It's a hell of an evening...
Events of the Day
...or perhaps an evening in hell.
I'm posting now courtesy of Carlos's AirCard and Jackie's laptop. (We grabbed the laptops when we left the house earlier.) More on that in a minute.
Thank God for loupyone and the UCD ROTC crew. I might even forgive them for canceling the Riflery class back when I was a junior. They showed up and got us out of a tough spot - Jack was running low on ammo, and they kept advancing closer as he reloaded. I was getting the gas disengaged from a bus we were fueling, we were getting ready to bug out, but then they came and suppressed the mob long enough for us to take stock and get a little breather.
He brought about a dozen with him, and left with most of them - gave us a radio and a gal to operate it, and a couple extra guns and a little more ammo. I've got a diesel generator under the bus, and some fuel for it - I'm sure power could be a problem later, and we need it more than Unitrans. Went to get skyfire1228 and her crew - we need the extra shooters, even if food will be a problem.
Next ... I don't really want to talk about next. But no choice. We swung by Bainer, coming in past the dairy yards. They were silent. The cows were all mutilated - it looked like an alien ship had come down and done poor experiments. Approaching Bainer, we saw Jackie leading a group of folks - looked like a mix of Silo employees and students - toward us. But then, around the bend, they came. And they were fast.
The others had been slower than most people, some as fast, but this batch was really moving. I don't know why. Better fed? the thought ran across my mind, but then Jack and I were shooting... but we didn't get enough. We couldn't. Jackie saw us, led her group at a run - but one of them reached out, and she stumbled...
It's too horrible. Jack is still stunned. The zombie reached down and bit hard at her head, but she kept stumbling forward and it only got her shoulder. The teeth on the zombie - the lips and gums are all peeled back. It makes the mouth look larger. We managed to shoot the one that bit her, but who knows what that means. Some of her co-workers and the students couldn't run fast enough to get past the zombies, and God help me, but thanks for that. It distracted enough of the dead that we got some of them on and away.
One of the vet lab crew is sitting guard on Jackie. Jack volunteered, but frankly, he can't be trusted to do what is necessary if it comes to that. Her wound is treated (we have some rubbing alcohol and bandages), but some of the people say that won't be good enough. I can't bring myself to believe it until it happens, but neither can we let sympathy be misplaced. We'll hope for the best, but survival of the rest of us has to take precedence.
The good news was that the students were mechanical engineers by and large, so they'll be able to help with any repair issues we need. loupyone talked about getting to the mothball fleet since we doubt the buggers can swim, but that would only trap us on boats if we can't get them running. Fuel will be a problem there, too, but there are those refineries nearby. If they haven't blown up or something.
The bad news was that we now had more people and no more guns, and no increased food reserve. To solve both of those problems, we decided to go to Woodland. There's a National Guard armory there, and if that failed because they'd all mobilised, then at least Jack's dad has some shotguns, rifles, and more small firearms. Plus there'd be a couple more dogs, and the dog howls have served as good zombie warning so far. We also figured to get some preserved goods at the Canned Food Outlet, as well as pick up anyone who needed it, especially if they'd help our ... what? Commune on wheels? I dunno.
skyfire1228's crew tagged along in their van, figuring to have a little extra mobility, and getting more food wouldn't hurt.
Remarkably, we made it up 113 without incident. We saw a few cars that had run off the road, no idea what happened there. Someone died on the way to a hospital maybe, and then rose again? The Armory was a total bust. Guards were there, denying admittance to anyone. Fucking bureaucracy, they wouldn't even give us any ammunition. "The situation is under control," they said, "Return to your homes."
Well, we returned to someone's home, but Jack's dad was nowhere to be seen, and when Jack opened the gun safe, some of the guns were gone. The dogs were locked in and unhappy, but we piled them into the bus, grabbed everything but some ammo for the missing guns we figured his dad took, and half the food. Left a note with all the cell phone numbers we could think of.
About that time the radio crackled - loupyone's group was taking casualties on their supply run and was making a break for it. Curiously, Woodland was pretty quiet, zombie-wise. We avoided the mall on principle, but we saw evidence of decapitated bodies all over. Jack put it thus: "Do you know how many hicks, rednecks, and NRA-types are here? There's more guns per square inch than anywhere else in Yolo."
We decided to be cautious in our food run, and that paid off. We saw some of the deadwalkers out, and opened fire as we approached. They dropped, and a group that had been holed up behind some dumpsters came out, swearing a blue streak in Spanish. One of them, an hombre named Carlos, was carrying a ruined laptop that, he related, had saved his life. He'd held it out in front of him when a slow-zombo took a swipe, at the army/navy surplus store, and it functioned as a very expensive shield. But his AirCard was still intact, and Jackie's computer recognized it enough to get basic functionality, and from there we got a fresh driver and we were back in Internet communication.
The outlet itself, astonishingly, didn't have any (moving) zombies. Plenty of decapped ones though. Unfortunately it also didn't have a lot of food - but it hadn't been completely emptied, and we found a locked storage room that had some more stuff. After we broke down the door. We even found several bags of rock salt. If what ladyfox7oaks said is right, maybe we can use it as a barrier or even throw chunks of it as weapons. Jack said if we find a shotgun-shell maker, we could even make shells out of salt.
We piled Carlos and his group in with ours, now we number a score. Plus four dogs. Carlos's group was on bicycles, we crammed them in the understorage for use as reconnaissance craft later. We got back on the county road and headed for Pedrick. Jackie complained of weakness and passed out somewhere along the way, and that's a mercy. I took most of the ride to Pedrick to post this, and while I hope there's food there - it is smaller than the outlet, and closer to the highway. I worry that there will be nothing.
I don't know where we'll go from here - we'll have to see what sort of supply redistribution and personnel redistribution we can accomplish, if it's safe to even stop there. None of us have been on 80 yet, we don't know what the freeway looks like.
Ideas at this point:
- try to make it overland to Marin, where elfwreck is heading.
- head for the mothball fleet
- go for the hills to Tahoe and beyond (I'm thinking by way of Reno, rather than up the winding US-50)
We'll be at Pedrick soon. Light is fading, and that's another problem. More to come.
...or perhaps an evening in hell.
I'm posting now courtesy of Carlos's AirCard and Jackie's laptop. (We grabbed the laptops when we left the house earlier.) More on that in a minute.
Thank God for loupyone and the UCD ROTC crew. I might even forgive them for canceling the Riflery class back when I was a junior. They showed up and got us out of a tough spot - Jack was running low on ammo, and they kept advancing closer as he reloaded. I was getting the gas disengaged from a bus we were fueling, we were getting ready to bug out, but then they came and suppressed the mob long enough for us to take stock and get a little breather.
He brought about a dozen with him, and left with most of them - gave us a radio and a gal to operate it, and a couple extra guns and a little more ammo. I've got a diesel generator under the bus, and some fuel for it - I'm sure power could be a problem later, and we need it more than Unitrans. Went to get skyfire1228 and her crew - we need the extra shooters, even if food will be a problem.
Next ... I don't really want to talk about next. But no choice. We swung by Bainer, coming in past the dairy yards. They were silent. The cows were all mutilated - it looked like an alien ship had come down and done poor experiments. Approaching Bainer, we saw Jackie leading a group of folks - looked like a mix of Silo employees and students - toward us. But then, around the bend, they came. And they were fast.
The others had been slower than most people, some as fast, but this batch was really moving. I don't know why. Better fed? the thought ran across my mind, but then Jack and I were shooting... but we didn't get enough. We couldn't. Jackie saw us, led her group at a run - but one of them reached out, and she stumbled...
It's too horrible. Jack is still stunned. The zombie reached down and bit hard at her head, but she kept stumbling forward and it only got her shoulder. The teeth on the zombie - the lips and gums are all peeled back. It makes the mouth look larger. We managed to shoot the one that bit her, but who knows what that means. Some of her co-workers and the students couldn't run fast enough to get past the zombies, and God help me, but thanks for that. It distracted enough of the dead that we got some of them on and away.
One of the vet lab crew is sitting guard on Jackie. Jack volunteered, but frankly, he can't be trusted to do what is necessary if it comes to that. Her wound is treated (we have some rubbing alcohol and bandages), but some of the people say that won't be good enough. I can't bring myself to believe it until it happens, but neither can we let sympathy be misplaced. We'll hope for the best, but survival of the rest of us has to take precedence.
The good news was that the students were mechanical engineers by and large, so they'll be able to help with any repair issues we need. loupyone talked about getting to the mothball fleet since we doubt the buggers can swim, but that would only trap us on boats if we can't get them running. Fuel will be a problem there, too, but there are those refineries nearby. If they haven't blown up or something.
The bad news was that we now had more people and no more guns, and no increased food reserve. To solve both of those problems, we decided to go to Woodland. There's a National Guard armory there, and if that failed because they'd all mobilised, then at least Jack's dad has some shotguns, rifles, and more small firearms. Plus there'd be a couple more dogs, and the dog howls have served as good zombie warning so far. We also figured to get some preserved goods at the Canned Food Outlet, as well as pick up anyone who needed it, especially if they'd help our ... what? Commune on wheels? I dunno.
skyfire1228's crew tagged along in their van, figuring to have a little extra mobility, and getting more food wouldn't hurt.
Remarkably, we made it up 113 without incident. We saw a few cars that had run off the road, no idea what happened there. Someone died on the way to a hospital maybe, and then rose again? The Armory was a total bust. Guards were there, denying admittance to anyone. Fucking bureaucracy, they wouldn't even give us any ammunition. "The situation is under control," they said, "Return to your homes."
Well, we returned to someone's home, but Jack's dad was nowhere to be seen, and when Jack opened the gun safe, some of the guns were gone. The dogs were locked in and unhappy, but we piled them into the bus, grabbed everything but some ammo for the missing guns we figured his dad took, and half the food. Left a note with all the cell phone numbers we could think of.
About that time the radio crackled - loupyone's group was taking casualties on their supply run and was making a break for it. Curiously, Woodland was pretty quiet, zombie-wise. We avoided the mall on principle, but we saw evidence of decapitated bodies all over. Jack put it thus: "Do you know how many hicks, rednecks, and NRA-types are here? There's more guns per square inch than anywhere else in Yolo."
We decided to be cautious in our food run, and that paid off. We saw some of the deadwalkers out, and opened fire as we approached. They dropped, and a group that had been holed up behind some dumpsters came out, swearing a blue streak in Spanish. One of them, an hombre named Carlos, was carrying a ruined laptop that, he related, had saved his life. He'd held it out in front of him when a slow-zombo took a swipe, at the army/navy surplus store, and it functioned as a very expensive shield. But his AirCard was still intact, and Jackie's computer recognized it enough to get basic functionality, and from there we got a fresh driver and we were back in Internet communication.
The outlet itself, astonishingly, didn't have any (moving) zombies. Plenty of decapped ones though. Unfortunately it also didn't have a lot of food - but it hadn't been completely emptied, and we found a locked storage room that had some more stuff. After we broke down the door. We even found several bags of rock salt. If what ladyfox7oaks said is right, maybe we can use it as a barrier or even throw chunks of it as weapons. Jack said if we find a shotgun-shell maker, we could even make shells out of salt.
We piled Carlos and his group in with ours, now we number a score. Plus four dogs. Carlos's group was on bicycles, we crammed them in the understorage for use as reconnaissance craft later. We got back on the county road and headed for Pedrick. Jackie complained of weakness and passed out somewhere along the way, and that's a mercy. I took most of the ride to Pedrick to post this, and while I hope there's food there - it is smaller than the outlet, and closer to the highway. I worry that there will be nothing.
I don't know where we'll go from here - we'll have to see what sort of supply redistribution and personnel redistribution we can accomplish, if it's safe to even stop there. None of us have been on 80 yet, we don't know what the freeway looks like.
Ideas at this point:
- try to make it overland to Marin, where elfwreck is heading.
- head for the mothball fleet
- go for the hills to Tahoe and beyond (I'm thinking by way of Reno, rather than up the winding US-50)
We'll be at Pedrick soon. Light is fading, and that's another problem. More to come.