First thing, I’ve got to thank Captain Gil for getting the word out about my absence. She and her crew basically keep the Rock running – everything from making sure the toilets flush to firing up the radar for a couple of hours each week. (And no, no aircraft sightings. Yet.) They even rigged an incubator for Baby Esperanza a few months back. So finding time to access the G.R.I.D. and send out an update was duty above and beyond. Hats off to the Army Corps of Engineers!


ASTRONAUTS
As Captain Gil reported, the Russian capsule bringing three of the six crew on the ISS to Falcon Rock had some kind of malfunction. Major Leonova, the station commander, said the last telemetry they received from the capsule indicates a fault in the guidance system. Apparently, if the software fails the way she thinks it might have, the capsule goes into a default descent mode that’s a lot rougher for the crew inside, but still survivable. It also puts the landing zone a couple of hundred miles southeast of Falcon Rock – no way to say exactly where.

If the capsule landed safely, it would have broadcast an emergency locater beacon for about ten days. It’s not very powerful, though – designed to be picked up by search-and-rescue aircraft. That’s why Captain Gil had four teams go out to get power to six RF repeaters that feed into Falcon Rock from nearby hills. We know that four of the six became operational with portable generators. One was a mess – let’s just say there was evidence of a last stand that didn’t have a good outcome. The sixth repeater was the one Colonel Manwary was heading for when Alpha team dropped out of communication. Bravo and Charlie teams have redeployed to go after him – all soldiers this time. I know we’re going to find him and he and his team will be okay. I know it.

Anyway, back to the astronauts. In addition to the emergency beacon, they also have the capsule’s “space” radio. It’s good for line-of-sight communication, not much range, but the major’s listening for it every time the station’s orbit comes near the possible landing site.

What we’re all holding out hope for is that the astronauts will answer their phone. Seriously. A couple of years ago, NASA started supplying the ISS with satellite telephones so that if any crew capsules landed off-course, they could phone in their GPS coordinates. Trouble is, solar flares have pretty much trashed the communications satellites that handle the phone system. (History note: The Rock has a huge database of all things having to do with communications. Big surprise, right? I’ve been checking up on solar cycles, sunspots, and what happened last summer to see if there’s any chance of a connection. Turns out there might be one. Next time the G.R.I.D.’s up, try this old URL – it’s still available on some back-up servers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806090345.htm

The timing works. But the idea that what happened might be linked to insects? Not good.

But, if what happened is some kind of environmental thing, then according to the Rock’s database, it didn’t start just six days before the end, it was brewing a lot longer than that. In fact, if we go by what Dr. Cole calls the Solar Cycle Theory, we know the exact date it started: January 3, 2008. That’s when the first sunspot of the current solar cycle appeared. If anyone out there has any sort of news database, or even a good memory about what was happening back then, did you notice anything unusual? Anything at all that in retrospect might have been a clue to what happened last year? Let us know, and we’ll spread the word.

Once again, back to the astronauts and their satellite phone. As best we can tell from the Rock, there’re only about five satellites still functioning in the phone system, and the geometry of their orbits has to be exactly right for a signal to be established between the astronauts’ phone and Falcon Rock Command. The Rock’s tech guys can calculate the times the satellites line up, and it happens about every five days. The first time it happened was about two days after the capsule touched down. The window lasts eight minutes, so we started calling thirty minutes ahead, and kept calling thirty minutes after, just to be safe. Reminded me of phoning into radio contests. Dial – no connection – hang up – dial again.

Anyway, just once, about seven minutes into the window, the call seemed to go through. Our techs say an acoustic signal came back. No voices, but maybe wind or something. They’re confident they reached another satellite phone, but the connection didn’t last long enough for them to get GPS data. So, they can’t be sure that it was actually the astronauts’ phone they connected with. With all the sunspot activity going on, it could’ve just been another radio signal that got scrambled enough to be picked up by satellite. No contact in any of the other windows, but we’re not about to give up. None of us.

Quite a pile of messages in the servers during my absence. Here’re the reports from the field.


THE VIEW FROM THE EYE

James in London has a new Pastor sighting. In London! How is this possible? We need theories.

Hey,

Well, the London Eye surveillance uncovered some interesting truths. A couple of messages ago I mentioned no signs of the Pastor – that just changed. He has a huge symbol painted over Big Ben (God knows how it got there). On moving to the Eye, we also encountered more “standing” behaviour and some helmeted ones. Surely the symbol AND the presence of the helmeted ones can't be a coincidence. If anyone in London could get a picture, it would be appreciated.

Anyway, we managed to get the power going and got to the top of the Eye. We found that the government had burned half of London in an effort to stop the infection's spread (the thudding we heard in the distance was falling buildings). There is NOTHING left on that half, and getting North may be impossible, as all bridges are practically impassible.

On a similar subject, we did manage to raid Downing Street. Unfortunately it’s all highly coded. We did find that any contingency plans involve Scotland and a castle up there, so that’s where we are trying to get to.

We also have some new theories on the airplanes. You say the ISS noticed decreased cloud cover. Well, a few years ago the world discovered “seeding” – a method by which chemicals are dropped in clouds to either make rain or completely disperse them. This chemical was dropped from planes and was highly effective. My theory – plane activity is seeding via the governments to dry out the infected and hope they die. It has the benefit of not affecting those alive (unless we don't get much rain). The planes could also be drones, with no one piloting them. What do you think of this?

So for now, our priority is to get a car and try and make our way up (only real way). Tell the guy who is trying to reach us to start moving down, we will co-ordinate our plans to link up when we are closer. Thanks for the mention,

James R
Survivors: 25

Cody here. Interesting idea about the aircraft being part of a cloud-dispersal program. From some reports out of Canada and one from Sweden, we know that the infected can freeze. (We’re still waiting to hear what happens when they thaw. Anyone?) But Dr. Cole says she doesn’t have enough data yet to determine their sensitivity to dry conditions. The ones with open wounds don’t crust over – I’ve seen that up close. Maybe whatever’s providing them with energy is also allowing them to draw moisture out of the air? Do they look different in hotter, drier regions? We need to know.

In the meantime, James, keep a sharp eye out on your journey up to Scotland. All the infected we encountered on the RF repeater missions the past few weeks had definitely made the connection between the engine sounds of our vehicles and the presence of their prey. Make certain you only stop for the night in defensible areas, and that you watch out for roadblocks. Remember that incident I reported about the schoolbus? I think those things are a lot smarter than we realize.

Keep the reports coming. If you end up making contact with representatives of your government, be sure to find out if they’ve been in contact with our people. So far, we’ve heard nothing. Be safe.


A NEW POWER LINE THEORY

Here’s another report from England. I’m getting the idea it’s a country full of survivor types. If we could just get more of you in the same place at the same time, nothing would be able to stop you!

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. Your report of April 28th mentions a Martin in Leeds. I’m close by in a small town outside the city.

It’s all quiet here. Really quiet.

I’ve been scratching my head about this power line thing, gathering in lines? The power's off, but what if this “telepathy” they seem to be exhibiting is more easily conducted through the cabling just like an electrical current? Maybe it’s their equivalent of a telephone, using the lines – which, let’s face it, cross every place of civilisation around the world – to communicate across distances greater than they can in isolation.

Just a thought.

Nick
Sowerby Bridge, England, UK

Cody here. Nick – great theory about the power lines! Dr. Cole got excited by it when I showed her your note, says she’s going to devise an experiment with the stretch of power line Captain Gil is getting ready for her. The idea of telepathy makes Dr. Cole nuts because she says there’s no solid evidence that it exists, and yet the infected have it.

Count your blessings that it’s quiet where you are. Stay safe, and we’ll let you know how the experiments turn out.


A NEW DANGER

We’re getting more and more reports like this. Don’t like it at all. Something like, this, it’s supposed to make us work together, not turn us against each other. Take this report as a warning.

Cody,

Greetings from the lower United States. Hope you all in Falcon Rock are better off than we are. While the infected are a constant threat to us, we have another even worse, one within our own walls. Members of our group are under the impression that everyone but themselves are part of the infected. Innocent people, young and old, have been killed for doing things such as yawning and stumbling after waking up. We call them Conspirators.

The leader of the Conspirators managed to change the weapon vault access on us. Only they can get in, so we don't even have weapons for an infected attack now. All we can do is hope that one of them will realize how wrong they are, before we all die. I need to go now. I'm using what they deemed an illegal signal.

JL from Tennessee

Cody back. JL, don’t take any unnecessary risks. Try to get the Conspirators to access Falcon Rock Command and check out all the info we have. It’s the simplest thing in the world to tell the difference between those who’re infected and those who aren’t. Let us know what happens.


REQUESTED INFO FOR SURVIVORS IN PITTSBURG, KANSAS

Good advice.

For the people in Pittsburg, Kansas-

The only information I know about anything strong and secure in Kansas, beyond the normal buildings and National Guard posts, would be the old missile silos. They are underground, and most likely either locked, occupied, or overrun. The closest one that I have an address for is in Wamego, which is a bit over 200 miles from you.

Don't try.

Watch out for visitors from your South – Joplin, MO is rather close, and it’s in the top 5 of large metro areas in Missouri.

Best bet – head toward western KS, staying as far south as possible to stay away from Wichita. Stay away from Hutchinson (my hometown). Emporia is where my college is, but I doubt it would be safe. Smaller towns will be your best bet. If you can, find a National Guard outpost that isn't crawling, and ransack it. They sometimes have supplies.

Good luck.

Petra D. (Emporia, KS Area)

Cody back. Good information, Petra – thanks for sharing. How’s the fight going for you?


A GEOGRAPHY LESSON AND AIRCRAFT SIGHTING

A new report from Martin, who’s not actually from Leeds, the city, but Leeds, the castle.

Hello from the Castle

We were a bit worried about you lot over the pond when we had not hard from you in a long time.

First things first. Leeds Castle is half way across the country from the city of Leeds, so “Martin from Leeds” would be quite misleading. But don’t worry – if I was asked to point out places in the US, I would not know my Arkansas from my Elbow!

Things took a turn for the strange this week, well stranger considering that we live in a castle in a world full of what might as well be the walking dead. On Monday we had some new arrivals. They had been living on a small barge drifting on the Midway. When their supplies started to run out, they travelled along the river to find somewhere to get food. Unfortunately, a group of dead were gathered along the banks of the river. As the Barge moved off, the dead followed, but never entered the water. Our new friends finally lost them at an outlet that the dead could not cross.

Two days latter we saw our first plane fly overhead. I know you have seen several, but for us it was a big event. By our reckoning, any mainland airstrip/airport would have been overrun by the dead. We think that the planes might have come from off the mainland, like the Isle of White, Isle of Man, or an aircraft carrier.

Last night we were attacked at dusk. Before then we had only seen the dead from a distance from the castle and never in more than a couple together. Last night was different. At dusk, a group of around ten to fifteen dead approached the castle from the north. When they reached the moat, they stopped and stood for a few minutes at the water’s edge before moving round the moat till they got to the gates. From our defensive position they had no chance. Our plan was to burn what was left of them at first light, as it would be too dangerous to open the gate at night. In the morning the bodies were gone!

One of the crew of the barge says that he recognized one of the dead from the banks of the Midway. I don't know how true this is, but I know one thing: It looks like the dead can’t swim (might be because there is no air in their lungs to make them buoyant.

Well, hope all goes well with locating the people from the station.

Cody here. Thanks for the update, Martin. Glad to hear you’re staying safe in the castle. Not surprised to learn that the bodies disappeared before morning. We know that some of the infected gather up bodies of infected who are “dead” dead. Just wish we knew why, and where they take them.

Stay safe!


QUICK NOTES

Dave – Welcome to the fight. From the sound of things, not much advice we can
give you from our end. You’re actually part of a group that hunts these things? Send details!

Ray – Don’t have a location for you. Only that “code red” reference. But to answer your question, we definitely want to hear from you. The more we all share about our experiences and our struggles, the more we all learn. Tell us how you’re surviving, and we’ll tell everyone else!

Howard H – Sounds like you had a good day off, too!

David D – What’s your location? Any others with you? The colonel’s way ahead of you re the armor-piercing rounds. And it only takes one!

Greg in MD – Keep checking in for new info. As soon as we know, we’ll make sure you know.

Rob in Washington State – You’re right about “shared awareness.” In fact, Dr. Cole prefers that term over “telepathy.” Not sure I understand your comment about it “becoming more dangerous” to get close to them. Are the infected in your area different now from the way they were when all this started? Please send more details.

Robert S – Merry Christmas back at you! But in June?

Rob in Washington State – If you’re safe and well-supplied in your bunker, don’t worry about being short on ammo. Just don’t go out! But if you have to, check out sporting goods stores, and try to find the closest National Guard armory. Both are good sources. (Note: We’ve had some reports that headshots with a .22 aren’t always effective. Go for a larger caliber whenever possible.)

Heather H – Should have that info soon. Keep checking the updates. Also, check in and let us know your location.

Jeremy F – Welcome to the fight! Let us know where you are, how many are with you, what you’ve seen. Add to our theories or suggest your own. We’re all in this together!

Matthew in Kentucky – It’s brutal everywhere. Send details.

Shane H – Thanks for your support. Good news ahead, we’re sure.

Mark M – First we restore the video feed. Then… who knows?

That’s it for this session – my access time is up. Sorry I couldn’t get back to everyone who’s checked in.

I’ll send an alert just as soon as we hear from Colonel Manwary. And the astronauts. And the moment we have results from Dr. Cole’s experiments.

In the meantime, keep sending reports.

We’re going to beat them!

CJ