Cloverdale (Book 4): Confrontation

by Miller, Bruno

  “I know you do.” Vince had to laugh. He and Mary were so much alike. They were both happiest when they had a little too much going on at once. She was as guilty as he was when it came to not being able to sit still for long. He was glad to see that she was taking it in stride, though, and didn’t seem too stressed.

  “Mary,” Amy Meyer called to her from the hotel lobby as she held the door open. “I’m going to get started on dinner. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, it’s about that time, isn’t it? I’ll be right in to give you a hand,” Mary answered.

  “I should get back to it, anyway. We can talk later.” Vince leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She hugged him back and held on for a second. That was all right with him, and for a moment, thoughts of calling it a day and sitting down somewhere comfortable seemed like a reasonable option. But he had too much to do. They all did.

  “Be careful,” Mary added with a smile as she headed for the kitchen.

  “I will.” Vince watched her leave and then searched the parking lot for Tom. He and Bill were discussing something and didn’t even notice Vince as he approached.

  “I talked with the Meyers, and they have a pump set up in the mechanical room of the motel,” Tom said. “They converted the motel’s water supply, from town water to a well they put in out back. It’s shallow, but the water is decent. We’ll still need to boil any water we plan on drinking.”

  “That still beats hauling it over from the garage,” Bill added.

  “That it does,” Vince agreed. It would have been nice to be able to eliminate the task of boiling water for drinking purposes, but the promise of being able to get water from the tap, taking a shower, or even being able to fill the animals’ oversized troughs would be a huge win for them. It was hard to believe that they had been without amenities like electricity and water for what felt like forever, and now they were close to getting it back, albeit a modified version of what they had before. But they would rejoin the modern world shortly, even if it was only for a short amount of time or until the power ran low.

  The water and electricity would help them get back on track or at least push them in the right direction. Cleaning up with a small amount of water and a towel at night just wasn’t the same. The work they were doing was hard and dirty. For the first few days after the EMPs, Vince remembered feeling like he was constantly covered in ash. If he thought hard enough about it, he could still taste the grit in his mouth.

  Vince wondered if they would all be able to shower tonight. It had been a sunny day and the solar panels should have charged the system to capacity, including the extra batteries Tom had linked together. But they had no way of knowing how far that would go toward meeting the needs of twenty-four people. The Meyer brothers would have to make a call on the water situation. The shallow water well would have limits, too, and it would only support so much use, depending on the gallons per minute it produced.

  They would have to ration the power and water, just like the food. Telling the unlucky survivors that they couldn’t shower tonight would be hard but necessary. Of course, that meant Vince would have to go without a shower himself. He couldn’t ask the others to do something he wasn’t willing to do. It just wouldn’t feel right, and he’d rather be dirty for one more day than deal with the guilt. Besides, if the others saw that he was going without, maybe they would be more understanding about having to be so strict. That was wishful thinking on his part, but he wasn’t going to worry about that now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Vince and Tom found Mark and Richard Meyer hard at work in the motel’s mechanical room. It was dark and musty. With the brothers laboring away over the newly installed water pump and with the open door being the only source of ventilation, it was pretty ripe as well. They were putting the finishing touches on the pump and starting to wrap things up.

  “You boys put in a good day’s work. We all appreciate it,” Vince commented.

  “Thanks, Major. It had to be done.” Mark grunted as he forced a fitting into submission with his wrench.

  “Just a regular day for us,” Richard joked.

  It didn’t take Tom very long to go through the breakers and turn off all the nonessentials. He left the kitchen, their conference and dining room, and all the rooms that were currently occupied. Fortunately, whoever did the original wiring had laid out the panel box well, and all the rooms were neatly labeled and easily isolated.

  They could bring the unused rooms back online when or if they needed to, but for now, it wasn’t worth the risk of the additional power drain. Even a digital bedside alarm clock used some power. The amount would be small, but when multiplied by the dozen or so remaining rooms over a couple hours, it would be enough to power a light bulb for the same amount of time.

  Vince had a feeling they were going to need all the electricity they could manage to squeeze out of the system Tom had put together. And that wasn’t even taking into consideration the two spotlights he wanted to mount out by the gate.

  They were ready to energize the place, and that meant Vince had to go back across the street and throw the switch. Tom offered to do it, but Vince wanted him on this end in case things went south. Tom also needed to stay and wire the well pump.

  The brothers warned both Tom and Vince of the pump’s limitations. It was only a 1.5-horsepower pump and certainly wasn’t designed to supply something as large as a motel with multiple faucets or showers running simultaneously.

  Without an extension cord handy, Tom needed a piece of wire to connect the pump to the closest outlet on the wall. Vince would bring a piece back with him as quickly as he could or send someone else. The brothers were still busy making final adjustments to the pump, and they had done enough already.

  Vince left one of the radios with Tom and the brothers and kept the other for himself. They needed to be able to communicate, unlike last time, so that if there was a problem, Vince could shut things down again.

  He made his way outside and headed down the motel corridor. John was leaning on the wall outside his room and smoking a freshly lit cigarette. John had kicked the habit a few years back. Or at least Vince thought he had. He was going to ask John if he could get the wire for Tom, but the look on his face gave Vince reason to pause. John didn’t look like he wanted to be bothered right now, and Vince decided to respect that. John had also done enough today.

  Vince wondered where Cy had gone, but his question was soon answered when he spotted his son and Bill across the street at the garage. Cy was preparing to fuel up the loader while Bill lifted the side panel of the engine bay and started tinkering with something.

  Vince felt bad for assuming that Cy was resting somewhere or goofing off. Not that the kid didn’t deserve it. They were all tired and they deserved a break; Vince had to remember that. If they kept up this pace, everyone ran the risk of burning out. And if that happened, he could say goodbye to productivity for a while, maybe for good. The morale of the group was intact, but they were walking a thin line.

  They needed this power and water to happen tonight, and against his better judgment, he decided they would use all the electricity the system would give them, even if it meant depleting the reserves as well.

  Using all the power wasn’t smart, and he knew it, but neither was working people to the point of exhaustion without rewarding them. It would also save him the trouble of trying to figure out who would be allowed to shower and who would have to wait until tomorrow. He wasn’t even sure there was enough water and electricity for everyone, and he had forgotten about the clothes. They would just have to be careful and limit the length of their showers. As far as washing clothes went, that might have to wait altogether, or everyone could be limited to one outfit for now.

  There were so many variables to consider when it came to nearly everything they did now. The extra thought it required and worry it generated alone were exhausting. As he approached the loader, he wondered if maybe they all needed a down day. Or at least as much of a down day as
they could afford to give themselves. They would still have to stand watch and take care of the animals, and there would be meal prep, too. But a day without an agenda might be needed—and deserved.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m ready to pump. Just need power.” Cy had the hose from the diesel pump fully extended to reach the loader.

  Vince kept walking toward the garage as he spoke. “That’s where I’m heading now.”

  “I figured I’d give the air filter a good cleaning.” Bill’s voice was muffled, his upper half hidden inside the loader’s engine compartment.

  “Good idea. I’m sure it needs it. But when you two are finished, you might want to head on over to the motel and get cleaned up. With any luck, we’ll have power and water shortly.”

  Cy snorted. “I forget what those are.”

  “Well, I don’t know how long we can keep things running tonight, so I wouldn’t wait too long.”

  Vince was glad to see that Cy was maintaining his usual sense of humor about life in general. That was pretty remarkable for someone who had just been shot at a few hours ago. Even Tom was showing signs of fatigue that seemed to only worsen after the incident today. Being trapped in a loader bucket while some lunatic took potshots at you was bound to get a man a little riled up. Being shot in the arm a few days ago wasn’t helping his disposition any, either.

  He was proud of Cy and how he kept his cool today. He would have made a good platoon leader, but Vince was glad that Cy hadn’t chosen that path in life. The Army was a good life for him, but he wanted more for Cy. He wanted his son to be able to watch his kids grow up, like he hadn’t always been able to. Vince wondered if any of that would ever happen now.

  Thinking about the lost time and missed birthdays over the years still hurt. Then, after the divorce and a move that put physical miles between them, at times it became almost impossible to maintain a relationship with Cy. There were some teenage years that saw months of nothing but occasional texts between them.

  But Vince stuck it out. It wasn’t easy, but he made the effort. Eventually, Cy grew out of his rebellious stage and came around full circle. In the last couple of years, Vince felt like their relationship was the best it had ever been. And then all this happened.

  Vince looked up at the sky before heading inside the garage. The sunlight was fading fast, and before long, the yellow- and orange-streaked clouds would give way to total darkness. A darkness that was unsettling at times. For the first few days, they hadn’t noticed it as much, what with all the fires still burning and lighting up the sky. But when the fires died out and things quieted down, the total lack of sound and light was suddenly noticeable. It was an eerie quiet that felt somehow intensified by the oppressive heat.

  Would they ever see clear skies again? What they needed was a good rainstorm to wash away the dust and grime that seemed to coat everything. The only dark clouds Vince had seen lately were dark because of ash and particles trapped in the air. The air was dry, too, leading him to believe that the chance of rain in their future was slim.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Vince hurried the last few paces to the electrical room and readied the radio in his hand. “Come in, Tom. I’m ready to throw the switch. Over.”

  “Go ahead. We’re ready. Over.” Tom answered right away, but Vince was already halfway there. Clank. The lever slid into place, and the hum of electricity filled the room, along with the flickering light from the ceiling fixture.

  “You should be energized over there,” Vince said. “Everything seems good here. Over.” He expected that Tom would tell him to quickly shut everything down, but he didn’t say that at all.

  “Looks good here, Major. Reese is on her way over to get that piece of wire from you. Over.”

  Vince was about to tell them to stop her when Buster came flying into the room. He was all tongue and wagging tail as he greeted Vince.

  “Roger that. Hey there, boy. You’re awfully excited tonight.” Vince was a little concerned about Reese crossing the street at this hour. Thankfully, the wall of cars reduced anyone’s chances of being a target while out in the open. He was probably being paranoid, but this was the time of day he worried about the most. The attacks usually came at night or in the early-morning hours, but after what happened to Tom and Cy today, all bets were off.

  “Hey, Major. Oh, Buster. Come on now, boy. Leave Major alone,” Reese pleaded, but it was useless. Vince was giving Buster some good hard scratches, and he was eating it up.

  “He’s a good dog. He deserves it.” Vince continued giving Buster attention for another moment or two before pulling a piece of wire out of a pile in the corner of the room. Buster nudged at Vince’s leg in an attempt to solicit more attention. “I better give you this.”

  Reese straightened up from her leaning position in the doorway and took the length of wire from him. “Is that all they need?”

  “Should be.”

  “Okay then. Come on, Buster. Let’s get this back to the motel. Thanks, Major.” With a parting smile and a pat on her leg to entice Buster to follow her, they were gone. Vince followed them out as far as the garage bay, then remembered that Cy and Bill were outside. So she wasn’t alone after all.

  He hadn’t heard back from Tom, and that was good. It probably meant that everything was running properly.

  “Reese is on her way back with the wire. Over.”

  “Roger that,” Tom answered. “It will probably take me a few minutes to get things working. I’ll let you know when we have water. Over.”

  “Sounds good. Over.” Vince figured it would be best to hang here for a while, at least until the well pump was hooked up and running, just in case he had to shut the power down again. For the time being, he turned the light off in the electrical room and made his way around the place, checking to see if there was anything else running. Satisfied that everything nonessential was turned off, he found himself in his office.

  Fumbling over to his desk in the dark, he switched on the antique banker’s lamp. The lampshade covered most of the bulb with an almost opaque green glass, and most of the light focused downward onto the desk. It didn’t illuminate much but did cast the room in a shade of emerald that Vince found calming. The lamp barely provided enough light to see into the corners of the room, but he liked that about the lamp as well. It still looked just the way he remembered it on his father’s desk when he was a kid.

  He unholstered the radio, set it on the desk, and lowered himself into his chair. The leather creaked as he settled in. This place was familiar yet foreign at the same time. He stared at the dark computer screen and thought about how, under normal circumstances, he’d be checking emails or looking at online car auctions.

  There was one thing he could still do that the EMPs couldn’t change. Vince slid the bottom drawer of his desk open and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He didn’t drink much anymore, but when he did, he preferred a good whiskey to anything else. He read the date he’d written on the bottle as he set it on the desk: February 12. It wasn’t significant in any way; he always wrote the date on a new bottle when he bought it. But it did make him think of better days.

  He produced a small glass from the same drawer and poured himself a few fingers of the brown liquid before putting the bottle away. He stared at the glass for a while and noticed how the light reflected through the whiskey and cast shadowy swirls on his desk. It was hard to believe he’d bought the bottle that long ago. What was even harder to believe was how much the world had changed since then.

  Vince took a sip and let the warmth wash over him and down his throat. It had been a long time since he’d sat here and had a drink. And he deserved it. Tomorrow was Sunday, and they had survived a week on their own. They had come a long way in a short time, and it was due to teamwork and having the right people here. They’d really lucked out when it came to having individuals with the right skill set. For the most part, anyway.

  Vince thought about Travis and the other two who came here with him. He didn’t want to waste
this moment dwelling on them and pushed it from his mind. Instead, he focused on the others. They had all been working hard. No one had been back to their houses or what was left of them since the first night they all came together.

  Maybe it was time to slow down and give everyone a chance to catch their breath. Maybe they should take tomorrow off. People could do whatever they wanted—within reason, of course. There would still be meals to prepare and dishes to wash and animals to tend to. But maybe if they put aside the larger projects and all chipped in with the small things, they could have them done and squared away for the day by ten or so in the morning.

  Of course, some would probably rather sleep in, if given the choice. And if some of them did want to sleep in tomorrow, so what? As long as someone was on watch at all times. Long-term survival wasn’t a sprint; it was a marathon.

  Vince took another sip as he mulled over the idea of taking a day off. That would really boost morale after the showers and electricity. He leaned back and put his feet on the desk, swirling the last of his drink around the glass. It was decided, then; outside of essential things that needed doing, tomorrow would be a Sunday off for everyone.

  He swallowed the last of his drink and set the glass down on the desk. Closing his eyes for a second, he enjoyed the quiet and the softness of the chair. It felt good to be off his feet and to lounge there for a few minutes. He should get up and return to the motel so he could clean up, but he couldn’t force himself to move.

  They wouldn’t have the pump hooked up that fast, anyway, and there would be a wait to take a shower as well; they couldn’t all go at once. Tom and the Meyers would make sure everyone knew that, wouldn’t they? Vince started to worry about running out of power again but not enough to keep him from drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter Seventeen