Adapting

The team left out to get Aaron and his people a while ago, and we are hoping they will be back before dinner. I have my doubts that they will see this done that quickly, however, since we are seeing an increase in the zombie population around here.

Some of our scouts reported seeing several groups of them ranging between one to two hundred standing in the now-familiar pattern that means smarties (smart zombies) are trying to convert normal zombies. I guess it didn't take them long to start rebuilding their numbers. Thank god they aren't attacking us yet.

Most of us think that this calls for an attack, sending out a group of armored fighters to chase them, trap them, and thin the herd. Some don't agree, reckoning that we are much safer here than going out to fight. That's probably true, actually, but it enough of them come at us at once, especially the smart ones, we could be in serious trouble.

Will Price is with me and my friends on the council here. He's of the opinion that the truly less risky course would be to attack the problem before it can grow too large, only risking the lives of less than twenty people in an attempt to prevent or at least delay a large scale attack on the compound. He pointed out to the doubters that we are currently doing a lot of work outside the compound prepping the adjoining neighborhoods for annexation, and I think that might have swayed some of them. We'll be voting on it tonight, or after the transport party gets back with Aaron and his people, whichever comes first.

I am amazed at Lt. Price's ability to make people understand the tactical advantages of ideas. He knows that he still isn't fully trusted, but he still seems to do his best to resolve conflicts logically, acting in the best interests of the compound. He knows that he isn't one of us just yet, and still he holds no grudge at our distrust, only doing what he can for the betterment of all.

He's also getting stronger. Evans says that he is healing at a pretty incredible rate. Will still isn't able to walk, but he is standing for brief periods, and the pain isn't nearly as severe as our good doctor thought it would be. Evans thinks that Will's leg might be doing much better than anticipated, and could be up and about in a few more weeks. I know the grumpy old bastard would probably like him to stay off it the full two months, but we can use every man. Besides, it isn't as though any of us will let him do anything strenuous. He's a fighter, that's for sure.

In his free time, Will is hanging out with my wife quite a bit. No, nothing sinister, since I am usually around and I don't see anything untoward going on. Rather, Jess is teaching our wayward soldier the finer points of agriculture, all the random facts she knows about planting and growing things. Part of my brain wonders if he intends on getting an education here and taking it back to Richmond one day to pass on his knowledge to his fellow soldiers. I don't know if I like that idea or not, if only because it would mean he is planning to leave and is using us, but my base setting is generally positive for the concept of sharing ideas and experience.

Oooh. My brother Dave just came in, and is telling me that we have a guy who thinks he can modify some electric motors to run some of our saw equipment. That's really awesome, it means that we can start on the annexing soon. We have enough stores of lumber to make a good start on the process, maybe a week's worth, and in that week we should be able to make a lot more. It might not be pretty, but we can start.

And our folks down by the river will have a safe place to live, right next to us.

Today's a good day.