Chapter Two
“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” -Deepak Chopra
Before anyone is allowed to enter the city limits there are several steps that are taken and need to be completed before entrance is permitted; for everyone, every time. It can be a tedious process and is guaranteed to get on your nerves, but it keeps the town clean and the people in it safe, it's also why Thompson Falls is one of the larger settlements that has never had an outbreak.
There is one main entryway where people are allowed to come and go, it includes three separate security check points and tracked mesh security gates before you make it to the final approach that will lead into the town. The first is a guarded gate that allows you in based on who you are and what you are doing; the obvious requirement to process through this gate is that you do not display any visible signs of infection or have hostile intentions.
Once you've passed through the first gate you will be in what we call the decontamination zone. There is a medical outpost in this guarded section that is a mandatory check point for all breathers, including animals. This is also where weapons, clothing and any outside items are inspected and cleaned before being re-issued, destroyed or shipped to the town. Most clothing items that have been contaminated with blood go to the incinerator. Weapons are cleaned and sterilized along with our protective gear.
Food items are inspected and if there are any signs of contamination it is also disposed of via incineration. Food is not known to be a carrier of the disease and the only time it is contaminated is if it is within range of blood spatter, it's also rare that any member of the vanguard teams ever bring back something that has the potential of infection, but it has been known to happen and nothing is left to chance.
Animals are not carriers of the virus either, so putting any animal through the medical bay is mostly cautionary and humane. Animals of all kinds will die from a bite, but they don’t spread it, and thankfully they don't come back after death either. If an animal does have a bite it will be euthanized instead of allowing it to suffer before its eventual death.
Any breathers that make it to the medical bay are stripped of all weapons and clothing and then showered. After you have been cleaned you are provided with a hospital gown and a member of the medical team will examine you for any bite marks or wounds. Once you are cleared there you will be given a blood test as a final inspection before clearance. The blood test is a finger prick where one drop of blood is placed on a slide that has been brushed with a small amount of mercury, if the blood is contaminated with the virus it will react with the mercury immediately upon contact. It was discovered, with the help of Vampires, that mercury has a deadly effect on zombies because of its known poisoning effect on blood, and since blood is their diet and consumes the reanimated in every way its effect on them exponential.
Even in humans mercury in high doses will cause sepsis that could potentially lead to death. Vampires have a high allergic reaction to it, but not as immediately severe as it is to the kooks. The mercury blood test is the only one that is really needed, but in the past it has proved not to be fool proof which is why the physical examination is still necessary.
If you are cleared from the medical bay you are given something to wear and processed through to the next gate. If you do not pass the exam or the blood test, you are taken to a holding cell in the decon-zone. What happens there varies from person to person.
The next gate is a precautionary entrance in case of contamination or outbreak from the medical bay. This entryway leads to the main gate, or gate tower, that is not unlike that of an old castle. The large gate tower is connected to the outer brick wall that serves as our main barrier and is one of three that are around the perimeter. The gate tower is the only one with steady flow in and out with the other two being locked and used for emergencies only.
The gate tower, which is the final access that allows you into Thompson Falls, has two separate gates with turrets on each side and an armed guard always on post. Both gates can be opened manually but have controls on both sides of the wall for mechanical use. The first is a cantilevered sliding gate with infill and rotating serrated edge spikes at the top. This gate slides across the entire roadway easily allowing vehicles and groups of people of all sizes through before securely locking behind you. This gate is closed at all times with no exceptions. The second gate is a crash resistant solid sheet infill sliding gate that is closed only during emergencies. It is otherwise left open but always on the ready to be closed in a moment’s notice.
The large brick barrier wall that surrounds the entire town is about 15 feet high. Zombies don't climb walls or use tools and since it was only designed to keep them out it isn't necessary to have it any higher, additionally the wall has guard towers every one hundred feet, each with its own alarm, CB radio, armed guard and spot light. Past the brick wall and guard towers is the last line of defense for the town – the large steel fencing that borders my running track.
The steel fencing was retrieved from old prisons, airports and any other high security facility that was not capable of being re-purposed as an outpost or community. The fence is a high quality galvanized steel that measures approximately sixteen and half feet tall that’s topped with coiled razor wire that adds between one and half to two feet of additional height. The fence in most areas is anti-climb with no toe or finger holes, giving it a flat profile and making it mostly impossible to climb and get past.
Once you’re inside the gates of Thompson Falls you’ll find very nearly what a small town used to look like before the ‘end of the world happened’. The small town and all the buildings were rebuilt or repaired but left almost exactly how they were originally, save for the new additions.
Along with some new buildings, roads and housing we put in ourselves the only things that are noticeably different are the extra wind turbines and solar panels. Everything else probably looks like it did when all the towns’ people left.
The entire town runs alongside the Clark Fork River and even though it’s our main water source and we use it to supply us with water energy from turbines, you can only hear the river flow as it passes by. The town walls block out most of the river view unless you are up higher than ground level and only then can you see the beauty that is around us. With the whole town being squared in by the protective barrier that keeps us safe from the morgue, you have to see the river water with your ears and listen to the surrounding mountain tops and forests with your eyes.
We take pride in keeping our small home beautiful and try to make it as comfortable as possible given the circumstances and our surroundings. Every yard or available space is filled with a garden, plants, trees or flowers to make up for the comforting but dreary view of our border.
All this is what everyone here in the town has seen and had to pass through before being allowed into our little community. It can make you feel separated from the rest of the world sometimes, but what’s waiting for you on the outside is what makes these precautions necessary to keep you safe here on the inside.