When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Page 9

  "Guys come quick."

  "What have you found?"

  "I think we found our new home, it looks like a cave."

  "I think you're right Andy it is a cave, a nice large one, more than big enough for most of us to take shelter in if we need to."

  "Steve check out the stream below."

  As Steve leaned out over the edge of a large shelf, he exclaimed, "Hell yea look at how clear the water is. Is that fish down there?"

  "Yea it is, big ones too."

  "Well guys let's make camp here for a while and scout out the area downstream but I think we found our home."

  "I'm with you John, lets clear out an area under the overhang for the night in case it starts raining."

  "The first thing tomorrow we will head downstream on foot until midday then come back and go from there. But for now I am gonna catch me some fish for dinner tonight."

  It had been nearly a month of scouting when they made it back to camp with the good news. All along the trip back they looked for the best way of getting the vehicles there without having to abandon them and they had marked it out as they went.

  Back in camp Becky was the first to see them returning.

  "THEY'RE HERE! The scouts have returned, hurry everyone the scouting party is back."

  Loud cheers broke out as the three returned from their trek. Everyone was asking, "Whad'ya find? How far away is it? Can we all make it there?" The three were treated as heroes on their triumphant return; the crowd even helped them from their horses.

  "Everyone give them a chance to get settled in then they can tell us about everything they found."

  "Thanks Peter, but it's okay everyone is excited to know what we found and we're just as excited to tell them. Y'all should have seen it; we found the perfect place to move to.

  John said in his worst southern accent then he laughed.

  "The location has everything we need and more than enough resources to take care of all of us even if everyone wanted to go."

  "How long will it take for us to get there?"

  "It took us close to three weeks but it will be considerably longer with all the gear and provisions we need to bring not to mention the people."

  "So John how hard is it going to be for us to get there?"

  "It's going to be a major challenge and there's a good chance we will lose someone in the process."

  Steve added, "There are several locations where we will have to rig every piece of equipment and even some of the less capable climbers to get past the steep elevation changes."

  "Steve is right, I don't want to sugar coat this, it's going to be the hardest thing any of us have ever done but in the end it'll be worth it."

  Andy said, "The location is perfect, we found a large cave in the side of a cliff that we can close up for shelter from both the elements and intruders if they ever find it."

  "Did you see any sign of people anywhere near it?"

  "No, and we went a long way down valley with no signs of human activity, not even a piece of trash."

  "Now you're fibbing," joked Becky.

  "I'm not, it's the truth there wasn't any trash. We came into the valley from the side and found the cave down valley from there, but we only investigated up a very limited distance. We figured we were far enough in and if there was no sign of human activity from below, then..., it may be that no man has ever been there, at least no modern man."

  "All right everyone let's give them a chance to spend some time with their families, we can go over everything later on."

  The crowd dispersed, then later that night we met at the fire ring where the three filled us in on all the details of what they found. Now with a location found, and the details on what the trip would be like, everyone was given one last opportunity to either stay or go again. Several backed out after hearing about the site but a few more decided they were in.

  We were all ready for the long hard trip and knew that it would be even harder at our new home when we got there because we needed to get ready for winter as soon as we arrived. Even with that knowledge we were all eager to get going; most had already begun to pack while waiting for the scouts to return so they were ready to go on a moment's notice.

  Much of Sarg's camp was quickly broken down, the ATVs and trailers were loaded ready to go. All that was left was to break down the huts and load the rest in the ATVs.

  We left two ATVs behind for the rest that stayed so they could get firewood and hunt for food further away. No one else knew where we were going and no map was left because we didn't want anyone to find us.

  The next morning, we gathered by the fire to go over details and hand out tasks that needed to be done. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew who was in charge.

  I jumped up onto the bed of Fred's ATV with him and in a very load voice called out.

  "CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?"

  The crowd quickly fell quiet, then after a bit of a pause I looked around and saw that they were all watching. Then in a firm strong voice I continued.

  "Thank you, now that I have your attention I want to ensure you know Fred is in charge; he will go over the details. I know we all can't wait to get going, and by now your personal gear should be ready to go, because it will be a long arduous trek."

  Fred began, "Thanks for the confidence Peter, the way to our new location has no road to it, but I'm confident we can use the ATVs all the way there so we can cover the entire distance fairly fast. We have begun stripping some of the motor homes of anything we can transport and use at our destination."

  "While the scouts were gone we pulled all the wires, pumps, and piping, then we removed every window we could and packed them for transport. There is a good stream flowing down the valley that we can harness for power so generators will be given some priority but they must be separated from the motor. As you strip your rigs remember everything we bring needs to be moved piece by piece so be very selective of what you take, remember to take what you need not what you want, think weight."

  While Fred continued to go over all the details, Allen motioned for me to come over, so I headed his way.

  "Peter let me show you what I made for the trip."

  "What do you have their, Allen?"

  "I took one of the ATV trailers and built a rolling chuck wagon. I used the cabinets and other parts from some of the motor homes to build it. It comes complete with a sink and hot and cold running water heated by firewood of course. The work area has a pull out cover and side walls so the cook doesn't have to work in the rain, it has two stoves with ovens for cooking."

  "This is one hell of a trailer you have here Allen, I'm sure everyone will be glad to have it."

  "I made it so it can be quickly broken down for transport."

  "That's some smart thinking there, I sure wish you were going with us Allen."

  "I would love to go Peter but I think I need to stay here at least I'll have your motor home and that sweet building you guys built around it, it should keep us all warm through the winter. Besides I think many are looking at me as their new leader."

  "I understand Allen and I'm sure you will be fine, oh and good luck on your new job."

  I noticed that Fred had finished imparting his knowledge on the crowd and everyone was mingling and pooling their ideas, when I got back I jumped back onto the bed of his ATV again and called out.

  "COULD I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?"

  "I'm sure you all know what is expected of you, and we have much to do before we head out in the morning. So if there are no more question we should take off, remember try to get a good night's sleep if you can."

  The crowd broke up in all directions. That night before any of us went to sleep we loaded every last stitch of gear on our Canavan so it would be ready to roll in the morning. We staged the vehicles just outside camp ready to go.

  Chapter 8: The Migration

  I was standing on the bed of my ATV, facing the gathering crowd with Fred next to me on his, with the trail behind us and
the entire camp in front us. I had Ann hit the horn on our rig to get everyone's attention, the crowd slowly fell quiet.

  "I am happy to see I asked the right person to take the lead. Sarg is the most qualified to execute the move so I expect everyone to abide by his requests without question. It's the only way to keep us all safe."

  "Thanks Peter, I will do my best to get everyone there safely. The migration will be carried out in a multi-phase operation. We have enough seats for everyone so we will be able to make good ground at times.

  There will be many times that we have to set up rigging to either ferry everything up or down a cliff face or waterfalls. During those times everyone will pitch in as needed. I want everyone to understand that what we're doing will be very dangerous so it will be of the utmost importance that EVERYONE follow directions and do exactly what I ask you to do, no questions about why."

  Aaron, asked, "How far are we going?"

  "That's a good question, but for security reasons, we are not going to talk about where we are heading."

  Matt asked, "What is it going to entail to get there Sarg?"

  "It will require a lot of work and cooperation. At times we will be in open fields and other times we will be driving down a stream whenever we can."

  "Why would we drive in a stream; why don't we just stay on the banks?"

  "Yet another very good and fair question, there are two reasons for that method. First in many ways it will be easier to stay in the water because these vehicles are designed to do just that. But an even more important reason is that we want to leave as small a track as possible to make it very difficult for someone to find us if this place is overrun by thugs."

  We needed to get going so I stopped the Q and A.

  "Alright everyone has very good questions, and I understand your desire to be more informed, but we have things to do so let's get on with it, you can each ask him questions later."

  Fred continued, "Thanks Peter, John and I will be riding point on my ATV with Peter and Ann beside us so we will be in front, sometimes maybe a day ahead. Brandon, Andy and Sam will be at the back of the column making sure no one is left behind, as well as covering our tracks as much as possible. At times they may be as much as a week behind us."

  "How long do you think it's going to take us to get there Sarg?"

  "That's a valid question, one I have no answer for, other than it will take as long it takes too safely make it there, but I bet it will be at least a month."

  "That'll be pushing it with the weather won't it?"

  Fred replied, "Yes, but what other options do we have? None. That's why we have such a sense of urgency to get moving now, we'll still need to get our new home ready for winter before it hits us."

  "How are we going to get the ATVs up and down the steep areas?"

  "All the ATVs have winches with 100 feet of cable so we can use them to do the work. When we designed the ATVs we addressed how to transfer them down steep faces. Simon, our engineer, designed an aluminum cantilevered tripod capable of holding the entire weight of the ATVs. The tripods can be easily set up and broken down. That also includes the trailers and a collapsible basket for people. We built three to enable more than one to be used at a time."

  As Sarg finished I stood up one last time.

  "It is time to leave, but I have one last word for everyone before we go. Ann and I had found this place many months ago, it was heaven. Since then the world around us has disintegrated and everyone here came looking for a safe place to live. A hundred people living here put too much pressure on our location and it shows. That's part of the reason we're leaving, it will make things easier for the rest of you and hopefully allow you to make it through this coming winter.

  For almost everyone staying, each of you now has a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. No one will be sleeping in tents this winter. I'm sorry we can't tell you where we're going it's better for all that way. To all of you staying, I say adieu, to the rest I say mount up, let's roll."

  With that every ATV in the area fired up, it was loud but very exciting. There were cheers by all on their rigs and some in the crowd, but there were tears as well. It must have been quite the sight as we all pulled away, we looked back and waved goodbye to those that stayed. As we pulled away I called over to Fred and said, "Well Fred, are you ready for this?"

  "I'm Peter, I was ready long before the scouts got back, I have grown tired of the conditions in camp."

  "I think that goes for everyone in this caravan, we're all ready to go."

  "I'm certain you are right John."

  "How far do you think we will get today Fred?"

  "I'm not sure Peter, the first ten miles to the pass are mostly flat and have been traveled heavily by everyone collecting firewood and hunting game for all this time so it is already a clear path.

  When we reach the end of the path we will lower everything down several hundred feet, about one hundred feet at a time for a couple reasons. The horses will be taking the way they did the first time which is different from ours."

  "Why is that?"

  "Well Ben first off because there is no way to drive down the cliff because the path is too narrow for the ATVs to follow. But more importantly we want anyone that followed this path to think it was a dead end and turn back. If we lower everything down section by section with little impact, we can get to the bottom without anyone knowing we did. Any track left by the horses will fade away very quickly."

  Ben said, "That's a brilliant idea John."

  "It was Fred's idea not mime."

  "Alright then, it was a brilliant idea Fred." We all laughed.

  "Using the tripods we should be able to reach the valley floor by night fall. Each step of the way we will leapfrog to get everybody down, then we will transfer all the equipment so we won't leave much of a trail."

  We finished getting everyone and the gear to the bottom faster than we planned for so we decided to head up valley and get as far as we could before nightfall. This prevented anyone from above seeing any sign of us.

  Over the next few days we traversed several valleys and over just as many passes. It must have been on the fourth day when our next decent was a steep cliff face. We were leapfrogging down when disaster struck.

  Two of Sarg's team members had been lowering one of the ATVs over the cliff. They had cantilevered the tripod over the edge where it could be swung out so they could lower the gear. They had already lowered several of the ATVs and trailers down and were lowering some of the gear.

  "Henry I need you to make sure that end of the tripod is secure to that tree, so it will not tilt when we lower the gear."

  "I got it Sam, the back leg is chained to that big tree behind me."

  "Good that should hold it while I pay out the winch cable."

  "Angie I need you to guide the load over the edge while we let it out, but you really need to watch out for yourself, this is going to be a difficult task and it could go bad in a hurry."

  "You got it Henry, I will be ready to jump at a moment's notice."

  "Good because I don't care about the equipment; I do care about you."

  Tom teased, "Ah that's so sweet."

  "Bite me, you need to be careful too, you're in just as much danger."

  "Okay Angie, the load is ready to push out over the edge."

  "I got it out, pay it out Tom."

  "It's heading your way Henry."

  Slowly the extra heavy load made its way to the bottom.

  "It's almost there, give it some slack."

  All of a sudden they heard a loud pop and the gear went crashing to the ground, the cable had given way. After breaking, the cable snapped back and hit Tom. While it could easily have cut his arm off, fortunately it was only a flesh wound.

  No equipment had been lost and Doc was able to stitch Tom's arm. Even with Tom's injury and a broken cable, it didn't take as long as we expected to reach the bottom, so we decided not to rest there. Instead we continued upstream.

&nb
sp; John called out, "Now that we've reached the bottom we'll head up the valley following the braided stream up to the next pass. The nice thing about braided streams is they're very flat. Even if we drive along the banks, the first time it rains good the stream will rise and cover up our tracks."

  Ann asked me, "How long can we follow the stream Peter?"

  "I'm pretty sure we can go another twenty miles before we have to rig any gear up for the steeper parts. It could take at least a week to reach the top of this valley."