29 August 2013
I think I was right not to try and
leave. We have completed a rather
thorough study of the roads and nothing is open. I don't know how the National Guard - if
that’s who they actually were - managed to get inside, but I can't seem to find
any way out. The only surface streets
that crossed I-435 without an onramp or an exit are all completely
blocked. I walked up the ramp on one. The traffic is stalled out for miles. Had we tried to leave, we would have become
part of the Golden Horde.
Now, we just have to figure out how
to get out. This city will eventually
burn to the ground from the rioting which must be occurring in the Inner City
or from a lightning strike in the wrong spot.
We are running out of time, but I don't know where we can go. At least the desperate fools are miles away
now.
I feel sorry for the farmers just
outside of town. How many of them died
trying to protect their land against the desperate horde…
I-435 and Roe
23 August 2013
Jayce hid his bike inside the
looted remains of the Winstead's overlooking the highway, and crawled forwards
toward the edge of the hill. He wasn't
sure if there was anybody down there, but he didn't want them to see him if
there were. Jayce was not about to risk
his family to hungry, desperate people who would kill them all for a bite of
food.
Looking down, he realized his
worrying did him no good or ill. There
was no one moving around down there.
The highway was completely full of
cars, many of them burned out hulks from a raging fire which must have burned
through them recently. He hadn't seen
any signs of a fire when he rode up to Metcalf, so it must have happened
somewhere close by. There was no chance
of looting the cars for supplies at this point.
Anything which had been left by people deciding to flee on foot would
have burned with the rest of their belongings.
The far intersection - the crazy
one with the Wendy's just sitting there to snarl up traffic - was the scene of
a massive wreck, which had stopped up traffic as people tried to ditch the
highways in order to try and survive on the surface streets. It was the same scene he had seen time after
time. Every major road out of the city
was blocked with cars.
Crawling backwards, he reclaimed his
bike. He had only two hopes left at this
point, Pflumm and Renner. If either of
those were blocked, it was not likely he would be able to get out of the city.
Peddling back into the interior, he
shadowed the highway from two blocks away. He had to weave through traffic in
many places, especially in the intersections where the cars had often come
within inches of each other in order to try and get closer to the exit before
their owners simply abandoned them.
I-435 and Midland
Drive
23 August 2013
Jayce looked out at the
intersection with dismay. It was worse
than the Quiktrip back at 435 and Roe.
Both of the gas stations on either side of Renner were completely
wrecked.
The 7-11 was the one with the least
damage. Which rang hollow in Jayce's
ears. The phrase damning with faint
praise popped into his mind. Its doors
were off the hinges and the windows were shattered. A fire gutted car sat beside one of the
pumps, but they were fine themselves. A
dead body lay on the ground near a mechanical pump.
Across the street, the CONOCO
station was in far worse shape. The
pumps had exploded, and the fire had gutted everything down to the Minsky's
Pizza. That image made Jayce's shoulders
slump. He had hoped to find some food
hidden in the back of the store, but there was no sign of anything in there.
The rains they had experienced two
days ago would have ruined whatever was left in the restaurant anyways.
Writing off the entire west side of
the road as a lost cause, Jayce rode his bike up to the gas station and picked
his bike up. There might be food or
drink in the back of the store, and his crowbar might allow him to reach it.
He took a final look around and
then pulled the prybar from his pack.
This was going to be loud, but Codie would be happy for any candy he
could provide. The fact they only had
one child in the group was something which worried Jayce more than he could
describe, but it was not a problem he could focus on at this point.
He jammed the prybar into the seam
between the door and the frame and felt it slip into the crack. If only the hinges were on this side, he
muttered to himself. His hand went to
his hip as he stared around, waiting for the threat to pop out.
"I should have brought Arthur
with me," he muttered under his breath.
Working it back and forth, he was
making progress when the sound of footsteps forced him to stop and drop to the
ground. Someone else was out there.
He never realized that he had drawn
his pistol until it was in his hand and aiming down range. He had the door covered when he heard the
sound of voices trying, and failing, to speak softly so as not to be
heard. Civilians, what were you going to
do.
If there were a group of them, he
needed his Tomahawk instead. This had to
be silent. He slowly drew it out as he
listened to the sound of the footsteps.
The man's footsteps were obvious, the man knew how to carry himself and
was treading relatively lightly.
Civilian yes, completely untrained no.
The next set of footsteps were
lighter yet even more uncertain.
Feminine from the sound of things, with the softer feet of children as
well. A family then.
Doffing his hat, Jayce peeked
around the corner.
The man was rather large, and wore
a Lenexa Fire Department T-Shirt, and he carried a Rescue Axe. He had heard them described as a Barbarian's
Swiss Army Knife, from the look of things, they were right. The kids with him and the woman looked like
they were his. His and hers.
Yep, a family.
Letting his hand up from off his
axe, he raised his hands high and stood up.
"Morning."
The fireman pivoted towards him,
axe at the ready as his wife stood in front of the kids with a baseball bat at
the ready. "Who are you."
"Jason Forrester, US Marine
Corps. Retired. I don't want to hurt you."
"Then what were you doing
hiding behind those shelves?"
"The same thing you should
have been doing, keeping a low profile.
Especially with those kids with you."
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't, to be quite
frank. Not at this point. Not after this many days have gone by. To do so would be foolish."
The fireman's face was screwed
up. Jayce could tell he was wondering if
this was a mind game.
"In fact, you shouldn't even
trust me to be a retired Marine. However,
I will give you one reason to do so. I
have no interest in hurting you or your family.
I was out here on recon to discover a way to get my own family, my
entire colony out of this area."
"You have a way out?"
"No. Not unless 79th street is open."
"It's not. We tried the bridge, but it is blocked with
cars back to Mauer. Renner is backed up
just as far. We had to come down through
the neighborhood. The KU Med Center is
burned out and looted."
Jayce almost swore, but bit it
back. Not in front of the kids.
"Jason, huh. What unit were you in?"
"Foxtrot Company, 1st
Battalion, 8th Marines. The Beirut
Battalion."
"Staff Sergeant Forrester
right?"
Jayce's eyes clouded over and the
fireman nodded, "Yeah, I have heard of you."
He turned to his wife, "We can
trust him."
Turning back, he lowered his axe to
the ground and stuck out his hand, "Fire Medic Booker Savage, Quint
91. This is my wife, Abigail, and my
children, Autumn, James and Sarah. I
take it you have a place we can stay?"
"Yeah, I think I can swing
that."
Shawnee Mission Northwest
23 August 2013
Booker and his family walked behind Jayce as he led them to the school. The kids had complained at first. Autumn didn't want to go back to school, and James and Sarah started complaining about school as well simply so they would not be left out. Abigail eventually managed to get James and Sarah to be quiet by handing out a piece of chocolate to each and telling them they would get more once they reached the school. Both of them got quiet very quick.
It was a long walk no matter what, and the kids did not enjoy having to walk five miles. They felt like more with their little legs and Booker and Abigail took turns carrying each of them, with Jayce walking point and Booker carrying his axe at the rear.
Jayce looked down when he felt a hand tugging at his duster, “Mister, you a real cowboy?”
James was looking up at him with wide eyes. He and Sarah had been arguing over that for several minutes now, and it looked like one of them had finally worked up the courage to come over and ask him.”
“No, I’m not a real cowboy. I just dress like one because it helps me to blend into the shadows better.”
Booker quirked his eyes at that. It was not something which had occured to him.
“Why do you want to blend into the shadows?”
“Because the best way to avoid trouble is to prevent trouble from being able to see you.”
“Like a Ninja?” he asked, with joy sliding across his face. Jayce could hear the capital letter N slamming into place. The kid would make a great politician some day. Or he would have, anyways.
“Yeah, kinda like a ninja.”
“Cool!”
The outburst earned him a shushing from his big sister and his mother, while his father just smiled.
The rest of the walk occured in relative silence. Jayce was familiar enough with the area that he was able to lead them on the least strenuous route to get to the school, avoiding hills as often as possible and sticking to the neighborhoods and the labyrinthine roads therein.
When they finally reached the school, Jayce stopped them up short. “Wait a moment, I have to alert the camp we are coming.”
Jayce reached into his pack and pulled out a small radio, “Ranger to Cougar Base, Cougar Base do you copy, over?”
“I copy Ranger, go ahead. Over.”
“Cougar Base, I have a family of five inbound, alert medical, over.”
“I copy Ranger, Surgeon will be ready. Any injuries, over?”
“Negative, though the kids look hungry. Over”
“Copy that, we will meet you here. Out.”
Jayce slipped the radio back into his bag, “Okay, let’s head on back.”
They were met at the door by Arturius and Michael. Jayce made introductions as Arturius handed each of the kids a peanut butter meal pack.
“When you say Arturius Berringer, you don’t mean the Short Stop right?”
“No, that’s me. Jayce and I have been friends since elementary school, even played on the school’s Varsity Baseball team.”
Abigail had a different question, “Why the school?”
“The pool down in the basement holds 660,000 gallons of water. The average person uses two to three gallons a day. That gives us plenty of room for error. It also has a medical office, a machine shop, a science lab, a kitchen, classrooms to sleep in, and more. Its not the Embassy Suites, but it works.”
Sally walked out with the first aid kit in hand, “This is my sister, Sally. She’s a Veterinary Technician and our head of medicine.”
Booker stuck out his hand, “Fire Medic Savage Booker, nice to meet you.”
Sally was withdrawn, “No offense, Mr. Booker, but I want to get your family into my office first. Who knows what you might have come into contact out there.”
“Good idea,” Jayce responded, leading the way in.
“So, Booker Savage?” Arturius asked, clearly amused by the name.
“Please, no jokes. My dad thought it was clever but I have heard literally every joke you can make about it. That horse is so dead, it is up and walking around again.”
The family all checked out okay, and Jayce asked them to pick a room upstairs. “Welcome to the colony. Booker, I will want you to help my sister in the medical office and to take turns standing watch. Abigail, what skills can you contribute?”
“I was the math and science teacher for a Homeschool Co-Op Elementary School. I was also something of a prepper and I know how to can food, store salt and rice and grains, and can make a few simple game traps.”
“Perfect. Abigail, Booker, welcome to the Colony.”
Chapter 11
23 August 2013
Booker and his family walked behind Jayce as he led them to the school. The kids had complained at first. Autumn didn't want to go back to school, and James and Sarah started complaining about school as well simply so they would not be left out. Abigail eventually managed to get James and Sarah to be quiet by handing out a piece of chocolate to each and telling them they would get more once they reached the school. Both of them got quiet very quick.
It was a long walk no matter what, and the kids did not enjoy having to walk five miles. They felt like more with their little legs and Booker and Abigail took turns carrying each of them, with Jayce walking point and Booker carrying his axe at the rear.
Jayce looked down when he felt a hand tugging at his duster, “Mister, you a real cowboy?”
James was looking up at him with wide eyes. He and Sarah had been arguing over that for several minutes now, and it looked like one of them had finally worked up the courage to come over and ask him.”
“No, I’m not a real cowboy. I just dress like one because it helps me to blend into the shadows better.”
Booker quirked his eyes at that. It was not something which had occured to him.
“Why do you want to blend into the shadows?”
“Because the best way to avoid trouble is to prevent trouble from being able to see you.”
“Like a Ninja?” he asked, with joy sliding across his face. Jayce could hear the capital letter N slamming into place. The kid would make a great politician some day. Or he would have, anyways.
“Yeah, kinda like a ninja.”
“Cool!”
The outburst earned him a shushing from his big sister and his mother, while his father just smiled.
The rest of the walk occured in relative silence. Jayce was familiar enough with the area that he was able to lead them on the least strenuous route to get to the school, avoiding hills as often as possible and sticking to the neighborhoods and the labyrinthine roads therein.
When they finally reached the school, Jayce stopped them up short. “Wait a moment, I have to alert the camp we are coming.”
Jayce reached into his pack and pulled out a small radio, “Ranger to Cougar Base, Cougar Base do you copy, over?”
“I copy Ranger, go ahead. Over.”
“Cougar Base, I have a family of five inbound, alert medical, over.”
“I copy Ranger, Surgeon will be ready. Any injuries, over?”
“Negative, though the kids look hungry. Over”
“Copy that, we will meet you here. Out.”
Jayce slipped the radio back into his bag, “Okay, let’s head on back.”
They were met at the door by Arturius and Michael. Jayce made introductions as Arturius handed each of the kids a peanut butter meal pack.
“When you say Arturius Berringer, you don’t mean the Short Stop right?”
“No, that’s me. Jayce and I have been friends since elementary school, even played on the school’s Varsity Baseball team.”
Abigail had a different question, “Why the school?”
“The pool down in the basement holds 660,000 gallons of water. The average person uses two to three gallons a day. That gives us plenty of room for error. It also has a medical office, a machine shop, a science lab, a kitchen, classrooms to sleep in, and more. Its not the Embassy Suites, but it works.”
Sally walked out with the first aid kit in hand, “This is my sister, Sally. She’s a Veterinary Technician and our head of medicine.”
Booker stuck out his hand, “Fire Medic Savage Booker, nice to meet you.”
Sally was withdrawn, “No offense, Mr. Booker, but I want to get your family into my office first. Who knows what you might have come into contact out there.”
“Good idea,” Jayce responded, leading the way in.
“So, Booker Savage?” Arturius asked, clearly amused by the name.
“Please, no jokes. My dad thought it was clever but I have heard literally every joke you can make about it. That horse is so dead, it is up and walking around again.”
The family all checked out okay, and Jayce asked them to pick a room upstairs. “Welcome to the colony. Booker, I will want you to help my sister in the medical office and to take turns standing watch. Abigail, what skills can you contribute?”
“I was the math and science teacher for a Homeschool Co-Op Elementary School. I was also something of a prepper and I know how to can food, store salt and rice and grains, and can make a few simple game traps.”
“Perfect. Abigail, Booker, welcome to the Colony.”
Chapter 11
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