End World : Horizons

by David Peters

  “This thing explodes?” he asked with concern as he took a step back.

  “No. At least I don’t think so. I guess it could. It shouldn’t though. It’s kind of funny that when you break down water you get two, highly flammable gases.”

  “Yeah, Travis, it’s just hilarious,” John said sarcastically.

  Travis shrugged, “I thought it was.”

  “When are you going to turn off the turbine?”

  The shack fell silent as Travis hit the red button on the wall of the generator room, “Now is a really good time.”

  “Damn it, Travis!” John said as he looked at the control panel. One by one, the needles dropped to zero and the green lights turned red.

  “One second, man, just chill out. It’s all good.”

  Travis finished bolting the second lead on and spun the nuts down finger tight. He quickly tightened them down with a socket wrench then ran through the quick checklist and flipped the power reset. The gearing initiated with a slight hum then the high-pitched whine of the turbine began to build.

  “There you go, it didn’t even spin all the way down.” He tilted his head in thought for a moment, “I wonder if those were still hot when I did that? I guess I should have thought that through better, Doc would have killed me if I had barbecued myself.” He shrugged, “Oh well.”

  John hovered around the generator as he looked for any sign of damage, “Don’t ever do that again,” he continued running down the litany of dials and gages, “looks like everything is normal.”

  Travis turned the valve at the bottom of the tank, stopping the flow from the hose. The cold water was causing moisture from the overly-warm power shed to condense on the small windows he had installed. With the tubes full, he shut off the water and turned on the power switch. He couldn’t hear anything different but tiny bubbles began forming on the metal leads. They would grow and slowly rise to the surface.

  Travis flipped several switches on the box welded to the side of the ancient wheelbarrow, “Now it sits. I have a few more things to do. Make sure no one touches this, okay?”

  “Okay, whatever you say. To be honest,” he added with a grin, “if they know it’s something you made they will probably be afraid of it. As far as that goes, I think I’ll put a sign up on the door warning everyone that you are running an experiment inside. That should keep everyone a good fifty feet away from my shed.”

  Travis threw him another smile, “Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you.”

  John shook his head as he watched Travis run off toward one of the storage sheds, “You’re going to give me a coronary one of these days, Travis!”

  “Just don’t tell Doc it was my fault,” he yelled as he ran down the path toward the center of town.

  ~4~

  “Come on, Erica, you know I’m good for it!” Travis pleaded as he looked over her shoulder into the open storage shed.

  “Will you just tell me what you are working on? You are asking for more than a hundred meters of cable. That’s what, like a third of our entire inventory?” she asked as she stood in the middle of the doorway.

  “I’m just weird about doling out any details on my projects until I have something to show for it. That’s just how I’ve always worked. It has nothing to do with you. If what I’m working on fails, I don’t hammer anyone’s expectations. I have a pretty big fear of failure and the minute you tell someone what you are doing the chances of that happening go up.”

  “That’s all in your head and you know it.”

  “I know that and you know that but my over-active brain doesn’t know that. It’s just how I’m wired.”

  “Okay, I can understand that. If we are going to play the game, let’s play this one out. I’ve been through this enough times. First off, what’s in it for me?”

  Travis feigned shock, “Well, well, well! My bride-to-be wants to negotiate the sticker price. Alright, now we are talking. Lay it on me. What’s it going to take?” He waved her forward with his hands, “Give me your best shot. Let’s wheel and deal.”

  “I need a new hand-truck to move stuff around. The wheels on the last one have pretty much given out and I’m tired of moving cases of crap one by one.”

  “Did you have a color in mind? Trim package?”

  “I just want it to work, don’t be a smartass.”

  “Done. What else? That cable is worth more than two rubber tires and a little bit of steel-framed welding.”

  “I want you to set a date. A real, solid, actual number that exists on a calendar that human beings use. A time, on a specific date, that isn’t very far in the future.”

  Travis’ head snapped back, “Wow. You went full nuke on me, I wasn’t expecting that.” He paced back and forth with his hand on his head as he thought about it.

  “You’ve been putting it off for almost a year now. We already live together, I just thought...” her voice trailed off as she shrugged her shoulders.

  Travis sat down on a nearby bench and patted the empty spot next to him. Erica sat down and leaned into him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

  “I’m sorry, babe,” he said quietly. “It isn’t because I don’t want to, it’s because I want it to be special. Like Caperson and Jen’s or the one your mom and dad did, you know? Something that we can talk about with our kids. Something that the whole town can talk about, celebrate. People will say ‘Wow, that was the best wedding ever’.”

  “It doesn’t have to be.”

  “Yes, yes it does. It has to be something so damn special that we never forget it.”

  “Why? Why is it so hard for you to just commit?”

  “You think I’m not committed?” he said as he shook his head in shock and repeated, “You think that I’m not committed? You are my world and I couldn’t live without you in it. You know that. You feel it, don’t you?”

  She nodded slightly then quietly added, “Yeah, of course I can feel it.” She felt the ring on her finger, “I guess I just want it to be official.”

  “Why?”

  “Why do I want to get married?”

  Travis shook his head, “No, no. I mean why does it have to be official?”

  “Because when I’m sitting down to tea with my friends, the conversation always turns to that.”

  “Why would that come up?”

  “Well, you are kind of famous in the town. Or infamous, depending on who you talk to. You are a celebrity here and conversation always turns to what you are working on and when we are getting married. I just want to be able to say a specific day for once.”

  “Just because we have a ceremony doesn’t mean it will be any more than it already is. It will be a memory, that’s all it will be, so let me make the time and place right. It’s only a ceremony, but it has to mean something. You already have me body and soul.” He pulled her close and squeezed tightly. “Hell, you know I’m not going anywhere, half the town is afraid to let me in their house and the other half just hasn’t put a face to a name.”

  Erica laughed and eased the tension, “Maybe if you would quit burning stuff down or blowing things up?”

  “There is that,” he answered with a nod, “but it is kind of my thing. Besides, even your dad admits that I make some pretty damn good stuff.”

  “I know you do. But it’s kind of fun to jump on the ‘beat Travis up’ bandwagon every now and then.”

  “Then beat away.”

  “I’m sorry I ambushed you like that, I guess I just want something solid.”

  “It wasn’t an ambush, at least I didn’t see it that way. I’ll make it worth the wait, I promise.”

  “Promise?”

  “Have I ever let you down before?”

  “No.”

  “Okay then.”

  “Take all the cable you need.”

  “Thanks, babe.”

  “And write down what you take or I’ll,” she looked flustered for a moment then blurted, “or I’ll have your balls in a vice.”

  Travis loo
ked at her with raised eyebrows.

  “Sorry, think I have been around Caperson too much.”

  Travis laughed and pulled the door open to the shed, “Writing it down as I speak and my balls are quite happy that I am doing so.”

  She called in to the shed as he picked the large roll of cable off the floor, “I still want that dolly fixed. No duct-tape, shoddy patch-up either. I want it like you would fix something for Caperson or my dad. Rock-solid.”

  “Done. Love you, babe.”

  “Love you too,” she said with a smile and a kiss. “Go make something cool.”

  ~5~

  “Come on, Porter! You aren’t using it right now and I really need it. It’s just sitting there collecting dust!”

  “Travis, I’ve already told you that I don’t have any spares. I’ve got that one just in case I need parts if one of the other hose reels fails. This is the only replacement I have left. I just can’t give it up, you of all people should understand that.”

  Travis rested his hand on the motorized fire hose reel. The bright red handcart had the reel, a small electrical motor but the hose itself had long since been rolled off and used somewhere else around the town.

  “What will you trade for it? Is there anything you need more than this thing?”

  Porter looked at Travis, “You really want to play this game with me, son? I may be quiet but I was the best damn poker player you have ever seen. I’m a hell of a lot better at it than you.”

  “I need that hose reel, so I don’t have a lot of choice. Go easy on me, man. You have me over a barrel, or a hose reel I guess.”

  “I want a spur line running from your pump house on the East farm, and it needs to run uphill to the first tier farm.”

  Travis sighed heavily, “Damn, you don’t think small. I think this town is on to me.” Travis shook his head, “How long and how much water does it have to move?”

  “I want to use the old slurry tank down on old Jackson’s ranch as a water cistern. It will give us another ten-thousand or so gallons of water in the summer once it’s filled up. We’ll need it when we start planting down there.”

  Travis grimaced, “Isn’t that tank full of, well, crap?”

  “It was so dry that we were able to shovel everything out of it, you could damn near eat off the floor of that thing now. Dylan nixed the idea because we don’t have the conduit to make it and the steel we had at the time was ear-marked for the western wall extension. I can’t blame him, it’s a pretty big project.”

  “I can make more conduit, there is still a ton of guardrail down on Route Eighty that I can pull off easy enough. Converting it to conduit will be cake now that I have the metal roller working again. The augers will be another issue. I’ll have to make those by hand and they take a long-ass time.”

  “I’m not asking you to do it alone, Travis. I just need your help to make it happen. You want the hose reel, sign on for the new water tank and set some time aside for the trek down to Route Eighty. I’ve got the muscle to help you, I just want you to pitch it to Dylan and Caperson with me.”

  Travis relented, “Fine, but I can’t start it right away.”

  “Not a problem. I can always start the prep work before and we can’t even fill it until late fall anyway,” Porter said as he dropped the reel into the wheelbarrow Travis was pushing. “You finish up all the crap you are promising everyone else to get your secret project done, then you come find me.”

  Travis shook the man’s hand, “You know me well. Thanks, Porter. I’ll be there.”

  ~6~

  “What do you want for it, Ben? Work with me here, I’m ready to deal. You tell me what and I’ll make it happen.”

  “What do I want for it? I don’t want anything. You see the name scrawled all over that stack? Caperson. He had that done for something they are building down near the longhouse. He already has the pad down for it, they are just waiting for it to cure more so it doesn’t twist on him. You want the wood, you get it from Caperson. It ain’t mine to give to anyone. I can’t make a deal with something that ain’t mine.”

  “You must need something. How is the mill running, anything I can improve there, dude? Any problem that I may be able to apply my particular brand of ingenuity to? Remember when I was able to replace your old band for the big blade? That was pretty crafty, right? You must need something.”

  Ben rubbed the scruff of his beard as he eyed Travis, “Okay, surfer boy, if this is the road you want to go down.”

  “What is it with this town and surfing? I’ve never surfed in my life. Heck, I’m not even a big fan of water that isn’t hot, bubbling and surrounded by cup holders. Either way, I’m already down the road, I’m trying to get you to catch up.”

  “I need a rail support system that will let me roll a full-length log from the stack to the cutter guide. Right now we have to move them manually and it’s a pain in the butt. You heard about Darren? Damn near got crushed to death when one of those things shifted unexpectedly. Dylan was pissed but there isn’t any other way right now. We need the lumber cut in order to expand and build housing for those people stacked eight deep in a cabin. I need a way to cut the planks faster and without so damn many injuries.”

  “Okay, if that’s what it takes then, consider it done.”

  “Really? Where are you going to get the steel for that? These trees are heavy! I don’t want you showing up with some converted shelving unit thinking it’s going to hold five or six-hundred pounds of raw log. I want solid steel beams. I don’t want that thing to so much as shake when one of those bad-boys rolls across it.”

  “I already have to make a guardrail trip. I’ll use a few of those and I can pull up the sign posts out there for the supports, they’re like eight-by-ten. Should be cake. I bet I can build it so it will work as a chute and hold several logs at once. If I build a rolling lock, you could have one person feeding them and be perfectly safe.”

  “I don’t think you know what you are getting into,” Ben said as he frowned at the young man. “This is big machinery, not some handle on a cart.”

  “Dude, I know exactly what I’m getting into, it’s how I have been getting stuff done for more than six years now. Heck, I was ticking people off before everything went south and we could buy half the stuff I tinkered with back then.”

  “Alright. Take the wood and I’ll deal with Caperson. Don’t be surprised if he comes looking for you, though. Once he finds out you pilfered his stuff, again I might add, he isn’t going to care what I did or said. He’s going to want your head on a platter.”

  “At this point, he is probably going to have to stand in a fairly long line.”

  ~7~

  Travis pounded in the final nail while John used a level to hold the wall in place vertically.

  “I can’t believe you pulled this off, Travis. There are going to be some seriously pissed off people when they figure out where their stuff went. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now.”

  “That’s why I need to get something to show for it now. The sooner, the better.” He finished the final nail, “Rumor has it that Caperson is tearing the town apart looking for me.” Travis stood up and looked at the final wall, “That should be good, you can let it go.”

  Travis took a step back, “How’s it look from inside?”

  “Good, I guess. I really don’t know what I’m looking at though. You have some crazy stuff in here.”

  “Come on out, John. I don’t want anyone in there for the first run-through. I promised Doc I wouldn’t set anyone on fire or blow them up.”

  Martelli tumbled out of the shed as he struggled to get away from the contraption Travis had built.

  “You said this thing was perfectly safe!”

  “Relax, it isn’t going to blow up. Everything I make is perfectly safe. Until it isn’t safe anymore, but this is perfectly safe.”

  “For now.”

  “Yeah, you get it.”

  The two of them stepped back and looke
d at what seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary shed with a lightly sheeted roof.

  “Everything should be in place now. The turbine is converting more than I had anticipated, my science in it was a little weak so my math was wrong. I’ll give it a few more test runs and then show...”

  John elbowed Travis and cut him off, “I don’t think you are going to get your test runs in, dude. Someone must have known we were up here.” He was pointing down the trail, “Caperson looks pissed and Dylan doesn’t look like he is real happy to see you either.”

  Travis frowned, “Damn, Caperson is a little angrier than I anticipated.”

  John whispered, “Can I have your stuff after they kill you?”

  Travis turned to look down the trail, both Dylan and Caperson were stomping toward them and looked as if they were out for blood.

  “Caperson ain’t going to be happy with just your hide, man,” John said.

  “I see that. At least they don’t have their guns out.”

  “That just means they don’t want it to be a quick death.”

  “Whose side are you on?” Travis asked.

  “I’ll tell you what side I’m on when I find out who wins this.”

  “Thanks for all the support, John.”

  “Don’t get mad at me! I’m not the one that took all their stuff.”

  Caperson yelled from down the trail, “Damn it, Travis! I needed that lumber! What are you doing taking stuff that was already set up for another project?”

  John stepped away from Travis, “Innocent bystander here! Don’t kill me!”

  Travis shook his head and said quietly enough that only John could hear him, “Way to grow a pair, dude.”