ZPD 8.13

In survival, there are two basic camps of thought.  The first is the lone wolf mentality.  There are absolute benefits in solitude.  It’s much easier to remain hidden.  You don’t have to worry about teamwork, and everyone sticking to the same plan.  You don’t have to plan ahead to feed more than your own mouth.  If you are smart, and strong, and stealthy, you can stay alive for as long as you don’t make a mistake.  For most people though, this is not the safe alternative.  Especially in the early times, we just made too many mistakes to stay alive on our own.  Pete, Guy, myself, we were alive for two big reasons.  We trusted eachother, and had more luck than the Irish.

The whole object of this material was to give you some insight into how to survive in the world we’ve created.  If you’re not the lucky type, I suggest you make enough friends to bail you out.  Just be sure you do the same for them.

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Guy and I strained our necks out as if that would make it easier to hear the next shot.  

"How many shots was that?" I asked.

"Three" she answered

"It came from out here.  I’m sure of it."

She only nodded, and scrunched her face up.  I don’t know why she did that.  Maybe it was allergies.  She never sneezed or anything, but she would scrunch her face up sometimes when she wasn’t even doing anything.  Pete was in the backseat.  He hadn’t talked for most of the day, but just looked straight ahead.  He was starting to look better.  Something about the eyes.  They used to be blank, but they looked focused.  I could see him in the mirror.

"Hey Pete, how you doing?  You alright?  You feeling better?"

He kept his mouth shut, but his eyes were definitely focused.  Moving back and forth as they followed the terrain going past the jeep.  It was at least something.

"Slow down." Guy said.

I did.  We were out of the more populated areas of town, and the houses were spaced out much further.  There were plenty of grassy areas just off the road, but further back there was a dense tree line.  Houses were on our right, with the trees on our left.  Whoever was shooting was likely in the area.  Either they were taking cover in the trees, or in the houses, and probably shooting at the other side.  Being on the road was a bad place to be, so I pulled over.

"We should go by foot.  Through the yards.  We can protect ourselves from the windows of the houses, and keep an eye on the tree line.  We see anybody with a gun, we stay in cover and announce ourselves.  Don’t wanna get blown away by accident."

"Sure.  Don’t get shot. Got it."  She smiled as she said it.

She grabbed her shotgun, and I grabbed the rifle.  I pulled out the handgun as well, and tried to hand it to Pete.  He just looked at it for a second, bent over and picked up his bat.

"Pete, you might need it.  I’d rather you carry something just in case."

He didn’t see it my way though.  He held the bat in his right hand, and gripped the club end with his three good fingers.  He flexed his shoulders out, and that was that.  I double checked the ammo in the pistol, and checked the rifles magazine.  I threw a handful of extra bullets in my pocket, and opened the jeep door.  We walked crouched over along the fence line of the first house.  They had some kind of shrubs in front of the red picket fence, which made it easier to sneak along without worry of being too visible.  The second house was harrier.  A fence was there (this one blue), but there were no shrubs or flowers to hide us.  Before sticking my head out, I held up my hand to stop up the other two.

"Guy, I’m going first here.  Keep an eye on the windows.  If you see anything, make some noise.  Pete!" He seemed to be paying attention. "Pete, if you know what’s going on, just keep your eyes on the tree line.  Let Guy know if you see anything."

I’m sure he understood.  His eyes went straight to the trees, and didn’t move.  His whole demeanor was comforting somehow.  He was focused, and detached at the same time.  There was no panic in him.  I wish I felt the same.  The fence had three rows of two by sixes nailed on either side of the fence posts spaced 8 feet apart.  The fence posts weren’t wide enough to hide my body, but they were better than nothing.  I was holding my breath when I broke from cover.  You really shouldn’t hold your breath.  If you have to dive, it can force the air out of you, giving away your position.  It also tires you out quicker and makes you breathe heavier when you reach your destination.

I made a whole bunch of noise going from post to post.  If people were laying in wait, they most definitely would have known all about me.  I was sweating terribly when I reached the far side of the fence.  After that, there was a driveway, and a low stone wall.  I stayed by the last fence post.  It was twice as thick, as one post was for the fence, while the second was holding the homes mailbox.  I motioned to Guy to start her move.  I then looked back at the house front I had just crossed.  It was my turn to cover for her.

She had only reached the first post when the sky fell.  A gunshot exploded through the air, and I was littered with small splinters.  The shot had hit the post behind me.  Guy hit the dirt.

"Whoa!  Whoa!  Hold your fire!" I screamed as another shot went through the mailbox and hit the ground beside me.

"Hold your fire! We’re not freaks! Stop!"  The shots were coming from the house behind the low stone wall.  A second floor window was open, but I couldn’t see who was shooting.  Guy made a move to aim her gun, but I furiously waved her down.  She couldn’t have done anything from that range anyways.  The shots had stopped at any rate.

I was desperately trying to make myself as small as possible behind the sliver of cover I had when the front door on the house opened up, and a woman holding a rifle stepped out.  She was tall, with short blonde hair.  She looked like she was in her late thirties or early forties, with a tan that made her look just a little older.  Her face was swollen on the cheek, and her lip had been split.  She had obviously been through some kind of fight.  She kept the door open, and didn’t move off the front step.

"Who are you?" she shouted.

"Survivors like you." I answered.

"How many are ya?"

"Three"

"What do you want?"

"We’re just trying to find others.  It’s safer if we have more numbers."

"Put up your hands."

I wasn’t in much of a position to bargain.  The woman was obviously  suspicious.  Couldn’t blame her.  It was a good time to be par

anoid.  I gave a signal to Guy that she and Pete stay down.  Then I put up my hands and stood very slowly.

"Where’s your friends?"

"Hiding."

"Make em come out."

"Can’t do that."

"Make em come out!" she did not have a lot of patience.

"They’re scared."

"What they got to be ‘fraid of?  You’re the ones attacking us."

"We’re not.  What’s your name?"

"Why you need my name?"

"My name is Gavin.  We just haven’t been introduced yet."

She squinted her eyes and thought for a moment on that.

"Evelyn."

"Evelyn.  Nice to meet you.  Please lower your gun."

"Why should I?"

"If you put your gun down, I can introduce you to my friends."  She laughed at that.

"Hahaha, yeah I’ll bet.  I put my gun down, and you’ll have your friends jump right out and introduce themselves into my house."

"Evelyn, what if I promise they keep their hands up like me, and come out real slow?"

"I’m not putting down my gun."

"That’s okay, just lower it."

The poor woman looked like she didn’t know what to do.  We must have been the first sane people she’d seen for a week.

"Okay" she said at last, and lowered her rifle.

"Guy." I said, and Guy did exactly as I promised.  She held her arms above her head, and stood slowly.

"Pete." I said, and he did the same.

"That’s all there is?" She asked.

"This is us." I answered.

She stood for a moment, then stepped back inside.  

"Well come in then."  She said, before turning back around "No tricks now, I wasn’t the only one with a gun on you."