What’s the first thing you did this new year? The first thing I did was bug out for three days. . . on my period...with a horrible cold. But let’s rewind this story a little bit. Eight months ago I was someone who avoided going outside at all costs. But after going to my first Zombie Survival Camp last June, I have transformed into a whole new person, someone more confident, someone more fearless and someone who is a survivor! Dom (aka The Butcher) has taken me under his wing and helped me develop into a fearless leader (I am like a less cocky and prettier version of him). It was with this new attitude that I convinced myself to go on this 3 day bug-out. I told myself that if an apocalypse were to happen my period and a common cold would not be going anywhere. I started the bug-out with Dom and Deidter (aka The Soldier) and on the first night Dom did all the work. Having just been at a New Year’s Eve party, I pulled out my sleeping gear and went to bed. We laid on a tarp folded in half, like a second sleeping bag. This worked really well, because even though it ended up snowing and the ground was white all around us, I still woke up warm. The hardest time for me was the second evening. Let me take a chance to remind you that I was sick AND I was on my period, so between being cold to my bones and having run out of tissue, all I wanted was to go home. The other hard part about the evening was something I didn’t expect. For the first time, I was sleeping alone. Usually when we bug out people are doing patrols, or Butcher or whoever else I am with, are within arms reach. However, this time Butcher had set up his own little camp tarp concoction and Soldier set up in a space further down the way in his bivvy. This left me, by the fire, exposed...with the howling of hungry coyotes. Here I was, a confident, fearless, zombie survival camp leader, and all I could think about was how the coyotes were going to eat me while I slept. Complete transparency here, I ran and jumped onto my bed every night until I was 25 years old (you never know what could be lurking) and I have been told by a sleep therapist I have a subconscious sleep phobia (Somniphobia). So let’s just say me and sleep aren’t the best of friends. Combine the howling wolves (or was it the boys snoring?) with all of the other things that go bump in the night and my anxiety kicked. I began to write my newest horror novel, strategically analyzing who would be taken out first if we were to be attacked by a serial killer, a horde of zombies, or ravaged wolves, all of which equalled my imminent death. I literally sat up, looked around at Butcher’s sanctuary and Soilder’s fart sack, confirmed there was no imminent danger and decided if I was going to die here and now at least I had the knowledge to try and defend myself. I had faced so many of my fears recently, such as my irrational fear of spiders, sleeping outside, and probably so many other things, why would I let something as silly as this keep me up. I couldn’t have Butcher making fun of me for my moment of weakness, so my ego lulled me to sleep. Overcoming my fear of sleeping in the woods on my own was only 1 of many firsts on this bug-out:
I started and maintained my first fire (I pretended that Butcher and Soldier had left and I was stranded, so I needed to do it to survive - my imagination scares me into being motivated)
I raised a fire up from embers for the whole camp in the middle of the night
I slept without the protection of a shelter, just a sleeping bag
I slept alone and got over my fear of feeling vulnerable
I bugged out for three days straight
I felt for the first time I could confidently call myself a prepper and a survivalist
Most importantly, I showed Butcher that I was Hard As Fuck
However, it was the thinking and analyzing of my life and circumstances that I found the most interesting. It was on this journey that I self reflected and discovered things that I would have never known prior. By the third day, I think Butcher would agree, morale was low and we just wanted to go back to the comfort of our homes. But just because something is hard, doesn’t mean it is not enjoyable. Doing a 3 day bug out is looked upon as crazy by some people, especially if you are a woman. I just want to confirm, that I fully enjoyed challenging myself and the rush and confidence that comes out of surviving the circumstances we put ourselves into, is something that I encourage you to experience yourself.
