even if it was
laminated in baseball bat rated plastic. Removing the deck would be for a
different day. Right now I removed the threats on the deck with the carbine.
The last shell ejected differently than the others. I recognized this as being
out of ammo.
Ruth Ann had already used a speed loader and was
on her second set of six shots. When I returned to the front of the house, Ruth
Ann was holstering the revolver.
“Is that all of them?” I asked.
“No, there’s a couple more out front and there
are more heading our way. I want to get some practice with the crossbow.”
Setting up the crossbow to fire was a multistep
process involving feet, bending and cranking. Clearly this weapon could only be
used at a safe distance as reloading is too slow to be useful in close
quarters. The crossbow was so powerful that from our almost straight down
firing angle the first bolt disappeared down the insides of the zombie. It was
as good as lost. I sure wasn’t going to fish it out.
Ruth Ann just shrugged her shoulders and put
down the crossbow. She supervised me reloading the carbine and I took down the
remaining few at the base of the house. This left only those still heading for
us from a distance attracted by the noise.
We crouched down and watched the ghouls heading
towards us. They continued in our direction for a bit but seemed to lose focus
after a while without continued noise and motion. This was the first time we
witnessed what amounts to “undead attention deficit disorder.” Low temperature
slows whatever passes for thought inside their minimally functional brains.
If they can see or hear you or if close, smell
you, they’ll come after you relentlessly. If another ghoul is lashing out at
something, ghouls nearby will maintain focus and be drawn in. But, if you had a
good place to hide that gave them no further stimulus, the colder it gets the
greater the potential they could lose interest. That does not mean they’ll
wander off. They might enter a low power mode and just stand there. They can
stand still far longer than a trapped person can wait.
Ruth Ann wanted more practice with the crossbow.
She noisily loaded up another bolt and rose slowly above the parapet wall to
take aim. A moment after she fired a creature heading away from us spun
violently to the ground. In the time it took Ruth Ann to crouch back down
behind the wall, the creature got back to his feet and continued walking in
another direction entirely, a crossbow bolt protruding from the back of its
shoulder.
Ruth Ann said, “I would need more practice with
this before I’d really trust it.” as she put down the crossbow. “At distance I’m
not accurate enough with it yet. The feel is between bow and rifle. It’s like
trying to play tennis and then ping pong. It’s too awkward for me.”
“It was pretty exciting close up,” I replied. “Termination
with extreme prejudice.”
“Yeah, that first shot probably stopped
somewhere in the bastard’s leg.”
“You’re more than welcome to look for it.”
“No thanks. Let’s get off the roof and check on
Ryan.”
We gathered our equipment and in two trips had
the roof cleaned up.
“R yan?” Ruth Ann and I were at the door to the
garage.
“Ryan?” Ruth Ann called again. There was no
answer.
“RYAN?” we both yelled through the door.
“Here, yeah. I’m here.” We heard him come to the
door.
“Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I had your headphones on. I
never thought I’d see a movie again. Are they gone outside?”
“There are a few left but they lost interest in
us.” I said.
“Yeah they do that in the cold.”
“Ryan, honey?” said Ruth Ann.
“Yes Mrs. Handsman?”
“Ryan, how did you get here?”
“I drove.” Apparently even in the apocalypse you
had to pull teeth to get information out of a teenager.
“We know that. We need to know where you came
from and how you survived to get here.”
“The Brute and I drove from the capital.”
“You
laminated in baseball bat rated plastic. Removing the deck would be for a
different day. Right now I removed the threats on the deck with the carbine.
The last shell ejected differently than the others. I recognized this as being
out of ammo.
Ruth Ann had already used a speed loader and was
on her second set of six shots. When I returned to the front of the house, Ruth
Ann was holstering the revolver.
“Is that all of them?” I asked.
“No, there’s a couple more out front and there
are more heading our way. I want to get some practice with the crossbow.”
Setting up the crossbow to fire was a multistep
process involving feet, bending and cranking. Clearly this weapon could only be
used at a safe distance as reloading is too slow to be useful in close
quarters. The crossbow was so powerful that from our almost straight down
firing angle the first bolt disappeared down the insides of the zombie. It was
as good as lost. I sure wasn’t going to fish it out.
Ruth Ann just shrugged her shoulders and put
down the crossbow. She supervised me reloading the carbine and I took down the
remaining few at the base of the house. This left only those still heading for
us from a distance attracted by the noise.
We crouched down and watched the ghouls heading
towards us. They continued in our direction for a bit but seemed to lose focus
after a while without continued noise and motion. This was the first time we
witnessed what amounts to “undead attention deficit disorder.” Low temperature
slows whatever passes for thought inside their minimally functional brains.
If they can see or hear you or if close, smell
you, they’ll come after you relentlessly. If another ghoul is lashing out at
something, ghouls nearby will maintain focus and be drawn in. But, if you had a
good place to hide that gave them no further stimulus, the colder it gets the
greater the potential they could lose interest. That does not mean they’ll
wander off. They might enter a low power mode and just stand there. They can
stand still far longer than a trapped person can wait.
Ruth Ann wanted more practice with the crossbow.
She noisily loaded up another bolt and rose slowly above the parapet wall to
take aim. A moment after she fired a creature heading away from us spun
violently to the ground. In the time it took Ruth Ann to crouch back down
behind the wall, the creature got back to his feet and continued walking in
another direction entirely, a crossbow bolt protruding from the back of its
shoulder.
Ruth Ann said, “I would need more practice with
this before I’d really trust it.” as she put down the crossbow. “At distance I’m
not accurate enough with it yet. The feel is between bow and rifle. It’s like
trying to play tennis and then ping pong. It’s too awkward for me.”
“It was pretty exciting close up,” I replied. “Termination
with extreme prejudice.”
“Yeah, that first shot probably stopped
somewhere in the bastard’s leg.”
“You’re more than welcome to look for it.”
“No thanks. Let’s get off the roof and check on
Ryan.”
We gathered our equipment and in two trips had
the roof cleaned up.
“R yan?” Ruth Ann and I were at the door to the
garage.
“Ryan?” Ruth Ann called again. There was no
answer.
“RYAN?” we both yelled through the door.
“Here, yeah. I’m here.” We heard him come to the
door.
“Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I had your headphones on. I
never thought I’d see a movie again. Are they gone outside?”
“There are a few left but they lost interest in
us.” I said.
“Yeah they do that in the cold.”
“Ryan, honey?” said Ruth Ann.
“Yes Mrs. Handsman?”
“Ryan, how did you get here?”
“I drove.” Apparently even in the apocalypse you
had to pull teeth to get information out of a teenager.
“We know that. We need to know where you came
from and how you survived to get here.”
“The Brute and I drove from the capital.”
“You
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