Read Online Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI by J.W. Vohs, Sandra Vohs - Free Book Online
Authors: J.W. Vohs, Sandra Vohs
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and sighed. “It’s still hard to not worry about them.”
“I know,” Luke agreed, “but the Monroe area will be planting crops in the spring, and communities all along the Red can work together. I think we need to stay focused on trying to deal with Barnes—if we lose that war these folks are eventually gonna face worse conditions than they’ve experienced so far.”
Gracie had learned that many choices in the post-apocalyptic world were between bad and very bad, and this was one of those times when she’d just have to trust that the human spirit would prevail. She took a deep breath of the crispy air and changed the direction of the conversation. “In a lot of ways, the world’s starting over; I mean, we still have modern knowledge, but we’ve lost access to a lot of the technology that we’d grown used to . . .”
“Yeah, I think we’ll be able to salvage at least some of the tech stuff, but not right away. The modern world isn’t gonna be modern anymore.”
“How did people survive back in the day?”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “How far back in the day are you asking about?”
“I don’t know—preindustrial? After gas and diesel is used up, we’ll practically be back in the 18 th or 19 th centuries, at least with how we’ll be forced to provide ourselves with heat, food, clothes, that sort of thing.”
“But when it comes to fighting the hunters, we’re slipping back to the 14 th Century,” Luke pointed out. “Gunpowder was a novelty, and the killing took place with sharp steel.”
Gracie was quiet for a few seconds. “How long will gasoline last?”
Luke chewed his lip in thought before replying. “I think that regular gas for vehicles goes bad in less than a year unless treated, and even then it doesn’t hold up for long. I know diesel lasts a lot longer than that.”
“So we still should be able to drive for a few years yet?” Gracie sounded relieved.
“I think so, but of course, we can’t fix roads and bridges any time soon.” Luke saw the crestfallen expression on Gracie’s face and tried to focus on the positive. “I think tractors and other agricultural machines mostly run off diesel. And I’m not sure how long aviation fuel will last, but I know most of it had to be used up by military forces fighting the outbreak, so I expect Barnes will run out sooner or later.”
Gracie tilted her head slightly. “What about cartridge-reloading devices and supplies? Can we make .50 cal rounds to try to bring down more of Barnes’ helicopters?”
“I’m sure we can, at least in theory, but we need people who know how to do it, and we need the supplies, especially the gunpowder.”
“Isn’t gunpowder easy to make if you have the right ingredients?”
“It’s supposed to be easy to make crude black powder, but we’d need modern gunpowder to reload modern rounds.”
Gracie frowned. “Okay, so it’s like Jack always said—on a large scale, our military will have to rely on armor and medieval weapons?”
“Yep, just like in 14 th century Europe.”
“I do remember a little bit from world history class, and I know that the 1300s really sucked.” Gracie remembered that the plague—the Black Death—ravaged Europe during that time.
Luke couldn’t disagree. “It would never have been my first choice destination in a time-travel machine.”
“You’ve been reading a lot of history books lately; remind me about how people survived back then . . .” Gracie requested.
“It’s actually kind of complicated, but as a generalization, peasants produced the food, nobles led the armies, which were usually pretty small, and the church was a huge, powerful institution with tentacles everywhere.”
“I think my teacher called that an agrarian-warrior society.” Gracie’s stomach growled. “If we keep talking about food I’ll have to break open one of the lunch packs.”
Luke didn’t say anything right away, the gears in his mind spinning wildly. He was excited
“I know,” Luke agreed, “but the Monroe area will be planting crops in the spring, and communities all along the Red can work together. I think we need to stay focused on trying to deal with Barnes—if we lose that war these folks are eventually gonna face worse conditions than they’ve experienced so far.”
Gracie had learned that many choices in the post-apocalyptic world were between bad and very bad, and this was one of those times when she’d just have to trust that the human spirit would prevail. She took a deep breath of the crispy air and changed the direction of the conversation. “In a lot of ways, the world’s starting over; I mean, we still have modern knowledge, but we’ve lost access to a lot of the technology that we’d grown used to . . .”
“Yeah, I think we’ll be able to salvage at least some of the tech stuff, but not right away. The modern world isn’t gonna be modern anymore.”
“How did people survive back in the day?”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “How far back in the day are you asking about?”
“I don’t know—preindustrial? After gas and diesel is used up, we’ll practically be back in the 18 th or 19 th centuries, at least with how we’ll be forced to provide ourselves with heat, food, clothes, that sort of thing.”
“But when it comes to fighting the hunters, we’re slipping back to the 14 th Century,” Luke pointed out. “Gunpowder was a novelty, and the killing took place with sharp steel.”
Gracie was quiet for a few seconds. “How long will gasoline last?”
Luke chewed his lip in thought before replying. “I think that regular gas for vehicles goes bad in less than a year unless treated, and even then it doesn’t hold up for long. I know diesel lasts a lot longer than that.”
“So we still should be able to drive for a few years yet?” Gracie sounded relieved.
“I think so, but of course, we can’t fix roads and bridges any time soon.” Luke saw the crestfallen expression on Gracie’s face and tried to focus on the positive. “I think tractors and other agricultural machines mostly run off diesel. And I’m not sure how long aviation fuel will last, but I know most of it had to be used up by military forces fighting the outbreak, so I expect Barnes will run out sooner or later.”
Gracie tilted her head slightly. “What about cartridge-reloading devices and supplies? Can we make .50 cal rounds to try to bring down more of Barnes’ helicopters?”
“I’m sure we can, at least in theory, but we need people who know how to do it, and we need the supplies, especially the gunpowder.”
“Isn’t gunpowder easy to make if you have the right ingredients?”
“It’s supposed to be easy to make crude black powder, but we’d need modern gunpowder to reload modern rounds.”
Gracie frowned. “Okay, so it’s like Jack always said—on a large scale, our military will have to rely on armor and medieval weapons?”
“Yep, just like in 14 th century Europe.”
“I do remember a little bit from world history class, and I know that the 1300s really sucked.” Gracie remembered that the plague—the Black Death—ravaged Europe during that time.
Luke couldn’t disagree. “It would never have been my first choice destination in a time-travel machine.”
“You’ve been reading a lot of history books lately; remind me about how people survived back then . . .” Gracie requested.
“It’s actually kind of complicated, but as a generalization, peasants produced the food, nobles led the armies, which were usually pretty small, and the church was a huge, powerful institution with tentacles everywhere.”
“I think my teacher called that an agrarian-warrior society.” Gracie’s stomach growled. “If we keep talking about food I’ll have to break open one of the lunch packs.”
Luke didn’t say anything right away, the gears in his mind spinning wildly. He was excited
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