Chapter 33-1 Red Winter

[Cabbage Patch]

Just to clean up the bad interpretation of Acronym...
K.O.D.I. Killing ordinance deployment initiative.

Not bad as acronyms go. But why not B.U.R.T. for Badass Undead Robotic Terminator?

[Litmaster]

Wild guess #2:
Michael foretells 'it': The Chinook is a giant beast of a chopper; what if during the combat a smart one or even pinstripes was able to attach itself to the chinook and maybe even get into the heli during the flight? It was dark; and very likely there were many great opportunities to do something like this - covered by darkness, the noise of combat and the chopper ...

Meh... maybe, but we've been down that road already. You really think that Kc would use the same plot device twice?

Then again, the chopper is out of contact and presumably went down. The guy did mention that Captain Long is "stabilized and restrained in the back of the Chinook...and they've locked up the other guy too... just in case." So if they bird went down because of a Zed attack, it wasn't from these two, most likely.

And I doubt it was Pinstripes. Our inked-up Zope has been too busy making Zombiedactyls to do any of that grunt work on his own...








the Zope [a.k.a. "Zombie Pope"], copyright 2012 by Litmaster Int'l. All rights reserved.

[Cabbage Patch]

There were some tantalizing clues to the overall situation in this story. Some observations:

• Big Macs (or was that Baked Mac?) at the mess hall? That speaks to a pretty robust supply situation. Either there's a supply of fresh beef available along with wheat, vegetables, etc. (via Boulder?), or there are frozen stores that are still viable. Both seem like good signs this far into the zombie apocalypse. My first thought when I heard the title "Red Winter" was that it could mean the survivors might face starvation, but this makes me think they might be better off than that.

• Michael got promoted one grade, from Sergeant E-5 to Staff Sergeant E-6. Puck did not, he's still a Corporal. I had half-expected that Michael would have gotten a field commission, since he's filling an officer's position.

• Michael declared that Yermo was almost cleaned out of zombies, and that the bodies he checked were locals. That raises many questions, such as what (or who) have they been eating all these months? It seems like starvation should be thinning the ranks of the zombie horde something fierce by now. And what happened to all those zombies who seemed to disappear out of downtown LA within hours of the Outbreak? I'd always assumed that they spread outward, spreading the infection. But then shouldn't we be seeing out-of-towners amongst the zombies being killed in places like Yermo?

• Colonel Kimmet's decision to divert the Chinook to Boulder is a pretty serious violation of normal medevac procedures. The rule is to get a casualty to the nearest adequate care facility, and to get them there within an hour of being wounded. Better to bring the casualty to a forward medical facility (Fort Irwin) in order to stablize them, then send them forward to more advanced facilities (Boulder). In theory they could have brought the injured Captain to Fort Irwin, stablized her, gotten her onto a fixed wing plane and still have gotten her to Boulder in less time than it would take for a Chinook to make the flight directly to Boulder.

• The fate of the missing Chinook is an interesting loose end. Let's hope it doesn't end up going down near a prison in Georgia!

• There were several references to the increasingly cold weather, but no solid indication on how that effects the zombies.

It gets cold at night in December around Fort Irwin, average night-time temperatures hover around freezing, daytime in the low 60s. And the wind chill can make it feel extremely cold at any time of day. On a cold day in the winter, with a good wind blowing, you can't wear enough clothing to feel warm outdoors.

LA is usually considerably warmer, mid-40s to low-50s at night, 60s-70s in the day. Locals bundle up, but I've seen people from colder climates handle the coldest winter days in LA wearing T-Shirts and Shorts.

[Robzombie]

?.. but I've seen people from colder climates handle the coldest winter days in LA wearing T-Shirts and Shorts.

those would be Canadians like me...buncha cry baby yankees cant handle a little chill....just kidding, settle down
Im normally in shorts from -10 to above degrees celsius, yes celsius get with the times, lol.
Our Canadian zombies got no problem with the cold

[cupcakezombie]

I guess the main and most important question we haven't discussed is:
What game was Michael playing?

[nikvoodoo]

I guess the main and most important question we haven't discussed is:
What game was Michael playing?

Kc posted it on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AxleTheGame

[Penguine]

Kc posted it on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AxleTheGame

Oh hell, does this mean that when the SHTF that Facebook is still going to be working? Figures.....

[Lilydragon]

those would be Canadians like me...buncha cry baby yankees cant handle a little chill....just kidding, settle down
Im normally in shorts from -10 to above degrees celsius, yes celsius get with the times, lol.
Our Canadian zombies got no problem with the cold

Here in NM it can get below 0 at night and as high as 20's- 30's during the winter. My husband and I took a trip to San Diego one February before we had our daughter and we were wearing shorts the whole time we were there.

[Osiris]

those would be Canadians like me...buncha cry baby yankees cant handle a little chill....just kidding, settle down
Im normally in shorts from -10 to above degrees celsius, yes celsius get with the times, lol.
Our Canadian zombies got no problem with the cold

In Soviet Canuckistan we wear shorts and t-shirts while we shovel the snow away from our igloos.

[Robzombie]

In Soviet Canuckistan we wear shorts and t-shirts while we shovel the snow away from our igloos.

And on those lazy days, a quick whistle to our dog sled huskies and were dug out in no time at all.