Читать книгу The Macro Event - Andrew Adams - Страница 19

Chapter 13

1710, Day 1, Sandy Valley, Nevada

Lee and Jake rode their borrowed bikes into Sandy Valley in the early evening. The sixteen-mile ride was uneventful although tiring because of numerous hills and valleys. Both men were dead tired after the long walk and two long rides. The rough terrain and the uncomfortable packs were taking their toll. Thankfully, the ride to Sandy Valley was all hard pavement. As they approached the town, Lee spotted the familiar steeple of a Mormon Church ahead, and after telling Jake on the radio, they rode toward it. Like the fire station in Goodsprings, this place also had refugees milling around although fewer because of its isolated location. It appeared the Mormons were the ones setting up the camp here, and again, like the Pioneer Saloon, tents, cots, and chairs abounded. Someone was using a barbecue to cook up what looked like beef, and people were lining up with paper plates for their turn at the food.

Lee pulled up first, followed closely by Jake, and they both got off and parked the bikes against the building. Then they started asking around for Joel, but he walked up and found them first.

“You guys must be Lee and Jake?” a medium-height balding middle-aged man said as he approached.

“We are. Are you Joel?” replied Jake.

“Yep, that’s me. So are you the two nuts from Vegas planning to ride bikes to Irwin?” asked Joel.

“Well, unless a yellow cab pulls up looking for fares, I guess that is our only choice,” Lee chimed in.

All three men laughed at Lee’s comment and shared handshakes.

Joel then said, “It is too bad that Lucy left for Irwin. She couldn’t find anyone to go with her. She was driving one of those four-seat VW power dune buggies. You guys could have ridden with her. I can tell you that sure would have made me feel a whole lot better. Having that stubborn woman heading out on her own has me worried. I did all I could to talk her out of it, but she insisted that Rick would be stuck at Irwin, and she wanted to be with him. She is a Class A gutsy woman.”

“Yeah, our experiences so far have not been great. I hope she stays alert and safe,” Jake said.

To which Lee added, “That’s an understatement.”

“She is tough,” said Joel. “At least she is packing. She took along a 1911 forty-five. She also took along some supplies. I just hope that old buggy gets her there.”

“Well, we are heading the same way, but it sure would be nice to be driving versus riding these motorless mopeds,” Lee said, pointing at the mountain bikes.

“Well, we will be in good shape after riding to Irwin across the mountains,” added Jake. “I just wish they had some kind of rack to hold our bags. Our shoulders will be a blistered mess when we get to Irwin. And Lee’s bag is a lot heavier than mine,” he said as he pointed at the two bags sitting next to the bikes.

“Well, at least my bag has decent shoulder straps and a good lap belt,” Lee said as he rubbed his shoulders and then pulled back his shirt to see the condition of the skin. “Not blistered yet.”

Joel then said, “You know, these Mormons have an entire bike shop in the back. They have a bunch of mountain bikes the missionaries have used over the years. Let’s ask if they have any racks or baskets.”

Joel turned and looked around, obviously trying to spot someone in the group of people milling around. He spotted the person he was looking for and started that way. “Let me see what I can do.”

Joel came back in a couple of minutes with a tall skinny guy about forty years old, who was wearing a white shirt and one of those Mormon name badges. Joel introduced him to Lee and Jake as “Brother Walker.”

“You gents can call me Johnnie,” said Brother Walker.

Jake and I looked at each other, trying not to look amused.

Obviously use to this response about his name, Johnnie said, “I know, I know, a Mormon named Johnnie Walker is an oxymoron name, but it might be what keeps me a good tea drinker.”

Everyone laughed.

The men shook hands, and after a minute or two of discussion about Lee and Jake’s ride from Vegas and their plan to head to Irwin, Brother Walker addressed the two new friends’ concern. “Let’s go see what we can find in the back. I think we might have something that will make your travels a little easier, but let’s see what your tire sizes are first.”

Brother Walker knelt down and read off the sizes of the tires to us. “Well, thankfully, they are both the same size. That makes it easier to have spare tubes.”

Johnnie led Lee and Jake around the church to a rear storage shed and opened it. It was full of bikes of all conditions plus various parts and pieces. Johnnie walked inside, pulled a two-wheel cart from behind bikes in the corner, and manhandled it to the door. He also handed Jake two new tubes in boxes and two bottles of green slime tire sealant. He looked around for a moment, and he found a little tool kit and air pump, which he brought out with him.

Lee and Jake looked at the cart design and determined it should attach to the rear axle bolts of a bike. With the cart, tools, and parts, the three men returned to their bikes in front of the church. Johnnie explained how to attach the trailer to Lee and Jake, and the two took to installing it, which took no time at all. The parts and hardware needed to attach the cart was in a ziplocked bag taped to the cart. Both bikes were similar, so it made no difference on which bike they installed the cart. They discussed putting the heavy stuff in the cart to lighten up their backpacks and the strain on their shoulders.

While Lee and Jake fixed up the bike and stowed their gear, Johnnie came back and suggested then men “chow down” before leaving. Some of the Mormon volunteers were cooking chicken plus various side dishes. He explained that with the power out, they were going to use up their frozen stuff first as they did not want to rely on the single small gasoline generator that was running. Johnny explained to Lee and Jake the church had recently installed a large diesel generator, but it would not run since the EMP.

Lee asked, “Can I take a look at it?”

Johnny said, “Sure, that would be great. Follow me.”

The generator was a new diesel generator. Johnnie opened the access panels, and Lee started to look it over. They could all smell a burned odor coming from the control panel compartment.

“It smells just like the inside of my car in Vegas,” Lee said.

“The panel is dead, and it does nothing,” said Johnnie.

Lee finished looking over the generator, and he turned to the men. “Lucky it is an older type Kubota diesel with a mechanical injector pump, unlike some newer technology with electronic fuel injection. Mechanical injection does not need much to run. All you need to do is get it turning over and give it fuel.”

“Why do you think it is dead then?” Johnnie asked.

“Well, they probably added this electronic panel to control the fuel solenoid and even the starter motor. It probably controls the glow plugs, and likely it’s tied into the oil pressure and temperature. If it is cold outside, the electronics activate glow plugs before cranking over the engine. If the engine overheats, the electronics shut down the motor to prevent destruction. My guess is the electronic board was fried from the EMP, but I doubt the engine or the starter motor is bad,” Lee said.

“It is well beyond me,” answered Johnnie.

“Me too,” said Jake.

Lee then asked, “Do you have any small jumper wires? You know, the ones with alligator clips on them?”

“I don’t think so,” said Johnnie.

“Okay, no problem. I have a couple of them in my bug-out bag.”

“Why do you have jumper wires in your bag, Lee?” Jake asked.

“Well, like I said, one of my choices for wheels was construction equipment or older tractors and stuff. Jumper wires make it easy to borrow them,” Lee said back to Jake with a wink. Lee then headed back around the front to his bag and returned shortly with four jumper wires.

“Okay, first, let’s see if the starter motor will go,” Lee said. He hooked a wire from the small terminal on the starter solenoid mounted on the side of the engine compartment. Then he touched the other end to the positive battery terminal. The starter motor instantly turned over the engine, but it failed to start.

“That is a start in the right direction. No pun intended,” Johnnie said, excited the motor turned over.

“Yes, that is good. Now let’s see if we can get fuel going to it,” Lee said.

Lee then looked over the motor and found the wiring going to the fuel shut off solenoid. He unclipped the plastic connector. Taking another jumper, he attached one clip onto one prong in the solenoid end of the connector and the other to a metal bracket on the motor. He attached another jumper to the second prong being careful not to short the two clips together. If this worked, Lee figured they could make a more permanent attachment. Lee took the end of the second wire and attached that to the battery terminal, creating a small spark. A clicking sound emanated from the solenoid.

Lee said to the two men, “The small spark means the solenoid still has continuity. A large spark might indicate a short circuit.”

Now with the fuel solenoid hot-wired, Lee again touched the starter solenoid jumper to the same terminal on the battery. The starter motor started turning over the engine again. This time, after a few seconds, the diesel motor sprang to life, producing a roar and a cloud of black exhaust.

The men shouted out hoorahs over the noise of the diesel motor. They exchanged high-fives all around.

“This is fantastic, Lee,” said Johnnie.

“Nice job, man,” said Jake.

Lee showed Johnnie how to shut off and restart the motor. He suggested they get some wire and connectors and, if possible, a toggle switch that they could wire to the fuel solenoid and maybe a push button for the starter motor. Johnnie said he would see what they could scrounge. Lee reminded him to keep an eye on temperature and make sure to keep it full of oil. There would not be any safeguards now.

The men left the generator running for now. Johnnie went into the church and came back to tell Lee and Jake the multiple refrigerators and freezers were all working.

“Now we don’t have to use all the fresh meat right away, which is good. But I guess some people will not like that. Let’s go get you two heroes some of the barbecue chicken before it is gone,” Johnnie said.

Jake replied, “Lee is the hero. I would not have figured that out.”

The three men walked back around to the front of the church.

Although Lee and Jake had eaten only a few hours earlier at the Pioneer Saloon, they figured they might as well fill up with the fresh food and protein. It might be days before they see real food again. As the two men were being served the great-looking chicken and side dishes, Johnnie was telling the others how Lee had repaired the generator. Several of the other Mormons came up and thanked the two men. Jake just pointed at Lee and told them he did it all.

Lee and Jake finished their second scrumptious meal of the day, consisting of barbecue chicken, potato salad, and some canned tomatoes from storage, plus fresh cucumbers that one of the local farmers had brought over. They ate while discussing their next step. It was nearly 8:00 p.m. and would be getting dark soon. They discussed and weighed the choices. They could wait until morning and continue in daylight. That probably made sense as tired as both men were. Lee pointed out how exhausted he was. With little sleep, a long walk out of Vegas, two separate deadly encounters, and the long bike ride here, both men were wearing down. On the other hand, they realized being on the roads tomorrow in daylight posed more danger. As each hour and day passed, stranded, desperate people on the roads would become more of a threat. Their supply of food and water was a valuable target. Some people may feel the men should share. Others may try forcibly to take what they wanted. Neither man wanted another battle. It was going to be dark soon, but maybe they could get down the paved road to the dirt power line turnoff and move inland a ways and camp. They knew leaving now was the safer bet, but both men were exhausted.

Finally, reaching a compromise, they decided to take a five-hour break, get some sleep, and when the nearly full moon was out, they would take off.

The next part of the route would be to take Kingston Road southwest from Sandy Valley. The road was paved and straight for the first five miles as it passed through rural desert farmland. After five miles, it changed to a maintained gravel road and worked its way up over a mountain range. After crossing the mountain range, the road turned south and intersected the power line road that would lead the men to the south of Fort Irwin. They would try to get at least down past the paved portion tonight and then find a safe place to camp out.

With the decision made, Lee and Jake found Johnnie, told him their plan, and asked if they could sleep here for a few hours. Johnnie not only agreed but also took them into the church and found two military cots for them to use. With the plan of leaving later in the night, Lee and Jake decided to move the cots outside. They did not want to disturb sleeping people when getting up to leave.

“If you are going to leave in the middle of the night, allow us to say a blessing now,” Johnnie asked the two men.

“We would appreciate that,” Lee answered, with Jake nodding his approval.

Johnnie then gathered several of the Mormons and about two dozen of the refugees, and they all gathered in a large circle and grasped hands.

Johnnie recited the blessing, “Oh, Father in heaven. Bless these brave men, Jake and Lee, as they continue their long journey to reunite with their families. Make their journey safe and quick. Provide them with shelter when needed and food to nourish and strengthen their bodies. Also, Lord, please provide for all of your children who have gathered at your house here in this beautiful valley. Please provide for those who need your help in this terrible time. Please help those faced with desperation and need throughout our great country. We ask this in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.”

“Amen” sang out from the entire group.

Lee and Jake placed two cots next to their bikes and bags, and they both collapsed onto the cots. Lee was fast asleep in little time. The prayer got Jake thinking and kept him awake for a time. He thought about this situation and his new friend Lee. He also thought about his family and what he had done that had brought him here to this place during this tough time.