen Holland, Kesler, Unger and Airwomen Olson and Ernest along with a Colonel Taft are who have been hold up inside this bunker. They’ve been living off of MRE’s and jugs of office-style water coolers. Upon immediate appearance they have all been eating poorly per rations. They’ve been waiting for a military sweep out of Groom Lake just like we have. At the risk of the fucker taking and reading my journal, I have to say that Colonel Taft has gone nuts. He’s in charge, yeah, but at this point in the way of things, I would have knocked his ass out cold. Granted he does have the only gun between his officers, he ain’t shit, now. Fred and I are in charge and have much better weaponry. We fed the officers some of our rations and have gotten them up to speed with everything we’ve experienced thus far.
It was almost evening before officer Olson approached me. Fred was talking to Taft in another room of the bunker, and Olson needed to speak quickly. She told me that Taft has been sending people one at a time under the bunker into the hidden missile silo. There’s a damned nuclear missile below our feet, and Taft wants it activated. The problem is that none of the people being sent have ever come back. She thinks the others that were down there got infected right away and have the place infested.
Beth has been looking around outside with Ellen and the other officers for other ghouls, but so far we have been safe.
According to the girls, the officers had told them about the floaters as they called them. The ghouls we encountered in the water have been there for weeks. They were as good as dead laying face down in the water, but at night they would go out with the tide, or so they thought and always show up again on the banks in the morning. When one of their friends had gone to inspect them one day, they found that the ghouls had been acting like whales or catfish or even reptiles - beaching themselves or sunning during the daytime and then feeding at night. That friend became the next victim to them.
I’m talking to Fred about Taft as soon as Taft falls asleep. We need to take care of this missile that we’re standing on. I’m not too happy about an armed nuclear device in anyone’s control.
DAY - 77
Taft finally snapped in front of us. He shot officer Holland in the face and then took Olson in a headlock with his gun to her head. Everyone had tried talking him down for probably an hour before I finally decided to actually do something. I let Fred and the other officers get Taft’s attention away from me, and with a quick swing of the sword, I ended the standoff.
Taft had been going in a pattern of every few minutes taking the gun away from Olson’s head to pointing it up in the air or using it to scratch his head really quick. Well, I’m faster, and Taft has three less fingers. I finally got to knock his ass out like I wanted to as well. Not a one of us was the least bit angered in my actions either. The officers were all more in state of fear that they were going to be next going down into the missile silo. No, I was the next one to take a trip down there. Beth slapped me when I told her to stay behind. I just wanted her to stay safer up in the bunker, but she just wouldn't have it. By afternoon I had talked with the officers enough to know the layout of the silo and what to expect as we went below. I took Taft’s key, unlocked the control box for the elevator that led down into the silo and then, Beth and I got inside with Holland’s body in tow. We’re going to try and use Holland’s body as a decoy or to bait any ghouls away from us. Fred and Ellen decided to stay above just in case any of the other officers decided to act differently. Beth and I had our shotguns with plenty of ammo. Beth also had herself huge military knife that she had taken from the armory a few days ago. I also had my sword. The elevator ride seemed lengthy, at the same time nowhere near as long as we’d have preferred. The elevator stopped and opened its doors. We were expecting the worse onslaught of ghouls ever, but we saw nothing. It was dark, as only a few fluorescent lights flickered in patterns that made my eyes hurt. What was lit up like a Christmas tree, though, was a master panel of controls at the base of the missile itself. We approached the control panel, and then Beth noticed where our expected threats were. She began firing up at the surrounding girders of the outer-elevator shaft. The ghouls of all the people that had been in the silo were now basically changing into more ape-like beings. Their feet were acting just as well as hands as they grasped and firmly held onto the girders. They were speeding their way down to us. I grabbed Beth to retreat into a nearby room that looked nothing more than a supervisor’s office with a huge bay window. The door to the room was a thick metal, though, and after a misfire from Beth, we found out that the window was bulletproof. The ghouls began pounding on the door and window with extreme force. Some of them would hit so hard that their own arms or shoulders would break from the pressure. I then found that two keys had been used in side-byside locks to initiate the missile’s armament. I turned the keys until I could remove them, and immediately we saw the missile controls start to flicker and seemingly power down.
To the best of my knowledge, I have completely shut down any possibility of the missile being fired or detonated.
It’s been hours at least that Beth and I have been sitting in this room. My brain is racing with what the hell we’re going to do next to get out of this room untouched. The ghouls outside haven’t even paid attention to Holland’s body. That tells me that they are much smarter at recognizing the dead than a
ny other ghouls before. Beth and I are getting tired. I'm mostly hoping that Fred doesn't decide we're not coming back and move everyone onward. I realized that he should see the activation lights for the missile on the controls above, though.
I'm going to keep turning the key-locks on and off in Morse code intervals - I still remember S.O.S. from my boy scouts days.
DAY - 78
I can’t believe that Beth and I found sleep in our positions. We quickly got to our feet and found ourselves to have been watched all throughout our slumber by numerous ghouls pressed against the huge window. They looked like kids against the window of their favorite toy store that wasn’t open yet. I hate being stared at. I removed the keys, unarming the missile again. Apparently, no one had caught our attempt at communication.
I think it took about thirty minutes and a handful of nice, long kisses to convince Beth to go with the only plan I thought would work - to open the door, let them in and kill them one by one. We went for it. I remember that we had pockets full of shotgun shells between us and then hoping they would be enough to do the job. We took our shots four at a time, then letting the other take four shots while reloading - we never had less than three shells in our guns at any one time until we ran out. There were heads being blasted apart all over the damned place, and when our guns were empty, I shoved Beth behind me so I could use the sword. Beth ducked out of the way and held her knife ready if she’d need it. Beth never did need the knife. I cut the fuck out of about ten ghouls and ended the entire attack. Still, we slowly exited the control room with caution. There was so much blood and shit all over the floor that we really didn’t have a choice but to proceed slowly or else we’d have busted our asses. We made it to the elevator, I found the key I needed, Beth shoved Holland’s body out and we began riding the elevator back up to the surface.
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