Al motioned with his hand. “Big fuel tank around the back. Diesel, I bet.”
“That’ll be handy.” Matt sighed and turned to go. “Let’s see if we can find the keys to the pickup. That will be valuable, too.”
Joaquin shuddered at the thought of rifling through the family’s possessions. Rationally, he realized that the former owners of the farm were beyond caring. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of being a ghoul.
68. Archimedes’ Screw
“What the hell is that?” Richard asked.
“Archimedes’ screw wind turbine,” Bill replied. “Named after the guy who invented it. You’ve heard of him?”
Richard smiled but didn’t rise to the bait.
Well, look at that! Bill thought. Not too long ago I would have gotten the kilowatt glare for that dig.
“This is the wind turbine design I was talking about before. It’s supposed to be superior for extracting power from low-speed air movement. Also stupidly easy to make. Just take a long strip of plastic or metal sheeting and wrap it around a central shaft. Cable stays are used to keep the shape and brace it against the mechanical strain. Seriously, you could build these things in your garage. Oh, wait, that’s what I’m doing.”
Bill smiled at his own joke and gestured with a wrench toward another table with hardware and tools strewn across it. “With the proper gearing, I can connect it to all those alternators we’ve collected, and we’re ready to go.”
“And this will supply Rivendell with all the power we need?”
“Oh, not even close, Richard. Look, I’ll be honest with you—I’ve never done this before. Rebuilding civilization, I mean. There are lots of different ways we could get electricity. Some are more short-term, like running diesel generators. Some are more long-term, like wood-fired steam-based generators. All we have to do is build them. Wind generators, solar panels, hydroelectric—well, maybe not in Nebraska—coal-fired … The problem is that everything except the diesel generators will require a lot of ramping up. I’m trying to get multiple parallel projects going so that even if one fails, we’re not dead in the water.”
“I get it, Bill. More things to do than we have people to do them, even if the people had the knowledge.”
“We’re lucky that way, anyway. University students are likely to have that knowledge, and it’s fresh in our minds. Although I admit it’s all book knowledge, so there’s a lot of fumbling around, too.”
“But you’re making headway. Let me know how the wind thing works out.” Richard made a note on his notepad and continued, “How’s the well drilling going?”
Bill put down the tool he’d been holding. “It helps to have a lot of crew from rural backgrounds who have some knowledge about where you should and shouldn’t drill. We hit groundwater on our first attempt. It’s shallow enough that we can use a suction pump. Standard well-filtering and water-conditioning equipment will handle the load, as long as we’ve got a reservoir. For that, I’ve got people building a water tower using that thousand-gallon storage tank we appropriated.”
“Why not use a standard well compressor?”
“For three hundred residents? Richard, those things are made for households of up to, like, six. Plus, I’m also concerned about heating the water. We can cover the tank with a black plastic tarp for solar heating, so we’ll at least have warm showers. As long as it doesn’t get too cold this winter, that’ll be enough to prevent icing up, too. All we need”—Bill gestured to the wind turbine—“is a dependable source of electricity.”
“We can run on the generators until you have that ready, right?” Richard asked.
“Sure, but it means constantly importing more fuel, which also takes fuel, and keeps us dependent on Earthside. My engineer’s heart is offended at the inefficiency.”
Richard laughed, gave Bill a goodbye wave, and walked out, heading for the next stop on his self-appointed rounds.
Bill watched him go and thought, Richard is definitely a lot more relaxed these days. I think he’s actually enjoying this!
As Richard walked away, Bill realized he was hearing him whistle The Andy Griffith Show theme.
69. In the News
Here is the latest news on the hour from BBC World Service:
Russia has completed its annexation of all former Soviet-bloc countries on its borders. There are reports that Russia is now attempting to gain control of some Chinese border provinces as well.
Today, Iran released a statement that it has successfully annexed Iraq and will be absorbing the former nation into its own borders. In an odd twist, Iraq later released a statement that it has successfully repelled the Iranian invasion force and is poised to advance on the Iranian capital of Tehran.
India, Brazil, and China have each announced that they will be ending food exports in order to provide for their own populations. Economists speculate that other net food-exporting countries will soon follow suit.
70. Recon
August 11
Yet another meeting, this one attended only by the Gate Owners. Bill clamped down on his tendency to sigh and roll his eyes when bored. Of course, this one was about not getting shot, so maybe boredom should be less of an issue in the first place.
“I thought the National Guard base was just south of the airport. We can check, but obviously not by simply walking around. We’ll need the pole-cam.” Matt looked around the table as he settled back into his lawn chair.
“Which means the scavenging groups will be stalled,” Bill said. “Dammit, I need to build more pole-cams.”
“You have the parts, don’t you?” Richard asked.
“Sure, and the warehouse fab shop is still usable, with a generator running. But Monica wants a couple more full-size gates, and I’ve still got all the infrastructure projects I’m working on.”
“Can’t you hand off some of that?” Erin asked. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t the only UNL engineering student.”
“Yeah, I have a little bit of a delegation problem. But I’m also the only master’s-level engineering student in Rivendell. Luck of the draw, I guess.”
“Bill, you have to be able to hand off something,” Erin added. “Maybe not gate and portal construction, but jeez, if your people can’t connect a windmill to a generator, they shouldn’t be in engineering.”
“Okay, listen, guys,” Richard said. “If we can make peace with the National Guard, we stand to benefit greatly. So this is an opportunity to take advantage of, not another time sink. As soon as Monica gets here—”
“Speaking of …” Bill said, tilting his head toward Monica, who was just walking up to the table. “It’s the late Ms. Albertelli.”
“Miss me?” She smiled at the group as she unfolded a lawn chair and sat down.
“How are the preparations going?” Richard said, ignoring the pleasantries.
“As good as can be expected, given that Bill is being pulled in umpteen different directions. We really need a couple of gates that are ‘off the books,’ so to speak.” She favored Bill with a smile. “Poor guy’s eyes are starting to spin in different directions.”
“Bill’s a big boy,” Richard said. “He can handle it. Matt, take the pole-cam. You’re right about this being a priority. You’ll have to decide who gets the truck, which will—”
“Nope,” Matt cut in. “Couple of our scouts found a pickup with keys to go with it. Also a bunch of farming equipment and seed stock. It’s on the list of things to bring across. I guess I’ll bump up the priority on bringing the new truck across.”
“Juggle, juggle …” Bill muttered.
Richard rubbed his eyes with thumb and forefinger. “Gevalt. Okay, Matt, do whatever you have to. Bill, a pole-cam should be quicker to produce than one of the full-size jobs. Can you knock out just one really quickly?”
“No prob, big guy. But I’ll need a dedicated gate so I can cross over to the warehouse. And another tree-trimmer for the pole.” He looked at Matt.
“That’s it. I quit,” Matt
said.
“Get in line,” Richard replied.
“Jeez, what a bunch of whiners.” Monica got up. “Let me know when you’ve got something for me.”
Richard watched her retreating back. “I think I pissed her off.”
“We’re all a little on edge, Richard,” said Erin. “Who knew that rebuilding civilization would be so much work?”
71. Cleaned Out
August 12
“Hey, Charlie. Almost ready to go?”
Charlie turned at the voice. “Hi, Bill. Yeah, we’ll be hitting that Walgreens we found a while back. What’s the rush? Running out of coffee?”
Bill grinned back. His coffee dependency was becoming a meme. It was rumored that he had stocked up more coffee than food, and he made no attempt to argue. “Not in this century. No, I wanted to ask a favor. If we have time, after we unload the Walgreens, I’d like to run past the Scott Engineering Center, to see what condition it’s in. The scouting group hasn’t been able to follow up on that, and I’m getting antsy.”
“Sure. But it’ll have to be a quick look, or we’ll have to drop you off and pick you up later. And you carry a mask, just in case,” Charlie said.
“Five minutes max,” Bill replied. “I’m not looking for anything specific. Just want to see if it’s still holding up. Why the mask?”
“Atmospheric dust is pretty much washed out now, but there are drifts of ash inside buildings that can still be stirred up. You wear a mask whenever you’re going inside, until you’re sure it’s safe.”
Bill raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wow, I’ve been away from the salvage group for like two days, and I’m out of date. Things move fast.”
Charlie grinned in reply and gestured toward the group gathered around the new pickup truck.
Finding the Walgreens turned out to be a little more of a problem without the pole-cam. They had to stop every few minutes, open the six-foot gate, and lean through it with a GPS to check their location on Earthside. Eventually, though, they arrived at the desired coordinates.
With two men carrying the gate, they were able to use it as a large, ungainly version of a pole-cam. Soon, they found the back door. They moved ten feet, turned the gate back on, and they were able to see the inside of the store. The Pleistocene sunlight shining through the gate provided more than enough light for a clear view.
This had been a large Walgreens. The building interior was a single large space with columns at regular intervals to hold up the roof. The roof hadn’t completely collapsed under the weight of the ash; instead, the supporting girders had buckled between columns. This resulted in a series of parallel tent-shaped spaces. A lot of shelves and goods had been flattened, but far more was intact in the tented areas.
Charlie walked up and down the aisles. “What are we looking at, you think? Eight trips?”
Even filling every inch of the pickup and trailer, this was going to be a huge haul. It wasn’t just the food, since most of the perishable stuff would have gone bad by now. It wasn’t even the aisle containing nothing but different brands of coffee and tea. The big score was the first-aid supplies and toiletries. It would be a few years, minimum, before anyone could go to a dentist again, so toothbrushes and toothpaste were worth their weight in gold.
“Okay, then,” Bill said. “Let’s get started.”
Charlie followed Bill out the service entrance, taking a moment to peg the door open. The crew was almost done emptying out the store, and Bill and Charlie were more in the way than anything else.
“What are you looking for?” Charlie asked as they walked.
“Anything, really,” Bill replied. “We need so many things that just about anything we can find is probably going to be valuable.”
Bill moved over to a nearby building that looked intact and tried the door. Charlie leaned up against a wall, waiting for Bill to finish with whatever personal journey he seemed to be having.
Abruptly, they heard a shout.
“Hold it right there. Drop your weapon and put your hands up!”
Bill backed away from the door and turned toward the shout, reflexively reaching for his shotgun strap. There was a gunshot, and a bullet threw up a spray of damp ash near his feet.
“Put it down!”
Bill looked at Charlie, who seemed to be out of the immediate line of sight. He motioned with his head for Charlie to get moving. Charlie turned and sprinted away. There were shouts of “Stop, or we’ll fire!”—immediately followed by bullets pinging off the ground and nearby buildings.
Maybe you meant “AND we fire,” Charlie thought as he turned another corner. He heard the sound of pounding feet behind him. Oh, great! He tried to put on a little more speed.
As he approached the Walgreens service entrance, Charlie yelled, “Get through the gate! We’re under attack!”
The people inside must have heard him because, by the time he got in the door, he could see their backsides going through the gate. One of the guys stood on the other side with a terrified expression on his face, holding the tablet with one finger poised.
As he jumped through, Charlie shouted, “Turn it off! Don’t wait for Bill! Close it!”
Corporal Chavez gasped, trying to catch her breath without being too loud about it. She often made it clear that she was as good as any man, but dammit, that Stevenson could sprint like a mofo!
They moved cautiously into the door that the fugitive had run through and looked around. It was a Walgreens. It was also virtually empty. Pretty much everything accessible had been taken from the shelves. Chavez guarded the door while Stevenson looked down each aisle and checked every possible location for hidey-holes.
Finally he came back and shook his head. “No idea how they got out, or where all the food went.”
They left the store, being sure to push the door closed until the latch clicked.
“Unbelievable! What part of ‘lift’ is unclear to you?” Charlie was upset, and he was taking it out on everyone around him. He knew it, and he could see that his crew knew it, but couldn’t stop himself.
The absence of the pole-cam was almost crippling in this situation. Attempting to open the six-foot gate right in front of whoever had been pursuing them would be strategically unsound, to put it mildly.
Instead, they held the six-foot gate horizontally at about eye level. A very slight tilt to the gate allowed Charlie to look through the aperture while keeping his exposure to a minimum.
“They’re moving,” he said. “We need to follow them or we’ll lose Bill. Dickinson, you’ll need to stay here and guard the salvage. Some of it has got to smell like food. Peters, you stay too. Watson and Shriver, get in the truck and handle the gate.”
The driver looked up from his seat in the pickup. Reaching over, he hit the switch to lower the rear left passenger window to allow him to hear Charlie more easily.
Charlie operated the tablet. He called out instructions when necessary. Slowly, the pickup moved along the prairie, following his directions.
Finally, he asked the driver to stop. Earthside, Bill was being shepherded into the back of an army truck while a half-dozen or so soldiers milled around the truck and a Hummer parked nearby. Charlie leaned as close to the gate as he dared and tried to make out the discussion on the other side.
After a minute or so, the soldiers got into their vehicles and drove off at a much higher speed than the pickup could maintain over rough prairie, especially with a trailer full of groceries.
“Well, hell, those are National Guard.” Charlie rubbed his chin in thought. “Take us back to Rivendell. I’ll update Peters and Dickinson on the radio, then update Rivendell. Maybe they’ll have something worked out by the time we get back. Then we’ll still have to arrange to get the rest of the Walgreens salvage back to the camp. Geez, we still need more vehicles!”
“Into the truck. Up.” The soldier reinforced the command with a prod from his rifle barrel.
Bill hurried to comply. He’d figured out quickly enough that
these were National Guard, which at least meant they weren’t going to kill him and eat him, or worse. Pillage, THEN burn went through his mind. He chuckled.
“Something funny, asshole?” one of the soldiers asked him. “You think this is funny? You think you’re in a funny position?”
“It would take too long to explain.”
“Yeah, and maybe you don’t have that long,” the soldier retorted, waving her rifle in Bill’s face.
Bill paused to examine the soldier’s insignia. “Save it, corporal. SOP is for you to return me for interrogation. If you were undisciplined enough to ignore orders, you wouldn’t still be here on duty.” He looked her straight in the eyes and continued in a calmer voice. “Look, we’re doing what we can to survive; we’re not stealing TVs to support a drug habit.”
“That’s fine, but you’re still going back to base,” the corporal replied.
“And that’s fine, because I’ll be very interested in talking to your CO.”
“Well then, everything’s just fine, isn’t it? This should be a pleasant Sunday drive, since we all want the same thing.” The corporal sat back, but kept her gun pointed in his direction.
Charlie had expected Richard to explode in anger. The man had a reputation, after all. Instead, he’d simply pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something Scottish-sounding.
Eventually, Richard looked up at Charlie and the rest of the crew. “Okay. Does anyone know where the National Guard base is?”
“Matt is looking for it, remember?” Charlie replied. “He, Kavi, Bob, and Ayanda have gone to scout around the airport. Several people thought it might be around there.”
“Right, right. Chances are the Guard will take Bill back to their base, so I sure hope Matt was right about that. I’ll radio him if we don’t hear something soon. Charlie, you’ll have to drive us over to the base as soon as we know where it is. We need all the resources we have available on the spot and ready to react.”
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