We stayed in one of the least damaged houses for the night and each of us slept on a real spring bed with our sleeping bags and groundsheet’s though, unfortunately, without the mattress’s which were by this time smelling of damp and some of the fibrous material was rotting. We had a very good breakfast and prepared for our next adventure.
We decided that we would now visit the valley about twenty five kilometres from our current position and return via the other referenced point near a village about twelve kilometres distant from our original reference point. This meant that we would return via only a slight detour on our way to the shelter. In the event that we found nothing we could arrive at the shelter by nightfall in time for dinner.
The journey to the valley was relatively easy as we continued on the remains of a road with few obstructions requiring physical removal. We arrived at our destination and looked for the source of the signal. We were amazed to find two functioning wind generators one small and one about three meters in diameter. How these units had survived I do not know but they were again probably defended by the surrounding hills. We traced the cables to a cave and immediately stopped looking. The cave had been inundated and there were no survivors there.
If any had once achieved the status of survivor they must have left some time before. We looked to see if there was anything useful but the thick frozen mud and the lack of any definite requirement for our assistance at this stage resulted in a decision to remove the wind generators and associated cables going to the cave. We found little else worth removing so everything that might be useful was left for future expeditions.
We returned, somewhat deflated, to our vehicle and proceeded to the next village; the last in our current adventure. This journey was not difficult but it was still necessary to move occasional obstructions. One of these obstructions was a young woman who was still frozen solid. This obstruction was carefully placed in a shallow grave and covered with rocks. The chance of large predators getting at the body remained very small as we had seen none and none had attacked the body for at least a year; based on the condition of the clothing. We placed a marker on the grave, added an indication to our map and resolved to improve her internment at a later date.
When we arrived at the village our task was more difficult as this village had been badly damaged. We could find nothing that was of any use to us or anything to indicate the reason for the signal we had seen. The signal had come from the west of the village so we directed our search in that area. There were some caves but examination of these gave no clue as to the origin of the signals.
In our examination of the area we clearly saw what were probably footprints and other signs of life. These signs encouraged us to further investigation. We decided to get out the electromagnetic detector which showed no signal. This was interesting as the original signals, though weak, had been observed at two of our detection sites and we could think of no alternative possibilities for generating such a temporary signal other than man manipulation. We were now suspicious and hopeful. It was clear that something had happened to the signal and with the signs we had seen this could only be one of three possibilities:
Either:
Something or someone had removed the signal by shutting down or turning off some electrical device; someone was there.
The signal source had been a temporary phenomenon such as an old automatic alarm system that was still charged; after three years this was unlikely.
A strange natural phenomenon that we were not acquainted with, very unlikely.
An alarm system would have to be powered but we could see no charging system and our detector would have seen it. I was unable to think of any temporary natural phenomenon that we would have detected. The probability was that someone had shut down the source and we decided to base our actions on this exciting possibility.
We decided to make a point of leaving the village ensuring that our actions could be seen by any observer. We would then stop for the night a short distance away. In the morning we would set up our detector and look again for the source. This we did and after two hours we were rewarded with a signal that reappeared with a sharp broad spike. Someone or something had switched on something; probably some lights operating on a battery as it was low level and we saw only the broad spectrum spike. We were now very excited. A short time later we observed another spike followed by a more continuous narrower source which was almost certainly a functioning generator. There was then another source at a different part of the spectrum which we knew, from experience, was that of an entertainment player of some type.
Someone was there and we wanted to meet them without making them so nervous that they might react against us physically. If they did not wish to be associated with us we would leave without further ado but in our current supply situation we would probably be of considerable assistance to them and our mission was to find new inmates who would undoubtedly be of use to us.
Firstly we were aware that they had to have seen us as we came near. This meant that they had at least one observer above the ground.
We, however, had a trained sniper, Fabio, who had been trained in the art of camouflaged movement and stalking and who had trained me; admittedly to a grossly lower level of competence. Unless our opponents were similarly trained we had a good chance of finding them and contacting them in a peaceful manner.
The next day Fabio and I would attempt to find the observers and meet them in as friendly a manner as possible. We looked at the terrain and could see that there were only two positions where the observers would not only be close to the signal source but would also have a raised all round field of view within a protected environment. If they were trained it would be difficult but if, as was probable, they were only members of a cautious group our task should not be difficult.
By the early morning we were watching with masked binoculars and saw the flash. The flash was repeated and we knew it could only be an unprotected lens moving though the weak suns rays. We had found a single observer and could then see his head moving amongst the rocks. The person was only a cautious observer otherwise we would have expected him to have taken more precautions.
We studied the scene for a second observer but found none. Fabio put a pistol into the back of his pants and moved off; his gray clothes fitting quite well into the background. There were only two short sections where he would have to cross open ground and be temporarily visible to the observer. Fortunately we had observed that our opponent spent most of his time looking away from this open region the road being the obvious route for strangers coming into the area.
I watched Fabio crossing the ground to the position of the observer. Actually I was scanning the area looking for any potential dangers and kept him in sight until he suddenly disappeared. I maintained my scanning of the region until I saw the observer stand up in, what appeared to me, some distress. After a couple of minutes Fabio beckoned me over.
I cautiously moved to him until I was in the observer’s post. Fabio was talking, without his pistol in view, to a very nervous, tall, very dirty, lice infested, young man whom he was trying to calm down. The infestation of lice was visible even at a distance of a few meters. Fabio, maintaining his distance, was explaining quietly who we were and what we were doing. He told him that we wanted nothing from them but that if they agreed we would like to become associated with their group for mutual advantage.
We then asked him to contact his people. He told us that he would have to go to them as they had no communication system from the observation site. We let him go hoping, in so doing, that we would give his group more confidence. Our assessment being, from what we had seen, was that this was probably a small group of survivors in somewhat poor condition. This judgment was based on the area, the representative we had met and the limited signal from their generator. Their energy usage was low which, in itself, was significant.
After a few minutes two men returned with the young man. They were similarly poorly dressed, dirty, lice infested and fro
m their sagging facial skin, they had lost a lot of weight. They appeared nervous but had no obvious weapons.
It was soon clear that the young man had explained who we were and they could see that we were reasonably well fed. It would also have been obvious that our clothes and appearance were of a far higher standard than theirs. This seemed to give them some confidence and I thought I detected a sense of hope in their manner. We asked how many there were in their group. As expected this question was not answered immediately. We told them that our group had over a hundred persons and had enough food to last for several years. We further told them that we could provide a few additional persons with some assistance and enquired of them whether there was anything we could do to assist them.
The young man then became the saviour of the situation. He told us that there was twenty two in their group and they had food for about three months if they were frugal. This was not his exact words but a reasonable edited version of the torrent that was produced to the annoyance of his two companions who knew they had lost control of the situation. We now knew that we could be useful to this group and, hopefully, we could get them to join us in the shelter. Looking at them I felt emotional as we could see that they had suffered considerably and were obviously near the end of their resources.
We asked how they had come to be there and they told us that they had considered they had a better chance of survival here than in a government shelter. They had not trusted the government offer as it was not credible to them that the government could supply a population with all their needs for an unknown, but probably considerable, period of time.
When they had made the decision to stay they had built up a store of food and fuel and set up some basic accommodation in a deep cave. They had expected that they would have to survive for a couple of years; possibly a little more. They had obtained supplies for considerably more than that period. Their supplies, however, had now proven to be insufficient and they admitted they were very concerned.
They had always been worried that someone would attack them for their limited supplies so they had done their best to disguise their existence. They had closed the primary cave entrance with a stout door that they had, after loading their cave, disguised by covering with rubble. Then, like us, they had created a small exit tunnel for use during the period they were in the cave. They had been warned of the overpressure by information they had obtained from studying, as we had done, the dinosaur extinction on the INTERNET. They had, however, not expected the level of inundation which had done a considerable amount of damage to their abode. Fortunately but most of their group had survived even that disaster. The reduction in personnel from that inundation, however, had allowed them to survive for an extended period as most of their supplies had been in containers.
They were very interested in the possibility of assistance but were wary, even then, of our intentions. We gave them our usual offer of a visit to our abode and agreed that we would take two of them with us after we had seen their cave and met their group.
I was surprised that they agreed but we visited the edifice and it was truly horrendous. There were twenty two adults, no children, living in a small, though deep, cave with almost no amenities. The toilet was a couple of buckets that they emptied several times a day a short distance from the cave. This place of disposal was well disguised as we had not found it.
They slept on old mattresses taken from the village and had a few, now filthy, blankets. Taking two of them for a visit, to our shelter, in their present condition was, obviously, not an option due to the lice. We would have to, in all humanity, take as many away from this hell as was possible and as quickly as possible.
We noted that they would have to be deloused, as would all who had associated in any way with them, before even being considered for entry into our vehicle let alone our quarantine cellar. Once there they would have to stay together in very cramped conditions to avoid contamination with the shelter personnel. It would be true to say, however, that even the quarantine area would be an almost infinite improvement on their current situation.
They had an old, small, two stroke generator that I was surprised still worked; their mechanic must have been hard working. This unit charged some car batteries and gave a little light to their cave over a period. They had an amplifier that played some music provided by a modern pocket music system. The generators exhaust system was rudimentary and not a little dangerous and I was surprised that it had not killed them. They also had a few functioning wind up touches and two music systems
They still had about two hundred litres of petrol stored, sensibly, in another cave. Both the residence and the personnel smelt offensively, they were all visually covered in lice and probably fleas; though fleas do not normally exist with lice. Their lives must have been almost unbearable but they appeared almost content, if a little nervous, with their situation.
We would first have to eradicate their lice and possible fleas and then get them cleaned up using the showers in the quarantine cellar. They would be very cramped but the accommodation would be far superior to what they had been experiencing in their cave. We advised them of our intentions and that, when their personnel infestations had been eradicated, we would take some of them to our quarantine cellar and return for others the following morning. The information that we had a vehicle, suggesting organization, encouraged them to immediately agree to our proposal. In reality they had no choice as without our assistance and resupply they would soon be no more.
We went to our nearby shelter companions advising them to keep away from us to prevent their infestation. We asked them to go to the shelter, empty the vehicle and load it with some lice and flea eradicator material together with the sprays. One of them, a volunteer we suggested, should then return as soon as possible with ten sets of overalls.
It took the volunteer only four hours to return with an otherwise empty vehicle, overalls and eradication equipment. We immediately began the delousing treatment which was far better than the DDT of years past in that it was environmentally safe, persisted on the body, even when washed, and clothes for about a week killing any larva as they hatched from the eggs. It did all this without adversely affecting the skin apart from a blue pigmentation that lasted several weeks. The first to get the eradication treatment was us visitors but we next chose six of the new cellar inmates. We fully deloused them and told them to wait for an hour outside in the cold.
They were then requested to remove all their clothes, which we immediately burnt, and to put on the overalls which had, themselves, previously been sprayed. This they did and we then took them in our previously warmed, overloaded, vehicle to our quarantine environment. On arrival they were amazed and delighted to experience even the limited facilities available. After a shower they exchanged their overalls for new clothes; a large selection having been put into the cellar before their arrival.
They were each allowed a three minute shower with special parasite eradicator resin soap. This included us that had visited their abode as we also wished to get rid of any possibility of the little friends from our skin. Each person was then given an anti lice/flea pill to ensure full eradication. We all had a good meal and then advised the shelter that we considered our group should spend an extended three week period in the cellar due to the squalor they had previously had to exist within. This would not be any hardship for our new visitors as, compared to their previous existence, we offered them a palace; if it would be uncomfortably crowded. When our additional new friends arrived at the shelter they would, at least, improve the warmth of the environment.
On questioning our guests we learned that one had been an experimental industrial archaeologist at a university. I found it incredible that we had not thought of this obvious expertise requirement for rebooting our technology. This man had studied ancient technologies and would be of inestimable benefit to us in recreating those ancient technologies that we would need for initiating our basic industries. Some of his work had been based on the manu
facture of gunpowder and dynamite (obviously including the required nitro-glycerine. This would not be a major problem for our chemist, if he had or could obtain the ingredients, though black powder would be a very useful backup until our chemical production capability, created at some distance from the shelter, was a reality).
We left early the following morning with only Fabio and I to pick up eight more from the new cave group. We had decided to pick up some of their food and usable supplies which would then be decontaminated by us. The new personnel had been told to bring out the recoverable supplies including tins, tools and containers containing unopened stored food that would not be contaminated by parasites or our decontamination systems when sprayed externally.
On our arrival the personnel were decontaminated in the same manor as before after which they again dressed in our overalls. We then loaded everyone and decontaminated materials into a very full vehicle and left for the shelter. We left their petrol, as we considered it safe from theft, as a future reserve facility in its current storage. We advised the last eight persons that they should remove, from the cave, all their remaining recoverable reserves for the next morning when we would return for them. The time element was to allow us to check the transported material before picking up the last survivors.
On arrival at the cellar the new personnel helped to put their food stocks, stored in containers, into an outhouse and their tins and material reserves into the cellar. We then entered the cellar and those recently arrived had a shower, swallowed the pills and exchanged their overalls for the clothes provided for them. We ate with relish the simple meal created for us by our new guests. The material for this meal came from our cellar stores as that supplied by our new guests would have to be examined before it was used. What was provided for us, however, was well received by everyone.
The last eight of our new guests, together with their remaining recoverable material, were picked up by us on the following day and everything, including our guests and the vehicle, were treated as before. We pumped their cave full of decontaminates, this was probably unnecessary as without a food source these pests would probably have deceased - but we felt vindictive, and closed the door. We left the area and on arrival we entered the cellar and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. Here we would spend three weeks in the improved, though now much overcrowded, quarantine area. Even with this overcrowding, which did much to improve the temperature, our wait in the cellar was a great improvement on our previous stays.
Our asteroid survival: A fictitional history of the ten year survival of a large ELE asteroid impact by a small, pre advised, group Page 32