Chapter 246: 246
Before we discussed the plan for today, I asked about the status reports of everything else first like food, water, and other resources. Rin gave me the report on it and I checked each one. Ever since we’ve been giving food to the DDR Camp and Woodlands every three days, the dent it made to our stocks is greater than ever. In the past, we’ve been stocking more than what we could eat due to our runs outside and the food we are growing or farming. But now, the runs outside are yielding less and less because obviously no one is stocking up the markets. Unless we go farther or more thorough when we look for supplies, we’d find less outside. Add to the fact that the produce that is planted on Woodlands can’t be harvested yet.
However, that is only a problem to a group that isn’t prepared.
The dangerous run we just completed solved almost all of our problems currently. The food we gathered from that place is astronomical since it has been untouched ever since the whole world was plunged into chaos. Not only did we get a lot of food items from the fast food restaurants in the People’s Park, we also got a lot from the City Hall next to it which has a full storeroom in case of disasters. Most of what we could use from that run belonged in that storeroom since all of the food items stored in that place are supposed to last a long time. Not only that, we got a boon that we could use that I’ll discuss later. For now, I listened to some of their reports.
“Amanda and I made more fruiting bags to be placed in the other houses which have no people in it and the seedlings for the other crops could be planted in Woodlands already. We’ve also planted medicinal plants and a few seedlings have sprouted. We’ve made more hydroponic systems in some houses and a few have been taking care of them with the help of Anthony though we’re also planning on building more greenhouses especially on Woodlands. And…” Charlotte reported.
“The animals are still happy and increasing in number but we’re maintaining their population of some of them so we butchered a few. Some of them were frozen while a few were smoked, dried, or salted. Also, some of their products have been preserved in conjunction. I think we’d need a few more mason jars to store some of them so we could put a few in each house just in case. Oh yeah…” Derek reported.
From the past few days, in one of the meetings, we told everyone in the compound that we’re slowly decreasing the amount of food that we’re cooking everyday but not to the point that our daily nutrient intake would not be met. To say it shortly, we’re eating just enough. Everyone was surprised at first but there were no qualms whatsoever and they understood why we did it. Not only are we saving on food, people that are living a little excess in life before have turned for the better.
We discussed a few more things and we eventually moved to the next subject which is slightly connected to the first one.
Health.
Since we now have access to a hospital, everyone from my compound went there by batches to get every test possible done on them. Our medical file for each person in my compound got updated to the best it can be and the good thing is that no one is terminally ill or has a sickness that they don’t know about.
Checking our physical health is good but we never forgot about mental health as well. I think we got our best person for that which is Marisha and everyone in the compound talks to her not just for a check-up but also to tell some of their inner problems. She’s the one that knows everything about everyone’s mental well-being and she makes sure that she keeps everyone healthy inside their heads too.
Our medicine supply is still well-stocked but if a certain illness could be cured by natural remedies and not as bad, we go for that option first. Medicine has expiration dates but it is still something we need to make smart decisions on when we would use it since they are not being produced anymore, well, for now. Keeping our bodies as strong as always is the best thing to go but there will be unforeseen circ.u.mstances as always that would need external help.
Guns and ammo.
“The guns we made other people borrow? Are they all returned and accounted for?” I looked at Rin.
“Yes, they’re all in the crate but some of them needed cleaning, same as the ones you guys found from that place. Oh right, you returned with a lot of casings, we’re gonna reload them too, right? Also, why are they mixed with other scraps? It’s giving me nightmares.” Rin replied.
“That’s good. Yes, we’ll reload them maybe in the afternoon but you could start on sorting them if you’re done with your duties here. I think Matthew would want to learn how to do that too so teach him but I want to be the one to do the final touches. Just have some people bring the other scraps to the scrapyard so unc could melt them afterwards. The other groups still don’t know that we can make ammo, keep a tight lid on that.” I replied and she nodded.
Construction.
“Unc, are you still working on something?” I asked.
“Well we’re still fortifying some of the huge entrance gates and we’re fixing some walls that have cracks. We’re also making some of them higher so people can’t vault out of it that easily. However, the small pier is done. The boats are already there as you can see. I’m also thinking of making a waterwheel and some sort of netting at the pier that we have so we could turn it into something more in the future.” he replied.
“Oh, I could help with that!” Anthony chimed.
“Dude, about the Komatsu. I think I’ll do a few more changes on it.” Raphael called me.
“Yeah? It’s the spikes, yeah?” I replied.
“Yeah, dude. I think I might need to remove the spikes on the Komatsu and think of something better. Some of them got shot up and now they’re stuck.” he said.
“Well I told you before that design would have problems. It wasn’t even efficient, the zombie should be in a perfect place before you could pierce their heads. Some of them wouldn’t even pierce them and would just push them away. If you’re gonna follow through with that better increase the pressure in which they would burst out.” I explained.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll have them steady in place instead of jutting out or something. I’ll think of something better.” he replied.
We talked for a few more things and the meeting is about to be over.
“Marvin. Project Iron Maiden?” I looked at him for his report.
“Oh! Yes, it’s…” he started to report everything.
The term Iron Maiden came from the torture and execution device that is shaped like a coffin or a sarcophagus that has spikes inside. Project Iron Maiden is an operation we made to capture several sprinters at once by using a container van that is designed to a similar fashion with the torturing device. Since the dead wouldn’t die as long as the brain is not destroyed, we designed it in a way that the dead would be like a f.u.c.k.i.e.d up version of a kebab where several spikes are running through them so that they would be completely in place. Also, the spikes are only running through their torso. It is to ensure that they would still function if we let them do their purpose.
“It’s currently parked near the scrapyard and your uncle Zeidrick welded all the openings shut and reinforced them with thin metal sheets to be sure. They also attached the needed hooks at the top of it and reinforced it so it would be ready for transport.” Marvin ended his report.
“You did it already?” I looked at my uncle.
“Well, yeah. I didn’t drink yesterday so I worked on it with a few others.” he replied.
“Hey dad! Why did you put hooks on it again?” Russel asked.
“D’you even listen when we’re in the meeting?! It’s so that the helicopter that would be arriving could carry it easier. They’d be bringing a few of their equipment but they needed the hooks on some of the places. I added a few extras but it won’t go over the weight limit, I think.” Zeidrick replied.
“You think?! What if it isn’t?!” Russel spat out his water.
“It is. I’m joking. I checked twice.” he replied and burst out laughing.
“Hah! Let’s just hope they’d follow through with their end of the deal. There would be problems if they don’t.” I said.
“Well they’ve been trustworthy so far, right? You’re just being paranoid kid.” Oscar said.
“Hmm, maybe. I think that’s all for the reports eh? Time for the plan today. Like I said before, getting the files from the City Hall is a huge advantage. We’ve taken a hold of all the records that they have pertaining to everything in this city though a few are lost. Gun permits, business permits, storage unit permits, criminal records, birth certificates, and any record we could think of. We could go outside and have a specific location to hit so our yields would be far greater. We’d sweep everything eventually but it is better to go for where the big mega jackpot is. Not only that, we could monitor people that have past or existing criminal records that live in one of our places or recently coming to our fold. It’s not gonna be that accurate since we don’t know what others have done when the world has gone to shit but it’s a baseline to say the least. The records will act as a filter for some people and it could be used in more ways we could think of.” I explained.
“Kid, but that’s only for this city though, right?” Oscar said.
“Well yeah, unfortunately. We’d just hit the other cities’ City Hall so we could get their records too. C’mon old man, we’d take over this whole city first before we do anything else. I think that’s about it. I’d map out a route for my group to take so we could hit several places in one run. I’d give a call if we needed the cargo trucks to fetch what we found. Anything else?” I looked at everyone.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you this kid… I just got a call yesterday… Uhh…” Oscar trailed.
“Hmm?” I looked back at him.
“The president would be coming with the helicopter.” he innocently said.
