Minus Six

So...have I mentioned recently just how scary Mason is?

Don't want to sound like a broken record or anything, but the guy is unbelievably fearless. He and five others have gotten the council's approval to head north to try and help the small community of survivors with the huge mass of zombies that have surrounded them. Half a dozen people aren't enough to do any real good in a straight up fight against a thousand or so zombies, no matter how good Mason is.

His military training and experience make him one of the most dangerous people I've met since The Fall, but the fact remains that he's just one man, and he's human. He can't go toe to toe with that many zombies and manage to accomplish anything. I've seen him outside the walls, clearing away twenty or thirty undead at a go, but those zombies were spaced far apart, not in a roiling mass of dead flesh. And cutting that many necks and bashing that many heads wears a person out, no matter how good their physical condition is.

But, Mason swears that with the five people he's taking with him, he can do through trickery and creative tactics what blunt force alone can't accomplish. He's being given two modified trucks to use, extra fuel, and a fair amount of weaponry. We can't spare the Tank, so the trucks he's taking are modified with armor only, and even that isn't all that heavy.

I worry that we're getting too much in the habit of trying to save people. Granted, I've been supportive and active in most of the rescue efforts we've organized, but this soon after suffering such bad losses, I think risking even six people for a group that seems hopelessly outnumbered is just a bad idea. We want to help where we can, but for all that Mason seems to be an expert in exactly these sorts of situations, he also seems to have a pretty big blind spot in regards to the reality of what he's trying to do.

I've seen groups of a dozen men falter and get ripped to shreds by half their number in zombies. All it takes is one error at the wrong time, and it's game over. I don't have a lot of worries that Mason will screw up or take unnecessary risks with the people under his command, but fate is a hateful bitch sometimes. You never know what she's going to toss in your path.

I can't spend all morning worrying about it, though. There is a lot of work to be done here. The weather is looking a bit nicer right now, warm in the last few days in a way that makes the air taste like summer. Right this second it looks like rain will be on us shortly, which will slow the work at the farms as well as the repairs on the wall, but we need to top off our water supplies, so it's welcome.

Hopefully it will hold off long enough for Mason and his people to get on the road...

Hmm. I guess my brain is going to be stuck worrying about them no matter what I do to try and distract myself. I'm going to be really pissed at Mason if he gets himself and/or the people going with him killed. He's a resource for knowledge and strategy that we can't afford to lose, and his five best students are going along on this trip. Six people don't seem like a lot to risk, but the potential they carry is worth more than you can imagine.

Jesus, I just read over that. When did I start seeing people as numbers in an equation and not as friends or fellow citizens? God, I feel like crap.

Of course I want them to survive for other reasons, not just for what they can do for us. They're good people, worthy of respect and love just as much as anyone here. They're individuals that each add something unique and wonderful to our community, and losing any of them would be tragic and heartbreaking.

Well. That sounded trite and forced, didn't it? Maybe I'll take a few minutes and go see them off. Just to show I care...