I
have to admit to you that I am disappointed. Last night, we all took a vote and
it was unanimous. We wanted to add Wes and Kyndall to our group. Their
resourcefulness would have been a wonderful addition to our crew. When we
showed up to present them with our offer, Kyndall presented us with a supply
list of items they were hoping they could have.
It
was a simple list: Some canned vegetables, drinking water in gallon jugs, some
cans of evaporated milk, a few two liters of pop, Band-Aids, a few things of
feminine hygiene aisle, and things like. We had an abundance of this brand of
beef jerky that Wes really liked. A six pack of beer.
Here
we were presenting them with an opportunity for a life, security and safety and
they were presenting us with a list of stuff that they wanted to take with them
when they bugged out.
I
don’t understand it. Why leave?
Kyndall
told me how they had survived for so long. The key was the empty or
once-overrun gated communities. Wealthy and affluent neighborhoods in suburban
settings often featured things like garages (to hide the car or even gain
better ones), second floor homes with staircases that could be barricaded, and
well stockpiled pantries that could feed two people for longer than you might
expect.
Even
without power, those luxury homes offered comfortable beds, sturdy deadbolts,
and – God Bless Texas – usually an assortment of firearms and small caches of
ammunition. Wes and Kyndall would hold up until the food started to run
shallow. By then, they had siphoned gas from any and all nearby cars and lawn
equipment. Staying hunkered down and hiding, most zoms might come for an
inspection but finding locked and barricaded doors and no apparent signs of
living humans, eventually they would shamble off.
We
are now 124 days in. I cannot really fault their logic but moving two people
north is a heck of a lot easier than moving a crew of 20+. Maybe that is the
reason why places like Huston and Dallas were almost completely overrun, yet
both of them have talked about coming across pockets of survivors in the
smaller and more isolated towns.
Still, I am going to
be sorry to see Wes and Kyndall leave tomorrow. They would have been valuable
additions. We cannot force them to stay. All we can do is wish Godspeed and
hope that they do well. They are headed north. Maybe Kansas City or Chicago
will have safe zones. Well, by request, Mr. & Mrs. Reyes, if you are out
there, your son and daughter are doing quite well. They are fine kids and they
have survived this horrible nightmare. Montana is a long ways away but they are
confident that “the Ranch” will be a safe haven once winter sets in.
They gave me this
picture to post to let you know that they are okay and continuing to head
north. I guess Kyndall is hoping that there will be some big Reyes Reunion at
your ranch outside Billings.
On a personal note,
they really are good kids. Both a very likeable. I wanted them to stay with us
but Wes wanted to stay on the move. I am rooting for them. We all are…
