The Great Wreck (29 page)

I
rode across the nearly empty runways and to the outer maintenance buildings. I
found a small maintenance hangar that was nearly three stories tall and had a
flat roof. I set my bike against the outer wall and looked for a drain pipe,
found one, then shimmied up to the roof. It was perfect. There was no roof
access and a three foot high wall that ran around the building. I could make my
camp up here and no one could see me or get up to me without me knowing.

I
climbed back down and tied a rope to my two packs. I then tied a bottle of
water to the other end of the rope and threw it up onto the roof. The water
bottle sailed over the edge and landed with a thud. I then wheeled my bike into
the hanger and covered it with a tarp in the corner where no one was likely to
look. Then I climbed back up to the roof.

I
grabbed the rope and pulled all of my equipment up after me then began to make
camp. I first took out my binoculars and scanned the horizon around me. I could
see a few dead near the airport terminal and a few scattered about the runway
but none near me. I could also see the highway all the way back to Chandler the
way I had come. I studied it carefully looking for any movement, any sign that
I might have been followed. Satisfied that no one was tailing me, I broke out
the urban camouflage net and tied it down making a canopy that was just below
the rim of the wall yet high enough for me to crawl under it and lay down
comfortably. The canopy would also serve to let in any breeze during the day
and block out the worst of the sunlight.

I then unrolled
my sleeping bag and unpacked my night vision goggles. I wanted to read the
manual before the sun went down and test them out later in the night.
 

I
had landed an excellent pair of goggles. These had different setting for when
the moon was out, in a well-lit urban area, and in the wilderness. They also
had an infrared setting that would allow me to see heat sources at night as
well. That wouldn’t help for the dead, but it would allow me to see any people
or animals moving about in the night. They also had a charger port for a small
solar array for me to charge them during the daylight hours. The charger also
fit my hand held radio, and my flashlight so I could recharge all of my
equipment while I slept through the heat of the day.

I
read the quick start manual, then read it again, then familiarized myself with
all the functions of the goggles. I slipped them on and adjusted the head
harness until it fit comfortably on my head without pinching or squeezing me
too tightly. I pulled off the goggles and set them down, stripped down to my
boxers, and laid back on my sleeping back. I listened to the breeze blow and
occasionally peeked my eyes over the edge of the roof wall. The dead were
starting to come out of their hiding places as the sun hit the horizon. I lay
back down and waited for the sun to go down and for night to arrive.

When
it was completely dark, I pulled on the goggles and pressed the power button.
The world popped up in glowing green with crystal clarity. The moon was not up
so I chose the wilderness setting. The light from the stars in the sky burned a
bright green and the roof shown like it was bathed in Saint Elmo’s Fire. I
could see everything and in such crisp clarity. It was as
 
thought someone was shining a vast green
light down on the roof of the hanger I was on.

I
slowly raised up on my knees and scanned the airport. I could easily see the
dead moving around, many, many more than had been out earlier in the day when I
had arrived. If I adjusted the lenses, I could zoom in on whatever I wanted to
focus on. I zoomed in on the passenger terminal a little over a mile away and
could see the dead moving around in there with such focus and clarity that it
felt like I was standing right outside the terminal.

I
then looked back towards Chandler along the highway. The fires burning from
Phoenix nearly washed out the picture so I set it to a lower level until I
could see again. All along the highway I could see the burnt out and abandoned
wrecks as bright and as crisp as during the day. And better yet, I could see
that no one was moving along the highway alive or dead.

I
changed settings to the infrared lens and looked around my perch. I could see
small animals moving along the airport runways. Rabbits and a stray coyote or
two. I looked back towards Chandler again and saw something that gave me a
start: a line of three human figures glowing softly in red. I switched back to
the night vison and could see two men and a woman trekking along the streets
heading east. I watched the trio until they disappeared behind a building and
out of site.

I
lay back down under my canopy thinking about them. They were too far away for
me to signal or even try to catch up. I didn’t really know if I wanted to try
and meet up with other people. Part of me wanted to but part of me wanted to be
alone. At least for now.

I
lay back listening to the dead wander around the tarmac below. A few must have
gotten close since I could hear them moan and the sound of their feet dragging along
the asphalt. I did my best to ignore them but it was hard having the dead so
close and the feeling that I was out in the open. It would take me awhile to
get used to sleeping on rooftops, to convince myself that I was safe even
though I didn’t have four walls and a roof over my head.

I
looked at my watch and saw that it was nearly nine. The temperature had begun
to drop a little and the breeze had died down to nothing.
 
I figured I’d wait until ten, then try the
radio.

At
ten, I pulled on my boots, grabbed my radio and climbed up the small
transmitter tower. I could see pretty clearly in the glow of the fire but I
still took my time carefully moving my hands and feet up the skeletal metal
structure until I reached a small crow’s nest up at the top. I sat there cross
legged and turned on the radio.

I
sat for a while listening to the static pop and hiss waiting to see if anyone
else was active. Apparently no one was so I pressed down on the send button and
said, “Kailee? Are you out there?” and released the button. I pulled a small
cable out of the bottom of the radio and clipped it to the tower I was sitting
on and suddenly a voice came across as clear as if the person was sitting next
to me.

“Fourteen
klicks from here. Do you see him?” a gruff male voice said.

“I
see him. What’s he doing?” a young girl’s voice responded.

“Settling
down for the night it looks like,” the man responded.

For
a moment I thought they might be talking about me. I looked around with my
goggles and couldn’t see anyone or anything close that might see me but then
the girl spoke again sending ice water into my veins, “We gonna kill him?”

If
they were talking about me, I’d have to pack up and move right now, “No, we let
him pass unless he keeps stirring up the dead.

Stirring
up the dead? I had been avoiding the dead and hadn’t had any major problems
since Phoenix.

“I
think he’s crazy,” the girl said, “Like he does it on purpose. What was he
doing to that dead girl?”

“Nothing
you need to worry about. And yep. He’s crazy but he’s heading west and will be
out of the city soon so we let him go on his way. If he heads back into
Phoenix, then we might have to do something about him.”

James.
They were talking about James. But why would he be heading west? I didn’t care.
If he was heading west, all the better for me.

I
switched channels and heard another voice that was broadcasting weather
conditions in a flat, mechanical voice. I figured somewhere a military or
government installation must still have power and was broadcasting an automated
update. I listened until I heard the temperature for the Phoenix metropolitan
area, “Current temperature, Phoenix metropolitan area is one hundred and three
degrees Fahrenheit, thirty nine point 4 degrees Celsius. Wind four miles per
hour out of southwest. Current temperature, Tucson metropolitan area….”

103
degrees Fahrenheit! Yikes! And it was already after ten. I switched through
another few channels and got nothing but static. At each channel, I’d hit the
send button and say, “Kailee?” and wait for a few minutes for a response. After
a few minutes of silence, I’d move on. I stayed up there until well after one
in the morning and checked the temperature before I climbed down. 88 F. Better
but still hot.

I
laid out the solar panel collector and hooked up all my electronic equipment.
The solar cell had a little control panel so I could charge the most important
item first. So I set up the goggles to charge, followed by the radio, then the
flashlight. Before I hooked everything up, I scanned the area around the hanger
again and saw that it was clear of anyone tracking me but still full of the
dead then I turned off the goggles and hooked them to the solar charger.

I didn’t think
I’d be able to sleep but at soon as I lay down I was out and didn’t wake up
until the sun peaked over the horizon sometime after six. I didn’t even awake
with a start.
 
I woke up for the first
time in months, maybe since the event started feeling safe and secure.

My
plan was to stay on the rooftop under the canopy through the heat of the day.
As sunset approached, I’d break camp, strap on my night vision goggles and
start heading east again. Easier said than done.

First,
even with the canopy, the heat was brutal and even though I stayed in my
shorts, the sweat just poured off of me. And I was bored. Hard to believe a
person could actually get bored during the end of the world but with no dead
threatening me and no one living around for miles I found boredom seeping in.
So I sat cleaning my weapons, familiarizing myself with the new gear, plotting
out my trip for that night, and napping as much as I could.

Tucson
was about a hundred and sixteen miles away. I figured I’d be riding around
fifteen miles per hour so it’d take me about eight hours to get there. I’d need
to stop early and find a place to camp. Also, I didn’t want to try to get all
the way there on my first night ride attempt, so I found a spot halfway between
here and Tucson called Eloy and found a small commuter airport where I could
stop.

I
needed a backup plan in case the airport in Eloy didn’t work out so I found
another one two more hours away called Pinal Airport. Having mapped out my trip
for the night, cleaned as much of my equipment as I could, and eaten more food
than I needed, I dropped down on my sleeping bag and tried to get some rest but
the thought of what lie ahead keep me from falling asleep.

Four
hours riding in the dark. The thought scared me near to death. And even if I
left just before the sun went down, that meant I’d arrive after midnight and
have to set up my camp in complete darkness. That scared me even more. Maybe I
should reconsider traveling at night. I thought I could make it to Tucson but
the next leg of the trip across the vast, open desert to Las Cruces would be
nearly impossible. I’d run out of water or the heat would kill me. Or both. So
I stuck to my original plan to travel at night.

The
hours crept by and between the heat and sweat I thought I was going to boil in
my own oil. In the late afternoon a wild wind picked up and helped cool me down
and I watched thunderstorms move across Phoenix putting out the fire I had
started and then move on out into the desert. They swept in with their huge
thunder and lightning shows, drop walls of rain, then moved on leaving only the
heat and a few quickly drying puddles of rain. I was glad that none of the
thunderstorms came my way. I didn’t think the canopy would be waterproof and I
didn’t want all of my gear and clothing to get wet. At last the sun was near
the horizon and it was time for me to go.

I
broke down my camp and lowered all my gear down to the tarmac. I checked around
my little site to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind, then climbed down
the drain pipe, uncovered my bike, and packed all my gear into the little
trailer. I peddled out of the airport and onto I-10 east after stopping at
anther gas station and topping my water supply off.

At
the top of the onramp, I looked around as the sun drifted below the horizon.
I’d have another half an hour of good light, maybe more, then I’d have to pull
on my goggles. They were fully charged and I had several spare sets of
batteries ready to swap out if needed. I had a brief image of me standing alone
out in the desert in the complete darkness with a dead set of goggles in my
hands, the dead closing in unseen from every direction.

I
shrugged of that vision with the thought that, if the goggles died in the
night, I’d whole up in the nearest abandoned car until the sun came up. It
might not be the best plan, but it was good enough so I pushed off and peddled
east.

I
made good time in the fading light. My packs were slung over the rear of the
bike like two oversized saddle bags, another small pack was strapped over the
bike trailer that was filled with water. My rifle and shotgun were strapped to
the sides of the trailer making a neatly secured and balanced load.

I
sped along easily riding through the wrecked cars that became fewer and fewer
as I moved away from the metropolitan area. The wind was still warm but I was only
wearing a pair of cargo shorts, tennis shoes, and a light tee shirt with one
pistol hanging from my belt so the sweat dried quickly and cooled me down.
After a half an hour of riding I began to feel more confident and a little
while after that the light had faded to the point where I needed to put on my
goggles.

I
strapped them onto my head and pressed the power button. For a moment nothing
happened and the thought of dead goggles returned but then the world lit up in
a comforting green glow and I let out my breath. I could see for miles down the
road. It was clear and unobstructed of cars or dead so I got moving again.