Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation Read Free Page A

anything
unpleasant, just the normal colds that people get from time to time. We were
doing well. Additionally, those military guys and gals who were sent our way
had become part of the family. They taught us all they knew about our weapons
and equipment and held detailed classes on tactics. We even had a functional
militia with actual ranks and positions. I was put in charge. No one wanted an
outsider in the top position, and I actually possessed more combat experience
than the soldiers teaching us. Yellowstone was a little different. They received
a few who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and readily accepted their leadership.
    Spring
saw a handful of road trips, mostly to bring back survivors who were discovered
by the military, either with aircraft or using satellites. I would love to have
my own spy satellite. I don’t think it’s going to happen, which is a pity, but
I can dream. Most were American, but we did get a handful of Canadians. Of
these, about half ended up in the islands, the remainder staying with us.
    With the
raiders AWOL, we decided to fortify the Black Hills as a whole. This was not as
difficult as one might think. On the internal side, Briana had the valleys used
for farming walled off. These weren’t elaborate fortifications, but large
animals and zombies were not going to bother our gardens and crops. We even created
areas specifically for livestock. It’s much better to have our cattle and sheep
and whatnot wandering about an enclosed area than to keep them penned up all
the time. We were also able to disperse sizable numbers of people, greatly
expanding those initial outposts. Most chose to remain in the main valley, which
was both our commercial and social hub, but enough were willing to relocate
that crowding went down.
    As to
the exterior defenses, that fell to me. Most of my efforts were intended to
keep the zombies at bay. This was done by building walls of debris or stone
along creeks and other natural barriers. Zombies tend to follow easy routes,
like roads or trails, and rarely go over anything rough unless they are
pursuing a breather. That being the case, this was much easier than it sounds.
Granted, the Black Hills are huge, but significant portions are hard to get
into to begin with, no shortage of steep mountains and cliff faces.
    The more
open areas took a bit more work. For these, we used a backhoe to create
ditches, along with felling trees and piling up stone. Actual walls were
considered, but those would have to come later. We did the same regarding the
handful of roads in our vicinity, with one notable exception. It is important
we be able to get in and out easily. Therefore, we left large gaps which we
obscured with false obstructions. All of this did have the effect of making it
appear, rather blatantly, that someone was living in the Black Hills, an issue
to be sure, but the dead were getting out of hand. Keeping them away was too
important to do otherwise.
    Leaving
Asher in Mary’s capable hands, Briana and I clambered inside a plane piloted by
Xavier, one of our top flyers. This was so we could see firsthand what our
aerial scouts had been reporting. And yes, most positively yes, zombies had
once again taken the number one spot on our list of concerns. They were
everywhere. The monsters never stop moving, but for the first couple of years
they had tended to congregate in and around cities. I have no idea what, if
anything, changed, but I can say with certainty that the highways, even the
back roads, were swarming with the shambling dead. It wasn’t too bad in the
more isolated portions of northern Wyoming and Montana, but that was the
exception. The days of relatively easy travel had come to an end.
    I will
also let you know that while we fortified our settlements, the United States
military began to clear stretches of the coast. This wasn’t a large scale
effort such as what we did with Rapid City. Instead, they would bring in a unit
via helicopter and drop it atop a