Saturday, June 19, 2010

Fresh Perspective

I have lost count of the number of times I have said this lately, but we are home again. We pulled in with our convoy about half an hour ago, and I am very glad to be back. Jack's folks are in the process of unloading our gear, and ours are prepping containers of food for the trip north. 

Zombie attacks have been heavy since we left, at least as heavy as the were before. The fire pits are pretty much full of ash at this point, and we need to detail some people to start emptying them out before too long. Evans has made a lot of progress in understanding exactly how this plague works, or so he told me when he caught me on my way in. I am sufficiently tired enough that I am fine with waiting until later to hear what he has to say. 

My brother is very happy to see his wife and kids again. I know they missed him dearly, and to be honest, I missed them a lot as well. Same goes for my sister and her family. Funny that it took the end of the world to bring me closer to my siblings' families. Distance kept us from seeing one another before, and our everyday lives kept us so busy that just spending time together could be a chore. 

We are all closer now. Jess has always been shy and quiet around my family, and people she doesn't know. But I have watched her change since all of this began, watched the shell she built around herself crack and crumble away. She is so much more assertive, almost brutally open with her opinions and views. But she also spends time with my family and their kids, doing everything from babysitting to sharing recipes, to teaching my sister the basics of shooting, unarmed combat, and all the like. 

Marrying Jessica was never in question for me. Though I feel some dim pain in my heart that some might not like the fact that my wife happens to be of a different race than I am, it was never once a factor for me. She is hard working, smart, and funny. Her sense of humor is as twisted and dark as mine, balanced out by a sense of wonder and whimsy that is childlike in its purity. She is a rare and special person, and my life is endurable in all other ways as long as she is in it. 

In a nutshell, I missed her a lot. But I am home now, and with luck I will be here for a long time. We have much work to do, and with the trade between the compound and Jack's group in Michigan, we now have real resources to draw on. We can make this place truly secure, and a real home to those that live here. 

Despite the reoccurring problems we run into, I think that overall we are a good group, dedicated to each other's survival. And in the world as it is now, that is more important than anything. 

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