1.29.11 Pickett's Charge

Boyne Mountain has been a pretty good place to hangout so far.

It's a ski resort with a two big lodges and hundreds of condos, townhouses and cabins. We haven't seen any other signs of human (living, breathing) life. I would think that we weren't the only people to have this idea, but I also think most survivors would be pretty wary of making contact with others for fear of running into people who have ulterior motives, i.e. killing for food or weapons.

No power here, but the townhouse we settled in has a large fireplace and skylights. We can keep ourselves plenty warm here.

Things are still tense. We have been tip-toeing around Jerry. Just want to keep things cool.

There aren't any walkers around.

I should clarify that statement. There aren't any walkers actually walking.  There are bodies all over the place, but they are buried in the snow and frozen. Not frozen solid, but frozen enough that they are not mobile. Confirms what Jerry had read in "The Zombie Survival Guide". God bless Max Brooks.

Outside it kinda looks like a snowy Cemetery Ridge after Pickett's Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg. Bodies everywhere. Only difference is the Confederate soldiers wouldn't rise again. When the weather gets warmer we will have to deal with these walkers if we want to stay here.

1.27.11 Boyne

We made it to Boyne Mountain. What a relief!

The five of us had been jammed together in the Jeep for the last leg of the trip. The Impala wouldn't start yesterday.

The starter on the Impala must have been busted. We had jumper cables, but it just wouldn't turnover. Jerry got pissed and ripped the cables off of the Impala battery and tore one of the clamps off the cable rendering them useless.

15 other cars were abandoned at the rest stop, most with keys, but none of them would start. Go figure. A car sits in below zero weather for a month and it doesn't start. Jumper cables would have come in handy.

As a group we have gotten along pretty well since our ordeal started. I guess the circumstances got the best of me, because when Jerry busted the cables and we couldn't fix them, I called him a dumbass under my breath.

He heard me. Then he lit into me.

"You have no room to talk! I know you continue to blog! I know it was you who attracted the walkers to us back in Bowling Green with the glow of that damned computer!"

I told him to fuck off. Billy intervened, told both of us to calm down. I huffed away.

With five of us in the Jeep, with all of our stuff and Johnny Dog...well, needless to say it was a very tense drive.

But we made it to Boyne and we found decent shelter. I'll apologize to Jerry later.

1.25.11

So much to document.

I think Jerry will leave me alone for a while. We haven't made it to Boyne. We are sitting in an abandoned camper in a rest stop North of Saginaw, Michigan. It's an unseasonably warm day, must be almost 50 degrees out, so we are fairly comfortable.

Back to the Bowling Green Starbucks situation. We had settled in for the night. We had power, but the front of the store did not have curtains. There was a pretty good sized back room that we could use. We could turn on the lights in that room and as long as the door was shut they wouldn't shine through to the front of the store.

Jen, Greg and Billy had grabbed couches in the front and had tucked themselves in for the night. Jerry was in the back room looking at his map to try to figure out our next stop on the way to Boyne. Driving had been very slow so far. In addition we needed to stop at a place where we could siphon gas.

I couldn't sleep, so I decided to open up my computer and see if I could use my 3G card and get on the Internet. I tucked myself behind the counter, thinking the glow of my computer screen wouldn't be strong enough to draw attention. Johnny Dog was laying beside me.

The 3G card worked. And I was blogging. That's when Johnny Dog began to whimper. I had completely underestimated the abilities of these walkers. I peaked my head up over the counter...damned if there weren't eight of those things making there way to the front of the store.

I shut down my computer and tried to calm Johnny Dog down. If she barked, those walkers would be on us in no time. The plate glass windows wouldn't hold them back for long.

What I didn't plan for was Jen waking up. She was lying on the couch closest to the window. The site of the walkers outside startled her...AND SHE SCREAMED!

Jerry came bounding out of the back room to see what had happened. Johnny Dog started to bark. The walkers could see us now, and began banging on the plate glass window. We were smart enough not to have unpacked everything, so we quickly gathered our stuff to leave out the back door.

Jerry armed himself with the shotgun. Greg had a pistol at the ready. As we got to the back door, Jerry peaked through the peephole to see if it was clear. Wouldn't you know, a walker was staring right back at him from the outside! It startled the shit out of Jerry!

Just then we heard the sound of the front windows breaking.

Jerry told Greg to cover us from behind. Jerry then busted open the back door, knocking the walker that was standing there to the ground. A second walker was making it's way toward us when Jerry hit it in the chest with a shotgun blast. I remember Jerry muttering to himself as the walker hit the ground, "Aim at the head, dumbass, aim at the head!" But give Jerry credit, he had at least cleared a path to the cars.

Billy was holding Johnny Dog, and could hardly contain her. Jerry jumped in the Jeep with Billy, Jen and Johnny Dog. I started to get in the Impala when shots rang out from behind.

What a sight! Greg had grabbed a second pistol and as he backed his way towards the Impala, was shooting with both hands, John Wayne style! Made me think of the final scene of True Grit as John Wayne was on his horse, blasting his way towards the Ned Pepper gang!

Greg was good! He nailed the eight zombies coming through the back door of the Starbucks and the zombie that Jerry had knocked down with the door. Head shots every time!

He got in the passenger side of the Impala, and just for good measure, lowered the window and shot the walker that Jerry had hit in the chest right through the left eye!

The escape was exhilarating! I shouldn't have been so excited, especially since the whole thing was my fault but I couldn't help it!

Greg was hyperventilating. When he finally calmed down I looked at him and said, "Jesus Greg, where did you learn to shoot like that!"

"I don't know," he responded. "it just happened, felt right..."

"Maybe it was the endless hours of playing Call of Duty in the warehouse." I thought to myself.

We didn't speak to one another for two hours as we made our way North.
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1.24.11

We had to bug out of the Bowling Green Starbucks yesterday. I had to interrupt posting when a crapload of walkers, at least 25 or 30, suddenly showed up at the front door.

We thought we had a safe haven as we headed North. Jerry had suggested we move to a remote place that was cold, based on the recommendation in "The Zombie Survival Guide". I guess the cold slows down the zombies. I hesitate to say that it slows down their metabolism. I guess they don't have a metabolism. Jerry says they just freeze up.

I digress. When Jerry suggested going North, Greg mentioned going to one of the Boyne ski resorts in Northern Michigan. He thought there might be empty cabins or condos up there. So that's what we did.

We were fortunate to find the Starbucks. Bowling Green is about 2 1/2 hours North of Cincinnati. We were traveling up Interstate 75 and got off the exit at Bowling Green to siphon gas for the Jeep and our other car, a Chevy Impala.

As we drove further into town, it was apparent that it would be best to find a place to stop, as it was dusk and we didn't want to travel at night. We had several choices, but found the Starbucks. Old habit. I guess we were secretly hoping to get a Venti Pike's Place while we were there.

The rear door in the alley was unlocked, but the deadbolt still worked so after doing a quick search of the place to make sure we weren't walking into an ambush, we settled there for the night.

Jerry is still nervous about me blogging. I will continue a little later...
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1.23.11

First chance to get on my blog since Thursday.

We are at a Starbucks in Bowling Green, Ohio. This place still has power. We got here this morning. WiFi is up too.

After we made our getaway from the warehouse we arrived at my parent's neighborhood to find several walkers wandering amongst the houses. The noise from our car engines attracted them to us. We wanted to get to my parents house to spend one night and plan for the next place we would seek shelter. Jerry pulled up next to me in the Jeep.

"I think our plan should be to take different routes to the house. That way we can create a diversion to draw the walkers away from us as we approach it." Jerry suggested.

I agreed. We decided that he would honk his horn and draw the walkers. As soon as the walkers cleared the street, I would drive to the house, make sure it was still safe and then send Billy back to the Jeep in the car to signal Jerry and Greg to drive on in. Jen, Johnny Dog and I would stay at the house and let everyone else in when they had lost the walkers...

CRAP...something is going on outside the Starbucks...gotta go!

1.20.11

The caravan drove by again this morning. This time the people in the cars were honking as they went by.

We had already been packing the essentials to move out of the warehouse. We had a plan to escape the walkers by breaking one of the windows on the east side of the warehouse, and using the speakers on an  XBox (with Beatles Rock Band) to make enough noise to attract the walkers away from the front door. At that point we would make a run for the Jeep and one of our other cars. We weren't going to use Johnny Dog as a diversion. She is doing very well by the way.

The plan was to head out early this morning. The weather looked clear. We were going to go to my parent's house first.

Right when we we ready to go, the caravan came by. They obviously drew the walkers away with the honking.

What to do?

"We have to make a break for it!" Jerry exclaimed. "They are going to come back, and they definitely out number us."

Greg, who had been very quiet lately, agreed. "Our only issue is how we outrun them if they see us drive away."

"If we are going to do it, we have to go now!" Jerry yelled, as he grabbed his bags. We all followed. Jen had Johnny Dog by the collar.

Jerry and Greg jumped in the Jeep. Jen, Billy, Johnny Dog and I were in the other car. I drove. We each had a half tank of gas, which would limit how far we would go. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Billy saw the caravan in the distance. I accelerated past the Jeep (Jerry was driving), and Billy yelled out the window to Jerry that the caravan was heading back towards us.

As we drove down the road, Billy kept a sharp eye out behind us. To our relief, the caravan pulled into the warehouse parking lot.

Safe for now, we headed to my parents house. We were going to spend a night there, and then head to our more permanent residence. If we could find gasoline.

1.19.11

Late last night a caravan of five vehicles slowly drove by our building. It was about 2 AM. Our lights were out. Jen was up, couldn't sleep. She noticed the cars. She didn't try to signal them, which was wise, as we don't know if they are friendly or not.

I think Jerry is right. The walkers outside are a sure sign that humans (us) are in the building.

We have to assume the people in the caravan have sinister intentions. Hopefully they don't return.
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