Zombie Health Care

I used to play a lot of RPGs (role playing games) in my younger days, and I remember it was always a bonus to find a doctor. It was usually a non-player character who we found somewhere and suddenly when he joins the band all of our hit points go up and we get repaired instantly when injured in combat and all that good stuff.

Well, none of that has happened, but we still all feel a little better having Michael (Dr. Mike, as I call him) around. Shawn's knee hasn't really improved but at least now he seems to have hope, as Dr. Mike has confirmed that there's a good possibility that it's just a partially torn ligament and he may get mobility back without surgery. I just wish he could do something for Mothball. He seems to be getting worse. Dr. Mike gave him some antibiotics and he seems to have a theory about treatment for zombie bites, but so far, no luck. As for me, I still feel old and tired and sore, but there's not much a doctor can do about that--I've pretty much felt that way since I turned 38 (before the zombie apocalypse even started).

We made a few unscheduled stops to check out some towns for survivors (no luck, but not many zombies, either), but we should be at the farm sometime tomorrow. I haven't been to a farm in decades--not since my brother used to have a farm out in Iowa. This should be fun.

Weapons, Ammo And More

Yesterday we picked up the supplies we hid at Gander Mountain. Amazingly the building had not been broken into since we left so we were able to make pretty quick work of getting everything loaded up. Both RV's are really full so we are on the lookout for another van.

Today we went to the clinic that we had driven by the first time we headed north. The place was locked up really tight. As we worked our way around the building we noticed all the windows had been covered and the entrance doorway was barricaded, so we figured there must be people inside. We started knocking and calling out "Hello." It took about 20 minutes before someone finally answered the door. He was probably checking us out good before he decided we were okay. We made quick introductions and asked him for help in getting some medical supplies. As we went into explaining Shawn's knee injury he told us he was a doctor and he would be happy to check him out. Finding a doctor is huge! His name is Michael and once the news started reporting about the zombies he packed up supplies and moved himself into the clinic and he's been here ever since. He figured once the worst of it was over he would be in demand. The guy has apparently kept himself very busy doing research and experiments. He checked Shawn out and worked on his knee the best he could without an MRI.

We told him we were on our way back to the farm and he asked if he could come with us and we were like "Hell yes!" So tomorrow some of us are going to pick up another RV and hopefully a van and load it up with medical supplies. This is so unbelievably great - finally after all this time a real doctor!

Blasting our way out of Aldi's

An Aldi supermarket is not really the type of place you would expect to see a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested gun battle, but I've found that very little in this zombie apocalypse has gone the way it did in the movies, so why should I be surprised? The strategy was pretty simple--open one door, let the zombies trickle in and pick them off one or two at a time as they come through the door, preferably with reusable weapons like crossbows. Then a group of us would burst out through the main doors in a wedge formation and blast our way through whatever was left to get to the vehicles and go. It almost worked.

Apparently the crossbows Heidi and the farm boys picked up were not exactly competition grade--two of them had their strings break in the heat of battle (Heidi's lucky she didn't lose an eye). Corey was backing them up with the shotgun and he managed to get one shot off before the gun jammed (Matt is going to inspect the weapon--if it turns out that Corey didn't clean it properly, it's going to be his ass). Our "wedge" had to break formation and go support the door, where we now had about a half a dozen zombies wandering in with no resistance.

A swear the zombies are getting smarter. While we were dealing with the side door, they put more pressure on the main doors (we had removed the barricades in preparation for our "burst out". The doors gave way then it was a free for all. We probably dropped at least 50 zombies total.

We didn't lose anybody, but Mothball did get bitten on the arm. I know we should have amputated it, but that's a lot easier to do in theory than in practice. How do you cut a healthy man's arm off because he has a little bite on the arm. He wasn't exactly in favor of it either. I suppose we could have held him down, but it just seemed barbaric. I know, it would have been easier to chop an arm off than to put a bullet in his head when if he turns, but maybe we'll get lucky. We'll keep a watch on him and hope we can find some good antibiotics when we get to the clinic.

Anyway, we're on the road and making good time. There's not much snow, so we're able to keep a pretty steady rate. I hope we can get to that clinic soon.

The Zombie Apocalypse is a bad place to be handicapped

I had a heart to heart talk with Shawn today. The thing that's been on our minds for weeks now that we both didn't want to talk about is that his injury is slowing him down to the point that now one or two other people are tied up assisting him every time we move. Shawn is really worried that he's going to get somebody else, maybe even all of us, killed. He stopped just short of asking us to leave him behind. I share his concern, but what's the point in surviving if we lose our humanity in the process? I've known him for years, before this zombie apocalypse even started. Hell will freeze and pigs will fly before I leave him behind. I'm sure Heidi and Matt feel the same way. If the new people have a problem with it, they can go off on their own.

Shawn said he was starting to move better with the brace before they dropped him during the last fiasco. I'm no doctor, but I believe if his knee ligaments were completely torn, he wouldn't start to feel better. I'm guessing he had a partial tear and it was starting to get better. Let's hope I'm right and that this latest setback didn't tear it the rest of the way. He still remembers the exercises he did in physical therapy after his surgery, and he's going to try to do them as well as he can. Hopefully he'll get some mobility back, even if he has to wear the brace. Once we get to the farm, it will be easier--we won't be running for our lives all the time. The farm. I can't wait to see Shawn and Matt at the farm. I think they both grew up in Evanston--Arlington Heights looked like farmland to them.

What To Do

So we are still at the Aldi store. We are totally surrounded by zombies, so we have covered up the windows as best we can so we can stop staring at each other. We have spent the last few days discussing (arguing) about what to do next. We can not go back to our compound, there is just too much damage. After much persuasion it looks like we will all be going back to the farm in Wisconsin. At least it will be safe - safer than here anyway. Having spent some time on the farm I think the change will do all these people good. Roger still isn't too keen on the idea, but he doesn't have a concrete plan right now so he has decided to give it a chance. I figure getting away from the madness around here will let everyone recharge their batteries.

We have been looking at what we have as far as vehicles, food, weapons and ammo. One of the vehicles needs two tires since that was the one that drove over the fence. Food is really low, the Aldi doesn't have much left so we will have to make a stop or two along the way. Weapons and ammo are in really good shape because of the Hoffman Estates run. We will be stopping at Gander Mountain again to pick up the supplies we locked up in a back office space there.

We really don't know what to do for Shawn anymore. We need to be icing his knee and the only thing we have are those ice packs you find in first aid kits, but they only last a minute or two. We have been bringing snow in from outside, but that melts pretty quick. There was a clinic we drove by on Hwy 50 so we will have to hope there is something left there that we can use - like stronger pain pills, a decent leg brace and some crutches.

What Was Lost . . .

Well, we found our people, finally. We lost their tire tracks at one point so we wasted a lot of time trying to pick them up again. We eventually found them holed up in an Aldi store. We could see the vehicles parked outside and about 30 watcher zombies. One vehicle came in from the west and the other one from the east so we didn't blow out the windows of the store. Once we started moving in the zombies started coming at us which cleared the front of the store. Luckily Corey and Greg saw what was happening from inside the store, came out and started firing. We made pretty quick work of taking care of that problem.

Once we got everything brought into the store it got a bit tense. Greg and Corey had been with Roger, Matt and I since day one so they knew we were pissed about them leaving the compound. So they started telling us about what happened. A few days after we had left to go to Hoffman Estates someone left a space heater on and unattended. Annie and Larry were busy organizing some of the left over supplies, one of the cots fell over and knocked the space heater over which started a fire. As they ran to find something to put it out the fire spread to where the extra propane was stored and that is why half the building was missing when we got back. So there was pandemonium and while Greg, Corey, Nate and Mothball were trying to put out the fire the rest got into vehicles and took off. Now we come from bad to worse - the idiots drove through the fencing once again leaving a huge opening in the perimeter. So while the guys were working on the fire zombies were starting to come into the building. Once they realized they couldn't get a handle on the fire they decided to pull back and get the rest to help. As they were going through the building they found Shawn alone stumbling around saying "they left me the bastards left me." That's when they saw zombies in the building, so they grabbed Shawn and got to the garage. There was one vehicle left and as they made their way to it they saw several zombies just outside the door feasting on Jim and Randy. That was when Nate and Corey dropped Shawn, when Shawn fell on his bad knee he let out a scream which caused the zombies to look their way. So as they struggled to get Shawn in the truck Greg jumped in the back and started firing. They had a little problem getting the truck to start - it took 4 tries so by that time they were surrounded. Corey just stepped on the gas and drove over 6 of them getting out of the garage and that's when they saw the hole in the fence. So they followed the tire tracks the others had left and eventually found them at Aldi's.

Shawn is in a really bad way. As for the rest - with the exception of Greg, Corey, Nate and Mothball - Matt wants to bring back firing squads.

Tracking

We've been slowed by the weather, but we're tracking the rest of our group. The best we can figure, there was some kind of a fire. Probably one of the heaters caught, or something, and they had to evacuate. We don't know if the zombies came in during the evacuation or if they wandered in later. We didn't find any bodies we recognized.

The compound is wasted. The building is half burned down and the fence is trashed again. We salvaged a few things, but not as much as I'd like. I don't think we're going back though. I've had it with that place.

The tire tracks were pretty easy to follow in the snow, and we probably should have started after them right away, but we hung around a while, trying to figure out what happened and thinking they would probably come back. We're still seeing the tracks, but it's snowed pretty good since then and they're getting harder to read. What I don't understand is why they haven't come back to meet us half way. They must know we're going to be looking for them.

What just happened?

We're back. All hell appears to have broken loose. Half the compound looks like it's been burned to the ground, there are zombies wandering around inside, the RV's and vehicles are gone and we have no idea where anybody is. We've secured an outbuilding now as a base and we're trying to clear the zombies out of the rest of the compound so that we can look for survivors or clues or something. This place is cursed.