CataclysmDDA

Day 03 - 1710h






"Hey, you know, I never got your name."

"What? It was on the work order form, wasn't it?"

"Well, yes, but we get dozens of those, I can't remember each one."

(Well, no. But yes. It's not exactly a lie. Usually, we might indeed get dozens of those. That day though? Just the one, as it was my first day on the job. I just couldn't be bothered learning the name of a guy I'd never meet again.)

"Oh, well, that makes sense. It's Vickerson. Eugenio Vickerson."

"Well, righto then, Vickerson. I'm going to explore the town later tonight, but right now we're going to drive back to the farm. You'll keep watch there. Shoot any zombies that you might see."

"Is that likely to happen?"

"Who knows? But if it does, make sure they don't kill any of the animals. Those guys will provide us milk, wool, and eggs. And any long-term survival plan of ours depends on keeping those animals alive."

"Well... ok then..."

"Good."

Day 03 - 2000h



Ok, that took some doing. I did try driving back to the farm, but the zombies kept following us, and I do not want to deal with a horde at our doors. So instead, I drove back to the boat rental, and then carefully, very carefully, went off-road and drove hugging the river until I could get back to some ways west of the farm, at which point I went back north onto the road. The farm and town really are too close. Heck, I can see the houses in town from the field. Any long-term solution will require clearing out that town of zombies. For now though, we're back "home", and it's dark enough that I should head back to town for scavenging. I'll probably take the bus, but stop it a ways outside of town. Just in case I need to make a quick getaway.

Day 03 - 2101h



Ok... that could have gone better. I'm in town right now, and in the first house. On the way over here though, I kinda, might have, accidentally hit a flatbed truck with the bus. I was going really slowly though, so there wasn't a lot of damage. Still, I wish it hadn't happened. No use crying over spilled milk though.

In this first house, I've managed to get a gallon jug of vinegar, as well as some other food. The hamburger I found went straight to my stomach, as I'm kinda hungry. The rest, I carry it with me as best as I can. I wish I could find a backpack or something, there's no way I can carry any significant amount with just my work clothes. In the garage, I found a couple of lockers. They were empty except for some shorts though, which I put on over my pants as they'll help me carry a bit more with the extra pockets. I smash the locker apart afterwards, and use my hammer to beat the scrap into something that will function as a crowbar. Hopefully, the noise won't attract too many of the zeds. Either way, I should move onto the next house as soon as I can.

...

Oh, even better! Time to take off my pants and these shorts. In the bedroom, I found some cargo pants. Tons of pockets to keep things in! There's also some duct tape in the closet. Tons I can do with that. The motorcycle helmet is a great find as well. Anything to keep the ol' noggin safe.

The bathroom has some cough medicine and some soap. I'm not sick right now, but best to be prepared. And clean. The book on first aid tucked behind the mirror will be handy as well. The best find in the bathroom though, is a large laundry basket. Incredibly bulky, but I'll be able to haul a lot of stuff in it without having to make repeated trips back to the bus.



Right, I'm in the second house now. Found a jar of sauerkraut, that's a good find. Stuff never goes bad, I think. Or if it does, it takes a really long time. Picked up a pot as well, and an empty glass jar. Good for cooking and storing food. There was some beer in the fridge as well. It's warm now, seeing as how power's out, but hey, a beer is a beer.

In the living room, there were a few useful books as well. One on chemical warfare (might be able to find some stuff about pesticides in there for the farm), a book about cross-stitching and knitting (I'm going to need new clothes eventually), and a book about cars (might be a few tips on maintaining the bus in there). There were also a few novels, which might be useful for passing the time. Or, kindling, depending how things go.

In the bathroom, there wasn't all that much. There was a bottle of multivitamins though, so that'll come in handy.

In the bedroom, there's a bunch of clothes. I don't need any right now, but I'll pick up the more useful ones, like this coat and those denim pants. Durable stuff. There's also a box of condoms in the dresser. I don't plan on using them for their intended purpose any time soon, but I think I read somewhere that during the Vietnam war, they used them on the ends of their M-16s to keep the dirt and grime out of the barrel. Or guessing we could use them in a similar manner.



Ok, ok, I can't help feeling that I'm pushing my luck here. In the third house now. Still, never look a gift horse in the mouth, they say.

In the garage, I found a radio and road flare. The batteries on the radio are still going strong, so it'll be useful.

In the bathroom, there were some calcium pills. No idea how useful those will be, seeing as how we've got a good supply of milk back at the farm, but mouths and horses again.

Better luck in the kitchen though, as there's a bunch of canned goods, as well as a canning pot. Thankfully, whoever lived here before must have been into the whole prepping thing. Fat lot of good it did them, though. There are some leather gloves on the counter as well, so I put those on. No sense in damaging my fingers.

By the door is a raincoat, so I put that in the laundry basket as well. It's not raining right now, but best to not take chances with catching a cold. The basket is pretty full right now, so time to head back to the bus.

Day 03 - 2354h

Ok, everything's loaded back into the bus. There's a bunch of food food, some clothes, a few bottles of medicine medicine, a stack of books, and some electronics. There are still a couple more houses, as well as the two apartment buildings. Still, it's almost midnight, and I wonder if I should keep pushing my luck, or if I should quit while I'm ahead. I didn't find any tools though, and that's what I really wanted to get.

>What should I do?_

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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Check the other two houses, then head back to base, shaking off any zombies we pick up. Check to make sure there aren't any zombies at base before unloading. Its possible they all went after there while we've been gone.

These houses are a gold mine and there don't seem to be that many things to worry about in the area at all!
It's possible you led them all out of town when you drove through and they might be heading back to the farm still!
Gather up what you can and get back to the farm asap.
Hopefully there's nothing at the farm.
If there is take it out, using as much force and making as much noise as you need to.
Then, if there is nothing or if you can take care of everything, get some sleep and prepare to go back to that town locked and loaded with those machine guns.

Go back to town during the day, push or drag some cars around to make a good barrier. And then start shooting everything moving you see int he town that isn't a living talking person. Any attention you get is better directed towards the town then towards the farm. And it's only a matter of time till these things follow you back to the farm given the current state of things. Best to take them out before they can eat your Sheep or your Vickerson!

Day 03 - 2354h





Right, once more unto the breach, dear friends! Though... with considerably less carnage, I would hope.

Day 04 - 0101h



Ok, fourth house. In the foyer, I found a book on business as well as something on DIY crafts. The latter will be useful. The former... not so much. Still, I could always use the kindling. The side table in the foyer had a few more books, these were more useful as they were all about outdoorsy survival sort of stuff. There's a television as well, and I consider picking it up later if I still have room. Lots of parts I could gut from it.

There wasn't all that much in the kitchen, but I did find a lovely damascus chef's knife. No way could I have afforded one of these pre-apocalypse, but now I'm the proud owner of a new high-end kitchen utensil. You know, a part of me is wondering if I should be feeling guilty about all this looting I'm doing... Though, yet another part of me is just glad that I'm still alive. The fridge did have some food in it, but mostly just fruits. There was a gallon of almond milk in there, as well as some fancy quail eggs. I'm starting to think that whoever owned this house was pretty well-off.

Nothing too much in the bedroom. There was a whip though, and a full-body leather suit. I'm... I'm starting to figure just what sort of people used to live here. No judgment though, just that it's making me consider the folks who lived here as actual people with their own lives and kinks, rather than just background noise to the apocalypse. There was a tailor's kit in the dresser, along with some antibiotics and other medicines. I snatch those up, but leave the suit behind. The scrap leather would be useful, sure, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to take it. Maybe because I want to leave some memory behind of the people who used to be here. Time for the last house.

Day 04 - 0223h



Cripes, I knew my luck wouldn't hold out! On the way there, I stumbled across a couple of zombie corpses. I went through their belongings and managed to score some batteries. As I was doing that though, I heard footsteps. I tried making my way around the sound, but soon came across a zombie. I high-tailed it out of there, but the undead monstrosity kept chasing after me. Took some quick movement (which really strained my bum knee) but I was able to evade it, making my way to the fifth house. Then, there was an explosion. I'd forgotten there was a minefield in the center of town. Thankfully, I didn't step on any of the mines. Unfortunately, while the mine did kill the zombie, the sound will probably attract the rest of the zeds here.

Right now, I don't see any of the zombies, but they'll be attracted to the sound. I could hole up here for a while longer, and there's a basement I could explore or hide in. Alternatively, I could just push my luck even further and try to make it back to the bus so I can skedaddle.

>What should I do?_

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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Run!

Run quietly!

As Sir Robin's minstrels would say, bravely run away.

Day 04 - 0223h







Run away!


Day 04 - 0813h

Escaping the town took some doing. I ran into a few zeds on the way back to the bus, but I was able to evade them using the cover of darkness. I think they were able to track me by scent though, as when I stopped in front of the farm a few zombies were still chasing after me. Thankfully, Vickerson saw them and came out of the barn to help me fight them off. I was able to beat them to death with my shovel, while Vickerson used that scythe in the barn. Good idea to conserve ammo and keep things silent. With the two zombies dead, the two of us proceeded to unload the things from the bus and into the house. Something which took an hour or so.



After we'd finished, I went to milk some of the cows and the sheep (you can milk sheep, who knew? not this city boy, for one) as well as checking to make sure they were all safe. After doing that though, I stumbled across the corpse of a pig, alongside a zombie. I was about to burn the corpses when a few zeds stumbled past the barbed wire fence around the farm and attacked us. It took a lot of effort, but we were eventually able to kill all three. Vickerson took a nasty cut across his arm though, and it looks to be in severe need of disinfecting. Unfortunately, I didn't find any proper disinfectant on my run, so he'll have to make do with hydrogen peroxide and antibiotics. We'll just have to hope that it doesn't get any worse. For now though, it's time to get some rest. Maaaybe I should have Vickerson stay in the barn, just in case this turns out to be one of those cases where anyone injured by zombies turns into a zombie... I mean, I've been scratched and battered by the zeds before, and I haven't been zombified. But on the other hand, I haven't had a bad antibiotic-needing infection before...

>What should I do?_

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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You gotta go to town, bring all the guns and make a ton of noise while killing as many Zeds as you can. And then lure anything left all the way back to where the military truck was. These zeds from town are just going to get worse if you're not proactive Plus you need medicine and disinfectant now.

Build up the base so we can protect it. We're not going to have any animals left if we keep leaving the place unprotected.