The Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap/Arkansas

Part of the Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap Project.

Jonesboro Ar,

I'm writing this as the 3 days after the first attack. I know there won't be much time later so I thought I'd say a few words now. My name is Brandon Norton, I'm a RA at Arkansas State University. When we first got word of the attack we lead the our residents down to the first floor of the building. Arkansas Hall was built in the 50's at the height of the cold war, so it is a study building. Unfortunately our RA training didn't cover this. We held the students in the halls for 6 hours. Eventually we got the all clear and life resume as you'd expect it to. Classes were canceled.

6 months later

The Campus police and the Army ROTC and the National Guard unit, which had ignored the call to federalize, had the foresight to start the Red Wolves Militia. I signed up, even though I was overweight. We were given some training on firearms, and issued old M1 garands the ROTC/National Guard Armory had. No idea why they were there, but I thank a higher power everyday they were. It didn't take too long for us to grasp a fundamental understanding of the rifles. Our first goal was to secure the Campus, for this is the only place of higher learning in the area. After a brief panic the presence of an authority figure calmed people down and we soon had a secure position. Some refugees where admitted, but it was quickly discovered that we had to turn them away. Mostly at gunpoint. After a brief training camp I was assigned as a Rifleman to 3rd platoon. My friend Javier Bruin, a 3rd year Cadet, was our squad leader. Besides training patrols and guard duty my squad had not been on any real assignments. That changed on Oct 6th.

Our platoon was assigned to a long patrol, to go to the next town over, Truman about 20 miles over, and assess the situation there. Since fuel was scarce, we set out on foot. The first leg of the journey through Jonesboro was a cake walk, the RWM had secured most of the city, and had added the local police to assist in keeping the town secure. After we got outside of our "Green Zone" it became a bit more tense. Here bandits and "eaters" were common. Eaters plain and simple are cannibals, who discovered that human prey is easier to hunt then animals. We fought off a small ambush, taking no losses and killed 18 eaters. There were no women or children so they must have a camp nearby.

TO BE CONTINUED.