Welcome to Camp Golden

I think that I left at a good time. I work in the Sherman Hill area, and as I left I had a clear view of Methodist Hospital. God it was a horrific scene. I don't know that I can describe everything I saw. Every floor of the building I think was on fire. I saw - no kidding - a car fly off the roof of the parking ramp - fall a few stories - and totally destroy an ambulance. The ambulance was going top speed straight for the hospital, so perhaps that was a twisted but good thing. Not that many people would get out of there safely anyways, so its probably a wash.

I was going to head home using back roads, but my route out of the Sherman Hill area only led me to downtown. The other way only leads to I-235, and it was clogged as were the routes leading to it. I started to wind my way down to Locust Ave. The traffic was moving so slowly. My mind started to wander back to thinking about my family. My wife, my two kids. As I slowly made my way, suddenly a huge crash in front of me snapped me back to reality. Then another. Then another.

I wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but cars around me were being destroyed. Then, slowly, a hand raised from the burning wreck in front of me. It was on fire, and it slowly fell back to the wreck. I knew what was happening, and I jumped from my car. As I exited my car and looked for shelter, I looked up at the huge buildings. I saw people, sometimes two or three at a time, falling from buildings, smashing into cars, people, the sidewalk, everywhere.

I was now without a car, a weapon, friends, anything. I started running. I have no idea now where I actually ran, but I knew that to the south was the Raccoon River, to the east, or straight ahead was the Des Moines River, and the I-235 mess to the north. I needed to get across the Des Moines River and I-235 and head north to my house. A tall task indeed.

I hadn't had contact with one them yet. Just running along the streets downtown I was moving too fast for most of them, and thankfully most of them were busy attacking someone else. Then a huge CRASH!

From out of a first floor window one of them fell - I don't know how or why. Must have been pushed out the window in self-defense. Good for them, but bad for me. The body fell against a parking meter, actually breaking it and spilling coins all along the ground. He rose to his feet, and ran - sprinted towards me. I kicked that bastard so hard I hurt my foot, and he fell back a few feet. Not really to my surprise, he got up again. I couldn't believe it after falling so far. Even a dead thing shouldn't be able to move like that on broken bones.

Quickly I picked up the parking meter pole, which was heavy as hell still, but got it up in time to swing it around. It happened as he lunged for me and I was sidestepping. The pole came around and smacked him in the back of the head. The pole was actually a bit still stuck in the head, but I wasted no time and dropped it and started running again. I looked back and saw some more of them sprinting at me.

Things finally looked a bit better for me all of a sudden. By this time I was nearly 150 feet from the Locust Avenue bridge, where I saw National Guard troops.

"Get the hell over here! NOW!" yelled one of the soldiers. Every single one of them had their rifles blazing as I ran my ass off toward them. "Don't look back!"

Of course I did. I fucking stumbled and fell on my face too. When I looked back I saw probably 30 of them or so. The Guard had them all dropping like flies but they kept coming. And I also noticed something. I was the only one making my way to the bridge. Only one alive at least.

To the right of me was the YMCA building. I guess when I wasn't looking some came out of there. When I was lying there on the ground, seeing some fast and some slow, but all coming for me, I thought that this was my end. I tried to get back up but fell again. Must have been nerves, I don't know. I think my foot was still messed up.

"QUIT FUCKING AROUND!"

I heard that as someone grabbed me and pulled me by my shirt to the bridge. It was a soldier. By now the flow of dead streaming out of downtown was uncontrollable.

"GET OFF THE BRIDGE NOW!"

I was literally thrown onto a truck, and it sped away faster than a truck like that seems like it could. As I peered out the back of the National Guard truck, I could see the soldier who saved me. A moment later, he, along with the other soldiers on the bridge, were overwhelmed.

Then, momentary safety.

With one of the loudest explosions I've ever heard, the Locust, Grand, and Walnut Street bridges were blown, as was the rail bridge. It didn't stop the dead in this area, but stopped the stream flowing from downtown. Soldiers on the truck shot Zs on the way to wherever we were headed, and even mowed a bunch of them down.

The truck made its way just a little ways, only a few blocks really, and to a heavily fortified position. The State Capitol. It seemed like an odd place, but I did realize that it was the highest elevation around here, with a clear view of the south, north, and downtown. As I left the truck and was escorted inside the capitol, I was greeted with a "Welcome to Camp Golden." I was ushered into the Senate Chamber, a place I've spent a lot of time in before, in a different way, in a different time. Lots of survivors. Some weren't well at all. Lots of wounds, but you never could tell from what.

Nonetheless, this had to be the safest place in the state at the moment. Hell, I was pretty sure the Governor was trapped inside the building too. Either way, I couldn't wait to figure out how to leave. I still had to find my family.

Well, it is two days later now. I haven't been able to leave. And the wounded that I mentioned when I showed up -

Gone.