Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure

by Tony Martineau

  “Wow, we have quite the musical group, don't we?” Emma said. “I think we should play a little this evening, maybe a love song.” She nodded toward Kelly and Jared, who were sitting together on the glider.

  Kelly glanced up, surprised that her mother would say anything like that in front of the group.

  “Like everyone hadn't figured it out,” Emma said. Dennis and Jose both smirked, trying to stifle laughs.

  Jared pulled Kelly closer to him. “Nothing to look at here,” he said, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to one side.

  Kelly did not resist, and folded herself into his arms.

  “I, for one, am glad to see it,” Dennis said. “I think I speak for everyone when I say Jared here seems to be a nice guy, clean cut and polite. He's just what every mother hopes for for her daughter.”

  Jared's face turned just the slightest hint of red as he turned to see what Kelly would say.

  “Mom, stop it. We haven't announced our engagement or anything,” Kelly said.

  “No, I didn't mean you had. I just thought it would be easier on everybody if it were out in the open,” Emma said. “More lemonade?” She stood and moved toward the half-full pitcher.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Wise. You are so kind,” Jared said with a hint of sarcasm.

  “You are welcome, young man,” she said, mimicking his tone.

  Jared smiled.

  The group finished up their many rounds of horseshoes. Dennis and Lynn recited Havdalah at sunset, then all played, sang and danced on the porch well into the night. The day of rest and celebration had been just that.

  As the others prepared to go off to bed, Jose gathered his twenty-four-hour pack and shotgun from next to the front door. He slung the pack over his shoulder and said, “I'm off to do my guard shift in Sunflower.” He headed down the porch steps and Jess followed him.

  “Dad, what time do you get off?”

  “Two a.m., you know that.” Jose cocked his head to one side.

  “I know,” said Jess, looking at his feet and kicking a small stone in the moonlight. “But...”

  “What's up, Mijo?”

  “I want to go with you,” Jess said, lifting his gaze to look directly at his father.

  “You haven't napped or anything. It's going to be a long night.”

  “I know. I'll be your back-up,” Jess said. It was more of a question than a statement.

  “I don't think it's a good idea. Your mom would have my head if I let anything happen to you.”

  “Mom?” Jess said, manly anger in his voice. “That's your excuse, Mom?”

  Jose readjusted the shotgun in his left hand.

  “My mom is dead for all we know. If she's not dead, she'll never find us in this stinking canyon in the middle of nowhere.”

  Tears welled in Jose's eyes for the first time Jess could remember. “I don't know what else to do, Jess.” He lowered his head to hide his emotion. “I don't know if we could survive anywhere else right now. Your mom would be foolish to try to make it back here, across the whole country and then this desert.”

  “But we know where Uncle Tino's farm is,” Jess said angrily, tears welling and standing in his eyes.

  “How do you propose we get there? You're not three, you know better.”

  “Do I?” he shouted. “Mom's out there somewhere and you don't care!” His voice broke as he said it.

  Jose pushed out his chest and stepped forward, right into Jess's face. “Don't you ever say that, son,” he snarled, teeth clenched. “I loved that woman long before you got here and I still do. If I thought setting out on a long walk would fix this, I'd do it. But I don't. We could be minutes—literally minutes apart out there and never find each other.”

  Jess dropped his shoulders and leaned back a couple of inches to increase the distance between his and his father's noses. “I miss Mom,” he said.

  “I do too, damn it. Get your coat... and your gun. We'll talk about this in town.”

  Chapter 11

  Jess and Lynn were tasked with building a solar hot water heater while the “away team” went to Fountain Hills. Jose had explained to Jess, in detail, how to build it during their night on guard duty. It filled the long hours in the dark and cold as they walked up and down the fence between town and the freeway.

  The plan called for a double-walled, insulated box that could hold a coiled, one-hundred foot hose. One hundred feet because that was the length they had picked up on their first trip to Fountain Hills. The box also needed a good-sized double-paned window to let the solar energy in.

  “Let's go across the creek to a couple of those abandoned houses and see if there is any glass lying around,” Jess suggested to Lynn. “Everyone here in Sunflower seems to have a shed with extra parts and old stuff in it.”

  “I think we should tell Emma and Jared first,” Lynn said. “Kelly and Jared saw those people down by the creek yesterday, remember?”

  “Yeah, they're no problem—just passing through I bet.”

  “All the same, it's a good idea that someone knows we're going. Race ya!”

  The teens hit the porch at a dead run and let the screen door slam behind them on their way into the kitchen. Jess practically threw himself at the kitchen table, his hands outstretched to catch himself, and announced, “We're going to look for old windows.” He was panting so hard, the adults could hardly make out his words.

  “Wait a minute there,” Jared said, lowering his arm from one of his therapy exercises. “I don't want you guys out there alone, it's not safe.”

  “But Dad said we had to make the water heater,” Jess said.

  “I don't think he meant for you two to be out wandering around by yourselves,” Jared said.

  “Then come with us,” Jess said.

  Jared thought for a minute. “My arm isn't one hundred percent and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to either of you. Your fathers would skin me alive.”

  “I'm a good shot—especially with a shotgun,” Jess said. “We can help you.”

  Jared considered. The chances that anything might happen were slim, and it would feel good to get outside and actually be of some use. He relented with a sigh, saying, “If we stay downstream, away from the visitors, we should be okay.”

  Jared put on his gunbelt, then snapped his .45 pistol into the holster. He sent Jess up to Rich's place to get another shotgun because he didn't want to leave Emma without one. All three met back on the porch a few minutes later.

  The day was perfect, as Arizona fall days tend to be. Jared had to call out and remind the kids several times not to get too far ahead. Jess and Lynn were running and laughing amongst the trees along the creek. They were headed to the Branham's place to scavenge. The family was the one that had left Sunflower to go back to town when all this first happened, and no one had seen them since.

  “I think it's over here,” Jess said. He spotted a red house through the trees on the far side of the creek. The trio navigated downstream until they found the old concrete slab that had been poured across the stream so that a car could drive over it during times of low water.

  “Yep, this is it,” Lynn said. “Let's look around back.”

  Behind the house stood a two-car garage with a shed attached. This was just the sort of place people kept windows, wood and other building supplies. Jess turned the handle on the garage door and it opened with ease.

  “It's not even locked,” Jess said, surprised.

  “Be careful!” shouted Jared from fifteen feet behind the teens. “Remember, I can't move quite as fast as you yet,” he hollered. “Wait for me. I'll go in first.”

  Jared went in cautiously with his pistol drawn. Two newer-model cars were in the garage. Farther to the back of the garage was a tool bench and hand tools. Gardening supplies, insecticides and paint cans covered the shelves. Cabinets lined the back wall, holding bolts of fabric and sewing supplies, among other things.

  “It's clear, come on in,” said Jared, “but I don't see any wi
ndows except the small one in the wall over there.”

  “That's not big enough,” Jess said. “We could use a roll of this insulation, though.” Jess carried it outside. “The back of the house has a mudroom on it.”

  There were three large, double-paned windows surrounding the little lean-to, which made an airlock for the back door.

  “These are good-sized,” Lynn said.

  The windows looked about five by four feet.

  “They look good to me,” Jess said.

  Jared went into the lean-to. “I don't want any surprises. You kids stay out here while I clear it.”

  Jess looked exasperated.

  “What? Did you forget that there might be others in here? Others that might not be friendlies?”

  Lynn dropped her gaze like a small child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

  “You both had better start thinking that way, if you want to live.” Jared opened the back door and went in, weapon drawn.

  Jess ran back to the garage to get a hammer and screwdriver to remove a window for the water heater. He returned with two hammers, and Lynn took one.

  They waited until Jared emerged, saying, “All clear. I'm gonna sit on that stump over there and supervise.”

  Both teens ignored him.

  “Just pry the frame away from the opening, but don't break the glass,” Jess said.

  Lynn rolled her eyes.

  “UGH, this thing is in tight,” Jess said after he had scraped the caulk away from the outside of the frame and dug his hammer claw into the wood casing.

  “I think we should go find another one,” said Lynn wiping the sweat from her forehead with her forearm.

  “What do you mean? We just got started. The same guy probably put in the rest of these windows, too.”

  Jared sat quietly, just observing, a chuckle buried deep in his chest but not touching his lips.

  More muscle was applied to the frame by both Jess and Lynn. It took them more than half an hour, but when the window was finally removed, Lynn glanced through the empty space. “Whew, who knew it would be that hard?”

  “Yeah, but we didn't break it and that's the important part,” said Jess.

  “Good job, you guys,” said Jared.

  “Now that we have the window, we should check the house for food before the rats get it. We would have to share it with the neighbors, of course.”

  “Why?” asked Jess. “They could have come and gotten it themselves.”

  Jess took a hold of the back door handle and gave it a turn. Lynn and Jess found themselves standing in a small kitchen with red-checkered curtains and a linoleum floor.

  “Looks like they did. It's been raided.”

  Kitchen cabinets hung open. Dishes were stacked, untouched, but the food was gone.

  “Well, can you believe it?” asked Jess.

  “Yes I can, seeing as you were thinking about taking it yourself,” said Lynn.

  “What makes you such a goody two-shoes?”

  “Duh. I'm a practicing Jew, religious...”

  Jared stepped in. “Come on you two, let's get the glass back to the house. I'll help you carry it.”

  “No, you won't,” Lynn said. “Kelly gave me strict orders not to let you use that bad arm yet.”

  “She's not my boss and I'm feeling fine.” Jared stepped up to the end of the window Lynn held. She and Jess already had it hoisted in the air.

  Jared slid the sling gingerly from his left arm and tried to straighten it, but the sudden pain caused his breath to catch in his throat.

  “Please Jared, let us carry it,” Lynn pleaded. “If you hurt your arm again it will only take you longer until it's healed and I'll be in trouble with Kelly.”

  “Maybe you're right,” conceded Jared, fumbling with the sling to get it back in place.

  “Let me help you,” Lynn said.

  “You've got that window, plus, I can do it myself. Thanks, but... I mean, I need to do things for myself.”

  Lynn and Jess carried the large window flat. The insulation roll and the shotgun sat on top.

  They had gone about a hundred feet when Lynn sighed, “Ugh. This thing's heavy and it's digging into my fingers.”

  “Okay, okay,” Jess said in annoyance. “This is going to be a long trip if you can't carry any further than this without stopping.”

  Jared walked up beside her and unbuttoned his shirt. It took him a minute or two, but he got it off and folded it, one-handed.

  “Here, put this between the window and your hands,” Jared urged, holding the shirt up to her and taking some of the window's weight with his good hand.

  Lynn accepted the offer readily. “Thanks, you're the best. I see why Kelly likes you.”

  Jared smiled.

  ****

  “Emma, Emma, we got the window!” Lynn called from the front yard.

  Emma came out and admired their find. “Looks great. Why don't you all come eat some lunch? You can get back to work after that.”

  After a lunch of rabbit stew (not for Lynn—-”I'll have salad, thanks”), Jess and Lynn built a wooden box, about eighteen inches deep, that fit the window glass's dimensions.

  “This is looking good,” Jess remarked. “Won't our dads be surprised?”

  “Yeah, not only surprised that we made it, but surprised it works—if it works,” Lynn replied.

  “We need some dark, flat rocks, almost black if we can get 'em,” said Jess.

  “Why?” asked Lynn. “Won't that make it too heavy?”

  “When the rocks get hot in there, they'll heat the water up and stay hot a long time. At least we'll get a hundred feet worth of hot water per shower, you know, from the hose.”

  The two got the wheelbarrow. They wheeled past the front porch, headed for the creek bed. “We're going to the stream to get rocks,” Lynn called out to Jared. Before they could leave the front yard, Jared came out of the front door holding his AR-15 in his good arm, trying to catch up to them. “Hold up you two, gosh darnit!”

  Once the flat, dark, creek rocks were gathered, they were moved to the house and heaped near the solar water heater.

  Using Emma's ladder, the teens placed the box on the roof over the kitchen. Jess pointed the glass of the box's lid toward the sun.

  “What about legs on the back to give it more tilt? The sun's not shining right into the box,” said Lynn.

  “Uh huh. Let's make them adjustable. You know, so the box could be tilted when the sun's lower in the sky, like in winter.”

  The rocks were lifted to the roof using a bucket and rope and placed in the box in one flat layer. Many different configurations were tried. Jess even took some rocks down to the ground and bashed them with other rocks, splitting them, to make them fit.

  “Is there enough pressure to get water onto the roof?” asked Lynn.

  “The windmill tank is higher on the hill than the house. As long as the end of the hose is lower than the holding tank, gravity will push it. So, if we hook this hose up to this faucet, and then take the hose up on the roof, water will still come out of the hose in the bathroom.”

  “What made you so smart, Archimedes?”

  “My Dad, I guess.” Jess said, shrugging his shoulders. “He's smart, sometimes.”

  They formed as many concentric loops of hose inside the box, over the rocks, as they could.

  They ran the hose from the heater into the attic, where they placed a “Y” connector. One section of hose dropped through a hole in the ceiling into the kitchen, and the other through a hole into the bathroom. Emma pulled the length of hose down into the kitchen sink. She cut it, then attached a connector and a garden sprayer to it. She repeated the process in the bathroom. Voila! A handheld hot water sprayer in the kitchen and bath. Both of the hoses were left long so they could be used in more than one part of the room.

  While Lynn was working, Jess had gathered pipe insulation, which he used to cover the hoses after it left the water heater.

  “Time to test the system,�
�� said Jess. Emma stood ready inside.

  “Jared, open the water faucet,” Jess called.

  Emma opened the sprayer in the kitchen. Air rushed out as water filled the hose. Soon, hot water flowed from the nozzle.

  “Turn it off. Turn it off!” Jess yelled.

  Jared twisted the faucet handle as fast as his good hand could go. A small leak sprayed from a connection inside the box, and the teens removed the glass. Jess reached for the connector, but Lynn slapped his hand away.

  Jess stared at her. “What?”

  “Hot water, silly! I'll get some gloves for both of us. We need to go back into the attic and see if there are any leaks there, too.”

  Soon, the connections were tightened and Lynn was positioned to watch for leaks in the attic. This time the water stayed in the piping.

  Lynn and Jess dropped through the attic hatch and headed back outside to the roof. Emma stood on the kitchen counter and used expanding foam insulation, scavenged from the hardware store in town, to seal the holes in her ceiling. She sent Jared outside with the can to throw to the teens on the roof so they could seal the heater. Jess and Lynn secured the double-paned glass to the top of the water heater box.

  “Wow, Dad really will be impressed!” Jess said.

  “I want to be the first to take a hot shower,” Lynn said, running for the house.

  Lynn and Jess ran straight down the hall and into the bathroom.

  “What if the water is too hot?” Lynn thought out loud. She opened the sprayer carefully and directed the flow into the tub. It was hot, but not scalding. She moved her hand back into the flow and held it there for a few seconds. It was very hot. Maybe it would cool down as more volume moved through the hose. Yes, she thought, you can probably regulate the temperature by adjusting the water flow.

  “Get out, get out!” Lynn said impatiently to Jess, pointing at the bathroom door. She slammed it as Jess's foot cleared the threshold.

  Lynn showered and proved her mixing theory correct. Ahhhhh, a nice, hot shower. She washed her hair three times, using as little soap as she could, and rinsed it thoroughly. This was a true luxury. She found that a nice, small flow made the temperature just right. She had to be careful to leave it running though, or the water was warm from where it had been sitting in the attic, then suddenly too hot when the water from the heating chamber made it to the sprayer head.