Stupid

Craig had the brilliant idea of hanging some pots and pans off the far end of the roof. Tied to a long length of wool and we just tugged it once in a while to make a loud clattering noise. It attracted attention from all the nearby Infected and left a nice clear path to the car. Alas, as slow as the Infected have become over the last weeks, they are still perceptive. One noticed me on my second trip to the car and when one comes, the rest follow. Craig spent fifteen minutes getting them back to the other end with his clanking pots.

 

It is a mistake to presume that the Infected are witless, that they are deaf dumb and blind unless you wave your arms in their face. The moment you think that, you are done for. The second time we attempted to move a lot of supplies into the car they noticed us straight away. We had time to clamber back inside. This time they only a few were drawn away by the noise pots and pans. The rest remained around the car or at the base of the wall where we had gone back inside the house. It took an hour for the last to wander off to investigate our distraction that time.

 

We got complacent. While we managed to get everything into the car, that third time we just assumed we would drive away once it was all loaded up. A mass of bodies swarmed over the car. We were a boat on an ocean in a storm. I thought they would tip us over or rip the doors off before we got away but our luck held. I had thought driving into them would part them like the Red Sea. The simple fact is that the more that fell, the less grip the wheels had. Worse, I worried that if enough fell under the car they might stop the wheels from reaching the ground at all. Had there been more Infected, we may have never escaped. The windscreen glass cracked, one side window imploded and then enough Infected fell before us that we were free.

 

I was so relieved and still scared that I forgot about driving around to look for abandoned cars to refill our fuel tank. I drove straight back to the main road and then onto the ring-road, taking the first exit that took us back to the motorway and then onto the M1.

 

Lots of debris and broken cars everywhere. We didn't stop. I assumed that these had broken down and were unlikely to yield any precious fuel. We continued until it began to get dark. Surprisingly we did not see a single Infected or anything else. You would think that in a country of over 60 million people that they would be everywhere, but it feels deserted.

 

Parked on the hard shoulder. I did not see the point of leaving the motorway. With few to no Infected around I feel safe enough even with the broken passenger side window. A plastic bag over the hole will do for now, but it leaves us vulnerable.

 

Craig is already asleep. I'm writing this by moonlight. Silent outside. Deathly. Never been anywhere so quiet. It's horrible being able to hear yourself so clearly. I want to be able to turn it all off and become one with the stillness. I feel every noise I make. That's why I am unable to sleep. I know they are out there and I am afraid they can hear me.

Logistics

While supplies are important, the weather is going to be a concern. The kinds of roads we'll be using are going to vanish with heavy snows. With the car it will only take us a few days, but if we loose the car we may be stuck up North for weeks. I'm ignorant of the weather up there, I just assume it's going to be cold and that there will be snow, even in summer. Where's Google when you need it?

Next there is the huge question of what to take with us. We've found a good backpack for me and Craig already has one of his own, so our personal carrying capacity is as good as it gets. Getting the things to the car is a small risk, but on the whole I have split things around what goes in the car (and stays in the car) and what goes in the packs. The packs need to be what we need to survive if we find ourselves alone and away from other resources. The car will take whatever we can squeeze into it that i think is useful, and that we can get into the car before the Infected notice us loading it up. Most of the food and water will stay in the car. Emergency rations only in the packs, though if we don't find more food soon 'emergency' is all we'll have.

The list so far;

Packs

1 x shaving razor (+ 8 blades) If shaved we look less like Infected.

1 x toothbrush

2 x packs dental floss - pretty multipurpose, and great for teeth.

1 x tube toothpaste

1 x bar soap - lasts far longer than shower gels, etc.

1 x hand towel - anything larger is a waste of pack space

1 x small polished metal mirror - mine is actually a makeup mirror, Craig has his own.

1 x pair rubber gloves

1 x medical kit - 2 rolls gauze bandage, 1 box of plasters, 1 tube antiseptic cream, 1 roll black electrical tape, 1 pair scissors.

3 x box matches

1 x disposable lighter

1 x 50m roll strong yarn - Craig has a ball of wool, just as strong.

1 x 50m roll wide brown parcel tape.

1 x large pen knife - Craig has a hunting knife.

1 x change clothing - t-shirt, jeans, 2 pairs boxer shorts, 2 pairs socks.

1 x small battery operated torch - no more batteries.

1 x collapsible umbrella - a tad indulgent but it adds almost no weight.

1 x compass - Craig gave me one of his

1 x small tool-set - hammer, adjustable spanner, screwdriver with multiple heads, pliers

1 x small saucepan

1 x fork, knife, and spoon

1 x plastic plate

1 x plastic cup

1 x tin opener - the kind you stick in and lift. Nothing to turn or break here.

1 x 100m roll of clingfilm - this stuff has 1000 uses.

1 x pack digestive biscuits (full-size)

1 x 250ml bottle water (full)

1 x bottle multivitamins - shared the bottle I found, so we have 22 each

1 x box painkillers (we have 20 paracetamol, 8 Aspirin, and 2 sachets of Lemsip each)

I added a crowbar to my stash, which I can stick into an outer section and remove quickly for easy access. Craig did the same thing with the hammer from his tool-set.

Car

All the remaining food and bottles of water.

1 large sledgehammer

1 large saw

Bag of assorted nails, screws, hooks and steel washers.

Bag of assorted clothing (jeans, jumpers, socks, underwear)

Bag of assorted batteries

Heavy coat each

4 Large blanket

8 Large towels

2 Sleeping bags

1 large water container (2 gallons)

10m hosepipe - We can cut lengths for siphoning purposes

10m rope - Craig's but it will remain in the car.

The lack of batteries for the torches is a minor blow. We've used up the few we had that were the correct size. Craig thought he had a wind-up torch and radio but he hasn't been able to find either so I assume he left them behind at Nont Sarah. A lot of the things on the list we are sure to be able to pick up everywhere, so I am not worried about using them up or running out. Drinkable water we can make so long as we can get a fire going. Food on the other hand is the real problem. If everybody obeyed curfew and stayed in, then most households probably ate their way through their supplies. Searching everywhere house to house will exhaust us, so we need to be smarter about where we look for food.

Anything bulky or heavy or just 'extra' goes in the car. The packs remain light and stay with us, unless we need to travel really fast or quietly. They will remain packed for easy retrieval if we have to leave packs for any period of time. We will keep the weapons (crowbar and hammer) with us at all times. I think we are ready to dodge some Infected now.

 

I'm convinced we'll need more, but the 'what-ifs' will be the death of us, so this list is it.

Leaving again

We leave. Staying here feels like we are nailing our coffin shut. The next decision is where do we go to?

There are so many things to consider. Do we want to look for other survivors? It sounds like a stupid question but with the failure of a governed society, law and order breaks down. Who might we be meeting out there? Maybe I am just scared of everything right now.

What about trying to find some kind of authority? The most obvious thing to look for would be a checkpoint or refugee camp. Both fill me with a cold dread. We need to find out what is going on, what efforts are being made to get things under control and back to normal without getting killed by either the Infected or soldiers. I think that until I can be certain how the authorities are approaching this problem, discretion is a better idea. That leaves it at just us then. Me and Craig versus the world.

Still the question of where. We are still lucky or simply haven't seen the effects of any radioactive fallout from the Manchester bombs. I still think more distance is vital. It's too easy to forget about that invisible killer with so many visible means of dying at hand.

 

My mind keeps returning to what efforts the authorities are doing to resolve this crisis. My assumption here is that there is still an authority to speak of. Someone has to be in charge. What if there is nothing to be left in charge of? Or nobody to be left in charge? I can't think like that. If I can for one moment admit that we are alone, if all that exists are more Infected, then we are fucked and better off dying on our own terms. So, someone is out there.

 

Where would they be? London must be lost. If the authorities were still there they'd be in a bunker, and unreachable. In any case, London is likely home to several million Infected if this is the pandemic I fear it is. Scottish Parliament? Even in the face of Armageddon I doubt that. I would choose an island off the mainland. Large enough to house anybody that was not infected, and everything I thought would be needed to maintain authority. That still leaves us trying to reach any part of the coastline and then looking for some kind of sign that we are going in the right direction.

What about taking a boat and making for Ireland or mainland Europe? Well, if the UK were the only country with Infection, or unable to contain it, then the whole country would be under some kind of quarantine. Anything bigger than a sardine is going to be destroyed attempting to leave. If Europe has the same scale of infection as here, then we are no better off. Besides, what do I know about boats?

I don't think there is any point in heading East. South and Southeast are going to be the worst areas. Probably safe to assume everything below Leeds is lost to infection. That leaves me with the Southwest, Wales, or Scotland and the rest of the North. Wales means going the long way around Manchester and I think there's still the threat of radioactive fallout in travelling that direction. I don't see too much difference between the Southwest and Scotland. Southwest might be warmer and better weather. It comes down to a coin toss. Heads North, tails Southwest.

 

Heads. Can the infected freeze solid? I hope so. We're going North. It's hard to pick a firm destination yet. While there are going to be plenty of secluded places along the way, we are still looking for a body of organised, uninfected people and some kind of authority. First place that comes to mind is the Orkney Islands. Been looking at some maps though and I'm surprised by the number of small and large islands scattered all around the North and West coast. Finding a quiet place isn't going to be difficult. Getting there may be. More to the point, we will need to find food and water there. That likely narrows the field considerably, and I have no way of knowing where has what. My mind comes back to farmhouses or the larger of the offshore islands. I guess we'll just have to ask along the way. (Who says you can't keep a sense of humour during the end of the world).

 

The route is going to take some work. Need to go by as few urban areas as possible, but enough to be able to scavenge both food for us and fuel for the car. I want to get close to some of the Isles, either to check them out ourselves or see if we find anybody who may know if there are people there. So far I have Arran, Jura, Islay, Mull, and Skye. Then all the way over to Thurso and see if we can get out to the Orkney Islands. It has occurred to me that the extreme West and North of Scotland is so hard to get to and sparsely populated that any of the villages along that way may be safe havens. It's something to keep in mind anyway.