How The West Was Won

As many of you know, Ketill--leader of an independent but friendly group of soldiers--and his small army moved out west not long ago. The reasons were many, but what it boiled down to in the end is that the western communities needed them more than we do. It's a damn good thing that happened, too, because yesterday morning the UAS moved into full-on war with the west.

When we hear anything about the outcome of the fight still going on after a solid day, I will let you know. It probably makes me a terrible person for saying this, but I'm glad it's not us having to deal with this right now. I don't have a doubt that war is coming, and every day we don't have to fight in one is a damned good day to live.

I don't want to gloss over what is surely a lot of horror going on in the west, but I can't cover what I'm not there to see. I don't have access to a lot of people over there to give me information, so I'll leave it for later. What I can say is that my thoughts are with the people defending the western communities from aggressors, and I hope that the damage isn't so bad it can't be recovered from.

Here, on the other hand, things are going well. We fully expected the universe to spit in our faces as far as the undead go, but got a pleasant surprise: the weather kept warm until last night (there's a bit of snow on the ground right now) and the number of zombies up and walking around during the burst or warm days was surprisingly small. Few enough that our workers have been able to clear out the small groups of them that have popped up as they've been out and about, trying to get our budding infrastructure set up and running.

Other parts of the Union have not been so lucky. The sheer number of UAS citizens massing at the center of their territory seems to be having a disruptive effect on the undead in that area, of which there are many. Many, many, many. We're under the assumption that the UAS is, having access to this blog, are aware of the protective powers of ammonia and are using it liberally to send the undead packing. The practical effect of this means they're coming in our direction, and they're clumping together into a swarm big enough to swallow entire towns whole.

The estimates have a wide range, but the lowest I've seen is somewhere around ten thousand. The highest is several times that, and they just keep showing up. We're pretty sure that this is a trend that will continue; it seems the mysterious new recruits the UAS is pulling out of their hat are coming with equal or greater numbers of zombies, which are--of freaking course--being driven our way.

I don't know that New Haven itself, being hundreds of miles away, will be directly threatened by this massive swarm, but that isn't the point. We're not just single communities any more. We're the Union. We're in this together. If that means sending people and equipment out to deal with the swarm, then that's what we'll do. We support each other because we've made that choice, and because it's the right thing to do.

We've moved past survival for the sake of survival. I still have some reservations about how some people view the war, but it makes my heart swell (and not in the congestive heart failure kind of way) to see our citizens step up and choose to defend people they've never met. We're not just doing what we have to do to make it any longer, and have made the decision to risk our own safety for a better shot at a brighter future. I've hoped for that since people started to gather here, before this place was even called New Haven. I'm seeing it now, and that's amazing.

I worry about people a lot. I've done so forever, and in this world it never gets easier. I think that's a large part of why I've spent so long being the first to volunteer; I can't stand the idea of not being out there to help. I may not know you, but if you're someone like me, a survivor that only wants to build something better, then I love you. I'm willing to go to bat for you against any threat. The fact that you're willing to do the same is what makes me think we're building something that will truly last.

Unless superior numbers wipe us out before then. Which is why we have to figure out a way to either avoid this fight or end it early and decisively.