Trying to remember where I saw a PA story

I read a PA story online some time ago, and can't remember where I saw it or its name. I know it wasn't on the Squirrel site because I never did get access to it.

Here's what I remember (unfortunately I may be mixing two different stories)
A man is travelling across a fairly empty America. I think it was a disease that emptied it, but I'm not sure. He picks up a small group of people.

At one point he's trying to get across a bridge I think, but there is a group of slavers on the other side. They kill all the slavers and pick up an emotionally damaged woman.

At another point in the story they (I can't remember the mix of the group) find a house by a river. The downstairs has been flooded at some point but the upstairs has not. They use the toothbrushes that are there. They consider staying, but decide that if the river flooded the house out once it probably would again and move on.

Near the end of the story there is no food to be found anywhere and they are starving. They move from empty aid station to empty aid station, but there isn't anything to eat, and for some reason (perhaps location or time of year or something else) nothing is growing. They come to an enclave (the one they were seeking?) and I think get taken in. I think that's the end of the story, but I'm not sure.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Not for me. Sorry.

Doesn't ring a bell for me- and I've read a lot of PA fiction. But please! post a link if you find it, sounds interesting.

Could this be one of Doc66's stories? He writes a lot of zombie and PAW fic ... or did there for a while though I think like many he is now in the job search cycle and offline more than on.

Afraid I don't have a clue what it is either. I read a lot of stories too, but don't recall seeing Doc66, so that's someone new to look for.

Bookwyrm, the part about the bridge does sound a little familiar, but the rest of the story you described doesn't. Sorry!

Deena in GA said:

Afraid I don't have a clue what it is either. I read a lot of stories too, but don't recall seeing Doc66, so that's someone new to look for.

Bookwyrm, the part about the bridge does sound a little familiar, but the rest of the story you described doesn't. Sorry!

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Deena, Doc66's stories are chock full of ... er ... earthiness and blunt speech. How's that for putting lipstick on a pig? LOL.

I like his stories but I gloss over the language some of his characters use. He has great character development and knows his weapons inside and out. He was a mainstay on many of the PAW and zombie fic forums, a lot of his best stuff can be found on ZS if you have the stomach for it. But his writing isn't for the faint of heart. He was on the road to getting published at one point, I'm not sure how far along but he also worked in audio on some top zombie books and is also part of http://milcopptactical.com/about_us.html out of Ohio.

Lot of life experience and training goes into his stories so they are believable.

There was a bridge and flooding in the Al Steiner story Aftermath.

Thanks for the info on Doc66, Kathy! Think I'll stick to here.

Thanks. I'll look around through your suggestions. I looked though a lot of stories while putting together my online PA fiction page, but I haven't come across this story again and I'm afraid that it's gone into interweb oblivion. It's probably been close to 10 years since I read it.

It's also very possible that each of my memories is from a separate story.

Bookwyrn - I remember a story kind of like that...a guy on foot maybe..meets up with a couple of young women on bikes...they travel together in part of the story. There's a road heading towards a river and bridge...some bad guys come along and he has the girls hide their bikes in the brush along the road and has them hide with instruction to return to a farm house they had seen if anything happens...he hides up hill in the trees and the bad guys drive up and stop and start longing for him...there's a gun fight and he finally gets all of them and checks the vehicle...one girl comes to him and tends to his wounds...somehow they they know...perhaps from the dead guys that the boss is coming over and the about the bridge...same fight as before....they end up taking the boss's vehicle back across the bridge and find a large SUV with three captured women in the back....husband's bodies were found near by...they kill the guard and free the women...one of them kicks him hard in his wound shoulder as he is freeing them not know or understanding that he's trying to help...the women are all local to the area....

Don't recall the title...does this sound like the story you're looking for? If so, did this jog anyone's memory?

PA GENE

PA Gene- Some of that does sound familiar. I do know that in the story I'm thinking of, the bad guys had some sort of encampment on the other side of the bridge and were living there and taking out anyone who wanted to get over the bridge. In the encampment there was at least one, but possibly more women that were being held. I don't specifically remember an SUV, but there could have been one.

Bookwyrn - I think we are talking about the same story...I copy many stories as I'm reading them. I copy them so I can paste them into a Word document format and increase the font size and then increase the view to 150%....I also do a "find and replace" putting two spaces at the end on all sentences...When I worked at Westinghouse and wrote reports for the Navy for eleven years that was beaten into me...it does make things easier to read...I've gotten use to that presentation and still use it.

All that said, I need a title to check to see if I have it. Hoping that one of our colleagues here will remember it and supply a title...until then I'm lost....

Sorry - PA GENE

I remember that one too. If I remember right, the east side of the country was "civilized" and the west side was wild country. The dividing line was the Mississippi River. It was about a group of people on a "scouting and buying" mission to find new women to bring new blood to their community. One of the women was a fighter and her "husband" was married to another on the estate. They had prearranged marriages. She lived in a separate cabin. The man and his first wife finally had a baby and she killed the baby. That woman was nuts. She was a primadonna while the "bought one" was making a go at running the estate. I dont remember the name of the story and I dont think I read the whole thing. I thought it was on FS.


WAB

wab54 said:

I remember that one too. If I remember right, the east side of the country was "civilized" and the west side was wild country. The dividing line was the Mississippi River. It was about a group of people on a "scouting and buying" mission to find new women to bring new blood to their community. One of the women was a fighter and her "husband" was married to another on the estate. They had prearranged marriages. She lived in a separate cabin. The man and his first wife finally had a baby and she killed the baby. That woman was nuts. She was a primadonna while the "bought one" was making a go at running the estate. I dont remember the name of the story and I dont think I read the whole thing. I thought it was on FS.


WAB

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WAB, you talking about one of Kathy's stories I think. Fel by the wayside

http://felbythewayside.blogspot.com/2012/03/chapter-1.html

kaijafon said:

WAB, you talking about one of Kathy's stories I think. Fel by the wayside

http://felbythewayside.blogspot.com/2012/03/chapter-1.html

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Yes, Kai, that story WAB outlined is Fel By the Wayside.

I remember the original story asked about but can't remember the name; thus I can't look it up to see if I have it copied.

I copy the stories for the same reason someone above mentioned -- to be able to put it into a Word Doc and then enlarge the type so I can lay down on the sofa and still read the stories. Sure glad I did that for a bunch of the stories from over there before the head rodent broke out with rabies.

DM