A New Start: Final Dawn: Book 9 (Volume 9) Read online

  “I think in all likelihood they’ll run out of provisions before the thaw and will need a place to go. I know many of you feel the same way, and that’s why we’ve agreed to keep gathering far past the point where we have enough for ourselves.

  “I can’t drive a big rig. Bryan tried to teach me and I just couldn’t get the hang of it.

  “But I can drive an RV. I used to own one. And if we eventually take on another seventy people, or even close to that, we’ll need additional sleeping quarters. So I’m going to head up a project to make a few trips to San Antonio to bring back twenty or thirty more. I’m willing to do it myself if I have to, but if I can get a few volunteers it’ll go faster.”

  Several hands went up.

  “Good. I’ll get with you individually and we’ll work out the details.”

  David planned to go every fifth day because he didn’t want the group to be critically short-manned when all the truck drivers were out gathering trailers.

  The last thing they needed was for a band of marauders to decide to attack the compound at the same time a quarter of them were away.

  And besides, he had another project which would keep him busy when he wasn’t making an RV run.

  Capturing deer and rabbits.

  Not hunting them.

  Capturing them.

  -9-

  David was a dentist by trade, but he’d been conflicted when starting college some twenty six years before.

  He had a lifelong love for animals. Part of him wanted to become a veterinarian.

  Another part of him knew it would tear him up when one of his animal patients died in his care.

  He’d chosen dentistry. They were more in demand at the time, and commanded higher pay.

  And besides, very few dental patients died while getting their teeth cleaned.

  But he never lost his love for animals.

  Humans weren’t the only ones affected by the long freeze Saris 7 brought with it.

  Wildlife took a major hit as well.

  Actually, David was amazed that any of them survived the six and half years at all.

  David had actually discussed that with Brad and Frank, who were both avid hunters. They’d decided the only reason some of the deer and rabbits survived was because of the timing of the freeze. It came in the spring, when everything was in bloom and the leaves and grass were all green.

  When Saris 7 struck, the cold came fast. Within hours the temperature around the globe plummeted to below freezing.

  It essentially “quick froze” all the grass, leaves and weeds while they were still green and full of nutrients.

  The group surmised that had the meteorite struck the earth in the dead of winter, when all the plant life was dead and void of nutrients, that none of the deer and rabbits would have had a chance.

  In essence the deer did what they always did in the winter time… roamed through the forest and ate what they could to survive. And because of the timing of the event, there was plenty of nutrition for them. Water was no problem for them because all precipitation fell from the sky in the form of snow. They simply ate the snow to quench their thirst.

  Granted, because of the extended period of cold temperatures, they likely had to eat far more food to warm their bodies. But then, what else would deer have to do all alone in the forest all day besides eat?

  As for the rabbits, some of them survived by simply burrowing beneath pine boughs and fallen leaves after the ground froze solid. Or they made their way back to their holes and only came out to forage for food. After two feet of snow covered the ground they were likely toasty warm as they ran through tunnels they’d burrowed in the snow.

  For snow makes excellent insulation.

  And bunnies being bunnies, they tended to have very warm coats.

  Still, despite all that, the freeze took a heavy toll on both species.

  By Frank’s estimates, based on the number of each of them he tracked in the forest after the thaw, fewer than five percent of either survived.

  The three men reckoned that another four years in the deep freeze would likely wipe them out completely.

  David took it upon himself to prevent that from happening, if he could in any way avoid it.

  Bryan and Mark thought he was nuts when he pitched his idea.

  “You’re gonna do what?”

  “I’m gonna bring live deer and rabbits into the mine and breed them during the freeze.”

  “That’s what I thought you said. The first time I thought I was hearing things. Now I just think you’re crazy.”

  “Why? Why not breed them? If we don’t our kids may never get the chance to hunt them. Might never taste either one of them.”

  “David, have you seen how high those suckers can jump? How are you gonna contain them?”

  “Rabbits can’t jump that high. A six foot fence will hold them just fine.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the rabbits, dumbass. I was talking about the deer.”

  “I know, stupid. I was joking. A ten foot fence will hold the deer in place in the back of one of the bays.”

  “And how are you gonna catch them?”

  “I’ll go up to the animal control facility in Kerrville.”

  “The dog pound? And how in hell is that gonna help you?”

  “Bryan, if you’ll shut up, I’ll tell you.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I’m sure the dog pound is abandoned just like most of the other government agencies. Why would they be open when all the dogs and cats are now dead? Or nearly all of them, anyway.”

  Bryan stared to open his mouth, and then thought better of it.

  David continued.

  “I’m sure I can just walk into their building and root through the supplies they left behind. And somewhere in that building, I’m sure of it, are the tranquilizer darts and guns they used to use to shoot out of control animals.”

  “So… you’re going hunting for rabbits and deer, but instead of shooting them like a sane person you’re going to put them asleep, drag them back here and put them in a pen?”

  “Exactly.”

  “And… tell me why again?”

  “Because I want to be able to hunt deer and rabbits again after the thaw comes. I want my kids to be able to. I want my grandkids to be able to. I want you to be able to, although you’re more than likely to shoot yourself in the foot instead.”

  Mark finally decided to put his two cents in.

  “Now that’s worth all the effort you’re going to put into this all by itself… the chance to see Bryan hopping around on one foot with a hole in the other one.”

  “Oh, shut up, you.”

  Mark turned to David and said, “Don’t listen to him. I think it’s a great idea. But how are you gonna do it?”

  “I’m not sure. I won’t know how many times to dart them. I guess I’ll dart them with a low dose and then track them until they stop running. If they’re still on their feet I’ll dart them again. Once they’re out I’ll hog tie ‘em and bring ‘em back.”

  “I’m guessing that one dart will be enough for the bunnies.”

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “Well, good luck.”

  -10-

  Marty had been systematically working his way through the yard at the Trucker’s Paradise truck stop on I-10 not far from Junction. In the days after the world found out about Saris 7, thousands of over-the-road truckers decided they didn’t want to be truckers anymore.

  They had families they wanted to get home to. Loved ones they wanted to protect.

  News was all over the radio. All over the internet. The only thing the truckers were talking about between themselves.

  Early on they at least tried to do the right thing. The first drivers to abandon their loads did so at truck stops like the Trucker’s Paradise.

  Truck stop employees directed them to a huge ten acre lot behind the place. It was a huge commercial property with a big “Will Build to Suit” sign on it. Rumor had it some investo
rs were looking at it with the idea they were going to build a big box store and sportsman’s outlet.

  In the light of Saris 7, that was no longer likely to happen.

  The first truckers to drop their trailers and run dropped them in a neat row on the far side of the field. Truckers are orderly by nature, so the trailers were backed in, nice and straight, side by side, with just enough space to walk between them.

  When the first row was complete, a second row was started, leaving plenty of space for a driver to hook up to his trailer should he change his mind and return for it.

  After the second row came a third row, then a fourth.

  Eventually the yard became full, and in the last days before the meteorite hit the earth, truckers abandoned their loads anywhere and everywhere they could find space. Typically on the shoulder of the nearest highway.

  There were seventeen rows in all. And over seven hundred abandoned trailers. Some were empty and worthless. Some contained industrial equipment or steel girders or other nonsensical stuff that was also worthless.

  At least for Marty’s purposes.

  But there were hundreds that could be of value to him and the people of Eden. Tankers of fuel. Three big red Coca Cola trucks chock full of drinking water. Some of the bottles had burst during the long freeze, but most had survived, their bottles designed to stretch when frozen.

  Marty was covered in sweat. And dirt. Sweat and dirt together combined into a fine mud which covered his clothes as well as every exposed inch of skin from the top of his head to his fingertips.

  He felt and looked like hell and he wanted and needed a shower badly.

  But he felt accomplished as well.

  He walked into the truck stop’s office to find Lenny sitting at his desk wearing nothing but his underwear and examining his left foot.

  Lenny looked up as Marty walked in and explained.

  “I stepped on a nail. It hurts like hell.”

  “Well, I’m glad your foot found it before a tire did.”

  “Well, thank you Mr. Sympathetic.”

  “Sorry. I hope it don’t hurt too bad. And, I’m glad your foot found it before a tire did.”

  Then, almost as an afterthought, “How’d you come out?”

  “Pretty good. My list is over there on the table.”

  Marty went to the coffee table in the center of the room and lifted a bloody white sock from its place partially covering a clipboard.

  He dropped the sock onto the floor, picked up the clipboard and examined it.

  On a yellow legal pad Lenny had scrawled notes.

  A list of thirty two trailers, by trailer number and their location in the yard.

  It looked very similar to the list Marty had made himself.

  “And before you ask, yes. I saved you enough hot water for your shower. And it looks like you need one just as badly as I did. Want to wait until you’re done before we talk?”

  Marty grunted and fell onto the couch.

  “Nope. As dirty as I am, I’d rather catch my breath for a minute first. I’m getting way too old for crawling around in a bunch of trailers all morning.”

  “How soon can we start hauling?”

  “I told my workers to report to the prison at eight a.m. ready to start work. There’s a three lane receiving dock that’s already loaded with trailers I found on Highway 87 just north of town. That’ll give them something to work on initially. We’ll start hauling in the morning to give them a steady stream of replacements as they empty each one.”

  “Do you think they can empty them fast enough to keep up with us?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. If they can’t I’ll ask the mayor to hire a few more.”

  “Okay. It’s just over ninety miles each way. That means two new trailers every three hours or so. That should be enough to keep them busy.”

  “Three.”

  “Three what?”

  “Three trailers every three hours. I found another driver.”

  “Really? Where?”

  “In Eden. His name is Wes Turner. He was a long hauler for UPS. Has well over a million miles under his belt. Retired just a couple of months before the freeze, and he’s just itching to have something to do.”

  “He got a rig?”

  “Yeah. He and I were working on a cab-over Jimmy we found in a parking lot in the middle of town. The trucker who left it was kind enough to leave the keys in it. I guess he figured somebody would make use of it eventually.

  “It’s a bit old, but we got it running and it’s sound. Needs new rubber but he’s working on that this morning. There was a tire shop on the south side of town and he’s going to mount several spares for us too.

  “You’ll meet him in the morning when we show up here to pick up our first loads.”

  “What do you want me to do this afternoon?”

  “It might speed up the process if you pull out the first three and stage them up front here somewhere so all we have to do is grab and go. One of the guys I hired is a mechanic. I’m gonna bring him with me on my first run and drop him here. He’ll replace any bad tires and air lines, and knock free any rusted brakes while we’re gone. Then he’ll use the yard tractor to dig them out and have them ready for us.

  “He should move faster than us, so I expect him to have a steady supply ready for us to grab.”

  “What are you doing this afternoon?”

  “I’m gonna take one load back with me to park outside the prison. There’s already two already. If the prison crew gets ahead of us they can pull them in and work on them while we play catch-up. I’m pretty sure that won’t be a problem, though.”

  “What are we doing with the empties?”

  “I don’t want to leave them near the prison. I don’t w ant to announce to the world that we’re stocking it. If it does freeze over again we may have nomads trying to scale the walls in mass numbers. I figure we’d haul them several miles outside of Eden and then line them all up on the shoulder of Highway 83.”

  “How are they off-loading them? If they do it by hand they won’t be able to keep up with us. Even with a dozen men.”

  “Not to worry. I was able to get two propane forklifts running. That’s one of the items I want to watch out for, by the way. Portable propane tanks. I came across a truck with propane space heaters on it. If we can figure out a way to safely vent them, we can use them to help heat the cell blocks. But we’ll need a boatload of propane tanks.”

  Lenny smiled.

  “I’ll do you one better. I came across a propane truck this morning, wedged in between a couple of reefers. Easy to miss. But if the pressure gauge is still working, it’s damn near full.”

  Marty’s day was made.

  “Lenny, if you weren’t so damn ugly I’d kiss you.”

  “You don’t know how glad I am to be ugly.”

  Marty marched off to the showers whistling, Happy Days are Here Again.

  -11-

  David took one of the Ford pickups to Kerrville and made his way to the animal shelter there, not knowing what he’d find.

  Maybe long rows of cages full of canine bones from dogs left behind to freeze to death and then to rot once the thaw came.

  He was relieved to find the cages all empty, their doors swung wide open.

  For a moment he silently rejoiced, thinking that kind-hearted employees had set them all loose, to live their last days in freedom before they froze to death or died of starvation.

  Then his joy was dampened by the thought it was just as likely the bodies were taken by hungry looters. Before they thawed.

  So they could be eaten.

  In any event, he’d never know for sure. So as long as the first option was more pleasing to his mind, he’d go with it.

  The tranquilizer gun he’d come after was remarkably easy to find. It was embedded in a wall of sheetrock just inside the facility’s entrance.

  David stood for a moment and pondered how it came to be there before extracting it from the wall.

&
nbsp; He examined it very closely. It was bolt action with an attached scope, with a wooden stock. The wood was painted a brilliant orange, and the words

  TRANQUILIZER DARTS ONLY

  were stenciled onto the orange stock with black spray paint.

  Perhaps the rifle was thrown in anger by someone who’d decided the rifle was worthless for his particular need.

  In any event, it didn’t appear to be damaged.

  Of course, he wouldn’t know for sure until he fired it for the first time.

  The darts were considerably harder to find. He went systematically through each room in the building, working his way counterclockwise around the room and opening each desk drawer, each cabinet, and each closet.

  He found all manner of other things. Even a full-sized bag of Chips Ahoy that the scavengers and looters had somehow missed.

  Only slightly stale, they made the rest of this search a little more pleasant.

  It was in the next to last room he had left that he finally hit pay dirt.

  On a closet shelf, behind a desk once occupied by someone named Woody, according to the nametag left on the desk.

  David muttered, “Hot damn,” when he saw a still-full brown box marked

  TRANQ DARTS

  50 Caliber

  Active Ingredient: Haldol

  Controlled Item, 50 Each

  He checked the expiration date.

  The darts expired five years before. But that didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t any good. The freeze extended the life of certain products and ruined others. All he could do was hope for the best.

  He finished looking through the rest of the building, for another box of the same tranquilizers or anything else of value.

  But everything else of value was long gone.

  The last room was marked

  Medicine and Vaccine Storage

  Authorized Personnel Only

  It was a mess. Empty boxes and syringes were thrown everywhere. Cabinets were overturned, as were desks and chairs.

  It was easy to understand what had gone on here.