Living With the Dead: The Bitter Seasons

by Joshua Guess

  So Rich Whitney agreed to serve as our "leader" for a short time, until out the council members that are currently out of town are back. He specified that he would only be acting in council meetings to make sure that the most important problems are dealt with first and with appropriate consideration, and to act as a last measure for our lack of consensus on am issue. He won't do anything else in a leadership capacity, partially due to the fact that he's already our judge for criminal issues.

  We're going to have ourselves an election when the others get back. A real one this time, where everyone gets to vote. We need a leader that has the confidence of the majority, that is chosen by them rather than by a small group of people. That's where we went wrong when I was chosen. That is why Rich refuses any more authority than he absolutely needs to ease the gridlock in our decision making process.

  I hope it comes soon. The worst thing is inaction. We have pressing concerns, and I would rather do the wrong thing rather than wait too long and be able to do nothing at all.

  If and when we are certain that the attacks on Jack's place have weakened enough that they no longer need our help to defend, our people will come home. Then we can choose, and finally have a leader to bring us together, to give us direction.

  at 12:31 PM

  Monday, October 11, 2010

  Heat Wave

  Posted by Josh Guess

  Damn weather.

  I would love to give you a detailed update on what's going on up north, but all Courtney had time to read was that larger zombie attacks were being warded off by the defenders there. That's about all I had time to read, since the weather here has gotten frustratingly...tropical.

  It's a third the way into October, and it's just before noon. It's also seventy seven degrees outside and climbing. Which brings angry, hungry undead beating at our walls and surprising our scouts out in town and beyond. Two teams were attacked this morning with casualties from both. Three people dead even as we were being attacked here. We had some people working outside when the swarm can in. One of the farmers died trying to keep his sheep from panicking.

  I wasn't there, but the report was disturbing. The zombies must be ravenous by now, they tore him apart in seconds. I call that a small blessing for him since he didn't have to suffer long.

  The zombies also started going after the sheep. Thankfully we've spread them out around our farms, so they didn't get a large number of them, but about twenty were taken away. To be shared with other zombies to fend off starvation, maybe? I don't know. It seems pretty difficult to reconcile the vicious rending of a man with the careful abduction of woolly snacks. But there it is.

  The compound itself was hit as well, and mostly at the new wall around the annexes. There were smarties among them, so it pretty much goes without saying that they were testing our defenses. All seven times they hit us. Never the same stretch of fence twice, and never a similar set of circumstances.

  I estimate about two hundred of them total, and the attacks were easily repelled. Many of the zombies had fresh blood on them, some of the ones we killed showing a slim dusting of loose hairs on them and chunks of fur in their teeth. I have to wonder if they came out of their cold-induced stupor and hunted down the first moving thing to regain lost energy...

  We held them off here, but the clever nature that defines the smarties and their ability to lead other zombies makes them an insidious threat. Our teams and people out on the farms will have to be especially careful to look for ambushes.

  I hate to think that the smarties can make regular zombies hold off their desperate hunger in this way. It means greater and more subtle danger for all of us. The good news, I suppose, is that it has to get and stay cold eventually, and that will mean hibernating zombies.

  It's looking to be eighty degrees today. In October. Bet all those global warming deniers are smacking their foreheads in whatever bit of the afterlife they ended up in.

  at 12:11 PM

  Tuesday, October 12, 2010

  All God's Creatures

  Posted by Josh Guess

  I expected a large zombie attack here today, and so far have been pleasantly surprised that nothing has come. On the other hand, all of us were shocked to hear the reports from our scout teams this morning about what they found during their morning rounds.

  The stripped remains of lots and lots of animals. Piles of rabbit, deer, groundhog...you name it, and they seem to have found them. Several heavily wooded areas around town have been discovered with these grisly collections, and if the zombies are eating animals, something they have been reluctant to do until very recently, then it means they must be getting desperate for food. We don't know if that means they are stuffing themselves to try and survive the coming winter as they slow down and hibernate, or if they are trying to top out their energy for one last huge push at us and our defenses.

  So far there aren't any reports from any of our allies about similar finds, but that may not mean anything. Most of them can't or won't send out scout teams like we do. The only other group that does so right now is Jack's compound, and they only patrol on the roads twice a day under normal (as in, not under constant attack) circumstances. When there isn't a horde of pissed off undead on their doorstep.

  Of course, right now they are patrolling everywhere they can reach in a vehicle. Moving along at a good clip in a vehicle on some nice open road looking to see if there are large numbers of zombies doesn't really do much good when you know for sure that they are out there, and attacking you. So our volunteers, among others, are travelling around all the areas near Jack's that they can reach, trying to find scattered groups and taking them out when possible.

  It isn't going too well up there right now. No huge attacks since the nearly disastrous one last week, but the last day or so has had that constant grind of bodies coming for the walls that seems to be something of a trademark for zombies. Frustratingly, the smarties seem to be herding the majority of them toward the gates in and out of Jack's compound, which means that more defenders have to cluster together to take them out. The scouts have to leave and return whenever there is a break in the crowd, which has led to logistical problems.

  Once so far today, they actually had to open the gates to clear out the last few zombies in the last wave to hit them, which scared the hell out of a lot of people. I fear to think about what could happen if enough of them at once tried this tactic. Our people and Jack's are all very good, but given how tired and hurt so many of the defenders are, a thrust with even a quarter of the numbers they saw last week could be enough to break through.

  So again, I ask anyone out there who can send help to do so. If you can't, then please share links to this page, or to this blog in general. There have been several posts recently that detail just how dire the situation has been, and may again become soon. Every place you post links is a chance that someone may help, and thereby save lives.

  It's my hope that the cold weather snaps back soon. It's still far too warm here and in Michigan for my comfort. The sooner the temperatures drop, the better for all of us. Frozen, hibernating zombies are no threat to anyone, and easy pickings for kill teams. If we are lucky enough to survive through the winter, by spring we might have killed most of them in their immobile states.

  And then? Zombie barbecue.

  Kidding. I swear.

  at 3:33 PM

  Wednesday, October 13, 2010

  Fire in the sky

  Posted by Josh Guess

  The temperatures up north started to drop this morning. Not to a really helpful level, but hopefully a sign of colder weather to come soon.

  But while the weather is important to us in the long run, it's not what I need to talk about today.

  At dawn today, the first rays of the sun at Jack's compound touched down on exactly the situation all of us feared. Several thousand zombies arrayed in loose ranks, split into one group for each gate. They held back just far enough that only rifles could reach them, and no one on the wall was going to wast
e any bullets. They stood for a long time, watching the wall and waiting for something.

  No one at Jack's was wasting that time. Sentries called in everyone possible, Will was hobbling along the wall shouting orders and trying to put together an effective defense for the gates.

  Just as the hordes began to move forward, a distant thumping was heard.

  Defenders and zombies alike paused, eerily alike in their reactions as all cocked their heads to hear better. It only took a few seconds for two helicopters to appear over the trees, low enough that the wind from their rotors buffeted the zombies where they stood. Courtney described them to me well enough that I can say they were military, though the fact that they unloaded a salvo of gunfire and rockets. Will says they were Apaches.

  They didn't stick around after the zombies started to scatter. Maybe they were low on fuel, or simply didn't want anyone to know where they were from. Whatever the reason for leaving, their help was and is much appreciated. By themselves, those two machines cleared out about a quarter of the undead that were prepping to attack Jack's compound. Saved his people and ours from what was likely to be a long, drawn out battle, and gave them all time to prepare for what they now know will come again.

  If the zombies there are behaving in similar fashion to the ones here, then they are getting desperate. None of us are deluding ourselves that they will simply give up on cracking open one or both of our homes to get at the trove of people inside.

  Will, Courtney and Steve are working with Jack and his people to try and come up with a way to defend when the next attack comes. Ammo is getting tight and materials to make explosives are getting hard to scrape together. Hopefully someone will have a stroke of genius before the next attack, because no one is counting on outside help again. If whoever sent those choppers could have spared enough of them to wipe out more of the zombies, you think they would have, right?

  Until and unless the weather turns bad enough to halt the majority of the zombies, this is a threat that will have to be dealt with.

  Given how easy we've had it here, I can only think that the other shoe has to drop at some point. When are we going to be hit in a similar manner? Can we be lucky enough to be spared such an enormous assault as Jack and our people have been dealt with?

  Time is our enemy and friend here. We have to hope that the attacks here and at Jack's will hold off until a cold front moves in, or that we can at least survive them until one does. We are strong, and our will to live is nearly unbreakable.

  But they are legion.

  at 10:54 AM

  Thursday, October 14, 2010

  Ticking By

  Posted by Josh Guess

  Cold. Very cold here right now. No zombies in sight.

  We're as ready for winter here as we can be. Our stores are secured, the last of Roger's stoves are being installed, and we have enough fabric and wool to keep us in winter clothes and blankets through the harshest conditions.

  Not so up north. In the relative peace at Jack's compound right now, some people are doing an inventory of supplies. They are good on food since we've been trading with them and they have made some very successful supply runs into the surrounding towns (before the current problems, of course). They are short on some basic needs like extra clothes, fuel for cooking, stuff like that.

  It's stuff they can find, but not until Jack's people are free to move about. The massive horde that was driven off yesterday is still mostly out there, waiting. With so many vehicles damaged and so many strike teams dead, they have halted runs outside for now. The fact that no large groups of zombies are coming close to the walls only leads most of us to think that they are marshaling numbers for another try.

  It's cold up there as well, if not quite as brutal as it is here. But just as most people have a sense of when the weather is turning, so it seems do the zombies. They know what's coming, and they are acting out of a deep need to build up strength.

  The northern compound is simply in the midst of a waiting game. Here, we seem safe for now. Our main problems are internal, trying to decide how we need to address things here for the betterment of all. And, of course, waiting for the danger to be over at Jack's, so that our people can come home.

  at 9:42 AM

  Friday, October 15, 2010

  Casting the Net

  Posted by Josh Guess

  I just realized this morning that yesterday was my fifth anniversary with Jess. We got married last year, but we count our real one as the first night we spent with each other, the moment when mere interest bloomed into something more.

  I would love to say something about how much changes in five years, but really, the last year alone has had enough changes to make everything else seem rather minimal. I will say that there is no one on the planet I would rather have at my back, or spend my days with.

  That's enough of my drippy love. There are bigger things to talk about.

  This morning saw what we all hope is the last major fight at Jack's compound in Michigan. I will spare you too many details, since most of what I know are just battlefield numbers and logistical information, but I will give you a brief summary. It is my hope that Courtney will find the time to post something soon in order to paint a more accurate and vivid account.

  Casualty reports are still coming in, but I can say for certain that they weren't very heavy. The attack came just after dawn, several thousand zombies in loose groups aimed at the gates to Jack's place. The initial response was pretty hectic from what I am told, and the fighting fierce enough that pretty much everyone from Jack on down was (or is, still) on the wall with a weapon in hand. Small groups of gunners fired what little explosives were left into the crowds even as the pit traps and stakes warded a number of the undead back.

  The sound of gunfire became more and more sparse as the morning wore on, ammunition stretched thin over almost two weeks of constant struggle finally running out. Enough materials are on hand in that industrial complex those folks call home to fashion plenty of simpler weapons, but guns are one of the strongest advantages we have over the zombies. While lots of people on the walls there have bows made of metal and thin steel or aluminum arrows to fire from them, they aren't nearly as effective as bullets for stopping power.

  Of course, Will, Courtney and Steve have been working with some of the people up there in charge of developing weapons and defenses to come up with new ideas. I don't want to act as though my three friends had this sudden brainstorm and saved the day, but each of them definitely had ideas that others hadn't considered.

  For example, Steve heard that the idea to build ballista, or giant crossbows, was nixed a few months ago because of the stopping power problem with arrows. When he heard this, he came up with the idea to alter the bolts such weapons would fire so that they were long and hooked, able to pierce several zombies at a time and pin them to the ground, unable to move. The mechanics and engineers at Jack's place apparently hadn't considered such an option, which makes sense how pressed for time they must have felt while looking for defense solutions.

  Courtney, as I have said, has been working with these folks a lot lately. She has given them tons of ideas, some workable and many not, but the most recent was altering some of the air driven guns used for firing those (completely AWESOME) spear-like pipe bombs into giant shotguns. There is a lot of gravel and loose rock around there, and her thinking was that pretty much anything sharp and/or hard fired by a hundred or so PSI becomes fatal. Those things are working out well, though the range is pretty short.

  Will, though...that guy is a fucking genius. And sort of stupid.

  It took him all this time to realize that there is always electricity up there. He's been trying to think of a method to kill or disable large numbers of zombies for a long time, and he never put two and two together until day before yesterday. When he got a very detailed look at one of the supply dumps around Jack's that he had missed on his first go round, will found everything he could hope for.

  Huge spools of raw c
opper wire, ranging in thickness from barely larger than a human hair to nearly as big around as a pinkie. He spent some time with a few engineers reworking some of the air cannons himself, and managed to come up with one hell of a device. Just thinking about what it must have looked like in action gives me a shiver. I don't want to imagine what it had to smell like.

  Huge, thin nets of copper fired one after another, each trailing a thick wire. Men on the walls spraying a fine mist of water in bursts across the zombies that had made it past the stakes, had managed to evade the bombs.