Saturday Survival Serial – Volume 3, Week 14

This is week 14 in volume 3 of the Saturday Survival Serial. To learn more about what the Saturday Survival Serial is, click here. To start at week 1, click here.

“Mayor” Miller was watching the scenery go by from the comfort of his jeep. The going had been very slow with the state of the roads, randomly being shot at by unseen attackers, and mechanical troubles with one of the larger trucks. Finally though, they were in the state of Michigan.

They’d expected to be in the state within a day, given how close they were to the old state lines. Getting through South Bend proved to be impossible and they’d had to go around instead. That had been an interesting trip, thanks to some random gunfire aimed at their tires. They managed to make it through without too much damage and were finally on the outskirts of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

They’d been forced to take state highway 131 and were at the crossroads where Interstate 94 crossed. Though being high up made them an easy target, Miller felt the risk was worth it. He needed to assess the area to plan the best route that would not only get them there alive, but hopefully make up for some lost time.

He called for the map to be brought over and looked between it and what was in front of him. To the north and east, Kalamazoo looked desolate. It was obvious the larger town had seen its fair share of violence, looting, fires, and chaos. Then again, if they stayed on 131, they would make themselves easy targets even longer. There was the chance that they would be able to move quickly but the amount of unknowns made it almost impossible to know what was best. He was used to others telling him which route to take. Dammit all to hell!

He took in a deep breath and turned, barking out orders. They would continue on 131 until they were either forced off or got to Wayland and turn east. He didn’t want any part of whatever might be lingering at Grand Rapids. Not unless and until I have a large army at my disposal. He’d been reading the manual that came from the envelope marked “CONFIDENTIAL” as privacy from prying eyes and time allowed. This morning, he read about the overall plan to use people from the settlement camps to go in and do the cleanup work on the larger areas. It was all set out in a grid system that would be methodically explored and ‘cleaned up.’

Of course, that’s after we get things established. This year was all about getting set up and bringing people in. He looked around as people were loading back up on the trucks. He climbed into his jeep and gave the signal to move out. The trucks spit out black exhaust as they got underway.

The road was surprisingly clear once they got over the interstate. Most cars had been pushed off to the side and they were able to maintain a nice speed for several miles. In fact, the further they got from Kalamazoo, the easier it was. Miller felt a rare thrill as he glanced over at the speedometer and saw they were cruising along at 40 miles per hour. He hadn’t been in a vehicle moving that fast in some time.

Watching the signs on the side of the road, they were coming up on the turnoff for Bradley, Michigan when gunshots could be heard. Everyone ducked down and the driver punched it to get through. They could hear the rapport of a semi automatic weapon and the glass on the passenger side of the jeep shattered, spraying glass all over Miller and the driver.

“MOVE!” Miller yelled. He was barely aware of pieces of glass that cut into his arm and shoulder, thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He heard shouts from the trucks behind him and engines revving up as they sped down the road.

*************

The group gathered in Joli’s bathroom with the radio Dale had found and worked on to pick up radio transmissions. After the first night, they were all so paranoid that they immediately agreed to wait to even breathe about it to one another. They would give it a couple days and then have dinner at Joli’s to discuss. Not so much as a whisper or hint of anything had come their way and they figured they were in the clear. With Dale’s position in communications, and Edgar’s repairing everything, the two heard a lot of talk in their day to day schedule.

“I think we should get a pass and go listen all day long. Maybe see if we can figure out a way to talk back to them?” Shannon had been stewing on the idea since that first night. She desperately wanted to make contact with people on the outside. The words kept ringing in her ears:

“…ask yourself three things…“Can I come and go as I please?”….“Am I free to make my own choices on what work I do, where I live… Number three: “Am I allowed to worship whatever God I want, keep my heritage, and raise my children?” If you answered no… then you.Are.Not.Free!”

Though she wasn’t interested in having children, having the choice even questioned made her bristle. The rest though…that hit a nerve and she knew she was assuredly not free.The others looked at Dale for the answer to that and he nodded.

“I’ve already been looking for parts,” he said quietly. “I think we can apply for our first pass after a month. That’s what, 10 days or so from now?”

The others nodded. The running water helped cover their voices but Shannon couldn’t help but cringe a little at the water waste.

“Let’s see if there’s anything to hear,” Shannon said anxiously. She was starved for more information.

Dale nodded and turned the knobs, working his way up the line slowly. The smiled at each other excitedly as static came across the speaker and then – A voice! They listened closely to hear through static and the running water.

“…we’ll head that way after [static]. Have to get things [static]…first.”

They looked at each other wide eyed now. This wasn’t some military group, it was just normal people living out there, making plans. The static got worse and Dale reached for the knob again. They were huddled close around the small speaker, watching it intently when they all heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.

They were frozen in place, eyes darting now back and forth. When the knock came again, Shannon turned to Joli and whispered, “Tell them to wait just a minute!”

Joli nodded as she opened the door and hollered down the hallway. “I’ll be right there!”
She turned back with a questioning look in her eyes as if to say, “Now what?”

“Dale and Edgar, head into the livingroom and sit down. I will go to the kitchen,” she said quietly. “Joli, flush the toilet and turn off the water. Then, see who it is. I will be right by you when you open the door.”

Everyone nodded and moved into position. Joli flushed and was coming down the hall when the person knocked a third time. She looked at Shannon with a little panic in her eyes.

Shannon whispered, “Act like they’re being a rude salesman!”

Joli’s whole demeanor changed as she took in Shannon’s advice. She threw the door open and said, “I was in the restroom. What’s this all about? Oh… hello.”

Shannon’s eyebrows went up and her feet were moving before she thought about it. When she turned the corner from the kitchen into the hall, she saw Pako standing there with a grin on his face.

“I’m sorry, but I was looking for her and hoped you knew where she was. I heard water running and could smell the food, so I thought you just couldn’t hear my knocking.”

Joli put her hand on her hip. “After practically banging my door down? I have company, thank you very much.”

Shannon almost laughed at how well Joli was playing the role. She spoke up before Pako could answer.

“Well, you found me. What can I do for you?”

Pako chuckled, unperturbed by her, or Joli’s, attitude. “First, I was wondering if you’d like to come over and play crib and second, I heard an interesting story about you today. Wondered how much of it was true.”

Shannon looked at Joli and then back at Pako. She licked her lips nervously and said, “Can it wait until tomorrow? I’m a little busy right now. How about we meet at the greens outside the Food Commons, say around 4? You bring your board and cards and I will bring something to munch on.”

Pako pretended to tip his hat to her and said, “I will see you then. Sorry to interrupt your evening.”

Shannon and Joli closed the door and walked into the living room. They sat down in mismatched chairs, unsure whether or not they should be worried about Pako’s sudden appearance.

Dale asked, “What was that all about?”

Shannon shook her head, “I have absolutely no idea.”

***********

After they had put a good ten miles between them and Bradley, Miller called for the convoy to pull over and assess the damage. People poured out of the back of the larger truck and someone called for medical supplies.

He finally looked down at his arm and saw there were bits of glass in his skin but overall, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. He lamented the loss of the shirt more than the flesh wound. Turning his attention to the others, he walked the line, inspecting vehicles and people. There were two injuries other than his own. One was pretty serious with the bullet still being in the person’s leg but the other hand been a through and through: easily patched up.

Overall, other than the injuries and new bullet holes in their vehicles, there wasn’t any real damage. They’d blown past the turn at Wayland and he called for the map again to plan another route. He wanted to get around Grand Rapids before dark. There was plenty of daylight, so long as they weren’t delayed going around. He hoped the back roads would prove to be clear and deserted.

He decided to bank on the backroads and mapped out a route that would take them a good sixty miles out of their way around Grand Rapids. Though they would skirt close along the southeastern edge and across Interstate 96, it was certainly safer than going through the hell rumored to be in the large city. There was talk about cannibals living there back at the the U.N. hub. He wasn’t interested in learning if they were true or not.

They got underway again and made it all the way to just outside Cedar Springs without issue. If Miller had been a spiritual man, he might think that some deity was smiling on him. His logical side said that humanity was too sparsely populated on the planet now and those who survived likely wanted nothing to do with a convoy of U.N. trucks. He ordered them to pull over for the night, set watches, and read more in his manual.

A lot of it was standard crowd control tactics for keeping the peace. He already understood the reasoning for stripping away individualism; they needed to get humanity to think of itself as one race, not a lot of sub cultures and divisions by belief, color, and all the stuff the discrimination acts of the twentieth century were supposed to resolve. A lot of good that ever did us,he thought to himself. It seemed for it to stick, it needed to be stripped out, redefined, and then pounded home until it was the societal norm.

His attention focused in when he started reading about resident passes to leave the camps. He’d heard about it from the other mayor, of course, and thought it rather harmless overall. If people left, so what. They would either likely die or come back starving. What he was reading however, showed him that whoever was at the top of the chain knew their stuff.

“Passes are given to address several issues with the human condition:

1. A sense of freedom and the ability to make choices, no matter how small or insignificant, keeps most people generally satisfied. It helps provide a sense of control over one’s life.
2. Sewn into each Pass Pack (see “Pass Pack” section in the main manual for more information) is a chip that will track the current location up to six miles out. Terrain can interfere with reception.
3. Allowing residents to leave also helps draw out other survivors in the area and bring them in, this saving resources. Residents will also willingly share their ‘adventures’ if spoken to with a positive tone and shared excitement for whatever happened. This will instill good will, trust, and a willingness to bring anything of note to our attention. Furthermore, it will instill a sense of belonging to the camp itself which leads to better performance and use of resources.

Consider the implementation of an exploration program with the most trusted residents allowed to leave for longer periods of time to get information and….”

Miller raised his eyebrow as he continued on. This is getting more and more interesting. He realized the camp had gone quiet and it was late. He had a long day tomorrow and hoped that they were able to make it all the way to Reed City without too much trouble.

They were going to get off the highway and take a roundabout path that would do two things: let Miller get a good lay of the surrounding land and lessen their chances of running into problems. It would lead them far out of their way but Miller wanted to get a feel for the population possibilities in this part of the state.

Eugene raised an eyebrow when he saw the path they were going to take but didn’t say a word. In fact, ever since Miller had promised to get him to Jimmy Walker, he hadn’t said much of anything.

*************

Kory and Bret heaved the truck out of the mud for the third time that morning.

“I am getting really sick of this. I mean, is the truck all that worth it? We haven’t made more than 10 miles in 36 hours. We aren’t even to Baldwin yet!” Bret wiped mud off his hand onto his pants.

Everyone got loaded again with Tori driving and Richard tending the fuel. They’d had to stop to gather some more wood, too. Between that, the constant turning on back roads, ruts, potholes, and this mud…it had been slow going overall.

The plan was to cut down between Baldwin and Idlewild before heading for highway 37. They wouldn’t drive it the whole way but now and then, if passable, they would jump on to make up time before taking an exit and using back roads again.

They were able to push on for a few hours, if slowly. The constant feeding of wood into the gasifier and slow speeds made progress seem at a snail’s pace now. They made it to a campground just north and east of Baldwin with enough time to get a camp set up for the second night before their lights from the car made them an easy target. They settled in, hoping the next day would get them a lot further than the last two had.