Chapter 12Rev

After a quick lunch and over Leslie's loud and strenuous objections, Penny drove the coach to the nearest church but it had burned to the ground. Checking the yellow pages, they headed for the last church on the northern most outskirts of the small town of Sibleysburg.

Sheldon saw a small sign on the side of the road beside a large chain link fence. They'd have to check it out after the church.

The small nondenominational church had been looted and there was nothing remaining except some women's and children's clothing. The food storage area had been picked clean.

"Okay, let's grab the clothing and head out. I saw a sign for a national guard facility back towards town. Let's check it out and then get back on the road," said Sheldon, already thinking of what they might need for the remainder of their journey.

Winkle was not in the best of moods. She felt marginalized because of her injured hand and took it out on Sheldon.

"Look, dumbass, it's stupid to leave me alone in the bus while you guys go out and about. Suppose someone had strolled up and tried to force the door or something? Suppose you guys ran into trouble and needed backup? You need to start think – "

Sheldon threw her his 9mm and smirked when she fumbled with it. Penny just glared at Leslie for calling him a 'dumbass' and Bomber just walked back to the galley area not wanting to get involved in a family feud.

"Winkle, you can't hold the pistol in your injured hand and you can't even jack a round into the chamber. That's why we left you the shotgun – but we do need to change our tactics considering you're pretty much out of action for – "

"I can still drive and I can still shoot a pistol if someone preps it for me, Cooper!"

"Okay. Change magazines and you're back on scrounge duty." He tried not to smile as he watched her try to do left handed what she'd been easily able to do with her right. It obviously hurt her to use her right hand.

Winkle hung her head and sighed. She absolutely hated it when he was right. She would be a liability if things got dicey on a scrounge.

Bomber used a large rock to break the lock that secured the double gates blocking the road that led to the National Guard buildings and waved the coach through. Winkle was driving, a sop to her bruised ego.

Sadly, the arms room had been cleaned out and there was nothing of any value except some old-style NBC suits that were probably useless. They did find some old walkie-talkies and batteries so it wasn't a total bust.

Penny jogged back from the motor pool area with a huge grin on her face.

"Trucks! And storage tanks of diesel fuel. We can 'borrow' a truck and load it with fuel barrels and get back on the interstate and really cover some distance."

They decided to spend the night at the armory. There was a great deal of discussion about taking on an additional vehicle.

"I don't want to split us up. What happens if we run into trouble? The trucks aren't armored or protected and loaded with fuel, the driver would be a sitting duck. It's a great idea, Penny, but it would mean – "

"We could put steel over the doors and engine and somehow protect the barrels. If two of us were in the cab, one could drive while the other used a SAW or the MP-3. Ten barrels would give us another 3,000 miles, Sheldon!"

"The truck runs on air? Only half of that but…who can drive a big thing like that? It's not like this coach. I don't think they have automatic transmissions, Winkle."

Sheldon was wavering, looking for reasons not to split up the group. He was really afraid that the scenario he described might occur and he'd lose two friends or worse, they'd all be killed because no one would leave anyone behind.

Penny finally ended it with "Sheldon, we need to do this. It'll extend our range. I know you worry about us but honestly, Moon Pie, it's the logical thing to do. The needs of the many and all that Spockish stuff, remember?"

Sheldon's mouth dropped open and Penny leaned over and put a fingertip on his chin and pushed it shut and then laid a smooch on him. "I watched so much Star Trek over the years that something just stuck in my pretty little blonde head, baby."

They spent the night parked in the motor pool area after Bomber walked down and closed the gates. There was no sense advertising their presence even at night.

Penny crawled in bed with Sheldon after taking a quick shower. She reached around and slung a hand over his stomach and snuggled in against him.

"Shel, we need to check your dressing in the morning. You haven't changed it and it's sticky." Sheldon said, "Yes, dear," and then kissed her goodnight. They were both too tired for much else. Penny giggled softly and then closed her eyes and sleep overtook the both of them quickly.

It took the team until noon to fill and load the barrels of diesel fuel onto the 'deuce and a half' meanin ton truck. They found one with a lift gate that made the task much easier.

They broke for lunch and Bomber came back with news of another discovery behind the POL dump.

"Guys, I found the ammo point. It's a conex container buried in the ground to minimize exposure to lightning and also to hide it. It's still locked so chances are whoever cleaned out the arms room overlooked ammunition storage."

They found crates of hand grenades and boxes of loose 9mm and 5.56mm ammo that could be used in their pistols and the two SAWs. It was very good news. Penny dug around the back where the crates made moving around tight. She was small enough to get into spaces the others couldn't.

"What are claymores?"

Winkle was in her glory. She loved guns and things that went 'BOOM' and so the discovery of grenades and claymores set her to planning their distribution and usage. Sheldon was more concerned about keeping her 'BOOM' things far apart from each other – especially the blasting caps that detonated the claymores.

"We'll put these caps in the refrigerator, Sheldon, and the rest of the stuff we'll integrate into our current stores. Everything goes into the small stateroom except for the loose ammo. That we'll load into the SAW magazine boxes and the empty 9mm clips Bomber found. It'll keep you three busy while I drive."

Sheldon realized that because he didn't drive, Penny would be in the fuel truck with Bomber or Winkle and he didn't like the idea of them being separated, even for one brief shift. He insisted that he be paired with Penny when she drove. Penny thought it was sweet because she knew that once Sheldon Cooper made a commitment, nothing changed his mind and he loved her so it wasn't jealousy.

He loved her and that meant he trusted her implicitly. His little hissy fit about being separated underscored it. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze and then Winkle announced that she was driving the first leg in the coach and that 'Penny and her pet physicist' could take the Army truck and freeze their asses off.

The little convoy backtracked through town and Sheldon suddenly told Penny to pull into the Feed & Grain store. He hopped out of the truck before it was stopped and loped into the store, his long legs taking him inside before Penny could even get out of the truck.

The coach had stopped up the road a ways and Winkle was on the radio demanding to know what the 'Dumbass' was up to.

"He shouldn't just stop like that, Penny. What if I hadn't seen you turn off? We could be a mile a way by now."

Sheldon came loping back out of the store, a large box of plastic trash bags in one hand and a full one in the other. He tossed the box into the truck and climbed in, wincing when he felt the stitches in his side pull when he used his arm to pull himself up into the cab.

"Shel, Winkle's on a tear about 'convoy integrity'. Here, calm her down or Bomber might just jump ship. You know how she gets." Penny handed him the walkie-talkie and pulled back onto the road.

"Leslie, stay where you are. I brought you a present."

Winkle stared at the radio and wondered if maybe the Choker had mutated into the Idiot. "Damned Dumbass always has to do things his way. He probably got me a muzzle, knowing how he thinks."

"You're too hard on the Doc, Les. He just wants things to be safe. Nothing wrong with that." Bomber was a mediator by nature. He rarely got into fights because he could always handle any situation using his wits and negotiating skills. They'd be sorely tested by Winkle, though.

Penny pulled up beside the coach and Sheldon hopped out and ran around and got in the coach. "Here. Not exactly mittens but they'll keep your injured hand warm. Don't thank me, Leslie Winkle. You might break something else."

He handed her a bag of oven mittens he'd seen earlier but hadn't figured they'd need. He emptied the entire rack. What she didn't need or want they could always use for barter down the road.

He climbed back into the Army truck and made a 'let's go' motion with his hand. He turned his head so Penny couldn't see his smile.

Winkle sat back in the coach, speechless. Just when she thought she had Cooper figured out he did something that made her head spin and confuse her. Mittens. He brought her mittens.

Bomber just laughed and told her to get on the road and catch up with the blonde who was already several hundred yards ahead of them. "Y'know, guys like the Doc…you'll never be able to pigeon-hole them. They don't think like normal people."

They passed through St. George and Cedar City in Utah. Both places were deserted and the Interstate had quite a few traffic snarls where people had just abandoned their vehicles in the road and disappeared. There were very few bodies within the vehicles and the roadside rest stops had all been picked clean of anything of value. Every trailer had been looted and the road was littered with things that were valuable a year ago but were worthless now.

They stopped outside Provo and spent the night.