John and Masako would take one of the satellite phones obtained during the takeover attempt by the Triad group and would contact the lodge when they had determined the situation. George said he would use the flat bed eighteen wheeler obtained with the culverts to transport the tractor, the gasifier, tools, the Dark Demon and a few other items. While John and Masako were gone, George, Fred and Chung would make several scavenger runs to the local filling station to obtain as much diesel fuel as possible.
That night, they re-hashed the whole plan with the group, in detail, so that everyone would know their jobs. John concluded by saying, "Much work must be done and we don't know when the government will be back and at what strength. Perhaps, they will drop a few bombs on the front lawn, as a show of force. That would impress everyone. It would cause us to do whatever they told us. I don't want to live as a slave. I don't want to see that day arrive. I don't think I would live through that day."
After John had finished talking, Fred said, "Won't the government be watching us and see our convoy in their satellite pictures?"
"In the old days, maybe so. But today, they don't have enough people to look at all the satellite data. Maybe it's going into a computer somewhere, but my bet is that those computers shutdown months ago and the data isn't being stored anywhere. Besides, we can space out our convoy a bit and maybe they won't see it. Maybe you guys can paint the top of the vehicles with some kind of camouflage colors. Use your imagination."
Masako sat in an overstuffed chair, looking calm. Finally, she said, "Perhaps the cave isn't going to be our new world. Perhaps our new world will be traveling from place to place like a band of gypsies. We were only here for six months and we spent weeks traveling from Asia."
"Maybe so. Hard to say. We'll take each day as it comes." John's heart wasn't really into this move. He wished the government had not disrupted his plans for his group. They were doing well. They were going to survive. But, he knew they had to move. He didn't want to move because he was forced to. He hated what the government was doing to them.
"Maybe we should find some RV's and put solar panels on the roof," said Masako.
"That would still require gasoline. Before long, Fred and George won't be able to find a gas pump they can hack or a gas tank which has gas. Then, our RV's would be dead. I thought you liked the idea of the caves. It was your idea. Don't back out of it now. We'll need luck and lots of work to find a new place."
"Yes, but the RV would be for a bug out vehicle the next time we go. We could take everyone in one vehicle."
John looked over at George and said, "What do you say, George. Would an RV or a boat make sense as a long term option."
"Probably not, good buddy. Boats are slow. Easy to find. Hard to defend. Easy to sink. And as you say, RV's need fuel. Each time we go past that gas station up north, I remember the time when Joe was burned to a crisp. That was the worst night of my life," George said with a shudder of his whole body.
* * *
The morning had a crispness to it. A fresh start to a new phase of the group's lives. John and Masako spent the night in the warehouse for an early start for Kentucky.
"You really believe this has a chance, John," said Masako as they left the warehouse in the Dart train.
"I suppose it has a better chance than anything I thought of. Like I keep saying, we must go somewhere. The government knows who we are and where we are. And they are, no doubt, pissed that seventeen of their agents have disappeared after talking to us. Maybe they could believe that most died of the plague, but not all. We still have many problems to solve, even if we find an unoccupied cave or a cave with people willing to share. We'll need to build a new greenhouse. Reinstall the gasifier. Run wires for power. Find a place to grow food. A place to store the cars out of sight of passersby and satellites. A place for solar panels. I suppose we'll all live in tents inside the cave. And we will explore our new environment." The last sentence excited John a little. A different place. New challenges.
"But, you didn't believe it had a chance before. You sound more positive now."
"Only a small number of caves exist. And some will be occupied. The people in the caves will not want any outsiders to come in. The odds aren't good. If this doesn't work, the backup plan would be to find a coal mine. At least that way, we would have fuel without going outside in the cold to find it."
"I don't like that. We'd never be able to keep it clean."
John half-laughed. "Coal isn't dirty. It would be clean. It just wouldn't look clean."
"Poh-tay-toe, poh-tah-toe. No difference to me."
At that John broke out in a full laughter.
* * *
As they rode the train through Tennessee, John pointed out the area where they went to find the wild boars. "We stopped right here. And just up ahead, we found a cow. I'm hoping we can find more animals in our new home. But, this place is closer to our new home than our last. It should be easier and quicker to come here. Less people used to live here. Before the virus, this area was not densely populated. I'm hoping the people who did live here didn't kill off all the animals."
"Me, too," she said, her eyes glossy, remembering how her life depended on that pill she took each day.
He reached over and hugged her. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. You almost died."
"I'm still not in the best shape. Pierre says my thyroid is shutting down and he is increasing the dosage. He showed me how to make the pills and he taught me to take my own temperature, under my arm. I watched him remove the thyroid from that cow head you brought back. That was so gross, but I suppose I am to the point where I can handle my own condition. It still worries me. It's something I must do every day, that is, take the pills. And every month, I must make pills by killing some animal. Not my idea of a great new world."
John used a finger to wipe the tear running down her cheek. "I'll take care of you. One way or another. If you want me to take over making the pills, I will. Don't worry."
Masako smiled and put her hand on his. "I know, John. It isn't that I don't trust you. It's just that our lives have become so brutal. Now, I will kill something every month for the rest of my life to stay alive."
John looked into her deep brown eyes and wished life was better. He wished he could tell her what was in his mind. But, he couldn't. The image of Cho filled his mind, blocking everything. He let out a deep breath.
"We've always killed animals to eat to stay alive. This is no different. You didn't kill them, but somebody did. It has always been a brutal world. The brutality was just hidden inside some building we never saw." He stopped speaking, picked up his binoculars and put them to his eyes. "Something ahead." He moved the throttle lever back to close the damper on the gasifier, pulled back the brake lever and took his rifle out of its storage compartment between him and Masako.
Taking out her rifle, she said, "What do you see?"
He handed her the binoculars. "What do you see?"
She adjusted the focus, twisting the knob. "Oh, a pile of wood. We can handle that. You moved a bigger one when we went to the coast. You're strong. I'll help."
"The logs are not the problem. As before, the people who put the logs there are the problem. The logs could be a way to stop traffic for a hijacking. Or it could be a warning of something ahead. Maybe somebody else has a car that runs on the rails or a bicycle and they want to keep others off their tracks. In any case, we need to investigate before we proceed. John shifted another lever and reopened the throttle and released the brake. The train began to go backwards."
Masako's eyes widened. "I thought you couldn't go backwards because of the risk of a carbon monoxide leak?"
"Don't worry. After George was nearly killed, he seal-welded all connections on the gasifier at home and this one too. Because this one is outside, the risk was always minimal. He just wanted to make sure it was as safe as it could be."
After backing a quarter mile, they stopped and John used their ax to remove branches from surrounding trees to camou
flage the front and back of their little four-car train.
They slowly made their way through the edge of the forest surrounding the tracks until they arrived at the barrier. Other than the pile of logs, they saw no evidence of people. John walked all around looking for footprints. He made sure not to leave any of his own by raking the ground with one of the branches he had cut.
"Let's walk ahead of the barrier and look around. See if anything strange is going on. It won't take long."
"How about I walk ahead and you start removing the logs. Radio me when you're finished. I'll radio you if I find anything."
"You sure you'll be alright?"
She opened her fanny pack and pulled out Elspeth's giant, .45 caliber pistol. "This and the rifle will protect me. I'll put off a shot if I'm in trouble," she said, walking off, whistling, with one arm swinging back and forth with the big pistol in her hand, her rifle in the other.
"Be careful." Why am I saying that? She'll get herself in trouble, John thought. Was this bravado caused by her believing she would die from her thyroid problem or because of living through so many near-death situations?
Chapter 79 - Another Threat
John removed the logs, dragging one end of each just enough to be able to drive the dart train through. Every few minutes, he stopped to listen and every chance he had, he looked around for evidence of any other people. He finished moving the logs half an hour later. Masako had disappeared around the curve far ahead and was no longer in view.
He gathered all of the smaller logs and put them on the flatbed car as future fuel for the gasifier. For the smallest, he lifted the lid on the combustor and put them in. Waste not want not. That's why this was such great technology for a vehicle. Fuel was everywhere.
He pressed the button on his radio two times, but heard no response. Hopefully Masako was just out of range around the curve. He jumped into the train, pressed the starter button and barely opened the throttle, closing the small bypass that allowed the combustor to continue running. He proceeded slowly and kept the window open. The engine didn't make much noise, but it made enough that he wouldn't be able to hear something unless it was as loud as a gunshot. And he hoped he didn't hear a gunshot.
As he rounded the curve, he saw something on the rails ahead in the distance. Not another pile of lumber, he thought. He pulled out the binoculars for a better view. No, not a pile of lumber. Two people. One, thin with long dark hair, could be Masako, but he wasn't sure. Another, shorter, thin with blonde hair. He moved the throttle lever back and pulled out his rifle. As he moved closer, the binoculars showed that one of the two was indeed Masako, but the other was a woman John had never seen. At about one hundred feet from them, he closed the throttle and pulled the brake lever. The train stopped ten feet from the two women.
Getting out, he could see Masako was smiling and talking to the other woman like an old friend. Carrying the rifle, he walked up to the two.
"John, this is Penny. She lives over there," Masako pointed her pistol toward a house across the valley, at the base of a mountain, half a mile away. "She and her husband were attacked a few weeks ago by some people. I invited her to go with us. She says she has been to most of the commercial caves in Kentucky and a few private ones. She can help us find a new home."
"Hi, Penny. Why was the railroad blocked? Did you do that?"
"My husband, Victor, saw some people. They had some kind of bicycle thing and it traveled on the rails. They passed through one day going east. My Victor put the logs there. We can see the logs from a spot on the hill, behind the house. He thought that would tell us if they came back. Perhaps give us some warning. But, they stopped at the logs and found our house, probably from the smoke. We usually don't start a fire until after dark. If he hadn't put the logs there, they probably would have passed on." She stopped talking to wipe her eyes. "I wish I had thought of that."
John looked at Masako and said, "You know, we are in a bit of a hurry. We can't wait around for days for Penny to pack all her stuff. And the train is almost full. We can't carry much. Maybe a couple suitcases. We could pile some of our things on top of the flatbed to make space for her."
Penny perked up and said, "No problem. I'll throw some things into a couple suitcases and we can be gone in thirty minutes, if you'll help me bring them back."
John's current level of trust didn't extend to going to someone's house where an ambush might take place. It also didn't include waiting in the open for thirty minutes while an attack could be arranged. To the south of the tracks was a small river, making escape difficult in that direction. The only cover was on the north side, the side where an attack would be launched. So, if they were attacked, resistance would be futile. They would be killed.
"Penny, that pile of logs could be useful to us as fuel for our train. We'll go back and pickup some more and you can meet us there in half an hour. How would that be?"
"I could go back and help her pack."
John moved his eyes right and left, hoping Masako would pick on it as meaning no. He didn't think she caught his signal. "It would be better if you helped me with the logs, Masako. We may not have enough fuel to take us there tonight and we may not be able to find a good place to camp. Better safe than sorry." John went over to the Dart Train, leaned against it, looked down at the tracks and absentmindedly began tapping on the side. Two taps. One tap. Two taps. He repeated the sequence and then looked over at Masako.
Masako straightened up when she heard the tapping and then turned toward John. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Sure. If you're worried about our fuel supply. I'll help gather some wood. Like you say, better safe than sorry." She turned back to Penny and said, "Half an hour, back at the lumber pile. We may need your help to load some of the bigger pieces."
"Sure. I'll be there. I'll hurry."
As Penny scurried off toward her house, John and Masako climbed into the first car of the Dart Train. John pushed the control to put the train into reverse and opened the throttle slowly. After the train had backed a few hundred feet, John closed the throttle.
"What's going on, John? Why don't you trust her? She was nice."
"I don't know. Nerves. It just hit me when she said she could see the wood pile from her house, that she probably saw me moving the logs. Maybe her husband isn't dead. Maybe she was sent out to stop us while a trap was set up by him or others."
Masako glanced in Penny's direction and then back at John. "Are you sure you aren't being paranoid? And if they are going to jump us, what good is going back to the lumber pile? You said we didn't have a choice about this leg of the trip. It would cost us hours to go around. We would definitely arrive after dark."
"To go to her house, she goes behind some trees and through a valley. She won't be able to see us. We'll move ahead and then decide what to do. We can come back and watch."
Masako once again looked forward. "She'll be able to hear the train. Except for a few chirping birds and the gurgle of the stream, this place is quiet. Dead quiet. If we went forward, she'd hear it."
John tilted his head and thought for a second. "Not necessarily. We'll pedal it. I can open up the floor and uncover the pedals in five minutes. Then, we pedal ahead, stop where we want and sneak back through the woods."
Masako's spoke rapidly when she said, "What if they are a gang of six or eight? We wouldn't be in a defensible position. Only trees for cover. They would still be able to surround us and wipe us out."
John laid a soft hand on her arm, trying to calm her. "You've been reading my military strategy books again. In that case, we creep back to the train and high-tail it out of here before they see us."
She stiffened her body. "Make it so, Number One. She just seemed so nice."
They climbed out of the train car and John started removing the panels from the floor, exposing the pedals.
"Did you ever see an insurance salesman who wasn't nice? If I'm right, she was sent to flag us down, if we made it through the barrier before th
ey were ready. She was their insurance. They didn't count on my extra strength, but they did give themselves insurance. Smart move."
"She could be telling the truth, you know."
John removed the last panel from the floor and looked up at Masako. "Yes. In that case, we'll have won. But I want to win in any case, in every case. Too much is stake to gamble. It's not only our lives, but the lives of our friends too. We must make it to those caves and we must find one we can live in and soon. My plan will cost us some effort in walking, but no more lost time. We're waiting for her anyway. Climb aboard."
John stepped into the train and helped Masako.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," Masako said with an apologetic tone in her voice. "I was so happy to see another person, a normal person, that I didn't consider the possibilities. I still hope you're wrong."
"We both hope I'm wrong. Start pedaling."
Ten minutes later, they stopped the train around the next curve and began making their way back through the woods. "Masako, did you notice how thin Penny was?" John whispered.
"Yes. Does she have a thyroid problem, too?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's just hungry. Did you know you had thyroid problems all along?"
She stopped and gazed down at her dirty shoes and then back up at John. "Are you sorry you picked damaged goods for your team?"
"No way, but a heads-up would have been good. Any more things I should know about?"
"No, of course not?" She slapped him on the shoulder.
"How about things you don't believe I should know about, but I really should?"
"That's crazy. Look over there," she said, pointing an index finger toward the pile of logs. "I think I saw a head sticking up."
John took off his backpack and pulled out his binoculars. "I don't see anything. Just a log sticking up. Let's wait here. It's only been twenty minutes."
After another ten minutes passed, Penny made her way out of the woods with two suitcases and onto the tracks, going behind the pile of wood. She stooped down and John heard voices.
The Weak Shall Die: Complete Collection (Four Volume Set) Page 80