The Mechanic

by Jerry D. Young

  “You think he’d meet with me?” Sterling asked.

  “I think so, if I asked him to. And was there.”

  “Okay. Set it up if you will. It should be interesting if nothing else.”

  “I’ll let you know when we can get together.” Jennie gathered her things and left the office for Sterling to finish locking up. The weather was threatening and Jennie didn’t like to ride the Neos Scooter in bad weather. That’s what she had the Subaru for.

  Sterling had a lot of things running through his mind as he locked up the office. He waved at Joe as Joe walked over to his car and headed home.

  When Sterling got home, he turned on the computer and did some more looking around in the forum sites Jennie had e-mailed him. He looked for posts by Triple Seven. Mostly his stories, but there were quite a few other posts, too.

  The guy was a nut for lists. Sterling read through the list of things Triple Seven considered possible in the future. It was a very long list. Sterling couldn’t see some of them happening He laughed at the last line. “Zombies/vampires/werewolves/other supernatural dangers (just kidding!)” At least the guy had a little sense of humor. Sterling had started to wonder.

  Sterling looked at some of the comments for the stories. Most were positive, with a lot of joking complaints about the stories keeping people from getting enough sleep because they read late into the night. But there was the occasional one that blasted him for various things. “Definitely not everyone is too enamored of this guy,” Sterling muttered.

  He started one of the stories, intending to just scan through it, since it was a long one. But the first few lines caught his attention. It was one in the morning when he finally turned off the computer, after realizing how late it was and that he’d skipped supper. He muttered a few words about Triple Seven, went to the kitchen to get a glass of milk and some crackers, and then showered and went to bed.

  Up at his usual time, Sterling ate breakfast and left a little early to get to the shop. He opened the front office and went into his private office. He put in a few minutes reading the story he’d started the night before, but made himself stop when Jennie came in. It was time to go to work.

  Jennie didn’t mention anything for several days about meeting Triple Seven. Sterling kept reading his stories. Some he liked, some not as much. But he found most had some small thing or two that he filed away in his head for future contemplation.

  Then, on Friday, just before closing, Jennie knocked on his open office door and said, “Triple Seven is going to be at the Peppermill in a little while. I told him we’d meet him there and have dinner.”

  “Okay. I’ll be ready.” Sterling took a few more minutes to finish what he was doing. Namely, checking his bank accounts. With a very good idea of how much money he had, and would likely to get over the next several months, Sterling changed clothes and followed Jennie to the Peppermill again. She had switched to her Subaru for the winter.

  Sterling wouldn’t have given the man a second glance, if Jennie hadn’t walked up to him and shook his hand. The guy didn’t look like a survivalist. Sterling corrected himself. “Prepper.” He looked… well… ordinary. Blue jeans and a blue shirt. But then the man stood up, with the help of a walking stick.

  “Sterling, this is Nate. Nate, Sterling.”

  The two men shook hands, each sizing the other up.

  “I’m in the mood for seafood,” Nate said. “Oceania restaurant okay with you two?” He picked up a wide brimmed hat that was on the chair next to the one he had been using and put it on.

  Jennie looked over at Sterling and he nodded. The three made their way through the bustling casino, to the restaurant. It wasn’t too crowded and they were seated immediately, choosing a booth rather than the counter for more privacy.

  Little was said initially as they checked the menu and placed their orders. But then Nate looked at Sterling again and said, “Jennie tells me you are considering preparing for the future.”

  Sterling nodded. “I’ve been reading on the internet since Jennie brought the possibility to my attention. I like your stories, by the way.”

  “Thank you,” Nate said simply. “Do you know what you want to prepare for? Anything in particular?”

  “Well, in one of your posts, one with the list of things, you indicated you more prepped for needs than for specific events. That sounds like a good way to approach it.”

  “It is the way I approach things. There are specifics, for specific possibilities, such as a fallout or blast shelter for a nuclear incident. But mostly it is basics.”

  Sterling nodded, and Nate continued. “Breathable air, drinkable water, safe shelter, nutritious food. Those are the key elements.”

  “What about protection? From… those that might want what you have?”

  “It’s right up there, but not at the top. Unless of course, the situation rules otherwise. I tend to go with priorities. Have to have air every few seconds, water every few hours, shelter from the elements relatively quickly if they are detrimental, and food every few days. A person might go for months or even years without the need for the protection arms gives one.”

  Sterling nodded. “I think I understand. First things first.”

  “Yes. That includes maintaining a reasonable, productive and enjoyable lifestyle. Some might want to build a bunker and crawl into it, locking the entrance behind them, but I want more from life.”

  “So do I,” Sterling agreed. “I like what I’m doing… or was doing, and hope to do again. Most of my work now is repair of older vehicles. Did Jennie tell you? I’m an auto mechanic and vehicle customizer.”

  Nate smiled slightly. “I am aware. I’ve seen some of your work. That truck of yours stands out.”

  “You’ve seen it?” Sterling asked.

  “Of course. It’s right out there in your front parking lot of the shop. Hard to miss.”

  “Oh.” Sterling winced slightly. “Is that good or bad?”

  Nate chuckled. “That’s one of the things that are dependent on the situation. Once you’re off the city streets, that rig will come into its own. On the city streets, it’s an eye catcher.”

  “I guess I kind of wanted something to advertise the business…”

  “You’ve got something that does it well.”

  “I notice in your stories that some of the characters have rather remarkable vehicles.”

  “True. Any of which I’d like to have myself. But most of those remarkable vehicles are owned by people like yourself that did their own work or by people with plenty of money. I, unfortunately, have neither the money to buy one of them, or the skills to make one.”

  “What do you have? Uh… If I may ask? For emergencies?”

  “Sure. No problem. Just an old, non-descript Chevy LUV four-wheel-drive pickup with the diesel engine. Nothing fancy. Gets me around and will carry what I need if I have to evacuate the area. Bed mounted fuel tank for extended range.”

  Silence fell when their server came up to the table with their food order. After an initial taste, Sterling got back on the subject of his preps.

  “Though the truck stands out, I’m going to consider it my bug-out vehicle. The thing is, I don’t know where I’d bug out to.”

  “It will do admirably, I’m sure,” Nate said. “I might have a few thoughts on that, once I get to know you a bit better. I take it you have more questions, though.”

  Sterling smiled. “Oh, yeah. I mean… What do I do now?”

  “Before we start, please understand something. You can’t prepare for all things immediately. The faster you do, the better, in my opinion. But the fast road takes money. Lots of it. You need to balance what you can afford, with what you want.

  “Now. The main things first. Air. Water. You have a place to live, I take it.”

  “I live in an apartment. Third floor. Downtown.”

  “Okay. Basic shelter is taken care of. That brings us to food. Air, water, food, in that order. You do your own painting at the shop, don’t
you?”

  Sterling nodded.

  “Then you’re familiar with protective breathing apparatus. I consider Reno a possible target for a terrorist chemical or biological attack. I would recommend a set of PPE. Personal Protective Equipment. The good stuff is a bit expensive, but well worth the money over the cheaper items, in my opinion.

  “A good respirator, light and heavy protective coveralls, rubber gloves, rubber boots, chemical suit tape. You have a beard. Unless you want to shave it off, you’ll need a PAPR. A powered air purifying respirator.

  “It’s a battery powered blower with filters you wear on your belt, outside the suit, with an air line to the filter connection on the respirator. With the pressurized air, even if the respirator doesn’t seal completely on your beard, all leakage is outward. All available online from several places.”

  “You have a specific model in mind?” Sterling asked.

  Nate nodded. “MSA Millennium CBRN respirator with OptimAir 6A rechargeable PAPR. An extra charger or two, and several extra batteries, along with a couple boxes of filters. I’m partial to Tychem protective coveralls and BATA brand boots. It’s all available at Approved Gas Masks. They have a web site.

  “I suggest you visit their site and see what’s available before you make up your mind. I would definitely stay away from the cheap imported surplus masks. Getting CBRN filters for them is now difficult.”

  “You mentioned nuclear incidents…” Sterling said, his voice trailing off.

  “Reno, again, in my opinion, is a target for terrorist radiation bomb or conventional nuclear explosive device.”

  “Uh… What’s the difference?”

  “What I call a radiation bomb the media calls dirty bombs. They are conventional explosives combined with radiation emitting materials. The explosion distributes the radioactive particles in a relatively small area. A regular nuclear device… Well, I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures and read about the ground zero destruction and subsequent fallout if it is a ground burst. The fallout can travel for miles.

  “What used to be known as a dirty bomb, back in the day, was a regular thermonuclear device with some really long lasting and nasty nuclear components, such as cobalt, that produced much longer lasting fallout with much higher radiation levels than just the ‘plain’ nuclear device. Don’t hear about them much. Like biological weapons, they can turn around and bite the user in the rear by creating very large areas that will take generations to become useable again. They aren’t talked about much, anymore. I think they are now called ‘salted devices,’ with the dirty bomb tag used for the radiation bomb.”

  “I never heard of the salted bombs before,” Jennie said. They were the first words she’d spoken since placing her order.

  “Just one more thing to worry about,” Nate said. “Same basic preps, except plan for longer in the shelter, and a higher rate of cancers in the post attack years.”

  “But… We really can make reasonable preparations for nuclear war?”

  Nate nodded and took a bite of his baked salmon. “Yes. For just nuclear fallout, a basic shelter with simple air pump will suffice. But I believe in covering as many bases as possible with every preparatory action. Might as well counter chemicals and biological compounds in the air system for a fallout or blast shelter as just the nuclear fallout.

  “There are, like the respirators, CBRN filters available as a package to provide clean air to the shelter space. American Safe Rooms is my supplier of choice, though there are several others. Just search the internet.

  “Now, back on track. Air is taken care of. Water is next. You obviously don’t have a well and can’t install one. That means storage, and a lot of it, backed up by purification methods. Being downtown, you are close to the river. You should be able to collect water there and treat it at home. Katadyn and Berkey make good drip filters, and Katadyn and MSR make portable ones.

  “Food. Can be as simple as double buying the foods you eat every day… At least the ones suitable for preparation with minimum cooking, don’t require refrigeration, and store for long periods. There are MRE’s. Get tired of them really quick, plus they are relatively expensive.

  “Then you have the option of Freeze-Dried and dehydrated foods, specially packaged for long term storage. LTS. Lots of other foods that aren’t freeze-dried or dehydrated that are packaged for LTS. Sugar. Salt. Pasta. Wheat, rice, and beans. All sorts of things. It all depends on foods you want to store and how much, versus price.”

  “Air, water, and food. With regular shelter,” Sterling said. “Doesn’t sound all that bad. Or even expensive.”

  “The specialized shelter can really run it up, if you build or buy your own,” Nate said. “Depending on the available public shelter spaces can be really tricky. None of the official ones, and only a handful of the private ones, are going to allow firearms. In my opinion, your best bet is to make private arrangements with someone that has suitable shelter space.

  “Now, there are various expedient shelters that can be built. One of your first purchases should be Cresson Kearny’s “Nuclear War Survival Skills.” Best to get a paper version, though it is available as a .pdf file on the internet. Covers more than just shelter and ventilation, but is especially good there. Not to sound my own horn, I’ve described a few expedient shelters in my stories.

  “You need mass and distance between you and fallout. It’s basically pretty simple. The hardest part is getting the overhead protection. In a skyscraper you can stay on, say, the fifth to eighth floors, away from the windows, if there are at least five to eight stories above you. You will be relatively safe from the fallout until it degrades over time.

  “You need to know when there is a radiation danger. Seeing fallout will tell you that there is radiation, but not how much. At the minimum, I’d suggest a RadDetect PRD-1250 keychain alarm. While it won’t give you precise readings, you will know the general range of radiation. In addition to the keychain alarm, I’d suggest you get KI4U’s ‘The Package’, plus a CD V-717 remote reading survey meter at some point in time.

  “Now, I think Reno will be a target of not only a terrorist nuclear attack, but a target in a full scale nuclear exchange with our enemies. So, while having a shelter here is a good idea, a better one is the ability to evacuate to a spot well away from the city, where you can have a retreat. Even a simple one. Since you own your own business you have the freedom to close up shop and head for your retreat at the first sign of hostilities.”

  “A retreat?”

  “They don’t have to be an elaborate affair,” Nate told Sterling, seeing his doubt. “In some of my stories they are simple concrete block structures with two rows of block, spaced three feet apart, with dirt fill. A six-inch concrete roof covered with three feet of earth, and you’re done. You can go on up from there, to a huge underground bunker or dome home.”

  Sterling nodded. “Okay.” He pushed his plate back, having finished the meal. He looked around. There was no one close. “What about guns? Oh. And gold?”

  “Ah! The real meat and potatoes of preps. You a shooter, Sterling?”

  Sterling shook his head sadly. “No. Not at all.”

  “Have a real aversion to guns, or just no experience?”

  “No experience. I don’t object to guns.”

  “Learn to shoot. Try out a bunch of the weapons you read about on the net. Decide which fits you and fits your situation. Rifles, carbines, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers.”

  “I can help with that, Sterling,” Jennie said, putting her hand on his arm.

  “Once you know what you want, try to get the items in face-to-face deals. I’m not going to tell you to do it to avoid the required background check and paperwork. That’s illegal. But there sure are a lot of people doing it.”

  “Understood,” Sterling said. “And the gold?”

  “I’m one of those that gold and silver will again become common currency after a truly major event. But probably not immediately. The way I approach it is to stock
pile specific goods to trade for things I didn’t think to store, for medical services, conventional medicines or herbals, things I might run short of, things that might be useful for future trades. Many reasons.

  “The more you stockpile for yourself, the less likely you will need to barter, except for services. They can’t be stored, other than taking classes and learning everything yourself, which a laudable idea, simply isn’t practical. The list is posted on various forums. After you have a handle on barter and trade items, include gold and silver coins.

  “It’s much cheaper to buy larger denominations, especially of silver, but I maintain that the gold and silver will be used for currency. Might as well get it in that form. Therefore, I recommend US Gold Eagles in one-tenth ounce, one-quarter ounce, one-half ounce, and one-ounce denominations. For silver I think it best to stick to pre-1965 US silver coins, namely dimes, quarters, and halves, plus US Silver Eagle one-ounce rounds.

  “There is certainly silver in the pre-1936 silver dollars, and if you happen to have a bunch of them, fine. I don’t believe in paying the numismatic premium they fetch. And the silver ratio is different than the fractional coins, making commerce based on the silver content and not the face value of the coins a little more complicated.”

  “Where is the best place to buy?” Sterling asked.

  “Anywhere you go where there is a coin shop. If they’ll take cash, and keep no record of your name, it’s a place to buy from occasionally. If you can find one that will trust you and/or you trust him or her, you can make arrangements for larger purchases the same manner. No records.”

  “Because of the gold recall in 1933,” Sterling said.

  “No,” Nate replied. Sterling looked surprised. “Because of the next time they have a precious metals recall.”