What an afternoon.
After taking stock of what we had and calming down the people who were freaking out, we realized that the zombies had come around the back of the building, which made it harder to get to the other suites in our building. The only safe way would be through the ceiling or over the roof, and we weren't sure if that would even be possible.
A few months ago, Terry had looked around up in the ceiling to find some roof leaks. He thought the cinderblock walls between stores/offices went all the way up to the roof but he checked again. Sure enough, they did. There are air vents in the roof which would allow someone to climb out and then in the next one, but they're pretty tight. The thinnest person would have to get up there and see if they could fit. Guess who the lucky person was?
I climbed up into the ceiling, taking care to crawl on the sturdiest parts. I wasn't sure it would hold me but it did. Normally I'm afraid of dark places that are filled with cobwebs and spiders, but after the stuff I've seen today they didn't seem so bad. I reached the vents and got a wrench to loosen the bolts. They were pretty rusty, but after some effort (and WD-40) they finally came loose. The hole looked pretty small; it's a good thing I lost weight. I poked my head out first to make sure the coast was clear, and fortunately it was. I put my arms through first, and pushed one shoulder at a time through the hole. That wasn't so bad. Getting my ass through was another story. It took quite a bit of wiggling, but I was able to make it. Plan A was a go.
We had decided our best bet was to go next door first, to Bunkline Outfitters. They do printing on clothing, mostly t-shirts for summer camps. The plan was to grab as many shirts as we could, soak them in developing fluid (which is highly flammable), and set a fire at the end of the alley behind the building. This would allow us to get to the other doors for supplies, and hopefully people.
Standing up on the roof, I was able to survey the area. There was madness everywhere. There are lots of people working in this area. It looks like a lot of people tried to leave the Commerce Bank building (there are tons of them here) but didn't make it. I see someone from Ridgway's (large format printer on the other side of Bunkline) wandering around. She's one of them now. Judging by the amount of blood leading away from their door, I doubt she's the only one.
I went to the air vent over Bunkline, and heard muffled voices. I called to them and told them to loosen the bolts on their vent, that it was safe on the roof. They did so and I told them our plan. A few of them were afraid to leave, but most of them wanted to come join us and search the rest of the building for supplies and survivors.
One guy is tall and lanky, and he came up through the vent with ease. Good, I thought, he can take over my job now. The people inside handed us a whole bunch of t-shirts, which we piled at the far end of the roof. Our activity had definitely drawn some attention, which scared me even though they couldn't reach us up there. I went back to the Minuetman vent, where they handed us up a two-gallon jug of developer, which was really freaking heavy. I'm glad lanky guy was able to handle it.
Something's going on so I'm going to have to continue a little later. Stay tuned.
A few months ago, Terry had looked around up in the ceiling to find some roof leaks. He thought the cinderblock walls between stores/offices went all the way up to the roof but he checked again. Sure enough, they did. There are air vents in the roof which would allow someone to climb out and then in the next one, but they're pretty tight. The thinnest person would have to get up there and see if they could fit. Guess who the lucky person was?
I climbed up into the ceiling, taking care to crawl on the sturdiest parts. I wasn't sure it would hold me but it did. Normally I'm afraid of dark places that are filled with cobwebs and spiders, but after the stuff I've seen today they didn't seem so bad. I reached the vents and got a wrench to loosen the bolts. They were pretty rusty, but after some effort (and WD-40) they finally came loose. The hole looked pretty small; it's a good thing I lost weight. I poked my head out first to make sure the coast was clear, and fortunately it was. I put my arms through first, and pushed one shoulder at a time through the hole. That wasn't so bad. Getting my ass through was another story. It took quite a bit of wiggling, but I was able to make it. Plan A was a go.
We had decided our best bet was to go next door first, to Bunkline Outfitters. They do printing on clothing, mostly t-shirts for summer camps. The plan was to grab as many shirts as we could, soak them in developing fluid (which is highly flammable), and set a fire at the end of the alley behind the building. This would allow us to get to the other doors for supplies, and hopefully people.
Standing up on the roof, I was able to survey the area. There was madness everywhere. There are lots of people working in this area. It looks like a lot of people tried to leave the Commerce Bank building (there are tons of them here) but didn't make it. I see someone from Ridgway's (large format printer on the other side of Bunkline) wandering around. She's one of them now. Judging by the amount of blood leading away from their door, I doubt she's the only one.
I went to the air vent over Bunkline, and heard muffled voices. I called to them and told them to loosen the bolts on their vent, that it was safe on the roof. They did so and I told them our plan. A few of them were afraid to leave, but most of them wanted to come join us and search the rest of the building for supplies and survivors.
One guy is tall and lanky, and he came up through the vent with ease. Good, I thought, he can take over my job now. The people inside handed us a whole bunch of t-shirts, which we piled at the far end of the roof. Our activity had definitely drawn some attention, which scared me even though they couldn't reach us up there. I went back to the Minuetman vent, where they handed us up a two-gallon jug of developer, which was really freaking heavy. I'm glad lanky guy was able to handle it.
Something's going on so I'm going to have to continue a little later. Stay tuned.