Fort Benning: Part II

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Two weeks have passed since we've arrived here at Fort Benning. Things have been going really well considering the circumstances. We've had no human visitors so far, and geeks have been limited. Everyone is in good health. The Chattahoochee River runs right through Fort Benning, which provides us an every day place to catch trout, bass, and catfish, as well as gather water. With Pete's help we've been able to create a water filter using sand and charcoal. Thanks to Dale, we were even able to power up the electricity in the main post using dozens of collected car batteries from the highway, which we're halfway done clearing up. We've been pushing cars off to the side for a few days now. The batteries are kept charged using an alternator that we've altered to run on wood gas.

Dale, Glenn, and Andrea have collectively made a calendar, which they assure everyone is no more than two days off. Supposedly, today is August 16, 2010. Dale's the one with the nice wind-up watch, so I'm not gonna argue it. We've collectively come up with May 23 as the day of infection, which means we're 86 days into the geek apocalypse. It feels like an eternity. Things aren't quite like they used to be, but we've come closer than ever with our new luxuries. Our current work in progress is making a heated outdoor shower. We haven't had a hot shower since the Sheriff's Department. It would be awesome if we could have one permanently.

I've also put the training facilites in Fort Benning to good use. I've spent 6 of the last 14 days teaching EVERYONE how to properly handle a firearm, including Carl and Sophia. Carl is actually pretty good. Probably the best shot, after Pete, Andrea, and myself. I knew he had it in him. It's in his blood. Carol and Belle on the other hand are on the opposite end of that spectrum. They can't shoot worth a damn, but they're both extremely comfortable with close range weapons. Sophia isn't very good with ANY weapons and seems repulsed by them. Carol and I have urged her to take the training more serious, but she insists she's fine because Carl will protect her. Them two are still inseparable. Maybe more so than before, if that's even possible.

Lori has been much more at ease since we've settled here in Fort Benning. We've grown a lot closer over the last couple of weeks also. She even told me that she loved me for the first time. I said it back, but to be honest, it felt kind of weird and forced. Just three months ago she was entering her fourteenth year of marriage with my best friend and partner, Rick. Now we're together and she's telling me she loves me. I question whether my interactions with Lori are right EVERY single day. I can't help but think how things would be if Rick were still here. I'm probably going to think about it for as long as I live, especially with my current ties to his family. I've been ignoring my guilt for a while now hoping it will eventually just go away.

Carol and Belle have been teaching Carl and Sophia some things you'd learn at your public highschool. Carl is EXTREMELY uninterested but Lori and I make sure he sits through it. It's only about 3 hours long. He spends a lot of time shooting the targets in the training area, while Sophia watches.

Carol also teaches what she calls "Undead Studies". Even some of the adults sit in for that one. It's pretty much a review of everything we know and continue to learn about the geeks. It's really interesting, I give her a lot of credit. She's disected them, and learned that none of their organs work at all. She says that they can see, but not very well, and it only gets worse as time passes. Their hearing, and smelling senses are extremely heightened though. They don't digest anything they eat, so eventually their stomachs will burst, making them lethargic, but they will not lose the urge, or ability, to feed. Carol calls those particular geeks, lurkers. She says if we're in a pinch, we can use the blood and guts of the geeks as a camouflage, but nobody has tested that theory yet.

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