Coastal Event Memories (4 page)

The path down the mountain was treacherous and muddy. The creek was down quite a bit, but David had to work his downstream almost a mile before he found a safe place to ford. It was almost nightfall when he reached the point where he left his truck. The wind had rolled it down the side of the hill. The shell over the bed was partially crushed, but it was mostly dry, and David was able to sleep dry that night.

The next morning David started working his way down the mountain, mostly following the fire road he had taken on the way up. When it joined the highway, he continued west. By that afternoon he reached the junction where his friends plan to stay at the Creekside Motel.

There was nothing left but the foundations. During the Event the creek had become a raging river, and washed it all away. He hoped that they had not stopped there, but a mile downstream he saw Jason’s crumpled truck wedged against the hillside. He checked inside the cab, but their stuff was not there. Deep down he knew that they had not survived.

The next afternoon he reached the Big Thunder Indian Casino. The two-story building was mostly intact. There were fresh tire tracks in the sand that covered the parking lot, but no vehicle was in sight. At the entrance he called out, but heard no reply. When he entered, a sickly sweet smell greeted him. 

They were in the bar area. Both were dead, with evidence of torture, and the woman was nude.

David spent the afternoon burying them in a common grave behind the building. There was an office upstairs, where the safe had been opened and emptied. He slept there that night on a couch, with the pistol by his side. He took a couple of cans of meat and a box of Bisquick from the pantry, and a bottle of scotch from the bar. After a breakfast of canned ham and cheese, He shouldered his pack and started following the tire tracks down the canyon.

After about five miles, the tracks turned off the highway, on to a narrow road. The tracks did not come out. David climbed the hill above the road, and carefully followed it up the canyon, while keeping in the brush and out of sight.

He heard the scream before he saw the cabin. Dropping the pack, he crept closer, and discovered that an older man was tied to a column that supported the corner of the roof. The older man screamed when a younger man touched a cigarette to his face. An AK47 was leaning against the wall. Another young man opened the door and said, “knock it off, the old broad just dropped the coffee when he screamed. I’m hungry, let’s eat first.”

The second man came out and sat down at a table on the other side of the porch. “Gimme a butt and a light.”

The other guy responded, “ I tell you they gotta have some gold around somewhere. They got a nice sluce box over there. I’ll make that geezer talk, just like I made that guy open the safe.”

“All in good time, now I want to eat. Hurry up in there,” he shouted.

The door opened, and an older woman came out carrying a coffeepot and two cups. “I’ll have it ready in a few minutes. The Coleman’s only got one burner.” She set the items down and went back inside.

Keeping out of sight, David crept around to the back of the cabin. There was a back door, and he carefully opened it. She startled when she saw him, but did not cry out.

“Shush, I’m a friend. Ask one of them to open the door for you and get out of the way. It’s risky, but I have to try to take them both out.” She agreed, and took out a tray and a stack of dishes.

David hid behind the door, and the woman called out for someone to open the door. When it swung open, the woman threw the tray to the floor with a crash. The startled young man hesitated and then started to reach for the 9mm at his waist. David had wondered if he would be able to take a life, but did not hesitate to put a 357 slug through his chest, and knocked him off the porch.

David was through the door before the second young man could reach the AK47, and the first bullet in his hip, spun him around. The second took him out.

The old man, Elmer Frombach, was in bad shape. David and his wife Alice carried him into the bed. He had a broken arm, lots of cuts, burns, and bruises, and a possible concussion. After they had done everything possible for Fred, Alice made a meal for them.

“They came driving up like they owned the place, pulled out their guns, and tied Fred up. There was nothing we could do. Thank God you showed up. They would have killed us for sure.”

David then told her what he had found at the casino. After finishing the best meal he had enjoyed since before the Event, he buried the two thugs in a shallow grave below the road. Their vehicle was a 1989 Dodge diesel 4X4 truck. It was all decked out with a shell, roll bar, a winch, and big off road tires. There was a CB radio and a shotgun in the cab. The fuel tank was almost full and there were two, full five gallon fuel containers in the shell. A bag in the shell contained the contents of the casino safe. There was also a box with several cases of ammunition and another box of liquor.

David stayed with the Frombachs for two months, while Elmer recovered. He made a trip back to the casino and returned with all the useable food from the pantry. In a second trip he loaded up anything he thought would be a good barter item. The Frombachs would be OK for a while with the supplies he recovered from the casino, but they were both seniors, and physically were in no shape to do what was necessary for long-term sustainability.

He promised to come back for them as soon as he secured a safe and sustainable location for them all to live. They insisted that he take most of the bulk packaged food supplies, saying that they would not be able to use it before it spoiled. He left the shotgun, his pistol, and the ammo for them.

On Day 50 Zeke started the port engine and backed away from ledge where it had been grounded, and set the anchor. Over the next two days he made a complete inspection of his craft, including an underwater look to insure that the hull was not damaged.

With the fuel tanks still nearly full, Zeke resolved to start a survey of the Inland Sea. On Day 62, he noticed a smoke smudge on the western horizon. The next morning he pulled up to a small island. There was a building in a cutout against a hill. A tractor tire was burning at the water's edge, and behind stood three adults and a small child.

They were all desperately hungry, dirty, and overjoyed to see him. Later, after a meal and baths, Zeke sat with Hector Mendoza, his son Roberto, and daughter in-law, Maria Delgado. The child, Christopher, was Maria's son. They had taken shelter in the building, when the water started rising. They had just survived, on a case of almonds, they found in the warehouse. Hector's wife had been a diabetic, and had died on Day 23. Maria's husband had gone into town to get the insulin prescription refilled on Day 0, and had not returned.

The next morning, over coffee with Hector while Maria made breakfast, they discussed their future.

“I and my son are farmers. We have lived in this valley all our lives. If we can find a place with good dirt, we can grow plenty of food. There is a place Southeast of here that Con-Agra planted an apricot orchard on the hillside. It did not do well without the irrigation quota, but the soil is good. I hope we can find some seeds, I don't want to have to survive on apricots and wild onions.”

Zeke interrupted, “I have a wide variety of seeds for my hydroponic garden. Do you think we can find it?”

Hector replied, “It is about 30 miles Southeast of here.  There are some tools and equipment that we can use in the warehouse, Roberto and I will get them aboard right after breakfast.”

Zeke was pleased to have company, and Maria's breakfast was a welcome change from what he usually threw together.

They reached their new home the next afternoon. Although the orchard was heavily damaged by the storm, Hector said that with pruning, most of the trees should recover.

Over the next six months, the garden was planted, the orchard was pruned, and a shelter was built. Zeke wanted everyone to keep living on the Flush, but Hector insisted that he wanted to have a shelter on shore. On the day it was completed, Zeke proposed to Maria.

She had dealt with her grief, and recognized that Zeke was a fine man, who loved her, and would provide for her and her son. They stayed on the Flush, and within a year, Lilly Jacoby arrived.

On Day 145, David started down the hill. When he reached Highway 49 he turned north toward Placerville. He crossed the Cosumnes River Bridge with some misgivings, since the debris on it indicated that it had been over washed. The crossing was made without difficulty.

As he crested the next hill, David saw a bedraggled figure walking along the road. As he approached, the man turned, smiled, and stuck out his thumb. He pulled along side, stopped, and said, “You look like you could really use a lift.”

“I’ve been rode hard and put away wet, as my grandpa used to say. My name’s William Landon, but most folks call me Tiny. I would appreciate a ride, but I need something to eat. I ran out of food three days ago.”

“I can help both ways, I’m David Russell.”

They made a small fire on the side of the road, made a meal of canned ham and pancakes, and got acquainted.

Tiny, was well over six feet, and a big boned man with a full beard. He was in route to a friend’s wedding in Reno on Day –1, and took shelter in a barn near Nashville. On Day 0, the barn fell down and crushed his Harley. The flood rushing out of the mountains washed away what was left of the town and he barely made it to high ground. He rode out the storm in the wreckage of a house, and started walking north when the salvaged food ran out. His family also lived in the Bay area, where he had an accounting firm.

In less than an hour, the two men developed a friendship and agreed to work together to get back home. They drove on North up Highway 49 through the wreckage of El Dorado. When they reached Diamond Springs, they found a jack-knifed tractor-trailer blocking Highway 49 at the junction of Missouri Flat Road. Spray painted on the side of the trailer was the words: Trespassers Will Be Shot!

The map showed a westbound on-ramp to Highway 50 from Missouri Flat Road, so they drove that direction. On the eastbound Highway 50 on-ramp was another will be shot message. Tiny commented, “looks like they don’t want any company.”

“I guess they had trouble with looters,” replied David.

Highway 50 eastbound was choked with wrecks and stalled cars. A few bodies were visible inside some of them. A sense of foreboding came over both men as they continued westbound.

It was near sundown when they crested the last foothill. Instead of the valley and Sacramento stretching out before them, a vast Inland Sea covered everything.

David stopped the truck, and gasped, “they’re all gone.”

Tiny opened his door and stumbled down to his knees. With tears streaming, he exclaimed, “I can’t believe it. My family, all the people, why did I survive?”

Both men sat on the ground on each side of the truck, trying to come to grips with the enormity of the situation. The day was ending when David spoke. “ With the water level this high around the world, we’ve lost the 80% of the people that live along the coast. This is truly the end of the world as we know it.”

Tiny replied. : I don’t know about you, but I almost wish I hadn’t survived.”

David stood up and said, “we can’t let our civilization collapse. Those of us left have to do what it takes to insure that the children of the survivors don’t live in the dark ages. We have to keep as much of the knowledge intact, so mankind can recover. To do that, we have to survive, and to prosper. I need you to be my partner, to help me make a difference.”

Tiny stood, and embraced his friend, and said, “Your right. We better make some supper while there is some light left. Tomorrow’s not going to be any easier.”

The next morning, they continued down the hill. As they approached the point where Highway 50 disappeared under the Inland Sea, David noticed something on a large building on the water’s edge. “That building has a big solar array on the roof. I’ll bet I can get some of it generating power.”

They took the last off ramp and approached the building. It was a Best Buy warehouse electronics store, and the building appeared intact. In the same complex was a Furniture Warehouse, also mostly intact, and a Starbucks attached to a gas station convenience store, which were wrecked. The front windows in the Furniture store had blown out and a lot of the inventory in the front of the store had water damage. The offices and warehouse in the rear of the store were intact. There was a couch in one office, which Tiny claimed. David did not blame him, since his foam pad only was for one.

“No problem, I’ll sleep on one of the beds outside. Lets check out the other building. I want to get up on the roof and see what shape the solar system is in.”

The front of the Best Buy had steel roll-down doors over the entrance doors and windows. They drove around to the back and found a two bay dock, and a drive through vehicle entrance, all with roll-down doors. They did find two steel access doors. Three shots with the 357 blew out the deadbolt on one of them and they were inside.

The next week was spent surveying and consolidating their new home. The Best Buy building was secure, after they found the open key safe and barricaded the door with the blown out deadbolt. It had daylight lighting through translucent panels in the roof and walls. That building would be the home of the Best Buy Trading Post. It was filled with all of the electronics and appliances that were presently useless.

David had hopes to restore some of the solar power generation capacity from the roof panel array, but his initial efforts had proven unsuccessful. He did find a case of solar laptop chargers that would recharge a laptop, after two or three day’s exposure to the overcast daylight sky.

They moved most of the inventory into the warehouse, and stacked it for long term storage.  The batteries, lights, solar chargers, and a few other selected items were placed on covered display cabinets in the rear of the sales area. The salvageable items from the convenience store and Starbucks were also moved into the warehouse.

With a recharged laptop and battery powered printer, David printed 25 notices.

Attention

The Proprietors of the Best Buy Trading Post announce our Grand Opening Fair. We will open our doors on Saturday, October 20. We are located in El Dorado Hills at the end of Highway 50, in the Best Buy Building. We have a secure place for you and your trading goods, out of the rain, so you can stay overnight. Bring anything you have to swap for something you need. We have some batteries, lights, solar chargers, and a few other selected items. We will trade for most anything, since if we don’t need it someone else probably will. We want food, bicycles, seeds, fishing gear, tools, ammo, pumps, and solar equipment.

We also can provide a slow recharging service for small battery powered devices. We could charge your cell phone but it still won’t work.

Our world has changed beyond our understanding. We have all lost too much. Now is the time for those of us who have survived, to start rebuilding our lives, and working together. It will take our, and our children’s lifetimes to remake this corner of the world, but what choice do we have?

There are some that have preyed on others since the Event. That behavior will not be tolerated here.

Thieves will be shot…

David Russell and Tiny Landon

Early the next week, David loaded up and headed back up Highway 50 to bring the Frombachs back to their new home. Tiny stayed behind to guard the property. David left several notices at the Missouri Flat off ramp and the junction at Highway 49. He left one notice at every crossroad all the way up to the Frombach’s cabin. Elmer and Alice were overjoyed to see him, and David felt like he had come home. They were excited when he described the trading post idea.

Later, over dinner, David described so far unsuccessful efforts to get any power out of the solar system. Elmer smiled and said, “you didn’t have any power on the service side did you?”

“No, that’s why I am trying to get the solar system up, “ David replied.

Elmer continued, “You have to have voltage on the load lines before the converter will turn on, it’s a safety feature, to prevent someone down the line from getting g shocked by the solar panel. You need a small battery powered converter to energize the load side of the solar converted so it will turn on. Then you can switch on the real loads and the solar system will drive it.”

David shook his head, and said, “I have all the engineering book learning, but not enough real world experience to know that. I’m glad to have your help, and your experience.”

The next morning, they started loading the truck and a small trailer with everything that might be needed in their new home. David assured them that there was plenty of furniture to pick from. Elmer did have a good selection of tools, some fishing gear, and some heritage seeds. Alice had a kitchen full of stuff as well as bedding, an old sewing machine, knitting supplies, and family pictures. They also took the wood stove and the hand pump for the well.

They were ready to leave by early afternoon of the next day. David turned to Alice and asked, “any regrets about leaving?”

She shook her head and replied. “No, no, we were not safe there anymore. We have had a good run, but we need to move on. Elmer needs medical attention. His arm is not healing. I’ll miss my roses, but I took some cuttings.”

They saw that most of the notices were gone, and David considered that a good sign. They arrived just before dark, and just pulled into the warehouse. Unloading would wait until the next day.

Tiny had seafood stew and pan bread supper ready to prepare, and within an hour they were sharing a meal by battery lantern light.

Tiny also had news of two different groups of visitors. The first was two men from the other side of El Dorado Hills. They promised to return for the fair.

The second group of three heavily armed men arrived yesterday afternoon on bicycles. They had come down Highway 50 from the Placerville area. They were wary, but impressed, especially with the security and the shelter offered by the furniture store. They also said that a large group from their area would come down the hill for the fair.

The next day, everyone worked to get the Frombachs settled in the big furniture store office.

David finally was able to address the solar system problem. It was almost sundown when he connected a converter powered by the truck battery to a single panel and converter. The green LED indicator on the panel converter flashed on, and when he connected the AC output to a flood lamp, it illuminated. It went out a few minutes later as the sunlight faded. It was a major milestone on the road back.

During the next few days, everyone but David worked to prepare for the weekend fair. David worked to disconnect the damaged panels from the rooftop grid. When that task was completed, two thirds of the panels were available for power generation. Using the single panel he had been able to use the forklift charger to charge an array of a dozen batteries salvaged from car on the eastbound Highway 50. He used three small converters supplied by the battery array to provide the startup power.

Early Friday morning, a school bus pulling a trailer arrived with the first group from Placerville. After they had unloaded, it went back up the hill for another load. By the end of the day, 27 different family groups had arrived, some on motorized vehicles, a few on wagons, and several walking.

The fair was a huge success, and the last of the visitors did not leave until Monday afternoon. David promised to hold another every other month, and everyone promised to return. David had set up a bulletin board with a place to list things they needed and things they had to swap. He decided to include the listing on the back of the next fair notice.

When it became obvious that the listing was going to be more than one page, David was complaining that he might as well be trying to publish a newspaper. Alice overheard his comment and replied. “Why don’t you?” 

That answer sparked the beginning of the Inland Sea Beacon, a three page, legal paper, sized document that included news, opinion, advertising, and a comic strip. The first issue was printed on an inkjet printer and then reproduced 100 times on a laser photocopier. Each paper sold for one nickel, and two boys who delivered and collected for it got to keep two cents for each copy. Only pennies, nickels and pre 64 silver coins were accepted. They were waiting on the Monday morning before the next fair when the print run was completed. With their bicycles loaded, they made their way to every known residence in the area.