Living With the Dead: The Wild Country

by Joshua Guess

  We weren't lucky.

  My shot was off, and the wind was hitting me from two directions. One of the canisters misfired completely, landing only a few dozen feet from me and only issuing a small leak of gas. The other overshot wildly, bounced off the riverbank on the far side, and fell into the river. All I managed to do was waste a valuable weapon, get seen, and make the Exiles realize the lengths we were ready to go to against them.

  Still, half our goal has been reached. The enemy may be more alert to us as a threat now, but control of New Haven and her resources is in the hands of the people with the willpower, intelligence, and creativity to use them to best advantage. We're going to need that once the Exiles mobilize, and since we tried to wipe them out with a WMD I'm certain they will, because we're outnumbered. Cut off from allies. And probably outgunned. I dodged rifle fire on my way up the hill after my air cannon malfunctioned. And those fuckers were not sparse with the bullets.

  I can't help feeling a little relief that the canisters didn't get to do their work. I was resolved to doing what had to be done, but to end so many lives at once...just thinking about it makes me wonder if my conscience could have taken the strain. Strangely, I don't doubt that I would do it again, but part of me is almost happy it didn't work out.

  Jess is furious that I didn't tell her any of this. I doubt I'll hold on to that happy relief if or when the Exiles finally attack us outright.

  Tuesday, February 14, 2012

  Put Out

  Posted by Josh Guess

  I'm writing this from Patrick's house, as Jessica has kicked me out of ours. Turns out her anger is a little more durable than I expected. She's not a happy camper that I went on a potentially suicidal mission without consulting her. My personal life probably isn't as interesting to you as it is to me, but if I seem distracted or a bit off today, that's why.

  Our watchers keep sending us steady updates on activity at the fallback point. The Exiles continue working on setting up a permanent home for themselves, though most of the work has been done for them. When our extra people moved from the fallback point to New Haven, they took a lot of stuff with them, but an even larger amount of equipment was left behind. All the rows and rows of raised beds and the tracts of arable land are still there just waiting to be worked. There are quite a few homemade weapons, though what the homesteaders bring to the fight from whatever military base they raided is surely superior.

  All in all, it's kind of depressing.

  Will and I are working with many other people on contingency plans. We've got a ton of ideas on how to defend ourselves, some thoughts on how to prevent an all-out assault on New Haven, and other ideas that may or may not be feasible. One of our tried and true tactics--using swarms of zombies as weapons--wouldn't be possible for a while yet given the weather even if the new breed weren't clever enough to figure out what we were doing eventually.

  The Exiles aren't ignoring us, however. Our guards at the remaining bridge have been forced to pull back quite a ways, driven away from their posts by rifle fire. We've got our own riflemen set up at the new watch post, but they can't guard the bridge itself. By the time the enemy comes into view of our people, they'll have already crossed it. That's a small but important defeat, but we'll adapt to it and deal as best we can.

  There's a bit of concern right now for what happens when warmer weather comes through. While the Exiles will certainly be a major concern for as long as they continue to exist within two time zones of New Haven, we're rapidly approaching the time of year when the weather gets nicer day to day. The new breed is terribly creative in their desire to consume us, and while the team and I have a solid grounding in how to fight them and anticipate their tactics, the rest of New Haven doesn't. We've handled smart zombies before, but only in small numbers. Dealing with the Exiles and the new breed during clement weather might be impossible.

  I guess that means we're on a schedule. As I said, there are many options on the table, but an equal number of concerns and worries to go with them. We've got to think of security and the overt threats against us, sure, but we also have to feed our people, find a way to trade with the outside world, and a hundred other things that go with having a community of any size.

  I'm rambling, I know, but barring a miracle, we're going to be stretched pretty thin very soon.

  Hmm. I've just had an idea. I need to go find Will.

  Wednesday, February 15, 2012

  Ravager

  Posted by Josh Guess

  Another day passes, and another attempt to destroy the Exiles fails utterly.

  You may remember that we'd talked to some survivors with access to a plane capable of performing air drops. We'd intended for them to drop some trade goods on the west side of the county, far from any inhabited area. I remembered early yesterday morning as I was finishing up my post that they were supposed to make that drop last night. A light bulb went on in my head, and I had to go talk to Will and Dodger.

  It was logical to wonder: if they could drop supplies out in the boonies for us, why couldn't they drop something less pleasant on the Exiles? It made sense. All we needed to know was whether or not our contacts with the plane had access to something suitably destructive. That didn't seem to be a stretch since their plane is military hardware.

  Our observers watched from as far away as possible, but were in radio contact with the plane. We were worried about the response from the Exiles if they saw the attack coming, and we wanted to have eyes on the ground just in case. Damn good thing Will thought of that, because the Exiles heard the plane coming well before it came into sight. Our scouts saw the Exiles scramble to the tops of the buildings in the fallback point with some very heavy gear. A couple of them had heavy sniper rifles, and one had a rocket launcher.

  Needless to say, the scouts called off the run.

  Our friends diverted their flight, climbed as fast as they could, and headed back home. So, yeah. We didn't get our supplies and the enemy didn't take so much as a scratch. It was just *awesome*.

  Reality is starting to sink in. Logistically, we can't fight the Exiles openly. We've got heart and all that hero crap, but they have numbers, ammunition, and many other advantages. I hate to say it, but the consensus around here is now leaning toward a longer-term situation than we've previously considered. The Exiles and New Haven are in a stalemate: our defenses are strong enough to cost them dearly to take us down, while their advantages keep a direct assault on our part virtually impossible. Add to that the laundry list of attempted and discarded attack options, and you've got a pretty honest look at the problem.

  So, for the moment, we're going to shift our focus to the other concerns that need to be addressed. Preparing for spring, the planting schedule, working out new trade routes, and the like.

  I know many of you out there in our sister communities expected some kind of hail-Mary end to this situation, but this isn't a Dean Koontz novel. No hero is going to show up with a personal army and destroy our enemies just in the nick of time. There are limits to the time, effort, and resources we can dedicate to this fight, and we've reached them. For now at least, the Exiles will be just another threat to be monitored, one that will require vigilance and cleverness to keep in check. But if you were hoping to see us pull a stunning last minute victory out of our magic top hats, I'm sorry. Sometimes the home team has to concede a tie game.

  That being said, we aren't going to ignore them. Our eyes and ears will be open, just as they are for threats from the undead. Speaking of which...

  Two pieces of news on that front, one good and one bad. The good is that we've been told a large herd of zombies, likely new breed, have been spotted heading toward central Kentucky from the east. When I say large, I mean in the hundreds at least, though the contact who saw the herd pass by couldn't get an accurate count. They're heading in this general direction, but no one can say for sure if they'll end up in Frankfort or if they'll miss us by miles. Too much distance between them and us to have any idea how it will
go. The good news in there is that the Exiles are on the east side of the river, so those undead hopefully won't be our problem if they manage to hit our town.

  The bad news is that the folks flying the plane spotted a similar large herd moving roughly southeast toward my side of town, also from a good distance away. They aren't even in this state yet, and they'd have to go through Louisville to get to us. Chances aren't great they'll hit here, but I have to wonder at the likelihood of two separate groups moving in the general direction of this state at the exact same time. The first (and most pants-shittingly terrifying) thought that popped into my head was that the New Breed we're seeing here in larger and larger numbers are just the forerunners of something larger.

  The second and almost equally frightening thought was that zombies seem to communicate by smell. That's been our theory for a long time. So, what if those groups are heading this way because other zombies left a trail for them to follow?

  Exiles and zombies. If one of them doesn't destroy us, the other will surely try. Strangely, I'm sort of okay with honest and straightforward threats. I'd rather have a villain to fight than worry about the idiocy of community politics, infighting, and all that jazz.

  Which is what I have to deal with right this second. Enough people requested new council elections that now I've got to organize one of them. Giving the people the power to oust their leaders when needed is excellent for keeping authority in check, but it creates a lot of extra work for me.

  Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Preventive Measures

  Posted by Josh Guess

  I'm on my way with a small team to get a look at the oncoming zombie swarm. This post is by necessity going to be short, but given my wordiness lately I doubt many of you will complain about that.

  Becky and Rachel came with us, the rest of the team being made up of scouts. They're the ones who will try to get close to the swarm and gauge its speed and size, while the ladies and I set up what will hopefully be an effective deterrent. The idea is to lay tripwires across the highway where we expect the zombies will travel, preferably at a bottleneck like a bridge. The tripwires, when struck, will pop the valves on a few tanks of ammonia we had altered for the purpose.

  If we get it right, the swarm might be put off completely. If we screw it up, then at worst we've wasted several gallons of ammonia. I know I don't want to be here when those valves go--this is pure ammonia, anhydrous. It's going to expand into a gas very quickly once the pressure valves go. The pressure inside those containers is pretty dangerous. I'm not a huge fan of having them in the truck with us, to be honest.

  Will has promised to contact us if the Exiles make any sudden moves. Leaving home again, even for a day trip, is not my first choice in assignments. Especially when my wife still isn't letting me sleep in our house and my home is under threat from outside forces. Er, more under threat, I guess.

  Compared to much of what we've faced, this swarm doesn't seem like as much of a big deal as it could, and that's a problem. We can't allow comparative thinking to affect how seriously we take the threat of zombie attacks. Maybe it's the fact that the new breed around New Haven hasn't been attacking us in any serious way that's thrown us off. Maybe the new breed is smart enough to have planned that, to lower our defenses. I don't know.

  After months on the road, dealing with threats so often that they became mundane and not even worth mentioning (almost every day we camped outside a community, we had to clear at least a few zombies out. It eventually gets sort of boring), this doesn't seem like much of an adventure. Setting this trap will certainly help a lot, potentially saving us from a major confrontation with one of the deadlier threats we face. Still sort of feels like a day at the office to me. I dunno, maybe I'm just off because Jess won't talk to me much and Patrick is a poor substitute for a loving wife.

  Bah, time's up. I'll try to update later if possible, but I don't think it will be. Wish us luck.

  Friday, February 17, 2012

  Surge

  Posted by Josh Guess

  We'll know in a day or so if our trap is going to be effective in putting off the undead heading this way, but for the moment our focus is back on the Exiles. Like, WAY back on them.

  Our watchers reported that overnight, a flood of vehicles arrived at the fallback point. They came in with their lights off, but our people have some military hardware of their own. Cover of darkness loses to night vision technology.

  All told, we estimate another hundred or so people have joined the Exiles. That brings their numbers to a dangerous point, one where attacking us wouldn't be the suicidal gesture you might think. We probably wouldn't be as worried about it if there weren't other things going on at the fallback point this morning that make us think an attack is in the works.

  It's not that hard to decipher: the Exiles are outfitting vehicles with armor plates, attaching weapons to them, and forming up ranks out in plain view of our watchers. Will thinks they've been putting up with us for this long because they were waiting for this last group of allies to bolster their numbers, as well as for the supplies the new group brought with them. Which seem to be mostly weapons.

  We now have every reason to believe that the Exiles are coming for us today, finally. I really thought that they'd continue to be more cautious, unwilling to risk an assault on us until they were in a vastly superior situation than us. I can see the reasoning behind choosing to do it now--we're still mostly cut off from allies, we're still furiously working on more defenses, and our leadership structure has just changed. If I were them, I'd see this as the best chance they'll have in the near future of dealing us a potential deathblow.

  I can't say they're wrong.

  Still, there's only one way they can be coming if they're going to hit us with any kind of speed, and that's across the remaining bridge carrying the interstate. We may not have to worry about the zombie swarm headed this way just yet, but it's looking like today is going to be a game-changer one way or another. I don't think I'm giving away any tactical secrets by saying that we'll have to try standing up to them at the bridge. It's a natural bottleneck, and they've got the advantage in firepower and numbers of people they can put in the field. We'll do what we can to hold them there, but I expect fairly high losses. No one in New Haven has any illusions about that. We'll fight hard, we'll use every dirty trick, but a lot of us are probably going to die today.

  Unless they try to work their way around us, which would mean a few days of grace as they head toward another county to use other bridges. But that would leave us too much time to prepare or run, since we know they're coming. I think the Exiles are acting so openly because they're angry and want us afraid. We've been doing all we can to hurt them, but now they have a chance to return the favor.

  It's almost a blessing that they took out all the other bridges. At least this way we know what they're planning on doing, where they're going to be. It's not much of an advantage, but we'll certainly take it.

  Jess has asked me to stay here instead of joining the volunteers that will be staging on our side of the bridge. I've agreed, and only because she asked me to. I want to be out there with the others, doing what I can to keep my home safe, but in the event the Exiles make it past our lines and to New Haven, I want to be here to defend it. I started this refuge back when it was just called the compound, back when it was just my house. I'll fight till my last breath for it and the people I love. If I'm going to die, it's going to be on my own soil, next to the wife who has made this awful world worth the struggle.

  Ah. Just got a call. Our people are ready. Thank god we've planned for this, had our vehicles ready and stocked up. The Exiles are coming. They've just started piling people into their vehicles.

  I'll try to write again later today if I can...

  Saturday, February 18, 2012

  The Great Division

  Posted by Josh Guess

  It's just after six in the morning, and I still haven't been to sleep. The world is a smaller place
than it was yesterday, and it's because of some hard decisions that had to be made.

  An interesting thing about the events of the last twenty-four hours: the local zombies have been keeping to themselves. I don't know if the new breed is beginning to understand what weapons and armor mean, but our people barely saw sign of the undead as they staged closer to the edge of the I-64 bridge than we've gotten in days.

  The remaining span over the river was where we chose to make our stand, knowing the Exiles would have to take that path if they wanted to hit us with any kind of speed. In this, the enemy did not disappoint. We lost six people in the push to get close to the bridge, their damned snipers on the tops of the cliffs taking a toll on our fighters as our forces moved forward. Our people eventually did get in position, and a few of our own marksmen forced the enemy snipers to retreat.

  Our people only beat the Exiles to the bridge by a few minutes. If we'd been a hair slower, I probably wouldn't be alive to type this right now.

  The Exiles weren't interested in a prolonged confrontation across the bridge. Apparently worried about damaging it, they didn't use explosives of any kind as they slowly moved forward. Though we put as many people into the field as we could and still be able to defend New Haven, the Exiles outnumbered our forces by a wide margin. Our people did what they could, firing precious bullets with all the accuracy they could muster, but most of the time the volunteer warriors from New Haven had to hide behind armored plates. The Exiles moved across the bridge cautiously but with a constant hail of suppressing fire.