Chapter 303: fd9
Arc 1: Arrival
Arc 9: Scout
Advent 11
I began my twelfth day in this hell as I had almost every one before it. I awoke and after my morning ablutions made breakfast for Shep and myself. The only difference in this routine was adding a morning shower.
I was about to head out to scout the remaining two directions. There was no telling what sort of problems I might run into. Or when my next shower would be if I DID run into problems.
I'd prepared most of my gear for this expedition the night before. My primary APC was fueled and loaded, with a sniper rifle I'd commandeered from the military supplies riding shotgun along with Shep. I had scanned the main map in the assayers office into my omni-tool, and sketched out a tentative plan, starting with the southern route and a trip down to both the lake and the pump station.
The back of the APC was partway filled with several crates of food supplies, and about the same in medical supplies. My mattress was still there, but this time joined by a few extra pillows and blankets. The original climbing backpack I'd picked up on my first day in this world was now repacked and situated alongside two more of my emergency packs, along with a single case containing a number of additional guns and a stock of ammunition.
This wasn't like going for groceries in the old world. Any time I went outside the gates chanced that I would run into a horde of zombies, unfriendly survivors, or who knows what other problems. And there wasn't any police or animal control for me to call in to deal with it.
I primed my pistol before reattaching it to my armor. I looked back into my compound as I finished closing the lock on the southern gate. I hoped this wasn't the last time I saw this place, but if it was I would have very few regrets.
As if reading my thoughts, Cortana spoke up.
"Don't worry, Chief. That drone system you were able to modify with my instructions will suffice to monitor the compound. In the event of a major catastrophe or presence of potential enemies, the VI in it is intelligent enough and capable enough to navigate itself and the rigged vehicles towards the rendezvous point you specified."
I sighed and shook my head, walking back to the APC and hopping into the cab.
"Thanks, Cortana. That helps." I said, chuckling and scratching an excited Shep behind the ears.
As Cortana began to drive the APC south on the empty road I had a thought. I was a bit surprised it hadn't occurred to me earlier, but really, I was in a freaking zombie apocalypse could anyone blame me?
"Cortana, why do you call me Chief?" I asked as I watched the woods slowly pass us by.
"Because you're my Chief, Chief." Cortana replied, giving me a cheeky grin from her display. "And I'm hoping to convince you to sleep with a woman when the opportunity arises, and women love a man in...uniform."
I was really glad I hadn't been drinking at the moment, and even more grateful that no one besides Cortana was around to see the blush on my face.
Holy Hannah, I'd created a perverted AI.
XxXxXxX
The pump station turned out to be a set of three concrete buildings set back about half a mile from road. The largest building was clearly the pumping and filtration building, while the other two were probably the office and control building and what I suspected was a giant storage tank.
The entire complex, such as it was, was surrounded by a chain link fence with a small guard hut.
Thankfully the gate was still closed as we approached, because the noise from the still active machinery had drawn a number of zombies to the fence. Not enough of them to be a danger to the fence as of yet, but that could change.
"Cortana, keep Shep safe." I said as I primed my pistol, hopping out of the cab of the APC. "I've got some vermin to clean out."
"Will do, Chief." Cortana replied.
Shep just whined from the passenger seat and covered her head with her front paws
There were at least thirty zombies scattered around the perimeter, and as I circled the fence eliminating them one by one I thought I caught sight of movement through a window on the third story of the pump station.
Survivors, maybe? Or just some unfortunates who took refuge within before turning from a bite?
In the end it didn't really matter. No sense getting my hopes up, after all.
Cleaning the immediate environs of zombies took maybe five minutes. I didn't bother removing the bodies. If the pump station continued operating then more zombies would be drawn to it anyways, either consuming the dead zombies or ignoring them so that they could rot away.
When I returned to the entrance I opened the gate for Cortana and the APC, closing it securely behind them. No sense increasing risk by leaving the door open after all.
Cortana parked the APC by the control building. I hopped back into the cab for a minute while I considered my plan of action, scratching Shep behind the ears and reassuring my canine companion.
"So, looks like we've got a two story office building which probably houses the primary controls, the actual pumphouse and filtration system itself, and a holding tank. Given the orientation I'd say that holding tank is already filtered water. That will be important if the pumps go offline."
I looked out the window at the tank. On one end a large pipe exited the side of the building before disappearing into the concrete ground. That was probably the pipe leading to the intersection, and possibly the nearby towns. It was the only reason I had running water back at the motel.
"I would recommend examining the office first. It is the most likely spot for any survivors to be hiding out, and will hopefully provide a better idea of the layout of the facility. If you are correct and the control systems are located in that building, then it would also allow you an overview of how the facility is currently operating."
I nodded to Cortana as I considered that.
"The pumps are still operating, so the facility is drawing power from somewhere. The question is, where? The power grid itself is down, and I don't see any sign that this location was heavily reinforced."
I paused as something around the corner of the office, between it and the main pump house, caught my eye.
"Hold on one second. Shep, stay."
I got out of the APC and jogged along the front of the building to the corner, slowing and drawing my weapon as I approached. There was a booted leg extending from the shadow of the building, military issued boots and camo pants. Carefully I stepped around the edge of the building and then let out the breath I'd been holding.
Some sort of soldier, maybe just a national guardsman, was splayed back against the wall. From the position of his gun and the dried brain matter splattered against the wall he had taken his own life. The vicious bite wound on his right thigh told me why he had committed suicide.
I scanned the body with my omni-tool, examining the data, before speaking to Cortana.
"Dead for at least a week. Possibly committed suicide around the time that the compound got hit. I'm guessing he was probably part of the contingent at the compound, on duty getting the pump station running or maybe simply maintaining it." I said as I glanced around at the perimeter of the complex once more. "They were probably going to fortify this location after the compound was deemed safe enough, but never got the chance."
"The compound was still full of vehicles from when it was overrun. Why is this location absent any?" Cortana asked me.
"Probably because there were enough survivors here able to get to the vehicles alive to drive them all out. Maybe they only kept one or two here for emergencies. Still, if they had personnel here then that means they were trying to keep things operating here. I probably have them to thank for the fresh running water."
I sighed and walked back towards the entrance to the building.
"Well, better get this done with. I still want to head down and scout out the lake today before heading towards that community to the east."
"Very well Chief. I'll keep an eye on the mutt for you."
I heard Shep bark in response to that.
"Good girl." I said with amusement, referring to Shep.
XxXxXxX
In the end it took me two hours to fully examine the compound. I found several people dead from suicide, all wearing military gear. I also found several zombies trapped in a stairwell in the building. After some thought I took the time to drag the bodies outside the gate and dump them outside the perimeter. This facility would be another step in maintaining my survival, I didn't need decaying bodies inside making it a hazard.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the pump station had been set up as a supplementary station for the area, in case of breakdowns or issues with the main water supply system. Someone, likely the unit who had organized the compound, had disengaged and sealed the pipe networks carrying water from the station to the nearby towns and communities, leaving it supplying just my compound. This lessening of the demand and necessary water pressure in the system meant that the pumps didn't have to run all the time. It also explained why the water pressure seemed to drop shortly after dark.
The facility had emergency generators, yes, but not sufficient fuel supply for more than a few weeks at best. Instead of wasting the fuel, whoever had taken over the facility had jury rigged a series of solar panels to the roof. These provided sufficient power during the day to run the pumps and filtration system to top off the storage tank.
Given how light my load on the system was, this actually translated into the pumps spending the vast majority of the time offline. But at least I didn't have to worry about any problems in the short term, certainly not until the weather got colder and wetter. I resolved to see about finding a way to make some rain catches and storage tanks back at the compound, just in case.
"So it appears that for now this facility will be self sustaining." Cortana said as I settled back into the cab of the APC after several hours of work. "It will need maintenance eventually though, Chief."
I sighed as Cortana began to drive away from the facility, leaving the closed gate behind us.
"I know Cortana, but there's only so much one man can do and maintain. At least I was able to get an inventory of the spare parts available and take some scans of the system. In the future I believe I could use the system to construct a smaller version of the pump station, including the filtration mechanisms." I paused as I looked down at my left forearm, pulling up the system interface. "In fact, if I take some time to design further, I could probably construct a version small enough to install on a boat. Might be something to consider."
Cortana simply shrugged from her display.
"Perhaps Chief, but why would you want to install one in a boat while you have such a secure compound to reside in?"
I sighed. "Because I don't want to spend my entire life scrabbling to survive. I want to make things better. Eventually I'll have to travel to start that rebuilding, and a boat is a lot safer and more stable than trying to fly and land a plane."
"Unless the system has other technology you can use to get around." Cortana replied, causing me to glance once more at the system.
That research option for Tier 2 was taunting me. It was also why I was conserving as much energy as I could, rather than installing a quantum energy cell and a new AI to manage the pump facility.
Just what other technologies were waiting for me to unlock them?
XxXxXxX
The lake was only a short distance further down the road, and was a surprisingly pristine field of reflective blue as the road curved and ran alongside it. The lake itself was small, probably no more than a mile or two in total length, thin and narrow rather than wide and rounded. I could see numerous docks and even a small boathouse or two along the water's edge, as well as numerous houses. Some were more modern houses from my quick glances, while others reminded me more of the grandfathered in camps I was used to from visiting family in upstate new york. The sort of buildings that had been built a century or more before and then maintained and improved over the intervening decades.
There was no sign of zombies at present, which made the scene deceptively pleasant.
My stomach growled and I glanced at the sun high in the sky. It was late enough in the morning, nearing noon. I might as well stop and eat something.
I directed Cortana to pull off near a large two story house situated by the near shore of the lake. As we were driving towards it I had noticed that there was a shaded gazebo or structure of some sort at the end of the dock. Looked like a good place to eat lunch and enjoy the sun for a little while.
The fact it gave me a good view of the surroundings and Cortana could drive right up to the dock was just a bonus.
XxXxXxX
It felt refreshing to sit under the shade of the gazebo, enjoying the breeze off the lake while I ate my lunch. Shep sat beside me, looking down into the water at the fish swimming around the dock. The entire scene was so peaceful. There were no signs of zombie presence. There were a few vehicles besides various properties around the lake, but they were all parked calmly. Those would be the houses most likely to have either survivors or zombies. However, Cortana could make out no signs that any of them had been barricaded and there was no sign that anything had been done to make the area around the houses safer.
"So, according to the assayer's map there are thirty houses spread around the lake. Most are normal sized, one or more often two story units. Many have docks or other features for access to the water." Cortana was reciting via my omni-tool. "There are a few near the southern end that appear as if they might be larger, but I think given the size of this lake that most of these are not summerhouses for people. More likely these are simply their homes."
I nodded in concurrence. Unlike the camp around Tully Lake in upstate New York, these houses had the look and feel of actual houses. Proper driveways, garages, the works. Only two we had passed actually appeared older, and even those were probably an illusion caused by retaining the old superstructure of the house and remodeling the interior.
"The lack of any sign of damage or zombies suggests that these houses either haven't been looted for supplies, or the looters left the houses intact without sign that they had been looted. Given their spread out arrangement, I think I'll leave investigating them to later, when we can return with some trucks and gather as many supplies as we can load up. It'll take a few days at least, so I'd rather do it in one go once we are done scouting our surroundings."
I took another bite of my lunch and closed my eyes, enjoying the breeze. I spent so much time with my helmet on that I was starting to forget what it was like to just enjoy the feel of the wind on my face. That was perhaps one of the worst casualties of the zombie apocalypse, it was rare that you could feel safe outdoors.
I forced remembrances of my family, brought on by the similarity of this place to a locale I had loved so much, down and focused on the immediate future. I could dwell on the past and my loss when things were more secure. When I could actually see a future ahead of me.
"So what does the map show for that community to the east that we are going to investigate next?" I asked, taking another bite of my food.
"It was apparently a small community gathered around a single shopping center with the basics. General store, laundromat, a few other small shops and a couple local restaurants. At some point a few years back a developer came in and built a number of semi-gated communities around this core. The proximity to Dawson meant that besides building a larger grocery store there wasn't much need to add more locally. Indicators are that this community fell within the Dawson school district. All in all, maybe three or four hundred homes in the entire community."
I considered that as I chewed.
"Too many houses to search and clear today. Probably going to camp out in the APC tonight. If we find a good location to make a choke point maybe we can use a loud noise to draw any zombies towards us. If there are survivors, that would limit the risk that I might accidentally shoot one of them while cleaning out the zombies."
I swallowed the last bite of my meal and rolled my trash into a ball.
"We better get started. We may have hours til the sun sets, but there's a lot to do. I'd at least like to have a proper idea of the layout of the community and the zombie situation before we bunker down for the night."
I scratched Shep behind the ears as I looked around me at the lake.
"Mark this location on the map, Cortana." I said as I began to walk along the dock back to the APC. "I think I'd like to see about securing this area in the future, assuming we can gather more survivors."
XxXxXxX
The community was surrounded by thick forest, like much of the nearby area, which probably muffled any sound of our approach. However, as we neared the limits of the community and the first tract of houses became visible the APC suddenly began to slow down, the engine cutting out.
"Cortana, wha-" I began to ask, only to be cut off by my AI.
"There is a problem ahead, Chief. Forward audio sensors have detected multiple screaming females ahead."
I was already moving before Cortana finished speaking, checking my pistol and reaching for the sniper rifle leaning across the passenger seat.
"Then why are we stopping Cortana? We have to hurry."
I wasn't going to let more survivors die to these zombies, not if I could help it.
"That's the problem, Chief. The sensors are not hearing any sign of zombie moans. They are picking up gun fire, as well as laughter and multiple hostile male voices."
My blood ran cold. Could it be the rest of the rapist bastards, the compatriots of the group I had executed in the mall the previous week? Or was it another group of screwed up assholes?
Either way, I knew my self-appointed duty.
I was going to save those women.
"Cortana, as soon as you hear me engage I want you to start the engines and book it towards me. At the very least you may be able to spook them, run a few over, maybe you're presence will help me get the women to safety."
I cocked my weapon and then exited the APC, leaving Shep in the cab behind me.
It was time to go hunting
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone