Super Pulse (Book 4): Defect Read online

  “Okay,” she said. “For now.” They resumed their walk. Before long they could hear voices ahead. Nick wasn’t the only one just coming off a shift. “It’s not that I don’t love the idea, Nick. But I’m not sure the girls are ready for anything like that. It’s me that should be sorry.”

  “It doesn’t make sense anyway, now that I think about it,” Nick said. “Dewey would still be in my cabin. It wouldn’t conserve anything for me to move out.”

  ~~~

  “We called you in because there’s a lot of talk going around the camp about your project,” Grover said to start the meeting off. Ant, Vi and Dwayne were seated on folding chairs in front of The Committee in the Meetinghouse. “It’s too late for this winter, but a lot of folks seem to have the idea that the camp will have electricity before another winter sets in. I can’t imagine how that could be true. Before I make an announcement about managing expectations, I need to know where things stand.”

  The three who’d been summoned looked around the room, and then at each other. Finally Dwayne spoke. “This meeting is a good idea. They can tell you where they’re at. They also have some ideas for how to electrify this place. I’ve been telling them for weeks that they need to run it by you first.”

  “Well, out with it,” Roethke said. “Speak up.”

  Ant cleared his throat. “Well, we, uh, it’s true that we’ve succeeded in generating electrical power from solar panels. We’ve run it through a repaired inverter into a standard electrical panel, and powered light bulbs and small devices. It took a while, but we got it to work.”

  “I know what a solar panel is,” Grover said. “What does an inverter do? Are you all electricians?”

  “Only I am,” Dwayne answered. “But these two have been studying hard. They know more about solar energy than I do.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Vi said. She paused. “Well, maybe.”

  “See, the solar panels create power that’s called ‘DC.’ Right, Dwayne?” Ant asked. Dwayne responded simply with a thumbs-up and a nod. “But most, uh, regular houses, they use ‘AC’ power.” The inverter changes it from DC to AC. Right, Dwayne?”

  “You got it,” Dwayne answered. “DC is direct current. It just goes one way. AC is alternating current. It makes a circuit.”

  “Excellent,” Grover said. “So you’ve got the components working.”

  “Mostly,” Ant said. “We’re trying to learn about how to charge batteries. We blew one up already. But we’re learning.”

  “So, what’s next?” Grover asked. “Setting up a bank of panels and stringing electrical wires through the camp?”

  “Well, we think that’s a little too complicated for us right now,” Ant said.

  “More like too hardware-intensive,” Vi said. “It would take a long time to do that. We might have enough panels. But not enough inverters. It would take a lot of them, and ones with high capacity. It took us months to get even one working. We’d need a lot more than that to light the place up and generate power in a central location. Inverters are the bottleneck right now.”

  “And that’s just on the production end,” Dwayne added. “Running power lines and wiring all the buildings would take years.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Vi. “We’re thinking of a different approach to distributing the power. But so far we’ve mostly been working on the hardware.”

  “Well for heaven’s sake,” Roethke said. “What approach? Don’t keep us waiting. Spill it.”

  Before you do,” interrupted Sue Stocker, “I’d like to commend you three. Nice work on this. It could make a huge difference for everybody living here to have lights and power, even if it takes another year or two.”

  “Agreed,” Mark Roman said. “Way to go. But if we do manage to pull this off, I think we need to be careful with lighting it up around here too much. We’re already a target as it is. Imagine what would happen if word got out that we have electricity here. The last thing we want is for strangers to come stumbling through the Pine Barrens and see electric lights.”

  “Tell me about it,” Carlo said. “We might want to consider nighttime blackouts when we get this far.”

  “Of course,” Roethke said. “Why do you think we put the generators away when we got here?”

  “That’s for later,” Grover said. “Are you ready to talk about the next step? You seem hesitant. You’re making good progress, but maybe we should put off making any announcements.”

  “I think that would be best,” said an obviously relieved Ant. “We need to work out a few details before we have a plan that we can present. I’d rather wait.”

  “So be it,” Grover decreed. “Keep us informed, and let us know when you’re ready. But don’t wait too long. We want to keep moving forward on this. And we don’t want to let rumors get out of hand. As I’ll be telling the camp, it’s very important that we manage expectations.”

  Nine

  Since Squid was unable to move quickly enough because of his still-healing leg, Lou ran ahead without waiting for him. Months of exhaustion and poor nutrition had taken its toll on her as well, to the point where she could only manage a shuffling trot, but she nevertheless outdistanced Squid almost immediately.

  Limping with the aid of the walking stick he’d found and customized somewhere along the way, Squid watched intently as the truck meandered slowly along the road. They were apparently scavenging, or maybe even looking for something specific, just like he, Lou and Plankton were. That wasn’t good. It meant they weren’t just passing through.

  Maybe they weren’t the bad guys he feared they were, Squid told himself hopefully. There have to be some decent people left in the world somewhere, didn’t there? But this group had one of the most valuable commodities out there, a vehicle that ran. It seemed more and more to him, from what he’d seen in recent months, that the bad guys always had the best toys. That was how it worked when there was no law. So as he watched he knew he could hope for the best, but made sure to plan for the worst.

  There was no movement around Plankton’s Dodge Dart. Squid could only assume that Plankton was still inside, working under the dashboard to rewire the ignition and start the engine. Another assumption of Squid’s, unfortunately, was that the shotgun was leaning on the side of the car right where Plankton had left it. Consider that gun gone, he told himself ruefully. Any chance that we have this mob outgunned will disappear as soon as that shotgun changes hands. That’ll be the first thing they’ll grab, and they’ll think they won the lottery.

  Sure enough, the truck slowed as it approached the Dart. They’d obviously seen Plankton now, and probably the gun, too. Plankton must have heard the truck, because Squid saw him emerge from the car just as the truck stopped a few yards behind it. If Plankton had remembered the gun at that point it didn’t matter, because somebody from the truck scurried forward and grabbed it. So far, Squid realized as he hobbled in the weeds while watching helplessly, this has gone as badly as possible. He could only hope Lou was taking this all in as well, and wouldn’t presume her side had the upper hand when it came to weapons. Somehow he knew she was smarter than that, whether she’d been watching or not.

  Seconds later two more men jumped out of the parked truck. Squid watched closely for more, but when nobody else appeared, he was satisfied that it was only the three. That would help. The numbers weren’t bad, but they were in a mess now. He realized their mistake. They shouldn’t have split up, and they should have made sure Plankton wasn’t careless with the shotgun. None of that mattered now. He had a problem to solve.

  Plankton was backed up against the Dart with the shotgun pointed at his chest by the time Squid caught up with Lou, who was crouching in the waist-high brush at the side of the road. The other two were about to search the Dart, it appeared, when Plankton spotted Lou. Squid knew he had because he was staring right at them through the weeds. He willed Plankton to look away before somebody noticed, but it was too late. Without moving the shotgun, now jammed into Plankton’s gut, the
man looked over to see what Plankton had seen. Now that he knew where to look, it didn’t take long.

  “There’s somebody over there!” Shotgun shouted at his comrades. The other two abandoned what they were doing and charged into the ditch where Squid and Lou were lurking. Noticing immediately that neither pulled out another weapon to augment the club held by one and the spear by the other, Squid realized that he had an advantage, at least with these two. As he stood he slid his pistol from a jacket pocket and pointed it in their direction. It was enough to stop them in their tracks. It didn’t hurt when Lou produced the rifle that they’d taken from the carjackers the same day they’d acquired the shotgun.

  The two men stopped cold when they saw what they were up against. Realizing that this was turning into a standoff, Squid stood up and took two steps toward them, all the while keeping his pistol pointed at them. They held their crude weapons menacingly, but they had to know that was pointless. The one lowered his spear as soon as he saw the barrel of Lou’s rifle swinging in his direction. Now that he was closer, Squid was shocked at how overweight the wielder of the spear was. That was something you didn’t see much these days.

  “Drop them guns!” Shotgun yelled, “Or he gets it in the head!” Squid looked over to see that Plankton was now on his knees with his faced pushed against the fender of the car. The business end of the shotgun was pressed into his skull.

  “If you do that, we’ll take your men out just as fast,” Squid yelled back. “And after that we’ll see how quick you can get any more shots off to save yourself. There’s two of us, you know, and we’re both armed.”

  “Yeah?” Shotgun jeered. “Well there’s one thing you ain’t considering. Go ahead and waste them two. I couldn’t care less. Can you say the same about this man here?”

  It was probably a bluff, and a stab in the dark, but Squid knew the man was right. He couldn’t say that. It wasn’t in him to turn his back on a companion. He wouldn’t sacrifice Plankton to win the battle. At the same time, he sensed that Shotgun had no such scruples. There was a good chance that he might follow through on what he said.

  A quick look at Lou told him that she understood the situation in the same way. At least he hoped he was interpreting her slow nod correctly. “Let him go, and we’ll let your men go!” he shouted. “Lower your gun, and we’ll do the same.”

  Surprisingly, Shotgun complied. After another glance, Squid and Lou did the same. “Turn around and walk back to the car,” Squid ordered Spear and Club. “Let’s settle this thing.”

  After Spear and Club followed the order, Squid and Lou fell in behind them as they moved toward the road. Plankton was now sitting against a tire, the shotgun again pointed at his temple. “These guys are dirtbags,” Squid said to Lou as they walked. He didn’t care who heard him, although he deliberately let Spear and Club advance toward Shotgun quicker than they were. “They’ll turn on each other. We could win a gunfight, but at least one of us would go down. Probably Plankton. Same for them. But they don’t care about each other, and we do. So they have an advantage. I say we let them have our guns if they agree to take off and leave us alone.”

  “Agreed,” Lou said. “If you can make that happen.”

  “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Let’s stop right here and put our guns on the ground,” Squid said. “Right in the road. You should take cover, but stay close. I’ll do the rest.”

  Without taking another step, Squid and Lou placed their weapons gently down on the asphalt. Squid waved Lou away before continuing towards Plankton and Shotgun. When he reached the car, Spear and Club were already at Shotgun’s side. After Lou was crouched safely out of view somewhere on the other side of the car, Squid took a deep breath. He knew he was taking a dangerous risk, but he was determined to do all he could do to keep the three of them alive. Not one, not two, but all three.

  “Lower the gun and let us go,” Squid said firmly. “We’ll let you have ours.”

  A smug smile crossed Shotgun’s face. “We already got yours,” he said.

  “Lou can still beat you to ‘em,” Squid answered. “You and your two goons. So no, you don’t have them.”

  “But I’ll take your friend out before you get to ‘em,” Shotgun countered.

  “Maybe,” Squid allowed. “But then you’re a dead man. Lou’s a better shot with that pistol than you are with what you’re carrying. If you hit anybody from more than ten feet it just means you got lucky.”

  Shotgun seemed to consider this. As he did, Squid moved steadily closer to him. Spear and Club eyed him nervously without moving. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” Shotgun said. “My men will grab the guns. Your man can take off. Then we’ll leave. You can do whatever you want.”

  Squid nodded. “Deal.”

  “Run while you have the chance, clown,” Shotgun growled at Plankton without taking his eyes off Squid, who’d now closed to within ten feet. “Back off,” Shotgun barked at Squid.

  “Relax,” Squid said. “He’s got a bad leg. He needs a hand to get up, that’s all. Unless you want to pull him up.”

  “Go ahead, then,” Shotgun agreed. “But hurry up. I don’t have all day to wait for a gimp.”

  As he reached a hand down, he wondered if Plankton had heard enough to play along and fake a leg injury. It hardly mattered. It was all over. But sure enough, after Plankton was back on his feet he limped a few steps back and forth with a grimace that showed that he’d indeed been paying attention. He may be daffy, but he wasn’t stupid.

  “What are you waitin’ for?” Shotgun snapped at Spear. “Go get them guns. We’re movin’ on.” Spear turned and headed for the guns, still gleaming in the sun on the asphalt about thirty feet in front of the Dart. Squid hadn’t realized how far away they’d left them. That was good. Anything to keep these guys moving away.

  “Hey,” Club said to Shotgun. “One of ‘em’s a girl. She’s hiding on the other side. What do you say? Been a long time since we had a girl.”

  Shotgun shook his head, a mix of disgust and amusement showing on his face. “Is that all you ever think about, boy?” he asked.

  “Pretty much,” Club answered.

  “Do whatever you want,” Shotgun said. “Just remember we’re moving out in five minutes. But you better get one of them guns from fat boy first, to make it easier.”

  “You’re not touching her,” Squid said, stepping closer to Shotgun without taking his eyes off Club. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “This shotgun and those two guns we’re takin’ off you say different,” Shotgun said. Quick as a flash, Squid grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and pushed it to the left as he lunged right. With his free fist he hammered Shotgun in the face three times, staggering him without a shot fired. The gun came free and was hanging by the barrel in Squid’s left hand. He let go of it, grabbing Shotgun while swinging his good leg between Shotgun’s, slamming him viciously in the groin with his shin.

  After Shotgun dropped to the pavement, groaning and writhing in agony, Squid picked up the shotgun. Holding it by the barrel, he swung it like a golf club at Shotgun, cracking him on the side of the head with the stock until he stopped moving.

  Before he could turn to look for Club he felt two hands close on his windpipe from behind. Dropping the gun again, he grabbed the hands and plucked them sideways, just as he’d been trained to do. At the same time he lunged forward, creating as much space as he could, before viciously whipping his head backward into his attacker’s face. Not only could Squid feel the crunching of bones, he actually heard it.

  The choker fell away. Squid picked up the gun yet again and whirled in the same motion. Club had taken a knee and was probing his face, blood already dripping down the front of his sweatshirt. Not wanting to waste whatever ammo was still in the shotgun, he gave Club the same treatment he’d finished Shotgun off with, pounding the crown of his head with the butt of the shotgun until he’d fallen to the concrete and stopped moving.

  Spear was in front of the car, where he�
�d stopped on his way to grab the guns to watch in horror as his partners went down hard. It had all taken less than fifteen seconds, but Squid wasn’t finished. He didn’t have much experience with a shotgun and wasn’t sure he could hit Spear even at that short distance, but he was going to give it a try. Holding himself as steady as he could, he aimed quickly at his terrified foe and squeezed the trigger. Spear fell awkwardly on his face against the grill of the car before sliding to the roadway and out of view. Gruesome smears of blood on the hood told Squid all he needed to know without walking around the car to confirm the kill. Three down and none to go.

  Plankton was cowering at the trunk of the Dart. “Looks like we found some transportation after all,” Squid told him as calmly as he could, his stoic expression unchanged. He waved at the road ahead. “How about you go get those guns back? I need to sit down and take a breather.”

  ~~~

  “That was scary,” Plankton said later after Lou had reemerged and they were gathered behind the truck they now intended to take. They’d already gone through the possessions of the dead men, finding very little of use. Most of the contents of the truck, equally useless, had been pitched out onto the highway, replaced in the truck bed by their own meager supplies and equipment. All that was left to do now was get into the truck and get on down the road before any friends of these men showed up.

  “Which part?” Lou asked.

  “All of it,” Plankton said. “But I tell you what. I’m glad I never ended up getting into a fight with you that first day, Squid. You didn’t stop until they were all dead. I always thought you were, you know, kind of a pacifist guy. You’re always turning the other cheek, like the bible says.”

  “You’ve got it exactly right,” Squid said. “I go out of my way to avoid a fight. Usually nobody wins.”

  “But not this time,” Lou said. “Somebody did. I’d say we came out of this pretty good.”