Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Resolution

Things around here have been so insane lately that I didn't even notice yesterday was the last day of 2012. With all the activity over putting the Union's existence to a hard vote, the date sort of just slipped my mind. We won't know until tomorrow what the final count is, but I'm sure New Haven at least has chosen overwhelmingly to stick it out with the Union. We're the ones who started this whole thing when we began working on trade schemes with other communities. It's kind of our baby.

This early in the morning I don't have much to say. Unless my reading of the people here is completely off, we won't see any surprises in the vote. That's not to say other communities won't choose to leave the Union, but I'd be shocked if any of them followed the lead of Farlane. There are reasons, of course, and as usual I'm not at liberty to say much beyond that.

Jess is sleeping beside me. She has had such a rough few weeks, I really don't know how she has managed so much for so long. I feel closer to contentment than I have in a long time. My beautiful wife is here with me, the zombies are hibernating for longer than we could have hoped, and the many projects we've been working on will soon bear fruit. We're taking that first step toward a future much brighter than the past we're leaving behind us.

I should be thrilled. Right here, right now, I should be overwhelmed with the joy of it. I truly am happy, but there's a sour note of unease that never leaves the back of my mind nowadays. Call it whatever you like. Could be depression or practicality or cynicism. I don't know how to explain it. I just know that at all times I'm hyper-aware of how precarious our house of cards really is.

I don't mean survival. Each of us can do that easily. At times I think it might have been better for humanity in the long term if we hadn't clumped together in large groups after The Fall. Maybe it would have been more natural and healthy in the long run if many thousands of individual people fled into the wilderness to survive alone or in small clusters. Then, over time, we could have come back together out of a desire for common purpose rather than a need for protection and comfort. I don't know, exactly. Just this feeling that the structures we've built between us are fragile at best.

The UAS knows this. Take out a main support of a bridge and the whole thing falls to pieces. Our network of communities has functioned so far because we trade with each other and offer support. What happens if a group deep inside Union territory decides to switch sides? All it would take to cripple us is a single defection along a crucial artery of our trade route.

That's just one example, but the more I think about the UAS and their tactics the more I realize that's how they operate. If you hit a piece of crystal just right the whole thing shatters. So it is with us. Some of us have spoiled for a fight with the UAS, but now more than ever the truth is obvious: they don't need to fire a shot to beat us. All they have to do is exploit a weakness with exactly the right amount of pressure at exactly the right time.

Take out one card and the tower falls. Every child of five knows it. Which is why we--the Union--have to make a promise to each other. We have to weather the storm no matter what. We can survive this by doing what we've always done, by making the hard choice to persevere no matter what tricks the enemy throws our way.

The only way we can do it is if we hold firm and stand as one. It's a bit overused, but today of all days we should make a resolution not to abandon each other. We're brothers and sisters in suffering. Survivors who thrived despite the worst parts of The Fall happening all around us. If anything can keep people together, it's that.

If it doesn't, then maybe we don't deserve to win this fight.

2 comments:

  1. Josh, this is off topic, but thought that it was worth mentioning. With regards to defense against zombies. Have you considered using cattle guards? I have some ideas I think might help out. If you're interested I can provide some schematics and diagrams that have helped us out tremendously. Nothing full proof mind you, clever New Breeds, but none the less, effective at keeping them at bay.

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  2. We stand as one, shoulder to shoulder with those who we know, and whom we have fought with. With those who helped when we were closest to death.

    Our groups are Union. We do not need the politics, or the empty words of those in the UAS. We will not take any actions against them unless provoked, or attacked. Do not trespass on our Union, there will be consequences.

    Our gates remain closed except for pre-arranged trade agreements.

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