Geron Kees

Not Alien, and not Lord of the Flies. But then, not Gone With the Wind, either!

Cool! All I can say is !

Thanks! I realize I have to be careful what I say, so as not to give upcoming events away, but at the same time I just LOVE how all the readers are looking at everything, and jumping ahead with all these great ideas. But, all I can say is, you'll have to wait and see!

I covered the way the kids are responding to all of this in another comment. I think they would become damn good at surviving, or die. And...sigh...I cannot say, or I'll give it all away!

No, this is not Alien. Damn. This is another good reason not to post a story in chapter form! Everybody starts guessing about what comes next - and GOOD guesses, too - and I have to just shut up and not give anything away. So...I will just shut up now, and not give anything away.

Sigh. Okay, I tried to dissuade you. The next chapter will tell...

Well...how long after the end of the world would it take for people to either become true survivors, or die? I did a little reading on surviving, and people that get caught in such situations and live turn into rather amazingly competent humans. That's because, inside, we are all quite competent at surviving. Our easy-to-digest technical society has made the world safe for laziness and self-indulgence. All of us have relaxed to a level that our ancestors would have sneered at, I think. Young people are more adaptable, more intelligent, and more durable than we give them credit for. Once upon a time, they survived daily in a world that would curl our hair with fright, these days. So I don't think it that hard to imagine a group like this that has become efficient at the art of staying alive.

And some good thoughts, too!

Thanks. No spoilers from me!

The GVW of the truck I imagined these guys having is about 14,000 pounds. Granted, turning such a vehicle on its side would not entail an ability to lift that much weight, but...now you are scaring me!

That's exactly right about what Marnie said, and Richie, being too hyped to ask for more detail, will not automatically think that the zombie is right by the drive. The truck left after sun-up, at a time when the zombie was already active and watching, so it had plenty of time to sit for a couple of hours and make a plan for the boy's return. Anything else will have to wait for the next chapter!

Hope so, too!

The drive is simply the one that serviced the property before the changes. Haha. This is why many minds are always better than one. All of you guys are bound to think of things I missed. This is likely to make me feel stupid before the story is over, but I'll get over it!

I thought so. I was tired of seeing brainless zombies mowed down by the dozens in film. A really frightening enemy is the one that is always in danger of outhinking you, and moving first.

I cannot comment on that without spoiling anything. Would you really want me to?

I hated to drop a cliffy right after a previous one, but as I said at the beginning, I originally wrote this as one story with scene breaks, and I mostly split it into chapters at convenient breaks. Um, that did result in a few little bitty cliffhangers!

Uh oh. I can see I am going to have to scramble to keep you from being one chapter ahead of me!

Chapter Four For an hour after the boys had left in the truck to go to town, Marnie felt her nerves on edge. She was normally very good at this, used to being the sole head of the household in their absence. But the awareness of the thing somewhere near was spooking her. She kept taking a deep breath and letting it out, pausing in her chores, and looking around the interior of the camp at the others. Mom was rocking slowly in her chair, knitting. She seemed to know how to do that

Haha. You know me too well. That does not stop you from taking the occasional potshot at me, however!

Oh, I know what's next! Chapter four! Thank you for reminding me, though.

Not to mention the less-than-adequate performance of French automobile engineering!

No assistance from the cheap seats is required!

Oh...okay, I know what a PM is. I didn't really think we were going to talk about the Prime Minister of England or something. I was just resisting the suggestion that I share an embarrassing picture. Haha. If you saw it, you'd sympathize completely!

Pleased that you say so. I would blush, but it's pointless when no one can see you!

Ah. You are getting ahead of the story. But that is a very good observation. I just can't say anything yet.