Herd Thinners

Later today we'll be meeting the first group of settlers from North Jackson. This is an advance unit composed of soldiers that want to migrate south and folks who don't have proper homes due to the overcrowding at NJ. They won't be working to bring resources here. That comes next, the official first step in our huge expansion. Before we can break ground, haul in thousands of gallons of fuel, tons of food, and frightening amounts of propane, we have to clear the way.

A hundred people will be coming in today, all armed to the teeth and experienced with on-the-ground survival against overwhelming forces of zombies. This will be the only set of immigrants that will be wholly composed of adults. No kiddos allowed for this one given how dangerous it's going to be.

A hundred people whose only purpose is killing zombies. Who will bring with them armor, vehicles, and weapons built toward that end. It gives me a little chill thinking about it.

While we certainly need to thin the number of zombies around here down as much as possible to begin work on the expansion, it's going to be awesome for us in general. People are still really nervous about the New Breed incursion, and the constant bustle of zombies has made it difficult to manage the simplest trips outside. Now that we're getting people well by slightly cooking them alive (I feel like a supervillain typing that...) the situation isn't quite as bad, though we're not anywhere near full strength.

So, yeah. Armed group of people dedicated to relentlessly slaughtering the undead irritating us like sand in a wound? Total win. We're thrilled at the prospect of not having that pressure on us.

We're going to send some of our own people out with them, naturally. We know the area best. The newcomers will be doing the lion's share of the fighting, but we'll have some skin in the game as well. Not just fighters, but also planning the strategies and tactics the fighters will be using against the undead. I'll be organizing all the logistics--fuel allocation, food and water, schedule rotations. Basically my normal job, but while the teams are operating, this will be my only responsibility.

Ah. Will just sent me a message. He wants me to have an outline of everything I just described ready by morning. That's going to take a lot of time and work. Guess it's a good thing we're in another calm spot and I don't have much news to share, isn't it? I love that Will sees me as being capable of doing just about anything he asks, but I begin to wonder if he thinks I'm a miracle worker. This must be how Scotty on Star Trek felt.

I was planning on going outside the walls today with a few scouts to get an idea of how the zombies are moving so I could develop a strategy, but that will have to wait.