From San Jose up through San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, there is chaos. The quake hit hard up there, and the scavengers, predators, cops, and private armies of security guards seem bent on destroying what’s left. Also, of course, pyro is doing its part. This far north, the radio reporters shorten the name to “pro” or “ro” and they say there are plenty of addicts.
Addicts are running wild, setting fires in areas that the earthquake didn’t damage. Bands of the street poor precede or follow them, grabbing whatever they can from stores and from the walled enclaves of the rich and what’s left of the middle class. Yeah.
In some places, the rich are escaping by flying out in helicopters. The bridges that are still intact— and most of them are— are guarded either by the police or by gangs. Both groups are there to rob desperate, fleeing people of their weapons, money, food, and water— at the least. The penalty for being too poor to be worth robbing is a beating, a rape, and/or death.
The National Guard has been activated to restore order, and I suppose it might. But I suspect that in the short term, it will only add to the chaos. What else could another group of well-armed people do in such an insane situation. The thoughtful ones might take their guns and other equipment and vanish to help their families. Others might find themselves at war with their own people. They’ll be confused and scared and dangerous. Of course, some will discover that they enjoy their new power— the power to make others submit, the power to take what they want— property, sex, life… .
Bad situation. The Bay Area will be a good place to avoid for a long time.
We spread maps on the ground, studied them as we ate breakfast, and decided to turn off U.S. 101 this morning. We’ll follow a smaller, no doubt emptier road inland to the little town of San Juan Bautista, then east along State Route 156. From 156 to 152 to Interstate 5. We’ll use I-5 to circle around the Bay Area. For a time we’ll walk up the center of the state instead of along the coast. We might have to bypass I-5 and go farther east to State 33 or 99. I like the emptiness around much of I-5. Cities are dangerous.
Even small towns can be deadly. Yet we have to be able to resupply. In particular, we have to be able to get water. If that means going into the more populated areas around one of the other highways, we’ll do it. Meanwhile we’ll be careful, resupply every time we get a chance, never pass up a chance to top off our water and food, waste nothing. But, hell, the maps are old. Maybe the area around I-5 is more settled now.
To reach I-5, we’ll pass a big freshwater lake— San Luis Reservoir. It might be dry now. Over the past few years a lot of things had gone dry. But there will be trees, cool shade, a place to rest and be comfortable. Perhaps there will at least be a water station. If so, we’ll camp there and rest for a day or even two days. After hiking up and over a lot of hills, we’ll need the extra rest.
For now, I suspect that we’ll soon have scavengers being driven north toward us from Salinas, and refugees being driven south toward us from the Bay area. The best thing we can do it get out of the way.
We got an early start, fortified by the good food we had bought at Salinas— some extra stuff that Bankole had wheeled in his cart, though we all chipped in to buy it. We made sandwiches— dried beef, cheese, sliced tomatoes— all on bread made from wheat flour. And we ate grapes. It was a shame we had to hurry. We hadn’t had anything that good tasting for a long time.
The highway north was emptier today than I’ve ever seen it. We were the biggest crowd around— eight adults and a baby— and other people kept away from us. Several of the other walkers were individuals and couples with children. They all seemed in a hurry— as though they, too, knew what might be coming behind them. Did they also know what might be ahead— what was ahead if they stayed on 101. Before we left 101 I tried to warn a couple of women traveling alone with kids to avoid the Bay Area. I told them I’d heard there was a lot of trouble up there— fires, riots, bad quake damage.
They just held on to their kids and edged away from me.
Then we left the 101 and took our small, hilly road, our short cut to San Juan Bautista. The road was paved and not too badly broken up. It was lonely.
For long stretches we saw no one at all. No one had followed us from 101. We passed farms, small communities, and shanties, and the people living in these came out with their guns to stare at us. But they let us alone. The short cut worked. We managed to reach and pass through San Juan Bautista before dark. We’ve camped just east of the town. We’re all exhausted, footsore, full of aches and pains and blisters. I long for a rest day, but not yet. Not yet.
I put my sleepsack next to Bankole’s and lay down, already half asleep. We had drawn straws for the watch schedule, and my watch wasn’t until the early morning. I ate nuts and raisins, bread and cheese, and I slept like a corpse.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2027
(from notes expanded TUESDAY,
AUGUST 31)
Early this morning I awoke to the sound of gunfire, nearby and loud. Short bursts of automatic weapons fire. And there was light from somewhere.
“Be still,” someone said. “Stay down and keep quiet.” Zahra’s voice. She had the watch just before mine.
“What is it?” one of the Gilchrists demanded. And then, “We’ve got to get away!”
“Stay!” I whispered. “Be still, and it will pass.”
I could see now that two groups were running from the highway— the 156— one group chasing the other, both firing their guns as though they and their enemies were the only people in the world. We could only stay down and hope they didn’t shoot us by accident. If nobody moved, accidents were less likely.
The light came from a fire burning some distance from us. Not buildings. We hadn’t camped near buildings. Yet something was burning. It was, I decided, a big truck of some kind. Perhaps that was the reason for the shooting. Someone, some group had tried to hijack a truck on the highway and things had gone wrong. Now, whatever the truck was carrying— food, I suspected— the fire would get it.
Neither the hijackers nor the defenders would win.
We would win if we could just keep out of the fighting.
I reached over to feel for Bankole, wanting assurance that he was all right.
He wasn’t there.
His sleepsack and his things were still there, but he was gone.
