by Pat Riot
First things first, he though as he pulled the Kershaw Camp 10 machete out of the sheath strapped to the backpack and started clearing some of the brush to make a small clearing he could use to sleep. Once he had a suitable area cleared he pulled a five by five dark green tarp from his backpack and used some paracord to tie it above to give himself some shade.
Rob also rigged up an early warning system. He wasn’t so much concerned with human predators down in the ravine, but he knew coyotes were often spotted by the residents in the area and they might be curious by the smell of cooked rabbit. He used paracord and started at the wall of the ravine about twenty feet from where he would sleep then strung the paracord about a foot and a half from the ground, making a half circle around his camp and ending at the ravine wall on the other side of his camp. Before he went to sleep he would tie the metal canteen holder to the paracord and put a handful of small rocks in it. The idea was if someone or something approached his camp they would trip the paracord which would cause the canteen holder to knock over, making noise with the rocks inside, and giving him a few seconds to wake up and get ready to confront the potential threat.
Once he was done with the early warning system he took the empty energy drink can from his Eberlestock backpack and started making a crude rocket stove. He cut the top off the sixteen-ounce can and created several holes in the side near the bottom for airflow. For fuel, he gathered some dead grass, twigs, and small branches and took them over to his camp. He stabilized the can in the soft sand then put some of the dead grass into the bottom of the can, and using a water proof match from his backpack he lit it on fire and the dry grass started burning immediately. Rob fed a handful of twigs and some more grass into it, then started adding pieces of small branches from the small pile of supplies he gathered.
Once Rob was certain the fire was not going to go out he untied the rabbit from his backpack and used the Gerber folding knife to cut pieces of the meat off. He pulled both of the tomatoes he still had left from the farmer’s market and cut them into large cubes. He put the rabbit meat and tomato into the tin canteen holder and added some of his precious water, then, using the rocket stove, he boiled the rabbit and tomato stew for about twenty minutes. After letting the stew cool, he bit into one of the pieces of meat to confirm it was cooked through and found it was firm with no juices running out. Perfect. Rob enjoyed his first hot meal in what felt like a lifetime. He took out the plastic water bottle, still full after being filled by Rachel before leaving her house, and drank half of it, then used it to refill the water pouch. Once he was done the water bottle had about a liter and a half. After he finished the bottle he would be down to his water pouch and what was left in his canteen. Hopefully it’s enough to see me home.
Rob put out the fire in the rocket stove by pouring sand in the top and smothering it. He wanted to make a fire for warmth but knew the sun was about to come up and he wouldn’t need it anyways in about an hour. Plus, he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. Not wanting to give any coyotes any more reason to check his camp out, he picked up the remains from dinner and walked them a couple hundred yards back down the ravine and buried them in a shallow hole. Being buried so shallow wouldn’t stop coyotes from finding the guts, but it might cause them to make some noise while they dug, hopefully alerting Rob to their presence. When he arrived back at camp he put some small rocks into the metal canteen holder and tied it off to the paracord early warning system.
Before laying down he tried to clean himself up as best he could. He used the bandana Rachel used in the plane crash smoke, poured a little bit of water on it, and used it to wipe himself down. He also used a small disposable toothpick with floss attached at the end to clean his teeth. Not exactly a hot bath and cleaning at the dentist, but it will do for now. The last thing he did was take off his shoes and socks to let them dry out and checked his feet for sores and blisters. His feet were holding up well. He rubbed them for a minute then laid down in his small clearing, using his backpack as a pillow. The sky was starting to lighten. 7:07 am. He listened to the sounds of nature, mainly birds chirping, that were no longer suppressed by the sounds of man and all things mechanical, and slowly faded from consciousness.
Rob slept fitfully, coming fully awake every thirty minutes to an hour and checking his surroundings before dozing off again. He did this till 1:00 pm and decided he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep so he pulled the picture of his wife and son out of his pocket and stared at it for a few minutes, quietly praying for their safety.
Rob put the picture away and suddenly felt lonely. Down in the ravine, no sounds other than the chirping of some birds, Rob felt like the last man on earth. Even though logically he knew he was far from the last, he couldn’t help but feel like he was it. He desperately missed his family, and now had a better appreciation for having a partner to walk with. Not just for safety, but for companionship. Having walked with Rachel the night before he now knew firsthand the value of having someone he could talk to and confide in, someone to break up the monotony of the journey, someone to watch his back, someone to just talk to. Rob took a deep breath, pulled himself out of his funk, and started to get ready to move.
He checked his feet one more time then pulled his last pair of clean socks from his backpack, put them on, and laced up his shoes. He pulled the Kershaw Siege and roll of toilet paper out of the backpack, walked to the other side of the creek bed, found a bush, dug a hole, and did his business. As he was going, he realized the sky was cloudy. Not just a few white clouds high in the sky, but thick dark cloud cover. The kind that indicated it was going to rain, and rain hard. When did the clouds move in? The sky was clear when I first laid down this morning. If it was cloudy it would have been obvious with the aurora. He racked his brain but couldn’t remember what the recent forecasts said about rain.
When he finished he covered up the hole then went back to his camp and realized the bottom of a ravine probably wasn’t the best place to be if it did start raining. That little epiphany got him moving and he quickly took down the early warning system and tarp, got everything stowed away, put the Marlin .22 into its makeshift holder, put the backpack on, and started walking quickly up the ravine. He scanned the walls on both sides while he walked, looking for a way to climb up and out, but so far, the walls were straight up and down. As he walked he continued to dodge piles of debris and lots of brush. Now, the piles of debris weren’t just an obstacle, they were a reminder of the amount of water that moved through here at times. At one point he came to an area where the ravine narrowed and was blocked by thick brush. Rob almost turned back but knew he had a long distance to cover before reaching an area he could climb out, so he pulled the machete from its sheath and started hacking. He cleared about ten feet before the brush suddenly ended and he was able to continue walking.
Ten minutes later Rob came to the spot where the ravine met back up with Live Oak Canyon Rd. Instead of a bridge to allow cars to cross over the creek, whoever built the road made what was effectively a concrete dam with two large metal pipes coming through. The cars utilizing the road would drive over the dam and any water could pass under the roadway via the two pipes. Rob could see water coming through the pipes. It wasn’t much more than would come out of a large garden hose, but Rob knew that could change to a torrent in an instant. Must be raining in the hills. Looking around he found a dirt trail that started at the bottom and angled up the wall before letting out near the roadway. It was steep but had plenty of rocks he could use to climb.
He started to walk over when he paused. He could use the water coming from the drain pipes to refill the plastic water bottles. It wouldn’t be clean water, but he had a personal use water filter he could use. He turned back to the pipes as he pulled both bottles from the backpack. After drinking the last of the clean water from the water bottle, he went over to the pipes and filled each one. It only took a few minutes but by the time he was done the water was flowing much faster. It wouldn’t be long before the dry cre
ek bed became a torrent of water. He put the smaller water bottle into the backpack and carried the gallon container as he made his way to the trail leading out of the ravine where he climbed to the top, using the rocks to help his ascent.
Once he was close to the top Rob stopped and looked around, checking the surroundings and getting his bearings. He was much closer to the I-10 freeway than he thought he would be. Half a mile or less. Rob needed to decide which route he would take through Yucaipa and eventually home. There were numerous different ways he could go that would ultimately end with him being home, but which one was the safest? I can take Live Oak all the way up or take Live Oak then use Avenue E to head east. Taking Live Oak all the way, or even cutting onto Avenue E probably isn’t the best, both of those go through a lot of neighborhoods. If I take the freeway I can follow it east, then hop over where it starts to turn south towards Calimesa and Beaumont. I can come out onto Avenue G and make my way east using the canyon it cuts through. The good thing about that canyon is there are plenty of trees most of the way up which I can use for cover, and if I take that all the way up, I’ll only be a couple miles from home. No matter which route he took he would end up walking through some neighborhoods, but Avenue G and the canyon it ran through would be the best way to avoid most of them.
Rob looked at his watch. 1:58 pm. He’d rather not walk in daylight, but with the coming rain and possible freezing nighttime temperatures that would come with it, he wanted to get as far as possible. Before heading out again Rob took a black hooded rain poncho from his backpack, rolled it into a ball, and put it in his jacket pocket. He wanted to be ready if the skies released their moisture, which at this point looked inevitable.
He took one last look around then got up and started walking. He crossed the street and walked towards the freeway. Situated just south of the freeway on the east side of Live Oak Canyon was a large farm. During Fall the owner turned it into a pumpkin patch, then into a Christmas tree farm after Thanksgiving. When Rob came to the parking lot he hopped the short swinging cross bar that blocked vehicles from accessing it during the off season. He crossed the large parking lot and walked through the small kiosk buildings that normally served as a ticket booth and concession stand then moved into the large open area where the carnival rides were normally set up and cut through, heading east.
Rob moved onto a dirt road that skirted the perimeter of the farm and ran along the same ravine he had climbed out of on the other side of the roadway. As he walked he came to a large green barn set on the north side of the dirt road, Rob decided to check it out. He walked up to the large doors on the front of the building and tried to push them open. They started to move but then met resistance. Locked. He walked around the building and found a pedestrian door on the right side. He tried the door knob, but it was also locked.
Rob took a good look and decided to force it. The door frame looks old. Only the knob, no dead bolt. Should be easy enough, and there might be something inside I can use. Like a race car, he chuckled at his own joke as he stepped back and took one more look around. He dropped his backpack and gallon of water next to the door then kicked the door using his right leg, driving forward with his left. He made contact just to the side of the door knob and the door shot open, the frame splintering and giving way on the first try.
Instead of entering right away Rob stepped to the side, drew his gun, and waited. He wanted to give anyone who might be inside time to make a move and give themselves away. After a couple minutes with no movement or sound from inside Rob stepped away from the doorway and quickly transitioned to the other side, watching the interior as he moved. The inside was dark, but Rob could see nothing that concerned him, so he stepped through and started clearing the interior, using the weapon light only when necessary. He moved clockwise through the large room and checked under and behind everything. Once he confirmed everything was clear he holstered the gun, pulled his flashlight out, turned on, and got his first good look of the inside of the barn.
The walls were lined with tools and miscellaneous things Rob assumed were useful in running and maintaining a farm and pumpkin patch, but what caught his eye though was in the center of the barn. An aging, but well maintained, green tractor and several pieces of farming attachments. I wonder if it still runs. If it does, a tractor will be invaluable to have once things settle down. If it works I can pull one of the sparkplugs so someone else can’t take it, then come back for it later when I need it.
Rob climbed up into the cab of the tractor and looked around for a key. He had never driven a tractor in the past but figured he could cross that bridge when he needed to. He looked through the cab, in the visor, under the seat, every nook and cranny he could find, but couldn’t find a key. He got back down and started searching, first through the shelves lining the walls, then through the drawers and toolboxes lining the large work benches. He looked for fifteen minutes and couldn’t find anything. The owner probably takes them home with him, wherever that is. I’m never going to find them. I should have learned to hotwire.
Rob decided to not waste any more time in the barn and started to leave, but as he approached the door to retrieve his backpack something to the right side of the door on the wall caught his eye. A keyholder was mounted to the wall, with around twenty-five keys on various keyrings hanging from the hooks. Really? I’m so dumb, Rob thought as he shook his head. That’s the first place I should have looked. He didn’t know what a tractor key would look like, would it look like a standard car key? House key? Master lock key?
He grabbed all of them and walked back to the tractor, climbed back in, sat down, and started looking at the keys. He immediately discarded about half of them, seeing they were too small to fit the key hole on the dash. With a dozen keys left he started trying them one by one, finding the correct one on his fifth try. He dropped the rest of the keys on the floorboard, put the correct key into the ignition, and turned it one position to the right. The lights on the dash immediately lit up. Well, that might not even be promising, since the cars back at dispatch still had working lights.
He said a small prayer, took a deep breath, and turned the key all the way to the right. Rob almost jumped when the engine turned over. It cranked several times before Rob let go. Okay, now it’s promising. The engine is at least turning over. Rob used his right foot to push down what looked like a gas pedal, held it halfway down for about a second, then released it. Here goes nothing, he thought as he turned the key again. This time the engine cranked twice before it roared to life. Rob gave a shout of joy, let the engine run for about twenty seconds, then shut the tractor off and removed the key. I can’t believe that actually worked. Now I just need to hide the key and pull a spark plug or something so that I can come back later and get it.
Rob climbed back down from the tractor, reached back into the cab, and picked up all the discarded keys. He checked to make sure none of the extra keys looked like they matched the one that worked, then put them all back onto the key hooks next to the door. Maybe if someone tries to take it and uses these keys they will just give up when none of them fit.
Rob went back to the tractor and released the clasps holding the engine cover down. He raised the cover and took a good look at the engine. Wait, its diesel. It doesn’t take spark plugs. Okay, what else can I take off that’s quick and easy and will be easy to put back on? Maybe if I just unhook the wire leading to the ignition? He located a green wire that was attached to the engine and led through the fire wall between the engine compartment and the cab in the general area of where the ignition was located and pulled it from the plug it was seated in on the engine side.
He got back into the tractor to make sure it wouldn’t start. After several tries and no response from the engine he was satisfied. He went back to the engine compartment and tucked the wire down into the engine block. Next, he got a small screw driver from the toolbox and disconnected both batteries so that they wouldn’t drain themselves over the next few months. Rob knew it would probably be
awhile before he came back. He closed the engine cover, found some duct tape on the work bench, and used it to tape the key to the inside of the driver side drive tire. I really doubt someone is going to find it there. That’s as good as it gets. If someone knows what they are looking for with that green wire, they probably know enough to hotwire it anyways.
Before leaving Rob decided to take a few minutes to try to secure the door he kicked in. He noticed two large metal holders mounted to the door frame on each side of the door. I think those holders are meant to hold a two by four across the door to secure it. Rob couldn’t find a two by four so he found several smaller pieces of wood and jammed them down into the holders, effectively blocking the door shut without locking it using the door knob. Okay that works, now to get out of here.
Rob could see a window about ten feet up the wall on the opposite side from where the door was located. He found a ladder that would reach and climbed up. It took some effort, the window had been in the closed position for a long time, but Rob was able to get it open. The window opened to the inside, so Rob crawled through, hung on to the window sill, reached back in and closed the window as much as he could, then dropped down to the ground. This time he was careful not to let his knees buckle so he didn’t have a repeat of the warehouse wall in Moreno Valley.
Rob walked back around to the pedestrian door and gave it a good push. That’s definitely secure. When I come back I think I’m going to have some trouble getting in myself unless someone breaks in before I come back. Rob picked up his backpack and gallon of water that were still sitting on the ground next to the door and, feeling accomplished, he walked back onto the dirt road and headed east again.
As he walked he looked down into the ravine and could see the amount of water moving through was building. The creek bed was no longer dry, having at least a foot of fast moving water in it. As Rob approached the far east end of the farm property it was as if the flood gates opened. One moment the ground was dry and the next moment he was being pounded by sheets of rain. He quickly put on his rain poncho, pulling it down over his backpack. He purposely bought a large one, knowing he would need it to cover his backpack if he wanted to keep everything as dry as possible, and was glad to see that it covered the rifle as well.