Rather than make anything of the teen’s cryptic response, John nodded and dropped the subject. Devon and John walked out of the house and wordlessly walked to the OP. John fought the urge to lecture Devon about what to do and what not to and how to stay focused so he didn’t get into any trouble, but he held his tongue, knowing deep down the kid was more than capable. For whatever reason, Devon was able to thrive in this new dangerous world. Maybe the boy had been picked on in school so much, he’d learned to avoid dangerous situations long before the solar flare.
John hadn’t fully figured this teen out, but knew well enough to let him go without a bunch of instructions. Hell, the kid had made out as well as John had after the event; actually, Devon had done better. John had relied on the government for the first two-thirds of the event before he was forced to provide for himself. Devon had found ways to provide for himself from day one.
As Devon turned and started off across the countryside, John called out, “Hey, Devon, two things. Fucking be careful, and if you find a dog that seems friendly, bring it home,” John finished, his face creased with genuine concern for Devon.
Devon glanced over his shoulder as John spoke, nodded, but asked no questions, as if the fetching-a-dog part John just added had been part of their plan all along. John stood at the OP, watching Devon pick his way through the dry grass that covered the California hills at this time of year. The rains hadn’t come yet, leaving the hilly countryside dead and brown except for the trees and bushes with roots deep enough to extract water from soil not scorched from the summer’s heat.
After a few minutes, Devon dropped out of sight as he descended over the top of a knoll, disappearing down the back side. John knew if he waited, he would see the teen reappear on the next hill, but turned, heading back to the house. No one was on the OP, and their security had become more lax as their community grew in numbers. John knew this could bite them in the ass if they were too lax, but with the strain life was putting on everyone, it was good to get a solid eight hours of sleep on as regular a basis as they could muster.
Chapter 38
After Devon departed, Jared and John spent the remainder of the day assisting Carlos in dragging half-inch plastic tubing up into the hills, where Carlos had dug out an area of the spring-fed creek. John marveled at the amount of work Carlos had accomplished in such a short span of time. Carlos had removed several square yards of earth from the bed of the creek, making a large pool more than forty feet across. The area was four to six feet deep in areas due to Carlos using much of the rock and earth to build a makeshift dam complete with a spillway in the center.
The pool was crystal clear, allowing Jared to see down to the bottom of the creek bed. John and Jared inspected Carlos’s work—not for defects, but in amazement. Carlos showed them where he’d inserted a section of hose through the dam, then into the lower half of the pool before running the hosing down the creek towards the ranch house. In the end Carlos’s hope was the forced gravity flow would feed their community with fresh water.
Carlos had spent so much time in the mountains earlier in his life, he was acutely aware of the hazards of drinking water from any of California’s creeks. Jared also remembered the talk he’d had with Bob under the bridge little more than three months ago. Carlos explained how they could filter the water using sand, rock and charcoal that had been activated by calcium chloride, if they could find the chemical. Carlos began explaining the process, but was stopped by John, who wasn’t interested in the chemistry lesson.
They needed to find a pool supply store, which was where they would find the calcium chloride. They could make their own charcoal, although it might prove difficult to achieve a fire hot enough for this procedure. Carlos assured them that if they got him the things he needed, he would make sure clean drinkable water flowed to the house. The men worked the rest of the day running hosing down through the creek toward the ranch house. It was difficult work, and the men found themselves fighting through the brush and steep embankments of the creek most of the day. By late afternoon, they had a serviceable line run three hundred yards down from the pool to where the creek passed within fifty yards of the ranch house.
Jared, John and Carlos came out of the brush a filthy mess and wishing badly for a bath, which there was none. Instead, the three men went to the back shed and stripped, checking one another for ticks. They could not afford any member of their community contracting Lyme disease. Each man cleared tick inspection, re-dressed and headed to the house, where they could rest their aching muscles and get some food in their bellies. When the men entered the house, they found the three women working with the two children on a math exercise. There was no food prepared, and the kitchen didn’t appear as though anyone had been in it recently.
Shannon looked up as John stared at the kitchen. The look in her eye told all three that expecting the womenfolk to have a meal prepared when they came out of the bush was a thing they all might want to keep to themselves. John had never been married, but he had enough sense to keep his trap zipped.
Jared was thinking similar thoughts as they stood frozen by
