Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 2): Conflict (48 page)

Chapter XV

I’m not
going to go into too much detail about the move to the Black Hills. As planned,
this consisted of Briana leading the first group with me following along a few
hours later. Maybe that means it was two convoys and not one. Who knows?
Semantics. At any rate, we reached the valley without incident, and when the
twins arrived two days later, they stated confidently that no one had followed
us. We were finally beyond the reach of our enemies.

September
passed quickly, with the bulk of our labors directed toward building cabins for
the people, barns and pens for the animals, additional storage buildings, and
our numerous defensive measures. The latter included hidden cameras, generators
and fuel tanks, and an enclosed hanger to shelter the two helicopters we had on
site. Also, I undertook several scavenging runs, all with large teams,
completing the search of every last vehicle in the Black Hills area and all the
tiny towns and scattered homes. Only Custer was left somewhat intact. The
reason for that was to ensure there were plenty of zombies shambling around and
so the stores and buildings appeared only partially looted. If anyone came by
they wouldn’t guess there was a large group of survivors living a few miles
distant.

The
hotels were hit, providing us with plenty of thick comforters, bed sheets, and
rugs. We aren’t suffering from a shortage of dinnerware, flatware, or pots and
pans either, and while there is a fireplace in each cabin that can be used for
cooking, we went ahead and built a dining hall with a large attached kitchen.
The communal meals are quite popular, so we offer two a day for whoever is
interested. There’s breakfast starting at 9 AM and dinner at 5 PM. By the way,
we will finish emptying Custer late in the winter. At that point we’ll be
better prepared, lessening the fear that we might be discovered. Besides, you
can’t leave so much useful stuff lying about indefinitely.

No work
has been done on the citadel, which will be built on the smaller hill at the
rear of the valley, although Randall did use his jackhammer to create channels
in the stone. These crisscross each other and will guide rainwater directly to
our cisterns, which at the moment consist of plastic barrels. Later, we intend
on building proper stone ones, lined in tin or something and set deep within
the Earth. Because bacteria tends to grow in still water, this will be used
primarily for agriculture or the brewing of beer, fermentation acting as a
purifying agent. Of course, fresh rain water and that from wells or nearby
streams will also be available.

Briana
and I have one of the larger cabins, complete with an unfinished wood floor.
This is nice but temporary. We will be moving to the citadel after it’s built.
Living with us is Mary. Our favorite pixie got one of the two bedrooms, again
enjoying the rare luxury of having a private room. There are rows and rows of
cabins but even more people.

Lizzy
was a bit put out at Mary stating she would be residing with us, but the super
bouncy, upbeat teenager has a personality that simply will not mesh with my
friend’s. Really, that is the case. Then there was the adoption matter to
consider. You see, shortly after arriving I went ahead and formally adopted
Mary as my daughter. Briana was consulted of course, and she agreed fully. She
wasn’t about to think of Mary the same way however, being only four years older
than the little blonde, and Briana has threatened Mary with bodily harm if she
ever calls her mom.

This
brought the matter of adoption in general to the forefront of community
discussions. Over half the children were orphans. Some of these had extended
family, but others were completely alone. I decreed that anyone could adopt
anyone else provided both parties agreed – this does not apply to infants and
the very young who are unable to make an informed decision – and provided the
action was ratified by either me or Briana and entered into our census records.

Someone
eventually asked if this meant they could adopt a person in their fifties or
sixties. It was a hypothetical question to which I answered in the affirmative,
since that was the correct answer, and followed up by saying this was not only
to provide for children without families, but to strengthen families in
general. I had been thinking of the old Roman Republic and Empire when uttering
this statement. It had worked for them, century after century. Additionally, I
didn’t want to select an arbitrary age, and I certainly do not want a firm line
that marks when a person is or is not an adult, such as the old rule of
eighteen. Rather, I prefer that people to be treated on a more individual
basis. That may not last into the future, when our numbers grow, but for now it
was policy.

As to
Lizzy, she was bunking with the twins. The trio had a cabin to themselves,
again an anomaly, but theirs was near the valley wall, in a second, mini
village we built. Assigned to security duty, they needed to be close to the
spot where they would be keeping watch. Like all living there, my friends
received a little extra in the way of comfort to compensate for how cold and
miserable standing atop the battlements in the dead of winter would be.

A funny
thing about this is that even though their cabin held the standard double
bedrooms, all three shared a single room. A tiered bunk bed was constructed so
the other bedroom could be used to store weapons. There was already a small
armory near the gate, in a purpose built structure, but this served as a
backup. Besides, getting the twins to give up their guns was like pulling teeth
from an enraged tiger – no one sane or sober wants to try it – and I wasn’t
going to worry. They had proven repeatedly that they would hand everything out
in a crisis without a second thought, and both Dale and Tara were diligent
about keeping the things clean and in working condition.

I
mentioned earlier that we have a lot of people, and there are plenty, in truth
more than we can reasonably handle. That will get better as the last of the
cabins are finished in the upcoming weeks, along with another batch slated for
construction in the spring. We’ll have more than enough room at that point for
everyone. After the citadel and any other final security / fortification
measures are completed, we will begin on proper stone houses. We’re also going
to build a sawmill. I’m not sure how to go about that, but we have a guy who
used to work in the logging industry. You know, it is so nice being able to
delegate to those with the requisite expertise.

We have
a total of one thousand two hundred seventy one people in the valley with the
breakdown as follows:

Men                                          269

Women                                     684

Children Twelve & Under      318

You will
notice that the numbers are skewed, in a frightening way, toward women. This
has been the trend since the zombie apocalypse began and in the present case is
primarily due to the losses incurred during the two militia battles. While both
men and women fought bravely, it was primarily those of the male persuasion who
volunteered. It hurt the community in the end, greatly, but the problems caused
by so many deaths are preferable to being surrounded by cowards. Such people
are of no value.

Our
friends in Yellowstone have a similar breakdown but with only nine hundred
forty six in residence. There should have been more between us, based on how
many survived the raiders’ invasion, but many decided at the last moment to
leave this region of the country entirely, to put distance, hundreds of miles
if possible, between themselves and the prophet’s followers. Part of me
understands, but scattering creates an entirely new set of problems. It can be
very difficult to survive on your own.

A sad
note about the population situation is that we have had losses. Remember Lisa,
the pregnant woman from Oklahoma who had become such good friends with Briana
and Steph? She died following a miscarriage. Yvonne and the sole doctor in
residence tried to help her, but our facilities are primitive and not at all
suited for a real emergency.

Regarding
organization, there was no real argument against Briana and me remaining in
charge. I was somehow surprised at this, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. After
all, Briana, being personable and very popular due to her high level of empathy
and compassion, tempered by a willingness to enforce our rules and punish
anyone who sought to hurt others, enjoyed widespread support. For my part, I
had beaten or held my own against the raiders numerous times and won the big
battle in Casper which injured the prophet and killed several hundred of the
enemy. The survivors trusted Briana to do what was right and had complete
confidence in my ability to wage war. Yet, I remember the chaos with Cherie and
know full well that there will always be someone who wants to take over. I’ll
have to remain vigilant.

Here’s a
list of our current leadership structure, along with some notes for
clarification:

      Consuls
– Jacob & Briana

Consuls you say. What is up with that?
Again, I took a hint from the Romans and decided that since Briana and I were
essentially sharing leadership, we might as well make it official. While we can
technically veto each other, that was unlikely to happen. I focus on defense
and scavenging. Her area is day to day affairs in the valley.

      Security
– Lizzy

Lizzy was placed in charge of the valley
defenses, particularly the wall but also making certain no one or nothing got
over the hills. This is the one area where her arrogant, innate combativeness is
of value.

      Food
Stores / Dining Hall – Steph

      Material
Stores / Amory – Bruce

The primary armory would eventually be
in the citadel. Additionally, as I’ve mentioned, we had two small ones near the
wall and there would be a third in the town itself.

      Livestock
/ Farming – Alan

We have
plenty of secondary positions as well. These include the following:

      Radio
– Harlan

We are not sending any transmissions at
present, just listening.

      Transportation
/ Motor Pool – Marcus

      Historian
– Jenny

In this instance, historian is referring
to our personal history. Jenny maintains the census rolls and records
marriages, births, deaths, etc. She also takes pictures of what we’ve done so
there is visual record.

      School
– Laura

Laura has no direct educational
experience, having worked at a truck stop prior to the zombie apocalypse, but
she has proven herself to be very good at organization.

      Librarian
/ Curator – Steven

Remember all those comments about
preserving our culture, our past? We really were serious about that. Plenty of
Native American items were recovered in Custer and from the Crazy Horse
Monument. We’d also taken artwork and historical items from any museum we came
across. Additionally, there is no shortage of books. While looting, I
personally insist on recovering any we find, particularly those about history.
I want Asher to be able to read about the Vikings and Celts. There was so much
that happened long ago that should not be forgotten. As to Steven, he isn’t
someone I’ve mentioned before, but the man has a PhD in ancient history making
him well suited for this position.

*
* *

“You
sure you want to do this?” asked Briana.

Mary
nodded. “I’m ready.”

“Keep an
eye on her Jacob.”

The
fourteen year old giggled mischievously. “He should stay with you. Jacob’s too
fat to fit inside.”

“I am
anything but fat,” I protested. “You’re thinking of Lizzy.”

“Hey! No
weight comments. How many fucking times do I have to tell you that?”

Briana
handed Asher to Lizzy, a sure way to quiet her. “Apparently not enough. Mary,
you will listen to Jacob and Rudy.”

We had
finally gotten around to exploring the second cave, the first in the valley
being the one we used for storage. It likely went nowhere, but there was the
possibility it contained multiple entrances. If there was a back door leading
into our home, we had to know about it. This decided, Mary was quick to point
out that she should do the exploring, being small enough to fit through narrow
openings. Rudy wanted to go because he loved climbing of any sort. I got
drafted because I also knew how to climb, having done so for years on and off
as a hobby. I was nowhere near the younger man’s level, but, even so, I shouldn’t
have any trouble scrambling about.

“I’m
going first,” said Rudy.

“I want
to.”