Curtain Fall: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 1) (38 page)

She scowled at him, and he quickly added, “And it might come in handy later. Oh, I better put the insulin in the fridge.” John hoped the mention of insulin would divert Jenna’s attention, or at least change the subject. He was waiting for her to say, “What’s the point of getting
insulin if you’re gonna kill her with sugar,” but she didn’t. And he was grateful for it.

Jenna might have made the comment if Abby wasn’t present, but not when she was close, and the real disaster only a day or so away. Instead, she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and resumed her vegetable washing.

“Do you have enough canning supplies for this harvest?” asked John, desperately wanting to appease Jenna, and at the same time get her mind off Abby’s health. He slipped the insulin into the fridge and was glad to see the light come on. It was also cold inside, which meant it was running well enough on the solar power alone. John walked over and tried the wall switch, but the power was still out.

“I think so,” said Jenna. And at the same moment Adam burst into the kitchen from the garage and yelled, “Dad, I can’t find the wagon. I think someone stole it!”

“It’s at the back patio door,” said Jenna, calmly. “Unload the corn and you can have it.”

“Oh. OK mom. Thanks,” replied Adam sheepishly.

“Do you want us to husk it for you, too? It won’t be a problem,” said John.

“That would be great . . . yes.”

“OK. Come on, Adam. Let’s go husk the corn, then we’ll finish the gas and the pool cover.”

Fifteen minutes later, John stuck his head in the door and said, “Corn’s done. Where do you want it?”

“Abby, take that bucket to your dad,” said Jenna as she pointed to a large empty container at her feet. Abby delivered the container and John quickly filled it with corn.

“Dad, you have to come see this,” said Adam, as he stepped back onto the patio.

“See what?” asked John.

“I have to show you,” said Adam.

John sighed, said, “OK,” and then followed Adam toward the pool. He thought Adam was going to show him a frog, or some other creature he saw in the pool, but instead he pointed to the edge of the deep end and said, “See that?”

John was silent as he examined the pool. The deep end was sitting several inches below the paved patio that surrounded it, and the water was lapping very near the top edge. John grunted and said, “Well, an undamaged settled pool is better than a cracked and leaking one,” said John.

“I thought you’d be mad,” said Adam.

“It’s not like I can do anything about it,” said John. “Besides, the water’s safe.” He then went to inspect the pool’s filter pump and heater. “It looks like the pipes are good, but open that box and pull the lever,” directed John, as he pointed to the small box on the fence next to Adam.

With the power off to the pool filter, John knew the water would be on a much shorter life cycle. Untreated, it would only be a matter of days before it started turning green. But John wasn’t worried because he had several water filters that could easily handle the algae. When John closed the last of the flow valves, he said, “Go tell mom we’ll be working out here for a while. We need to cover the pool before it gets late.”

Adam looked at John and asked, “But what about the gas?”

“You’re right. Let’s go take care of that first,” said John as he stood. “Go get the wagon and meet me at the truck. I wanna drop a few extra chlorine tabs in the pool, and then I’ll meet you there.”

Adam was off in a flash, and John joined him at the Suburban a few minutes later. They wasted no time placing the loaded fuel cans into the pit, and quickly dropped the heavy plywood cover into place.

John stood on the cover to test its strength, and felt that if it could hold his weight, then it would also hold the weight of a foot of volcanic ash. Adam was concerned about the gap around the edge of the fuel pit cover, but John assured him that the gap was necessary for ventilation, especially during the day when the sun was shining.

With the fuel tucked safely away, John turned his attention back to the pool cover. First, he and Adam spent an hour securing more than thirty lines of rope to the spine. When the last line was in place, they carried the awkward contraption to the pool and slid it unceremoniously into the water.

John noticed the pool’s new settled position slightly affected the supports, but not enough to warrant any serious adjustments, so they moved forward with their next stage of construction, to systematically anchor each line to the lawn around the pool.

Using a five-pound sledgehammer, John and Adam took turns driving two-foot wooden stakes deep into the ground around the pool. They then lightly secured a rope to each stake. Once the lines were set, John and Adam drew on the lines tight at opposite ends of the rope, so as to apply equal pressure to the line and not upset the balance and level of the spine.

Once all the lines were secure, they stood back to appraise their work. “It looks like a giant dinosaur skeleton,” said Adam.

“You’re right . . . it does,” said John. “And I don’t think it will look any better with the cover on. Speaking of which, will you go fetch the tarps. We’re ready to cover this beast.”

When Adam returned with the tarps, they quickly unfolded and draped them over the ropes and PVC supports. John was immensely relieved to see that the two large tarps were more than enough to cover the pool. Up to that point, he was actually considering making another run into town. But now that the tarps were up and over the support, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Running into town was the last thing he wanted to do this late into their preps.

After a short break, they began drawing the tarps tight and staking them down. John decided to leave the silver side of the tarp exposed. He reasoned the silver side would better reflect the sun and reduce the heat under the cover, but it would also blend in with the ash better.

Adam asked John about making an entrance, but John said they’d worry about that when the ash stopped falling. He told him that making an entrance would be the least of their problems when it came to the ash, but he didn’t want to weaken the tarps by cutting into them.

“How long do you think the ash will fall, dad?”

“I don’t know. It really depends on the wind I would think. It will be fine ash, too . . . much finer than the ash that will fall north of us. Like dust I think. That’s why I want to keep the pool covered as tightly as possible,” finished John.

“Now it looks like a party tent,” said Adam.

“That it does,” replied John. “It turned out better than I had hoped. Thanks for your help.”

Adam smiled and said, “It’s fun working with you, too.”

“I think we need to check the shelter now. If the pool settled . . . then maybe the shelter did too,” said John.

They returned to the shop and John stood in front of his workbench at a specific spot. He then bent and began removing the boxes from the shelf below the workbench. Adam watched as he lifted away individual boards and stacked them off to one side.

When John saw the locked metal door that covered the shaft to the shelter, he paused. If the earthquakes moved the shaft or the shelter in any way, they might not be able to access all their prepper supplies. Everything they did to prepare for a disaster would be entombed in the shelter below. A cold sweat began to form on his brow and he fumbled for the keys in his pocket.

“Are you OK, dad?” asked Adam

“Huh,” said John, as he looked up at Adam from his kneeling position over the shaft door.

“You look worried. Is everything OK?” repeated Adam.

“I’m fine,” said John, as he unlocked the door. “I’m just worried about the shelter . . . about what the earthquake might have done to it.”

“Oh . . .” said Adam.

“Yeah . . . Oh,” replied John. “If we can’t get into the shelter, then everything we need for long term survival will be out of reach. We’ll have to use the emergency exit, or worse yet, we’ll have to dig for it and cut our way in . . . and that won’t be fun.”

John lifted the metal door and said, “Hand me a flashlight.”

Adam grabbed a flashlight from the workbench and handed it to his dad. John shined the light into the shaft and said, “Everything looks good so far. I’m gonna climb down and check out the shelter door. Hold the light for me.”

“Can I come down too?”

“Hold your horses. Let me get the door first. Hand me the light,” said John.

From the anchored ladder, John inspected the stacked concrete culverts as he descended the fifteen feet to the bottom. He was pleased to see they endured the quake without damage.

John stepped off the ladder and heard the sound of crunching gravel under his feet. He shined the flashlight beam on the shelter door and held it there while he unlocked the padlock. The locking mechanism was much more secure, and elaborate, from the inside, but when they weren’t in the shelter a padlock more than enough to keep it secure. John pulled on the handle up and it screeched in rusty protest.

“Adam, toss me down a can of WD40!”

A moment later, Adam said, “Coming down,” and he dropped the can down to John.

John sprayed the door handle, and the three welded hinge plates, and pulled the heavy door open. With a sigh of relief, he yelled, “OK, you can come down now!”

Adam descended the ladder effortlessly and stood next to his dad in the cool air of the underground shelter. John was too busy inspecting the condition of the shelter to pay him any attention. He went to great pains to protect the shelter from insects and moisture.

From the inside, it was hard to tell the shelter was once a standard shipping container. John ventilated, wired, plumbed, and framed the
shelter before finishing it. It looked more like a camper than a bunker, but that’s the only way he could convince Jenna to use it, even during an emergency.

He built bunks, a seating area with a fold down table, a toilet room, a privacy room for changing and bathing, and a cooking area. Every bit of free space was occupied with food, water and other essential survival equipment.

Adam loved the shelter even more than John, but he rarely got a chance to work in it with his dad, so this was a special occasion. John decided to put him to work and said, “See if you can open the emergency door in the back room.”

“Okay, dad.”

While John inspected the subfloor, he heard the screech of a metal pin, accompanied by more screeching when the door was opened. John grabbed the WD40 and went to join Adam. Adam was standing in the dark secondary shaft holding a flashlight to the door above.

“Can I climb the ladder?” he asked as soon as John appeared.

“Sure, just don’t touch the latch or you’ll cover us in dirt” said John.

A dull metallic thud filled the shaft when Adam hit the door with his flashlight. “How’s it look? Asked John.

“Everything looks fine, dad.”

“Good. Come back down and let’s lock up. We still have work to do in the house,” said John.

J
enna was just finishing up in the kitchen when John came in. He stopped to look at all the food in the family room and Adam said, “Dad, we left all the stuff in the truck.”

“Not all of it. I brought two bags in,” said John.

“Want me to go get the rest?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Adam said, “Abby, come on . . . you gotta see this.”

Abby wiped her hands on a dishtowel and followed Adam out. Jenna also wiped her hands while she stood looking at the backyard. She said, “Wow. We have a big silver tent in our back yard.”

“You like?” teased John in reply. “I thought we could sleep out there tonight. I hear it comes with a really big waterbed.”

“I bet it does,” replied Jenna. She walked over to John and plopped down on the sofa. He joined her and asked, “How’s Abby doing? Is she scared?”

“No more than I am, I should think. She’ll be okay though,” replied Jenna. “We had a good talk while you were out running around town.”

John snorted and asked, “What’d you guys talk about?”

“Girl stuff.”

“Girl stuff?” asked John. “What do you mean, girl stuff?”

“Oh, you know . . . things like how to skin a raccoon, filter water with cotton and charcoal, and build a solar oven. That kind of girl stuff.”

“I’m serious, Jenna. I’m worried about her.”

The kids entered the kitchen from the garage, all loud and laughing and having a good time. It made John happy to see them happy. “Dad, where do you want us to put all this stuff?” asked Adam.

“Bring it here,” replied John. Jenna moved to stand but John grabbed her hand in a silent gesture to remain with him. She relaxed back onto the couch and leaned against John with a kiss. John kissed her back and ran a hand through Jenna’s hair.

“Get a room, dad,” groaned Adam, as he carried the bags of junk food into the family room. Abby followed with bags of her own, and smiled when she saw her mom and dad cuddling on the couch.

“Did you see anything you like, sweetie?” asked John.

“Daddy. I hope you’re not mad, but Adam bought me a ton of candy. It’s sour candy too . . . all my favorite kind.”

“He did, did he? Do you think I should punish him?” John asked with a wink and a grin.