“What we’ve got here is the ‘AT RF1350. It’s a 50-watt mobile radio. And it is ACE!” Emily seemed happy with the gear. “I’ve got the unit ready to go. We still had to charge the battery, but she is all powered up now. All that’s left is to mount the antenna.” She said as she motioned to the antenna lying at her feet. It was a thin metal ‘whip antenna’, roughly ten feet in length.
“We’ll have to get on the roof, somewhere near this corner, and feed the cable out the window.” Jack thought out loud.
Emily nodded. “We’ve got a fifty-foot length of cable, so we have a little bit of playing room. Once we got the antenna installed, we’ll have a right proper set-up.”
Joe caught the last bit as he walked in. “Oh hey, Jack. I think Keith will help with the antenna. Feel well enough to get on the roof?”
The young man nodded. “Good. I figure we should do it before it gets dark out.” Joe said.
Several minutes later Keith, Jack and Ethan were in the library. Jack and Ethan were carrying the antenna, trying not to damage it as they maneuvered down the aisles of bookshelves. They made it to the access hatch and Keith pulled down a ladder that was set in the ceiling hatch.
Keith carried a serious looking bolt cutter, having noted the lock on the roof access hatch earlier. He reached up and within a couple of tries he had snapped the shackle. Keith regarded the teenagers as he took the chain down and tossed it to the side.
“Boosh!” He exclaimed with a deadpan expression.
Jack and Ethan looked confused.
“...” Keith waited for any response from the boys. “No? ... Alright.” With a shrug, he put down the bolt cutter and started climbing the ladder.
Keith pushed the hatch up and out, stopping when the hinges locked in the fully open position. Jack could see the sky outside, past the shape of Keith. The sun’s rays were hitting the top of the school in the late afternoon, casting a slight orange glow.
Jack handed the antenna up to Keith and ascended the ladder. Ethan was to station himself at the hatch and relay messages to Emily and his dad in the media room.
Jack noted the fresh air before he had made it to the top of the ladder. The air smelled clean. But at the very edges Jack could also detect the sharp tang of wood smoke.
Something is burning out there.
Jack hoisted himself through the hatch and on to the roof. He slowly got to his feet and stood next to Keith for a few moments. This was the new world. It was eerily devoid of human sounds. The lack of noise almost assaulted the ears – it felt to Jack like he was in a vacuum. It felt like their little group was utterly alone.
From their perch, they could see for several miles in most directions. Billowing grey and black clouds of smoke could be seen rising from a couple of places, the dark colours clashing heavily with the crisp light blue of the late afternoon sky. Near the top, sharp winds sheared the smoke into ugly streamers, which appeared to smudge the otherwise beautiful sky.
Why is it that everything man makes turns ugly? Jack pondered as he watched the dirty scar on an otherwise beautiful image.
He followed the smoke back down to their sources. Fires were raging unchecked through neighborhoods. Nobody was going to be putting them out.
Jack could clearly see the nearest fire. It was less than a mile away at what appeared to be a strip mall. It was close enough that he could even see the flames rising above the structure. The flames seemed to dance in the late afternoon air, moving in undulating orange, yellow and red waves as they were caressed by the wind.
Movement caught Jack’s attention. A few birds flew in the sky or hopped from perch to perch on the nearby power lines. Their lives unaffected by the apocalyptic events unfolding for mankind.
Jack looked around himself. The gym roof over to their right was about six feet higher than the main school roof. A small set of stairs was built from the lower level reaching up to it. Around the edge of the roof was a low ledge, about two feet in height. Jack couldn’t miss the impressive array of solar panels. There were two sets of solar banks, each with at least a dozen panels. One bank was set on the gym roof portion, while the other was on the main roof. The panels were set up at an angle on top of triangle frames and stood only about four feet high. Jack doubted that the army guys had noticed these, as they would be all but invisible from the ground.
Jack and Keith walked up to the triangular set up. Jack was nodding with pursed lips. “Impressive.” He said.
Keith turned to him with a quizzical look. “Do you know how these things work?”
“Yeah. Kind of. These panels collect energy from the sun’s rays. They should be connected to an inverter, which converts the DC to AC – That’s the electricity our appliances use.” He quickly added as he saw the look of confusion on Keith’s face. “We just have to see how things are set up inside, but I figure these banks” –he motioned to the two sets of solar panels– “should be enough to keep the electricity running for this entire school!”
It was Keith’s turn to nod with an impressed look. He motioned to Jack. “Ok kid, I think we’d better get started.” He moved off to find a suitable location for the antenna.
Keith knew what he was doing. Within several minutes he had picked out a good location, installed the brackets into the roof, and screwed the antenna in place.
He was working at the base of the antenna when he called out to Jack. “Hey Jack, do
