[HOE] The Librarian's Almanac for December 18th

[Michael Cone <Michael.Cone@apollogrp.edu>]

NEAR TUCSON, ARIZONA- Scouts from the town have logged a report of a Red
Rock Trading caravan discovered along the old I-10 interstate near the state
border. Upon approach, the scouts were appalled at the condition of the
caravan members. All eleven of them had their bodies twisted into completely
unnatural shapes.  Upon examination, the victims were not mutated in any
fashion. There was no noticeable background counts or any other signs of an
attack by Doomsayers. The caravan's shipment of food and electronics was
completely untouched.

HOBBS, NEW MEXICO- Nomad the Librarian reports the complete destruction of
the walled enclave of Old Horse Springs in the central portion of the state.
Nomad was approaching the walls to barter for a room for the night when he
noticed that the main gates had been blasted from the walls. Further
inspection revealed that all forty-one inhabitants had died from multiple
gunshot wounds. There are massive fire tracks along nearly every building in
the encampment.  Unfortunately, the locals had only melee weapons and
farming implements to defend themselves. Each victim was shot at least six
times. The sheer scale of the assault would seem to indicate a staggering
amount of firepower and ammunition. In an odd counterpoint, for all of the
massive damage to both people and buildings, Nomad could not find a single
spent slug or loose bullet casing in the entire enclave. 

LAS CRUCES RUINS, NEW MEXICO- Scouts have returned from across the state
with a few tales concerning Black Creek Mountain on the Arizona/New Mexico
border. The scouts were sounding out rumors of a hidden enclave said to be
on the eastern side of the mountains. On the third night of searching, they
stumbled across an abandoned mining operation that may have dated back to
the early 1950's. Taking shelter for the evening, the scouts awoke the next
day to discover one of their members had vanished. Exploring the remains of
the compound, the scouts uncovered a junker's workshop in the main
ore-crushing plant. There were a number of half-completed ground vehicles
and a small living area, but they showed no sign of being inhabited for at
least two weeks. There is a huge amount of useable salvage in vehicles and
equipment present but the scouts returned to try and gather some muscle
behind them. Every entry to the mine they could discover was sealed shut
with concrete and steel braces. All designed to keep something from exiting.