Tammy and Ringo (18 page)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tammy woke early the next morning. She went through her new morning routine of workout then shower, (cold this morning thanks to the power being off) and then went to fix breakfast. Of course there was no power. She looked around the kitchen for another means of cooking but found none. On a whim she ventured to the garage where she found a Coleman stove, complete with a small oven rig for it. She carried her finds to the back porch then set about preparing for the morning meal.

She decided against eggs this morning since she didn't know where they could get more. She decided to keep things simple and fixed pancakes and bacon, using one-half of the griddle top for each. Before she was half finished Hiram and Helen were in the kitchen. Helen used a small propane 'eye' and an old fashioned percolator to prepare coffee, Tammy watching her every move.

“Never used one of these before?” Helen asked with a smile.

“Never even seen one,” Tammy admitted. “Whenever we camped we just used instant and boiled the water for it.”

“Well, this is old-fashioned to say the least, but it's effective,” the older woman assured her. “And Hiram isn't much use without coffee,” she added, raising her voice just a bit so that he would hear.

“I heard that!” he called back. “I can function just fine without coffee, but it does help me deal with you, woman!” Helen chuckled at that and Tammy marveled silently once more at their obvious love and devotion for one another. It warmed her heart to see it and she again felt the spark of hope within her that one day, even in this new, ever so messed up world, she might have that.

She shook those thoughts away as the smell of an almost overdone pancake made its way to her nose. She quickly pulled the cake from the griddle and poured another, then did the same on the bacon side.

“You two should go ahead and eat while it's still hot,” she told Helen. “I'm almost finished and when I am I'll join you.”

“We'll eat out here, I think,” Helen nodded and went inside, returning with plates and utensils. She set the table, then went back inside for glasses, water and juice.

“Might as well drink it as not,” she said with a smile when Tammy looked at the orange juice. “It won't last forever. We do have some concentrated powder. Not as good as this,” she nodded at the bottle, “but better than nothing.” Tammy nodded her understanding. Things were changing. She had to learn to change with them.

Hiram walked out onto the porch, satellite phone firmly in hand. He sat down but waited for Helen before fixing his plate. Once the blessing was said Tammy quickly finished, shutting off the stove and joining the older couple at the table.

“We'll go through the house today and prioritize what we use power for,” Helen told Tammy as they ate. “We can run various appliances during the day but not all at once. There are three inverters in the house attached to the battery bank. There is one in the kitchen, one in Hiram's radio room, and one upstairs. We can use them to keep various appliances charged and to run a few items that will make our new circumstances more bearable.”

“There is a separate system for the garage if we need power there, but the two are isolated systems so we can't use that power here in the house without a good deal of trouble. Frankly it's not worth it.” She didn't mention the bunker. Tammy wasn't aware of it as yet and the two hadn't discussed whether or when to tell her. Helen knew that Hiram had told Ringo but that had been a have-to case.

“What do you need me to do?” Tammy asked after washing down a bite of pancake with her OJ. She savored the taste, knowing she might not get anymore.

“For now we need to just be thinking about what we need the most, long term,” Helen said after a moment's thought. “There's always the possibility of resupply at some point, but we have to accept that what we have now might be all we ever have. We need to start thinking about conservation in everything. We can't afford to be wasteful.”

“I didn't fix eggs this morning because I wasn't sure there would be any way to get more,” Tammy admitted.

“We can get eggs,” Hiram told her. “There are several people around here that raised chickens and sold eggs. We usually bought from them rather than the store. There are also several orchards within reasonable walking distance; apple, pear, and peach trees for the most part, along with a few cherry trees and the like. The main thing we won't be able to get is citrus,” he pointed to the orange juice glass. “That's always been a weakness for this area, but it is what it is.”

“You could always use a greenhouse,” Tammy mentioned. “That would allow you to grow oranges and lemons. It would be limited of course, but it should work.”

“Something to think about,” Hiram nodded. “I considered it once before, but it was more cost and trouble than it was worth with produce always available from the farmer's markets. Still, maybe using Plexiglas sheeting. . .” he trailed off, obviously considering what could be done.

“Anyway,” Helen turned the discussion back to the present, “we can start today by listing the items that we need to be aware off. For instance we have a good supply of rechargeable batteries. We need to make sure we don't overcharge them or allow them to develop 'memory' so that they won't acquire a full charge. There's also the handhelds, which are very important now since cell phones are probably a thing of the past.”

“Power tools?” Tammy asked.

“That's in the garage,” Hiram re-entered the conversation. “Batteries for those are already marked and were all charged when this started. They should be good for now.”

“What about appliances?” Tammy asked. “Refrigerator, freezer, things like that?”

“We can run them a few hours a day,” Helen said cautiously. “The freezer will be fine for several days so long as we don't fan the door. There are several blocks of ice in there to keep things cold without power for a few days. Eventually they'll melt without the freezer running. We'll have to work out a schedule for that. We'll probably eventually use the refrigerator as a chiller more than anything, to preserve left overs and things like that.”

“Okay,” Tammy nodded, trying to keep everything straight. “What about fuel?” she asked. “My car has almost three-quarters of a tank of gas. That's about. . .twelve gallons, I guess, give or take. Say ten to be safe. You can have that of course.”

“Thank you,” Helen smiled. “We have some reserves, but every little bit will help. I was about to say that we have a generator that can help with the freezer and refrigerator. It runs on propane and has its own tank, I think five hundred gallons. Or is it pounds?” Helen mused to herself. “Anyway, we can use it sparingly since we can't be sure that we can get more fuel so, again, think conservative.”

“Cool,” Tammy nodded.

“And that's another thing,” Hiram sighed. “Conditioned air is a thing of the past I'm afraid. In the next few days we'll need to get the awnings up over the windows since they'll need to be raised most of the time other than winter.”

“Awnings?” Tammy asked.

“Think of them as an umbrella for the windows,” Helen told her. “Like the coverings at store entrances? They allow us to keep the windows up even when it's raining by preventing the rain from blowing into the house. A storm blowing through will air the house out quite efficiently,” she grinned.

“I'd guess so,” Tammy smiled at that. “Okay, it looks like today and tomorrow have a full schedule.”

“Oh, we'll have a full schedule from now on, I'd say,” Hiram snorted. “All those wonderful time-saving and work-saving gadgets we're so dependent on are pretty much history. Although,” he mused, “I have a plan for a water wheel around here, somewhere. I'll see about that as soon as we're set everywhere else. That might provide a good bit of help to the solar panels. Use a car alternator or generator to charge some deep cycle batteries. The river current will move a good sized wheel pretty good.” He frowned.

“What is it?” Helen asked.

“It just occurred to me that we have no idea what TVA has done with the dams,” Hiram admitted. “If they at least opened some of the flood gates then the water will keep flowing, at least some, but it won't be regulated. The lake level here may drop. That might prevent us from using the wheel, or even getting a boat into the water. Our boathouse may end up on dry lake bottom eventually,” he told her.

“Well, that's nothing we can control and we have plenty to worry over as it is,” Helen declared. “though I'd forgotten that we do have a lake full of fish to depend on to stretch our food stocks. We've already planted the garden and we can use the outdoor kitchen to prep and can the food.”

“Outdoor kitchen?” Tammy asked.

“You haven't seen that, have you dear?” Helen almost murmured. “If we can talk Hiram into clearing the table I'll take you there now. Hiram?” It might sound like a question but Hiram obviously knew better.

“Of course, Mrs. Tompkins,” Hiram nodded, rising from his chair. “Right away, Mrs. Tompkins.”

“Whatever.” Helen snorted in amusement and looked at Tammy. “Come along, dear.”

“Of course, Mrs. Tompkins,” Tammy grinned, getting to her feet. “Right away, Mrs. Tompkins.”

“You are a horrible influence on young people, Hiram Tompkins,” Helen gave her husband a mock glare.

*****

“Wow,” Tammy said softly as Helen opened the door to what Tammy had thought was a picnic pavilion. “This is pretty neat.”

The interior had a concrete floor with a wooden half-wall. Screen material covered the rest of the wall with Plexiglas coverings on the outside to protect the screens and interior. There was a long bench down one side complete with a sink. Across from there sat a magnificent wood cook stove, its flue piped through the ceiling. Cast iron cookware hung from racks along the ceiling and down the one solid wall. Shelves with canning equipment, stock pots and boxes of jars, rings and lids for canning lined that wall as well.

“You could live in here!” Tammy exclaimed, laughing.

“Well, I wouldn't want to live here but it would make a decent emergency shelter,” Helen chuckled. “Anyway, I use this for my canning. That,” she pointed to the older model electric range, “probably won't be any good anymore but the Monarch,” she pointed to the wood burning stove, “will still work just fine. So when the garden starts coming in you and I will be in here putting up food for the winter.”

“What about Ringo and Hiram?” Tammy asked, ignoring the fact that Ringo's future was still uncertain.

“We'll need them to do the heavy lifting and bring in the veggies from the garden,” Helen smirked. “It's a fair division of labor, though,” she added more seriously. “This is a hard, hot job to say the least. But at least in here we have plenty of room to prepare everything. And we should be able to spare enough power to run a fan plus we'll have the glass off to catch any breeze that happens through.”

“Sounds like we'll be busy,” Tammy was smiling. “But I have to warn you, I know nothing at all about canning.”

“That's fine, dear,” Helen assured her. “I have books that will prepare you and then I'll be able to give you plenty of hands-on experience. By the time we're done this fall you'll be an old hand at it.”

“I'll be glad to learn,” Tammy nodded. She looked at Helen then, growing serious.

“You know, there's no way I can thank you enough for all this, Helen. I mean, taking us in, teaching me how to survive like this. My dad taught me a great deal. I know how to shoot and to hunt. I can even skin game, though I don't like it. But I never had anyone to teach me things like this,” she waved her hand to encompass the outdoor kitchen. “If not for you, I'd be. . .well, I'd be homeless,” she finished, the idea settling on her truly for the first time. “All I still own is whatever is in my room or in my car,” she said softly. “I don't have anywhere else to call home, now.”

“My dear girl,” Helen hugged the younger woman to her gently. “It's not all one way, you know. Without you and Ringo, we would be here all alone. We would be able to survive just fine on our own, but without anyone else it would be lonely, to say the least. It was our amazing good fortune to have two such fine young people come knocking on our door during the end of the world as we know it. You know that Hiram and I are only children, and our parents were only children as well. We've no close family left. Poor Ringo has no family any more either, as I understand it. Your father may still be alive and I hope and pray that he is, and maybe can even make his way here since he knows where you are, but do you have any other family outside the woman who cared for you when he was deployed?”

“No ma'am,” Tammy shook her head. “I don't. It was just us.”

“Well then, the four of us will be family to each other from now on,” Helen said firmly. “And we'll take care of each other. How's that sound to you?” Tammy pulled out of Helen's hug to look at her.

“That sounds wonderful.”

*****

Ringo woke once more due to the pressure from his bladder. He could see light coming in around the curtains and guessed from that that it was daylight, at least. He made it to the restroom and relieved himself. He moved through the house as usual, checking outside all the windows. There was no sign of anyone being around, or having been for that matter. He checked his temperature. 99.0. He checked the time. Nine o'clock. Day Two, and no fever now.

No. Day Three. If he woke up tomorrow still himself then he was probably in the clear. That would be his seventy-two hours. He went to his pack and removed an MRE, activating the heating tab. Another roast beef meal he noted absently. Good. They weren't too bad. Made him think of the cat, oddly enough. He wondered how the cat was doing, then snorted mentally at himself.