The times, they are a changing

Signs of the time...Gera and I

Lots of things happening yesterday and today.  Yesterday my Gera invited Mare to live with us since she is expecting and so we can better watch over her and protect her.  It's a good thing that the bed that we salvaged will handle three people.  Then yesterday evening Anne, our other pregnant woman on the island went to the hospital to see Doctor Rachel since she was feeling a little ill.  Anne then proceeded to go into labor three weeks early and the Doc delivered a healthy girl who again luckily looks like her beautiful mother.  We named the girl Angela which means messenger.  Mother and daughter are staying at the hospital for the time being.

This morning while making my rounds I discovered that as if things aren't bad enough we now have vampire bats.  These aggressive bats will chase you and are quite tenacious and are hard to see at first.  It appears that the bats must be living in the tunnel for the subway tracks since that is the area that I have noticed them in.  Then I was going to cross the strip of water to the gangway to the hospital ship and discovered that the laser equipped robots have become more plentiful and are now venturing out into the water. They have become such a problem that Doctor Rachel decided that the only safe thing to do is to move all of the hospital equipment off of the ship and to the island.  She then set the scuttling charges on the ship and destroyed it completely.  Her hospital is now located on the third floor over the bar (second floor for you Europeans who call the first floor the ground floor).  Anne and Angela have also been relocated there if you were worried.

Later I ventured out onto the sand bar and discovered that the animated body parts appear to have disappeared from there.  A strange coincidence that this coincides with the UN hospital ship's destruction.  I'm sure that it couldn't have anything to do with the improper disposal of parts left over from the experiments done on the ship.  After the destruction of the ship the robots appear even more plentiful and I have to wonder if they are replicating themselves using the scrap metal from the ship.  When the UN is involved you can always expect the worst.  I do want to caution everyone who reads this that just because I say an area is safe it doesn't mean that you can let your guard down there.  Every place is a potential danger spot and you must not ever let your guard down.  It's not all doom and gloom however, if we all pull together as a community we will triumph in the end.

UNbelievable

Research Ship

There is now a ship docked on the South side of the island next to the large sand bar which runs the length of Glint.  I have not had the rumor that it is an UN vessel verified but it is notable that the ship is painted the standard UN white and that it somehow managed to bypass the increased blockade which was put in place by the rogue organization.  The person in charge is Doctor Rachel who says that she is here to research the zombie outbreak on the island.  Shortly after the ship arrived strange mechanical devices were spotted patrolling the area near the ship.  These appeared to be robots armed with lasers which they are all too willing to use against anyone who ventures near the ship.  Strangely enough they show no interest at all in shooting at any zombies that stray into the vicinity.  I was told that these were supposed to be sentry robots to protect the vessel against zombies but that the programming had been corrupted and they were endangering the very people they were supposed to protect.  Doctor Rachel claims ignorance of the robots and said she had nothing to do with them.  The sand bar and the waters surrounding it are now also swarming with animated body parts such as upper torsos and hands which attack the unwary.  These seem to be the left overs from the research being performed on the ship and the result of poor disposal techniques.  If this ship is not actually a UN ship then they have certainly managed to copy the incompetence that is always displayed by them. I'll leave it to the readers of this to make up their own minds if it is indeed a UN ploy.

Robot

 

Zombie Mini-Mes

The Playground

I was patrolling the playground between the old hotel and the graveyard yesterday when I heard some rustling in the grass.  Suddenly a zombie rushed towards me and I quickly dispatched it.  When I examined the body to my surprise I found that it had formerly been a child.  I looked around some more and it became evident that this area was infested with child zombies.  They are incredibly fast and it seems to me that they are harder to kill, perhaps due to their small size.  The fact that there are now child zombies on the island is not unexpected but is still mentally hard to accept.

Later I was sitting in the bar when my dear Gera entered and I told her about my new discovery.  She was shocked by my revelation and quickly excused herself to go see for herself.  When she returned she was visibly pale and shaken by the event.  I knew immediately that she was wondering if the same thing could happen to our children and whose kids these had once been.  We left the bar in a sober mood and returned home checking on the children to be sure that they were still alright.  I then took Gera's hand and took her to bed where I held her tightly trying to reassure her by my presence.  While we lay together I found myself being thankful for all of our friends who were helping to protect the island and our home to insure that our kids were safe from the zombies.

Andy, Andromeda, Ivy

Children are the future of the island and it occurs to me that we also have two wonderful women on the island who are expecting.  Both ladies have a special place in my heart and I realize that they are also a priority when it comes to protecting our resources.  Anne is a quiet, beautiful woman who is fairly far along in her pregnancy.  She is naturally cautious and seems to avoid the danger areas quite well.  Mare on the other hand is a feisty woman who is prone to be in the middle of the action and like my Gera has a tendency to rush into things sometimes without thinking.  I will do my best to watch over both of them and protect them but I know that lovely Mare will be a handful.  The other residents of the island are starting to pull together more and I feel sure that the community will all help in taking care of our mothers-to-be.

Mare

Anne and Angela

This too shall end

Glint

Times on Glint have been unstable.  Nature seems to be against those of us who call it our home.  Earthquakes followed by tidal waves have transformed the once paradise into a somewhat worse for wear community.  The buildings are showing signs of the abuse that mother nature has put them through.  If this wasn't bad enough the island has become infested with what I am reluctant to call zombies but the evidence seems to be overwhelming that that is exactly what they are.  Rumors abound about a secret government lab which was damaged during the earthquakes and a virus that escaped and caused this affliction.  I have noted three main areas of this infestation.  The first and worst seems to be the long abandoned subway which was uncovered by the tremors.  The old hotel also seems to have its share though the creatures seem to be unable to handle stairs and are limited to the ground floor.  The final spot is appropriately enough the graveyard.   The U.N. has increased their blockade of the island in an attempt to stop the spread of this evil.  Lawlessness seems to be spreading and there were rumors that Ma'am was no longer in charge.  This has been shown to be false and while she is struggling to restore law to the community I have no doubt that eventually she will succeed.

Zombies

The upheavals have also impacted the residents of the island, some old friends have gone missing and others seem to be struggling to survive.  My lovely Gera was missing shortly before the catastrophic events but luckily we found each other again.  She has not told me what she went through while she was missing but I was surprised that after being reunited she took a leap of faith and commitment to me that is most gratifying.  We located an abandoned building and have turned it into our home.  The building is sound and has many of the features that will make it secure from the dreaded zombies so we can start rebuilding our lives.  My friends in the Republic of Texas Navy broke the U.N. blockade and brought my daughter Ivy to us.  She had been living with her mother but was found alone and abandoned following a hurricane.  Gera has taken to her exactly as might be expected and I am glad to see that Ivy will not be lacking in care and the feeling of having a mother as she grows.  We are now a family of five overnight.  Gera and I have been working on savaging things for our new home and it is slowly coming to have everything that we need.  She has opened it to friends and strangers alike and tries to see that no one goes without food or shelter when needed.  This is nothing less than what I would expect from her.

Our Home

 Our good friend Winter and I took Gera on a visit to the subway on a zombie hunting expedition.  She is afraid of them as might be expected but we wanted to show her that while they are dangerous and need to be watched for she can handle them.  She has now developed a wary but not petrified attitude towards them.  Gera knows that she does not have to remain locked in the house but can venture out and talk and socialize, things which not only are important to her but also to the PRG itself.  I believe that as more people learn this and come out of hiding the community will start the healing and regrowth which is needed for us to thrive.

The Girls of Glint

Words are tricky

Glint from the museum

"When I use a word, it means exactly what I mean it to mean, no more and no less." -- Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass couldn't have been more wrong.  In the People's Republic of Glint words means exactly what the person hearing them chooses for them to mean.  Words are often misunderstood, sometimes accidentally and quite often on purpose. Ma'am is the master of the second example.  She has a unique skill of taking a comment directed at an individual and suddenly it was meant either for an entire group or a person for whom it was not intended, sometimes even to herself.

At times this can be amusing though at other times it leads to serious misunderstandings when words suddenly take on a life of their own and say things they were not intended to.  Gera and I have sometimes fallen afoul of these misunderstandings but luckily have always managed to talk and straighten things out.  Misunderstandings with Ma'am are not always that easy.  To help with this I have come up with a phrase that helps to clear up any misconceptions that may arise during our conversations.  I simply smile innocently at her and point out that "words are tricky"™.  This doesn't always work of course but it's my defense and I'm sticking with it.

A child is born

Gera was waddling around, getting larger with each passing day, our child growing in her making her larger and more uncomfortable yet she still had a while to go until the expected date of delivery.  Then one day, she became caught up in a seeming game of ping pong between two males giving contradictory orders, one trying to push her and the other trying to help her.  It soon became too much for the poor girl and she ended up stuck between two orders and she froze.  This was rewarded by her being shot with a tranq gun.  I rushed to where she was lying and as she regained consciousness she suddenly cried out in pain and I noticed signs that her water had broken.  I immediately picked her frail form up and carried her to the clinic realizing that the stress she had been put through had induced her labor early.

Upon arrival at the clinic I was somewhat panicked by not knowing what to do but luckily Mister Winter, our close friend was there to assist using his vast knowledge of all things related to birth since he had once raised newts.  The real saving grace turned out to be the normally surly Slut (that's a name not a description - well actually it's both) who no doubt due to her propensities to screw anything that breathed must have been through childbirth numerous times she was actually quite knowledgeable about the birthing process.  She immediately heated water and comforted Gera and had Winter get a bathroom plunger in case it was needed.  Slut first tried to get Gera to stand and try the native PawMe method of giving birth which consisted of dancing around the fire until the baby popped out.  When it was apparent that Gera was not able to dance Slut seemed to be leaning towards the plunger and catcher's mitt method.  This would have been interesting but luckily it was not needed.

It wasn't long before Gera became obviously in distress..Slut moved in to help, Winter moved in to watch and I did my best not to watch.  Judging by the sounds I would have to guess that childbirth is similar to passing a watermelon sized kidney stone.  Hours later, or maybe it was just minutes later but seemed like hours,  Gera succeeded in her instant weight loss program and delivered a healthy baby daughter.  Slut was kind enough to point out that the baby looked like her beautiful mother and not at all like me.  I am thankful for that.  Slut then proceeded to tie off the cord and then told me to cut it.  After a little fumbling, much shaking of hands and the accidental cutting of Slut's finger I managed to do this.  Gera then held the new baby and announced on February 9, 2013 that she had given birth to a daughter and her name was Andromeda.  Ma'am came to see the new resident and even cantankerous Psycho peeked in from the doorway wanting to see what was going on.  It was a very good day.

A Ready Made Family

Andy

Gera surprised me one day (as she often does) by telling me that she had a son by her previous relationship.  When I asked her about this she told me that she had not seen her son for two years since he and the other children on the island had been forcibly evacuated "for their own good" during a period of natural disasters and turbulent political times.  Since I am a natural cynic I realized that "for their own good" usually meant anything but that.  Gera told me that she was trying to locate him though various agencies and regain him as hers.  I gave her my complete support in this endeavor.  It took a while but finally Gera came bouncing in and full of joy and told me that her son had been located and she would soon have him back.

When Gera first introduced me to her son it was at the Glint Nursery which she was now in charge of.  Aindreas Dunnagh, or Andy for short, was a good looking boy thanks no doubt to his mother's genes.  His developmental stage seemed a little behind where I thought he should be by his age and he seemed a little hesitant about his mother.  I could understand this due to the long separation but I could also tell that Gera was deeply hurt by this.  We worked hand-in-hand gaining Andy's trust and soon it was if Gera and he had never been apart, the mother-child relationship had bloomed and the separation was nothing more than a minor incident in the past for both of them.  It may have been my imagination but I thought I detected signs that Andy was coming to look upon me as his father, something that I encouraged since he was the child of my true love.

As time went by we saw signs that Andy was fast making up for lost time.  He progressed from simply crawling to standing, then taking steps while holding onto something and then finally walking on his own.  His first steps were tentative of course but it wasn't long before he was racing around and shoving his mother and I out of the way with his sheer exuberance. To my delight one day Gera hugged and kissed me and told me that I was more of a father to Andy than his real father had ever been.  Andy is my son now in every way but blood and that is just the luck of the genetic pool, something that I am willing to accept since I have both Gera and him.  Gera's pregnancy had been moving along during this time and I was also looking forward to having a child that is both of ours.

((OOC))

Gera's pregnancy is actually the second that I have carried through with.  Before I met Gera I had a sub and we went through with the Mama Allpa pregnancy and a girl, Ivy Christine Farslider, was born on December 23, 2012.  The sub promptly disappeared luckily leaving me the baby which is at our OOC house and not in Glint.  The sub and I had no romantic connection which is just as well since had we I wouldn't have met Gera.  Gera true to form has become the mother to my daughter.

All of us