The Event Series (Book 1): Life After the Meteor

by Thomas Larson

  April 4th

  After yesterdays close call we took it easy on scouting and scavenging. But we did take some time to do some close combat drills.

  April 5th

  We had another fence alarm overnight. With the events of a couple of days ago everyone was a little more on edge. Again it turned out to be a case of an animal setting it off but the more I think about it the more I have to wonder how soon before our complex is found. I wonder how the Zoms detect their prey. We know that movement and sound will attract their attention but what else do they get locked onto. I asked Anne about this. She has become the resident research expert on the topic based upon her study of e-mails and journals taken from Doc Swenson’s office.

  “It seems that smells are a way the Zoms track over longer distances. But the smells can be masked, with Zom smell and maybe certain chemicals.”

  “You mean I can pour kerosene on myself, or rub Zom guts all over me and I am safe?” I asked.

  “Yeah, well, it has not been tested, but yeah.”

  “Wonderful, just wonderful” I said.

  April 6th

  I talked to Charlene, Teckla and Henry this morning about the smell thing. We had not yet had an issue with roaming Zoms but perhaps it was time to do something to try to mask our smells against the background.

  Teckla suggested, “We could either put diesel fuel around the complex to try to hide the smell or perhaps a fire or two in the complex could also work.”

  Henry nodded, “But what if there were other survivors, or bands of nomads out there. The fires could draw them to us.”

  We left that as a question to be considered for the time being.

  April 7th

  While scavenging today we hit a small jackpot. Ron and Charlene came upon a house that had apparently belonged to a bow hunter. They found a number of compound bows as well as three crossbows. There were a fair number of arrows as well as Fletcher’s equipment. This was a very good find.

  April 9th

  Another rainy day yesterday and not much happened. Today the weather was much improved and spirits were better. A number of us spent the day learning and practicing with the bows and crossbows. This could help our efforts at food gathering. We did not what to waste ammunition nor announce our presence with gunfire.

  April 14th

  I have been laid up with a stomach virus, or maybe a mild case of food poisoning. A number of us have had that issue for the last few days. We will be adding toilet paper to the list of things to scavenge in the near future.

  April 15th (Tax Day…..)

  Frank met with The Three, “The propane situation is starting to get serious. We are running low and need to find some additional tanks in the next few days.”

  “How low?” asked Henry

  “At this point we have about a 4 day supply left. The efforts at local scavenging had met our needs until now but we have pretty much used up all the propane resources in town. We need to extend the area of our search.”

  Charlene looked at the other leaders who nodded, “We will start looking tomorrow then”.

  April 16th

  We spent the day sending a couple of scout parties out along the roads to check their condition and whether there was Zom activity. We found that it was pretty calm. Henry and Fred talked about some towns in the area close to Peru. The three that came up the most was Pittsfield, Dalton and Hinsdale. All three were on the North-South rail line. We were able to get maps of three cities. It was times like this that having Google Earth or some other satellite resource would have been nice but that is no longer going to happen.

  Pittsfield seemed to be the more promising in terms of what we might find. It was the largest of the three and probably had the most available resources. It was also the furthest away. It looked like it would take about forty-five minutes to travel to Pittsfield. The plus to that was that it was less likely that the Zoms would follow us back. But it also held the larger population which meant that there were more Zoms in the area. I remembered the information that had been relayed by Captain James. He said that if there were survivors it would be a good place for them to create a group like what we have.

  Dalton was the next choice. This was a town that was about half the size of Pittsfield. It is a suburb of Pittsfield and twice the size of Hinsdale. It is a little to the Northeast of Pittsfield. But there seemed to be a housing corridor between the two cities that meant that there could be a path leading from one city to the other. Henry said that the trip there would take us a little over a half an hour.

  Hinsdale was the third choice. It was about twice the size of Peru and had the rail line going through town which meant that it very likely was a freight stop. With a little luck there may be some warehousing complexes or small distribution centers.

  Based upon the locations and all of the factors as we knew them we decided that it made the most sense to visit Hinsdale. It was closest and held the smallest population that could mean the least number of Zoms. Besides, to get to Dalton or Pittsfield we would have to travel through Hinsdale anyway.

  April 17th

  We spent time putting together a plan for visiting Hinsdale. A recon of the town would be a good idea if it was a good place to relocate to. We figured out who would go and what vehicles to take. I thought that a critical need list was a good idea. We had people of sorts to handle certain tasks like cooking, medical, auto works and so on. Those individuals were asked to create their list.

  Charlene, as medical person, requested that any and all locations where medical supplies be located and at least noted for later scavenging forays. She also had an immediate needs list of antibiotics, insulin, heart meds and pain killers.

  Nick had his list that included any foods that we could find. He did not so much need to have them brought back but it would be good to know what was available and where. The same idea went for Henry. But Henry’s interest was in farming goods and seeds.

  Frank would be looking for auto parts and fuel supplies. Our immediate need was propane. A delivery truck full would be ideal but if we could only get the large cylinders then that would work…..for now.

  April 18th

  We reviewed our lists of what we wanted to look for. Now it was time to finalize who would go and how we would approach the city. This is going to be a big step. It is the first time since we hunkered down that we really stepped out of our little secure circle. Ron, Henry and I met with Teckla and Charlene and talked at length. We wanted to take a good force of people but we did not want to leave Peru undefended.

  I suggested, “We should take four trucks with two people per truck. It gives us lots of room to load up the things we find.”

  Frank and Ron agreed. Frank adding, “Two people per truck gave us the chance to have some spare drivers if we find a propane truck or some other vehicle we could use.”

  After a little give and take finalized plan was for three teams of two to take trucks to Hinsdale. Each team would be made up of a member from each of the sub-groups.

  Henry pointed out, “This is a good way we can blend the camp folks and Peru folks, kind of a little team bonding thing.”

  We decided that CB Radio contact would be maintained between the convoy of vehicles heading out and Frank would keep in touch with our compound in Peru by use the town truck radio.

  The vehicles that were chosen for the mission, “God, I am starting to sound way too military,” I thought to myself.

  We picked the plow truck which gave us the most protection and could serve to clear the road if need be. It also had the most load space. We would also take the White Delight, which is Mark’s Chevy Avalanche and finally Ron’s Dodge Ram pick-up truck. The teams would be Ron and me in Ron’s truck, Frank and Cody would be the team in the plow truck and finally Mark and Fred would be in the Delight.

  To maximize the scavenger hunt we felt it was best if we left early the next morning. This would give us the most daylight to work with.

  I made one final suggesti
on, “Let’s use Sniper Team One (Matt and Margo) to act as spotters at the edge of town. We don’t know what we might run up against.”

  Of course, Anne and I had a rather heated discussion on this plan later that night. In the end, she conceded “It is a not a bad idea, but she is just a little girl.”

  “No Anne, she stopped being that when all this shit started. We need to have her prepared for the future, when we are not around. Besides, she is an observer, she is not going to be in harm’s way.”

  “You’re right, but I am still her mother! And well you know.”

  April 19th

  It is raining today and cloudy. We have scrubbed the mission due to the weather. It would be too hard to hear anything in the pouring rain.

  April 20th

  We hit the road early. It was a nice day and seemed like it would be a little on the warm side. The drive out was pretty uneventful.

  “Let’s hold up on the east side of downtown Hinsdale.” I radioed.

  We spent about twenty minutes or so just looking for movement, human or Zoms. We had done some homework before we made the trip so we had an idea of what was in town, and where things might be. Ron and Henry had been into town over the years so they had good information and knowledge of it. It was the unexpected prize, pitfall or situation that was the concern.

  In our map research we discovered that the railroad had a line that ran right through town and Henry knew that there was a regular stop at a freight terminal. It was not a big terminal, but it could hold something.

  After about 20 minutes of watching I radioed, “Let’s move in.”

  The Zom population seemed small, no hordes roaming around or even standing. The few that we saw seemed to be inactive which by our best guess showed that there was no “living” population. We did notice some fencing and barriers that blocked part of the road. But with the plow truck those could easily be overcome.

  Our plan was pretty simple; we sweep into town, grab what we needed or find and then meet up in the center of town. From there we roll back to Peru, easy peasy.

  Matt and Margo took up a high ground location to give us on-going reports of movement or potential dangers. From what we had seen it did not seem likely that they would be needed.

  It was about 10:00 AM when we started. Frank and Cody were off to the quarry and then the golf course to find what they could. Mark and Fred went off to the downtown stores and the clinic for food and medical supplies. Henry did not recall a propane facility so Ron and I went to check the area of the rail yard. That seemed the most likely place where bulk propane would be.

  When Ron and I rolled in to the yard there was nothing on the tracks themselves but there were some rail cars on sidings that needed to be checked out. As we began to check them, the smell was terrible.

  “Oh, that is dead smell” I said

  It is not a smell one ever forgets, the stench of rotting flesh. There were three boxcars in particular that were really bad. Each of those cars had a religious cross painted on it. And there was some graffiti that said “Brother Gabriel returns you to Hell”.

  Curiosity was begging that we take a look. But something nagging in the back of my mind said that it was a can of worms that we did not want to open. We moved on.

  We started to check the warehouse buildings that belonged to the railroad. Most were pretty empty but inside one there was a flatbed car with a couple of HumVees on it. Why they were there didn’t seem to really matter but they would be two big assets to our fleet. It also looked like this warehouse had been fortified with military materials laying around. It seemed as if the ‘fort’ had been overrun.

  We checked interiors of the Hummers and found that there were half dozen boxes of belted 50 caliber rounds, but there was no machine gun to go with them. The keys were in the ignition and the fuel tanks were full. Why were they still on the freight car?

  We unstrapped the Hummers and with some maneuvering Ron was able to get one off of the flatbed.

  “We know it’s here, so there is no reason to off-load the second one right now” said Ron,

  “Good point”, I agreed.

  We picked though the remains of the ‘fort’ and found a number of other items like medical kits, MRE’s, contamination suits and tents. The military had definitely been here, and had set up some kind of camp and it had been fortified. The equipment and the markings on the HumVees indicated that this was part of a medical biohazard containment unit. It seemed to make sense that they would have arrived, and set up a perimeter. But why were there no bodies, no dead Zoms…this did not make sense.

  We began loading up the first HumVee with what we felt would be good to take when the radio crackled. It was Mark. “We have a situation and we need you to come to the town hall.”

  “What is going on?” I asked.

  “Hurry, no questions.”

  “On our way.”

  Ron and I headed toward the town hall. Frank and the plow truck pulled up just as Ron and I arrived. Standing with Mark and Fred were about eight people. One of them was dressed in a purple robe. The rest were in white robes and all had AR 15s. There were some survivors here, and they were hostile.

  As Ron and I looked out of the HumVee, there was no question that a shootout was not an option. We were out gunned and Mark and Fred were in the crossfire.

  I radioed Frank, “Get out of the truck, but no weapons.” In the back of my mind I was hoping that Matt and Margo had eyes on this mess.

  Ron and I got out of our truck, hands up. My transmission was heard by the people with the robes, Mark’s radio was right there. I left my rifle in the Hummer. I still had my 45, but that remained in the holster.

  I walked toward the group to about 20 feet from them.

  “Stop” said the purple robe. His voice oozed of authority which did not seem to go with his diminutive stature and baby face that belied his age. He was older, like in his 40s.

  He asked, “Who are you and are you their link to God.”

  I did not get it at first and said, “I am the leader of our group.”

  To which I got an irritated sarcastic “Yes, I know you are the leader of this group. But are you the link to your God?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I am Brother Gabriel. We, the Brethren are thirteen, after Christ and the Disciples and we have cleansed this place and defend it against all false believers and unclean.”

  He went on, “The soldiers were not of our God, they had no link to Him. Do you have a link?”

  Now I knew who or what was in those three rail cars.

  As Brother Gabriel and I faced off, four additional white robed people came out. They were half circled behind Brother Gabriel. It was pretty clear that we were likely to be killed.

  “Oh, I see, I am sorry, I misunderstood, we did not bring our Religious One, but I have a radio, I can talk to him.”

  I was really hoping that Matt had been listening what was going on with the call to meet up in the center and the part about keeping the guns in the trucks.

  What I did not know is that he and Margo had taken high ground in the Center Congregational Church about a half mile east of us. That high ground gave him a clear vision of what was taking place.

  “Father Matthew”, I radioed; I figured this would be the improvisation gig of a lifetime.

  Matt answered. “Yes Bother Thomas, what troubles you my son”.

  I explained; “We have met some who are concerned about our faith; his name is Gabriel he is dressed in purple. He has his 12 disciples with him in white.”

  The radio spoke back “You need not fear, God has an angel watching over you and that any act against you will be met fifty-fold.”

  “I will speak with your Religious One”, Commanded Gabriel

  I handed over the radio.

  Gabriel demanded, “What is the name of your God.”

  Matt simply said, “God”.

  This caused some concern for Gabriel, who seemed to believe that his God ha
d another name. Over the next five or so minutes there was a game of Trivial Pursuit, the religious version, with no clear winner.

  Finally Matt said “God is known by many names.”

  That was the push that made Gabriel step over the edge. Brother Gabriel walked toward me stopping about 10 feet in front of me with his M-16, silly time to be mentioning this but these weapons the Brotherhood had were the ones they had taken from the soldiers. He pointed it at my head.