It was hell in so. MD when it first started. People turned quickly before anyone knew what was going on. My family and I managed to fall back to the NAS, where the security guys were doing an admirable job of keeping the small groups at bay for the longest time. We found out they hate dogs. Won't go near one. At least if they're decent size (like the Belgian Malinois' that they use in the base. It must be something about the way the virus affects their brains). Anyway, we found this out from the roving K-9 patrols on the base. One of the patrols ran across a spot in the perimeter where the crazies had grouped up, and we're about to get through. When the patrol showed up, the dog went nuts, and so did the infected. They spread like ants that had gasoline poured on them. Unfortunately, that didn't last. Like someone said, they're smart. Or at least they can learn. They figured out the dogs were behind the fence after a while, and we couldn't disperse them. About a thousand gathered in one area of the fence, and there wasn't enough ammo to drive them all back. Someone remembered there was some testing going on before the fall, with some new-fangled fuel-air explosive. All I know is they managed to get a plane in the air and drop one of them on that small hoard. It put every stinkin' one of them down. Unfortunately, they dropped too close to the perimeter, and the fence went down. That was it for the base. They were running out of food stores anyway.
We managed to get back to our home, and I found my caches of supplies that I had secreted in the woods away from the house. Fortunately, no one else had found them. In one I had secreted away a few knives, three rifles, and some pistols. In the other cache, I had hidden all the freeze-dried foods that my family kept stocked for camping, along with some camping supplies (tent, bivies, sleeping bags, a multi fuel camp stove, etc.). We put everything we could carry into the backpacks we had been carrying, and struck out in the truck on a mission. We had seen that all the farms along the way had been deserted. You could tell, because the horses were starting to look a little unkempt, very different from what we were used to seeing. We figured since this had been going on for months with no relief hinted, that the fuel supplies were going to go bad pretty soon. So our plan was to find 4 horses, and a trailer, and take them with us for as long as the fuel held. We would need one for each of us to ride, and one purely as a pack horse for our extra food and weapon stores beyond what each of us still would carry on us. I had an ultralight rifle for my daughter. I had cobbed together a short barreled AR from an AR pistol, using rifle parts on a lower. I figured at this point, an obsolete law would make no difference. Heck, putting us in a cage for a weapons violation might be the safest place. As if there was anyone left to enforce the law anyway. The lightest rifle I had left for my wife was a standard AR carbine. At least the two of them would have ammo commonality. I carried the heaviest rifle of the bunch: a SAIGA 7.62X39 that I had converted to an AK configuration. We each carried a 9mm pistol as well. From a store of knives, my daughter had chosen a Jackmandu. My wife went for a TG, and I carried my Hellrazor.
Having gathered the horses into a trailer, and absconding with a bigger diesel pick-up from one of the farms, we made it to the river, only to find the bridge over to the mainland was impassable. We found one of the flat-decked crabbing and fishing boats, and managed to get the blindfolded horses onto the deck. Once we figured out how to get the boat running, we made it over to the mainland, loaded up the horses with all our stuff, and headed for the hills. Literally.
I had a friend that kept a few cabins in the mountains. Several of them were fed by an artesian well there. The rest were close enough to the creek to get regular supplies of water from there. Very few people lived around there, so I was hoping we would be able to get in fairly easily. Such was not the case. We encountered a group that was at the head of the valley. We heard them partying from probably nearly a mile, the way sound carries down through that valley. We dismounted and moved forward without the horses or our Rottie. When we got with sight, we could see they had people tied up. And not sick people. No, the sick ones were the ones that were making all the noise. There were about 10 of them. Not good odds for me and my wife and daughter. So, we backed out, grabbed the horses and supplies, and trekked around to the head of the valley. I was determined to get in, even though it was difficult going to come over the tops of the ridges and come in from the other direction. We managed it, only to find that my friend was gone, and all the cabins had been looted of all goods, and most of the stuff like sheets and blankets and such. But the water from the artesian still flowed, so we moved in and started fortifying as best as we could.
A few days ago, I heard a huge ruckus from down in the valley, in the direction we had seen the gang. Lots of yelling and screaming, and not a little shooting. Then everything went quiet. We haven't heard anything since, even when I go out away from the cabin, and away from the flowing of the creek. Dead silence, except for the normal wildlife sounds. I wonder what happened to them. I'm afraid to know, but I think I'm going to have to venture out to find out. I need to know. I need to know if we are still safe here. Well, not safe, but as safe as one can be nowadays.
