Almost from the beginning of the
siege, one of our real saving graces was the rooftop access hatch. It is
positioned above the ice cream freezers and is accessed by way of a
hand-over-hand vertical ladder. We had to get the keys from the office to get
through the padlocks but we accessed the roof almost on the first night if
memory serves. We wanted to look down on the chaos that was swirling around
outside without exposing ourselves or attracting attention.
It is from this rooftop perspective
that we spotted Brad and his crew across the way. It is from this vantage point
that we have taken out a pretty large number of zoms from the sniper position.
If you read this blog regularly, you
know that we have started utilizing the roof space more. We are up there for
weapons training. Memorial Day and the Fourth of July were celebrated up there.
The smokers have agreed to go to roof to smoke so as not to piss off those that
don’t smoke… But I also think that we need up there just for good mental
health. I know there is a real correlation between mental health and sunlight.
And with us closing off the windows with tin foil, we are not getting the
sunlight exposure that we all need. Who wants to walk around with rickets?
Currently, Lance has some plan that he
has been talking about where he is going to rewire the security cameras that
were used inside (no longer as necessary) so that we can have more external
cameras for when the weather starts to get bad and we want to hunker down more
but still need eyes outside.
The rooftop access is a nice benefit
because we feel like we can get out in the open and fresh air without really
exposing ourselves to the dangers that are right on our doorstep.
I will say this for our group. If
there is one thing that we do well, it is think long term. Some of the people
are working this week to stash a few emergency essentials like 5-gallon water
jugs, rations, toiletries, and some “last resort” ammo and weapons. This is all
on the off-hand chance that the store gets overrun. Given that our structure
would probably be the equivalent of a three story building, we cannot fathom
any possible way that the zombies can reach the roof. Even if the interior of
the store is overrun, I don’t see the zoms having the mental capacity to storm
the ice cream freezer and then climb hand over hand to break through the hatch
that we would have barricaded from on top of the roof. We know they can climb
stairs but when it comes to the physical coordination required to actually
climb a hand-over-hand ladder, they just don’t have it. So from that aspect, we
feel we are pretty safe on the roof.
Still I cannot imagine the struggles
of trying to get to the roof if we had to go outside to do it. Thank goodness
for that hatch and that we knew about it.
