Jerry had a dozen bombs made the next day. He only had a couple dozen sticks of dynamite that Granny B had scrounged from her stash at the cave. He decided to save them and made the bombs with gunpowder. He cut the nipples from several empty CO2 metal cases and left a hole just the right size to insert an empty unfired .22 shell. The rim kept the shell from sliding into the CO2 casing. Then, he devised a method to have a nail become the hammer to set the bomb off on impact.
A bunch of small nails and some duct tape were applied to the CO2 cartridge, and Jerry now had some small bombs. “Tom, take a look at these. They only weigh about two pounds, but will cause a lot of misery. I didn’t build them to kill, but they’ll wound anyone within fifty feet and maybe further. I’ll make up some using the dynamite sticks that will take out anyone within fifty to a hundred feet. Now, those will weigh three to five pounds.”
Tom looked at the bombs and then back at Jerry. “Go ahead and make ten of the larger bombs. I need one of each tomorrow morning. I plan to test them on a target. I don’t want to get into a fight and find out they don’t work.”
Jerry laughed, “Watch this.”
He picked up a bomb from under the workbench and tossed it up in the air.
Tom yelled, “bomb!” and hit the dirt. Granny B was walking past the barn and dove for the ground. Unfortunately, she landed in a pile of horse apples. The bomb hit the ground, and the explosion was underwhelming. There was only a weak pop.
Granny B was cussing the world as she wiped the horse crap from her face and shoulder. Tom looked up from the prone position to see Jerry, who had begun snorting and laughing. Jerry slapped his knee. “Did you really think I’d waste a real bomb for the demonstration … snort … that was a … snort … empty bomb with a .22 primer for a blasting cap. Oh! Crap! Look at Granny B!”
Jerry took off running as Granny B came running toward him with a shovel in her hand. Tom ducked and tried to not be noticed.
Granny B yelled, “I’ll teach you SOBs to scare an old lady half to death! I’m coming back for Tom after I make Jerry clean this horse shit off me!”
Tom took off for the bunker, and Jerry had to outrun Granny B for two days. On the third day, he walked out of the barn and had a bucket of horse crap dropped on his head. Granny B just stood there laughing with a shovel in her hands.
Jerry looked at the feisty, little woman. “You have a sadistic mean streak just like a rattlesnake.”
“It would do you well to remember that the next time you play a prank. Two can play that game,” Granny B strutted away like a banty rooster and cackled like a hen as she left.
*
Chapter 28
Granny B’s cabin and barn.
Kate and Jackie had spent hours searching for the perfect target to scavenge.
The cabin on the southeast end of Granny B’s property was perfectly located to conduct the scavenging trip's overwatch and provide a spectacular distraction. Kate looked for tractor trailers abandoned on the highways after identifying several hardware stores and a feed and tackle store. She flew the drone along Highway 5 when she noticed a mile-long line of rail cars that were abandoned in the middle of nowhere. The engines were about five miles from the Ashland city limits.
Several of the cars had been broken into, and boxes were strewn around the boxcars. Thirteen of the cars at the end of the train contained new cars and trucks. The next ten were bulk liquid tanks with several different chemicals. The only two Kate recognized were Methanol and Benzene. She made a mental note to ask Tom if the trucks would run on either of the chemicals.
The next dozen boxcars had bottom chutes that emptied from the bottom and piqued her interest. The signs on the side indicated the cars hauled grain. Kate guided the drone all around the cars and noticed one had corn seeds piled below it. Someone had found the train first and had taken as much as they needed. Kate made notes about all of the train’s cars and her best guess as to what they carried.
She was deep in thought, examining the next car in line when the drone control beeped and gave the low battery signal. Kate selected the return to launch site button and went to find Tom. She took the drone’s control with her to track the drone’s progress when she saw something that made her stop. It was a field full of old machinery, cars, trucks, and mining equipment. Kate marked the coordinates and brought the drone back to her. She put the batteries off to the side to cool, and replaced them with the next batteries in the rotation.
“Tom, I found an abandoned train that I think has boxcars full of grain and other supplies. Hey, can we use methanol and benzene?”
Tom looked at Kate all bundled up in her parka, boots, and Russian looking cap with the ear flaps. He stared at her for an extra minute. She said, “What? What are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at an angel.”
Kate huffed. “No way! My ribs still hurt like hell.”
“Do what? Oh! Can’t I compliment my beautiful wife without an ulterior motive?”
“Yes,
