Finding the terrible trio had proven easy, convincing them to join up even easier. Mike had a solid head on his shoulders and could see the way that the wind was blowing, according to him “any plan to get out of town for a while is better than none”. It was enough to convince the group to pack up and leave for the meeting. Alexis left them to it and reminded them to see if they could obtain some mountain-bikes, which she considered to be probably the best form of transport available for the time being.
William and Lizzy were harder to track down. When she arrived at their flat it was locked, no sign of anyone being present. She remembered that he had said something about babysitting his older brother’s brat, a present from a misspent youth and an unfortunate incident of drunk driving. They had probably decided to spend the weekend at his parents’ place but for the life of her Alexis couldn’t remember the exact address. She did remember how the house looked like, approximately at least, and in which suburb it was.
Torturing her brain further provided her with a useful titbit, the property abutted a little side-river to the main river running through the suburb. This would narrow the search down. She headed east, groaning about the mountainous terrain she would have to traverse. William’s parents lived in one of the prime mountain suburbs and her legs were already feeling the morning’s effort due to the fact that she hadn’t cycled anywhere in forever.
2 hours later Alexis found the house, she had cycled past twice but failed to recognise it due to the new palisade fence and gate that differed greatly from her recollections. The bigger problem was how to get in, she was not going to stand there shouting up at the house. In any way, it was doubtful that she would be heard. The racket the dogs were making all day long was deafening, she knew that they would eventually have to do something about it. The only street entrance was through the drive-way, barred by a massive automatic rolling gate anchoring a wickedly spiked steel fence. The bell obviously wouldn’t work.
Considering the problem in more detail didn’t provide her with any inspiring ideas. While she forlornly stared at the gate, contemplating the embarrassment factor of public shouting versus her need to get matters rolling, as lunch had now come and gone, William ambled down the driveway. Lost in thought, Alexis failed to notice his approach until he cleared his throat: “What is a place like here doing for a girl like you?” As always, William pulled of cliché and funny simultaneously. She quipped back drily “I have come for you and your love, my knight.”
“Come on in then.” William was manually rolling open the massive gate. Blushing a furious red Alexis felt like the biggest fool. In retrospect it was fairly obvious that they would have disconnected the gate rail from the motor gear to be able enter and exit the property. She quietly growled at him when William didn’t even have the common decency to suppress his snicker. William led her to the house, and finally formally introduced his girlfriend, Elizabeth.
Lizzy quickly said Hi and told William that she would be at the braai, checking up on the meat. When Alexis asked if they were having lunch, William replied yes, but that they were also drying and smoking most of the meat in his parents’ freezer. He explained that he wanted to preserve some more food and stash it somewhere safe, probably in the attic which was not actually accessible but would be perfect for storing and preserving meat in a hidden cache.
He led her through the house to the entertainment area at the back were the fire was merrily smoking and filling a small tent with smoke by means of a ducted pipe. Alexis was surprised, given the limited resources and especially tools, William and Lizzy had built an effective smoke room. The meat was hanging on clothes racks in the tent and the temperature was just about perfect.
William told her he had carefully removed a panel from the roof, hidden out of sight from the neighbours, and was currently sectioning off a piece of the ceiling space with plastic sheeting after having removed most off the accumulated dust. Alexis was somewhat amazed at the industriousness the 2 had shown, and their clear thinking.
Inspecting the property, she determined that it was more defensible than John’s and in her opinion better situated with respect to egress from town and access to the malls, considering quietly that this would become critical in the near future. It would most probably make a better base of operations.
Discussing the reason for her visit with William and Lizzy she suggest they stay here instead and have the group join them. The suggestion was good, Lizzy and William quickly assented to setting up base at their place and then explained that most neighbouring houses would either be empty or have 15 to 18 year old occupants whose families had disappeared on them. The neighbourhood was popular with affluent families, resulting in most of the population being put into stasis as few younger parents could afford a place. This further cemented her conviction that the house would probably provide a better base than John’s place.
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Alexis sped back to John’s with Kira now ranging ahead of her, considering how to convince him to move their base of operations to the Hunter’s place. John often was set in his ways and once he had made a decision, difficult to budge. Mike, Lucy and Carmen would most likely go along with whatever decision she and John agreed on. When she arrived at John’s, Mike and the girls were already set up on the stoep and laying into a couple of sandwiches. John was smoking his pipe, “A bad habit” he always said, although he subsequently always professed he was loath to give it up.
It was easier to convince John than she had feared, in fact, no convincing was needed. Before leaving the place they packed all non-perishable foodstuff they could carry into various backpacks and John pulled out their favourite new tool, a bike trailer for solo bike camping trips, capable of taking quite a load. It was loaded with John’s hunting and camping gear. By the time they were ready to leave it was getting dusky, night falling quickly and strangely dark in a town without artificial lighting. John locked the house after they had moved any useful gear they couldn’t carry into his cellar. They all agreed that it was necessary to protect the gear to some extent because they might need it in the future.
People would start casual looting within the next few days, and it would only get worse from there. The cellar had a strong-room door and given the lack of power-tools, would be hard to break into. In fact, John told them casually, he planned on starting looting tonight, starting with the empty houses surrounding the Hunter’s place. He also suggested that they collect any willing neighbours the day after and then send them as mules with the guidance of William and Lizzy, to establish themselves on his plot of land in the mountains outside of town.
Alexis understood that this served a two-fold purpose, moving people to safety and establishing a secure and defensible outpost outside of a town that would mostly tear itself apart in the next few weeks. Securing a load of gear was also a supremely good decision. Asking John, she was informed that he had already worked out a route that should let them avoid most people, encounter little wildlife, and safely arrive at his plot. As a bonus, it was traversable by mountain-bike if the rider had the least bit of skill.
Mike, Lucy and Carmen had secured bikes, so without undue delay they set off to the Hunter’s place, accompanied by the sounds of the crazed dog population. The ride was uneventful, most people had apparently decided to stay at home and batten down the hatches. Alexis was contemplating if they had any inclination of the trouble headed their way. No more food coming into town, running water failing shortly when the municipal tanks emptied, the rule of law breaking down and subsequently unscrupulous criminals enforcing their will with violence.
She acknowledged that what their group was planning would have been considered criminal behaviour 24 hours ago, and would probably still be regarded as such even now, but it was the prudent course of action. Securing valuable gear and supplies to assure future survival was the correct action to take, especially if it could be done without taking it forcibly from anyone who held a prior right to it.
William was guarding the closed gate into the property with a Glock casually held in his hand. He holstered it when he recognised Alexis, opening the gate and quickly hustling them inside before closing the gate and jamming the gear mechanism with a piece of angle iron so that the gate couldn’t be opened from outside. He started off with “Lizzy has some meat on the braai and I put some beers in what remains of any ice we have left so they should be cold, so let’s have dinner first and take it from there.” before continuing with “Oh, before I forget, we have bedding for everyone so far.”
The group dropped their gear and headed back to join Lizzy in the braai area, the fragrant smell of meat sizzling over coals beckoning them. William was already sitting comfortably and had opened a beer by the time they joined the two. Alexis stared at the couple, confused as to why William still let Lizzy handle the braai. William saw not only her staring, but Mike passing a judgemental look Lizzy’s way too. He explained, chuckling self-depreciatingly: “Lizzy’s the better braai-master, I’ve relinquished my male pride quite a while ago and let her handle the meat when she is willing.” Adding to Mike’s consternation “She’s also the better shot and a rally car driver.”
5 minutes later Lizzy started dishing out the meat and the group tucked in, barely speaking a word as they devoured the meal. Alexis hadn’t realised she was this famished, but realising that she had only eaten a couple of sandwiches during the day wasn’t surprised at her appetite. When the feeding frenzy had lessened a bit, William and John started talking quietly. She saw William shake first shake his head, then nod, apparently convinced by what John had said. William got up and returned to the table with a notepad and a pen.