The Liddy Scenario Page 5

  “We?” asked Ranger, a bit more calmly.

  “I thought… I can’t handle the bodies… But I can drive.” Julie Anne’s response was soft, and both men could tell it was costing her. “I should do more than just sit around.”

  “You’ll still need to wear PPE,” Brody said.

  Julie Anne held up the bag she’d carried out of the building. “I have what I need. We can get another box of filters, but that’s about it.”

  “Ranger,” Brody said, “It’s up to you. I’m willing. But this is far more than I asked you to do.”

  “What the hey?” Ranger said after a few seconds. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

  “Thank you,” Julie Anne said. “Both of you.”

  “Let’s get this dog and pony show on the road,” Ranger said, straddling his bike. Brody took the bag from Julie Anne and put it on the rack on the rear of his bike and strapped it down. The three started pedaling to-ward the cemetery.

  The fuel truck was already there, filling the fuel tank. All three noted the pistol belt around the driver’s waist and the grip of the pistol in the hol-ster. Julie Anne stared at it for a moment, but said nothing.

  “Sign off on this,” the fuel truck driver said as soon as the tank was full. “I want out of here. Crimeny. A delivery in a cemetery. Don’t seem right. It is spooky.”

  Julie Anne signed the delivery receipt and handed the clipboard back to the driver. He tore out the yellow copy of the form and handed it to Julie Anne. “Good-bye and good luck. I am so out of here!”

  Placing the receipt in her hip pocket, Julie Anne took out a relatively short list. “These are the reports the EOC got in during the night. The two bodies we found were already on it.”

  “I’ll get the truck out, Brody said. Ranger and Julie Anne stood silently as Brody went into the garage and opened the garage door, and then drove the truck outside. Ranger went in and closed the door as Brody stopped the truck and got out.

  All three put on their PPE, leaving off the respirators. “How do you stand this, in this heat?” Julie Anne asked, beads of sweat popping out on her forehead as soon as she zipped up the Tyvek coverall.

  “Goes with the territory. Expect to lose weight,” Ranger said.

  “At least something good will come of it,” Julie Anne said.

  “You don’t need to lose any, and there is a lot of other good coming out of this,” Ranger said gruffly and moved over to the truck. He got in the cab and slid over to the middle of the seat.

  Julie Anne’s eyes widened in surprise and she looked over at Brody. “He’s a surprise a minute,” Brody said.

  “I guess,” Julie Anne said, walking over to the truck, trying to get adjusted to the over boots she was wearing over her athletic shoes she been using since she got the bike.

  Neither man said anything at the initial awkward moments as she drove the truck away from the garage in spits and spurts. She turned red and kept her eyes straight ahead until she managed to get the feel of the boots and driving the truck in them.

  It was a horrendous day for the three. Their first stop was to pick up charred bodies that others had tried to burn with some of the diesel and failed. After almost throwing up into her respirator at the first body, Brody and Ranger insisted she stay in the truck while they handled the bodies. They appreciated her effort, but they needed her in condition to drive.

  All the past efforts had been to handle the bodies as respectfully as possible, never putting one on top of another, but that went by the wayside. Brody and Ranger had to stack the bodies like cordwood in the bed of the pickup, and then again in the slit trench to minimize the amount of dirt work they would have to do with the equipment.

  Julie Anne had brought, along with her PPE, ID tags and personal effects bags with her. Brody and Ranger quit trying to check the bodies where they found them. The few people that were about nearly went ballistic when they saw Brody and Ranger going through the clothes of the bodies, looking for ID.

  Brody had Julie Anne write down the description he gave her of each body and the location found. The bodies were searched at the cemetery, and ID’s found, where they existed, and personal effects were bagged and tagged before the bodies were put in the trench.

  Many of the bodies had already been disturbed, some with indications they’d been searched and valuables taken. Some had suffered depredation from the many feral animals that were roaming the streets of the city. Some were in their homes or apartments. Many, like the two the team had seen that morning, lay abandoned on the street, placed there by people fearful of disease.

  None of the three could stomach a lunch, though they went through the rest of the bottled water Julie Anne had provided. They finished picking up each body on the list that Julie Anne had been given, but it was al-ready late in the day and none of the three were up to going back to the EOC and to get another list. The bodies they’d recovered were covered, filling the trench they’d been using. Brody drove Julie Anne and Ranger back to the apartment.

  Brody insisted they all eat something, though, like the other two, he didn’t eat much. But they consumed several bottles of water between them.

  “Time to get more water,” Brody said, surveying his remaining supply. “Before we go traipsing out at night, let’s try the boiler and hot water heater in the basement.”

  “Is that water safe?” Julie Anne asked. She’d started to protest on other grounds, but decided they really did have to find some water.

  “Should be, anyway, but we’ll filter it all, just in case,” Ranger said. He pointed at the stainless steel appliance on Brody’s kitchen counter. “That’s a Crown Berkey purifier. We just pour the water we recover into the top, and draw off the filtered water at the bottom.”

  “Nice,” Julie Anne said. “I use a Brita pitcher to get the bad taste out of the water. I guess that’s just a big version.”

  “Little more process than a Brita,” Brody said, “but yes, essentially the same thing. A Brita would probably work for the water we’re going after tonight, but I’d be leery of it for water from the lakes, ponds, and the river. We may have to resort to that pretty soon.”

  As they made their way down to the basement, carrying several of Bro-dy’s now empty water containers, Julie Anne asked, “What about the other tenants. Won’t they need some of this water?”

  “First come, first served,” Ranger said. “If there were babies… or pregnant women… I might try to see that they get some. But people are responsible for themselves. It’s not up to me to provide for all their needs because of their shortsightedness.”

  “I see,” was all Julie Anne said, and let the subject drop.

  Brody set down the two five-gallon containers he was carrying and pulled out his keys when they got to the basement access door.

  “You have keys for the basement in your apartment building?” Julie Anne asked.

  “Uh… Unofficially,” Brody said. “This basement will provide good shelter space in case of a nuclear attack. I want to be able to get into it easily. I kind of borrowed the super’s keys once and had a key made for me.”

  “Oh, Brody!” Julie Anne said. “How do you two manage to stay out of jail?”

  “Practice,” Ranger said, grinning.

  “A lot of it, I bet,” Julie Anne replied, a small smile curving her lips.

  “Okay,” Brody said when he had the door open. “Over this way.”

  Brody knew his way around the basement, and all three of them had brought flashlights, so it didn’t take long to fill the containers. Julie Anne couldn’t quite handle one of them full, so she held the flashlight as Brody and Ranger carried theirs upstairs and then for Ranger when he went down for the other two. Brody was pouring water from one of the containers into the top of the Crown Berkey when they returned.

  With clean drinking water, and plenty of water to bathe with, Julie Anne didn’t object when Brody offered her a hot shower instead of a sponge bath. He heated water on the camp stove and filled
a sun shower bag with the water and showed her how to use it in the tub in the bathroom.

  All three took advantage of the sun shower and then Brody and Ranger went back to the basement to refill the containers while Julie Anne pre-pared a simple meal for them all.

  They listened to Brody’s battery radio that evening before they went to bed. The news wasn’t good. Even in the Midwest, where there had been few attacks, things were getting very bad. Julie Anne, Brody, and Ranger could attest to that.

  There was tremendous loss of life, again for the same reasons the three were seeing in their city. The heat and resulting dehydration due to lack of water, lack of medical care and sanitation, even starvation as the situation continued. Violence was rampant as those most desperate made every effort they could to provide for their families, on top of the ordi-nary crime that was a part of life in modern society.

  Julie Anne went to bed, a very thoughtful look on her face.

  The next five days went much as that first one. The heat wave still had not broken and even young, normally healthy individuals were succumbing to it, lacking adequate water. When they stopped at the City Hall on that sixth day, Julie was about to enter the building when shots rang out inside.

  Startled, Julie Anne just stood there until Brody ran up the stairs and grabbed her. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

  “But…” Julie Anne tried to protest, but one of the front windows was smashed from a bullet coming from inside the building. It had been aimed at her. She joined Brody and Ranger in the truck and Brody sped away.

  “What is going on?” Julie Anne asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think the city government is no more,” Ranger said. “Anarchy reigns for the moment. Brody! Look out!”

  Two men, armed with rifles or shotguns, stepped out into the street from behind vehicles. Brody, with nowhere to go, floored the accelerator. One of the men got off a wild shot before the right front fender knocked him flying. The other man had jumped back in time and began firing at them as Brody made the first turn he could.

  All three of them on alert, Brody took a roundabout route back to the apartment building. When they were all in the apartment, Brody turned to look at Julie Anne and said, “Okay. Things are out of hand. I’m not risking my life or Ranger’s out in that anarchy. It’s time to bug-out. We have a place to go. You’re welcome to go with us.”

  Julie Anne’s habit of biting her lip when in difficult thought showed it-self again. “I… I… I so want to help in the city…” She took a deep breath, released it, and then continued. “But I think you are right. Until authority is reestablished in the city, it’s not going to be safe on the streets. Is there any way we can stay and try to help in the recovery, when it happens?”

  Ranger was shaking his head. “Not during this phase of the collapse. A lot of people are going to have to kill each other off before a recovery can take place. Until then it’s better to crawl in a hole with supplies, and pull the entrance in behind you.”

  “Ranger is right, Ms. Baumgartner. I have supplies for another month for the three of us, but it could be many months… even years… before the city is safe again.”

  “But what would I do? I can’t live off you. It’s not right.”

  “You have two good hands and a head on your shoulders. Will mean helping out on a working farm, but I believe you could handle it,” Ranger said.

  Brody was nodding. “Toby will find a spot for you at his place, if you’re with us.”

  “Who is this Toby? Where does he live?”

  “He’s in the more rural area outside the city about fifty miles,” Ranger said.

  “Has a primitive farm. Kind of like the Amish, but he’s not Amish,” Brody explained.

  Ranger added a little more. “Farms. with horses and oxen. Has a huge garden and a couple of greenhouses. Milk cows, pigs, chickens. Real old fashioned operation. We sometimes go out during harvest and lend a hand.”

  “Toby lets us keep supplies there,” Brody said. “Does several of us preppers. We consider it our Retreat, though it belongs completely to Toby. He keeps the place going on minimums just to make a living, but the place will support quite a few of us, if we all help.”

  “And you say I would be welcome? I’m not a prepper, the way you are. I don’t have anything to offer,” Julie Anne said.

  Both men could see she was wavering, but hated the idea of charity. Ranger addressed the idea directly. “Believe me, it wouldn’t be charity. You would be working every day, except Sunday. Only the absolute necessary things are done on Sundays. Toby is big on observing the Sabbath.”

  Brody added his thoughts, “Cooking, washing, cleaning… You’re a management type. You could help with the books and record keeping. There is a lot of it, because Toby has a very precise breeding plan for all his animals. He does all that himself, now.”

  “What if the place is full when we get there?” Julie Anne asked. “You said there are several of you. Won’t they all be there, if that was the main plan?”

  “We have reserved spots,” Ranger said. “That included Brody and me, and a companion each.”

  “Oh. I see,” Julie Anne said, frowning slightly. “You understand that I don’t plan on being anyone’s companion, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Brody quickly said.

  Ranger agreed just as quickly. “But since neither of us have anyone, that means there is space and supplies for you.”

  Julie Anne sighed. “I don’t think I could survive on my own. Do you think we’ll be able to make it, with things going the way they are?”

  “We’ll make it,” Ranger said, rather grimly, Julie Anne thought. “If we’re going, let’s get to it,” he added.

  “First we consolidate the supplies. I think we can take everything be-tween us we have left.” Brody looked over at Julie Anne. “Anything else in your apartment you need?”

  She shook her head.

  “Ranger?”

  “Nope. I left the house the other day without expecting to come back for a long time.”

  “Then let’s get to it.”

  It took three hours to get everything rearranged and loaded into Brody’s truck. Julie Anne said nothing when Ranger and Brody came down with the last load, wearing handguns, with long arms. slung over their shoulders.

  “I’m going to top off the fuel,” Brody said when they were in the cab of the truck and he’d started the engine.

  “It’s on the way, anyway,” Ranger said. He chambered a round in his Bushmaster M-4 carbine, and held the carbine with the barrel just slightly out the window on his side of the truck.

  Brody had put his rifle behind the seat when he got in the truck, but he took the pistol from the holster on his hip and stuck the barrel between the seat and seat back so he could get it if needed.

  There was no trouble on the way to the cemetery. Brody was fueling the truck from the cemetery tank when he said, “I’m filling all three tanks, this time. I’d like to take some more. I saw a couple of drums. in the gar-age, Ranger. See if one of them would work for fuel. We have just enough room, I think.”

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Ranger said, coming back outside, a big grin on his face. “One of the drums. is almost full of gasoline and there is a transfer tote full. For the weed eaters and lawn mowers I guess. Never thought to check it out, before.”

  “They’re nuts storing gasoline like that!” Brody said.

  “May be nuts, but it turns out to be our advantage. I’m going to fill my rig, and Julie Anne’s. We can take all three. Give us some back up if there is trouble.”

  “Ms. Baumgartner?” Brody asked. “You up to a convoy with us?”

  “I’m not real sure about doing this…”

  “The fuel, you mean?”

  “Yes.”

  “Consider it back pay,” Ranger said. He was coming out of the garage with the wheeled tote. He headed for the parking lot. “Your keys?” he asked, stopping by Julie Anne.

&nbs
p; “Very well,” she said and handed Ranger the keys to her hybrid.

  It took Ranger five trips with the tote to fill both gasoline vehicles. Like Brody, he had three tanks on his pickup. The drum was empty, but the tote was full when he’d finished. Brody helped Ranger load it up and se-cure it in Ranger’s pickup. “You want to move some stuff from your truck to mine?” Ranger asked.

  Brody shook his head. “No. I want to get out of here.”

  “Okay. Let’s load that empty drum and fill it with diesel.”

  Julie Anne was keeping an eye on the entrance of the cemetery, as asked, though she doubted anyone would be coming here, considering the circumstances. With the drum in Brody’s truck loaded and filled, the three huddled together.

  Brody and Ranger showed Julie Anne the route on a map she had in her car, so she could find it if they got separated for some reason. “Ranger, take it easy. We want to move, but Julie Anne isn’t experienced in convoy work. I’ll bring up the rear.”

  “Got it,” Ranger said. “But if we hit trouble before seeing it, you know the drill. Bull through it at high speed, guns blazing.”

  “That was what you did this morning,” Julie Anne said, looking at Brody. “Only you didn’t have guns.”

  “Oh,” Ranger said, “I had one, but just a pistol, and Brody got us out of there too, sweet.” Ranger touched the rifle slung on his shoulder,” the next time, if there is a next time, it’ll be different.”

  Julie Anne shivered at the vehemence in Ranger’s voice. She was nervous at first, following Ranger out of the cemetery parking lot. But he made it easy on her, signaling well ahead of turns, and going a modest speed.

  It turned out to be an uneventful ride. They saw a few people, but all at a distance. Julie Anne thought that several were armed, but she couldn’t be sure. She stopped behind Ranger’s truck when he stopped at an in-nocuous looking gate on a gravel road just off a country road, out in the rural area southwest of the city.