There is that old saying that idle
hands are the devil’s playthings. Remember how back at the first of the year, I
commented on weathermen always dying within six months after retiring? I still
stick with that theory. People need to feel useful. And let’s be honest here.
After this place got locked down and was secure, people started doing things to
keep their minds active. Maybe it was organizing the top decks. Maybe it was
perfecting the shower situation. Maybe it was cleaning. Maybe it was starting
in inter-co-ed semi-but-not-really professional turkey bowling league. People
did things to feel useful but there was no real singular driven purpose.
Brian Anderson’s Bug Out Plan
changed all that. For those that might have come in late, we made several
strategic sortie runs to most of the local schools to hijack their abandoned bus
fleets. Positioning them around the parking lot, we created an extremely
effective barricade that allowed us to reclaim the turf as our own.
Based on a plan from one of our
members, we parked three of the best buses at the front of the store and we are
planning on using them in the event that we need to do a mass evacuation. We
are not just jumping in them and going. We have access to an entire grocery
store.
We are converting them into rolling
fortresses that we will be able to sleep in and carry an abundant level of
supplies so that we do not need to forage when we are out on the open road.
Doing so is just an open invitation to lose more survivors.
It is cold right now, so the work is
difficult. We are doing it smartly. We run extension cords and scavenged electric
heaters out to buses to provide at least some heat. This allows us to conserve
gas. We have snipers patrolling along the roof top of the store to keep a
watchful eye on those that are exposed.
We are making things like the bunks
and the storage areas but we are not moving anything of tremendous value out
there yet. This is where we are walking a thin line. There are two sides to
this argument.
1) It is cold out there. Do we want
to risk water containers bursting? Canned green beans can freeze too, ya know. Anything that we put in that bus, you have to
be prepared to lose. While we have not seen anyone in a long time, if a
scavenger is coming along on foot, they might be able to hijack one of the buses
or loot stuff out of it. It is a long shot but it is possible. So we have
stored stuff out there that we may need, is immune to weather, and we have a
surplus of. Some items include rubbing alcohol, generic toilet paper, some
extra bedding, etc.
2) Time might be of the essence.
Imagine a horde rolls through so large they can shove the cars aside and get
inside the perimeter or, even worse, the building is compromised. We will not
exactly have time to load in with forklifts all the canned goods we want to
bring with us. If we have to leave in a hurry, we would be forced to abandon –
literally – a bus load of supplies.
The goal right now is to start
creating stacks of “bug out” supplies and we are positioning them near the door
for fast loading if necessary.
