Living With the Dead: The Wild Country

by Joshua Guess

  I said all that to say this: I was wrong. I'm sure my wife is clapping at that admission. I don't make it often.

  Will and Rachel didn't get a lot of hard data from their captors, no names of people or even if the group had a name for the place they lived. What they did get was a good impression of how those people lived their lives. Bits of conversation overheard and the obvious spoils of the work of others made it clear: those people have been doing some very nasty things. One conversation of particular note Rachel overheard mentioned that our group might be "an even better catch than the last one that came through."

  There was evidence that the people who took them have been capturing people who pass through their territory, stealing their supplies, and either killing the victims or setting them loose in the wild with nothing. Not even weapons. Brutal.

  However, Will noted that the conditions inside their complex were good. The people were friendly with each other if not their captives, everyone seemed well-fed, and there was love between them. The kind of deep care that comes from suffering the worst together, and choosing to stick out whatever may come side by side.

  At first I wanted to come up with some clever name for these folks, since they seem to combine elements of the two groups most prevalent in what's left of society. Then I realized it was only my own preconceived notions and point of view in play. These people are just another group, shared experience leading them toward different ways of doing things, harsh though they may be. I can't boil them down into a simple buzz word and leave it at that. Looking back, I kind of hate that I started doing that in the first place.

  Survivors. Marauders. Looters. All this time, I've been looking at the stark differences between us without ever trying to understand the subtle ones. Beyond that, I've been blind to the greater truth: I should have been looking not at what divides us, but commonalities that might bridge the space between. At the most basic, what are we?

  Every single one of us are people. We've got to remember that.

  Friday, September 16, 2011

  Slow Going

  Posted by Josh Guess

  We're on the road again, and I've been lax in my duty to report on how our primary mission has been going. For obvious security reasons, I can't tell you where we were other than to say in southern Canada with a community of survivors.

  It was a big place, about three hundred and fifty people. They'd taken refuge in an abandoned industrial facility, one with heavy steel walls and plenty of floor space. Over the last year and a half they built inside it, creating in interesting multiple level honeycomb of small, private residences as well as larger communal ones. The exterior of the building is surrounded by a wall made of gravel and large rock held together by wire mesh. It's big, intimidating, and pretty much impossible for zombies to get through.

  I'd have thought people stuck in a place like that would have had a hard time farming and hunting, but that's not the case at all. The community near their new home was a small and relatively rural one. There are a lot of fields to farm that are fenced in and easy to defend. The hunting is plentiful, given how much of Canada was still wilderness even before The Fall.

  The people there have ample food for trade, and they're also focusing on making light, strong blocks that interlock and don't need much mortar to hold them together. It's an interesting concept, one that several other groups have expressed interest in if they can make the idea work. There's transportation to consider, but I've got news on that front...

  ...because our next stop, which will take a while to get to, is a group that has been living quietly in a massive storage facility for gasoline. It's a reserve that holds untold thousands of gallons of fuel. I think it may have been a government depot at one time. They want to trade services for items, namely providing transport for many of the communities that wish to trade but don't have large reserves of fuel. Another good idea.

  It's going to take us a while to get there for several reasons. One is that we have to circumvent the assholes who captured Will and Rachel, a route that took way longer than it should to plan out. Another is that we've been encountering zombies a lot more through the border states, which is why I couldn't update yesterday. The undead were so thick around us that I didn't even dare to climb into the bed of the truck through the back window to fire up the cell transmitter. We were worried the walls protecting the truck's bed wouldn't hold. We spent seven and a half hours in one spot, waiting for the crowd of zombies on the road to clear. If they hadn't thinned out by eight hours, we were going to hit them with a dose of ammonia. We've been trying to conserve our supplies. This is gonna be a long trip.

  So far, no one in the group has an overwhelming desire to strangle anyone. Or, if they do, they aren't admitting it. Maybe eighteen months of living in close quarters has made us more tolerant, but I would have thought someone would have become frustrated with the tight confines of the truck and trailer. So far, all of us are staying professional and keeping our cool. Becky, who sleeps on the same shift (and on the same bunk) as me, has even ceased whacking me in the face with her elbow every time she turns over. That by itself is a minor miracle.

  There are zombies on the road. Not enough to stop us or even threaten us, but enough to slow us down. Looks like a shift of standing in the bed of the truck with a section of wall lowered, putting machetes through skulls. The blade goes up, then down, the zombie falls. Repeat. A fucking lot. Tedious and boring, not to mention disturbingly mechanical. Those used to be people, after all...

  A long, long day. Off to it.

  Saturday, September 17, 2011

  Long Town

  Posted by Josh Guess

  We've run into another group of survivors we didn't know about. They haven't tried to kill any of us, unlike the last surprise group we encountered. They aren't doing a lot to help, but that's fine since they don't have much to trade with. They've been nice enough to let us stay at their place overnight. It's definitely the most...unique structure I've seen built by survivors so far.

  They call it Long Town, and it's a community built in a grassy median between two sides of a large highway. The distance between the roads averages about fifty feet where they built their home, and it lives up to its name. It's really long. Like half a mile.

  The Walls are made up of abandoned cars. The first few people that camped here did so because they noticed how hard the giant traffic jam around the place made it for zombies to cross the road. Over time, more people stopped here and gathered as a group, each new set of hands helping to strengthen the wall. Windows busted out of cars and trucks, then filled with wood which could be removed a little at a time from the interior side to be used as fuel. A clever storage system. The spaces between vehicles are jammed tight with tons of stuff, mostly pieces of other cars. There's even heavy equipment used to stack cars on top of each other when needed. They may not have a lot of extra to spare, but this place isn't lacking in ingenuity or sophistication.

  The really helpful part is that the residents here have scouted and salvaged the surrounding area very extensively. We've promised not to take anything, and in return they gave us a comfy place to sleep and a map. There are about fifty people here, and the area inside the walls of cars is enough to farm in for them. Apparently there are more of them, but there are always people out scouting and bringing stuff back. They must hunt, too.

  With the map, which covers several hundred miles, we'll be able to make better time. We're trying to trim where we can, so we're heading out, well...now.

  Back into the great unknown. It's an adventure, all the more for the fact that any time, bullets can fly or a zombie can try to bite my face off. In stories, this kind of thing is always simpler and more magical.

  Monday, September 19, 2011

  Blank Pages

  Posted by Josh Guess

  Sorry I couldn't post anything yesterday, apparently there were problems in Mountain View, where the remaining engineers and programmers at Google HQ are holed up. They've been not
hing short of amazing in their efforts to keep lines of communication up, but even their dedication can't keep everything running smoothly at all times. It was kind of frightening to me not to be able to post a blog, but Blogger was down and there was nothing I could do about it.

  I'm not used to that sort of helplessness. Cell service was also out of commission, so we had no way of letting the folks back home know we were okay. It's a scary look at how things would be if the folks at Google weren't doing their thing day after day.

  I'm really hoping we can make it all the way to California to visit the place, but I don't know if that will be possible. None of us have any idea how bad the zombie swarms between here and there would be, or if we'd be able to secure enough fuel to make the trip. As of right now there are at least ten stops we're planning to make in communities that will be able to refuel us with the mix of ethanol and gas we need to keep on going. For the moment we're doing fine, but the future is a fuzzy, vengeful bitch.

  Our night in Long Town was fun. That group, relatively small though it is, know how to treat guests. They couldn't share food with us, but they did entertain. A few of them put on a small stage show, an act from Romeo and Juliet, a few others had worked up a new and interesting game that combined basketball, short-distance track and field, and target practice. It was neat to watch but the rules were so complex that I couldn't even follow how the scores were kept. All in all they seemed like a happy group. I've given them all the relevant contact info for New Haven. The people of Long Town know they'll eventually have to deal with human threats, not just zombies, and they know their home can't hold up to an assault. Maybe my people can work something out with them.

  We're gonna be on the road a few days yet. Everywhere we go it looks like massive storms have laid waste to the roads, but the truth is much simpler: no road crews. It's something I've noted before, and recently, but it still bears repeating to anyone out there who is thinking about traveling any significant distance. Close to home, we've made a point to police our own roadways and make sure they're clear. Most of the major roads and highways in Kentucky had treelines set far enough back from the roads that downed trees aren't that much of a problem. The same is true of the interstates we use to maintain trade with North Jackson--they're designed for minimal maintenance after storms.

  The back roads and byways are another story, an obvious one I don't have to spell out. All I'll add here is that we did manage to locate some chainsaws, and even some premixed fuel for them. Don't know how long that will hold out, but it'll do for the near future.

  Wow, look at that. One day of being cut off from communication and there I go blathering for several paragraphs about to most everyday, inane things. I'll be honest--it feels good. I can't see my wife, who is the usual victim for the boring minutiae I find so endlessly fascinating. Out here on the road, seeing how America has evolved over the last year and a half, I can't help but move that burden onto you. I hope you don't mind.

  Fair warning: I've been told that communications could go down again. The engineers said that it may get patchy, and some of us may be able to communicate when others can't. If that happens, and New Haven can still access the internet, I may have friends from home send out updates from there. We'll be safe and careful, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry. We'll be fine.

  Holy shit, did I really just type that? It's just a bad idea to hand the universe a line like that. At least I didn't say "What's the worst that could happen?". That would have been an invitation for disaster.

  Tuesday, September 20, 2011

  Trailer

  Posted by Josh Guess

  This morning as we were breaking camp, Mason thought he heard sounds coming from the highway. We were parked off the road about fifty feet, screened in by trees. We try to stay hidden whenever possible. Good thing, too.

  Not far from us, a truck towing a livestock trailer trundled down the road. We could see it easily from the woods. The thing moved slowly, the truck lurching and sputtering as it strained to make it up the gentle hill our stand of trees grew on. It was obvious the truck's engine wasn't up to the task of hauling the trailer. Steam and smoke roiled from under the hood as the vehicle made it to the crest of the hill.

  That's when we were able to hear the screams.

  People were packed into the trailer so densely they didn't have room to move. We could see them when it came close, the holes in the trailer covered with window screening to keep casual observers from noticing the truth.

  Mason didn't say a word, didn't hesitate. He put bullets into the cab of the truck with mechanical precision. He left one of the passengers alive, so we could question him. That was a mistake.

  Even as we were making our way cautiously through the trees to subdue the surviving captor, the trailer went up in a gout of flames. Charges of some kind put in place to keep the merchandise from being stolen. Merchandise. That's the word the last captor used when Mason questioned him.

  The overwhelming majority of survivors out there are decent people. Some may be rougher than others, more isolated and mistrustful but essentially good. Despite the ease with which we could fall into barbarism, most of us don't. We strive to do right by our loved ones, and are learning to trust and cooperate on a larger scale.

  But there are always exceptions. Maybe it's because there are so few people now and crime in general is so rare, but it seems the worst of our society since The Fall are so far beyond what they were before it. Marauders kill and rape wantonly, and now we've learned that there are even groups of them that go around capturing innocent people to sell to other marauders. I guess when you're a sociopath with no regard for human life or decency, you have to stick with others of your kind.

  That there are enough of them nearby to necessitate a market for this is extremely worrisome. There is only one possible way forward.

  We're going hunting.

  Wednesday, September 21, 2011

  Data

  Posted by Josh Guess

  I'm writing this as I get ready to sleep for a few hours. Steve, Rachel, and Will all stayed at camp, which is very well hidden, while Mason, Becky, and I went scouting for marauders. We moved on foot, obviously, and it took effort to remain undetected, but we've managed to learn a phenomenal amount about these people.

  We discovered six different encampments in a five mile radius. We didn't capture anyone, since this trip was only intended for information gathering, and we didn't want to risk making any of the marauders suspicious. Missing people tend to do that. The ones we killed out on the highway could have been written off as a one-off encounter. If people start vanishing, I'm sure the men and women we're watching will go on high alert.

  I can tell you for sure that there isn't much harm in posting blogs about it. I've yet to see one person in any of the camps use a phone or have any electronics other than short-range radios. There are no cell towers around here other than the portable we brought with us.

  Mason theorizes that the lack of long-range communications here is why this particular part of the country has become a corridor for marauders to pass through as well as camp in. No one can get word out that incredibly dangerous people are nearby. It's perfect cover.

  It also means a lot of them concentrate here. We counted more than a hundred between the camps we've found, and there may be many, many more. Today, after we wake up and the whole group is together, we'll work on strategies. The one good thing about being here is that the marauders are very efficient about clearing zombies out of the area. Guess they have to be, roving around and making camps with no permanent protections.

  We can't spend a ton of time here, and with just six of us there may not be a lot we can do, but we have to try. Whatever options are open to us will be considered. The things these people do...we can't let them just walk away to do it again.

  With enough data, time, and resources, we could kill every one of them. Unfortunately data is the only one of those things we have enough of.

  Thursday, S
eptember 22, 2011

  Domino Pattern

  Posted by Josh Guess

  There are three factors that weigh in the survival of human beings in the midst of the zombie plague. Luck is one, that's undeniable. Determination is the second. That allows you to use the third: knowledge. Having a grasp on the enemy and your situation gives you better odds in a conflict.

  Mason, Becky, and I had a very productive night. All through our activities, Mason instructed us in some of the finer points of causing chaos among your enemies. I can't take much credit--most of what we did Mason devised. Becky and I followed orders.