Chapter 8

Yesterday, Bravo Company arrived at the Hydroelectric Facility and started to setup their living areas. During breakfast of their second day at the facility, Ahmed, Chris, and Aaron discussed what needed to be done to secure the area around the Hydroelectric Facility.

Ahmed said, “We talked about what needs to be done to make this area secure last night. We will need chainsaws and pruning shears to cut down trees and shrubbery. We will also need heavy construction equipment to knock down the buildings and to push dirt, trees, and debris to where we want our barricades. The first thing to decide is what buildings should we leave standing? Any suggestions?”

Chris said, “It’s obvious that we will keep these three buildings. We can use the building across the road from the barracks buildings as a mess hall, so we should keep that one. Sergeant Davis mentioned that the barracks isn’t going to be suitable as a dayroom once other units join us at this location. He suggested we use a couple of the buildings behind the mess hall as a dayroom and indoor exercise area for the men. Our Negotiators will need an area for survivors, so I think we should keep the group of four buildings across the road from us for their use. Other than those buildings, there aren’t any that I can see us keeping.”

Aaron said, “I agree with Chris, Ahmed, in regard to keeping those buildings. I think it may be a good idea to keep that large group of buildings to the northeast of us. We may have a need for them in the future, and our guards should be able to spot anyone sneaking into our area before they can reach the buildings. We may want to consider keeping the buildings that are close to the Hydroelectric Facility also. Other than that, I don’t see a reason to keep any other buildings.”

Ahmed said, “I agree. For now, we will keep those buildings. I want the two of you to inspect all of the buildings between us and Folsom Dam Road. If you think any of them would be useful for a specific purpose, keep it. I want the rest of the buildings in that area flattened. There are also a number of buildings on the far side of Folsom Dam Road. I want all of those buildings flattened if they are within two hundred yards of the road.

“We will remove all of the trees and shrubbery on this side of the road and on the far side of the road. When that is done, I want the barricade Chris and I talked about yesterday to be built on the far side of Folsom Dam Road.

“On the east side of the American River, I want all of the buildings, structures, or other items between the dam and Folsom Lake Crossing Road flattened and used to build the barricades in that area, which we discussed yesterday.

“The first thing we need to do, after morning roll call, is to send out scavenging parties to get all of the equipment and materials we will need to do the work. The list needs to include bulldozers, backhoes, chainsaws, halogen work lights, front loaders, fuel, and any additional items that the two of you and your NCOs can think of us needing to do the work.

“Aaron, your people have guard duty today. Chris, I want your Platoon to go into Folsom and bring back the equipment and supplies we will need to secure this area. I saw a phonebook around here yesterday. It should list the local construction and equipment rental companies and the local Home Depot and Lowes stores.

“It’s just about time for roll call, so let’s get the men out of the barracks so we can get this job done. I’ll get with Max and his people after roll call and get them started on getting electricity restored to the buildings we are going to use and have them disconnect the power lines to the buildings we will demo.”

It took Bravo Company and Max’s Line Crews four days to complete the work that Ahmed considered necessary to make the area around the Hydroelectric Facility secure. The Negotiators, with help from Bravo Company, cleaned out their four buildings and decided to move into one of the buildings. When not assigned to specific tasks, Bravo Company’s people volunteered to form scavenging parties that would find and bring back beds, mattresses, bedding, and other creature comforts.

Captain Tim Bale (Charlie 1), Lieutenant Bill James (Charlie 2), Lieutenant Bob Butler (Charlie 3), and the men of Company C deployed from the Freight Yard to Auburn Town Center, which is a small shopping center just north of the intersection of Highways 80 and 49.

Before the meteoroids arrived, the three officers shopped at the shopping center with their wives, so they were all familiar, as customers, with the buildings in the shopping center. During their pre-lockdown planning sessions, the three officers decided they would configure the Round Table Clubhouse pizza parlor as their Company Headquarters and McCaulou’s would be cleared and used as their Company’s barracks. The Bank of America would be the living quarters and office space for the Negotiators, and the survivors would be housed in CVS Pharmacy and the Save Mart supermarket.

After they drove through the Freight Yard’s gates, Captain Bale led Charlie Company’s First Platoon and the Second and Third Squads of Second Platoon to the Auburn Town Center to begin setting up SCC 2. Lieutenant Butler, Second Platoon’s commanding officer, led his First Squad to a local equipment rental location to retrieve three of the rental center’s diesel AC generator trailers and if First Squad can find one, a fuel trailer of diesel fuel. They believed the generators’ onboard fuel tanks should be adequate until a trailer or tanker truck of diesel fuel can be found and connected to the generators. If necessary, their electric pumps can be used to pump diesel into the generators’ fuel tanks from a fifty-gallon drum. They also believed the AC power from the Hydroelectric Facility will be restored to their SCC before they burn up a tanker truck of diesel. What they don’t use, they will keep for fueling their vehicles after they switch to diesel-powered vehicles.

When they first arrive at Auburn Town Center, Captain Bale assigned Second Platoon’s Second Squad to guard duty. Staff Sergeant Jake Staffer assessed the shopping center and assigned the men of Second Squad to guard posts. Captain Bale later inspected and concurred with Sergeant Staffer’s selection of the guard post locations.

Next, Captain Bale, Lieutenant James, and the senior NCOs of the five Squads began an inspection of the shopping center’s buildings. It was apparent all of the buildings suffered meteoroid damage. The roofs of the three buildings to be used as the SCC were holed, and rainwater was leaking into the bank, supermarket, pharmacy, department store, and pizza parlor. Staff Sergeant Connor commented on a few of the leaks reminding him of waterfalls. There were also several basketball-sized holes in the walls, and one broken plate glass window; but at least the buildings were structurally sound and the AC wiring and fixtures didn’t appear to be damaged.

The three officers anticipated the types of damage they might find, but overlooked the window, and they had prepared a shopping list of repair materials and tools for repairing different types of damage. The shopping list was rather extensive as it covered a number of the construction trades.

Lieutenant James and his Platoon’s senior NCOs, Staff Sergeants Skylar Connor, Owen Flores, and Hazel Walker, updated the shopping list to reflect the actual repair materials and tools they needed to gather. They needed ladders, plywood, wet patch roofing asphalt, a wide variety of tools, and other materials to make the roofs watertight. Plywood, concrete screws, fasteners, and an assortment of power tools (i.e., electric saws, drill motors, concrete drill bits, and power screwdrivers) would need to be gathered to repair the holes in the walls, and cover the broken window. At least sixteen hundred feet of single-conductor 1/0 copper wire and electrical tools would be needed to connect the three AC generators to the five stores’ load centers.

As they prepared to depart for Home Depot, Lieutenant James told his people they should grab any additional items they think might be needed. First Platoon headed for the Home Depot store located to the north of them just off of Highway 49. When they arrived at Home Depot, they split up and it was kids in a candy store for the next hour.

In preparing the original list, they overlooked a few items. But while at the store, someone was knowledgeable enough about the work to be done to spot the oversights and they grabbed extension cords, floor squeegees, mops, mop buckets, and an assortment of cleaning supplies. Lieutenant James stood at the front door and watched as his men carried load after load of merchandise out of the store. He did say No to the forklift Corporal Antony Slaughter wanted to take back to the SCC. At least, it was No until Staff Sergeant Connor reminded him they had a lot of plywood and heavy buckets of asphalt that needed to be lifted up onto the buildings’ roofs. He explained how carrying those items up an extension ladder would be extremely difficult, and in the current weather conditions, it would also be an unnecessary hazard.

A bit of creativity resulted in the construction of a fourteen-foot, loading ramp made of jack stands, bar clamps, and 4x6 lumber. After agreeing to take the forklift back to the SCC, Lieutenant James started thinking about how he would explain his decision to Captain Bale. Of course, when the time came to load the forklift into the pickup truck, the Lieutenant insisted that he be the one to perform the hazardous task of driving the forklift up the ramp. His decision to be the forklift driver ended the argument as to who will get to have the fun of driving it up the ramp. Like his men, Lieutenant James just had to let his inner boy out to play on occasion. The ramp and a bit of manpower when the tires lost traction soon had the forklift in the back of the pickup truck with its forks protruding out over the pickup’s cab. The ramp’s lumber, clamps, and jack stands went into a second pickup truck.

When they first arrived at the SCC, Captain Bale directed Staff Sergeant Gwen Crane to have Second Platoon’s Third Squad assist the Negotiators with setting up their living quarters in the BofA and for her to then clear the rotten food out of the Save Mart supermarket and start airing the store out.

In the BofA, Sergeant Crane moved behind the tellers’ counter and considered how to turn the area into a temporary bedroom.

“Looking at Privates Bentley Fenner and Darryl Zipser, she said, “Fenner, Zipser, go to CVS and bring back a dozen shopping carts.”

As they leave, she said, “The rest of you listen up. I think this area will be a good office area for our Negotiators and those offices will make good bedrooms. Setting things up properly for them will take too much time, so for now, we are going to turn the area behind the counter into a temporary bedroom. The first thing we need to do is rip up this soggy carpet and carpet pad, and empty the filing cabinets.

Third Squad pulled the carpet free of its tack strips, cut the carpet into three-foot wide strips, and then rolled up the strips. Fenner and Zipser return with the shopping carts and the rolled up carpet strips were loaded into the carts.

Corporal Laker asked, “Hey, Sarge, what do you want us to do with this carpet?”

After thinking about the wind direction and that they will also need to dispose of rotten food, she said, “Elm Avenue is downwind of us, so go find someplace on the far side of Elm to dump it. Make sure your dumpsite is far enough away that the Captain won’t see it or smell the rotten food we will be dumping there. If the Captain complains, you will be moving what we dump there by yourself.”

As Corporal Art Laker led seven soldiers pushing shopping carts out of the BofA, The remaining soldiers started loading the wet carpet pad into the rest of the carts.

A few minutes later Corporal Furyk said, “Spieth, go out to the trucks and bring back a claw hammer and a pry bar so we can pull up the tack strips.”

As Private Julie Spieth leaves, five soldiers pushed five carts of wet carpet pad out of the building and headed in the direction Corporal Laker had gone.

Sergeant Crane said, “Furyk, when our people get back with the carts we need to empty these filing cabinets, so the Negotiators will have someplace to put their belongings. When the cabinets are empty, push them against the wall where the roof isn’t leaking.”

“Alright, Sarge, I’ll take the file contents to our dump also.”

“Hold off on that. We may have a use for the paper once it dries out. There is a Starbucks Coffee shop across from CVS. Dump it there for now.

“When the men get back, send a couple of them to find some mops and mop buckets. We are going to have to mop up all this water once the roof is patched. I’m going to take some of the men to the restaurants and bring back some tables and chairs. We can turn eight of the tables into bedframes and use the rest as office furniture.”

The paper records from the file cabinets were loaded into shopping carts and taken to Starbucks; the file cabinets were shoved to where the rain won’t drip on them. Mops and mop buckets were scrounged from a restaurant’s janitorial room and used to mop up the worst of the mud and muddy water. The leaks in the roof made doing the task almost useless.

A dozen tables and eight chairs were brought back from the pizza parlor. The legs of eight tables were shortened so the tabletops were exactly twenty inches off the floor. Four bedframes were made by tying the legs of two shortened tables together to create a bedframe six feet long. The four remaining tables and the chairs were setup for when the Negotiators needed to sit down and talk with the survivors.

After Third Squad left to go to Save Mart, the Negotiators cleaned the interior of the filing cabinets and they then unpacked and stored their clothes and other belongings in the emptied filing cabinets. After inspecting the BofA and talking about the rest of the things they needed to do to turn BofA into their living quarters and office, they left to join Captain Bale.

While Third Squad was busy in BoA, First Squad arrived at the SCC with three generators and a tanker truck of diesel fuel, which were parked in the parking lot. First Squad was tasked with setting up the pizza parlor as their Headquarters office. Staff Sergeant Brooklyn Dahl led Second Platoon’s First Squad to the Round Table Clubhouse.

Sergeant Dahl said, “Okay, people, we have a dirty job to do. The pizza parlor’s walk-in cooler is filled with rotten meat, cheese, and vegetables. We need to empty it and dispose of the rotten food far enough away that we won’t smell it.

“Corporal Orr, take Farrell, Allred, and Klecko to CVS. Bring back a half dozen shopping carts and enough rubber gloves for all of us. Get a few cans of air freshener also. Maybe it will help mask the smell in here when we open the cooler door.”

“Sergeant Garcia, we need to move all of the tables and chairs out of here. Have the men store them next door. We may need them later.”

Corporal Orr returned and said, “Sarge, when I was coming out of CVS, I ran into Corporal Laker and some people with carts of wet carpet. He said Sergeant Crane sent him to find a dumpsite to dispose of the rotten food and stuff that the Company can’t use.”

Sergeant Dahl said, “Go find Corporal Laker and find out where he’s dumping his stuff. We’ll dump this food there also.”

Sergeant Garcia finished removing the tables and chairs, so Sergeant Dahl said, “Garcia, get the men to work emptying the cooler. The Captain wants to set up his office here, so I’m going to check the manager’s office to see what needs to be done there.

“Our officers and admin will need desks, chairs, work tables, and other stuff, Garcia. Have some of our people go to the Wells Fargo Bank. They should have the office furniture we need. Bring back their computers and printers also.

As the work progressed, Third Squad’s senior NCO, Sergeant Crane, approached Dahl, and asked, “What happened to all the tables and chairs?”

“We moved them next door. Why?”

“I need some to make bedframes for our Negotiators. I figure they will meet and talk with the survivors, so they’ll probably also need tables and chairs for that.”

“Help yourself, Crane. I can’t think of anything we will need them for.”

Sergeant Crane and her work detail took the tables and chairs they needed back to BofA. First Squad removed the rotten food from the cooler and disposed of it at the dumpsite. The cooler door was closed to contain the odor until power is restored to the building and its heating system’s fans and portable fans can be used to air out the cooler. Several cans of air freshener were emptied to mask the odor of rotten food that spread through the pizza parlor. The desks, chairs, and other office furniture and equipment were positioned away from the leaks in the roof of the new Company Headquarters. After the roof was patched and the water was removed from the floors, they were moved into more appropriate locations for the use of the three officers and the Company’s administrative staff.

Sergeant Crane led her Squad to the Save Mart when they were finished in the BofA. She had her people prop Save Mart’s front doors open, and they positioned the Platoon’s portable AC generator just outside of the front doors. Fans, extension cords, and a power strip were scavenged from CVS. The fans were positioned in the doorway and connected to the generator using the power strip and extension cords. The loading dock’s roll up door was opened to improve airflow through Save Mart. Once generator power was available, the supermarket’s heating and cooling fans could be used to blow foul air out of Save Mart.

The rotten food was loaded into shopping carts and taken to the dumpsite. Everyone knew it would take a long time for the noxious odor to completely fade, but the cart full of aerosol cans of air freshener and aromatic candles scavenged from the CVS would help until then. Due to the stench, they decided to initially use only CVS for housing survivors.

Lieutenants James returned from his Home Depot scavenging run just before noon. The two Lieutenants had their people park the generator trailers, tanker truck of diesel fuel, and pickup trucks in the parking lot in front of McCaulou’s.

Captain Bale said to Lieutenant Butler, “Bob, with the exception of Second Squad, tell your people they have one hour for lunch. After lunch, I want First Squad to take over guard duty so Second Squad can eat. Third Squad and First Platoon’s three Squads will form up into work parties and Second Squad can join them after they eat.”

During their lunch break, Captain Bale said to his two officers, “I want you both to know that you and your people did a good job gathering what we needed. But, two questions: Why did we need a forklift and why did you bring it back in a truck instead of just driving it here?”

With a blush on his face, Bill James said, “Initially, I was opposed to the idea of bringing it back, Sir. But Sergeant Connor pointed out the difficulty we would have getting the plywood, roofing materials, and other things up onto the roofs. He also reminded me that carrying things up and down ladders in this weather was just asking for an accident. I told him that if he and the men could get the forklift into the bed of a pickup, I would allow it.

“I couldn’t think of how they could do it, Captain, but they built a ramp and we got it loaded. As to not driving it here, it just didn’t occur to me, Sir.”

With a grin, Tim Bale looked at Bill James and said, “Bill, I learned a long time ago to not underestimate the creativity an enlisted man can bring to solving a problem. By the way, Bob, did I overhear you and Bill talking about him being the one that drove the forklift up the ramp?”

“Ahh ... yes, Sir. We did discuss something to that effect.”

“Well, Bill?”

“Ah, yeah. It seemed like a good idea at the time, Sir. I worked in a warehouse while going to college, so I had some experience driving forklifts. I wasn’t sure if anyone in my platoon had any experience with forklifts, so I decided I was the best person to do the job.

With a big grin, he added, “Besides, I couldn’t let them have all the fun.”

Tim chuckled and said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. When we’re done with lunch, be sure you’re the one to drive it off the pickup. We don’t want any of those inexperienced people damaging our forklift, now do we.”

After lunch, Lieutenant James assigned First Squad of First Platoon to patching the roofs of the three buildings. Second Squad was to convert CVS and McCaulou’s into living quarters after they eat. Third Squad was tasked to move the contents of Smart Wireless into CucaMonga’s clothing store, and to then unload all of the Company’s food, water, ammunition, equipment, and other supplies from the pickups and store it all in Smart Wireless. After that, they were to assist Second Squad in CVS. Lieutenant Butler assigned First Squad of Second Platoon to Guard Duty, Second Squad to search the nearby area for survivors, and Third Squad to connect the generators to the buildings.

Lieutenant Butler knew that Private Darryl Zipser of Second Platoon’s Third Squad had been an Journeyman Electrician before being recruited by the Ark Army and joining Second Platoon. That was why Staff Sergeant Gwen Crane was tasked with having her Squad connect the three generators to the stores. So her first step was to lead Third Squad to find the pickup trucks containing the wire and electrical tools they would need to do the job.

Sergeant Crane said, “Zipser, the Lieutenant wants us to hook up the generators to the buildings starting with CVS’s building. You know more about what will need to be done than I do. Where should we position the generator?”

“Park it at the north end of the building, Sarge. Save Mart has a loading dock on that end of the building. We’ll need to knock a hole through the BofA’s rear wall and run the power cable from the generator through Save Mart’s rollup door and into BofA. I’ll connect the generator to BofA’s circuit breaker panel and then extend the connection to Save Mart and CVS’s circuit breaker panels.”

Turning to Privates Ester Onassis and Henry Kaminsky, Sergeant Crane said, “Find a sledgehammer and then go find the circuit breaker panel in the BofA. Knock a hole down low on the rear wall close to the circuit breaker panel so Zipser can pull a power cable through the hole and connect it to the panel.

“Private Wall, move one of the generators over to the north end of the BofA’s building and be sure you block the wheels before you unhook it from the truck. Move one of the generators next to the pizza parlor and move the third generator to the end of McCaulou’s building where the loading dock is located.”

Private Alexi Zipser found a box containing the tools he will need and put them in a tool pouch someone thoughtfully grabbed while they were scavenging at Home Depot. Corporal Aubri Furyk found the power cable coiled up in the rear of one of the pickups and calls out to Sergeant Crane, “Hey, Sarge, here’s the power cable. Do you want me to drive it over to the generator?”