Countdown to Armageddon (25 page)

     Scott reached under the dash of each of the vehicles and removed the fuses for the headlights, tail lights and brake lights. Lights would be a beacon that would alert others for hundreds of yards that they had working vehicles. They were therefore a major liability.

     And they didn’t need lights anyway. They had night vision goggles, which would amplify the light from the stars and enable them to see.

    
Jordan finished loading the coolers and food, and asked, “Okay, what next?”

     “Take the night vision goggles and install the batteries. The battery box is at the very top, on the inside. They take four AA batteries, if I remember right. There are several boxes of batteries next to them. It’ll be dark within the next twenty minutes or so, and you can test them out when you’re done. Also, you can get that blue box off the back of the second Gator. You’ll like what you find in it.”

     “Oh, I will, huh?”

     “Yep.”

     “Well, how about if I open it first then?”

     “Nope. If you open it first, you might not get the batteries in the night vision goggles before it gets dark. Besides, what’s in the box is your reward for putting the batteries in without screwing it up. You can’t have the reward until your mission is done.”

     He looked at Jordan and smiled.

    
Jordan grinned and said, “Sheesh…”

     Zach finished making a bed in the back of the first Gator and returned for more instructions.

     “Go ask the girls if they’ve got all of their stuff packed, and bring it out and put it in the last Gator. Leave room at the back of the bed for Duke, though. Throw his bed and blanket, food bowl and water dish in the very back. But make sure the dishes are empty. Then take his bag of dog food and put it in the back as well.”

     Twenty minutes after sundown, they were ready to go. Everyone had their goggles on, and was looking around in amazement at the view they cast.

     Sara asked, “How come everything is so green?”

     Scott explained, “They take the available light from the stars above and amplify it. Green is the color they found that amplifies it the best.”

     Zachary looked at Jordan through the green lens.

     “Boy, do you look like a dork in that thing.”

     “Yeah, like you look any better.”

     “You guys stop.
Jordan, did you ever open that blue box I gave you?”

     “Oh, no, I forgot about it.”

     He opened it up and said, “Hey, cool! MP-3 players! But how come they’re so big?”

     “They’re battery operated. They don’t need a computer to recharge. When they go dead, you just replace the AAA batteries. I figured you guys would need them to keep from being bored on the trip.”

     “Cool. What kind of music did you put on them?”

     “All country. Waylon and Willie mostly. The good stuff.”

     All three of the kids looked at him. The goggles hid their expressions, which was probably a good thing. Zach’s jaw had dropped.

     Scott laughed.

     “I’m just kidding. It’s all of that rap and pop and other crap you guys downloaded onto my computer.”

     The three appeared to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

     “Now remember, once we leave the yard, no talking. If you want to talk to somebody, tap them on the shoulder, and then use hand signals. If they are close enough to you, whisper in their ear. But no talking. Talking is dangerous from here on out.”

     “Okay. Who’s riding with who?”

     “Zach will be riding in the first Gator with me. Jordan, you and your mom will be in the second Gator. Your mom has volunteered to pull guard duty when we camp tomorrow. That means she’s going to be in the back of my Gator sleeping for a good portion of the trip. When she does, you can drive, and Sara can sit with you and keep you company. Otherwise, Sara, you can ride in the third Gator with Joyce.”

     “What about Duke?”

     “Duke will follow us. You girls in the back keep an eye on him, and if he starts to lag, it’s probably because he’s tired. When that happens, Sara, you run up and tell me and we’ll stop the convoy. Jordan can pick Duke up and put him on his bed to take a nap and rest.”

     “How fast will we be going?”

     “Not fast. The Gators will creep along at about three miles an hour, maybe a bit more, in silent mode. The engines won’t make any noise at all at that speed, and the only sound you’ll hear is the occasional stick or leaf being crushed under the wheels. That’s the safest way. It’ll be too dark for anybody to see us, and if they can’t hear us either, we should be able to get up the mountain without anyone trying to take our vehicles or food away from us.”

     Joyce added, “It’s going to be a long hard trip, especially since we can’t talk to each other. It’s also going to be very boring. If you get sleepy, just step off the vehicle and walk for a bit. If you walk at a fast pace, you’ll be able to stay up with your Gator and the walk will wake you back up again.”

     “Any questions?”

     There were none.

     “Okay, I’m going to take the fence section down so we can drive the Gators out. This will be your last chance to use a real bathroom for the next two days, so if anybody wants to go, I’d suggest you do it now.”

     Sara and Zachary immediately scrambled back into the house.

 
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       By the time the kids did their business and rejoined the others, the three Gators were already idling in the large field behind the house. Zach and Sara ran through the opening in the fence and Scott replaced the panel, locking it into place. Then he climbed over the fence and hopped to the ground on the other side.

     The convoy crept slowly through the brush to the long line of power poles, which stretched high into the night sky.     Duke followed dutifully behind the vehicles, not sure where they were going and why, but happy to be out of the back yard.

     Once they neared the power lines, the heavy brush gave way to mowed grass. The electrical coop had always gone a great job of keeping this area maintained, and it would work to the group’s advantage.

     They swung onto the road that ran directly under the towers. In the daytime, a week before, they would have been intimidated by the massive two hundred foot tall structures over their heads, with a dozen deadly electrical lines humming loudly.

     Now, though, the lines were dead and silent. And the tall towers themselves were merely green tinted shadows.

     As planned, the three drivers kept their feet off the accelerator pedals, and just let them creep along. They were virtually silent, except for the occasional crunch of something under one of the balloon tires.

     The hardest part, of course, was the pace. It was dreadfully slow. Jordan stepped off of his Gator for several miles, walking alongside the one Sara was in so he could hold her hand along the way. In lieu of words, they exchanged hand gestures, blowing each other kisses and touching fingers to their hearts and pointing to the other.

     Joyce, sitting next to Sara and driving the third Gator, enjoyed the spectacle. It reminded her of the days when she was young and in love, and desperate to express that love in every way possible.

     It also reminded her that they’d have to keep a close eye on these two in the months ahead. To make sure they didn’t go too far in finding ways to express their love for one another.

     Joyce, bringing up the rear, was tasked to keep an eye on Duke as well. That was a bit harder than watching Jordan and Sara. Duke disappeared from view several times, but only for a couple of minutes each time. Joyce assumed it was to chase a rabbit or a cat, or perhaps to take a potty break. Each time, once the convoy was out of his view, he went romping back to catch up.

     After two hours, Scott ground his Gator to a halt, and the others stopped directly behind him.

     He opened up the large Igloo cooler and removed a bottle of water. He looked around at all the green faces watching him and made a pointing gesture to the cooler, asking if anyone else wanted one. He had a couple of takers, and passed them around.

     Scott went to the back of the third Gator and grabbed Duke’s water bowl from the back. He put it on the ground and poured a bottle of water in it. Duke lapped it up quickly. Walking apparently worked up a powerful thirst for him. And he was doing great thus far.

     Scott lifted up each of his paws, one at a time, and felt the soft pads. He watched for Duke’s reaction, to see if he winced when Scott touched a tender spot. Nothing. He felt no blisters or sores on the pads, and deemed the dog good to go until the next rest stop. 

     After ten minutes or so, everyone had a chance to stretch their legs, get something to drink and wander off to use the bathroom. It was time to set out again.

     Linda tapped her oldest son on the shoulder and pointed to the driver’s seat. Then she crawled into the back of the first Gator to take a nap while
Jordan took the wheel.

     Seeing this, Sara looked forlornly at Joyce. Her look required no interpretation. Joyce waved her off and she went to sit next to her boyfriend in the middle Gator. She held his hand as they waited to depart again.

     Scott picked up Duke and laid him on his bed on the back of the Gator, in case he needed a rest.

     But Duke wanted none of that. He was having too much fun. As soon as the convoy restarted, he jumped down and trudged along behind them again.

     The next couple of hours were uneventful, even boring, and everyone was starting to let their guard down. Then, off in the distance, the group made out a brilliant light. They didn’t know what it was, but the night vision goggles amplified the light to such a degree it was almost painful to look directly at it.

     As they drew closer, and could hear voices in the distance, Scott stopped his vehicle and removed his goggles. In normal light, without the goggles, he could see that the brilliant light was a large campfire, a mere hundred yards away now, burning at the back of a large residential area adjacent to the power lines.

     It appeared that someone was having a party, although Scott was at a loss to determine what they might be celebrating.

     Perhaps it was a macabre “end of the world” party. Or maybe they finally recognized that once their beer got warm it might never be cold again. Maybe they were trying to drink it all up before it had a chance to warm.

     Whatever the reason, their presence was a liability.

     The campfire was east of the road the group was on, and perhaps fifty yards from it. In the darkness, Scott was almost certain that they could pass right by the partiers without being seen.

     But almost certain wasn’t good enough. Just as a precaution, Scott turned to his left and went over to the auxiliary road, which followed the power lines on their west side. This road wasn’t as well maintained, and might make a bit more noise, but it was fifty yards farther away from the campfire.

     And with all the whooping and hollering going on at the party. Scott didn’t see the slightly more noise as much of a problem.

     Scott motioned to Zachary to get out of the Gator and to walk alongside it on the driver’s side, and to crouch down low.

     Just in case.

     He took the handgun out of his holster, switched off the safety, and chambered a round. Then he laid it on the empty seat beside him.

     Just in case.

     Slowly, they crept forward, past the group of laughing and drunken fools who were celebrating at one of the worst times of their lives.

     Scott wondered why it is that the most ignorant can also be the most blissful.

     After two hundred yards, the bright light from the campfire was growing more and more dim behind them, and the noise could no longer be heard.

     Scott eased back over to the better road, directly underneath the mammoth towers, the others following closely behind him.

     He stopped the convoy, put his handgun back on safe and back in his holster, and walked into the shrubs to use the bathroom. A couple of the others did the same.

     Back at the vehicles, he got a bottle of water from one of the coolers and looked questioningly at everyone else. A couple of the others made gestures meaning more or less, “sure, I’d like one.” So he passed water over to them.

     Linda woke up, having missed the whole campfire ordeal. She’d been exhausted, and needed a few hours of good sleep. She’d need it even more the following day, when everyone else was sleeping and she was pulling guard duty.