Ok here we go once again, I do not own the world of the terminator no money is being made and its just for fun, at least I'm having fun and I hope all those people out there who are reading this are having fun aswel Enjoy Chapter 5; The Crossing :-)
When Charlie woke up the following day he noticed that a thick layer of ash had covered the surrounding country side and still more was falling from the sky. A sickly grey light permeated through a thick layer of clouds. Every now and again an electrical storm flashed overhead and rain fell turning the ash into a thick mud like layer. He decided to stay put for the day. He watched all day as the river turned into a grey sluggish ash filled mud stream. Thunder flashed and roared in the sky. He was feeling increasingly despondent and spent the day in misery under the bridge. Smoke still billowed from the ruins of the city and the horizon in the direction of coast continued to be obscured by thick smoke. Just before sunset he noticed that the smoke was diminishing, he could see further and saw that there actually where several smoke pillars. Judging by the positions of the smoke pillars every city on the coast had been hit by the same disaster.
The following day the fall of ash from the heavens had lessened enough to tempt him out into the open. And he needed to as well. It had started to rain more seriously in the night and the river was rising, he needed to get out from underneath the bridge before the water cut him off. So gathering his meagre supplies in his bedroll he set out on foot. The rain had washed away most of the ash from the road. His going was slow at first. The road was blocked in some places by burnt out car wrecks, he didn't look to closely at them after the first wreckage. The things inside where to horrifying. The road in places had obviously been melted over as well. Only where objects blocked the view of the coast side was the road unhampered. After a few miles he found that in those places there where still car wrecks but they where more ordinary. As if something had happened to make the drivers loose control over their vehicles in stead of being hit by some lateral force.
As he got further away from the coast the evidence of the ash fall lessened and he came upon less and less cars which had been effected by the disaster. As he turned around a bend in the road he heard voices arguing. A man and a woman where having a full blown argument in the middle of the road. "Alex! You shouldn't have been drinking!" Screeched the woman. "What about you, Honey you where drinking just as bad. And I don't recall you protesting that much when we left Bert's place. You just wanted to get home! Aw man there's no signal here damned. That tower back there must be out frigging hell" the man said looking in frustration at his cell phone. "What a mess" Said the guy. "Well if you hadn't drunk so much we wouldn't have spent the day in the ditch we would be home in LA sipping Pina Colada and Champagne." The woman continued to whine. "Oooh and I broke a nail as well."
Charlie stared dumbfounded at the couple, they hadn't noticed him yet so he decided to walk up to them. "Hi there folks! Startled they stared at him. The woman started to speak to the man "Alex don't trust him, he's a hobo look at him he's all dirty and with a bum roll. Don't let him come near me. Relax Honey I'm sure he's no threat I'll just give him some money and maybe he can walk to the nearest town and have somebody swing by to pick us up." Charlie sighed, these two wheren't going to be much of a help he reckoned but still he had to ask. "Don 't you know what's going on?" He asked them, they looked at him in a odd way. "Look I'm no bum, I have a job or rather I had a job until Saturday just like everybody else. Didn't you two notice anything the fires the earthquake, nothing?"
They just continue to look at him blankly. "I mean I was trapped in my basement and had to crawl out through the sewer just to escape the fire. Man everything down at the coast has been on fire. Look at the sky near the coast those smoke pillars ain't natural," he said waving his hand to his back. The couple seemed to notice the smoke for the first time. An, "Oh my Gosh," escaping from the woman's lips and a much more colourful curse from the man was the response he got. They stood there staring aghast at the smoke columns. It was clear that every major urban centre visible on the coast from this distance was marked by an ominous smoke pillar. It was the man, Alex whom remarked; "What was it? A nuclear attack? I mean earthquakes wouldn't set such a large area on fire, would they?" Only now did Charlie realize that it was the most logical explanation for the events he had felt and seen.
"Oh my god! We where at a party Saturday at a place in the hills and when we went home we drove of the road we where both more or less unconscious yesterday. What are we going to do, we're stuck here there's not going to be any help. I couldn't get the car running again. So we just got the clothes on our back, nothing else." Charlie smiled, "If I can get it running will you allow me to come with you? I have nowhere to go anyway and going back to the coast doesn't look to smart." The man brightened up considerably at that suggestion despite the woman's misgivings, she doubted that he could get the car to work still thinking of Charlie as a bum. "Let's have a look at that car, appearances can be deceiving I'm actually a mechanic, a very good one I might add," Charlie said grinning at the woman's snide remarks. With a determined look he went to the car which was lying in a ditch to the side. It was a Landrover and a very cool car at that. He checked the car's electrical system and it was still ok. Fortunately the car had been fully equipped for all terrain purposes. This was despite the fact that its owners would never had dreamed of taking it anywhere where its paintjob could get mud on it. They not only had a tow cable in the car but also a pulley system to go with the winch. With some luck they managed to get the ship out of the ditch.
It took him the better part of the day after that to get the car running but after some hard work, a little ingenuity and some spit he had the engine running again. Alex had taken his coat of and rolled up his sleeves and had been very helpful whilst he wasn't a mechanic he was an electronics engineer with a keen mind for technical problems once he got pass his own feelings of uselessness. Honey had sat on a rock complaining and whining the whole time. After they fixed the car they had to decide where to go. They decided to head up further into the hills. Hoping to find shelter in some of the small towns which lay out there. They got into the car after a meal which Charlie shared with them and they set out eastwards deeper into the hills.
The first destination they chose was the house of Alex's and Honey's friend Bert. But as they got closer they saw smoke coming from the house. They had thought that the house had been set on fire by the heatwave despite not having seen too much of the effects here. As they drove up to the Smokey ruins they saw that the fires where far more recent and they also saw the body of Bert's wife lying behind some bushes. From the way here clothes had been torn and the bullet holes it was very obvious what had happened to her, it wasn't a pleasant sight. They saw some tire marks in the sand and after some deliberation they decided to check out the place figuring that whoever had done this was long gone. Apparently someone had attacked the house and it hadn't gone all to their plan as they also found what they figured to be the body of one of the assailants. He looked pretty average the only distinguishing factor now being the bullet hole in his forehead, it was rather large. They found two more bodies, all belonging to seemingly unremarkable men; they didn't look like gang members or thugs at all. Whoever they where they apparently hadn't been expecting Bert to put up a fight at all. . Bert had always loved firearms and it was obvious he hadn't gone out without a fight. He had paid a price for it though.
They found his body out in the back; by the looks of things he had been alive when his attackers had taken out their anger on him. Whether the marauders had plundered the house and then set it alight or that Bert had done it they couldn't tell. After they had a quick look around too see if the raiders weren't around they decided that they would do the decent thing and do something about the bodies. They buried Bert and his wife in the shade of a tree Alex and Honey knew they both loved. The bodies of their murderers they threw on the still smouldering fires. After that they scoured the area for anything they could use. Alex knew that Bert had his own fuel supply for his farming equipment and they found that the fuel depot was still functional as the fire had only destroyed the main building. Maybe the raiders had been planning to return for it but for now it was a heaven sent for them. The work sheds and guesthouse where still intact and these they searched for anything useful. The guesthouse had been ransacked and not much had been left intact. They did find some rucksacks and sleeping bags which they took. Another gem was in the weapons locker.
The raiders had missed the locker because it didn't look like one. It looked like an ordinary solid bench. But Alex knew that if you pushed a certain brick the top would click open. Inside was a second lid locked by a cipher lock too which Alex knew the combination. Bert had been so proud when he had this built and installed he had shown it to him and two other friends. Inside they found the weapons Bert didn't keep in the house. There where three guns inside, an elephant gun Bert had bough as a souvenir in Africa. He had been very pleased with it, it had never been used to hunt with but Bert sometimes showed it to friend and had let them fire it. Alex had and it had one hell of a punch. There was also an AK47 a memento from the first Gulf war where Bert had served as a lieutenant before becoming one of the states leading layers. The other gun was an old fashioned Thompson submachine gun, a real collector's item with both a stick magazine as well as a drum magazine. All in mint condition, having been lovingly cared for by Bert.
After a short discussion they decided to take the entire gun making equipment that was still whole. Charlie and Alex figured they might have a use for it and the Landrover had space enough. They also filled every Jerry Can they could find with gasoline and loaded them onto the Landrover, fortunately there where plenty of them. Some further digging yielded some old camping gear, the marauders had found Bert's camping gear but they had only taken the new equipment. This still left them with an old tent and the sleeping bags and rucksacks. There where some other odds and ends they took, rope, tools and even some overalls. All in all this was a virtual treasure trove for the recently homeless.
That left them with the problem of food; they only had what Charlie had found in the campervan. At best that would last them another four days or so but no more than that, with the guns they could hunt for food but none of them where good hunters. Also the problem of contamination was nagging them. Through luck they hoped to have avoided the worst of it for now but animals wouldn't have. They didn't now how to avoid that as they didn't have any Geiger counters. There best hope was to get to an area with minimal exposure and hope for the best. That would mean getting higher up into the mountains, further away from civilization and any supplies. It was one of the reasons they decided to strip the place bare of anything even remotely useful.
After loading up the Landrover they decided to leave this place of ruin and set up camp a little further up hoping to avoid any human predators attracted by the smoke and dying fires. After leaving the place they drove on for a few miles until they saw a small town. There was a roadblock manned by a sheriff and some men. All of them where armed. Slowly they drove up to the road block. Stopping a bit away from the barrier they got out of the car. After a quick discussion Honey stayed in the Landrover with the AK47 in easy reach. They where already learning that they should count on the unexpected and to cover their bases. Alex and Charlie walked up to the roadblock; just to be safe Charlie had shoved the old revolver into his waistband at his back.
The sheriff halted them as they got up to the roadblock. "Sorry folks, just you hold it right there. Before we let you get any closer we need to now some things" said the sheriff. "All right," Alex replied. "What do you want to know?" The sheriff pulled out a writing pad with some printed papers. "Okay. First of: Do any of your party have criminal records or ties to criminals or criminal organisations? No? Well that's ok then," The sheriff continued through a whole list of questions some 42 questions in all which seemed to be designed to determine if they could be trusted and had anything useful to the town, either in skills or possessions. After the final question the sheriff looked at his list and didn't lift his eyes from it. "I'm sorry folks but you're going to have to move on, you just don't have any skills or things we need that would earn you a place here;" he finally said after having stared at the list for some time. "It's not personal, you'll understand but we just can't afford to take on extra mouths who don't add something of value to us." Alex and Charlie had already thought that this might be the case as the list of questions had droned on and on. So they looked at each other and shrugged. "Any chance of getting some water," Asked Charlie. "The sheriff smiled briefly, "got any water bottles to fill," he replied and pointed to a tanker which stood to the side of the blockade. Despite being disappointed by the fact that they couldn't get anything else in town they where relieved by the courtesy offered by the sheriff and gratefully returned to the car to fetch the water bottles. After having filled up their water bottles they asked for directions which the sheriff gave them. He told them a small road circumvented the town and would lead them back to the highway in a few miles. They then took their leave and went on their way.
And that lead them to the cabin and Jacob. They where very glad that they had been tired enough to forget to bring weapons with them otherwise it might have gotten ugly. After their conversation they settled in for the night. They parked the car behind the cabin at Jacobs insistence and then fetched the weapons and other supplies from the car. They decided that since they where going to stay there they might as well cooperate. The three men decided that keeping a watch would be wise. Especially after they had shared their stories, they knew that both the cabin and the car would be prime possessions of any survivors let alone their other supplies. Jacob offered to take the first watch, since he wasn't armed and didn't ask for a weapon it was easy for the others to trust him.
The night passed uneventful and in the morning they decided to continue together to Jacobs friends place. Jacob was glad what would've been a week long trek at least no became an easy days drive. And he wouldn't be arriving empty handed at his friends' house. The fuelled up Landrover and equipment the others carried would be a boon. At first Jacob had been surprised at their choice to bring along the gun making equipment but as he mulled it over it made sense, a lot of sense. This new world they found themselves in was going to be dangerous. The possession of weapons and the means to maintain them would be an important advantage. With the equipment they had they should be able to make ammunition for guns and perform maintenance on the guns. If they found enough raw materials they might even be able to make simple rifles as well. Having a mechanic like Charlie was in the light of things a boon as well. He was surprised that the townsfolk hadn't offered Charlie a place, maybe they hadn't realised that his skills would be beneficial as well or they had thought that they had enough people with similar skills. Anyway there loss was there gain.
As they set out that morning the sky was grey and overcast, Jacob figured that would be the way it would be for some time to come. There was no telling how much energy and dust had been released into the atmosphere and how those two factors would effect weather patterns in the coming time. Occasionally they could see clouds gathering into small storm systems where lightning crackled, thunder roared and rain fell heavily to the ground. One such a storm grew in their path and at Alexes insistence they pulled over feeling the weather to be to dangerous to go on. The scenery had changed from rolling hillsides cut by the occasional riverbeds with mainly shrubbery and grass to rugged terrain and lush green vegetations. They pulled the car over in the shelter of a cliff face beneath which the road ran. The storm hit and lightning strikes hit a small cluster of trees. Witch a sudden crack, audible despite the distance and the constant hammering of the drenching downpour on the roof of the Landrover, a tall tree toppled onto the road blocking it completely. They where very glad that they had decided to stop the car, if they had continued driving they realized they might have been hit by that tree or by the lightning it self.
They didn't have to wait long for the wind to drive the storm away. Just as they where getting ready to leave the sound of the water falling on the roof changed. Instead of the fall of heavy raindrops it turned into a continuous clatter of a stream of water as the water coming of the cliff was turning into a waterfall. As they set of the trickle turned into a small muddy rivulet covering the spot they had been in into a muddy pool. Suddenly the whole of the topsoil on top of the cliff came down burying their parking spot beneath a thick layer of mud, vegetation and other debris. The road back was blocked by the spill. They drove onto the place where the tree blocked the road. There was no way around it so Alex and Charlie hooked up the winch to tow it away while Jacob took an axe to the heavier branches to make the tree more moveable. It took them several hours to clear the road.
They soon learned that what they had thought would be a leisurely drive took in fact an arduous trek. It was as if the full force of nature was turned against them. The constant heavy storms where speeding up natures reclaiming of the landscape from human occupation. But their luck held. True it was slow going but no obstacle was insurmountable. Once the road was completely blocked by a landslide but careful examination of a roadmap showed a small road which bypassed the blockage. And so it went on small streams where quickly turning into churning maelstroms threatening bridges and occasionally swamping the roads they travelled by. One piece of luck had been their food situation. Jacob was a keen hunter and excellent marksman. Early one evening while they where traversing a valley which they wanted to pass before setting up camp a deer had been caught in the headlights. Wasting no time Jacob had grabbed the AK47 and shot it. Even Honey had refrained from complaining as they built a fire that night and roasted some of the meat and eat to their hearts content for the first time since the bombs fell. They smoked the remainder of the meat on an open fire hoping to cure the meat enough to last them some time. It proved a waisted effort but Charlies luck and skill provided them with more food. He improvised some fishing tackle and each evening he managed to catch some fish from the swollen rivers. All in all it took them four days instead of one and Jacob counted himself lucky. He would most likely have never made it on foot or only after weeks. And the way the weather was turning it might start to snow, already there was a chill in the night air.