"So, you think those old planes would still work, too?"
Tanner smiled and nodded. "I do, and there are still plenty of them around. I think we could do flyer drops, like they used to do in wars. Best way I know to get information to a lot of people at once."
Damon's eyes lit up. "That sounds like a great idea! Question: how do we get in touch with the people with the planes, and how do we print up the flyers?"
"I think in all honesty that's two questions," Tanner teased. "The second is easy. They'll have the capability to print them up in the White House bunker. As I'm sure you know by now, that whole place was shielded. They'll have working computers, printers, copy machines, everything. The first question is a bit harder. I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm working on it. As soon as we get to Washington, I'll put a call in to my home in Kansas and see what the status is there."
"You can use my sat phone, Sir," Damon replied, pulling it off his belt. He held it out to Tanner.
"Thank you, Damon," Tanner said, taking the phone. "I wish I had taken the threat of an EMP attack more seriously. The sat phone I had in New York got fried." He punched in a number and put the phone to his ear.
Damon stood up. "Would you like some privacy, Sir? I can step out of the room."
Tanner shook his head motioning for Damon to sit back down. "This isn't private, Damon. Please, stay."
Damon sat back down as Tanner started speaking to whoever was on the other end of the call.
"Jeff? David. Yes, we're fine." Damon could hear the person named Jeff firing questions at Tanner. "I don't have time to tell you everything right now. I just need to know if the vehicles and the planes still run." Tanner listened, and a smile lit up his face. "Excellent! That's great news! Listen, I want you to get Walt to go over the Cessna and make sure she's ready to go. He'll probably be flying her to Washington." He stopped, and Damon could hear that Jeff was talking but couldn't hear what he was saying. "I'll fill you in on all of it when I get to the White House."
Damon did hear a loud, "The White House?" from the other end. Tanner laughed.
"Later, I promise. I have to go now. I'll talk to you soon, maybe later tonight. Till then." He clicked off the phone and handed it back to Damon. "Thank you. That was my foreman, Jeff Motes. He runs the place out there."
"If I may ask, where is out there?" Damon asked.
"Middle of nowhere Kansas, just north of the Oklahoma state line."
Damon looked concerned. "I'm not a pilot, but I know a little about planes. There's no way a Cessna can fly from Kansas to D.C. on a tank of fuel."
Tanner nodded. "You are correct. He'll have to stop just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, and refuel. There's a small airport there with fuel in drums set aside for us. We mapped out how far it could go in all directions and made sure to have fuel drums set up in small local airports all over the country. It doesn't cost much to rent a few feet of space for a half dozen fuel barrels and the fuel lasts for years without going bad. With no tower to assist, he'll have to have pretty good weather to fly, and he'll have to use course headings and landmarks to get there, but Walt has been flying for thirty years so I'm confident he can do it."
"Wow, that must have taken a long time to coordinate all of those locations. How long have you been working on that setup?" Damon asked in awe.
"About six years. I've always thought how incredibly naive our government was to think that something like this couldn't happen. I mean, a large coronal mass ejection from the sun could have done the same thing, and there is absolutely no way to stop that or defend against it. There are parts of the nation's electrical grid that are forty or more years old. Yet, the ones holding the purse strings place that on the back burner when they're working up a budget. They could have protected a lot of the country's infrastructure. They chose not to. This is the result." Tanner paused to drink some coffee.
"Well, I hope you all can work together to get things back on track … I guess it will have to be a new track, since the old one is fried." Damon looked thoughtful. "The working together part might be a problem at first though."
Tanner chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you're right about that. Let's hope President Olstein can put the people of the country first and open up to ideas from those around him. That's what good leaders do — depend on their team. A good team working together can do amazing things."
Damon lowered his voice and all but whispered, "Doesn't that start with a good leader?"
Tanner replied, voice filled with sadness, "Yes, it does. And if he can't be one, I most certainly can."
Chapter 21
The Scout was not a comfortable ride for Will. He was in the back with the guns and ammo, and every bump on the ground, many hidden by the snow cover, sent him a bit skyward, followed by a hard landing on the interior body of the car.
"Ow! Can you slow down a bit, Dad?" he asked, after one hard hit in particular jolted him yet again from the duffel bag he was using as a seat.
Joel was driving beside the pond, concentrating on the path — or lack thereof — before them. "No, I can't. We have to get this to the house and inside the garage as fast as we can. It's like announcing to the world we have a vehicle that runs. Just hang on!"
"Why didn't we use the streets? It would have been a lot easier on my butt." He was cut off by another uneven patch and muttered an expletive as he righted himself, yet again.
"Because this is the shortest path to the house. I'm telling you this thing is a goldmine and a target all in one. We're almost back to the street. When we get to the house, I'll need you to jump out and get Lauri to open the garage door from inside, Amanda."
"Got it. We'll have it open before you can get pulled up the driveway good." She sat tensed, hand on the door handle, waiting for her moment.
When they hit the street, the ride leveled out. Another hundred feet had them at the end of the driveway. Amanda jumped out and hit the ground running. "See you inside!" she called over her shoulder.
Joel turned into the driveway and went up to the garage door. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Chris had stepped out on his porch and was gawking at them. He started their way. "Shit," Joel muttered.
"What? What's wrong?" Will asked from the back.
"Chris saw us. He's coming over." As he spoke, the garage door opened. Joel drove in as fast as possible, and Amanda pulled the door down behind him. Chris was at the bottom of the driveway by that time. When he saw the garage door closing, he headed for the front door.
Joel turned the key off, and he and Will hurried inside to hear Chris banging on the front door. Carly was there looking out the peep hole. Joel called out to her.
"Carly! Wait!" but it was too late. She had already unlocked the door and turned the knob. Chris pushed his way in the door.
"Hey! What the hell, buddy!" Carly called out as she was jostled by the action. The newel post at the bottom of the stairs was the only thing that kept her from hitting the floor.
Ignoring Carly, Chris burst into the living room. "Where'd you get that car? How come it runs? You have to let me use it!" Chris was moving toward Joel. Will stepped between them.
"Back off, Chris! How dare you bust in here making demands!" He held his hands up to try to stop the man. Chris attempted to push Will out of the way.
"You can't keep that all to yourself! People need transportation to find supplies! We're almost out of water, and we're freezing — I need that car!"
There was a shoving match going on between Will and Chris when the distinctive sound of a shotgun being racked brought everything and everyone to a halt. Amanda had gone out to the Scout and grabbed one. Carly and Lauri gasped, Joel and Will looked wild-eyed, but Amanda was the epitome of serenity.
"I believe my friend told you to back off. You should do that now." She held the gun at hip level with the barrel pointed at Chris. He immediately released his hold on Will and put his hands up.
Belligerent and a bit taken aback, he replied, "Oh, now you're going to p
ull a gun on your neighbors. Nice. I'm just trying to get some help here."
Voice calm, Amanda retorted, "Then act like you want help, instead of demanding it." She didn't drop the shotgun an inch. With the situation somewhat under control, Joel stepped up beside Amanda.
Addressing Chris, he said, "A friend of mine had the car and gave it to us to use. It runs because it's fifty years old and not full of electronics. I'm sorry, but I can't let you use it. We're leaving, and we're going to need it."
There was another incessant knocking on the door. Carly had righted herself from the previous entrant, but as she stepped up to look through the peephole, the unlocked door was opened, smacking her into the wall behind it as Beth pushed her way in, followed by Julie.
"Ow! Dammit! Can people stop hitting me with the effing door already?" she called from the other side of it. Lauri went over to check on her and closed and locked the door while she was there.
"Was that a car I heard? You have a car that actually runs?" Beth said, excited. "We're saved! We can go look for help!" She stopped in her tracks when she saw Amanda pointing the shotgun at Chris. "Oh my god! What are you doing with a gun? You could hurt someone! What in the world is going on here?"
There were multiple conversations going on, many of them shouting, until Will called out, "Everybody shut up, calm down, and listen!"
When the room was quiet, Joel addressed them all. "We're leaving. Carly's father-in-law has a place in Tipton County. We'll have a much better chance of making it there than here. We're only taking clothes with us. You all can have the food, water, wood, even the chickens, because we can't take everything, and we'll need clothes more than anything else here, since there won't be any new ones made anytime soon. Jack Duncan is going to be getting some of our stuff, too, so you all can divide it amongst yourselves."
"No! You can't take the only working vehicle around! We need it!" Beth said in indignation, taking a step forward. Amanda twisted in Beth's direction, pulled the shotgun up to her face, and aimed it at Beth instead.
"You think you can stop us?"
Beth came to a halt, fear and anger etched on her face. "How dare you point a gun at me! This isn't even your house! Get that thing away from me!"
"Getting real tired of your snooty attitude toward me, lady," Amanda said. "In case you hadn't noticed, I was invited here. You weren't. I'm holding the gun. You are unarmed. Back. Off."
Beth looked like she had more to say but decided to hold her tongue. Another knock on the door had Carly cringing involuntarily. Rubbing her nose from the previous encounter, she leaned up and looked out. "It's Jack. Perfect timing." She unlocked the door and pulled it open in one quick motion, so it couldn't be used against her. Jack peered in.
"Hey. Did I hear a car?"
Carly gestured for him to come inside. "You did. Come on in. We were just talking about you."
Jack walked in. "Oh yeah? Good or bad?"
Carly shut the door behind him. "Good. You're getting goodies."
Jack looked confused until Joel filled him in on the situation. With a smile, he said, "Good for you, Joel. For all of you. I'm glad you're going to be able to get out of here. And thank you for the donation to my family."
Chris looked at him in shock. "That's it? You're just going to say thank you for whatever pittance they leave us and let them go with the only working vehicle we've seen so far?"
With a soft laugh, Jack replied, "We aren't entitled to what they have. It's not their responsibility to help us. You should be thankful for anything they give you. They don't have to, you know. And I'm pretty sure you couldn't stop them if you tried."
"How can you say that, Jack?" Beth interjected. "We should all be working together to make sure everyone is taken care of. This is not the time to be selfish."
"And just how are they being selfish, Beth? They've offered to leave us all the food here, as well as their camping supplies, and their chickens. Do you even understand what chickens do? They are food that makes food. There's a couple of years’ worth of eggs out there, and then you can stew the birds. That sounds very unselfish to me."
"But they're leaving and taking the car. We could use that to go get supplies!" Chris said.
"Where? Where do you think these supplies are?" He turned to Will. "Were there any stores you saw that hadn't already been looted or ransacked on your way here?"
Will shook his head. "None. I doubt there's anything left out there, and I'd be wary about trying to get to any with a working vehicle. There's a very good chance you'd get mobbed and lose it."
Jack looked at Chris. "Having a working vehicle isn't the magic solution to this situation. It sucks, but we're going to have to figure out how to survive without cars."
"They could take us with them to wherever they're going," Beth said. "If it's a good place to be in this situation, we could all go there."
Joel shook his head. "It isn't our place, and we can't bring extra people to someone else's house."
Beth looked daggers at Amanda. "But you can take her, right?"
Amanda smiled at Beth. "I'm security, as you can see." She nodded her head down at the shotgun she had lowered again to waist high.
Joel raised his voice again. "I'm giving Jack the key to our place, since he seems to be the only person who can see the potential for you all. He'll dole out the supplies. If you give him any trouble, he can just lock the doors and tell you all to take a hike. I'd be nice if I were you. Jack, you stay. The rest of you, go on home." He went to the door, opened it and waited for them to leave. When they didn't seem to be inclined to do so, Amanda racked the shotgun again.
"That didn't sound like a request to me. Get moving!" she called out to the room. Chris, Julie, and Beth reluctantly headed for the door. When she got close to Amanda, Beth addressed her in a low voice full of venom and hatred.
"If you didn't have that gun, this would be a different scenario."
Amanda laughed. "Maybe, but in the end, I'd still kick your ass. Now get out!"
When they had left, Amanda let the barrel of the gun drop. Lauri stared at her. "Was that necessary, threatening our neighbors with a loaded gun?"
Amanda held the shotgun up and racked it multiple times. No shells were ejected. "It wasn't loaded, but they didn't know that. I went with intimidation and their lack of knowledge of firearms. I hope they change that or they're all going to die."
Joel locked the door and went over to Jack. "We've got a lot to talk about and not much time to do it. We have to get going ASAP. Let's talk." He addressed his family. "Y'all need to get packing. Clothes are the most important. Everything else we'll figure out when we get to Elliott's. Will, Amanda, pull out what we aren't taking with us from the Scout and bring it inside. Jack can divvy that out, too."
"More food?" Jack asked.
"Guns and ammo," Joel replied.
Jack looked surprised but pleased. "Okay then. Next level, coming up."
~~~~~
Frank, Jerry, and Craig had followed the tracks from the Scout to the Chambers' driveway. They could tell by the way they disappeared at the door that it had been driven inside the garage. Frank eyed the house.
"Wonder how many folks are in there and what kind of protection they have," he said to his friends. "Could be we can just go to the door, push our way in, and get the car."
"Or there could be like a bunch of NRA guys with an arsenal in there," Jerry said, his tone full of concern. "You never know."
Due to the lack of ambient noise, they could hear people shouting inside the house. As Frank was about to walk up to the door, it opened. Three people walked out, a man and two women, anger and frustration apparent in their facial expressions and body language. One of the women was complaining loudly to the other two.
"I can't believe them! Leaving with the only running car we've seen since this whole mess started — that's the most selfish thing I've ever heard of! And that Amanda, pointing a gun at me … how dare she! If I had any way to get in touch with the poli
ce, I'd call them in a heartbeat. Maybe one of us should try walking out to Summer Avenue —" She stopped her rant when she spied the three men on the street. Frank put a smile on and started up the drive.
"Hey, how's it going? We were just checking out the area, looking for abandoned houses for supplies. Everything all right in there? You seem stressed."
The complaining woman answered. "You won't find any abandoned houses on this street. We hardly have any supplies, so you should probably try somewhere else."
Undaunted, Frank replied, "Did I hear you say the folks in there have a car that works? Man, that would really be a huge help for people like us who need to get around to find food and stuff."
"Yes, it would if they weren't being stingy and keeping it all to themselves," the irritated woman said. "And they're leaving with it very soon. It's just so wrong!"
"Sure sounds wrong. Well, we're going to be on our way. We still need to find something to eat before it gets dark. Good luck to you all. Come on, fellas." Frank started back the way they had come, toward the pond.
"I hope you find something," the woman called after them. The couple with her, who hadn't spoken a word, headed for the house across the street, watching Frank, Jerry, and Craig as they went. The mouthy woman headed across the yard to the next house up the street, still complaining.
Frank walked slowly, peering over his shoulder every few steps to see when they all got back to what he guessed was their respective homes. When they were no longer in sight, he stopped and turned back.
"Give them a few minutes to get inside, then we're going back. I want that car."
"Frank, it's getting dark. Don't you think we should find a place to hole up for the night? I bet they won't leave at night. Too hard to see what might be a threat, especially with no street lights." Craig's apprehension was apparent, and Jerry was nodding his head vigorously in agreement.
Perilous Miles (Book 3): Another 20 Miles Page 16