White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)

[wa5]

I woke to noews on Friday of trouble starting up in Americas' largest cities, "Rioters" had re entered the streets on Thursday morning, just after dawn, they took the cleanup crews and the small peace keeping forces in the city by suprise.

The "rioters" were all people who were in the last stages of the KKK infection, they didnt seem interested in destroying property, either by acts of violence or arson, they seemed intent only on hurting/ killing other people.

Roof top web cams in New York caught the disturbing images that were being repeated all over America.

Groups of the infected chased down and attacked clean up workers. Poor bastards didint see it coming, just doing thier job, intent on cleaning up broken glass and burnt cars and buildings... most of em were probably wearing ear muffs, to protect against the noise.. and the cold. Then they were set upon..

I watched in horror as the workers and other people just going about thier business were mobbed, The victims mostly went down quickly and were covered by the infected, you could see glimpses of them being virtually torn apart,

The small number of peace keepers (mostly local Police by the looks of thier uniforms) fought bravely, trying to protect the unarmed civilian workers... they were mobbed and fell beside the others, some when thier ammo ran out, some were overwhelmed by growing numbers of monsters before they could reload.... A few of the infected stopped using their hand to tear at thier victims, apparently thier teeth were more efective.

I dragged myself away from the TV, and caught the late bus to work... the boss didnt seem to mind that I was an hour late.... there were no customers to serve anyway... A quick check around the rest of the dealership confirmed that about half of the staff didnt come in.... most of em were probably crowding the local supermarkets, it was bedlam at the front of the Woolworths as the bus went by on the way in..

As nobody wanted parts for their Falcons, Mondeos, Focus's and Transits, I had some time to think on the mornings developments...

[wa5]

I had most of the day to myself, most of my workmates were crowded around the TV, so I took the time to think on the problems in the US, and how they might affect me, half a world away.

I felt I was reasonably safe from the monsters now terrorising America (there are not a lot of Africans in OZ), but it might be wise to take a few precautions just to be sure....

As I wrote earlier, I live around 35 km / 20 miles North of Newcastle (Australias 6th largest city).. My home sits on 2 acres of land in the rural community of Salt Ash, My home is surrounded by farmland, which backs onto bushland and then onto Stockton Beach (The largest moving sand mass in the Southern Hemisphere)..

I cant hold a drivers licence, due to quite poor eyesight, but have ridden motorbikes, Trikes and Quadbikes on the beach since I was a kid. My farmer neighbours doesnt mind me cutting through thier land, as long as I dont stir up the cattle...

My thoughts centred on two things, increasing the security of my home, as it is of wooden / weather board construction, there was only so much I could economically achieve. And secondly setting up an escape route should things get too ugly...

We all left work early, there didnt seem to be much point in staying til 5.... I made a beeline for the nearest camping store...

[Jeff]

Good to see an update. I was wondering about the next episode of Oprah...

[wa5]

Not a lot of people at "Anaconda", probably still crowding the supermarkets.

I had spent the day planning my escape, should things get violent... (at that time my fears centred on hungry people from the city... if the economy or government were to fail.. ), I bought three of everything I might need to comfortably live in the bush... along with a two man inflatable boat and a large amount of dehydrated "camp" food... thank God for credit cards.

Another expensive taxi ride home...

I had to ask the driver to change the radio from his sports station, to hear the 6.30 news report (who would be listening to stupid horse racing during an international emergency?). The situation in the US had calmed somewhat with the coming of night (I would have known this earlier had I taken notice of the TV at work)... the "monsters" as they were being reffered to by the commentator, seemed reluctant to attact after dark. He went on to warn listeners not to let down their guard, they (the monsters) were still dangerous, Armed forces were reporting that they would sometimes still attack, always, if cornered, but were more likely to try and hide.

Almost every Channel was broadcasting a US News feed.

They were all showing the same things, replays of people being attacked the previous day, Horrific images of innocents people being pulled down, clawed and bitten, torn apart, devoured by the monsters.

I kept and ear on the TV, as I unwrapped and sorted my purchases.

I made three piles, one for the quad, one for the bush, one for the lagoons.

As I checked the tents and sleeping bags, I heard Oprahs name on the news.

She looked terrible, the tell tale marks on her face, her skin looked grey and she was sweating profusely. Then she spoke.

No pre amble, just straight to the point. "I feel terrible, its like the flu, my joints- my whole body, aches. You can see the marks on my face, they are all over my body" (at this point a nurse went to mop Oprahs' brow), She screamed "LEAVE ME ALONE" and lashed out at the poor girl. The screen went black for just a moment. and then Oprah re appeared.

"I would like to appologise for my terrible behaviour towards my nurse and my friend, Theresa, I have already made my appologies to her. I could have had this edited, but it is important that you all know the truth of this disease. In the last 12 hours, I have become very angry, even now, I am struggling to suppress my rage, I want to attack the camera opperator, I want to tear him appart".

Oprah revealed that she was tethered to the bed, and had secured the serviced of properly trained personel to attend to her needs, She also said that she had instructed that the cameras keep rolling and that all footage that could be helpful to the public to understand the disease be broadcast.

She said a short prayer, asking that the Lord watch over all of us, and finished with "This is Oprah Gail Winfrey, Signing off, I love each and every one of you". It was the last inteligable thing she ever said on camera.

The Anchorman was visibly shaken, He paid homage to Oprah, and then moved on, England and France, and most other European countries had called out the army, they were patrolling population centres, armed to the teeth, both countries leaders had made it very clear that any trouble makers would be dealt with "ruthlessly".

[wa5]

10th dec sat.

I tried to stay awake, to see what would happen at daybreak in American cities. I must have dozed off, in front of the TV.

I awoke in the early hours to frantic scenes, the monsters were being cut down by peace keepers (from thier uniforms, I would guess Army and National guard), They had no fear of guns, as soon as they saw another human being, they attacked, and were shot down like rabid dogs.

As the sun rose higher in the sky over New York, the number of infected increased, The Bronx looked like a slaughter house.. still they kept coming. Obviously the virus was really starting to take hold..

I Caught the bus into Newcastle, my first port of call, one of the smaller hardware stores.. I preffered them to the big chain stores, thier prices might have been a little higher, but they were staffed by Men and Women, who knew what they were talking about, not school kids..... also, they delivered.

I bouth some timber, to fortify one room in my home... a kind of redneck panic room.. some good locks for all the doors and windows, and a couple of dozen 55 litre plastic storage containers.. and a few other odds and ends. My purchases would be delivered on Monday.