by Possumblaster



The Cloudy Day

The grass was really turning green. It was early afternoon in mid-spring, and everything on our country hills was coming to life. The Oak and Walnut trees were begining to sprout their leaves, and the grass in the fields was growing fast. Such a nice warm breeze was blowing in from the south. The wind was just enough that you could feel it in your hair. The winter wasn't a bad one. Ever since the war our winters have been much warmer. It must have something to due with the giant cities being wiped out, or something to do with all the radiation. Hell I don't know, I am not a scientist.

My chores are done for the day. I have cleaned my rifles, fed the livestock, and checked the perimiter for any signs of tampering. Everything looked good. None of the traps were set off, so the raiders must finally be getting the point. Now it's time to relax.

Birds were returning from the south. I was sitting in a broken lawn chair out in the front yard watching them. I noticed a hawk flying all by himself. He was hovering. I took one more swig from my whiskey flask, and he darted down to the earth capturing a mouse. Damn this whiskey is strong. As I heard the mouse make one last gasp, I coughed slightly and the taste of whiskey came right back into my mouth. I really need to lay off of this stuff.

My camp isn't much. A piece of **** old trailer house out on my family's farm. The dirt road leading to our place is over a mile long, it really makes it nice that we know in advance when someone is headed our way. It's also the only route in. The rest of the property is surrounded by rivers and forests such that no vehicle could ever travel through there. We have sandbag fighting positions set up on all four sides of the house. The problem is that our numbers are getting smaller each year. We haven't run across any of these suppossed "undead" yet. I keep hearing about them on the AM radio, but have yet to see one. Disease is what's killing us. The damn dead animals down in the river that we get our water from. All it takes is for one of these idiots to drink out of it and then they come down with some nasty disease that spreads like wild-fire. Oh well, the smart ones of my group are still around, that's all that matters.

On the horizon we could see that a storm was blowing in. Dark ominous clouds grew ever closer. It was also getting quieter. This really reminded me of the tornado weather of the past. I haven't seen a tornado since the war. Something just did not feel right. Hell I always get like this when I've been drinking. I over-analyze EVERYTHING. Why can't I just enjoy the weather? I have always loved storms.

My eyes were starting to close. This always happens. I drink just a little, and then get tired as hell. If I want to stay awake I need to keep drinking. I was just about to doze off when I heard the distinct sound of rocks being crushed.

"****." I ran up to the house and opened the door. "Daniel, get your ass out here, there's a vehicle coming." "Girls, you stay inside until we tell you it's safe."

Daniel: "What are you talking about man?"
Me: "Just listen."

Sure as hell we could begin to hear a big diesel engine getting closer. "That's not no family from the city looking for shelter. Grab your ****." I threw on my plate carrier, kevlar helmet, and grabbed my Sig assault rifle. Daniel was throwing his **** on and I headed on out the door and took position behind the fighting position. This kevlar strap is always such a pain in the ass. **** it I'm just going to leave it unbuttoned. Daniel finally got outside and took up position beside me.

"Hey Dan, you got the remote for the claymores?"
"Yeah, chill out."

Now we could see what was coming. I could make out a big 6x6 army truck. It looked like a duece and a half or something. I pulled out my bino's and checked it out.

"Dan, I can see some guy in the back holding an RPG."

We have signs up on the driveway directing traffic to stop within 100m of our position. This truck did not show any signs of slowing down.


"Get ready to hit the switch man."

The truck made it past the kill line, and I ordered Daniel to hit the switch.

click
KBOOOOOM!

The truck was engulfed in the explosion. In the midst of the giant fireball were truck parts flying every which direction.

SMACK!!!!!!!!

"**** MAN!" Somehow the hood of the truck flew all they way up to our position and smacked the side of the house. We waited. After the smoke cleared, I could make out two survivors dragging themselves away from the truck.

"Come on man, let's go finish this thing."

I made sure I had a round chambered and the safety was set to fire. We started walking side by side up to the wreckage of the truck with our weapons up at the ready. "I got the guy on the left, you cover the guy on the right."

We got within 25 meters of the survivors. The one on the left was now motionless. He was missing a leg, and there was a blood trail for about 10 meters all the way back to his truck. I aimed at his head and pulled the trigger twice.

You can't be too sure around here. No sooner than I fired, the other survivor yelled and tried to raise his weapon. Daniel hit him with the shotgun.

"Jesus man, what is wrong with these people."

I went for my flask, and realized it was still laying on the ground next to my lawn chair. We slung our weapons on our backs, and headed back for the house.

"Hey, let's fire up the generator and put on some CD's. I need something to take the edge off." When we finally got back, we sure did fire up the old generator. I can't believe the damn CD player still worked after all these years.

I went back out to sit on my lawn chair. Picked up the flask, and had a few more drinks. I could hear the music playing from within the house. You know, that muffled sound like what it sounds like when you are at the bathroom in the bar while they have the music up loud.

It was slowly starting to get dark out.

I really like this song. Nine Inch Nails, God I haven't heard them in years. I leaned back in my chair, finished off my flask, and closed my eyes. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.