Post by ecocks on Mar 22, 2014 22:09:49 GMT -6
The world was what it was. That was David Lee’s motto even before the end of the world. He’d always taken things one day at a time and it had always worked out well enough. The only noticeable change in his planning horizon was to grab off a bigger backpack than the computer pack he had started with and to watch people a bit more closely during the first 24 hours after he met them.
He had been at work in the call center when the infection had first struck their city. The previous three days had seen reports emerging from around the world of a strange new illness which made people enter into fits of destructive rage, homicidally crazy. Comments were being made about the numbers of people calling in sick but that had let many people start picking up some OT so that wasn’t so bad. By lunchtime of the fourth day there were reports of strange police calls on the air involving domestic violence, assaulting of officers and groups of people tearing things (and others) apart.
By the time he got off of work, word had spread.
• Go straight home and lock all doors. Do NOT pick up hitchhikers.
• Report any sign of fever or nausea IMMEDIATELY.
• Barricade windows and any form of access to your home.
• Call police at the first sign of an emergency.
Having rehearsed this several times in his mind the last couple of years, he knew exactly what to do. Fortunately, he lived less than six blocks from the call center and could be home in 5 minutes.
On the way, it was clear what was happening. At a gas station he saw two men and a woman fighting over the body of a young teenager. The woman was swinging a torn-off leg. For a minute he wondered if the child was her own. A block from his home someone had rammed a car through the Walgreen’s front door. A man’s body was lying under the car’s right rear wheel.
At his apartment, he went at once to his bedroom closet and removed a large gun case from the upper shelf.
Inside lay his pride and joy.
He didn’t make all that much money but when determining his strategy for prepping he had been pretty generous with his weapons budget. Inside was a top of the line DPMS AR. He had added a forward grip, bi-pod, light and an Aimpoint sat atop the rail. He attached the sling, inserted the single full mag from the case and set the rifle aside for a moment.
From the floor he took two ammo containers and the 8 empty magazines lying next to them. Thirty minutes later he had loaded all eight magazines.
Hanging in the closet was a Level II vest which went on over his t-shirt followed by a long-sleeve, light khaki shirt. He then donned a pair of khaki slacks followed by a pair of steel-toed security boots.
He considered himself in the mirror. Reasonable tones, he should blend in as much as he could hope for.
Also in the gun case was a Beretta 92FS. A box in the corner held his tactical leg holster which he now looped through his belt and strapped securely to his leg. A suppressor slid into what had been the mag holder.
Time to go, no time to dally!
He went to the hall closet and removed a load-carrying harness from atop his gear bag and quickly loaded the ammo pouches before shrugging into it. Then he picked up the main bag. It had the basics: three days of food, first aid kit, fire starter kit, 2-man tent, mummy bag, ground cloth, Life Straw, small cooking pot, hobo tool, the whole works. Not too heavy, only about 18 kilos. Thank God for that website he had stumbled across four years ago!
He took one quick look around the apartment, picked up the AR, opened the door and started for his car.
Opening the door he surprised his neighbor, Mrs. Brinkler as she slowly walked past.
Turning towards the door knob with the keys in his hand he missed her head snapping around at the sound of the door and the glint in her eye as she grabbed his hair, pulling him backwards to bite off his left ear.
###
This is my original version, meant as a super short story about a simple guy who prepped as best he could only to be taken down within the first few moments due to lack of being in Condition Red and staying alert.
It is now being reworked out to book length as a PAW adventure story. I'll post the reworked one sometime tomorrow (Sunday). It's 5:10am and I am way too old for pulling all-nighters.
He had been at work in the call center when the infection had first struck their city. The previous three days had seen reports emerging from around the world of a strange new illness which made people enter into fits of destructive rage, homicidally crazy. Comments were being made about the numbers of people calling in sick but that had let many people start picking up some OT so that wasn’t so bad. By lunchtime of the fourth day there were reports of strange police calls on the air involving domestic violence, assaulting of officers and groups of people tearing things (and others) apart.
By the time he got off of work, word had spread.
• Go straight home and lock all doors. Do NOT pick up hitchhikers.
• Report any sign of fever or nausea IMMEDIATELY.
• Barricade windows and any form of access to your home.
• Call police at the first sign of an emergency.
Having rehearsed this several times in his mind the last couple of years, he knew exactly what to do. Fortunately, he lived less than six blocks from the call center and could be home in 5 minutes.
On the way, it was clear what was happening. At a gas station he saw two men and a woman fighting over the body of a young teenager. The woman was swinging a torn-off leg. For a minute he wondered if the child was her own. A block from his home someone had rammed a car through the Walgreen’s front door. A man’s body was lying under the car’s right rear wheel.
At his apartment, he went at once to his bedroom closet and removed a large gun case from the upper shelf.
Inside lay his pride and joy.
He didn’t make all that much money but when determining his strategy for prepping he had been pretty generous with his weapons budget. Inside was a top of the line DPMS AR. He had added a forward grip, bi-pod, light and an Aimpoint sat atop the rail. He attached the sling, inserted the single full mag from the case and set the rifle aside for a moment.
From the floor he took two ammo containers and the 8 empty magazines lying next to them. Thirty minutes later he had loaded all eight magazines.
Hanging in the closet was a Level II vest which went on over his t-shirt followed by a long-sleeve, light khaki shirt. He then donned a pair of khaki slacks followed by a pair of steel-toed security boots.
He considered himself in the mirror. Reasonable tones, he should blend in as much as he could hope for.
Also in the gun case was a Beretta 92FS. A box in the corner held his tactical leg holster which he now looped through his belt and strapped securely to his leg. A suppressor slid into what had been the mag holder.
Time to go, no time to dally!
He went to the hall closet and removed a load-carrying harness from atop his gear bag and quickly loaded the ammo pouches before shrugging into it. Then he picked up the main bag. It had the basics: three days of food, first aid kit, fire starter kit, 2-man tent, mummy bag, ground cloth, Life Straw, small cooking pot, hobo tool, the whole works. Not too heavy, only about 18 kilos. Thank God for that website he had stumbled across four years ago!
He took one quick look around the apartment, picked up the AR, opened the door and started for his car.
Opening the door he surprised his neighbor, Mrs. Brinkler as she slowly walked past.
Turning towards the door knob with the keys in his hand he missed her head snapping around at the sound of the door and the glint in her eye as she grabbed his hair, pulling him backwards to bite off his left ear.
###
This is my original version, meant as a super short story about a simple guy who prepped as best he could only to be taken down within the first few moments due to lack of being in Condition Red and staying alert.
It is now being reworked out to book length as a PAW adventure story. I'll post the reworked one sometime tomorrow (Sunday). It's 5:10am and I am way too old for pulling all-nighters.
