The Way Back.

On your turn to your base with, Ruth and Tracy following. The cart full of basic resources, food water and other stuff you had forgotten or did not find the first time. The three of you can clearly hear what is going on in the distance, and it is clear the conflicted really is in the distance, so as Ruth had told you about there landing near there they really did get a look at the general activity of the town.

Ruth breaks the silent walk with, " We have been listening to the Radio, one would or might not expect it but there are people still broad casting on many different frequencies. The Colonel and his men happen to be one of the said groups broad casting, The US government also has a broadcast, that warns that it is very hard to protected the people of are country at this time or any country. But that there are military parties searching for survivors."

Tracy nods at what her mother is saying and says " They also explain that few people, of producing offspring because of this plague. What people had not turned into mad crazies, or devalued the lives of others by general approval of the groups they formed like the Colonel, it is suggested a majority of the women are sterile. And most of the men as you know have ended up crazies, your friend Tommie as she said is happy we are women. In all honesty we are happy we found you since, you are mostly worth more then all the resources my uncle left behind."

Ruth then adds " That means about 150,000,000 people, and in area like that it is estimated that there would or should be about, 300,000. I mean this is LA after all, but the sad part is. Many of the criminal elements still remain even after god destroyed everything else, even families." It's clear she is thinking about something.

Tracy looks at her mother and then says " We had to kill my father, he went crazy. He tried to **** me, so my mother put him down like a dog. It pains her but not me to say it, people have gone rabid no better then if they had rabies."

You shrug and ask " why is that?"

Ruth just nods to herself and says " It is good I decided to stick around after all because of what you said, It will be easier to defend you Alex if there are more of us. One way or another we should be planning to move away from here, thou it is a difficult thing to do considering the moving of resources without being seen. And if we use broad-wave radios to send a message. Some groups including the Colonels may be able to locate us, so this leaves us on our own pretty much."

You decided not to be left out so you add " from what Grace and Tommie tell me, the Colonel is not so much a Colonel as an old man with crazy idea's, what I am to say he is he as much a Colonel as Mr.Sanders of the KFC was. And at least Mr.Sanders had more right to claim it because his state made him an honorary Colonel." The two women laugh at the joke, as the three of you walk.

Tracy adds " The government has pretty much said the same thing, thou when I say government I mean remnants of military. There is not much else left, we ran into some on are way to the boat. They were kind enough to give us a firearm when we required it and a few other things but that is all they could do for us. They also took are names should we find anything, and gave us the name of the person in charge of that area. Should we need to send a broad-cast that should get the attention of the armed Military, to come and help."

You just shake your head unsure what to think of any of this and say " Why would I be so important?"

Ruth just nods her head to herself and says " The plague affected everyone, and I mean everyone. Most males left alive which is to say, for some reason is higher then females. Have some level of crazy with them. And the sad part is the crazies seem to be according to findings so far the most and or only fertile people left. About only 2.5 percent of the world population survived the plague. They are driven by the most basic of drives in many cases, eat sleep fuck." Ruth looks distant as she thinks about something.

Tracy then says " My father had to die, we had to put him down. The plague did not kill him it turned him into an animal. He tried to **** me so my mother had to get rid of him for are own safety, which is one of the things the military is also been saying. My father turned ever so slowly, he had intended to protected us. But one thing or another got the better of him, and we had to kill him."

You just nod in agreement and say " I have had to kill a few people to but to defend people I did not even know."

Ruth seems agitated as her daughter talks about it but says " see this is why we must protected you and I am happy we have the resources for me to stick around instead of being the sheep for the slaughter as I had planned. Thou I was not going to go into that good night easy, I planned to take out as many of them as I could. See the numbers are clear, so long as we can kill enough of the crazies. The world as a whole will be come stable or safe again, the real problem is. That also leaves the population low on the ability to make off spring, they are doing studies thou. Some of it is based purely on the information that had been learned before the plague broke out thou."

Tracy agrees and says " They are reporting or have been reporting since a bit after the news stations went off the air over the radio, that scientist have found virus or viral DNA has bonded to are genetic make up time and time again. And that over the course of general growth of are population may be responsible for some forms of are evolution. And so the wide spread affects of this plague may go back to that, some people may have been lucky and gotten born immune or mostly immune because of random genetic mutations to the genes of the old viral DNA attached to there make up."

You just shrug and ask " How did you two manage to keep track of all that, I mean you heard it what once? Maybe twice?"

They shake there heads and Ruth says " The radio broad-cast, some of them are on loops. In order to inform who can understand as best as they can. So in fact you can hear at anytime, It is pretty much being treated as a voice in the darkness. In other words a beacon or Icon of Hope."

You just shake your head and say " Science surely mostly made this mess, so clearly it is not the hope every last person capable of feeling hope should use as a grounds to decided or filter there hope. I mean, there are few things to keep us strong or willing to live and at this point it is growing all that much dimmer as we go."

Tracy thinks about this a moment and then says " Alex you do realize, you are an example of what they had been talking about. And it is mostly one of the reason's my mother wanted to leave me with you. We to are not affected as much by the plague, as are your little friends. It's easy to figure out they say that, people most affected tend to have open sores and a number of other easy to locate issues on sight. There hair tends to call out, some of them have taken to scaring themselves like you might have seen in some of them Science Fiction films, and always thought well damn no way a real person would do that. Well, it's happen. It is also one of the reason's why with your calm voice we came out without any fight. It was clear you meant no harm, others would have just gun down the door. Or broke it off the wall with brute **** depending on the effects they have suffered."

Ruth then nods and says " Even thou this is LA, the Colonel is controlling his sex crazed maniacs with words from the bible it's clear from there broad-casts, and one would not entirely say that all of the Colonel's men are crazies so much as people who have given into the hell to make more hell. You know Bikers, gang members the criminal sorts I brought up a bit ago."

You turn down the final stretch of road to the hideout and say " Well, it not might look like much but it's surrounded on almost asides by an enclosed warehouse, The fence goes around the whole thing. The front is hard to get past without the key, there are concrete road blockers all over the area that can be moved in. In other words, we have a small fortress, There are a number of ways for us to leave this location as well but the armored Hummer seems like the best plan. Once it gets here, the Highway blocks used to block roads. There is a number of vehicles, that can move them. We can reinforce the fence with them, so that anyone with working vehicles would have to destroy them to even attempt to take down the fence."

Ruth smiles and says " Well, at least it seems you have an eye for the best defensible location. Of all the places I have seen leading to here, it was being coming hopeless for a moment that you might have done something stupid. But now that I see it well I got to say, you did ever well. And if Frank was here he would say so too."

Tracy smile grows very large and says " This has got to be, the least visible location around here. Once the concrete road blocks are up, if we stack them two thick and two high. We could move around on this side of the fence without being seen from the other side of the fence, Honestly I don't know why we would leave this spot til after the military moves through and finds us."

You shake your head and say, " The heating of the rooms or space is an issue, If we don't get more blankets or other stuff to keep warm winter will be hard here. An open fire inside the building would also make it likely that we kill are selves from monoxide poisoning. So we have to stick to body heat and propane and I get the feeling propane will be come an issue over time."

Ruth smiles at you and and points at the Vehicles and says " We can fill up smaller tanks from any one of the fuel tanks these vehicles use, They are converted propane vehicles. You can tell from the huge white tanks on both sides of the vehicles, they are made for effectiveness of the fuel for the work they do. They are not long range vehicles. But there is fuel enough in mostly any of these to go about 50 to 75 miles, on average. That would mean enough fuel well you get the idea. We can stay here til it runs out or the water does."

Tracy smirks at her mother and says " Uncle Frank had a huge water tank set up, it was hidden in the garage, it seemed to have a filter system and everything all it needs is rain. And the tank is full as it is, The Hummer even had a tank in it to put water in. I would guess about, 50 or so gallons. And I think I saw water in it, but I can't be sure."

You shrug and say " This construction business here, had a set up to collect rain water as well. If we boil it. It can make sure it is fine, and I think I saw iodine as one of the resources we have found at your brothers house." You look over the cart your pushing into the fenced area now, and look and look and pull out a box with Iodine drops. You say " See, so we should be fine on water. It is as I said more about heat then water or food. Your brother may have been a crazy long before any one turned into one."

Ruth laughs and says " Yes but he was love able, and he sure did at least one good thing, left a lot of useful stuff." You nod as you wave them inside the gate and wait for the Hummer.

It is not long after you get back that, Grace and Tommie show up with the Hummer. It is not making as much sound as you expected, you open the garage gate inside the fenced area to store the Hummer. You close the garage door, hug Grace and Tommie. Mostly happy they did not take off with the Hummer and the goods with in it,so all of you help to start unload the resources, you guys decided to place all the stuff inside the main office, in one of the rooms next to the living area that you had not been planning to use. The work is over much faster with five then three and with the help of the Hummer to move the bulk of the equipment and goods.