Senario, the second by Muddnick, the muddster.
"Wooo!!!" You've just leaped a sand dune, in you buddy, and caught serious air; what a rush. You look back to see your parents behind you, who came over the same sand dune, flying thru the air.
"Time to head back kids," he yells at you.
You look around, surprised to realize that night is falling on the Anza Borrego Desert State park.
It's been a full day, so you head back without complaint.
A half a dozen motor homes are lined up, connected to a small generator. It was pretty amazing, a hybrid that runs on gas and solar power, an experimental model, from your older sisters husbands job.
A motley assortment of outdoor furniture is laid out in a circle, around the bar-b-que grills, the roaring flame testifying to the steaks that would soon be consumed by yourself, your friends, and your family.
"Hey, Dave, check this out?"
It was your crazy uncle Dick, who was always full of conspiracy theories, and odd ball ideas. He was fun, as long as you never took him too seriously.
Listen to what I'm picking up on my short wave.
"This is ThudTheFrog, reporting zombies in the O.C., I repeat, zombies in the O.C."
You shake your head, and chuckle. "Is that some sort of old time radio show uncle?"
He loves old time radio shows, but he assures you this isn't one of them.
"This guy is seriously panicked, and I've checked the other radio stations, and they are almost all dead."
It takes about a half an hour, but after checking the satellite TV, and seeing the horror and carnage from the four corners of the world, your circle of friends comes to grips with the facts.
Zombie facts.
***
Okay, you've got 6 RV's full of people. You (high school student), mom (home maker) and dad (retired fire chief), your older sister (who is pregnant) and her husband, who is an electrical engineer in the first two, which are both very modern, with sizable water storage, satellite TV, and Internet, for a little while longer at least.
Your uncle (survivalist nut) and a woman he brought along called Estelle. (Bar hag) in the oldest vehicle, with limited resources as a home, but unnervingly well stocked as an arsenal, with a dozen rifles of assorted sizes. ( The biggest, a 30.06, and several .22, including one AR5.) He has several hundred rounds, tablets for purifying ground water, a case of Duct tape, and assorted first aid stuff, road flairs, and some illegal fire works.
The remaining three motor homes are family friends, nothing special, but reasonably new. They have few useful skills, except for Barbara, who is a registered nurse, (Her husband Phil is a stock broker. Weee...) and a 12 year old boy you've been avoiding all weekend, who turns out to be pretty computer savvy.
You have two days access to the net, food to last about a week, and the propane bar-b-que grills. There's a store about 25 miles south, with a gas station, a small, underpopulated town 20 miles north and west, with a small private runway. (None of you know how to fly a plane, sad to say.) There is also moderately populated town about 60 miles east, on the edge of a foul and disgusting inland lake and a major metropolitan city several hundred miles west.
You are mostly tanked up with gas, and could make it about 150 miles if you kept them all. Further if you siphon gas, and use fewer vehicles.
Don't forget, you have 4 dune buggies, 3 dirt bikes, and a small boat, with outboard. (Barb and Phil were going to the lake, later.)
Your best result would be to get in your Uncle Dick's vehicle, which could probably make it almost 1,000 miles, but you would lose most of your high tech resources, and it would be awfully crowded.
The climate is nice now, though pretty cold at night. In a few months however, you know it will top 100 every day.
