We've walled off an entire neighborhood on the street of a friend's house. All of the other houses on that street were abandoned for various reasons, but the basic reason behind everything is a zombie outbreak. The only family of "original" residents which remained on that street is my friend's family. Several of us have moved into the walled-off area with them, and we've built a compound to protect ourselves. All of the houses are connected one way or another, except some at one end, which were in less stable shape than the other houses. We've dismantled them for parts, and are using the land for farming.
People have arrived recently, and I am sort of giving them a quick "orientation" tour with a rundown on how we are handling our new circumstances.
At the other end, our compound is divided by a high, chain-link fence that was there prior to the outbreak. We've altered it so that there is now a gate big enough to drive through when it is open.
On the other side if it is a what used to be a church and a parochial school. We included that property in our wall because we felt that the buildings may prove useful to us eventually, but at the moment the only thing we are using is the lot. In the lot, there are two buses. We plan to do something with them, but haven't started yet because we are working on other projects. However, we are using the lot space.
On one side of the lot, we have built a huge still, where we are brewing not beverages, but vehicle fuel. On the other side, we have a huge cistern which catches rain water. There are smaller cisterns around the compound, which also hold water, but this one is taller and more broad, and is attached to our makeshift water filtering and purification system. The final step currently uses a commercially sold reverse-osmosis filter, but members of our group are figuring out how to make our own so that when we run out of our supply of those, we'll still have a way to purify our water.
We have vehicles we would not normally have, as well. Parked on the street are a fire truck, an armored cash-delivery truck, and a semi with a tanker-trailer from a gas company, in addition to several cars. My husband and a few of the guys have been working on these to expand the range of fuels we can use to run them. Right now, the fire truck and and the armored truck can both run on just about any liquid that burns. We're working on the semi next. We plan to use it to take gas from neighborhood fueling stations until the alteration of our vehicles is finished, and we no longer have to use that for the cars.
The guys have set up the fire truck so that water can be pumped from a pooled source like a lake or stream, in through the hose to the tank, and then back out when we reach the cistern. The fuel we make in the still is used in the fire truck when we don't get enough rain, so that we can get water from other sources. We use it in the armored truck when we need to make a run for other supplies.
We've established a food and water supply sufficient to serve the complex if every house were populated. We've established food and water preservation methods to ensure a supply through the cold months, and to last us a few months if unforeseen issues arise. We have transportation and have located a few department stores, pharmacies, and hardware stores which, though not totally safe, we can safely enter and exit with tools and non-food supplies, and have "raided" them several times to get things we need.
We have built wind turbines on several houses to power refrigerators and freezers, and have stored a good supply of a refrigerant used in automotive air systems that one of the guys says he can use to restore the units as they go down. We don't plan on depending on those units forever, but we want to keep them going until we don't need them any more. Once we have non-refrigerated food preservation down better, we'll power those down and reserve our electricity for other uses. One of the new arrivals tells me she had a hobby of growing and preserving herbs for later use, and would like to help with that. I make a note. It would be great to be able to add our combined knowledge in that area.
In addition, we've created attachments for several houses to passively use solar heating, so that we don't have to use electricity for much heat. We have obtained a large supply of rolled plastic to help seal off windows and unused rooms in winter, as well. Since winter is coming, we're working on that project right now. I let the new people know that this is probably what they'll be helping with at first, until that project is completed, because it's vital to our winter survival.
Among our number is one chemist. I explain that she has a medical lab up and running and is working on establishing treatments for the most common life-threatening ailments. I don't tell them everything: She has established the manufacture of a couple of different antibiotic substances, a substance to use to treat flare-ups of asthma, two substances to aid in controlling blood sugar fluctuations, a substance that works like epinephrine in case of heart and breathing emergency (but we are told would hurt "pretty effin' bad" if used in a non-emergency), a substance to control blood pressure, two anti-histamines, and a still-in-the-testing phase narcotic pain killer. We don't want anyone but the core group to know about those yet, because of the possibility of abuse.
We have plans to set up an infirmary in a portion of the school, but have not started yet. Along with that, there are plans to set up a radio broadcast from inside the church steeple to try to connect with more people. A teen in the group kind of hesitantly tries to speak up, but keeps himself in check as if he's not permitted to speak. An adult next to him reminds him that he's not in school any more, and he is allowed to talk. He tells me he was in his school's broadcasting class, and that he learned how to set up the equipment. Broadcasting equipment is an interest of his, and he's built radio sets and CBs during the last few years. He can help set up our radio tower, get it up and running, and operate it.
He says he just needs us to let him know what we want him to do. I realize we could put this kid in charge of the project. As long as he knows what we intend to achieve, he has the capability to make it happen. We just need to make sure he has the confidence in himself to take charge, because it looks like he's still in the mindset that anyone older than him has authority over him. I resolve to discuss this with the people in our group who were school teachers prior to the outbreak, and tell the kid we're definitely going to need his help. We have people with sound system knowledge, but no one with broadcasting experience. His chest puffs out, and he seems about two inches taller than before.
Finally, I show them one house we have almost totally boarded up. It's not connected to the other houses at the ground level. Entry is possible from the ground, but it's designed to be sealed once people are inside. There is roof access from the roof of one neighboring house, also designed to be sealed from the inside. That is our safe house. In case of a breach of our complex by zombies, we've designed this as a protected area from which we can fight back. Inside are a host of projectile weapons and a supply of dried rations and water. We don't want to have to use the safe house, but we've set it up as a means of protecting ourselves and fighting off a horde or internal outbreak.
As I finish leading the group through the area, I tell them there are still enough empty houses that they can pick one instead of being assigned. I tell them which ones have more bedrooms, because there are a couple of families who seem to want to stay in the same house. I think they may all be related and have been traveling together through some harrowing experiences. They begin discussing possibilities. At that moment, we hear a commotion at the other end of the complex.
There is shouting, and I hear gunfire. We run that way, and several kids accompanied by three elderly women pass us heading toward the safe house. They tell me that a mass of zombies has attacked the outer wall, and they were told to go into the safe house. Residents are holding off the zombies pretty well, but as a precaution the children and those unable to run fast are sent ahead to prepare the safe house. That will mean setting up the weapons and preparing to seal off the house. The teen asks which way I want him to go. I ask if he can fire a gun, and he says yes. I hand him one of mine. It's hard for me to send him that direction, but he's older than my son, and my son is fighting there right now. The teen gets it. He looks proud, but very serious and properly scared.
I break into a run toward the commotion. The group follows me, everyone yelling. I see where the wall is starting to split under the assault, and shout orders to my group. Three people split off into a house, where they can fire from upstairs, down over the wall and into the mass of zombies. Through the cracks, it looks like there are about 50 of them (enough to fill two elementary classrooms, basically) but they are pounding the crap out of our wall, so there could be more. I get find my husband and kids, and we form kind of a family wall. We're ready to shoot whatever comes through as two men work on shoring up the wall, and others work on firing over it. In my head, I'm praying hard that no one gets bitten.
There is a loud crack, and part of the wall splits open. Zombies come in, kind of single-file, but rather quickly, considering. They don't care if they tear their flesh on the wall. We start shooting. I hear guns going off around me. I can see through the wall that there maybe are more like 70 or 80 of them, but several are falling outside the wall, and I think we can handle this with what we've got. The fight is going to be just a bit more than a two zombie to one human ratio, and that ratio is getting tighter with every shot. I'm still scared, but not as badly as before the wall broke. Now, I'm more determined than anything.
I'm not letting these mindless, flesh-eating monsters tear apart my friends and family. I move forward and begin firing into the oncoming mass of decaying bodies.
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