“Meanwhile, other than in school, I very rarely got to see my friends. It’s not like I could just walk up the block. My best friend was five miles away. And no buses.”
Dick thought all that sounded like fun too, but he was pretty sure that saying so would just encourage another rant. Instead he said, “I guess it’s one of those grass-is-greener things. I lived in the city and only got out to my uncle’s place on weekends to take care of the horses. I’d have killed to live closer. Honestly, I hated living in the city. Too many people, too busy, traffic everywhere. This right here works for me.”
Ed expressed agreement, and they let the subject die. As they rode toward Rivendell in the light of the setting sun, Dick started whistling the Magnificent Seven theme, and Ed laughed out loud.
He would never come out and say it, but this disaster wasn’t all downside.
“Hey, Zeke, look!”
Zeke turned his attention to the direction that Carl pointed. In the distance, he saw horses with riders on them.
Bingo! Zeke was gratified that his logic had been correct. The kids, or someone, had set up somewhere else, and probably somewhere close. He looked at his watch. Late afternoon. “We have to be close to high ground before dark. We’ll need to try to spot their camp. Hopefully they’ll have lights up or fires or something.”
“I’m not thrilled with spending the whole night in a tree. So we’d better have our own fire ready.”
“Fair enough, but make sure it’s out of sight. We don’t want them discovering us.”
Zeke reasoned that given the time of day, the riders were more likely headed back to their camp rather than away from it. With that in mind, the two took off in the same direction as the riders.
As dusk fell, they decided that they couldn’t afford to put off setting up their own camp any longer. They had, by necessity, become fast experts on the whole process. They found a reasonable spot, gathered fuel for their fire, and laid everything out.
Before they lit the fire, Zeke examined the darkened sky. “There,” he said, pointing.
The faint glow on the horizon had nothing to do with a setting sun or rising moon. Zeke made a point of poking a couple of sticks into the ground to indicate the direction. Then they turned to their camp and set up for the night.
56. In the News
This is the BBC World Service.
Today, without warning, the satellite broadcasts for all of the major American television networks dropped out. A spokesperson for 10 Downing Street tells BBC News, “It would take a large infrastructure collapse for all transmission sources to be simultaneously cut off in this manner. It is reasonable to suspect deliberate planning was involved.”
There were labor riots again today in France as workers express concern over possible loss of employment entitlements caused by the impending economic contraction.
There are credible reports that Iran is preparing to invade Iraq on the tail of the U.S. withdrawal from the Middle East. Satellite images show massive troop movements toward the Iran/Iraq border. And there have been a number of large explosions in Israeli towns along the West Bank. A spokesman for Hamas threatened the obliteration of the state of Israel, quote, “now that they no longer have their powerful protector to rely on.” Israel responded by stating, “Any attack on the state of Israel will result in retaliation. We will deliver unacceptable levels of damage to any aggressor.”
57. News from Earthside
Bill looked up as Richard stepped into the East Shed and stood there, blinking, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.
“Over here, big guy.”
“Hey, Bill, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just …” Bill turned a monitor around with a flourish. “Satellite TV!”
Right there in front of them, BBC News was playing.
“Cross-dimensional TV reception? Bill, I’m impressed!” Richard’s face was a mix of surprise and pleasure. “Okay, but seriously, that’s not possible. How are you doing this?”
Bill tried and failed to look humble. “Well, it’s being received by a hacked satellite decoder, so it’s technically pirated. But on the scale of events lately, I can’t really get upset about that. To answer your question, I’m receiving the broadcast live through that.” He pointed to his left, at a small satellite dish that was aimed through the three-foot gate. A sliver of gray, ash-filled sky showed through the gate’s aperture, and a clear plastic sheet stretched across the opening, blocking the ash that was still falling on Earthside.
“So you’re picking up Earthside satellite broadcasts through the gate?”
“Yup. Turn on the gate, aim the dish through it, and we can receive dozens of channels. It took a while to line up the dish and gate with the satellites Earthside, but now we can get the news whenever we want. As long as they keep transmitting, anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Richard asked.
“I watched this for about twenty minutes before I sent someone to find you. Things are way the hell worse Earthside than anyone expected. I don’t want to start a general panic. I was thinking maybe we could get the Gate Owners together and talk about it.”
Richard’s eyebrows rose at Bill’s somber pronouncement. “Okay. Turn it off for now, and let’s go find the rest of our group. We can discuss it when we’re all together.”
The group agreed to meet at the far end of the compound. While he waited, Bill watched the livestock, deep in thought. The animals were herded outside the fenced area for part of each day so they could graze. The grazing was very good in this version of Earth, so the livestock seemed happy. Guards with guns, mounted on ATVs and horses, made sure that the local predators didn’t get any ideas. A couple of confrontations with wolf packs had ended badly for the wolves, and they now avoided the area.
As the last person showed up—Monica, as usual—Richard said, “This is really Bill’s meeting, so I’ll lob it to him.” He made a tossing motion to Bill.
“I wish I had a movie reference or something to cut the tension a little, but I’m coming up blank today. Bottom line, things are going to hell Earthside. They’re saying now that Yellowstone pumped well over seven hundred cubic miles of crud into the atmosphere.”
Erin gasped in horror. Bill gave her an apologetic palms-up before continuing. “It also pumped the crud higher into the upper atmosphere than any normal volcano has ever done. So the fallout is going to be more widespread, and the very fine ejecta is going to stay aloft a lot longer.”
He looked down for a second. “Plus of course, Homo moronus has to make a bad situation worse. Some countries have declared their intent to stop exporting food and oil, so other countries are threatening to go in and take it. Israel’s enemies have taken the opportunity to attack when its allies are on their knees, and you know how well Israel takes that kind of thing. The BBC says nukes have been used.”
Bill took a beat to look around, trying to keep his composure. “Russia appears to be invading a bunch of nearby countries to ensure ongoing supplies. China has closed its borders completely and severed all communications with anybody whatsoever. Africa is mostly self-destructing. Oh, and have I mentioned? Washington appears to have fallen. Near as I can tell, the government is operating out of an undisclosed location. And at least three other governments have popped up and declared independence. I’m pretty sure the United States doesn’t exist as a nation anymore, guys.”
Bill looked at his friends. Haunted faces looked back at him.
“But …” Kevin said, “it’s only been a week.”
“By most estimates, most cities only have three days’ worth of food and supplies,” Erin replied. “There’s also a common truism that people are nine meals away from anarchy. Same math, really. Add to that the fact that the ash will clog and foul all open water, which includes most reservoirs. And by now, any machinery that operates out in open air has died. Coal is no longer being delivered for coal-powered electrical plants, wind turbines will ha
ve seized up, hydro dams either have or soon will, even nuclear plants require a steady supply of clean water. So, for a significant fraction of the continent, no more electricity. Desperation is setting in, and that means trouble.”
Bill interrupted Erin’s explanation. “One of the things you didn’t catch earlier, Richard, was that I was tuned to the BBC. That’s because there are no longer any American stations on the satellite feed. No Fox, no CNN, no MSNBC. I’ve managed to get something from Western Canada, but they aren’t having a wonderful time either. Some of the European feeds have dropped out, but I can still get more than half of them. There’s very little coming from anything south of the equator.”
He finished with a bleak expression on his face. “I think we might be on our own, guys.”
Richard turned to Erin. “What do you think that volcanic-crud figure will mean for the planet?”
“It means that enough is going to get across the equator to send both hemispheres into perpetual winter for a number of years, far worse than with any of the previous supervolcanoes. It means there will be more ash, over a wider area, killing more ecosystems. The human race is probably going to experience a severe die-back.”
“How bad?”
Erin opened her mouth to reply, then stopped and shook her head. “Wow, this is really turning into a baptism of fire. All those classes I was taking—suddenly everything is life and death, and I have to get it right the first time. Adulting is hard.” She blinked and hesitated again. “Okay, look. Everything I know about these situations is based on historical eruptions. But none of those were on this scale, and I don’t know how well I can extrapolate. If anything, this will probably be proportionally worse. So take all of this with a grain of salt.
“The problem with volcanoes isn’t just the eruption itself. The subsequent loss of economic and industrial capability, combined with ecosystem collapse, often affects far more people when total casualties are added up. Based on that, I think I can justify an estimate of several hundred million victims, at minimum. And that doesn’t count deaths from wars. Then starvation will take the global population down to pre-industrial levels over the next several years.”
There were more shocked looks. Billions of people might be dead before this was over.
58. Salvage Operations
August 3
Bill looked around the group spread out in front of him. A number of late volunteers had swollen the numbers of the scavenging team until Matt now commanded the largest single department in the Rivendell government—if it could be called that, as of yet.
Very probably a lot of these volunteers were more interested in getting a look back home than anything else. That was fine, though. They’d look, then they’d either quit or they’d get on with business. And they would return to Rivendell with news and descriptions for everyone else.
Matt stepped forward and waited until the buzz of conversation had died down.
“All right, folks. Your group leaders have a copy of the wish lists from the department heads. Keep an eye out for those items, but really, make a note of anything that looks to be in one piece. Include street location and GPS coordinates, if you can. Also watch for heavy equipment with available keys, including but not limited to trucks. Especially diesel, since that’s the fuel we’ll be depending on long-term. But make sure it’s not sitting there because it broke down.”
He scanned the group and instructed them, “Remember to keep your masks and goggles on at all times. The main ash has settled out by now, and Yellowstone has slowed down, but the fine particulates will still be in the air until Lincoln gets some rain. Even that will be enough to give you a really bad case of silicosis.”
Matt gestured to Bill and stepped back. Bill paused to scan the group one more time, then began:
“One item we could really use is deep-cycle batteries. If you see any place stocking them, report it immediately. Otherwise, look for caravans and RVs, motorized wheelchairs, electric forklifts and other warehouse equipment, and golf carts. They all use this type of battery. And if you find an auto parts shop with alternators in boxes, report that too.”
“On top of everything else on the list?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, I know. Everything’s a priority. Except, joking aside, it really is.” Bill sighed and handed the control tablet to Charlie, one of Matt’s crew. They needed more people able to operate the gates, and Charlie seemed to be an organized sort. Matt was already using him as an unofficial second-in-command for the group.
Charlie poked at a few controls and the gate faded in, showing the exterior of the warehouse. Without a word, the scavenger crews began tromping through the gate.
Matt walked over to a table they’d set up on the prairie grass and began inspecting a map of Lincoln. He drew a rough circle around the warehouse location and turned to Bill. “That’s about the limit for walking-distance exploration. We’ll have to take my truck out farther afield on this side to set up future expeditions.”
“Hopefully they can find you another truck or two. Being completely dependent on your vehicle is not going to work, long-term. It’s gas-fueled.”
“And kinda small.”
Bill chuckled. “I can’t believe you just said that. I think you love that truck more than you do Erin.”
Matt smiled back. “Don’t let Erin hear you say that.”
Curt, Suzie, and Bruno eyed the Home Depot uncertainly. It was an obvious first stop in the hunt for useful items, but the roof appeared to have already collapsed. At least partly.
“That’s kind of weird,” Curt said, his voice muffled by the dust mask. “That roof is definitely lower than it should be, but it’s not flattened. Ideas?”
Bruno shrugged. “Speculation is useless. Let’s go look.”
“After you.”
Bruno replied with an exaggerated condescending bow and headed for the front doors. The glass appeared to have been blown outward, possibly by the force of the collapse.
He came out a minute later. “Home Depot really knows how to build. The roof did collapse, but all those huge steel shelves that they use acted as supports. The inventory on the top level is toast—or maybe pancakes—but we can move around in the aisles.”
The trio entered and had a quick look around.
“Lots of useful salvage in here,” Suzie said. “Maybe not so much the appliances.”
Curt laughed. “Bill Rustad, remember? King of the Rube Goldberg. He’ll find a use for those.”
“Let’s check outside in the yard,” Bruno said.
They circled the building and came to the open-air part of the store, where the roof had also collapsed onto the shelving units. They wandered a bit until they found the fencing supplies. There were large stocks of fence posts and roll after roll of metal fencing and barbed wire.
“Cool,” Curt said. “One last thing—post-hole digger. Anyone know where the rental office is?”
“We passed it on the way around, O Blind One,” Suzie replied. “It looked locked. We may have to borrow a ten-pound lockpick.”
“Right, I’ll radio Matt and let him know. Who’s got the GPS?”
Phil and Pete had volunteered to check out some nearby gas stations. Both had worked as gas jockeys while in school, so they knew their way around. As soon as the scavenging parties had crossed over, the pair headed for a nearby Shell station. It looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry after the earthquake. Things hadn’t even been locked up.
Phil knew how to use the dipstick to check the contents of the tanks. This took perhaps ten minutes, including the time to clean the area around the access port.
Having found a supply of gasoline and diesel that would last the colony for months, the two decided that this called for a break. Pete patted his jacket pocket, and Phil nodded in agreement. They had done their duty. They would report their find, cross over to Outland, and experience better living through botany.
“You were shot at?” Matt’s eyes grew wide as the group gesticulated a
nd tried to all talk at once.
“I think it was warning shots,” Suzie yelled over her two teammates. “Either that or someone has incredibly bad aim. They were yelling at us to stop. Seriously, does anyone ever actually stop because they’re being shot at?”
“Bruno here passed me like I was out for a stroll,” Curt said.
“Fear lends wings, brother.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Wings, I say.”
Matt held up a hand to get their attention. “Did they identify themselves? Did you get a look at them?”
“Nope,” Suzie said. “We were too busy heading for the gate. And yelling at Charlie to be ready to pull the plug.”
“Well, isn’t that just peachy,” Matt grumbled. “This will put a crimp in things. We’ve either got competitors or law enforcement trying to shut us down. Richard will have a shit.”
59. High Council
Matt hung his head, pinching the top of his nose with thumb and forefinger. It took several seconds before other people began to notice. The yelling and arguing dribbled to a stop.
Matt looked up into the awkward silence. “I quit.”
Richard grinned at him. “Welcome to politics. If you quit, I quit too.”
“Sorry, Matt,” Krista said. “We know you’re not being deliberately obstructionist or anything. It’s just …”
“I know. Everyone needs their items now. And each one of you has a good reason. But we’ve got someone shooting at us. I can’t ask my crew to go walkies in Lincoln with that happening.”
“I understand,” Richard said. “But the team had actually loaded up, right?”
“Yeah, they found a hardware store and had grabbed some items. Batteries, flashlights, camp stoves, and so on. They had to drop it all, of course.”
“Which leaves us still up in the air. Could be law enforcement trying to prevent looting, or could be some other group trying to rob us.”
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