Lori Kim’s Blog 10/05/2012
10/05/2012
There were gunshots in the streets last night. We had planned a scavenger run, but now it’s going to be incident investigation as well. Oleg is especially concerned. He has friends in the neighborhoods we heard the shots in. He offered to let me stay home, but I wasn’t afraid to take the trip. We suited up, bulletproof vests, shotguns and handguns. Guns were never exactly scarce in the States, but bullets were a precious resource. There may have been millions in stockpiles in various places, but those places were raided early on, and they aren’t making any more. It looked like Oleg’s gear was mostly police issued. I wondered how he got his hands on that, but it wasn’t time to ask. It was time to go out.
The vehicle we took was a diesel Mercedes Monica had modified to run biodiesel. The doors had been removed, as had the windshield and the roof. She’d plated the tires with some extra metal on the outside, and one bullet hole testified as to why. When I got here, Oleg said there were rough areas around here.
We headed south along a main road and then turned east into a residential area. It looked like a nice neighborhood once. Now, most of the homes showed significant damage and decay. Many windows were broken, some collapsed porches, and some were kept up. Our first stop was at one of these.
Monica stopped the car in the middle of the road, and we got out, keeping a close eye on all directions. Oleg alone went to the door. He knocked and waited. Then he called in, and nothing came back.
“Back in the car.”
We piled in, and Monica started moving again.
“Well, maybe they’re out.”
We wound our way further into the enclave, looks like the area was all one large development with about a dozen styles of homes. The winding streets felt like they must have been peaceful once.
“This area,” Oleg told me, “Used to support the college, the naval bases and industry further east, very professional.”
We came to another clean house. Again, the SWAT routine. Again, he knocked, and no one was home. Then a shot hit me. I flew forward a little bit, tripped on my feet and landed face forward in the street. Bastards shot me in the back. Where the fuck were they? Oleg picked me up fast and we rushed back to the car, but by the time we were seated, there were gunmen in front of and behind us. A leader stepped forward.
“We control this neighborhood now.”
“Who are you?” Oleg said. We all had guns drawn. Not a winnable situation.
“You’ll see. Now get the fuck out.”
The leader nodded and they opened up behind us.
We got to a safer spot, at least there was no place to hide, and they stopped and turned to me.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, a little freaked, but yeah.”
“Turn around, let’s see your back.”
I did. The bullet didn’t get through. It was a pretty small caliber. They had bigger weapons, it was a warning shot, but I thought those were usually fired into the air.
For now, they’re making me rest. I’ll be able to relate the discussions Oleg had with the rest of them later.
--Lori Kim is written by Bryan Lee Peterson.
