Scavenger

by Jerry D. Young

  There was still plenty of diesel around, in tank farms along the Mississippi, though its age was giving the tug operators some problems. Jimmy guaranteed the reefers would run if he provided the fuel, for which he charged significantly extra, but he wouldn’t fuel the tugs. It would deplete his stock of PRI-D much too fast. The semi tractors he kept local, for fear of losing control of them.

  The reefers were also useful for storing the perishables when the shipments that came to Cairo got there. He kept the reefers in storage use on their property. He wouldn’t allow the owners of the products take them to their own places, again for fear of losing possession, possession being nine-tenths of the law, especially now.

  The greenhouses had been planted after being installed the previous year and were producing well. Since they didn’t need it themselves at the moment, Jimmy dried some of it and sold the rest to the locals.

  With the construction going so well, they gave everyone a paid day off on July 4th, and sponsored a celebration. It was well received and helped cement the Holden’s place in the community.

  The exterior work was finished shortly after the 4th of July celebration, and finish work began inside. The rest of the site work started as well.

  A full complement of photovoltaic panels was installed, with attendant controllers and two battery banks. With them on line, they had 75% power continuously, with battery back up at the same rate for seven days. Much longer at reduced loads.

  But Jimmy had acquired several diesel generators during the scavenging expeditions. There were four identical 21kw diesel units that Jimmy had in mind from the start for such an application he was now putting them to.

  One would run 75% of the electrical draw of the complex alone, if the solar panels weren’t working, and would kick in if more than the 75% the solar panels would furnish was needed. Two would furnish 100% of the complex electrical needs, running at half load. A third would be on standby to start up if one of the others went down, and during servicing of the units when 100% power was need. The fourth was essentially a spare. It would go into the cycle when it was time to rebuild one of the generators.

  Jimmy had service components and rebuild kits to keep the four generators running for years. There were also additional photovoltaic panels and controllers and components, for replacement and for additional installations.

  Part of the power generation plan was to draw fuel from the semi tank trailers. Three could be hooked up, to be pulled from in sequence, with a loaded replacement being always available. The fifteen loaded tanks they still had would run them for years as long as the photovoltaics carried most of the load.

  After currently stored fuel ran out they would use biodiesel. They were already getting one tank trailer filled for other uses. They wanted to set up a routine of use so the farmer would maintain production, if not increase it for the time when everyone was dependent on the biodiesel.

  Finally, the landscaping was done, and then the interior work. Summer was rapidly fading as the installation of the furniture was begun, as well as stocking the storage rooms from the goods in the trailers. Lucy began interviewing people for the positions the establishment would need. She let Jimmy look for the small staff he needed for the tavern.

  They began to announce the Grand Opening for September 1st over the radio networks the area used, and by word of mouth. When the day rolled around, it was a disappointing turn out. Quite a few locals showed up for the free food and drinks, but no river people showed up at all.

  Lucy managed not to cry, but it was a near thing as she began to wrap up things for the evening. But as she was about to dismiss everyone, the door opened again and six people came in. Lucy smiled and greeted them, as she was acting as hostess for the Grand Opening.

  “We’re the crew of the Molly Jo,” said the obvious leader of the group. “I’m Captain Johanson. Hear you have buffalo meat. Haven’t had that in some time. Been a long time between good beds, too. Can you feed us and put us up for the night?”

  “We certainly can,” Lucy said. She extended one arm toward the dining room. “This way to the dining room.” Lucy grabbed six simple menus that she’d printed up on Jimmy’s computer and printer and guided the men to a large table. Her lone busboy was there immediately, to fill water glasses. Missy, one of the three waitresses that Lucy had hired was right there, too.

  “Enjoy your meal,” Lucy said. “Afterwards just come to the lobby and we’ll check you in.” She was smiling. “And the meal, as you are our first customers, will be on the house. Drinks excepted.”

  “Why, we weren’t expecting that!” said the Captain. “Thank you very much. Rumor has it you have a real bar with real liquor. Would that be a fact?”

  “It is, sir. We have quite a selection, as a matter of fact. Feel free to order a drink here at the table, or spend some time in the tavern before you retire.”

  “Count on it,” Captain Johanson said. “We’re here for a couple of days for repairs.”

  The following morning a few locals showed up for coffee. They were limited to two cups apiece, but for such a rare commodity, the price the dining room was charging was quite reasonable, especially since one of the payment options was half an hour’s labor for the two cups. The labor was mostly for wood cutting along the river to provide firewood for the three fireplaces and several wood stoves in the hotel and tavern.

  It was a slow start, but as the word spread, they began to get more and more business. Not only were they the only real game in town, they were the best game, offering the best available food and lodging in a very large area.

  The country began to make a comeback, the pockets of civilization like the Farm and Cairo becoming the new centers of trade. There was a heavy migration to the south as the winters stayed severe and the summer’s mild, making it difficult to grow enough food to sustain the population in the north.

  Much of the transport was of food. The fields of central Missouri, and western Kansas could still produce wheat. It was trucked to the Missouri, and then went on riverboats east to the Mississippi and then south. Products of the south went north and then east on the Ohio, and west on the Missouri. The coal operations in the Ohio valley were managing to stay in operation, with the new old market for heating coal, rather than electrical generation.

  Only a few of the tugboats would take barges past St. Louis, to the Missouri River. St. Louis had been hit with three nukes during the war, and all the bridges were down, plus there was a new Lake St. Louis where one of the devices had detonated almost right on the river. The crater filled rapidly. Though the water itself did not become radioactive, it was a hot spot that had to be crossed to go west on the Missouri. There wasn’t much need to go further north on the Mississippi. The river was coming from beneath the beginning glacier several miles north of St. Louis.

  Due to the hot spot in the river, there was a small business going to truck around St. Louis from the Mississippi to the Missouri.

  Cairo was around the midpoint of the run from Kansas to the Gulf, and Ohio to the Gulf. Soon they had several regular river people stopping in for a break from their routine. Because ground transportation was limited because of fuel availability, many people in the surrounding countryside began coming to the river ports on their own, to pick up supplies. They found a comfortable, convenient place to lay over at Holden’s before their return trip home with their load of supplies.

  Again, with the shortage and expense of fuel, many people had taken to horses to provide transportation. Even quite a few of the tugboats began keeping horses on board for transportation ashore when docked. Jimmy had foreseen that, and one of the buildings on the complex was a stable for guests’ horses.

  There was also a row of hitching posts in front of the taverns separate outside entrance. Jimmy kept a couple of horses trained for harness and a locally acquired horse drawn surrey at the stable with a driver for guest’s use.

  Business was slow, but sure. The Holden’s were breaking even, taking in about the equi
valent of what they were having to purchase. Their herds; cattle, bison, and horses; were increasing nicely. They were using up stored consumables for which there were no replacements available, but even of those, they still had several years’ worth in storage.

  The compound was a tempting target for those eager to gain at the end of a gun. Jimmy and Lucy always went armed with at least a handgun, and several of the employees did so, as well. The double barrel whippet shotgun Jimmy had liberated was in a prominent position on the back bar in the tavern. There was also a Remington 11-87 police shotgun under the bar, out of sight.

  Though there were three hold up attempts the first full summer of operation, all were stopped in their tracks, with a couple of robbers killed, a couple wounded, and half a dozen or more run off or captured by local law enforcement.

  Holden’s gained a reputation of being a good place to deal with, but not one to mess with. Both reputations were fine with Jimmy and Lucy.

  CHAPTER SIX

  When winter came that year, it came even earlier than usual, but was mild compared to the recent winters.

  Though the Missouri froze over, the Mississippi stayed clear of thick ice somewhat south of St. Louis. Cairo became the turnaround point for river traffic during the winter, so Holden’s maintained their slow, steady business.

  With things going so well, Jimmy and Lucy began feeling the wanderlust when spring rolled around. They had a well-trained and seasoned staff now, and local law enforcement officers were regulars at the hotel and dining room. Jimmy and Lucy decided to see what St. Louis had to offer scavengers willing to risk moderate radiation exposure.

  They hooked up two box trailers, a flatbed trailer, and the equipment trailer to the best of the Kenworth OTR semi tractors with sleeper. The Suburban, forklift, and four 55-gallon drums of diesel were loaded onto the equipment trailer. They set off for St. Louis one dry, blustery, spring day. They would live in the sleeper, rather than camp out. It was equipped with a chemical toilet and a microwave, as well as the bed.

  There was no need to bother with any of the few remaining semis abandoned on I-55. Everything between St. Louis and the Gulf had been scavenged if it was the least bit usable. So had the outskirts of St. Louis, at least on the southern end. But as they began to enter areas where the radiation was much above 0.1R/hr, there was significantly less scavenging evident. They began to check things out, yellow pages in hand.

  They followed their standard procedures, looking for high value items, primarily, and taking anything else that might turn a coin if they found it. One of the things they had not run across in the other cities was a furrier. They loaded up dozens of good fur coats and other garments.

  The fuel distributors they could get to had pretty much been cleaned out. Apparently not that many people knew the benefits of PRI-D, or had taken the fuel early on when it was still fresh. They found a lifetime supply of PRI-D and PRI-G, between the three distributors they hit.

  St. Louis also had quite a few gun shops and several distributors. Most of the gun shops and a couple of the distributors had been picked over heavily. Jimmy and Lucy took everything that was left, and cleaned out the distributors that still had their full inventory.

  They never did take the Suburban off the equipment trailer, but they did load it up with the things they didn’t want to lose if they had to make a run for it. They thought they might as they finished cleaning out the last of the gun distributors warehouses.

  They came under rifle fire right after Lucy loaded and chained down the forklift. They fired back, each dumping three thirty round magazines into the area from which the fire had come. They ran for the truck. It was always parked headed in a safe direction and left idling while the trailers were loaded. Jimmy only had to put it in gear. They heard two more shots, but when they inspected everything later they found some scratch marks on the flatbed that might have been made by bullets, but nothing seemed to be damaged.

  Except for Jimmy. He had groove cut in his left thigh. As soon as they got far enough away, Lucy tended to him, having a difficult time from the tears in her eyes. But they had an excellent first-aid kit, including a trauma dressing with blood stopper. They also had a good selection of pain killers. She gave Jimmy one after she’d bandaged his leg and had him lie down in the sleeper.

  Though she had to go really slow, with the four trailers, Lucy headed them south, toward Cairo. The trailers were nearly full anyway. They had made a very good haul. Their scavenging was done, at least for the moment, if not permanently, Lucy decided.

  When they got back late summer, things were going well at the compound. Slow steady business. The staff had done well on their own, and were each given a paid day off, at one end or the other of their regular two days off, in rotation, for their good work.

  Early one afternoon shortly after they got back, Jimmy and Lucy were sitting at one of the tables in the tavern, having tea and coffee respectively when Captain Johanson came in with his crew. “You’re back,” he said. “Been waiting all summer to talk to you.”

  “Pull up a chair,” Jimmy said, waving Mike, the day bartender, over to take the Captain’s drink order as the rest of the crew lined up at the bar.

  “What’s up?” Jimmy asked.

  “Got another proposition for you.” Johanson was one of the tugboat captains using the Holden reefers for perishable goods.

  “I’m listening,” Jimmy said.

  Johanson pulled a cigar from inside his jacket. “Try this.” He handed Jimmy the cigar.

  “I’m not a smoker,” Jimmy replied.

  “Oh.” Johanson’s face fell. “I was thinking you might want to sell these here in the tavern. Tobacco is hard to come by, and well… I have a source for these in Cuba and thought they might go over pretty good here, with the fine liquors and stuff.”

  “Cubans, huh?” Jimmy said, picking up the cigar and running it under his nose. “Nice aroma. How many and how much?”

  Lucy laughed and left the two to work out the details. She knew her husband well. He sensed a profitable deal.

  Premium cigars were available for those that had the money and wanted one. Cheaper ones were available for those that just wanted a smoke. Johanson was going to check to see if his supplier could get good pipe tobacco. If so, it would be added to the inventory.

  His next trip up river he stopped in again and delivered two crates of cigars and pipe tobacco. He would be paid in services at the tavern. Jimmy made out like a bandit. Tobacco was indeed rare, and much sought after.

  Other people began to come to the Holden’s with similar deals. Jimmy made one for South American coffee, but the guy couldn’t come through. Fortunately, with the way they rationed it, their supply would last for several years, but they would like to find a replacement supply. Some entrepreneur would eventually open up a good link.

  With a more distant time in mind, Lucy had included in the lobby what in the old days would have been a gift shop. She began to put special items they’d acquired specifically for trade or sale on the shelves and racks and began to get another income stream started. As fall approached, she began displaying a couple of the furs they’d scavenged. They went quickly.

  But a local trapper came to her and said he could provide fur apparel as well, made from the local animals he trapped. She put him on a consignment basis. His less expensive line of warm winter wear also moved well. Lucy got a small commission on each sale, and the trapper had a much better place in which to sell his goods, than his little cabin or on the streets.

  Though they had fresh fish from the Mississippi, Lucy eagerly made a deal with another of the tugboat captains to provide seafood from the Gulf. She provided him one of the diesel powered reefer trailers in which to transport it during the summer. She already had two of the reefers dismounted from the running gear, attached to the kitchen area of the hotel for her own cold storage. They were plumbed in to the same diesel supply feeding the generators.

  There was a huge demand for salt, for preserv
ing meat and for seasoning. Jimmy made a similar deal with the Captain to obtain salt from one of the entrepreneurs on the Gulf coast that had begun making salt from seawater.

  The previous winter had been milder than the new norm. The current winter turned out to be much worse than the new norm. The Ohio and Mississippi rivers were covered with thick ice. The Ohio to where it joined the Mississippi, and the Mississippi to just north of Cairo. Large chunks of ice floated past the city regularly during the winter.

  Jimmy, while he was recuperating from his leg wound had studied up on the weather. With a fancy Davis weather instrument set and a computer, he became the local weatherman. He forecast a big blizzard right after Thanksgiving. He was right.

  The Holden’s opened up the hotel and tavern to those that had inadequate shelter that could get there. They saved quite a few lives those four days. Many of the people that came to the compound would not have survived otherwise.

  When they began to dig out and go back to their own homes many bodies were found frozen to death. Temperatures had been down to fifty below a couple of the nights of the blizzard. The hotel/tavern was the only really warm place in the area. A few people brought in things to repay the Holden’s the next summer for their generosity during the blizzard, but they were a definite minority.

  But Jimmy and Lucy endured. For the times, they were fabulously wealthy, due to their work, and the risks they took, in the years since the war. They did not make it obvious how wealthy they truly were. Many of the semi-trailers in the compound lot were known to be empty. No one besides the Holden’s knew how many were still full. Trailers were only unloaded at night, under cover of darkness. Or how much of the weather sensitive stuff had been moved to the basements of the various buildings right after they were built, when there was a lot of activity going on.

  But you can never be too wealthy, especially in hard times. And the times were still hard. Jimmy and Lucy made it less hard for others, due to the services and goods they supplied. But there always seemed to be another problem, around another bend.