The Borrowed World: A Novel of Post-Apocalyptic Collapse (7 page)

“Maybe we can come back for them later or bring them something?” she suggested.

“Maybe we can,” I replied.  “I’d be willing to do that if we are able to stay at the next exit for the night.”

I was not sure that either of those things would happen but I didn’t know what else to say.  When we prepared to leave, I shook the man’s hand and told him what Alice and I talked about.

“I keep thinking that someone will stop,” he said.  “I’ve tried to flag down several police cars but no one will stop.”

It was clear that this was a man who could just not comprehend the current circumstances. He didn’t have a frame of reference for a world in which the police would not stop and help a lady in need.

I patted him on the shoulder, gathered my gear, and joined my crew at the front of the car.  We walked off in silence, not happy about leaving those poor elderly folks but unable to do anything for them.

This would not be the last time we would have to leave people to their fate.

The kids had not been excited about being recalled into duty.  The day had gone downhill for them since the start, being dragged out of bed on a summer morning, having to go to the grocery store and then carry in those same groceries, and now there were even more tasks.  Ariel and Pete both entered the living room dragging their feet, stumbling loose-limbed with pleading looks in their eyes.

Ellen took one look at them and burst out laughing.  They were always both comical and predictable. 

“After what I heard from your father and on the news,” she said, “there’s the possibility that the power will not be back on soon.”

Both children rolled their eyes and moaned a near-death rattle.

“There’s work that will have to be done unless you want to be caught unprepared in the dark.  Dad left me a list of what needed done and I’ll need your help to do it.”

Despite their lack of interest, both children were good helpers and snapped to attention now that they were needed.

“Get your shoes on then come back here and I’ll tell you what I need you to do.”

When the kids returned, Ellen had a ring of keys and an LED flashlight.

“The first thing Dad said we need to deal with is the freezer.  We’re going to duct tape the lid down and we’re going to stay out of it.  If we run the generator a couple of hours a day it will keep things frozen.  We’ll eat the food from the refrigerator first, then if the power isn’t back on we’ll start eating items from the freezer.”

Before the kids would go in the basement, they each went to their rooms to retrieve their headlamps.  Jim insisted they always have a working headlamp in their room so that they were never at the mercy of darkness.  You never knew when the power would go out or when you would have to get up in the middle of the night for some reason.  Once the kids were glowing with their headlamps, they went down into the basement. 

They both had always thought the basement was a little creepy.   Ellen didn’t have any particular reservations about it.  After all, the basement held the woodstove that kept their house nice and toasty for free.  The basement was Jim’s domain, though, and it was odd to be down here without him.  Looking around, she saw his stuff everywhere –except for the pile of dirty laundry by the washer.  She supposed that the generator would run the washer, but she wasn’t sure what would happen when the fuel was gone.  Except for an antique washboard in one of the storage buildings, they had no good backup plan for washing clothes.

While Ariel held Ellen’s flashlight, Pete tore off strips of duct tape and handed them to Ellen.  Ellen went around the perimeter of the freezer lid until it was sealed securely. 

“There,” she announced when they were done. 

“Are we done now?” Ariel asked.

“No,” Ellen said.  “We’re just getting started.  Besides, it’s not like you can watch television anyway.  You might as well be helping me.”

They went outside to an older storage building that was used for yard tools, mowers, chainsaws, and spare lumber.  Ellen unlocked the padlock and swung open the plywood double doors.  Hanging from a hook just inside the door was a thick extension cord about ten feet long.  She knew it was the cord for the generator because Jim had drilled it into her head frequently.  In his attention to detail, he had also attached a plastic tag to it that labeled it “for generator use”.  She removed the cord from the nail and passed it to Ariel.

“Take this over by the basement door and wait on us.”

“It’s heavy,” Ariel said, staggering exaggeratedly under the weight.

Ellen climbed into the building.  She tried lifting the wheelbarrow handles of the generator but it was extremely heavy.  She couldn’t get it herself, so Pete climbed in to help.  Together, they lifted then wheeled the beast over to the door and carefully guided it down the ramp to the yard.

“That’s heavy,” Pete said.

“I know,” Ellen said, wiping her forehead.  “And we have to get it over there beside the basement door.”

They each took a handle, lifted, and guided the generator the forty feet or so to the back of the house.  It was slightly uphill to their destination and they groaned and panted with the effort.  There was a little alcove created by an addition near the covered entry to the basement.  In this alcove was a transfer switch.  When the generator was plugged into the transfer switch it allowed Jim to safely power ten priority circuits in the house without danger of feeding power back into the grid or starting a fire. 

Ellen and Pete were huffing and puffing when they finally reached the back of the house.

“We need to get more exercise,” she told Pete.

“We’re getting it now,” he groaned.

“Here’s the cord, Mommy,” Ariel said, extending it to Ellen.

Ellen took the cord and plugged one end into the transfer switch and the other into the generator.

“Are we going to start it now?” Pete asked.

Ellen shook her head.  “No, we’ll wait for four hours,” she said.  “Since the power just went off everything is still cold now.”

“Are we done yet?” Pete asked.

“No,” Ellen said.  “You’ll be done when I say you’re done.  I need you two to help me and quit asking if we’re done all the time.  You might have to work all day, and if you do, you’ll just have to get over it.  So quit asking.”

Ellen didn’t often snap at them like that.  She usually had infinite patience.  She was worried, though.  Worried about Jim and worried if she could do this without him.  

“What do you need me to do next?” Pete asked, tears in his eyes. 

Ellen hugged him, pulling Ariel into the hug, too.

“We need to find the little red box that Daddy uses to pump up your bike tires and jumpstart the mower.”

“I know where that is!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Where?” Pete asked.

“In the Daddy Shack.”

The Daddy Shack was the newest storage building.  It was a large, organized building where Jim stored bicycles, kayaks, camping gear, and fishing supplies.  He was particular about this building and that was why they called it the Daddy Shack.

The three of them walked over to the shack and Ellen studied her key ring.

“It’s the silver key,” Ariel told her confidently.

“How do you know that?” Ellen asked.

“Because I asked him,” Ariel replied.  “He told me it was the silver key with the square top.”

Ellen looked and found a key that fit that description.  She tried it and, sure enough, it worked.  “Very good, Ariel.”Ariel beamed.

Sitting just inside the door was the red box they were looking for.  It was a Wagan Power Dome, a rechargeable device that could boost a car battery or pump up a tire.  It also had an inverter that would allow users to operate a 110 volt device.  There was also a USB port that would accept USB chargers for phones or tablets.  Jim had sung the praises of this device every time he used it. Ellen hoped that she and the kids had paid enough attention to be able to operate it.

“Pete, go get the mower and trailer.  We’ll need it to haul the things we need out of here,” Ellen said.

Pete walked off, always anxious for an opportunity to demonstrate his skills at operating the mower.  He was proud of the fact he’d recently learned to back up a trailer, which was something Ellen certainly couldn’t do.

While Pete was gone, Ariel and Ellen went inside the building.  Ellen opened a tall plastic Rubbermaid cabinet and examined the contents.  Inside were cans of Coleman fuel, green one-pound propane canisters, isobutane canisters and various boxes with writing on them listing the contents.  Ellen took out two propane canisters and handed them to Ariel.

“Set these by the door,” she said.

Then she moved to a plastic tote of camping supplies and removed the lid, taking out a Coleman propane lantern and handing it to Ariel, who dutifully stashed it beside the door.  Ellen then removed some battery-operated camping lanterns of various sizes.  She and Ariel piled them by the door as well.

While Pete backed the mower up to the door and killed the engine, Ellen spotted the camping stove.

“Come help me with this, Pete,” she said.

She and Pete struggled to pull the camping stove off the shelf and set it on the floor.  Jim had told them that he knew food was the way to keep them interested in camping when they first started going.  So instead of just using a stove, be bought a propane stove and oven combination that allowed them to cook pizzas, chicken nuggets, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls when they camped.  It kept everyone happy.  Though the oven was fueled by green propane canisters, she knew Jim had recently bought an attachment that allowed him to fuel it with the larger tank from the gas grill.  If she could figure out how to connect the other tank, they could run the stove for longer.  Jim had dozens of the small tanks but those would run out eventually if this emergency stretched on.

Ellen looked around at the impressive pile of gear, thinking of all the camping trips they’d been.  She’d never been camping before she married Jim.  She wasn’t sure if even she’d like it.  But when the children were out of diapers, Jim wanted to get them interested in the outdoors.  They started with short hikes and fishing trips before working their way up to an overnight camping trip.  For their first, Jim took them to a nearby state park with fishing and a swimming beach.  He wanted to stay close to home in case the trip was an utter failure and they had to pack up and go home. 

It wasn’t, though.  They had a great time and started many of the camping traditions that they still practiced, like Jim hiding an emergency bag of Oreos in the camping gear.  From that first overnight, they moved to weekend trips, and eventually to trips that spanned several weeks.  Just last summer they’d gone to Acadia National Park in Maine and biked, kayaked, and hiked it and Ellen thought it was the best time of her entire life.  From there, they’d driven through New Hampshire and Vermont and spent another week camping at Vermont state parks, fishing and kayaking a new pond every day.

“Let’s get this out of here,” she said with a big sigh.

She and Pete struggled to get the stove into the mower trailer.  Then they formed a human chain with Ellen in the building, Pete at the trailer, and Ariel in the middle, and loaded the one-pound propane canisters, the Power Dome, the lanterns, and a few other odds and ends she’d found in the camping box.  When she stepped out of the building, Ellen made sure that she locked both of the buildings up.  She directed Pete to drive the mower over to the back porch for unloading and she and Ariel walked over to meet him there.  The back porch was covered and screened in.  She could use the camp stove there since it was well-ventilated.

When they were done shifting their load onto the back porch, they all took seats at the patio table.

“I forgot something,” Ellen said.  “We need to hook up some batteries to that solar charger.”

“What’s that?”  Ariel asked.

“Daddy said he had a charger in the building that you could set in the sun and it would charge a boat battery,” Ellen explained.

“Oh yeah,” Ariel said.  “It’s hanging from a nail just inside the door.  The batteries are in the old building with the mower.  They’re under the shelves.”

“How do you know all this?” Ellen asked, surprised again.

“Daddy showed me,” Ariel said proudly.

“I’m glad he showed you,” Ellen said.  “And I’m glad you paid attention.”

“I always pay attention,” Ariel said. 

The three of them walked back to the storage buildings and Ellen unlocked the doors again.  While Pete struggled to get out the three 12-volt marine batteries from one building, Ariel and Ellen went inside the other to retrieve the solar charger.  It was exactly where Ariel said it would be.

Reading the simple instructions, Ellen attached the alligator clips to one of the batteries, and then laid the solar panel where it would catch optimal direct sunlight.

“It will be your job to charge these batteries, Pete,” Ellen said.  “We’ll let this one charge all day tomorrow.  Then you’ll need to take off these clips and move them to the next battery, making sure you put the red clip on the post with the plus sign and the black clip on the post with the minus sign.”

“Got it,” he said. 

“Now let’s go get a drink,” she said.  “I’m thirsty.”

Ellen went and filled glasses with ice water for all of them.  Since they still had ice, she went ahead and used it, but she turned off the ice maker when she was done.  Once this ice was gone, it would not refill.  Without power, they still had what water remained in the pressure tank in the basement, but the well pump would not run unless the generator was running.  Water did not concern her much.  She had hundreds of gallons stored for emergencies.  They had cases of bottled water and dozens of gallon milk jugs that Jim had rinsed and refilled with water.  He’d also accumulated a significant number of two-liter soft drink bottles that they’d cleaned and refilled with water.  Then there was the spring house nearby which provided a constant supply of clean, cool water.  Jim had installed a gravity filtering system so they could turn on a tap and fill bottles with filtered and immediately drinkable water.

As Ellen was gathering the three plastic cups to deliver to the porch, there was a knock on the front door.  It startled Ellen and she nearly dropped the cups, managing to spill water on the floor and her shoes.  Although they never had unannounced visitors on their property, Ellen would not normally have been struck with such fear by that sound.  However, in her heightened state of stress and paranoia the sound gripped her heart with cold fingers.  She immediately realized that the gun Jim had told her to take with her to the store was still in her purse, which was still in her car.  There were other guns, but they were put away and not immediately within reach.  She had become too comfortable and forgotten the situation around them.