Barry breathed out loudly and leaned back again, keeping his hands on the table. “So, you guys need me, or you’re not going to make it.”
Chapter 6
Barry mapped out his plan with help from the other three men. They needed to work off of Barry’s list first since the chances of valuable human assets dying in a world with limited supplies and no order was a very real thing. After they had exhausted Barry’s list, they could start working in groups, one working on power while the other worked on a food source or crops. It was decided that Jared, John, and Barry would work in a three-man team in order to contact the people on Barry’s list. While they were on these missions, they would also scavenge for things Barry and Jared deemed necessary to produce power for their group.
John insisted that the three spend at least a couple of hours shooting both rifles and pistols before they ventured down into the city. John asked Calvin about a couple of horses for their trip. Horses would prove much quieter than their Volkswagen Beetle. Barry suggested they try putting together a portable solar unit like ones sold at Lowe’s. The panels would be too heavy for any of the men to carry back to the ranch house, so the horses were a must.
Jared and Barry agreed that the solar panels, along with the other components, would still feasibly be in the stores, since people were trying to figure out the food shortage and hadn’t yet moved in the direction of a more progressive approach to remedying society’s situation.
“I’m pretty sure the type of battery we’ll be looking for will not be in a Lowe’s or Home Depot,” Barry told Jared as the two sat at the kitchen table the following morning after Barry’s arrival.
“What kind of battery do we need?” Jared asked. He had never worked with batteries and hadn’t the foggiest idea about how they worked or where to procure specialized ones like the batteries needed to supplement a solar unit.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I know someone who can answer those questions if he’s still alive.”
John walked through the door and propped his weapon against the wall before sitting down at the table with Jared and Barry.
“I think we have our first mission,” Jared said.
John didn’t say a word as he fired up a small stove and brought a cup of water to a boil. He poured instant coffee into the steaming hot water and stirred it with a spoon. Jared sat patiently waiting for John to finish what appeared to have become his routine after coming from the OP and out of the morning cold. Barry looked as though he was going to say something, but a sharp look from Jared put a stop to any of Barry’s inappropriate comments.
John blew gently on the hot beverage, then sipped at it and sat back with his hands cupped around the warm mug. “Tell me about it,” he said in a tired voice.
“Barry and I have come up with a possible way to get some power out here.”
John sipped at the coffee as the tired lines in his face were slowly replaced with the tiniest tenge of intrigue.
“Solar panels, portable panels, only thing is we aren’t too sure about the batteries or where to get the right batteries. Barry knows or knew—I hope knows—a guy who worked with batteries.”
“Where is this guy now, or where should he be?” John queried as he continued sipping the hot coffee in an attempt to warm his insides.
“He has a place in Woodside. It’s a pretty safe place for what just happened, so I feel good about him still being there,” Barry replied.
Right after the solar flare, John had been briefed on the operation to retrieve Barry and made himself familiar with the area around Barry’s old residence, but he was far from familiar with the Bay Area overall. He shrugged and looked to Jared. “Where the fuck is Woodside?”
“On the other side of the bay,” Jared said, his voice filled with dread.
John placed the cup on the table and leaned back with his hands clasped behind his neck, staring at the ceiling before returning to the upright position. “Nothing’s easy anymore,” he said with half a laugh.
The next several days were spent going over tactical and weapons-related topics. John wanted to ensure both Jared and Barry were at the very least semi-proficient with both the pistol and a rifle since they would be his backup on a trek across some very dangerous areas. Barry’s marksmanship turned out to be accurate out to about one hundred yards with the rifle and fifteen yards with the pistol. Anything past those distances was a coin toss on whether he would hit his target or be donating lead to the environment.
Jared, on the other hand, seemed more comfortable with the weapons, which surprised John since Jared had been caught completely flat-footed after the solar flare. John made a mental evaluation of both men based on their stories and the manner in which they handled themselves on his range.
Barry was a resourceful, pompous son of a bitch who somehow knew a societal collapse was headed their way, and prepared for it. Jared, on the other hand, was a bit of a babe in the woods and had presumably never thought of preparing for so much as an earthquake, which regularly rocked Californians. As John studied the two men, he was fast coming to the conclusion that he would prefer Jared accompanying him in a fight over Barry.
John formed a portion of his
