From the journal of Correctional Officer Steven Williams, April 25

April 25, 2017

      We got stuck in Glenwood Springs and have been here for most of the last five days.  When we pulled into town on the evening of the 20th, we found the Lowe's Home Improvement store with a mostly empty parking lot. We circled up the vehicles at the far end of the lot from the store, since there was no time to clear it of undead before dark.
     The next morning, we pulled all the vehicles towards the building and sent in a team to see how many undead we were going to have to deal with. They went in and came back with news that there were less than 15 in the store, which we could handle easily. We made a half circle of the cars to protect the entrance, placed sentries and sent in most of our people in groups of three or more to take out the undead. A store like this is a gold mine of supplies for surviving and we were planning on getting what we could.
     It wasn't even five minutes when the sentries came in and brought all the kids and anyone else who had been outside. Aaron and Linda had set up a command center at the customer service area and asked to know what was going on. Steve, who was in charge of the sentries

outside, put his finger to his lips and pulled everyone away from the doors. He then explained that a horde of zombies was pouring into the area and  they had to get everyone inside and everyone needed to keep real quiet.
     Aaron called Gary on the walkie talkie and had him come back to the command center. They told himwhat was going on and he got the word out to the teams that they needed to be real quiet and if they didn't already take out their undead, to do so really quietly. Then Steve and Gary made sure the doors were secured and then covered, except for a small space to watch through. By then, all the teams had taken out the undead inside with us and had returned to the command center. We all settled down, stayed quiet and waited.
      A couple of hours later, Gary sent Steve over with an update. The vehicles were keeping most of the zombies away from the area immediately by the entrance. The rest of the horde was moving through and following the majority of the group. There were a few, around seven, who had made it through the vehicle barricade and were milling around aimlessly inside the semi circle the cars made. These we would be able to handle once the rest of them have moved on.
     But, the undead just kept coming. We thought there were going to be somewhere up to a hundred or so zombies in the horde. That was the largest group we had seen outside of the Denver International Airport, so far. Yet, they just kept coming and coming. Hours went by and still there was no end in sight. It was decided that Gary, Steve and Aaron were going to try to find a way to get on the roof for a better view. Nick, Daniel and I took over keeping watch at the entrance. We set up a group at the back receiving area to watch as well: Henry, Ed and Stewart.

     It took some searching, but they did finally find a staircase leading to a roof access door in one of the back offices upstairs. We thought they would be up there a few minutes, come down and tell us it would be over soon. Instead, it took them a good hour to come back and when they did, they looked like someone had walked over their graves. We all gathered around and were told that this horde had thousands, as far as the eye could see in every direction. Even the Colorado River was not free of them. They were on both sides and floating in the water so thick, someone could almost walk across their heads and not get their feet wet. We were stuck and no one could say for how long. Our only saving grace was that they didn't hear us or smell us in here, so they were just flowing around the buildings like rocks in a stream.
     That was four days ago and even though we routinely send people onto the roof to check the progress of the horde, we still can't see the end yet. At least there is enough junk food and water in the store and the back to keep us all alive for another couple of weeks. It just isn't the most nutritious and gets old really fast. At least, for the adults. The kids don't seem to mind eating like this.
      Hopefully, the end of the horde is getting near and we can make it out of here before anything else happens. We need to get to Aspen and find a compound to set ourselves up in. We are so close to be stuck like this. I want to find a place with solar power, working water, a large enclosed area so we can plant food crops, and a really good wall or fence to keep us safe. Please, let us get there and find such a place.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.