Gamble

[Post by Kincaid]

There is going to be an interval before the next phase of the expansion. We have exhausted most of the supply of easily found shipping containers North Jackson can spare. With the number of people we have here, it's now possible to do some deep searches around the area for more of them in the area. We can use the reworked containers we have already used as templates to make our own sections of wall.

That's where I come in. Now that the county has a manageable zombie population we can spare assault teams to clear areas where we know there are clusters of shipping containers. There's a train full of them sitting on tracks a few counties over. We'll have to take out a lot of undead to get to it but if we can figure out a way to remove them and transport them we'll be ahead of the game.

Will is trying his best to make people more comfortable around me. It's not that bad and I told him so, but he doesn't want personal dislike to endanger any of our programs. Josh being unavailable is making it harder for us to all get along in the planning meetings. I guess they feel like I'm trying to take his place. Like an intruder. From their point of view, I suppose I am.

I spent a good amount of time with Josh's brother and Patrick yesterday. David and I worked on ways to quickly remove shipping crates from train cars. Transport is something we will tackle later. David has a surprising talent for physical problem-solving. Not even knowing what difficulties we might face dealing with the train, he still came up with several ideas that have a good chance of working.

My time with Patrick was more personal. I'm getting deeper into this job. Josh's job. I see how many people he has to talk to in a given day. I try to solve the huge number of problems and complications he worked on. I interact with the same folks as him. I find myself wondering how he did it for so long. It's like keeping two dozen plates spinning while finishing a crossword puzzle.

I decided to take a risk. I don't know how Josh's friends and family will react to me trying to get to know them on a personal level. Patrick was my experiment. He was nice to even give me the time of day. There are few people I can rely on for support. I don't expect Josh's friends to suddenly forget who I am and invite me over for tea. I'd settle for willingness to help me out only to keep his work from being screwed up badly by me.

Patrick doesn't think many people will warm up to me. Before now most saw me as that quiet ex-marauder who led dangerous attacks on the undead or worked a scout team. They didn't have to deal with me or understand me at all. I was doing a dangerous job instead of one of them, so at worst I was ignored. Now I'm helping do a job most of them aren't able to do. It requires experience with the assault teams and skills honed by more time in the field than any three average people here have.

They don't like that. I understand why. I won't allow friction to screw anything up. If I can't figure a way to smooth out the situation, I will ask the council to appoint someone else. I can think of two or three candidates that might do for the job. I can go back to killing zombies and taking orders instead of giving them.

I don't want to fail. I will take risks to avoid it even if it means upsetting Josh's loved ones by approaching them with an olive branch. If I don't succeed, I won't push. I'll step back and let another take over.