Sorry about the data dump. I've been keeping my logs in an old notebook since I got here, but I found a laptop today. Once I upload this, I'll turn it over to Sam - he's our communications guy - but I needed to try to get this up to Margie back at Mullins in case anything I've learned is useful. Like everyone else, I'm pretty much in the dark about what's going on. Hell, the chopper pilot knew more about my mission than I do! Greenchute? I was told I'd be dropping in with supplies, doing some basic training with the people, and bugging out within a day or two. "Easy-peasy," they said. Right.
Abel Township, Day 1.
Today did not go as planned. The chopper got shot down by a rocket launcher. Who shoots down a supply chopper? Plus, even operating a rocket launcher seems beyond the reasoning abilities of a zom. But why would a norm shoot at us?
Dr. Myers insisted that I run through the old hospital and try to get some stuff, which worked out pretty well, thankfully. I'm really grateful to Sam. He talked me into the outpost, warning me about what was around me. He pointed out that anyone who can move above a slow shamble can keep ahead of the zoms. Lucky for me, eh? It says something about the make-up here at Abel when my pudgy bum is one of the faster moving ones here. But adrenalin does some crazy things. Sam started calling me "Runner Five" because they just lost Runner Five in the old hospital and I guess he had some sort of thing going with her. Dead Man's Boots, I guess. Anyway, unlike Runner Five, I made it back out of the hospital.
I've been greeted as some sort of a hero, which is totally bogus, of course, but I was able to find some CDC file the doctor wanted and some general supplies, which is something. Incidentally, there is a strange amount of underwear in the woods around Abel. And sports bras. Weird.
I wish I knew what happened to the chopper pilot. She looked pretty bad, but didn't get to check before Sam started telling me to run. I should have checked. This whole thing... it's like you don't have time to think. You know how it is. You're always scared, but you just have to keep going. It's worse out here in the middle of nowhere.
Abel Township, Day 2
Well, they've decided to keep calling me "Runner Five." Ironic, huh? Me, a runner. But I'm probably in better shape than most of the people here just because I've been able to eat regularly until recently. They forage tinned food and water bottles from the surrounding area. It's amazing this was once an industrialized nation. Anyway, I ran around with "Runner Seven" today to get the lay of the land. I'm a little disturbed that I've only heard of runners with single digit designations. There aren't many people here, but really? Less than ten who can move above as slow shamble?
Seven told me that no one is coming for me any time soon. Thanks a lot for that. But it's not completely horrible here, really. Decent folk and all that. Just trying to get by like everyone else. And I seem to be really valuable here. It's good to be doing work that really matters. All the stuff I do back at Mullins is important - though I guess not important enough to make you come get me - but this is so much more immediate. That stuff I brought into Abel yesterday really helped people. It's amazing how grateful people are for something as simple as something to change into while they wash their pants, let alone all the medical supplies I was able to gather in the hospital.
Oh! And the rumor about the teen compound may have been true, but its been decimated. Sad, really. That myth kept Siva going, didn't it? Hackers and their anarchist tendencies.
Seven said something interesting today. Turns out Mullins sent in someone right before Scoob was destroyed. I would not be happy to find out that I'm some sort of patsy.
Abel Township, Day 3.
Another interesting day at Abel. I did a lot of running, but the real heroes of today were the engineers. The doors got stuck in the open position and they had to fix the motor with bits of mobile phones and radios and whatever else we've found scattered around the woods. Before the outbreak, we used to joke about outrunning the zombie hordes, but we never expected that engineers would be the ones to save the day. Kind of makes me wish I'd done more maths!
Anyway, I had to run around with Runner Eight, who, incidentally, probably has the plague and may well be insane. We were supposed to draw the zoms away from the open doors until the engineers could get them operational again. I wasn't sure what was more unsettling: the zoms or the fact that Eight had been given a gun. I don't like her.
Apparently Abel doesn't talk to New Kent or New Canton. It's like the horticulturalists out here, tribes that keep to themselves, regard each other with suspicion.
Abel Township, Day 4
Good day. Rescued a kid abandoned in No-Man's Land. Long story, but we got a couple new residents and found some good supplies.
But Eight put some thoughts in my head. Crazy, paranoid Eight. But she made some points yesterday. The Major getting called away on "urgent business," the rocket launcher. And today, when we picked up Ed - the new guy - he said something about men in blue uniforms. Zoms don't wear uniforms. Got me thinking about that CDC box I picked up on my first day. Something stinks here. I don't know who I can trust anymore, but this whole outbreak is starting to feel like some sort of government experiment gone awry. I hope I'm wrong.
