Monday, July 12, 2010

A Brief History of Time

So, before we start our preparations for an outing into downtown tomorrow, I have decided to write up a summation of what has transpired so far in our corner of the world. This is more for those others out there who are just now able to communicate with the outside world since society collapsed, as the rest of you out there probably know what has happened so far.

On March 2 of this year, some sort of outbreak started in Cincinnati, Ohio. Strange things were happening there, violence unlike anything anyone had ever seen, and the dead appeared to begin walking about. Many people around the world ignored or brushed off these events, but the days that followed proved that we few who believed that the impossible was occurring were right: somehow, zombies were walking among us.

Some people saw it for what it was and began planning in earnest. Here, my wife and I maxed out our credit cards to get supplies to make our home a fortress. Others joined us over time, some strangers and others friends of friends. Here in Frankfort, Kentucky, we have made a home for anyone who wishes to peacefully coexist with one another for the purpose of mutual survival.

The world around us has changed, probably forever. Recent discoveries imply that all of us carry a dormant version of the infection that causes the dead to rise, hungry for the blood and flesh of living human beings. For those of you who have been in deep seclusion until recently, this news will likely explain to you the last several months of your lives, living in the woods or in deep shelters, having to fight walking corpses to stay alive. Some days (hell, most days) even I still have a hard time believing it.

Our home here in the western half of Franklin County is most commonly referred to as 'The Compound', given that the neighborhood, one I have lived in for most of the last fifteen years, is now a walled fortress dotted with archery and gun platforms, watchtowers, and otherwise pleasant and caring people armed with sharp objects and a steely will to survive.

In the larger world, we have discovered other groups of survivors. One of our earlier explorations was to my old stomping grounds in southern Illinois, to bring back as many of my friends and family as well as other survivors as possible. In Carterville, we found a place similar to our own, but far more suspicious and trigger happy. No further contact with that group has been established.

In Carbondale, which is about ten minutes from Carterville, we fought for our lives against a group of marauders near the SIU campus, trying to rescue sometime contributor Treesong and the folks he gathered together to save.

In Mountain View, California, a large group of Google employees and their families have taken refuge at the Google campus. They are pretty much self sufficient thanks to the plethora of renewable energy resources at that facility, and they are the ones who keep the internet going, thanks to supreme efforts in taking control of communications satellites and remotely controlling the remaining power grids all over the country. The engineers there are working on solutions for problems many of us haven't even thought of yet, and are still searching for signs of other survivors across the country and the world, to bring us all together.

By far, the group of survivors that has had the greatest direct impact on us (at least positively...) is Jack's group in southern Michigan. Though we had some misgivings, we here at the compound are thrilled to have made a bond with them. When they needed food and a sustainable system to produce it, and we needed fabricated materials and technology, it was simple and mutually beneficial for us to work together. When we lost many people in a recent attack, many of those from the north who had little to offer in manufacturing decided to migrate south, to help bolster our numbers and reduce the population pressure for Jack's people.

In the last four months, we have all suffered great heartache and loss. Constant attacks by the undead keep us on our toes, which is likely all that has kept us alive during those times when were attacked by the living. All of us find common purpose in survival, but more importantly, in living.

Before the fall, we worried about our bills. Our children's grades. Whether or not our date last night went well. We were slaves to the details and red tape of everyday life. Most of those things are gone now, replaced instead with the harsh decisions and cold judgement needed to live in this new world.

For those of you out there who have managed to survive away from the rest of the ruins of society, you may be shocked and disgusted at some of the things we have had to do in the name of safety and security. I urge you to consider the circumstances you have faced, the trials you have overcome, and think very hard about what you would have done in our place.

As I have said before and will say again as often as needed, our doors and homes are open to you if you come to us with peace in your heart and with and open mind.

If your intentions are not so pure, then I suggest you stay far away. We have lost all patience with would-be conquerors.

Now, off to pack my gear for our sojourn into downtown...

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