Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oil City, Pennsylvania, USA
[The steel rings out as I knock on the huge door of this underground bunker.
A few scrapes and scratches come from behind the door. Taylor Dudaski
comes from behind the door, rifle raised. His huge military frame and
uniform add to the picture. An old friend, the two of us and other
volunteers built this bunker in the early years of the war.
We called it "Joe"*]


Ironically, we were totally prepared for this. Enough canned goods for 5 years, strategies and maps, and the right supplies necessary to grow our own crops and maintain electricity. But the enemy we fought was different from the one we had in mind.

What enemy was that?

Enemy? Other countries. It was inevitable to be invaded from another country tired of our crap… it was just a matter of time. It wouldn’t be all “Wolverines!!**” and happy ride off into the sunset warfare…

So you were worried about the Russians?

Not just the Russians, the Chinese too. Either one had the potential, manpower and resources. Now, if they had joined…

But they did in a way.

As swarms of undead, yes, they had joined. But the Russians had no interest in help from other countries clearing their own. The Chinese, they were almost completely obliterated, save a few million refugees and militants. To think, that could have been us.
But it wasn’t.

No, no it wasn’t. We were well prepared for it.

[We walk down a tunnel, walled with concrete. Heavy steel doors adjourn the walls leading into storerooms.]

We had started working on the tunnels long before the Gs hit us. A, uh... friend of mine designed it all.

[He nods in my direction and chuckles.]

A glorious design, meant to last. It took time of course, it took a year just to get the small neighborhood area we had. Now, the shape of the valley the city rests in makes migration of zack a very slow process. We had plenty of time to prepare. Soon, people volunteered and we had more workers, more supplies, more materials, more everything! By the first spring of the war, we were seventy-five percent finished.

Only seventy-five?

Well, we needed weapons, electronics and fuel... Luckily by this time we had dug enough to the outlying cities like Titusville where some of the oil still remained. We had all these underground refineries and stuff like the VC did***.

That only solves fuel though.

[A smirk appears on his face]

I never said our luck had run out yet. One day one of our scouts reported hundreds of Chinooks flying overhead. They were probably from the mass evacuation from the eastern seaboard. Anyway, I guess they were too heavy and low on fuel, because most had started dropping these huge crates all over town. We counted at least 321 crates. All the ammo, guns, equipment and parts to make more, were what we found inside. We now had Radio towers, munitions and vehicle factories, and turret emplacements all over.

Seems like it was the perfect defensive position.

It was! Good for both defense and offense! We could pop up anywhere we wanted, kill a few Gs and disappear like we weren't even there. And for defense, every entrance was secured by a massive bulkhead which only humans could get into. We had these compartments, you know, like the Titanic? Well They were designed to prevent "flooding" in other sectors.

Was there ever a "flood"?

Only once... We lost a lot of good people... almost lost my wife too.

The infamous sector 8?

[We all stop in front of a huge bulkhead. The window shows only darkness. Above it are the faded letters "Sector 8"]

Remember Jason Houston and Joe Axelsen? They were in there when it started. They were the ones who sealed this door to keep them from getting in. We had the bulk of western Pennsylvania and all of sectors 1-7 in there.. and the still are. Nobody will touch the place.

[A rotten hand smacks against the glass. My wife utters a gasp. On the wrist of the ghoul is a worn orange wrist band with the words "**** Orangeman".]

Oil City, Pennsylvania, USA
[Tim finishes his account as my wife and Pam Dudaski
come in with a tray of tea and snacks, followed by by Taylor Dudaski.
Pam sets the tray down and sits next to Taylor and my wife next to me.
My wife takes a sip of tea and smiles. Pam nods and puts her cup down.]

We had a pretty easy time down in the tunnels. The almost 400 children born down there probably never saw a zombie in their lives. The town, above ground, was generally empty save a few civvies build fortifications around town. It had been quiet for a while now and I think it was July 4th, so we had a "chill" day. Some of us came out and basked in the warm summer sun. There was a cookout and baseball in the park, and someone had set up a swimming pool. In any case, I was in the middle of this nice piece of cake when my radio squawked.

Who was it?

It was Zeke Mitchell, he was one of our perimeter guards.

He's still alive?

Yep, and living happily with Janie in the mountains somewhere. Anywho, he had reported a huge mass coming up through Gambit.(formerly Reno) Immediately and rather reluctantly, I had the police herd the people back into the tunnels.

Then what?

Me, Tim, Joe Axelsen, Jason Houston, and some other troops came up from an entrance across the river from the mass. Through my binoculars I could see a couple hundred armed soldiers marching up through the four-lanes.

US forces?

No. Rebels and suck banded together to take land or loot cities. Somehow they had military BDUs, weapons, armor and vehicles. I saw Bradleys, Humvees, and even a couple Abrams tanks. They each had different flags with them. One was a dragons with crossed swords and the other a horse pulling a cannon with a crown.

Races Rebels and Nullsons Nobles.

Yes. Joan Race and Erin Nullson. Those dumbasses who buggered off when the s**t went down. Somehow, they got some people to follow them. I had Joe and Jason stalk them while me and Tim took the other troops back through the tunnels to alert the others. These were human troops so we had to plan carefully and accordingly.

The army we had set up guerilla poisitions around the city. In the buildings we set up snipers and anti-tank units. The army was nearing as our soldiers were scurrying to their positions. Taylor came out to take charge of the troops and ordered Joe, Jason, Tim and I back into the tunnels to get the bulkheads closed up. I objected and started to cry. I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. He must have understood because he wrapped his arms around me and said "All the more reason for you to be out of this fight". After what seemed forever, he let go and straightened up. "I love you" I said softly, my lip trembling. I don't know if he heard me because at that time the roar of an Apache starting up drown out most sound.

You had Apaches?

Surprisingly, yes. Some came on the Navy ships that came in. The enemy forces were coming in closer as I entered the tunnels. Joe and Jason started with sectors 1-4 and Tim and I hit sectors 5-8.

[Taylor cuts in]

Taylor: The first Abrams had rolled onto the Petro st. bridge just as I had my jeep moved out of view. My plan was to let them just walk into town and make them feel it is deserted. Then we open fire and destroy them. The first Abrams and a minimal amount of troops was across the bridge when an emergency demo charge went off on the bridge.

Accidentally?

Taylor: Yea. We don't know what went wrong, and it wasn't part of the plan, but it sure helped cut off the troops on the other side.

Pam: The civvies were doing as ordered when suddenly the tunnels just shook. I didn't know they were using explosives at all. after the dust settled we kept moving them back through the tunnels. Sectors 1-8 were built to into the hills and mountain, so it had plenty of room for civilians. We were just secured down when we heard the noise.

Taylor: I couldn't hear it over the sound of gunfire. The Abrams that got across fired into the YMCA in front of it. From the sides of the road and houses near there we had the anti-tank troops open up on it. I saw about 20 rockets hit that tank. There was a huge explosion, followed by flame as the infantry behind it started coming up fast and hard. Our snipers did good work, but not quickly enough. Somehow Race and Nullson had found one of our Apaches. They were trying to leave in the middle of battle again and save their own asses. They started to quickly liftoff when a sickening snap was heard. The tail of the Apache was still tethered to the refueling station floor with the chain we had. The tail broke right off and they flew up out of control.

Pam: It sounded like machinery at first, but after a few minutes we all knew what it was.

Taylor: Zeke had just radioed in about another mass coming in hot behind them. He told me this time it wasn't human. It seems the bulk undead masses of whatever towns they had gone through had followed them here. The dumbasses ruined another good thing for us...

Pam: There was an explosion a ways down the tunnel, probably where we had yet to add concrete to the ceiling. Joe and Jason had come up fast, telling me the tunnel had a hole blown in it. At that time Taylor radioed me. "Get out of there! Theres a whole army of the undead coming up fast on your position!"

Taylor: I had noticed the Apache spin out of control and hit the hillside across the river. An easily visible hole was seen in the wall where in exploded. With the whole undead horde behind them they had very little time to get out.

Pam: We started to evacuate the civvies down the sector 8 tunnel. Tim ran down the already evacuated tunnels and set some timed charges to stop the undead. We tried many tunnels , but the fire alarms had shut most of them automatically.

Taylor: The remaining rebel troops on the other side of the river had split up. The ones left to watch the bridge started to open fire on the Gs.

The other troops had gone around to the vet bridge in an attempt to cross it. They stopped halfway and started going back to help their comrades. In an instant, I ordered some of our troops to go in and help them defeat the mass of rotting flesh. No shots were fired cept those on the zombies. We had won the battle over the rebels, yet another battle had just begun. The undead were now pouring into the tunnel, lured into there by the people who were trying to escape.

Pam: We heard the screams from down the tunnel. We now had to quickly herd the civilians to the sector 8 bulkhead and shut it immediately. The undead were halfway through the tunnel when we got the civilians through it. Tim then set off the charges down the tunnel, collapsing it in, filling the hole made by the dumbass fireball.

Taylor: There were a series of explosions from the tunnel. Soon the zombies started ignoring the tunnel and focused more on us. Our snipers on our side of the river started to crumple their front line with shots. It wasn't as many as we needed though. Suddenly, far away from here, you could hear the sound of multiple MLRS rockets firing. A barrage of pain and hellfire rained down on the oncoming horde, blowing a huge chunk out of their side. Using the remaining tank and APC, we were easily able to pick of the stragglers.

Pam: It wasn't over yet though, we still had to seal the bulkhead doors. We got the people to safety so as soon Tim got through, I pushed the button to close the bulkhead. It wouldn't budge so I pushed it again. Still, nothing. The zombie horde was drawing nearer and we couldn't even get the ******** door closed.. Something must have short circuited this control, so the only way to close this door would be down the tunnel. After much arguing and panic, Jason stepped forth to volunteer for the job. Not to be outdone, Joe also volunteered. We gave them each a pistol, and a map to find the control room, and sent them on their way. They radioed in when they got to the room and we instructed them on where the button was. They told us they had pushed it and they were on their way back. I told them to hurry because in five minutes I was closing the door. I heard some gunshots down the tunnel and then nothing. Five minutes went by and I pushed the button. The door slid closed and locked. We started up the tunnel and out the nearest entrance. I finally found Taylor after what seemed forever.

Taylor: I pulled her in close. "I love you too." I said, this wide eyed expression on her face. We both leaned in for a kiss when Pams radio went off. I was from Jasons radio. There was static and what sounded like 'room 423' and then nothing. Tim got out of the tunnel and jumped in the air. "Yeeeaa boooiiii!!" He yelled out. The remaining rebels joined up with us and we were prosperous.

[A small girl, about 2 walks into the room and clings to Pams leg. It is her daughter. She makes a faint moaning sound and starts to nibble playfully on her mothers arm]