Apocalypse Law 3

by John Grit

  Mrs. Mackay looked at him in amazement. “You have gone beyond the call of duty here.”

  Nate continued. “I’ll draw up plans for it, and your maintenance people can fabricate it in your shop. More than likely, someone here will improve my design anyway. It’s just an idea I’ve had kicking around in my head for months, but I’ve never had the time to actually act on it. The creek near our place is nowhere near as suitable for the purpose as yours, but a smaller rig could be set up there too. The real work will be building the dam. You will need as much drop at the dam flue as possible, the farther the water falls, the larger diameter the wheel can be and the better it will work. The trade off is that fifty acre pasture on the low end of your property will be flooded by the backup of water.”

  She pulled on her right ear, thinking, then said, “We don’t have half the livestock we normally have, so I think that will not be a problem. But we can’t buy feed for them anymore either and must harvest hay.”

  “I doubt much of it will flood except during the wet season.” Nate kept writing as he talked. It’s during the dry season you will need the extra pasture, and most of those fifty acres will be usable during a drought. There might even be times when there is not enough water in the creek to power the wheel. I don’t live here, so I do not know the history of the creek.”

  Ramiro spoke up. “I believe I have found the maps you need.” He handed them to Mrs. MacKay.

  She put them on the desk next to Nate.

  Ramiro cleared his throat. “What he is speaking of will be much work. We need to get the rest of our crop in the ground before we start on his project.” His eyes flickered with fire. “And the security measures are more important than electricity.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I agree. But I think you should get those batteries and other things from the wrecked trucks when you take Nate and his son back home. That will not take too much time, and we will have the parts needed when we have the time to complete the project.”

  Ramiro nodded. “We will take extra men and plenty of tools to remove the alternators, batteries, and any other items we may need. That is a good idea. The trip will have more value to us that way too.”

  Nate finished his list and turned the swivel chair around to face them. “Keep in mind I have included things here you probably will find too arduous to do, so they are just suggestions. I included all I could think of, whether I thought you would be likely to go through the trouble of carrying out the suggestion or not. Some of them presuppose access to that electricity a waterwheel would provide you.”

  Mrs. MacKay brought a chair closer to Nate. “Please go over the items on the list so Ramiro and I can discuss them with you.”

  Ramiro brought a chair closer and motioned for Brian to sit, then brought another chair and sat down by Mrs. MacKay.

  Nate looked at his list. “Item number one: Everyone old enough to be trusted with a firearm should carry a rifle or at least a handgun at all times. If doing work that makes it difficult to carry a long gun even slung on the back, then at least have a handgun on the hip in a holster. There are few jobs you can’t do while a handgun is holstered at your side.”

  Mrs. MacKay chuckled. “I used to be a pretty good shot, but that was many years ago. Perhaps I should exempt myself from that rule.”

  “That’s up to you.” Nate rubbed the back of his neck. “I would certainly include Kendell as someone who can be trusted with firearms, if I were you.”

  Ramiro smiled. “Yes. It would be difficult to get his rifle from him anyway.”

  “More like dangerous,” Brian added. “I feel sorry for anyone who tries to hurt those kids.”

  Ramiro looked up at the ceiling and scratched his neck, a half-smile on his face. “I would agree. Many of us here have seen that already.”

  “Next item.” Nate continued. “Develop some system of alarm that can be triggered and a code to signify what type of emergency it is. Car horns, maybe. Eighteen wheeler horns, if you can find some. If you could scrounge up a few of those battery-powered megaphones that come with a siren button that would be great for guards to use. Anything you use, except for the megaphones, would run on twelve volt auto batteries that will have to be recharged someway.”

  Ramiro seemed to be thinking. “We will look at your plans for the waterwheel as soon as possible.”

  Nate checked his list. “Have SOPs—Standard Operating Procedures—for when the alarm is sounded. Everyone should have a battle station to go to with their weapons and equipment. At least one person should be assigned to gather the children and put them in a safe room and guard them, and perhaps another to keep them quiet and comfort them, make sure they have water, etc.”

  He went to the next item. “The alarm can be used to tell a little about what is happening: One two-second blast could mean an attack from the front, two from the back, etc. You can add more, but don’t make it so complicated people can’t remember it while scared.”

  Ramiro and Mrs. MacKay looked at each other but said nothing.

  “The next two items are to be done only if you have the manpower for it. Set up camouflaged OPs—observation posts—and man them twenty-four/seven. You already have that to a degree, but you need to refine the concept and make it more worthwhile. I’m saying you can make it safer and more efficient.”

  He looked up from his list. “This one will take a lot of manpower, manpower you may not have to spare. Implement roving patrols, each patrol consisting of at least three people. The idea here is to keep informed of what’s going on in your area and to form an outer ring of protection. You want at least three rings of protection that will be retreated from if the threat is too much to handle. Each ring will be smaller and closer to the center: this house. And each ring of protection will be defended with ever more vigor. The house will be defended to the death.”

  Mrs. MacKay did not flinch, but Ramiro blanched.

  “What about an escape plan?” Ramiro asked.

  Nate sat back in his chair and looked Ramiro in the eye. “If it gets that bad, the only way you would get out of here alive would be through a tunnel that gets you into the trees back behind your pastureland. I’m talking about a very long tunnel. I don’t think you have the time or manpower to dig it.”

  Brian spoke. The sarcasm of his days before he left most of his boyhood behind returned for a moment. “It would fill full of water anyway, and I doubt you could hold your breath that long.”

  Nate gave him a hard look.

  Ramiro looked away, nodding. “To the death.”

  “Yes,” Nate said flatly. “Even if you make it out of here and retreat to my farm, there is nothing to eat there, and my little group does not have enough to last long, feeding your large group. We could not even handle Kendell and his kids.”

  “You are not saying anything I did not know,” Mrs. MacKay said. “I have never given the idea of abandoning my home to brigands a second’s thought. This is our Alamo.”

  Ramiro laughed.

  Smiling, she said, “Sorry.”

  “Not quite like the Alamo.” Ramiro smiled back. “I believe the largest raiding gangs have been cleaned out of the county now. We can handle the smaller wolf packs.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Nate said. “You need this farm. You cannot survive without it.”

  Ramiro’s jaw set. “So it is to the death. We will protect the women and children to the last man.”

  “And you better let the women and children who want to fight defend themselves too.” Nate added.

  There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

  “Is there more on your list?” Mrs. Mackay asked.

  “Yes.” Nate looked at the paper in his hand. “Use some kind of visual identifier so everyone will know anyone walking around in the pastures or gardens is part of the group. A hat or jacket, something that can be seen from a distance, but not too bright, or it will destroy any camouflage qualities of his clothing.”

  “I suppose we can come up wit
h something,” Mrs. MacKay said.

  Nate continued to the next item on his list. “Get with neighbors for mutual defense. I do not know anything about your neighbors or if any are still alive, but if you have any you can trust, you should contact them and try to cooperate.”

  “We have already looked into that,” Ramiro said. The nearest neighbor is many miles from here.”

  “Well, even if they are twenty miles away, you probably should see about an alliance with them.” Nate put the paper down. “This one is just an idea. Use creeks to flood the road. I’m thinking of any creek that crosses the road between you and any source of trouble. It depends on the topography as to whether it will work or not. A dam in the right place that backs water up can make it difficult to get to you. This is just a suggestion to keep in back of your mind. It probably will never be called for now that we have removed the two big raider groups from the county and the Guard has taken what’s left of them away.”

  “That would only work during the rainy season,” Ramiro said. “And it would be something to do way ahead of the threat arriving. It would take some time for the creek to back up enough to flood the road enough to stop four-wheel-drive trucks.”

  Nate nodded, not wanting to elaborate on his suggestion any more. “Since your potable water source is the livestock well in the pasture, store plenty of water in the house. Same goes for food, firewood, anything you must have to live should be kept here so you do not have to expose yourself to gunfire while under siege. You should boil the water a little to sterilize it before putting it in the containers, and whatever you use to store it in should be put in boiling hot water first too, unless it’s plastic and will not take the heat. If the water and the container that holds it is sterile when you put it away, there should be no problem with drinking it after it’s been stored a long time. Keep it in a dark, cool place if possible.”

  “We have many large glass jugs that would work,” Mrs. MacKay said. “Usually there is a couple days’ worth of water in the house, but we will increase that to a couple weeks’ worth. It will take up a lot of room, and we are already crowded with so many people, but we can make it work.”

  “As for protecting your water source,” Nate picked up one of the topographic maps and unrolled it, “that solar panel for your pump is vulnerable to gunfire and so is the PVC piping. You should put up protection around the well. A wall of logs just high enough to protect it but not so high as to shade the solar panel and bermed with dirt on the outside will work. You will have to move the water tank over a little so it will be outside the wall and livestock can get to it of course.”

  “That will not be difficult,” Ramiro said.

  Nate looked up from the map. “Back to the three rings of protection. You will not be able to protect the cattle, horses, and other livestock if it gets bad while under attack from a large raiding party. The outer buildings, including the barns, will also probably be lost. Your farm is too large to protect it all. Some of your crops in the field will be looted. If you try to protect everything, you will probably lose it all.”

  “I would die for my horses.” Mrs. MacKay clenched her jaw. “If they’re hungry, they can have a cow, but not my horses.”

  “If it’s a large raiding party, they will take everything, including the women here.” Nate was not trying to frighten her, just help her put things in perspective. Her love for her horses could get people killed.

  Ramiro looked at the two of them and cleared his throat. “I still do not believe there are any large raiding parties left in the area. Certainly, the Guard has been at work all over the county. I doubt the two groups on the road are the only ones they have hunted down.”

  “We will just have to deal with whatever comes,” Mrs. MacKay said.

  Nate picked the list up, checked the last line, and put it back on the desk behind him. “Okay. The last item may require more manpower than you want to spare, but could make a lot of difference during a raid and will help you keep an eye on the outer reaches of your property, including your livestock.” He cleared his throat. “Set up sniper nests in the top floor, and put up bullet stopping barriers so they can shoot from the window. Choose the windows carefully, so the sniper can cover the most area, one window on each side of the house. Put up sandbags or steel plates to stop bullets. Build a shooting bench for each sniper hide and make it as comfortable as possible. They will be spending a lot of time there. Make sure the sniper is set back from the window to make it more difficult for them to discover which window is being used. You do not want to have their rifle barrels sticking out the window.”

  Ramiro rubbed his chin in thought. “We have discussed armed lookouts on the top floor before, but have not acted on it yet.” He sighed. “There is so much to do. Oh how easy we had it before the curse of the shadow of death. We had no idea. God is teaching us.” He turned to look at Brian.

  “I guess so,” Brian said. “It sure is a painful lesson, though. And a lot of good people have paid with their lives.”

  Ramiro nodded. “I understand what you are saying. The loss of a loved one is difficult to bear.”

  Nate looked over the topographic map again. “Looking at the contour lines here tells me nature has given you a pretty good setup for waterwheel-powered hydropower. You will lose some of your lower pastureland, but not as much as I was thinking. You lucked out on another thing, too. It looks like the best place to put the waterwheel is directly across from the house.”

  “Even so, Ramiro said, “we do not have the wire to reach all the way from the house to the creek.”

  Nate shook his head. “No. That’s not what I was talking about. You will be dealing with direct current. DC current cannot be transmitted far without losing voltage. The big advantage to the waterwheel being closer to the house is you will not have to carry the heavy batteries so far. In other words, you are going to have to carry the batteries to the wheel to recharge them. You can use maybe twenty feet of cable, but you certainly will not be able to wire the power all the way to the house.”

  Ramiro gave Mrs. MacKay a wintry half-smile. “Of course. Why should anything be so easy? This is now, not before the shadow of death cloaked our world.”

  “Well,” Nate said, “the amount of power the waterwheel can produce is substantial. You will have enough to power a couple fans so the kids can sleep better on hot nights and will have light to keep from stumbling around the house in the dark. Also, you will be able to continue work after sundown, processing food during the harvest, for example. Canning is time consuming, and you will be in a hurry to get the harvest taken care of before it spoils. Using car headlights to see attackers will make a big difference too.”

  Mrs. MacKay stood. “There is still some time before lunch, and I have many things to do. Will you make a list of items we will need to make the waterwheel generator work?”

  “Of course. There are many things that you should take off the abandoned trucks besides the headlights, alternators, and batteries. All of the twelve volt light bulbs should be taken, and the fuses.”

  “What will the bulbs be for?” Ramiro asked.

  “They will provide just enough light to see in the house at night without attracting unwanted attention from a distance. You can even read with them. It isn’t much light, but it’s enough, and they do not run the batteries down so much as a more powerful light will.”

  Ramiro’s face lit up. “We must get to those trucks before others do.”

  “Make sure you take the sockets the bulbs fit into also,” Nate said. “I will draw a design for the waterwheel, but it will just be loose plans. It all depends on how well the creek dam works out. The more the water falls the better.”

  Nate spent the rest of the day and part of the night drawing plans for the waterwheel generator and explaining to those who would build it what was needed.

  Just before sunrise the next morning, they managed to get four of the larger trucks cranked and running and Ramiro felt they might make it to the abandoned
trucks and back.

  Nate and Brian said their good-byes to Kendell and the children the night before. They were glad to be heading home.

  Chapter 8

  They were many miles from Nate’s farm when Ramiro stopped next to the first truck they came to. It was a large flatbed, heavily damaged, but it appeared to Nate the engine compartment was still intact.

  “If you’re going to stop here,” Nate said, “we’re going to have a long walk ahead of us. I’m anxious to check on my people. We’ve been gone too long already.”

  “Do not worry,” Ramiro said. “You are a good friend. I will take you all the way to your farm. Let us just check this truck for usable parts. It will take only a few minutes.”

  Everyone piled out of the trucks and milled about in the road, stretching their backs and legs. They left the engines running because they might not start again.

  Nate said, “Follow me,” and headed for the woods.

  Something on Nate’s face prompted Brian to ask his father a question. “What’s wrong?”

  They stopped just inside the woods line.

  Nate shrugged. “They could put a little more common sense into this operation.”

  Ramiro heard. He stopped looking under the hood of the abandoned truck and joined them, jumping across a three-foot-wide ditch. “What foolish thing have we done?”

  “You are assuming because we are a fairly large force, no one will take a shot at us.” Nate swept the road with his left hand. “Everyone is out in the open and no defense perimeter has been setup. There has been no scouting of the surrounding woods for trouble.” His face hardened. “Luck is a bitch. If you rely on her, sooner or later, she will let you down.”

  Ramiro scratched the back of his neck, a strange smile on his face. He looked at Brian, his eyes lighting up as he spoke. “There is a reason you still live: You have a guardian.”