The community that we had become on the ship was splitting up. Simply put we were just too big to try to move across country as a unit. We had over 600 people and to try to organize that many forms of transportation was just way too difficult to even comprehend or attempt.

The group meant to fracture in a few different ways.

Some were planning on heading out to try to find a ranch or farmhouse that they could make into a compound of some kind. Something that they could make impenetrable and potentially work at becoming sustainable in the long-term for survival. It was a fair plan but not one that I really saw as being feasible. It would be too hard to keep the Undead off of all of the land and there would be the problem of possible marauders. Plus how do you defend that much land with such few people all of the time? Didn’t seem like it was going to work to me but I kept my mouth shut.

There was another group that planned on heading farther south and seeing what they could find in the desert. That was there only plan. Thankfully they didn’t have any of the children to take with them. I really didn’t think they were going to get very far. Staying on the move was a relatively good plan. The Undead were constantly on the move, so if you could stay one step ahead of them you might survive.

There was yet another group that felt that their salvation was hidden in the colder climes of the north. It’s still the middle of the summer and technically not all that cold but people have the right to do what they are going to do. I think they wanted to find a town like Rosenberg had been let off in, something so isolated that it was literally off the map. The unfortunate drawback with that reasoning was that they hadn’t quite figured out that if there were no roads leading in or out, it was going to make it pretty hard to get there by land. But wasn’t my place to deflate the hopes of the many. If they could find a way, all the power to them. And in the end, plans had a way of changing in a moment so you really only used them as a guideline anyway.

I’d have to say that the most ambitious plan almost floored me though. A few of the more adventurous (I’m not even sure if that’s the correct word I want to use but nothing else springs to mind) want to find a serviceable air plane and essentially hijack it. Well I doubt it would be called hijacking now. The companies that own the planes aren’t really incorporated anymore and are unlikely to miss it so we can probably just call it borrowing or perhaps temporary acquisition. Regardless, I don’t think anyone is going to be in a position to mind too much. I just don’t know where they think they’re going to go and what they think they’re going to find once they get there. I hate to think of the conditions they’re going to have to take off and land in.

And then there was my little team which consisted of Ben, Julie, Eduardo, Polly, Lt. Lafferty, Javier, Jane, Lily, Liam along with myself. We were going to head all the way across the country and make for Seattle, the great walled city and see if we can’t get on the other side of that wall this time. I think we’re better prepared this time having seen the wall and knowing that there must be a way in. And if the city of Seattle ended up being a dead-end, we were prepared to regroup and re-evaluate. If Seattle didn’t work maybe we would find a place on a hill that we could defend. A place where we could spend some time and figure it out. Regardless, in a few short weeks, we were going to have a new baby to think of so we had to aim for a secure place and get there as fast as possible.

Besides with only 7 adults and 3 children (I’m counting Jane as a child even though she’s around the age of 13 or 14), it would be easier to find suitable transportation to help get us across the country. In my mind all of this seemed too simple and easy.

The first large group left at dawn this morning, setting off to the southwest, trying not to make much noise. But it didn’t seem to make much difference. It was like the Undead had been waiting to ambush anyone as soon as they left the building. In a moment, the group was completely engulfed by them and there was nothing that any of us could do on the inside to help them.

The screams coming from our friends could be heard through the cinder blocks of the building. It was heartbreaking, terrifying, panic inducing, stomach turning. Once the screams died down the other sounds started. The tearing, the slurping, the slippery sliding sounds of flesh on bloody flesh, the sounds of stumbles on loose asphalt. Then the knocking started. It was a wet knocking. More like a glomp as opposed to a knock. They knew there were more of us inside and they wanted in. How do you keep panic from taking over with a horde of the Undead doing their best to signal a cornucopia of death was awaiting you if only you would open the door?

How were we going to get out of this… The walls are strong and the windows small so we’re safe for the time being. We’re going to try to wait them out but honestly how long can we wait? They’re Undead and not likely to get bored easily.

The Next Day