Entry #18

April 7, 2011

Had a small encounter this morning. We were changing out the night watch when a small group of infected crashed into our southern wall. It’s a six or seven foot high, steel reinforced concrete block wall. We took the opportunity to try to study them closer. They seem to have no ability to problem solve on more than the most basic level. They kept throwing themselves against the wall, repeatedly bouncing off of it and trying again. They did noticed us looking over the top, but made no effort to climb, work together, or try to find another way over.

There is a pair of gates along the wall we had blocked off earlier, but despite having passed by them, the mindless creatures made no effort to use them. We used a .22 to dispatch them quietly. It had a bit of trouble penetrating into the skull or through the bridge of the nose, but this seems to be the quickest way to put these things down.

We hit them with objects like sticks and rocks to see their reactions. They made little attempt to investigate the cause, instead focusing only on us. After repeated assaults they would become enraged and let out deep, guttural whines. Once worked up, they don’t seem to back down.

Communal association seems to be by chance. They don’t seem to have any hierarchy or pack mentality. They are just groups of individuals together; each seeking to fulfill its own needs and their grouping is a product of their needs and location being identical. I suppose if one were to travel way back, one might find that our predecessors weren’t dissimilar. The biggest attack we’ve had thus far, the one where that young child was murdered, was the largest single group we’ve seen to date. This group is the second largest since the first day at the gate. All others have been either individuals or groups of three or so that we have quickly dispatched or that simply just wandered on by.

They are identical to the others we have encountered before. Their skin is usually bruised or caked in blood, sores and wounds. They smell horrible. Their teeth are generally broken and their nails ragged or torn off. This of course we assume is a result of their violent attacks and “feeding” habits. They do seem to have an acute sense of hearing but poor eye sight. I wouldn’t say they are totally blind or have super power hearing. They don’t seem to attempt to avoid one another until they collide in some way and as we have learned many times in the past loud noises ferociously agitate them.

At any rate, like I said, we didn’t want to risk taking too much time in our “live study” and we put an end to it. We’ve still yet to move the bodies. No one wants to go out there and do it and I am down right exhausted. We may even put off our scouting trip for another night, because I am not the only one. It’s nice to sit here in the comfort of Kevin’s basement to write this, watching you play in the corner with the other kids. Sounds like Kevin is trying to get something on the AM stations and get his short wave working. I don’t know much about all that, but I thought that stuff got better reception than we’ve been getting. We also haven’t been able to get the satellite working again either. It’s an information black hole here. I’m running low on ink, so I’m going to have to end this here for now. It seems like forever since I’ve seen you play on the slides at the park; I think I’ll take you over there now.