“You know we could eat a lot of meat if you let me catch a few dozen of those,” I said, already knowing the answer I would get.
“There isn’t any fucking way I’m going to eat those filthy things.” Sarah’s hands waved back and forth. “I’ll die of starvation first.”
“We might not have any choice,” Beth snapped. “There is not going to be any help. We are on our own. There may not be much else to eat for a long time.”
Sarah stood silent for at least a minute and then said, “How many would you need to catch to feed all eight of us?”
Step by step, the light of the torch revealed a quarter of the massive structure still stood on the thirty-acre lot. Shells of employee vehicles littered the parking lot. Few bodies were found in or around the parts of the building that had collapsed, though the plant employed hundreds. Thousands of vats used to grow meat could be seen under the twisted steel. Bloated slabs of animal tissue spilled over the edges and onto the floor, only to be gorged on by vermin. The slime oozing along the ground was as slippery as it was putrid. Turning each corner sent the small animals running in all directions. Each time the wind changed, we would be forced to back off and head upwind.
The further we made it into the building, the less fire damage we found; some rooms were untouched. We entered a steel door leading to a stairwell that led us to a parking garage. No longer used for parking, it had been converted to office space, locker rooms, and a mechanic’s shop. Rows of lockers containing uniforms lined the walls of showers. That’s where I found most of the employees.
I turned around to stop Marcos. I shined the light between us. “Marcos, stay right here while I look around. Don’t move from this spot, okay? I will keep talking to you.” I didn’t want to leave him alone in the dark, but I couldn’t let him see what I’d found. “You okay out there?”
“Yes, but it is dark.”
I pointed the flashlight at the entrance to the showers. The blue ceramic tile reflected enough light to figure out what happened here. “Is that better?”
“Okay. Can I come in with you now?” His voice echoed.
I could hear him scuff the floor as he started in. “No! You stay out there. I’ll be right out.” I turned the flashlight back into the showers one more time. About thirty bodies lay in a pool of water inside the shower. No water flowed out of the showerheads, though all the cold handles were turned on high. These people tried to escape the heat by staying under the cold running water. None had burns. The oxygen was sucked outside to feed the inferno. They all died of asphyxiation. “Here I come, Marcos. Let’s go back into the mechanic’s shop and see if we can find some tools or something.” As I turned I caught him looking in.
Together we walked past three more shower stalls, all full.
Inside the workshop we found several large toolboxes containing any tool imaginable. We also found two vending machines. One blow from the back side of our universal key—our ax—unleashed candy bars that no longer held their original shape but were still edible, potato chips of several flavors, corn chips, nuts, meat sticks and jerky. The preservatives had done their job. I loaded up the backpack to bring the treats to the others. Meanwhile Marcos poked around the shop.
“Hey, Nick. Come look at this.”
“You be careful over there. What did you find?”
“I don’t know. It’s some kind of machine with wheels.”
I walked over to him. A blue tarp hid whatever it was he found. I pulled the tarp aside to reveal three fork trucks. These old diesel lifts were abandoned for the newer hydrogen cell trucks. Each one still contained fuel and keys. The batteries were all dead, so starting one was impossible. The nearest thing to batteries was the ones used to operate portable drills. A workbench held a drill and three batteries.
“Marcos, hold the flashlight for me.” I lifted the seat of one of the older machines to view the engine. The alternator was easily accessible and the tools made disconnecting it a ten-minute job. With the battery removed and on the workbench, I hooked the drill to the alternator and the alternator to the battery. I placed the drill on the shaft of the alternator and turned it on. After about ten minutes the first drill battery went dead and was replaced with another. All three were used until all were dead. I took out the battery of the newest lift and replaced it with the one we’d charged. “Here goes nothing.” I turned the key. The battery took a charge, but still had little power. I cranked the engine over and over again, furiously pumping the accelerator for all it was worth. “Come on, baby, come on.” The flapper on the exhaust bounced as the engine tried to come to life. Then I noticed the button for the glow plug. I stopped turning the key to activate the glow plug. After waiting a minute I tried the key again. The engine turned over three times, then smoke started coming out of the stack. I didn’t stop trying till the engine came alive with a clattering. On came the lights. I let go of the key and it kept running. “Wooo hooo! We ain’t walking anymore, Buddy. Wait until the girls see this.”
Chapter 19
Junk Food and
Smokes
Marcos and I moved as much in the shop as we could by hand, and then used the high lift to move the rest, making a path to the roll door. With no power to raise it, I simply drove the forks through the thin metal, and hit the up lever. Parts from the door opener bounced off the roof of the cab. Dust and ash blew in and made a swirling cloud in front of the light’s beam. When the door was high enough, we backed up, lowered our forks, and entered the underground parking lot converted for storage. Rows and rows of metal vats filled the concrete bunker where automobiles once parked. Stacked three high, the shiny stainless-steel coffins were the vats used to grow meat. Apparently the plant had been planning on expanding their herd.
Only a narrow path led the way to the exit ramp. Exhaust bellowed from the ancient workhorse. Black and toxic, the smoke hit the concrete ceiling and curled back down choking Marcos and me.
“Whoa, this thing stinks.” Marcos bounced on my knee each time the solid tires of the machine hit a crack in the floor. There were many. The earthquake had lifted the floor two inches in some places. The lights showed one area where the roof had collapsed crushing the vats underneath. The light also showed another thing: the vats were all on wheels. These were not for an expansion. They were a discontinued design. These old vats had been used before the automated line made them obsolete.
I stopped the truck and applied the parking brake, once I found it. “You’re going to have to get out. I want to look at something.” I left the truck running. “Don’t touch anything and stand here.”
We walked over to the stack of vats. Marcos wouldn’t leave my side. Designed to stack one upon the other, only the bottom one showed its wheels. I could only assume they all had wheels. A coupling device on each told me they could be pulled along in a train.
Upon checking the fork truck it was discovered to have the hookup needed. “Let’s go show the others what we found. We can come back later and look around.” We climbed back in the cab and headed outside.
It was nice to see the outside light up again. No sooner did we get on level ground than we saw the rest of our group coming to see what the racket was. I put the truck in neutral and let them walk up to us.
“What did you find?” Beth asked.
“How in hell are we all going to ride on that?” Sarah asked.
“We had to make one out of three, but it runs.” I pushed down on the accelerator to put more charge in the battery. The light brightened. The exhaust surrounding the group covered the smell of rotting flesh and was welcome with each gust of southern winds.
“There are some vats with wheels we can tow behind. Plus there is a lot of other stuff we can use inside.” I threw my backpack down at their feet. “Here is some food we found inside too.” When the pack hit the ground, three bags of chips fell out. Tara ran over and picked up her share first before anybody else could react. Beth opened a bag for each child and the crunching began. Marcos and I had d
ibs on the jerky. We ate in bright light for the first time since this started. We had a picnic in front of the fork truck, though we had no blanket or watermelon. Normally Beth wouldn’t let children gorge on candy-machine junk food, but a treat would lift everyone’s spirits.
Maria attempted to open a bag of chips for Adam, but it ripped and spilled all over the ground. She put her hands to her face and began to cry. Adam just picked the nachos off the ground one by one and put them in his mouth.
“Why don’t you try to eat something?” Beth said while feeding Tara some peanuts. “We’ve all got to keep up our strength.”
“I’m not hungry. Leave it for the kids.” Maria continued to cry.
“I know what you might want.” I went over and took her by the hand. “Bring the flashlight. There might be a few cigarettes inside.” I turned to the others. “I’ll bring back some more snacks. Leave the truck running so the battery charges.”
I led Maria into the parking garage and down the path to the showers. The first shower stall still held water so we looked in the second. One by one we checked the bodies for a pack of smokes. Half a pack of unfiltered cigarettes were found on a large man after rolling his body over. “Are these the type you smoke?”
“I don’t care what kind they are right now.” She took one out of the pack. “Do you still have my lighter?”
I didn’t want to waste the lighter’s fluid, but I thought Maria would appreciate it right then. I handed it to her.
She lit one, took a long drag, and held her head back savoring the smoke. Upon exhaling she coughed uncontrollably. Prepared for the harshness, she took another puff. The red glow at the tip bounced up and down as she shook. One more pull and her shaking lessened. “Are you a man of faith, Nick?” she asked while blowing out smoke.
“What?”
“Do you believe in God?” she asked. The ember glowed brighter.
“Yes, but I haven’t been practicing. Why do you ask?”
“Nick, have you ever read the book of Revelation?” A second cigarette was lit off the first. “John wrote of the tribulation. Do you think that’s what is happening?”
“I never actually read the whole Bible, just pieces of it.”
She coughed again. “I think this might be God’s wrath on man, but one thing doesn’t make sense.” She took another long drag. Again the burning tobacco could be seen shaking. “Why wasn’t I drawn up in the rapture? I accepted Jesus when I was a little girl. I’ve always done his work. I go to church three times a week. If this is the tribulation, then the rapture has already happened. Why am I still here? I should be beside God, not stealing cigarettes off some dead guy. All the signs were there: the earthquakes, the wars. I should have seen it coming. I must have done something wrong to upset God.” She needed more time alone with her habit.
I wasn’t up on the Bible like Maria, and felt a little uncomfortable. “I’m going to bring some more snacks out to the others. I’ll leave you the flashlight. I’ll be able to find my way out. You should be able to find a few more packs if you want to look.” The running fork truck could be heard outside.
I felt along the concrete wall until the opening could be seen. Seeing the others lifted my spirits. The children played in the beam of artificial light. Marcos made shadow puppets on Sarah’s back while Megan and Tara took turns jumping off the forks, which were only three inches off the ground. Each time they fell and rolled, laughing and carrying on like nothing bad had ever happened. “Let’s all go in with Maria and see what else we can find. We might be able to find something soft to sleep on for a change.” I climbed back on the vehicle. Like a parade, everybody followed me into garage and down the path to Maria.
The headlight lit up her face. The nicotine had worked. “Look, we can change the babies’ diapers now.” Her hands held several employee uniforms, each with the former wearers name on the pocket. Maria’s own pockets bulged with her stash of smokes.
Each child was donned with clean makeshift underwear before any more scavenging was done. With no safety pins, folding became an important skill.
While the others set up camp inside the garage, I tried to hook up the meat vats to the fork truck. The ceiling was too low to unstack the vats where they were placed. Dragging all three outside was the only way to separate them from each other. Each did have their own set of wheels, as I had guessed. Hooked end to end, a train soon materialized.
Knowing it could be done, it was time to shut off the truck and hope it would start again. It had run for about an hour, plenty of time to charge the battery. I shut it off. Crossing my fingers on my left hand while turning the key with my right, the engine restarted. Once again I shut it off to conserve fuel. Where to find more would be the next challenge.
Again I made my way in the dark back to the others. Marcos had led them all into the garage where no bodies laid. This would be our room for the night. Beth made a nest of the uniforms in the cleanest corner for all of us to sleep on. The three little girls had already picked a spot and were sleeping. Marcos and Adam were looking around the room.
Sarah ate some of the snacks herself. “How are we supposed to sleep with this smell?” The bodies in the showers had started to decompose.
A banging sound drew my attention to the two boys. Adam pounded on the side of an oil tank used to fuel a small heater used in the shop. A two hundred seventy-five-gallon tank sat behind some fifty-gallon barrels. I walked over to them. “Let me see your flashlight, Adam.” The little guy handed it over and amused himself with a spray can of paint. He shook it to and fro listening to the ball bearing rattling around inside. The tank’s gauge read full. Although it held kerosene, it could still be used in the fork truck. One more vat would be needed to transport the tank. Two hundred gallons or more would take us a few hundred miles, but finding more would be difficult.
Twenty-two full water jugs stood next to fifteen empty ones. Three more flashlights were found in the showers with the dead. Maria found them while looking for cigarettes.
Once the boys were quieted down, the rest of us picked a spot in the nest. I lay down next to Beth. Together we listened to the little snores coming from the children. To them, today was a long one filled with play. They were exhausted. The only other sound was Maria’s praying. Beth elbowed me. I elbowed her back with a little more enthusiasm. I whispered, “Shh, now is not the time.” I knew she wanted to say something, and I knew what it might be.
Despite the odor, even Sarah did her share of the snoring.
Chapter 20
The Hay Ride
I woke with light in my eyes, not daylight, but Adam shining the flashlight right in my face. The air seemed to have cooled down, enough so we all crept closer to each other in our sleep. Maria still slept, with Megan curled up next to her. Beth and Tara huddled together, and Sarah snuggled with Eve. Marcos slept alone. I’m not sure whom Adam had slept with. He appeared to be the early bird amongst the group. Once he noticed I was awake, he turned the light on Marcos. But that wasn’t enough to cause a stir, so he kicked him. I laughed.
“Hey, stop it.” Marcos rolled over and pulled more shirts and pants over his arms and head. He tried to go back to sleep, but Adam continued kicking him. Finally Marcos could take no more. He saw I was awake too and got up.
“Shh.” I put my finger to my lips and motioned for him to come over to me. Both the boys stumbled over the uniforms in my direction. “Let’s go see what we can find and we’ll let the others sleep.” I whispered.
Marcos and I left the nest to look around. Adam tripped on the pile of garments landing on Sarah.
“Will you fucking lie down and go to sleep?” Sarah snapped.
I grabbed Adam’s hand. “Go back to sleep. I’ll keep them quiet. Come on boys, let’s go over here. Shh.”
She too pulled more clothing over herself and Eve. They both snuggled closer to each other. Eve whined a little, but immediately went back to sleep.
I could guide the boys with the beam of light, the wa
y an equestrian controls a horse in the ring. We made our way to the other side of the garage. A fifty-gallon drum of motor oil held a hand pump. With some minor alterations it could be made to reach the bottom of the fuel tank. The mechanics had a coffee pot on the workbench. Although there was no electricity to run the device, there had to be a can of coffee somewhere in the cupboards. I looked in each and every one, but no foodstuffs of any kind could be found. Each space contained parts and cleaning supplies, but no coffee. It was only when we cut locks from personal lockers that we found the stash of the person who made coffee. Three cans of the stimulant sat in his locker along with two bags of sugar and two jars of creamer. Another can contained a bucket of money, mostly change, and useless in this new world. I wanted to look in more lockers, but Adam kept knocking things over or banging on one thing or another. I tried to keep him quiet so the others could sleep.
“Hey, Nick, look. Can we use this?” Marcos held up a work light. The cord was only about three feet long, but could be adapted to work off the battery of the high lift.
“Yes we can. Give it to me so the bulb doesn’t get broken.”
“Please and thank you!” Beth said, coming out of nowhere.
“God damn it, Beth. You scared the shit out of me.” Then I realized my diarrhea had subsided, and I’d never noticed. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know we’ll have cheese doodles and coffee for breakfast.” She kissed me good morning. “Boy, it got cold didn’t it?” A blue uniform hung over her shoulders like a sweater. The nametag said “Smyth.” Tara slept with her head on Beth’s shoulder. “She reminds me of Sally. She farted all night long,” she whispered.
The Second Intelligent Species: The Cyclical Earth Page 10