Midnight (Adrian's Undead Diary) Read online

  That’s just cans mind you. We’ve got quite a few boxes of cereal and pasta as well as some venison left over. I am fairly certain if I go hunting in the surrounding forest a few times I can bag another deer or two. There are also wild turkeys all over the place, and I have some birdshot I can use. We also have bags of chips, snack cakes, candy bars, granola bars, blah blah blah to eat. I also have my indoor greenhouse of veggies and Patty said she wanted to start her own as well. If and when we start feeling the pinch we also have plenty of places we can attempt to raid in the surroundings. I am pretty sure what little I left in the grocery is long since gone, but there are some out of the way mom and pop convenience stores that are probably still stocked to some degree. Not to mention there are a lot of houses we can still hit. I accumulated more food in the houses I cleared than any of the businesses I raided.

  Doing this inventory has put things in perspective for me. I’ve added a mere four people to the campus and I’ve cut into my food supplies pretty fucking dramatically. I think my guess for my food lasting was well into May the last time I thought about it, and now I’m down to February.

  That is of course assuming I can keep them on the 5 cans a day ration, and we don’t overindulge. I’ll have to monitor their food consumption. In fact, I double checked that the cafeteria was locked, and I collected all the spare staff keys from the offices earlier today. If they want food, they’ll have to go shoot it in the woods themselves, or come through me. If things start to get out of hand, we’ll have a conversation about it.

  That estimate for food is also not accounting for Gilbert trades, or if Gilbert eats here. As far as I’m concerned Gilbert has some substantial credit with the First National Food Bank of Adrian Ring. He has earned some serious chow and I have no problem sharing with him. Especially if he continues to be a valued part of our community. He doesn’t have to sleep on a bed in one of our dorms to be part of what we’re doing.

  I won’t say I’m concerned about the food supply yet, but it has definitely entered into my thoughts much earlier than I had anticipated.

  That brings me to phase 2. Phase 2 in my mind had always been the establishing of the safe houses across town so I could screen for potential residents. That was my first major goal after clearing the area up here. Now that the Williams family is here and I’m going through food faster than I had planned for, I think it is a pretty foolish idea to take steps to bring more people in here before we stabilize what we’ve already got going on, and accumulate some additional supplies for us.

  Safety has always been a concern, but with the Westfield High asshats in the picture it is a serious concern now. We are dealing with potential danger versus actual danger. I’m armed a fuck well better today than I was before they made their failed assault on us, and that’s fine and dandy, but more guns and ammo is going to be really important if they decide to come back here. Never mind the idea of supplies for the long haul. We don’t have the equipment to load our own ammunition. Yet at least.

  Add to that the simple fact that at some point I may say fuck it and go their doorstep. I’m sure a lot of the people at that school are perfectly normal people, and I don’t want to drag them into a fight they don’t deserve to be in, but I sure as fuck will set myself up with the Savage in a good position and wait until I see that Sean prick. Split that cocksucker’s forehead open and head home. I’m pretty sure he’s the catalyst for their aggression, and if I can take him out, I think I can neuter the Westfield threat.

  That’s getting a little ahead of myself. Going on the offensive seems foolish to me sitting here today, especially when I am kind of fixated on Phase 2, Plan B.

  I’d kept this idea in the back of my head since early on, but it’s a plan I cannot do alone. I’ve thought about it quite a bit, and in a few days I think I’ll pull Gilbert in on it and get his opinion.

  The plan consists of several potentially dangerous steps. Each step by itself is valuable and important, but the first leads to the second, and so on. Let me preface this by saying one thing:

  We will be heading downtown.

  Step 1. I need radios for when I eventually set up safe houses. We also need radios for communication amongst ourselves. Where can I get solid quality radios? Well we’ve got one in the state plow the Westfield asshats left here for us. It’s a powerful Motorola and it’s the same kind police and firefighters use.

  I need to get to the municipal complex that houses the police and fire station. McGreevy said the arms locker was already empty, and that sucks, but there’s a fair chance the spare radios and their chargers are there somewhere. I have Danny’s keys, and I also have his security pass card assuming the station still has emergency power. Either way you cut it, I can get into the municipal building. Once inside, we raid the shit out it, taking everything of use we can find.

  The real motivation for going there is not the radios. I want to take the fire trucks. From memory our town had a pumper unit, a standard engine, a heavy duty emergency response truck, and a ladder truck. I think they had more, but those are the three I want most. Specifically, I want the pumper, the engine, and the ladder truck.

  Why? Because fire sucks. Thinking about getting firebombed by the Westfield asshats got me thinking we have little to no response to a fire. Intentional or otherwise, we’re boned. With the pumper and engine, we can put out a house fire up here, or at least have a chance to. Plus, they’re heavy duty vehicles we can use for heavy duty purposes. Plus zombies that are on fire scare the shit out of me.

  I don’t need the ladder truck for that. That’s step 2.

  Step 2. I need the ladder truck so I can return to the Grocery store. Remember when I went there Mr. Journal, and the assholes who made their stand there went up to the roof with all their guns? Well those guns are probably still there. I can’t get up the ladder inside because they pulled it up somehow, but with the ladder truck, we can get up there from the outside.

  Now the weather has been shitty, but with any luck the guns and ammo are in a bag that has preserved them. From my memory, I am guessing they had at least 8-10 guns up there, and if so, then they have at least 50-150 rounds of ammo for them, if not more. Even if half of what I find is junk, I need those guns, and I need that ammo. The longer it sits up there, the more likely it’ll be shit, so time is a factor.

  With any luck there will be some scraps of food remaining at the grocery store as well. If the area is manageable in terms of undead and living threats, then we can scour the interior and gather whatever remains. I know when I was there I left some stuff behind, and with any luck it’s still there. At the very least, there were a lot of non food items still there we will need in the years to come. Toilet paper, Drano, bleach, etc etc.

  I don’t know what the roads are like to get there though. That means we’ll need to take the maintenance truck with the plow on it. We will also need to take a second vehicle because doing this run with one vehicle is stupid. If we lose a single vehicle a second can take us home with no trouble. Also, we’ll need multiple drivers. Two cars to the fire house, and we leave with a fire truck each time we hit the place.

  Oh yeah, this will probably require multiple trips. I want at least 3 or 4 of the town’s vehicles if they are there. We might be able to do this in just 2 trips assuming we can get enough drivers. We’ve got five eligible drivers now assuming everyone is in on my plan. Theoretically we can get three trucks in one run, but I don’t know if the others are experienced with driving heavier rigs.

  The other potential boon is if there are cruisers still there. There's a chance, any cruisers will still have shotguns in the trunks, as well as a radio, and a full medic kit. I know the town also had some form of M4 style rifles, and there’s a small chance one of them might be in a cruiser with a handful of 5.56mm ammunition for it. That would be like hitting the Powerball right now.

  If I can convince Gilbert the plan is good, then we’re golden. I think the two of us can convince the others that this is a necessary step t
owards stability and safety. Shit, I think I can sell them on the sole fact that we might find more food.

  Once we get the fire trucks back here, and we do the run down to the grocery store, we’ll have a much better idea of our weapon and food situation. Heading downtown will definitely put things into perspective for us as well. How bad is it down there? Plus the simple fact that we’ll have fire trucks on hand should we need them. You what else is great? Halligans. They’ll have Halligans there. Look that shit up Mr. Journal, I think having a few of those on hand will make life a lot easier.

  I think I’ve theorized enough. The plan needs a little refinement I’m sure, and I want to wait a day or two before I spring it on Gilbert. It’s also a little rushed of me to expect the Williams family to jump right back into the fire seeing as how we just got out of the frying pan.

  Gonna do a weapons and ammunition inventory tomorrow. Hopefully that’s good news.

  -Adrian

  January 6th

  Not much new around here today to report. I forgot I had a nice big fat cut on my eyebrow this morning right after I woke up. I accidentally scratched my head and opened the scab a little. Bled like a bitch. Won’t make that mistake again.

  Busy day counting bullets and jotting down weaponry notes. All I’m going to do with this entry is make an official first inventory of our arsenal. I’ve got a spreadsheet written up for this as well, and there I can hopefully keep accurate track of what we’ve got day to day and gunfight to gunfight.

  Pistols

  S&W 642 .38 cal revolverDecent backup pistol.

  Sig Sauer P226 9mmThe trusty 9mm Phil sold me.

  Colt M1911 .45 ACPThe Colt I found at the gas station. It’s a workhorse.

  S&W 67 .357 magnum revolverGood old hand cannon.

  2x Glock 21 .45 ACP 6 magazines, each holding 13 rounds

  S&W 952 9mm 2 magazines holding 9 rounds each. (that’s total shit for a 9mm. junk.)

  S&W MP40 .40 Cal 2 magazines holding 15 rounds each (this was a nice find. Thanks Westfield asshats)

  Ruger Alaskan .44 magnum revolver (hand cannon)

  Beretta M80 Cheetah .380 cal Normally this would be a pretty useless gun. Nowadays, it’s a great brain pan popper.

  Browning BDA .32 cal 2 magazines, each holding 12 rounds. (nice ankle gun. .32 is more than enough to pop a zombie grape)

  Charter Arms 93820 .38 cal revolverAnother suitable backup gun.

  Rifles

  Mossberg Tactical .22lr Semi auto 3 clips, each holding 10 rounds (my trusty .22)

  Savage Model 70 .30-06 Bolt action. 5 rounds McGreevy’s old gun. It’s served me well. Ironic isn’t it that I am using a cop’s weapon to protect my people now. Is that irony? Or just fitting?

  Browning X-Bolt Hunter .300 magnum Bolt action. Holds 3+1 Meh rifle compared to the Savage.

  2x Armalite M15A4 Carbines 5.56mm Semi auto. 8 magazines each holding 30 rounds. My proverbial jackpot. Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho.

  Browning BLR .30-06 Lever Action. Holds 4. Nice gun, but that 4 round capacity is lead balloon.

  Winchester Model 94. .30-30 Lever Action. Holds 8 rounds. Very nice gun. Smooth, clean, 8 round cap is nice, and the caliber round is heavy hitting. Solid find. Thank you Westfield dick faces.

  Ruger M77 .270 Win Bolt action. Holds 4. Nice reliable gun. Great for hunting deer, shitty for hunting zombies and people. 4 rounds again. This is why we won the firefight the other day. They’re reloading while we’re staggering our fire and using larger cap weapons. Oh well.

  Benelli R1 .300 magnum Semi auto Holds 3+1. Gorgeous rifle. No scope though, which sucks. I’d use this hunting if I could.

  Marlin 336A .30-30 Lever Action. Holds 6 rounds. Actually a very nice lever action rifle. I won’t use it unless pressed, but it’s a great second line weapon.

  Shotguns

  Mossberg 535 ATS 12 gauge pump Extended tube for 8 shells. My trusty shotgun, aka the masterkey. Served me very well thus far.

  Browning BPS 12 gauge pump. Holds 4 shellsStandard solid shotgun. 4 shell capacity sucks though.

  EAA SAR 12 gauge pump. Holds 4 shells. This and Browning are generic run of the mill 12 gauges. Nothing special.

  Remington 870 Express 20 gauge pump. Holds 7 shells. Small gauge might be useful at some point, especially if I can get 20 gauge birdshot. It’ll be nice to take the wear and tear off the 12 gauges.

  Stoeger Uplander 12 gauge double barrel. This is Chuck’s shotgun. He still has it. I just wanted to inventory it.

  Ammunition totals

  Mind you Mr. Journal these numbers are just today’s count. As we fire the guns I’ll adjust the spreadsheet of these starter totals.

  .22LR1,648 rounds. Thank you, Phil.

  .32ACP24 roundsDecent total for a caliber we won’t be using much.

  .38 cal29 roundsWith two decent .38’s, I wish we had more. However, we likely won’t go through even this amount.

  9mm11 rounds. You’d think with all those asshole biting the farm one of them would’ve had more 9mm ammo. Fucking useless dicks. It also means that for now I keep the Sig shelved and I roll with a Glock 21. Not the worst problem to have.

  .40 cal52 rounds. This is a helluva nice number. Plus the S&W MP40 pistol is a pretty decent gun. This could be my next handgun if I don’t keep my .45 ammo counts up there, or if I don’t find more 9mm.

  .45 ACP138 rounds. This is such good news. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel until I got that box off of Gilbert, and those two Westfield cops both had three magazines each, all full. I am now swimming in .45ACP. It’s also fitting I guess that I’ll be using a cop’s sidearm to enforce the “law.”

  .357 Magnum125 rounds.Yeah. That’s a lot of very large bullets.

  .44 magnum15 roundsDecent amount. Won’t likely be using this much.

  .270 Win16 roundsNice high velocity round. Decent total.

  5.56mm184 rounds.This is obviously awesome, but to put it into perspective Mr. Journal, when Kevin and I went out on patrols in Baghdad we went out with a minimum of 7+1 mags. That’s 240 rounds for a single day. We frequently snuck 3 to 4 mags extra out, and we often returned with almost nothing. I’m not saying I’m anticipating firefights like those, but a trip downtown could easily eat that 184 rounds up. Then I’ve got two M15A4 mantle pieces.

  .300 Magnum31 roundsSee the .270 Win comment.

  .30-3040 rounds. This is a deceptively nice number. Doesn’t seem like much on paper, but that’s a good total for the guns we’ve got.

  .30-0667 rounds. Even better than the .30-30 number

  20 gauge21 shells. Buckshot

  12 gauge41 shells. Buckshot. Charles burned through 24 shells during our ambush. See why I was kind of pissed? We went from 65 rounds to 41 in 5 minutes. Scary.

  12 gauge18 shells. Birdshot. Hope I find some turkeys or ducks in the spring when they come back home.

  So that’s everything, unless there’s a gun or box of ammo somewhere I’m forgetting about. Pretty good all things considered. I’m really hoping I find another 500 rounds of 5.56 down on the grocery store roof. That’d make my new year. I think I’ll talk to Gilbert tomorrow about the plan, see what he thinks.

  -Adrian

  January 8th

  Even on good days lately, a little bit of shit still hits the fan. Instead of saying it’s been a good day, or a bad day, I now seem to be rating my days based on the amount and quality of shit that hits the fan during that day, as well as how far it flies, and the overall level of fecal dispersion resulting. For example, was today’s shit hitting the fan thin in consistency, thus creating a fine mist of poo that gets into everything? Or was today’s shit hitting the fan a little chunky, and it fell short, missing most of the things I care about? Maybe even the turds were a little peanutty, with a hint of corn, and it was the consistency of brie.

  Sigh.

  Today was a drier shit, hitting a fan perhaps set to level 2. Not quite a chunks of poo in the face day, but a “goddamn it, that got on my shoe” kind of day.
Have you ever had one of those days Mr. Journal? Irritating for sure, but not the end of the world.

  I need to stop saying that. The end of the world. It isn’t fucking funny or ironic, or sarcastic anymore. It’s the fucking way it is.

  Man I sound fucking bitter. I’m even making the lemon face as I type. Otis seems somewhat nervous around me as well. Focus Adrian, focus. Stick to the details buddy.

  I took my plan to Gilbert yesterday. He hasn’t been around a whole lot the last couple days. I think he’d overloaded on company and he went back to his place on Prospect. Yesterday afternoon after I ate my lunch I snagged one of the snow machines and headed over to his place. Pretty great ride I might add. I was never into the snowmobile thing before, but it was fun zinging through the trees yesterday.

  Gilbert was just finishing his own lunch when I knocked. He let me in with a curmudgeonly smile and we sat down at his kitchen table, just the same as when we first met. He got some instant coffee for us, and we bullshitted for an hour talking about the ambush and whatnot. I didn’t tell him about the weapons inventory I just did. Didn’t seem necessary. I don’t know why I feel the need to conceal some things from people. Is that the voice of reason? An unconscious need to keep some secrets? Shrug.

  I told him about my full original plan to get more people up here. I didn’t tell him that I’d come up with the plan because I’m an emotional wreck over guilt regarding my fiancé. Seemed… too private. He thought I was a jackass for even thinking about giving up my prime real estate. He felt that we should just lay low until summer, let our food reserves grow, and get some crops going. If we were self sustaining by May or June he thought maybe we should start the plan. My plan.

  I had to agree with him on most every level. Adding people was silly at this juncture. However, getting the radios, the fire trucks, and then getting the guns off the roof of the grocery store was a different matter. I told him about the guns left on the roof, and the fact that we had zero ability to fight fire here. I added that it was unlikely we’d find food at the store, but it was likely we’d find some usable supplies.