EMP 1500 MILES FROM HOME (4 page)

Julie heated a couple of cans of tamales and we both took turns eating out of the pot.

When the food was gone, Julie said, "I didn't realize how hungry I was, and you ate like you hadn't eaten for a week."

"Only a day," I replied. "Those tamales were good though."

"I think you could eat some more. We have more cans."

"But we don't know how long our food will have to last," I said. "Besides, I could stand to lose a few pounds."

"Not very many, I think," Julie said, looking me over. "I could lose a few more than you."

"Well, on this trip, I suspect we will both have our chance to lose a few pounds."

"I think you're right." Julie paused for a while. "Does it bother you, shooting those men, I mean?"

"I thought it would bother me more. In fact, I never thought I could ever take a life. It makes me want to be more careful. I don't want to have to kill anyone else, and I don't want to get killed."

"Amen to that," Julie said. "I wasn't raised a pacifist, but I don't want to kill anyone either. My dad and mom raised me to do what needs doing though. That is a big part of life on a ranch."

"Maybe we will make a good team," I said.

"I think we will," Julie said. "In fact, I know we will."

We sat in silence in the faint light of the fire for a while. I had my back to the fire and watched for trouble.

I hadn't heard a single vehicle since the world ended. Cap told me that most anything made in the 1950s or the early 1960s was EMP-proof. Sooner or later, someone would roll an old vehicle out of a shed and put it on the road. I thought about trying to find one, but right now a running car or truck would be an attention grabber; a real magnet for most everyone, including those with bad intentions. Cap and I had discussed this. He suggested the gray man approach, blending in on foot, unless a vehicle was really needed. Cap had four EMP-proof vehicles at his retreat. One of them was even armored.

"I will stand first watch. Why don't you turn in?" I said.

"Watch?" Julie asked. "Do you really think we need to have one of us awake out here away from everyone."

"Yes I do. Cap taught me it is standard operating procedure. He said it only takes a single mistake to lose your life. I figure I have made two mistakes already, and I can't afford a third."

"OK, when you were robbed might be considered a mistake. But what is the other one?"

"When you got the drop on me."

"But you're OK. I really wasn't going to shoot you."

"But what if it had been someone else?"

"Oh, I see what you mean." Julie paused. "So I guess we have a don't talk to strangers rule too?"

"Unless we have them at gunpoint, that might not be a bad idea," I smiled.

"Life as we knew it is over, isn't it?"

"I am afraid so, at least for a long time."

"No it is over. The effects of this will last the rest of our lives, even if the electricity comes on again." I nodded agreement. Julie was catching on quickly.

Julie rolled up in her blanket. I kept watch with the shotgun in my lap and the .45 tucked under my belt. The Mosin lay beside Julie, along with the other two pistols. I was glad for the guns. They were comforting. However, I had no illusions. Guns are useful, sometimes even necessary, but it is the mind that is the most important; a sharp and focused mind. Distractions can get you killed, or so Cap taught me.

As I watched, I listened. I listened for any change in sounds. Everything was quiet. I woke Julie at 3:00 AM.

She awoke quickly as I touched her shoulder. "Did you sleep?" I asked.

"Yes, much better than I thought I would."

"Good. You are on watch now until daylight. If you get too sleepy to stay awake, wake me up."

"OK."

I took a few minutes and explained to Julie how to keep watch. She listened intently. Then I rolled up in my blanket and fell asleep more quickly than I thought possible.

Julie

I am still sleepy from being awakened in the wee hours. In between looking around, I study Wayne where he lies sleeping. I am attracted to this man so much it surprises me. He is big, big and tall, but I have been around horses most of my life and I do not feel uneasy in his presence, although he is the biggest man I ever met. I am five feet six and Wayne towers over me. The top of my head is well below his chin when we are standing.

I am impressed by the fact that this stranger, who hardly knows me, and has given no sign he finds me attractive, stood most of the watch himself. He woke me at 3:00 AM leaving me with less than three hours to stand watch. I decided I would let him sleep as long as he needed.

Wayne

When I awoke, the sun was just beginning to erase the darkness. Julie was wide-awake and carefully keeping watch. She held the shotgun in ready position. I was pleased.

"Anything stirring?" I asked.

"I thought I heard a shot about 4:30, but it was a long way from us."

"What direction?"

Julie pointed toward Polvadera. "That way. Should we fix breakfast now?"

"No, I think we should get moving. We can find a good spot in a couple of hours and fix something to eat then. I don't think we should stay in any one place any longer than we have to."

"OK," Julie said, and started putting her blanket pack together. I did the same. We were on our way in ten minutes. I completely covered the Dakota fire pit, and tried to eliminate all traces of our presence. It might not fool a real tracker, but I thought it was good enough to fool almost everyone else. Julie watched as I worked but didn't say a word.

We walked for three hours. I estimated we walked about seven miles, which I thought was pretty good, considering the terrain and ubiquitous thorny plants.

We stopped and fixed a meal. We were hidden from the interstate, but were maybe a quarter of a mile from it. While we were eating I heard a vehicle on the highway. We both crawled up a low rise to look. There was on old 1950s pickup truck, painted a bright red, rolling north on the interstate.

"We need one of those," Julie whispered.

"Later, I think. Not now."

We watched as the truck drove steadily past us. There was an overpass about a half mile up the highway. I was watching through the binoculars as the truck approached the overpass. Suddenly we heard gunfire and the truck slowed, rolled off the road, and came to a stop. I counted at least a dozen men rushing toward it.

"That doesn't look good," Julie whispered.

"No, it doesn't," I agreed. "I think we have some thinking to do on how to get past that crew."

The 'crew' dragged the body of the driver from the truck, pushed the truck back onto the interstate, and drove away with at least nine men in the truck bed. They were whooping and hollering. A couple fired their rifles into the air.

"Do you think they are leaving?"

"I don't know. We can't assume they are though. However, I'll bet some of them will use the truck and look for something to steal."

"Well, we stole."

"As will most folks now, I think. However, I hope we don't just kill people for their stuff."

"I don't think that is our style," Julie said. "Besides, we don't need very much to get by. Once we are home on the ranch, we will be OK. Dad has enough beef cattle to feed half the county. It is a big ranch."

"That sounds good. I think I could go for a steak about now."

"Me too," Julie smiled. "I could get tired of tamales if I tried, but they were on sale, and I have, uh—had, a very small income after getting laid off."

"I think we all just got laid off."

"That is one way of looking at it."

"Right now I think we are fairly rich."

"This is not what I pictured being rich would be like. I thought there would be parties, and expensive clothes, and maybe a yacht."

"That was before, this is after."

"Well, I at least want a bath soon."

"I second that," I said.

We gathered our stuff and walked north. Our packs were getting lighter. We would need to find more water soon. I led the way with the Mosin slung over my shoulder. Julie followed with the shotgun. All of our weapons had rounds chambered, and the safeties (except for the revolver of course) on.

Yeti

I am making slow progress, but I am making progress. For someone so smart, I have really been stupid to let myself get so fat. I knew overeating is a problem for some smart folks and I guessed I was one of them.

Until a few years ago, I didn't know I was smart. I believed I was just a dumb fat boy worthy only of the derision I received. But I liked computers. I was good with them. I built my own computer system from parts and discovered the Internet.

One day when I was goofing on the Internet, I found an online IQ test. I took it and got all the answers correct. That got me interested in IQ. I thought my score was just an accident, but the more I read about intelligence, the more interested I became. I finally registered for and took the Mega IQ test when I was eleven. It scored me with an IQ in the higher end of the profoundly gifted range.

I know most folks would like to be able to say they have such a high IQ but take it from me, it is just another handicap. Like most of the profoundly gifted, I am an empath, meaning I strongly feel what others are feeling, but an empath with little control over my own overly sensitive emotions.

I also have little interest in the things that interest most people; football, television shows, and the like. That made it hard for me to make friends. I tried, Heaven knows I tried, but sooner or later they would find out that we had so very little in common and find others with who they had more in common to be friends with.

So here I am, too fat to walk very far and smart enough to know that my chances of surviving are very low. It is not a good situation to be in, but at least I am making my own decisions. That part feels good.

Wayne

After walking a while we came on the road that led to the overpass where the driver of the old pickup truck was killed. We took turns scanning the area for any sign of movement or human presence with the binoculars.

We came upon rattlesnakes twice, but just walked around them and kept going. It wasn't worth risking a shot to kill one, or starting a fire to cook it.

We stopped in the brush about four hundred yards from the road. It was still about six hours until dark. We studied the road from a concealed position that gave us a good view. Twice the pickup truck, still loaded with armed men, drove past.

"Cross after dark?" Julie asked.

"Oh, you have done this sort of thing before?" I asked.

"No, I think it is just common sense."

"You're right. I think our best chance is after dark."

"If we wait too late, we may run into a rattlesnake or two on the road. This time of year it gets cold at night, and they seem to like the warmth radiating from the pavement."

"That is something to know. Thank you."

"You're welcome. One of my boyfriends, years ago now, loved to hunt rattlesnakes at night on the paved roads. At the right time of year, he killed quite a few."

"I think we need a good dog at some point. One we can train not to bark, but let us know when there is danger."

"Do dogs do that?"

"Some can. Cap has a German Shepard he has trained to do just that."

"How long did it take him to train the dog?"

"It took Cap about a week to keep the dog from barking and maybe a month for complete training."

"That is fast."

"Yeah, I hope we can find a smart dog like Cap’s. Cap has trained his to do some amazing and unexpected things."

"Better not to find a dog now, I think," Julie said, staring at the road. "It might give us away before we can train it. Maybe we can do that when we get to the ranch."

"That might be best," I agreed.

We lay in wait quietly. The truck passed once more, still loaded with armed men. I guessed they were trolling for new victims.

It seemed like a long time before the sun began to set. We waited until no rays of sunlight were visible, and then, as quickly as we could, made our way across the road and into the greasewood and mesquite on the other side. I went first with the Mosin in hand, while Julie followed using a small bush I had cut earlier to wipe out our tracks as best she could.

We wiped out our tracks for a couple of hundred feet, and then settled into a large clump of mesquite to listen. At first it seemed totally quiet. But as my ears adjusted, I could just make out human sounds from the direction of the interstate. I assumed the men we had seen, or at least some of them, had holed up there for the night. From the noise they were making, I was sure they felt like they now owned the whole world and nothing could hurt them.

For now, that might be true. However, Cap and I often discussed what would happen if the world as we knew it ever ended. Cap was a prodigious student of history and suggested that we would see similar situations to those in the past where large groups of brigands raided for what they wanted. Sooner or later though, someone stronger always came along and kicked their ass.