Chapter 22: Setting Up Base (1)
Skimming slowly through the files of the dam's blueprints, Lisa was only able to remember some of terms and designs that were depicted. After all, she did only take three years of Engineering and most of her classes were at the freshman and sophomoric level. She would have to go see the dam parts, processes, and manuals in person to fully understand how everything worked. She had to make a bet that the dam would be able to function when she inspected it and at the very least be able to provide enough power to keep the laptop powered until she understood the blueprints enough to make repairs.
The afternoon was nearly over by the time Lisa felt like she had studied the blueprints enough for the time being. Not to mention the power of the laptop was getting low now. She would have assumed that after two hundred years in the future that technology would have evolved to have more superior energy storage capabilities. However, she could assume it seemed the wars during her slumber must have slowed the progress of technological advances somewhat for this particular field. Upon seeing the time, Lisa decided to wait until the morning to go to the dam and set up her new base.
As Joan, Hanna, and Richard were out for the moment, Lisa went to find John or Benny to tell her intentions. Stepping outside Lisa found that John was out in the back working on the community garden. He was pulling weeds and Crab Grass that were out growing the cucumbers near the edge of the garden.
"Hey, John." Lisa called to him while crossing the little field.
John stopped working hearing his name being called and stood up from a crouched position. Rubbing his hands together and knocking sandy dirt everywhere, he looked Lisa's way. The two waited until they were closer before continuing the conversation.
"What's up? Did everything work out with the laptop?" John asked.
"Yes, it worked just fine. In fact, I plan on leaving in the morning to set up a base there. Assuming no one is already there." Lisa explained tapping a finger on her chin as if the thought just occurred to her.
The idea that someone might already be there was surely going to be an issue. She hadn't seen anyone that looked like they were living there when she spied on the meeting, but that was another bridge to cross if it were to be so.
"I doubt anyone would want to live there." John replied shaking his head. "It's too out of the way from where the merchant's ship in food and supplies or from where the market is as well. Most people, including us, are not far from food and water."
"Hopefully, you are right." Lisa nodded in reply.
"Well, it's starting to get late." John sighed looking up at the sun's position. “Working in the field like this sure makes me lose track time.”
The sun was still two finger widths from the top of the mountain to the west of town. The sun would soon fall behind the mountain, but daylight would still last for an hour or more before darkness truly came. Living in the mountain's shadow helped everyone to know when it was best to go home from their jobs or prepare for dinner. Ultimately it was the lack of electricity that eventually forced everyone to accept this quaint lifestyle.
"Maybe since it might be your last night with us for some time, Joan and Mary can make something extra yummy?" John suggested with a hungry smile.
Lisa gave a small chuckle. "That would be nice. Hopefully, they will."
That night, John's wishful guess turned out to come true. When the two women heard that tonight was the last night Lisa would be with them, Joan added some chicken to the soup just for the occasion. Mary even went back to her home and made hand-made bread from scratch.
The small group of neighbors had given Lisa a wonderful place to live in peace for a few days. Lisa almost felt reluctant to leave them, but she knew she couldn't stay here leaching off their kindness any longer. Everyone talked long after the sun went down, and it was quite late before they decided to rest.
Everyone slept great that night. They all were well fed and ready for the next day's challenges. All except for Hanna.
Hanna ended up tossing and turning all night. She was afraid to let Lisa go. She felt safe knowing that if anything happened, Lisa could take care of it. Now that her parents were gone the little child in her sought solace in Lisa in their absence.
Hanna understood that Lisa wasn't abandoning her or going far away, but it just wasn't comforting to know that help was not close by either. She hated this feeling, but as things were now, the fear of being alone was ever present and there was nothing she could do about it. Hanna hated how small and helpless she realized she truly was. Battling with her thoughts, Hanna soon found that sunlight was already spilling into her room.
Lisa was the first one up and out of bed that morning. She was ready to get an early start and made sure she had everything ready before leaving. The night before Joan and Mary had packed a small supply of food in a crate for Lisa, so she could work on the dam and her base for a while. The crate had potatoes, carrots, and corn. Also, a small pot and metal spoon to stir and eat with.
Lisa had intended to leave early to avoid saying more goodbyes. However, Hanna had gotten out of bed not long after Lisa had and wanted to say goodbye. John had always been a light sleeper and heard Hanna walking in the house. So when Lisa went to leave Richard and Joan’s house, both Hanna and John were already making their way across the road towards her.
Hanna waved seeing Lisa while giving a rare smile. John nodded at Lisa and said, "We couldn't let you go without a proper goodbye."
Lisa sighed and gave a sheepish grin, "Yeah, well I'm not too good at saying goodbyes. How about we just say, 'see you soon', instead?"
"Then in that case, see you soon." John replied.
"See you soon, Aunt Lisa." Hanna added with her voice just barely above a whisper.
"Aunt?" Lisa repeated in surprise. "Did I hear you correctly?"
Lisa then leaned down quizzically to reach eye level with the small, muddy red headed girl. Hanna blushed, clearly embarrassed, and nodded silently before ducked behind John. Lisa didn't mind her reaction and smiled feeling flattered.
"Well, I've never been called 'Aunt' before. Do I really look that old?" Lisa asked jokingly.
Hanna didn't verbally reply but instead peaked out timidly from behind John and nodded 'no' fervently.
"Well, if that's all, I'll accept the nickname for now. But if you are lying and think I am old looking, I forbid you to call me that." Lisa stated while crossing her arms, but still smiling. "I'd better be going now."
Lisa turned to leave, heading for the dam to the North of town. Giving one more look behind her, the two were still watching her. She waved goodbye and they cheerily returned the wave.
…
After arriving at the dam's buildings, where she had seen the gangsters and soldiers meet, everything was quiet. Lisa first decided to check the perimeter for any signs of inhabitants. There was a tall fence with rusty barbed wire that surrounded the place. Despite being rusty and old, the perimeter was still in great condition and still looked sturdy enough, nor were there any large holes in the fence.
There were only three entrances to the fenced in property. Two of these entrances had traffic stop gates and were not all that wide. The southern entrance was facing the steep hill that led towards the river and where Hanna and the others lived. The other entrance to the west was facing in the direction of the government buildings that the Mad Dog gang’s assumed base was. That road was the wider of the two but was littered with potholes that no car would ever wish to travers it.
The third entrance led to a small road that crossed over the dam to the eastern side of the river. The road, however, turned and traveled northwest along the river and towards a far-off mountain avoiding a steep cliff that kept the road from reaching the eastern part of town. Exactly where the road went, Lisa didn’t know, but it was clear that it was headed away from the eastern part of town. All along this road that snaked alongside the river and a dam made lake, was a forest of evergreens and poplars making the scenery quite pleasant.
Lisa also remembered that the AFR soldiers and helicopter had come from far-off mountains direction. She would have to keep an eye on that area in case they came back. As for the gated areas, she would have to come up with a solution to block anyone from entering through them. That could wait for now.
Seeing everything was in secure order, Lisa turned to the smallest of four buildings located at the northwest corner of the property. Coming up to the rusty door, she tried the handle and found it was already broken and it opened right away. The rusty hinges grated horribly but no one seemed to have heard her and Lisa moved on.
Inside she found that it was a pump house. Nothing seemed to be clearly damaged or living there, and though the pipes inside were covered with peeling paint and were slightly rusty, they looked entirely intact. This was a good sign. She wouldn't need to worry about fresh water while she lived here, that is if she got the electricity running and the pump wasn’t busted.
Going to the next building, which was in the southwest corner of the property exactly between the two gates, Lisa found this door was similarly damaged. When she entered the building, however, it was in much worse shape than the pump house. This was the old security building for the dam. There were two big holes in the collapsed roof that let rainwater rust and rot everything inside. All the monitors, cameras, computers, and facilities were all destroyed.
Next, she went to a mid-sized building at the southeast corner of the property. Just like the other two, its door was destroyed as well. Stepping inside, she discovered it was a storage and maintenance building. The storage area was nearly empty. Only a few boxes and a forklift remained. It seemed that someone a while back had looted this place and taken anything of value.
Then going to the maintenance workshop, Lisa was relieved to see that nearly all the specialized tools and manuals to the hydroelectric dam were still there. She carefully opened a few of the yellowed manuals just to check on them and thankfully, most of the words were readable. If the climate had been any more humid the pages would have wasted away long ago.
Lastly, was the main building of the dam. This time however, the doors were all ok, except for the big sliding doors on its south wall. The chain and lock holding it closed had been cut. Going inside carefully and quietly she surveyed the giant room. There were three floors above ground and at the east side of the room was a long slopping pathway going underground to the dam itself. She decided to explore the three floors first.
Lisa started by looking over a useless dismantled generator, several transformers and power converters briefly on the first ground level floor. Fortunately, it appeared that, despite some rust, the transformers all looked like they could still function. The generator and power converters she would need their manuals to know if they were potentially still functional.
Still walking around quietly, Lisa went through the storage rooms and other small side rooms on the bottom floor and saw no signs of anyone living there. Most everything was looted and empty at a glance, but she could do a more detailed search later. Satisfied, she decided to go up the metal stairs to the second floor.
Lisa could feel her heart beating in her chest as she headed straight for the Main Control room. This was the first moment of truth, for if the control room were destroyed, her plain would be a total failure!
Pushing on the heavy metal door to enter, she was relieved to find it was locked. Taking a step back she kicked the door hard, twice. Its rusted hinges and lock gave out, knocking the door inwardly and onto the floor causing a puff of dust to rise. Upon stepping inside her fears were immediately gone. Everything looked dusty, dry, and undamaged. Anxiously she tried turning on the computers at the main desk yet found there was no power running to them.
With the worst out of the way Lisa headed to the third floor. Here she found that the roof was leaking in several of the offices, molding and rusting everything inside them. There were only two rooms that were still in a reasonable condition. Looking around these rooms, Lisa decided to make the closest one to the stairs, an old office call center, her temporary base. It even had an old couch inside the boss’s room for her to sleep on.
Things were really starting off on a good note.