fd2

Arc 1: Arrival

Part 2: Shelter

XxXxXxX

When I reached the nearest gate I stopped, looking through at the interior. From a distance it had looked intact, but deserted. Now I realized that my hope had been in vain. However well organized this mini-fortress had been, it was no longer secured. A zombie, half stuck in a 'foxhole' with an emplaced machine gun aimed at the gate, gave proof of that. It was wearing body armor, so probably had been whichever soldier had been assigned there when the place fell. Since the gate was closed I decided to examine the perimeter. I had the time, might as well see if I couldn't secure this place. I began to work my way clockwise around the exterior.

As I went I examined the way the walls had been engineered. Each trailer appeared to be positioned so that a double layer barrier was formed. Even spots where the ends of the trucks didn't meet smoothly were secured by another truck pushed up against the interior of the gap. The fences were heavy, reinforced with chain and must have been moved from another location. It wasn't until I had encountered the fourth gate, the one facing the west and the setting sun, that I found the problem. The gate was blown open, though didn't appear to be too damaged. Hopefully I could secure it again.

Just a bit inside was a flipped over SUV. A few corpses were inside it, strapped in and unable to scramble out. They were still active, so I put them down with a few quick shots. Clearly, someone must have forced their way into the compound out of desperation, costing the entire compound their lives. A better view of the interior supported this. I saw a number of dead bodies with holes in their heads, though thankfully few of the moving dead. Most probably moved on, drawn off by fleeing survivors or other distractions. I considered that a win, even if it meant I wasn't about to find other survivors to band together with.

Looking around I debated what my first step should be. When I noticed a flat cart used for moving heavy objects I decided that tomorrow I would need to take some time to start disposing of bodies. For now, security and then shelter took priority. With a sigh I turned and returned to the open gate. I pushed the two halves closed and found a length of chain with a padlock, grateful the key was still in it. Shortly I had the gate closed, and the compound as secure against the outside as it was likely to be anytime soon. I'd give it a closer examination later. After I'd cleared the interior and gotten some sleep, that was.

I started with the exterior, scouting for trapped zombies or any that could be drawn out of the nearby buildings by my presence. Found a couple, gave them mercy. Only took about a half an hour, but I was thorough. When I finished, I returned to a spot I'd found at the rear of the gas station for a closer examination. It was what I had expected, a backup generator to keep the power and other systems running for the complex. Quick examination of it revealed that it was still running, and had enough capacity to run for a week on a full tank when supplying the entire complex at full activity. That meant that this place had fallen within the past week.

Sighing and saying a prayer for the dead I used a stick to test the tank. Half full. I decided to leave it running for the moment. Lights would make it easier to clear the interiors of the buildings. It also meant that the freezers and refrigerators may still be running. Would keep the perishable food supplies viable for longer.

After checking over the sizeable supply of tanks to refuel the generator which were piled nearby I returned to the front and slowly entered the building. It was much like any large truck stop gas station I had visited in the past. Entry hall with ATM and various entertainments. Couple arcade games against one wall, rack of pamphlets nearby, rack of airport novels on sale. Past this were row after row of racks which would normally have been stocked with junk food and toiletries and other supplies. Instead, the section was now blocked by an artificial wall which had been put in place, sort of a counter to separate it from the front. Good, the group here had possessed enough organization to ration and protect supplies. That boded well for me.

To my right, there was a scrabbling sound, but on examination I found that it wasn't a zombie. It was a German Shepherd, lanky and thin from lack of food but with one of those deep black coats some of their breed had. She approached me with a whine, sniffing at my hand and then letting her tongue loll as I scratched her behind the ears. Dog was alive in here, that was a good sign. I decided to head the way the dog had come from first, examining one of the fast food restaurants attached to the station.

This one turned out to be a Steak N' Shake, giving me some clue of where I was. Southeast United States was most likely, but not guaranteed. I think my cousins in Montana had one nearby so it wasn't a guarantee of where I was. A few minutes searching and I found three corpses locked in the freezer from the inside. There was a pistol on the ground and all three had ended their lives on their own terms. The bite mark on one of their arms showed why they had done so. They'd had no faith in surviving longer. Probably been trapped in here and done the deed when it looked like the zombies weren't going to leave. I said a prayer and examined the supplies.

The freezer was fully stocked, but only part of it looked like the bulk supplies a fast food place would have in its freezers. The rest looked like it was retrieved from grocery stores or maybe a bulk store like CostCo. Probably supplies scavenged after the compound was set up, or maybe just transported by various refugees. A check of the pantry and the refrigerators revealed a similar situation, and I said a small prayer that the generator was still working. This was one of only three restaurants in the building, not counting the full sized diner, the rest of the station, and whatever may be at the motel, the strip mall, or in the various trailers still inside the perimeter of the compound. There was enough food here that, assuming I was alone and that I could keep the generators going, I could last for a couple of years. It would go off before I could eat it all.

I took another ten minutes to confirm that the rest of the building was clear of zombies and headed to the front. A short whistle, which amazed me because I'd never been able to whistle before, and the Shepherd was following me. As I considered the armor I was using I had an amusing thought cross my mind. Decided to just call the dog Shepard. After all, she was a fem Shep.

XxXxXxX

Examining the diner goes much faster. I'm paying less attention to cataloguing supplies and more on eliminating any zombies which might still be present. I find one zombie caught under a tipped over stove and put it out of its misery. Again, the pantries, freezers and refrigerators are full of food. Additionally, every spare space that could be used is stacked with boxes of canned and dry goods.

The presence of pillows and sleeping bags in the dining area tells me that there were enough survivors holed up in the complex that the motel didn't provide sufficient sleeping space. I felt a little guilty that my first thought was I wouldn't have to sleep on a floor somewhere, then shrugged it off. With this 'bad end' scenario, I think I could be forgiven for taking pleasure where I could.

Checking on the strip mall provided even more good news. One of the stores was a gunshop, and the owner had apparently been a bit of a paranoid nut. I suddenly doubted that the emplaced machine gun I had witnessed had been brought in by the army or the national guard. The place was full of weapons, ammunition, and more. The presence of cases of military grade ammo and the military communications rig set up in the office told me that they must have turned this place into their HQ when they set this compound up. Made sense, most of the survivors would be civilians and wouldn't need guns inside the safety of the camp. Keeping them in a central armory like this was probably the smart thing. Unfortunately, it was also probably what had cost them the camp when the gate was breached. Perhaps if everyone had been carrying or at least had a pistol within reach they wouldn't have been overrun so easily.

Along with the gunshop, I'd found a camping/survival gear shop. It wasn't as full as I'd have liked, but I figured that was probably because some of the gear had been in use or spread to the compound. Hopefully a lot of it would still be in the compound. Mostly I was happy to see the cold weather camping gear, portable water purifiers, and fishing gear. I idly grabbed a couple nalgene bottles and a portable water purifier. No guarantee the water here would be running or even safe to drink, so better safe than sorry.

The remaining stores proved to be equally empty of zombies, though there was some evidence of survivors having taken refuge in a few of them. Either gotten by the zombies or made an attempt to escape. Either way, it was clear. One was a bookstore, another was a barbershop of some sort, third was obligatorily a Starbucks. The remaining two had turned out to be a veterinary office, which had clearly been repurposed as a field clinic, and a local assayers office. The maps of the area within that office alone were worth their weight in, well, anything really. They showed a sizeable lake only about a mile south off of the road, a town about five miles west with a large mall and a couple factories, and a dense community to the east along with some stores.

Resolving to study the map more closely in the morning, I left the strip mall and made my way to the motel. Fifty rooms arranged in a U-shape around a gated pool and hot tub. I let out a sigh of relief at seeing no sign of zombies in or ever having gotten access to the pool. Probably needed some fresh chlorine or bromine, but at least it was mostly clean. If I was going to be here for any length of time, which frankly appeared likely, then I'd probably take advantage of the pool and hot tub once everything was secured.

I checked the office first, finding a master key after digging around as well as a layout map of the building. This showed all the rooms, stairwells and closets, giving me a good idea of what I had to check, and which room I'd most likely turn into my refuge. There was something dubbed the 'Hunter's Suite' on the map, a two bedroom suite situated on the top floor facing the south road. It had balconies on two sides, and easy access to one of the roof access ladders.

With a glance at the slowly lowering sun, I made my way to the first ground floor room and began my search. It took over an hour, and by that time the sun was clearly nearing the horizon. I had at best an hour let before the light left me completely, but I had completed my examination of the compound, more or less. All that was left was the Hunter's Suite I had decided to make my refuge. The door was locked when I tried it, unlike most of the motel rooms. Stepping to the side of the door I peered inside the windows, but the blinds were down and I couldn't see anything. Knocking loudly on the door and calling out didn't provoke any reaction.

I used the key and opened the door and immediately thanked whatever god had dropped me here that my suit didn't allow me to smell the outside air. Two corpses lay in the middle of the room, a pistol in or near both of their right hands. One was wearing the rank of a major, the other a lieutenant. I didn't think I'd ever find out for sure, but from the looks of things, and the multiple bullet holes in both, there must have been a standoff here for some reason. Maybe the Major had panicked and tried to hole up when the camp was overrun. Maybe the lieutenant had been going to help and refused to obey an order to stay and protect the major. Either way, both of them were dead and the door locked from the inside. The shots to the head appeared to be random, so it was just luck they both prevented the other from becoming a zombie.

It took me ten minutes to dispose of the bodies, or at least drag them outside and drop them on a cart I would use to remove the bodies later and properly dispose of them. Once that was done, I made a stop at the gun store and the survival shop. I was already thinking of them as the armory and supply depot in my head, figured it'd be easier to think of it that way. I had grabbed some rope, a few knives, an axe, and a couple more guns. I'd grabbed some ammo as well. I figured that if I set up some rifles on the balconies I could use the scopes if anything was approaching, and if I had to I could eliminate any zombies or threat at a distance.

I didn't trust my carbine to be accurate at distance anyways.

By now, the light was really beginning to fade and the events of the day were finally beginning to catch up to me, emotionally more than physically. Despite how secure I felt I had made the complex, I still moved a chair and propped it to help block the door which I also locked and bolted. I made up the bed in one of the rooms, stashing my bag and most of my extra gear in a corner. Breaking out a bottle of water and a few of the protein bars from my pack I ate a small meal while staring at the slowly fading light. Tomorrow, or the day after I would start cooking food. Focus on the refrigerated stuff, the perishable stuff which wouldn't last much longer. It would be better if I saved the nonperishable goods for as long as possible.

On that point, it would also be a good idea if I found and prepared a working vehicle just in case I had to ditch out of here. Stock it with food,water, medical supplies, survival supplies. Everything that I might need in order to survive if I have to ditch out of here and make a run for another town or camp. I also decide to prepare a jump bag as well, especially since I couldn't bring back more supplies if I ran a scavenging run with a stuffed full vehicle.

I dropped a thawed steak I had pulled out of a refrigerator at the truck stop into a bowl and scratched Shep's ears as I sat down. She gave me a happy woof before she started to try to wolf down the hunk of meat. I smiled sadly and scratched her ears. At least I wasn't completely alone.

As I removed my armor, fully cognizant of the anxiety I was feeling, I noticed the faint mist that momentarily formed above one of my hands when the thought of being hungry crossed my mind. Resolving to examine the phenomenon in the morning I used the facilities, getting in a shower and being grateful that the water and power was still working for the moment, then blocked the door to the bedroom before crawling into bed.

I slept with the pistol in my hand that night. Just in case.