I'm alive, and other updates.

Alice Webb
Outside the DFWQZ
East Texas

Hello all. Sorry this took so long-it's been an eventful few weeks. We had some really bad storms rip through here, one after another, one of which destroyed our antenna. We got a new one up yesterday, but only after a trip to the nearest town, which was...well. I'll get there, I guess.

Anyway, I'm back now, and hopefully will have an easier time posting. See, I told my dad about you. Marjolaine-I am so glad I found this, because we might be dead now if not for you. We've been running low on water resources, and my family has been trying to figure out what to do to fix that. We had been collecting off the roof of the old house, and we have a deep well that's covered, but my dad was considering trying to pump from a pond next door. We were in the process of boiling the water (there's still the usual run of diseases, don't forget to treat water for those!) when I saw your post, and immediately the boys went to drag the pond. Sure enough they found three decomposing zoms at the bottom, barely mobile and fish-eaten, but clearly zoms and not dead people. We didn't know if boiling it would kill whatever the infection is so right now it's just being used for the animals.

Which, by the way, it appears that none of the animals can get infected. We had a dog get chewed up pretty good in the last few weeks, poor baby. I convinced my dad to quarantine him and see what happened, so we muzzled him, washed him up, gave him a few stitches and then set him in an empty room with food and water. Two weeks later and he's healing nicely, with no signs of turning. We're waiting longer just in case it's different for the animals, but all signs point to this being a human-only infection, at least right now. No idea what would cause that but it's helpful. We're now rescuing every dog we see; they get a home and we get bodyguards. A part of me hates that they're our first line of defense, but at the same time we need all the help we can get.

My brother thinks he can train some younger ones to attack zoms on command. If he can do it, it will change everything. The dogs don't worry about getting bit, and the barking doesn't attract the zoms like human noises does. If they're in the vicinity they come towards it, but for the most part they seem to ignore them. As an aside, those of you outside the QZs, don't forget about sound camouflage. It's the mechanical sounds and human voices that seem to attract the most zoms. We had a car backfire a few weeks ago and it attracted a dozen or so zoms. It was not a great day. That was the day Deacon got chewed up, and we were so lucky to have him-my dad nearly got bit, and probably would have if not for him. Zoms came out of the trees at a run, probably the freshest ones we've seen since the outbreak, and it was touch and go for a while, especially since we try hard not to use guns so near the house.

At least one good thing came out of that, though. I'm not being treated like a kid so much now. My sister in law is teaching me archery, which I apparently have a knack for. My brothers found a weapons stockpile on one of their outings, some guy nearby was apparently a HUGE hunter. So they brought back a bunch of guns and ammo, but also like ten bows of all different sizes and shapes. They're so much quieter than the guns, and much more effective than axes, hammers, etc., at least if you can get in a head shot. And since I've got a way to defend myself now, a way I can really get good at without being in too much danger, my parents are letting me be a bit more independent. If my brother's right about the dogs it will help a lot too. So at least I'm not feeling so trapped.

It's going to be a long week. We're going to have to make daily excursions for a few days. One of the storms that hit us seems to have destroyed the closest town. My parents think there must have been a tornado, and having seen the damage, I'm pretty sure they're right. We're going to have to salvage all that we can this week, so it's all hands on deck. I'm even going. My sisters in law and me are going to take turns going, since my brother's girlfriend is no use, and someone has to stay with the babies who can protect them. It's not a huge town, so most of the zoms have already decayed too much to be dangerous, but we have to be careful. Plus we're hoping we can find survivors. We've driven through there once or twice but we've never stopped very long. Tomorrow's going to be the first big salvage trip, we're taking the trucks and the trailers, and dad wants to take any of the 18 wheelers left in decent shape. City was a big truck stop so there should be a few at least. I think he wants to build a mobile base, in case we ever have to leave here in a hurry. My question is what we're going to do for fuel. We've got plenty of gas for now, and fuel stabilizer seems to be help keep it usable, but that's not going to last forever. My brother keeps joking that we're going to go all Mad Max, trying to save fuel. It would be funnier if a part of me wasn't afraid that it's true.

So, what else? It's been so busy lately I'm having trouble keeping track in my head. Oh! We ran into other survivors. We were out scouting after the first round of storms and went further out than we've ever been. Saw their barricades and stopped, and they let us in. They were super happy to find out they're not alone. They're doing the same thing we're doing, trying to stay off the grid. We've got a better setup but they have more space, so we've made a safety deal should either of us get overrun. They're all a bit older than me, in their twenties. Basically a group of hippies who were trying to live off the grid. I would have envied them, before, and I really like them. Very friendly, helpful people, and we got a lot of news. They've been into Tyler, the biggest city out here, and apparently it got pretty overrun for a while. They think though that since the city is so spread out, and there's not really a high population density, there's still people living there, and that most of the zoms are decaying now. One of the guys, David, said he wants to try making another trip now that it's been a few months. There's such a high concentration of things we need. Dad says they're crazy to risk it, but I kind of understand why they would. I hope if they do it goes well and they stay safe.

I have to go now, but I'll try to post after we do the salvage this week. Wish us luck, it's going to be rough. All of you keep safe-lots of love.

Alice