“What did you survive on? What did you eat?”
“We went to the storage rooms for the school cafeteria. They looked like they’d just gotten a delivery of food. There were dozens and dozens of cases of things, from canned goods to pasta, to oatmeal and powdered potatoes. And a whole freezer full of meats. Enough to feed an army. Or at least, several hundred hungry teenagers.
“We were the first ones there, but we knew there would be others. So just before the meteorite hit, we took all of the boxed goods and hid them in the locker room in the gymnasium. In the girls showers. We figured that would be the last place anybody would look.”
“What about the frozen stuff?”
“We knew it would get very cold once the meteorite hit and it went dark. So as soon as the sky went black, even before the power went out, we moved all of the frozen food and hid it too. The temperatures dropped so fast once the sky went dark, it never really had a chance to thaw out.
“For about three weeks, people kept coming. Sometimes single people, looking for food, sometimes whole families. We pretended we did the same thing they did. Just stopped by for food, and found there wasn’t any. We even showed them where the cafeteria was so they could check for themselves.
“We purposely ate only what we needed to survive, and I think that helped convince them. We looked just as hungry as they did. A couple of them invited us to go along with them. We told them no, we were just staying long enough to fix our car, and then we were headed back east.
“The reality was, we knew we had a safe place to stay, and food to eat, at least for awhile. And the school had a swimming pool. We knew we had plenty of water to drink too. We knew we could survive there, and we weren’t sure what was available out in the world. So we chose to stay.
“I’ll tell you what, though. My wife and I are pretty sure we’re going to burn in hell for what we did. We send hungry people on their way to starve to death when we had food. Children and babies included. There’s no way we’ll escape God’s vengeance for doing that.”
Marty had a different belief.
“Look, there have been many times over the last six years when I’ve wondered if there even was a God. I still wonder sometimes. But if there is, I doubt He’d hold it against you for making sure your own children survived. And they did. So just dwell on that for now.”
“I suppose you’re right. I only have dollars in my wallet. We came across another man selling food off the back of a truck, but he only accepted silver or gold. I’m sorry, we don’t have silver of gold, but if you don’t accept dollars for food we’ll be glad to work it off. Pump gas or sweep floors or something.”
Marty waved the man’s money away.
“We’re not here to make a profit. We’re here because we’re all alone in the world and there’s nowhere else to go. We’re just running the place because there’s nothing else to do with our time, so maybe we can help others out. Just take whatever you need, and I’m a pretty good mechanic. I’ll take a look at your car and make sure it’ll make it to wherever you’re going.”
The man smiled for the first time.
“Oh, don’t bother. I stole a brand new car off an abandoned Chevy dealer’s lot in Kerrville. I figured they were just sitting there gathering dust, and like I said I expect to burn in hell anyway.”
Marty laughed.
“Well, we’ve got the pumps up and running, and filled the underground tanks with the gasoline from a tanker left on the highway. The sign out front says Fina, and the truck said Exxon, but it works just the same.”
Within another week or so, they were averaging twenty people a day. Each had their own story to tell, of heartache and suffering. And nearly all of them had lost loved ones. Marty thought back to that first family who’d come in. The ones who’d lived in a school for six and a half years. And he wondered if they realized how truly lucky they were to have all survived.
They’d heard the same stories over and over of men commandeering abandoned trucks along the highway and trading the goods for silver or gold. It sickened them to know that there were those who continued to prey on people who’d been through so much already.
They rationalized that, although what they were doing wasn’t all that different, at least they were doing it to help others, instead of getting rich.
And they helped in other ways, too, besides providing food and clothing. Marty was able to get the truck stop’s boilers working, as well as its well pumps. Travelers had a chance to get a hot shower and a new set of clothing after they’d filled their bellies.
And over and over again, they’d tell Marty and Lenny that it was the simple things in life they’d missed the most. The simple pleasure of being clean, with a full belly. For many, it was the first time they’d felt human in years.
Chapter 16
Hannah was fascinated. She’d never used a ham radio before. She was getting ready to pull her first shift at the console since they’d started monitoring broadcasts from around the world.
John was briefing her on how to use it.
“Is it safe to talk on it?”
“No. We’re not ready to risk that. Not just yet.
“Stay off the microphone and just listen. And log in anything you think might help shed some light on what’s going on in the outside world.”
“Pardon me for saying so, but you sound just a little bit paranoid. Do you think there are people out there who would do us harm?”
“The short answer is ‘yes.’ If you want the long answer, here it is. We have things that most people don’t have. Farm animals we can eat. Seeds we can grow crops with. Equipment we can harvest our crops with. People have gotten used to just taking what they need to survive, even if they have to take it at gunpoint. And if word gets out that we have these things, it’ll spell trouble. I think people will come from near and far to take them from us.
“I’m also concerned about the government coming. You know that old joke about people just showing up at your doorstep and saying they’re from the government and they’re here to help you?
“Well, I also think there’s a possibility of that happening. That the government will try to come in and take our livestock and say it’s for the good of the people. Just so they can take it and kill it and feed their own families and cronies.
“You asked a five cent question and I gave you a twenty five dollar answer. And yes, I might be a little bit paranoid, but that’s what I’m afraid of.
“The government has the technology to zero in a transmission real time via their satellites. But they don’t share that capability with just anybody, because then others could use it against them.”
“Interesting. So how do we protect ourselves?”
“Oh, that’s easy. Stay off the microphone. Nobody can track us if all we’re doing is listening.”
The radio suddenly came to life. The scan function was on, and it was picking up a survivor in Australia talking to someone in England.
“Sydney is decimated. Probably fifty thousand survivors at best. The city government is trying to get up and running again, but they have no money to hire employees. The central bank has collapsed, and our old Australian dollar is now worthless. The mayor is trying to develop a policy by which they commandeer the land and houses of people who didn’t survive the freeze, and then award a house and property to a city employee in exchange for a year’s work.”
“Well, that sounds like it might work. Here in Birmingham our main problem is the bodies. We’ve got plenty of volunteers to help gather them and burn them. But there are just so many. A thousand bodies for every volunteer. And the doctors are warning of a plague if we don’t get them all gathered and burned. It’s dreadful. Simply dreadful.”
As they listened, John took out a fresh new logbook. He entered the date and the radio frequency, and a few cryptic notes:
Sydney, Australia: 50,000 left alive.
Birmingham, England: Unknown number of survivors.
“After a few weeks of
listening in, I hope to have a pretty good idea how many survivors are out there. Of course, we’ll focus mostly on two things: who is still alive here in our area, and whether or not they’re friendlies. And little pieces of information that can help us. Like, for example, if a plague really does generate from all this, we can keep an eye on it, or at least an ear on it. We’ll be able to tell from radio broadcasts where it’s at and whether it’s made its way into our area.”
Mark walked up and caught the last part of the conversation. But he wanted to talk about something else besides death and plagues.
“John, can I ask you your opinion, as a lawman?”
“Sure, Mark. About what?”
“The other day, when Bryan and Brad and I went to pick up the seed planter… we passed a truck stop along the way, on Highway 83. There were dozens and dozens of trailers, parked along both shoulders of the highway. So many they couldn’t fit in the truck stop any more. We think the truck drivers just abandoned their loads there so they could go home to their families.”
“Yes. Just before CNN blacked out they did a story on that. Said it was happening all over the country.”
“Bryan and I have been struggling with the idea of grabbing some of those trailers and bringing them into the yard. On the one hand, it would be stealing. I mean, the goods in those trailers obviously don’t belong to us. But the stuff in them… the food, the clothing, the supplies, could certainly help us to survive in the years ahead.
“But beyond the morality of it all, whether it’s right or wrong, there’s the legal aspect. If we do bring some of them into the yard, does that make us criminals?”
“And you want my opinion on the matter, as a former cop.”
“Yes.”
“Well, you can’t be a criminal until you’ve been formally tried and convicted of a crime. Whether or not it’s a crime to use something that once belonged to a company that’s surely no longer in business and likely never will be again? Technically, I doubt it.
“You have to remember that our legal framework has been destroyed. It just doesn’t exist anymore. And if it did, or rather when it reforms again at some point in the future, I don’t think they’re going to prosecute anybody for doing things they had to do to survive. Shot, they’d have to prosecute everybody, probably. Including maybe themselves.
“So no, I don’t think you have a legal dilemma at all. If you don’t take it somebody else will. But it’s a damn safe bet that the corporations that once owned it aren’t getting it back again.
“In my opinion, the only dilemma you have is a moral one. Do you think God would approve? I think that God enabled us to survive to help repopulate and rebuild His earth. And I think He would want us to use whatever was at our disposal to do that. So if it was up to me to make that decision, or if I get a vote, I say go for it. Pick the best trailers and bring them back here, before other survivors beat you to it.”
“Thank you, John. What are you going to do with the radio logbook?”
“We’ll leave it right here on the counter, next to the activity log. Anybody who’s curious can pick it up and read it anytime. And if we happen to hear anything important, we can discuss it at our weekly get togethers.”
“Thank you, John. You’ve been a big help.”
Mark took Hannah’s hand and they walked to room 112, which had been designated as the grade school for the younger children. At the present time, there were only four children in the grade school. Little Markie was the youngest, but according to Karen, the teacher, he was also the most inquisitive and the one most eager to learn.
It was almost three p.m., and time to get out for the day.
They’d promised him that if he behaved in school, they’d let him help feed the pigs and chickens before dinner.
Markie loved feeding the pigs and chickens. Because he made them earn their food by letting him chase them around their pens first.
And Hannah liked watching him. There had been so few things in Markie’s young life that allowed him to just be a boy, and have fun. This was one of them, and it brought Hannah at least as much joy as it did for Markie.
Chapter 17
During the years they’d been in the mine, the group had done a great job taking care of their vehicles. One of the bays in the back of the mine had been designated the group’s motor pool. That was where all of the vehicles were stored and closely cared for by two volunteers.
The vehicles were started twice a week and allowed to run for several minutes to keep the engines lubricated and the batteries charged. They were even driven short distances periodically to keep the wheel bearing grease from settling.
As a result, all of the vehicles were in good running condition when they were relocated from the mine to the compound next door.
Including the two Kenworth trucks.
Bryan was much more experienced as a driver. During the preparations to the mine in the months before Saris 7 struck the earth, he’d gone to a commercial driving school. He’d gotten his trucker’s license, and had been certified to drive a fuel tanker. And then he’d leased a tanker and driven it to and from Corpus Christi to purchase diesel fuel in bulk.
That’s where the diesel that had powered the mine’s generators had come from.
So even though it had been many years since he’d driven a tractor trailer, Bryan was fairly experienced in doing so.
And he found it was a lot like riding a bicycle. Once you did it, you never really forgot how.
Brad knew how to drive a rig from his Army days in Kaiserslautern, Germany. His job was driving big rigs with tanks on the back, to and from maintenance depots.
The three of them went together again: Mark, Bryan and Brad. Just like when they went to pick up the seed planting rig.
Actually, they could have gone without Mark. But it was nice to have a backup with a weapon in case they came across someone who wasn’t friendly.
Their game plan was simple. They’d inspect the dropped trailers on the eastbound shoulder of highway 83. Those could be picked up and driven directly back to the compound, without having to drive farther west for a place to turn around.
And there were plenty to choose from.
Just as they had during their earlier mission, the three gathered at the gate to say goodbye to their girls. Mark held Hannah and kissed her, and told her he loved her. She told him he’d better be careful, or she was going to kick his ass when he returned.
“And if you see any hot chicks hitch hiking along the road, don’t even think about picking them up.”
Bryan faked disappointment.
“Oh, man! That’s the only reason we were going, was to pick up the hot chicks!”
Sarah punched him in the arm. Then she said, “I love you, baby. Be careful out there.”
“I will. I promise.”
Sami merely kissed Brad and looked at him longingly. She was the most worried. She was nervous by nature, and convinced herself ahead of time that Brad would never return alive. Of course, she’d done the same thing before the three went after the planter and they’d all returned safely. She hoped she was wrong again, and that Brad would come back to her again.
In any event, they’d talked it all out before breakfast. There wasn’t much more to say.
Tony opened the gate and the two rigs bobtailed it out into the world. Bryan’s tractor was in the lead, with Mark riding shotgun. Brad kept the two vehicles tight, only an eighth of a mile between them as they rumbled down the road toward Eden.
They passed all the abandoned trailers, but had to go another quarter mile to find a place to turn around. The narrow two lane state highway just wasn’t wide enough, without using both shoulders to give them some extra turning room.
On the way back, they stopped in the roadway and put on their emergency flashers. John had been monitoring the traffic on Highway 83 from a camera mounted on top of the wind turbine. He couldn’t see as far as the trailers were dropped, but he had a pretty good indication of traffic on th
e highway heading toward or from Junction.
“We’ve averaged only four cars per day for the last several days. Probably people living in one of the small towns around here going to and from the trucks to gather their own food. You probably won’t meet any other people, but be wary if you do.”
Just in case they did meet someone, Mark stood in the roadway, his AR-15 rifle charged and at the ready, while Bryan and Brad went from trailer to trailer and broke the metal seals on the back of each one. Some had padlocks and some didn’t, but the padlocks were no match for the bolt cutters that Brad carried with them.
Opening up each trailer, they crawled inside and looked around to see if there was anything they could use.
The first trailer they found that they wanted to keep was bound for a home improvement center. The big orange trailer was full of tools, hardware and household goods, as well as gardening supplies. Three pallets were potting soil, and another two pallets were plant food. They thought Karen might be able to use many of the items in her greenhouse operations.
Three trailers farther was a trailer bound for the K-Mart store in nearby Junction. It was full of a little bit of everything, but mostly clothing, shoes and small appliances. Things they were certain to need, either now or at some point in the future.
As they progressed down the line of trucks, Bryan took a black grease pencil and wrote a large “X” on the front panel of each trailer they’d take with them.
After three hours, they’d identified nineteen trailers they wanted, and hooked their tractors up to the first two.
Another half hour later, John finally got the word he’d been hoping for.
“Okay, John, we’re pulling off of the highway now. No problems at all. Never even saw another vehicle.”
“Ten-four. Tony, did you copy?”
“I copied. Opening the gate.”
Bryan and Brad parked the first two trailers next to the frozen food trucks they’d brought out of the mine. Then they went back for more.
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