by Cory Mccoy
Rope
Water
Hatchet
Thermos
Small pot/pan
Sleeping bags
Flashlights and extra batteries
Lighters or matches
Maps
Radio (am/fm, not just fm)
compass
jackets
socks. lots of them
small tent
duct tape
multi-tool
"Ok let's tear this place apart, if you find something that might be useful let me know" I said, "oh and no coffee."
“What?” Liz asked, “I can't function without my coffee.”
“Well if you can make the grounds magically disappear then you can bring it.”
“Zip lock bags,” She said waving a box at me. “Booyeah.”
“Fine, bring your damn coffee.” I laughed.
The people who owned this RV must have been some kind of extreme sports enthusiasts. It was like winning the survival gear lottery. They were sure to have 90% of the things on the list, which was a damn good start.
"Connor, what do you think about this?" Liz asked, holding up a water filtration pitcher. "Wouldn't it be easier to take this instead of all that water?"
"Yeah, good call sweetheart." I said, rummaging through cabinets "I’m gonna take this collapsible shovel too."
"Hey, look I found an old school cell phone!", Jesse said laughing "I wonder if I can call 1987 with it?"
"Whoa, that's a sat phone." I said looking at the box he had opened. "call your cell phone, we need to get the number on it. Those things can make a call from just about everywhere except under the ocean."
"Ok, got it" he said "Hey we should give that reporter this number, he would know if there are checkpoints set up along the way."
"That's a good idea," I said, Jesse seemed like he was a very bright kid "Why don’t you run it to him."
"You better not leave without me!" he said, probably not completely joking as he jogged off.
"Babe, I can't find a tent anywhere." Liz said looking downtrodden "They probably just slept in here, this thing is nicer than my college dorm was."
"Yeah, look at that map on the wall," I said pointing to a large U.S. map covered with thumbtacks. "Looks like they were going to try to hit all of those places, That would take months and more money than we can make in a year."
"Ok, this is pretty much everything," Liz said pointing to our pile on the table "Well except for a tent, sleeping bags and some jackets or sweaters."
"Well we could always try to stuff a comforter in the bags, but that would take a ton of room. Hmm, let's check the outside compartments." I said and grabbed the keys "Wish I knew which ones opened it."
"You could always break it open if you cant find the key," she said laughing. "Use some brute force on it."
"Fuck with that," I said, "ill shoot it in it's nonexistent face"
"Ok, there we go" I said as I finally got the right key. "Let's see what's in this treasure trove."
"Alright, you guys didn't get away yet" Jesse said panting as he got back. "OkRaul, gave me his number too, he said to call anytime we need information."
"Awesome," I said rummaging through the compartment. "Here's an emergency kit, why don’t you take out the parkas and the emergency blankets. They aren’t much, but they're compact. Holy shit, a vacuum seal kit. It's got a hand pump too, let's take that in case we need to keep stuff dry."
"Hey, there are some tarps and bungee cords here," Jesse said looking through another compartment. "They're probably for the dirt bikes, but I bet we could use them since we don't have a tent."
"Ok, good." I said, "We're pretty much done, let's get this stuff in bags and go. Oh and take those gas cans to the car, just in case Jesse."
It took about 20 minutes to get the few backpacks we found filled, luckily they were made for climbing supplies. I took the heavier bag, which was probably about 60 pounds and had Jesse and Liz take some lighter ones.
"I think we need to try to make it to Seattle, it looks as if the PLA was completely shut down north of Olympia, so if we can make it past the capital, it's smooth sailing from there." I said as we put the bags in the car. "We'll take the side roads, since the highways are basically shut down. That way we can avoid the Chinese as much as possible."
Chapter 5