Out of LA

by Dennis Elder

  “The frozen food section is definitely out of bounds,” offered Leny. Mary shook her head in agreement.

  “I’ll focus on food, why don’t you stock up on water and non-refrigerated juice,” said Mary.

  The two women split up. Mary pushed her cart down the canned goods aisle. She put lots of cans of chili and other easy to prepare things in her cart. By the time she got toward the end of the aisle her cart was nearly half full. Then she thought it might be a good idea to grab some nuts too. As she rounded the end of the canned food aisle she looked up, trying to read the hanging aisle signs above her. She wasn’t really paying attention when two men suddenly appeared in front of her. One man was standing. The other one was kneeling and was having difficulty keeping his head up.

  Mary was obviously startled and brought her cart to an abrupt stop. Her eyes were suddenly wide with fear.

  “What’s this?” remarked the taller man.

  The man’s comment was soft but his facial expression gave Mary a feeling she was in trouble.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you,” said Mary, as she tried to gather her emotions.

  The man smiled. He was about six feet tall, dressed in jeans and a loose fitting, long sleeved shirt. His hair was unkempt, and he hadn’t shaved for several days. He kept smiling.

  “Not good,” Mary quickly thought to herself.

  “Didn’t mean to scare you,” said the man. “Name’s Charlie. Friends call me Chuck.”

  Mary quickly looked down at the other man knelling on the ground behind and to the side of Chuck. He didn’t look so good. There was blood around his mouth and he kept shifting his weight from one knee to the other.

  “What’s the matter with your friend there?” asked Mary.

  But the man didn’t answer Mary directly. Chuck was looking at Mary’s body – up one side and down the other.

  “You’re a pretty thing. Did you know that?” offered Chuck.

  Mary understood the menacing tone in the man’s voice. She instinctively started backing up, keeping shopping cart between herself and the man.

  “Your friend there needs some help,” offered Mary, searching for anything to change the subject.

  Then Chuck slowly began to move toward Mary.

  “He’s not my friend,” said Chuck.

  Chuck’s tone of voice sent an instant chill through Mary’s body. She began to tremble slightly. Panic set in and suddenly she couldn’t move. All she could do is grip down harder on the shopping cart handle. Chuck sensed her panic, smiled, and moved in closer. Then he sidestepped the cart and pressed his body against Mary’s side. When he did that Mary closed her eyes.

  “I didn’t think there were any women left,” said Chuck. “Specially a woman as fine as you sis.”

  Mary could feel the man’s breath on her neck. He was behind her now. Chuck reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. Mary’s jerked involuntarily when he touched her.

  “Yes, little darlin,” continued Chuck, as he slowly stroked his hands down the sides of Mary’s body and rested them heavily on her hips. “Yes, you are one fine lookin…”

  But Chuck didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. That’s because Leny had snuck up behind him and hit him hard on the back of his head with a large can of Tomato juice. He fell forward slightly and then hit the floor like a twenty-pound bag of potatoes. Mary’s eyes were still closed when Chuck’s head bounced violently off the polished linoleum floor.

  When Mary finally opened her eyes, Leny was standing next to her and looking down at the man on the floor. Chuck wasn’t moving.

  “Time for us to get out of here,” said Leny, still armed with her now dented can of tomato juice.

  Leny took Mary by the arm and began to pull her away. Suddenly Mary remembered the cart and the food they needed.

  “The carts,” said Mary, grabbing her cart and pulling it with her. “We need to bring the carts back with us.”

  With that, both women quickly turned away from Chuck and headed back toward the front of the store. Leny picked up her own cart on the way and they both exited Mr. Wiggley’s World of Food.

  “We’ll come back and finish our shopping on another day,” said Leny as they both quickened their pace. By the time they were in the street the girls were pushing their carts as fast as they possibly could. The cart’s wheels rattled wildly. After two blocks, they began to slow down. They kept moving but both looked back over their shoulders from time to time.

  Mary had never experienced panic like that before. After the adrenaline began to wear off, she slowly began to gain control of her emotions.

  “From now on we’re going to have to find a better way to protect ourselves,” said Mary. “I was so scared in there; I just froze.”

  “I don’t know,” said Lenya in an effort to lighten their mood. “Seems like all we needed was a large can of tomato juice.”

  Mary looked back over her shoulder again.

  “Maybe for you,” finished Mary. “But later today I’m going to find something that will provide a little more protection.”

  Chapter 30: That’s what I’m talkin about

  Boon was almost ready to call the meeting to order. It was only 2 pm when everybody got back to the Police station. Standard Operating Procedure, or SOP, demanded everyone was back by 4 pm. But today was different. Today they needed extra time to review what they had collected so far and then decide on next steps. They’d also learned to hold their meetings before it got dark. During last night’s evening meal, the team heard growling and noticed there were about fifty HBs looking in through the small windows at the front of the Police station. It was after dark and the light from their Coleman lanterns was streaming out through the small slits in the door and the windows. It was obvious the HBs were attracted to the light.

  Mark suggested they turn off the lights and see if the HBs would leave. They did and after about an hour the growling stopped and slowly the HBs wandered off. The episode prompted the team to set a guard watch again that night, just in case.

  The command room was filled with equipment. Bikes stood in a row. All ten of them had been fitted with front and rear baggage racks and baggage compartments. Next to each person’s bike sat a large pile of camping equipment. On the other side of the room there were sets of clothing, food and weapons. Boxes of ammunition were stacked nearby.

  Boon cleared his throat.

  “OK. Time to do a check,” commanded Boon. “Round the room. Susan, you’re up first.”

  Susan had taken on the lead transport role like a duck takes to water. She was a natural leader.

  “Everyone has a fitted bike. We’ve added tough guy tubes inside the rims, which should give us up to 80% protection from most thorns and glass. Each rider has two extra tires, five extra tubes and five small compressed air canisters. Everyone has two flat repair kits. We’ll use the compressed air cannisters only in emergencies. Otherwise we’ll rely on the two stand up pumps. We’ll share those. Each bike’s front luggage compartment will hold a sleeping bag and pad, plus two day’s food, and a tent. Two people per tent.”

  “You sure we’ll need that many tents,” asked Randy. “That’s a lot of extra weight.”

  “You’re right. It is a lot of weight,” responded Mark. “Most nights we’ll stay indoors in buildings. But there are stretches of road where we’ll have to camp outdoors, off the main freeway. If we get hit by a large rain or snowstorm, the tents will be our only protection.”

  Randy shook his head in agreement.

  “OK,” said Randy.

  Susan continued. “The bike rear compartments will hold most of our clothing and extra water. There are two water bottles mounted on each bike frame. We installed toe clamps on the bike pedals. They’re adjustable and will fit our shoes. They will be very helpful when climbing steeper grades. The trailers will hold winter clothing, weapons, food and spare ammunition.”

  “What about bike lights?” asked Tyrone. “Shouldn’t we have lights on the bikes?”<
br />
  “I suggest we use our headlamps when we need to see in the dark,” suggested Susan. “We’ll all carry a head lamp anyway, so carrying the weight of another fixed light on the bike is just extra weight. Remember, weight is the enemy.”

  “And we don’t want to be flashing a light around in the dark anyway,” said Frank. “Remember how the HBs are attracted to lights.”

  Susan looked back down to her list.

  “We’ve removed all bike reflectors too. Lastly, everybody gets a seat cushion, and helmet. My personal view is helmets should be optional, because the only time we’ll get up to any dangerous speeds is when we’re coasting down hills. And we’ll need to control our descent speed because of the trailers.”

  With that Susan turned back to Boon.

  “OK, let’s hear on clothing,” said Boon, as he turned to Mark, their commanding officer.

  “Standard issue will include: two sets of long johns, four pair of socks, four pair of under shorts, four tee shirts, two long sleeved turtle neck shirts,” said Mark. “These were selected for their light weight, durability and warmth. Each of us will wear combat pants or waterproof skiing pants, depending on weather. We picked up two pair of sunglasses for each of us. There’s a basic toiletry kit too, with chap stick, toothbrush and paste, toilet paper, floss, etc.”

  Mark was reading from his list as well. He looked lower on the page and started again.

  “We found some water purification tablets for emergencies; everybody gets a fleece cap and neck gator to keep your heads warm. When things get really cold we’ll rely on a fleece jacket liner with hood, a gortex skiing jacket as the weatherproof shell and ski goggles and gloves.”

  “What’s with the goggles,” asked Randy.

  Doc Martin responded to this question. “They may come in handy when we’re traveling in cold weather. And they will keep your face warmer when it gets really cold. I used to ski as a kid in New Hampshire. Goggles make all the difference when it’s snowing.”

  “Remember in two weeks it will be December,” said Mark again. “Temperatures here in LA might still be comfortable, but as soon as we rise in elevation the temperature is going to drop considerably. And it will change day to day. Utah’s winter weather can change dramatically over a 24-hour period. We’ve picked clothing that will let us add or subtract layers easily, as the temperature and conditions change. Also note some of the skiing jackets are brightly colored. Use the brown and tan dyes to tone them down. We want to blend into the landscape, not stand out against it.”

  Mark looked over his list again. There was one more thing. Mark picked up a bulletproof vest and held it out.

  Almost immediately there were a couple of protesting groans from the group.

  “This is the only piece of clothing that must be worn at all times. We found 10 of these at the Convention center. They are standard Army issue Kevlar armor. They will make riding more difficult. But we must wear them at all times. That’s an order. We’re only ten people. We may be the only ten non-radiated survivors in the entire country, and so we need to protect ourselves and each other at all times.”

  “But major,” they’re heavy and we’re going to sweat like pigs when we ride uphill,” said Susan.

  “I don’t care,” said Mark. “Sooner or later we’re going to run into some idiot who might decide to take a long range pot shot at us. This,” punctuated Mark. “Is the only thing that will either protect you completely or at least give Doc a fighting chance to fix you before you bleed out.”

  Nobody liked the idea of wearing a vest while riding a bike, but no one objected again.

  Boon noticed Jake tugging at his new boots.

  “We can wear our gym shoes until it gets too cold. When the weather turns nasty we’ll go to our insulated boots,” said Boon. “Remember to walk as often as you can in them before we leave. They will need breaking in.”

  “Breakin in is right,” said Jake. “So far these are killing me.”

  “Food is next,” said Boon.

  Doc stood up. He didn’t have a list in his hand. He held up a clear plastic bag filled with dried food nuggets.

  “We have gone back and forth trying to determine just how much food we should carry with us,” said Doc. “We know that anything we carry must be freeze dried to conserve weight. We’ve collected multiple boxes of freeze-dried food and so we have a decent selection available. The challenge has been to decide on a basic strategy. But here is what we’re going to do. Everyone will be given a 5 pound plastic bag of freeze dried meat or vegetables. This food is designated as emergency food only. We will also bring three lightweight backpacking stoves with mini propane canisters. With this simple set up we can boil water, add the freeze-dried food and in 7 minutes we can eat. It’s easy and light weight.”

  “What, no desert?” asked Tyrone.

  Doc smiled and replied, “I’m sure we’ll find plenty of 7-11 candy bars available when we scavenge for our daily food.”

  Sam was part of Doc’s food team and spoke next.

  “So, the freeze dried food is for emergencies only. Like Doc said, we feed ourselves everyday by scavenging. There are small towns all along the route. When possible, we’ll time our lunch breaks as we pass through towns. Each of us will carry one fuel canister for the times when we need to cook on the road,” said Randy as he held up one of the palm sized canisters. “These are readily available in most sporting goods stores. We’ll replenish them as needed.”

  Doc then bent down and picked up a water bottle, the ones designed to ride in the bike frame bottle holders.

  “My number one concern is contaminated water,” said Doc. “When we scavenge for food must use only bottled water for drinking and teeth brushing. We can no longer rely on tap water. Where available, we can use tap water for cooking, but everyone must remember to boil their water first for three minutes before adding any freeze-dried food to it. If just one of us gets sick it will bring the entire group to a standstill for a day or two. So be very careful about what you drink and put into your bike water bottles. This is very important.”

  Then Doc turned to floor over to Jake.

  “An hour before dark each night we’ll pull off the road and find a home or business with good protection. A minimum of five personnel will travel together on every food scavenge trip. Everybody else stays with the equipment. This might slow us down a bit, but it will provide maximum protection during breaks. We’ll follow the procedure for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

  Finally, Boon turned Randy and Junior.

  “And lastly, weapons,” said Boon.

  “Right,” replied Randy, as he stood. “Everybody will carry a Beretta PX 4 Storm Compact handgun and holster. These are lighter weight than the standard Berettas. Standard ammunition for this mission will include 40 caliber Smith and Wesson 180 grain hollow points. The handguns were donated by Andy’s guns and weapons mart. Thank you, Andy. The ammo was provided by our own Anaheim police department.”

  Randy was a bit of a showman. For effect he bowed to the audience and paused for a moment. This got a few hoots and claps from the audience.

  “Thank you very much, thank you. I’m here every Thursday night.”

  Randy offered another short bow and then continued.

  “We’re also going to bring one fifty caliber McMillan Tactical Rifle - in case we run into any… long range obstacles,” continued Randy. “Those of you who are well acquainted with the TAC 50 know its legendary capabilities. It can and will deliver armor piercing, incendiary and explosive ammunition at extreme distances. Its 7.62 round will penetrate an engine block or concrete wall at 1,500 meters. When we need to reach out and touch somebody long distance, we’ll rely on Jake and the McMillan.”

  “That’s want I’m talkin about,” said Tyrone, as he high fived Jake.

  “Last but not least our workhorse weapon of choice the Bushmaster ARC,” said Randy.

  Tyrone tossed an ARC to Randy as the stood in front of the group.

&n
bsp; “Made in America, the ARC fires a 5.56 NATO round, is built on a polymer stock to conserve weight, has a 30-round mag, offers selective and full auto capability and fires an impressive 800 rounds per minute. We’ll carry four fully loaded clips at all times. Total rounds per person will be 700.”

  “HooRah!” blurted Tyrone.

  “But wait,” suggested Randy.

  “Here it comes,” added Tyrone with growing smile on this face.

  “If you order right now, we’ll throw in an Innovative Combat SmartScope absolutely free,” continued Randy.

  Mark sat forward in his seat. This was something he didn’t expect.

  “They work?” asked Mark.