We notified the Major in Hinsdale and set up to meeting out at Blueberry Hill the next morning to get started. Frank, Matt and Nick were going to accompany them to help out and work on getting the planes running. I was going to say up and running but I am not so sure that will happen right away.
Ron was strutting around like a peacock for being chosen. I can only imagine that he saw himself as some WWI fighter ace like Raoul Luftberry. Fred on the other hand spent a great deal of time with Jan. If there had been any doubt about their relationship, it was now quite evident. I think that Jan was very concerned about what the consequences of Fred’s new job might be. He was doing the best he could to try to allay those fears.
I think back to the old quote “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are very few old bold pilots.” Boy, does that match up with our pair of Fly Boys.
We had a couple more Zoms wander into the fence this morning early. Mark and I took care of them. But before we torched them I found that one of them had some bugs munching on the dead flesh. I thought about what Anne had said and collected a few just in case they would be of value in some research. Although she agreed it was a good idea she was grossed out by the gift.
May 26th
There is an air of excitement in the compound. Today the newly appointed pilot trainees are off to Blueberry Hill, dare I say it, yeah, to find their thrill (sorry). Nick put together a special breakfast of pancakes rather than the usual cereal with powdered milk. It was a treat, but it is a kind of special day.
The ground crew and trainees were ready to go and on their way at 7:30. There would be lots of preparation work just getting the machines serviced and checked. I did not think we would see more than maybe a little taxi action. A few of the others from the compound were also going to lend support, or out of curiosity. There was nothing special going on so it gave a little break.
I stayed behind with Lance and Henry to keep an eye on Peru. Anne, Charlene and Teckla took the Kia to watch the festivities. Anne’s wanted to share some of her research data and bugs with the Hinsdale crew. Charlene was going to see the Major.
I could tell that Lance is a little bummed out because he was not selected and I can empathize with him. I recalled my days in the PD and for that matter a lot of life events in which I did not get what I wanted, but I also found that I usually got something a little better in the exchange.
“Lance did you know I really, really wanted to be a SWAT Team member?”
“No, but what has that got to do with anything?”
“Well, for whatever reason I was not selected for the team, and I was really disappointed. But in the end I was appointed to the negotiation team which is part of the SWAT team.”
“So?”
This was going well (sarcasm)…. “So, I didn’t get to play with big fancy guns or rush into dangerous buildings. The upside was that I got to sit in a warm negotiator van, drinking coffee and talking on the phone. Eventually I became the team commander and then got to hang out with all the big bosses in the command post vehicle.”
“I remember being on call outs and incidents in which the weather was below zero or one in which one of the snipers who was hidden under a small building. After the incident was over he was telling his tactical buddies how he had peed himself and then laid in it.”
I am not sure if Lance fully accepted my optimistic view of the world but he did get a laugh at some of the story and seemed to be doing better.
“I know you are right, and it is not that big a deal, but it would have been cool to be one of them” he said.
“I’m okay, it just stings a little” he added over a weak smile. “Thanks Dad, just don’t offer me a lifesaver, okay?”
We had three Zoms show up on the wire again today. I am concerned with these incursions by the undead. The thing that does not make sense about it is that the arrivals are not from one logical and consistent direction. One would think that they would come from the west, which was where the majority of the populated areas were but they are coming from the south.
The flight folks returned around 7:00 pm. It had been a full day of working on the planes. They had not been used in a while and were in need of tune ups, and careful examination to insure that they were safe. The checking took longer than expected simply because this was all new territory and it was done literally by the book, or in this case the manuals.
I told Anne and The Three about the seeming increase, although small, in Zoms on the fence. Charlene told me that the Hinsdale crew had also mentioned an increase. They were seeing most of their visits from the south which they believed were wanderers out of Pittsfield, and some lesser visits from the north which indicated that there was a horde likely in the area of Dalton.
May 27th
The general consensus by our new pilot wannabees was that this was going to be just a little more difficult than first thought. The ground crews spent the day just trying to get the airplanes flight worthy. By the end of the day they did have them all running, with the hydraulic systems functional and ready to roll out. The boys spent most of their nights reading over the aircraft manuals and the educational material from the flight school. They realized that it was going to be more difficult for them because there were no real instructors. It was all learn by reading, computer simulation and finally trial and error. And we all hoped the error part was a minimal occurrence.
The pilot choices from Hinsdale were Ethan, the college kid and Armand, the gung ho military wannabee. It was actually kind of ironic that in both groups the people who pushed for the jobs were pretty similar in nature and background, two college kids and two military types.
On flight training day two; they did get the planes running early in the morning and then spent most of the day getting familiar with the controls and moving the aircraft around the airfield. But it was still not time to take the plunge, oops, perhaps a bad choice of words. The turnout to watch the training was not so great this morning. Jan and Grace went up to watch seeing as they each had a horse in the race but everyone else was less interested.
We had no Zoms show up in Peru today although Biter went out and was playing around and managed to come back with a bone. That created a little stir because we could not tell if it was a human or animal bone. But when in doubt, we treat them as human and a possible contaminant so the bone was burned in the garbage pit.
In the new world we have come to realize that burning waste was preferable to the flies and other scavengers hanging about and getting into it. With the damage that had already been committed against the planet a little trash fire was hardly going to bring about the global warming that was so concerning a year or even 6 months ago. The spread of disease however was always very much in everyone’s mind.
I have not mentioned it lately but the situation with the radiation appears to have stabilized at the moment. I am not sure if it is the shift in wind direction or due to the number of rain storms we have had but the levels are lower than they were several weeks ago.
Our fuel supplies are good. We are currently set for gasoline, which we are getting away from. The propane truck is still at about ninety percent full. During the summer that supply can be stretched since we will not be using it for heating or the need to boil water 24/7 helps.
To further the heating supplies we are going to take down some trees to allow them to dry and season over the summer. The plan is to add a larger wood stove to the garage area to cut back on propane usage.
Margo and Lauren have been working on an idea to try to create some hydroponic gardens. The thought was that maybe during the cold months with limited fresh vegetables we could raise some forms of bean sprouts to act as a supplement. They have put together a design for the tanks and then expanded the plans and are trying to also work out a greenhouse of sorts to maybe include some other vegetables.
“There’s a good sized greenhouse attached to the Johnson Farm nearby.” Henry told them. “Maybe you could use that.”
; The downsides to the plan are the distance and the inability to easily heat and supply water. But there may be ways in which the existing greenhouse would be cannibalized to develop something smaller in the compound.
They have enlisted Matt and Henry to help them with the project. Before The Event Matt had worked at Laurence Farms and was pretty well acquainted with greenhouse and farming procedures. Henry was also a farmer and a great resource.
May 28th
There was not much going on today. We have not had any visitors for the last couple of days so that was good. The airfield people spent the day in simulators and rolling around the airstrip. I was told that the planes all seem to be running fine but it will be another day or so before someone tries to take-off.
I almost wish that something would happen to shake up the place. I should be careful because it gets down to ‘the careful what you wish for’ category. But I am thinking that we are becoming a little too comfortable and with comfort comes complacency. As a result, I have begun to restudy the maps that we have just to familiarize myself with the various escape routes should we need them.
We had a wicked thunderstorm late this afternoon. As I have noted before, it may be my imagination, or that we are in a different weather pattern zone, or maybe due to the events and nuclear detonations the climate has changed a little and the storms seem more potent.
May 29th
Well, today was the final day of pre-flight. Ready or not tomorrow will be the first attempt at getting at least one of our flyers off the ground. It has caused a great deal of buzz in both communities. I understand that it will be a drawing in the morning to see who gets the first shot. I am not sure about our wannabees, but I know if it was me, I would not be sleeping well tonight and I would not want to be the first one in the air tomorrow.
I had a nice chat with Cyril, Anne’s dad today. We have known each other for a long time. And we laughed and remembered some of the old days. Once again I heard a number of his old navy stories that he has told us time and time again. It is kind of sad though, this whole old age thing. I hope it is still years away for him, but the reality of it is that any of us could die tomorrow, and the conditions that we are living in right now, although comfortable are not the most conducive to longevity.
May 30th
It is kind of ironic that on this day we would get our first air tests. This is after all Memorial Day. We had no parade, or any such celebration planned but over breakfast Nick announced that he had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and that when we returned from the airfield today he had a surprise for us. He also told Teckla and Charlene to extend an invitation to the Hinsdale Survivors.
It was Ron who was our Wilbur, or was it Orville. At about noon time he taxied to the end of the airfield and proceeded to power up the engine. It was not the prettiest takeoff, but it was a take-off. He circled the field a couple of times and maybe got to an altitude of about 500 feet. Then he brought it in for his first landing. It was not actually all that bad a landing. As he rolled up to the hanger, there was applause and cheers, we had an air force.
Next up was Ethan then Armand and finally Fred. They all managed to get up and down safely. Some clearly had better control of the plane than others but they all made it.
We returned to our compound to the smell of charcoal. I do not know how he did it but Nick had a cookout waiting for us. It was a good old fashioned hamburgers, baked beans and macaroni friggin’ salad cookout. We had to settle for kind of homemade rolls, and I have no idea what kind of meat was used, and was not going to ask.
He had even managed to find a few big bags of potato chips. Apparently when we first got here and it was still quite cold he was able to scavenge some items from the local supermarket and get them over to our place.
The Hinsdale folks left about 8:00 pm so they did not have to drive in the dark. It was a fine day.
May 31st.
We had a couple more Zoms show up on the wire this morning. Again they were from the south, I just cannot figure out why. There is really nothing there that should explain them coming from that direction. Since the weather was good today I took Margo and Mark for a little hike to see if we can figure this out. We covered about half the east and south east area but came up empty. We will do it again tomorrow and cover the south and south west sector. It may be something that we can create a remedy for.
The reports from the “flight school” have been positive. Everyone is getting up and down nicely and the altitude and durations of the flights are becoming longer and longer. Ron is very much getting into the program. He has become “Sky Demon”. Fred has not taken a flight name, which is good I guess. Jan seems to be getting a little more comfortable with his being a pilot.
Matt and Charlene took a run up to Hinsdale today. The reason given was pretty flimsy because it is pretty obvious that it is so Charlene could spend time with Major Barkley. While they were there Matt was presented with another sniper rifle. It had been there with the military but the Hinsdale folks were unable to master its use.
Based upon the job that Matt and Margo had done in dealing with Brother Gabriel and freeing them from the cult they felt it would be best used by one of them. It was an M-110. One of the top five sniper weapons out there. It is a little heavier than the Barrett M-82 that we already had. The Barrett is a lot more manageable and as we have seen it was something that even Margo could shoot, and shoot well. So they each have their own little toy now.
While in the city Matt found a Chevy dealership. He did not like my Ford’s so he latched on to a black HD3500 diesel four wheel drive. When they got back, he and Frank started to make the armor and other modifications on it. It is a bad ass truck, but no F-350. It is such a redneck truck and he designated it ‘The Raven’.
June 1st
A couple more Zoms hit the wire this morning; again it was the south sector. Mark, Anne and I were off on a little hike to cover the south / south west to see what we could find. I was kind of surprised that Anne decided to go with us. She tends to not like the idea of wandering far from home. It was the first time in a while she had her M-16 with her. Over time she has changed a little. I think that all her research has made the realization that we are not in “Kansas” anymore but then all of us have changed to some degree or another.
When we searched that area we found another small lake and camp ground area. It is about 5 miles south of us and it seems to be the source of our visitors. From where we were we could see about 100 undead wandering about. The map said it was called Garnet Lake and there was road leading from the lake to Lake Danbee.
Where things were going awry was that there was a little turn in the road and rather than staying on the road it appears that they would somehow miss the turn and walk off into the woods. They would wander aimlessly until in some cases they would hit our fence.
Flight school is going well and everyone is getting better and better at handling the planes although Frank took me aside and said that Ron was getting a little daring in some of his efforts. I can understand pushing the limits, but I am concerned that it is too early to get stupid crazy and reckless.
Margo and Matt spent the day learning the new rifle. Matt assumed command of the sniper unit and they really did work together well. They altered the structure to two teams with one rifle each rather than three teams rotating the original rifle. The two teams made sense with Ron learning to fly and Henry had become a little too important as one of The Three. Cody became Matt’s spotter and Mark was Margo’s.
June 2nd
Henry, Nick and I headed out early this morning and set up some fences and barriers to stop the wandering dead from coming up from Lake Garnet. It was not too bad a task. The weather was not too warm. It was the first time in a long time that Nick actually got out of the compound.
Matt and Frank finished Matt’s the ‘Raven’ named after the Raven tattoo inspired by Matt’s trips to Alaska a few years back. The Raven seems to be his totem/spirit animal just as the Coyote is mine
. The truck is definitely a mean looking piece of equipment with its removable mesh window covers, an external roll bar in the bed and a setup for him to use as a sniper station. They added a couple of toolboxes that contain assorted weapons and tools. Frank gets to go truck shopping next.
Everything else seems quiet.
June 3rd
We had an afternoon thunder shower yesterday which in itself is not so remarkable. I checked in with Lance to see if the storm and rain have had any impact on the radiation issue. He said that the levels have remained low and suggested that the rain scrubbing the air, or the wind that has been coming from the southwest pushing the dust north of us. While we were talking about that I asked, “Do you feel we’re getting more rain and storms?”
“I don’t think so, but I really have not paid attention.”
I looked up Henry and asked him the same question.
“Well, it does seem a little wetter this year than in the past, but that we should be happy about it because it would help in our farming efforts.”
The Event Trilogy (Book 1): Life After the Meteor Page 17