In the ranger station-
Julie St. James sat in front of the shortwave radio in the ranger station near Chimney Rock, cruising the airwaves for any sign of life. It had been a long, exhausting, and terrifying day. Now the sun was sinking low in the west, hanging just above the horizon. Throughout the day she and her fellow ranger Dan Aldrich had managed to reach some people out there, and what they heard was horrifying. All over the country, perhaps all over the world, people were infected with some sort of disease that turned them into vicious cannibals that were very hard to kill. The two of them had had to fend off a number of attacks already today, first from tourists at Chimney Rock who had tried to mob the ranger station, and later from residents of Bayard and other nearby towns. The ranger station was in a good defensible position. It was elevated, and the only way to get inside was to climb a steep set of stairs. Between Julie's bow and Dan's rifle, they had killed most of them before they got close to the station, and their handguns had taken care of the ones that had gotten too close for comfort. But now they didn't have as much ammo as they had started with. Julie had made more arrows during the afternoon, but she had needed to fire them faster than she could make them.
Three quarters of the station were taken up with the main L-shaped room where Julie sat. An interior door led to a small bedroom with bunk beds that occupied most of the last quarter. A door inside the bedroom led to a tiny bathroom, composed of just a shower, a toilet, and a sink. There was also a trapdoor in the ceiling of the main room that was currently open, and a ladder led up to the roof, where Dan was currently on lookout duty. There was a decent supply of emergency rations, more than enough for the two of them to hold out a while here if they wanted. The waves of attackers had gotten smaller throughout the day, petering out until only one or two came at a time. None had been seen for almost an hour now. At the base of the station, a green pickup truck waited near the bottom of the stairs. Julie had the keys.
Julie continued to adjust the dials, but she had no joy. The number of survivors out there still operating shortwave radios had dwindled throughout the day. Once she had even heard a woman's terrified screams as she was eaten alive before going off the air. Warren Air Force Base was still operational, some 50 miles to the southwest outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, but their frequencies were encrypted. They could probably hear her transmissions, but they hadn't responded.
On the roof-
Dan Aldrich watched from his perch on the roof as the sun got lower. No matter how much he saw of it, Chimney Rock never ceased to be beautiful. From high on top of the ranger station, he was able to get a good view for about a mile around, thanks to his binoculars. But once it started getting dark, his visibility would be very limited even with them. He and Julie both carried walkie-talkies that they could use to talk to each other, though he could also call down through the open trapdoor easily.
