“Great insight, Megan. I knew that you were the big sister for a reason.” Megan flicked the back of her head as Malorie continued, “It would appear that we have to find a place and stay there through the winter—any chance that we can do that here in town? How about Louisa?”
Joshua winced and said, “I’m not certain that would work. Whoever was prepared enough prior to the Crunch to make it through the winter probably isn’t open to the idea of adding five mouths to feed right now. Besides, we’d have to be very sure that the situation was safe and that people were not psycho or something, and you know what they say about beggars being choosers.”
“Right,” Megan said. “Taking on someone else’s kids is going to be a hard sell.” She squeezed the boys to let them know that she still loved them and continued. “So that leaves us headed somewhere on foot out of West Virginia toward Bradfordsville, but I’m under no illusion that we’re going to be able to make it there in one multiday trek. I’d give us ten miles a day if we really pushed it, and that’s not considering all of our stuff, either.”
Joshua added, “The cop said don’t bother with the sporting goods store because they were likely out of whatever we’d need. But he might have just been thinking of gloves, coats, ammunition, and freeze-dried Mountain House products. What we need is the ability to cover ground with our stuff on foot, like those game-cart contraptions.”
“You mean like what you’d put a deer carcass on to pack out of the woods?” Malorie asked.
“Yes, exactly.”
Megan tilted her head to one side and said, “I guess that just might work. We’d probably need more than one, though, no?”
“And if a batch of pancakes is already twelve dollars, then what is the world’s most useful form of ground conveyance post-Crunch going to cost us?” Malorie asked.
“Just getting this far has increased our chances of survival,” Joshua said. “Think for a moment how many people did not or will not be able to get past Charleston.” The thought was sobering for everyone. “We’ll have to see what we can trade the Jeep for. With the new restrictions, it’s not going to help us reach our destination.”
“Oh, Joshua! You couldn’t bring yourself to do that, could you? What if we stayed here for a while, see if the laws change?” Megan asked with genuine concern.
“I’m not sure what other options, if any, we might have. Staying means certain misfortune. See what you have for cash between the two of you and take the boys to load up on pancakes; we’re going to need the carbs. I’ll go check out the town to see what is still out there between the pawnshops and the sporting goods store.” The boys excitedly unbuckled their seat belts, eager to eat pancakes. “Malorie, can I borrow your Android so that I can take pictures of the Jeep?”
“Of course.”
Joshua snapped a few pictures of the Jeep, especially under the hood, and then walked the family over to the Boy Scouts pancake fund-raiser. He found out where to find the sporting goods store and pawnshops from one of the parents. Turning to the ladies, he said, “Keep an eye on our stuff.”
Joshua passed by a Food City grocery store that looked like it had been picked over rather well, a clear example of what happens when the Crunch meets just-in-time logistics. There was no resupply, and the store was down to nearly empty shelves in less than seventy-two hours.
Rounding the corner, Joshua came to the second pawnshop that the scout leader had mentioned and went inside. There was a pasty-faced teenager with pimples who was clearly a throwback to the grunge era, complete with an unbuttoned flannel shirt hanging over a Nirvana T-shirt. He was holding a shotgun at port arms, leaning up against a wall full of television sets; he nodded politely but was clearly all business. Joshua asked the man behind the counter, “Cash only?” and he nodded. “I need two game carts. Do you have any?”
“I have one that is about the size you would need for a doe, and a bigger one that will hold a big buck.”
“What are you asking for the pair?”
The man behind the counter stood up. He had a small .380 pistol in the top pocket of his overalls and walked with a noticeable limp. He had a very round gut that made his silhouette look like two Solo cups stacked up rim to rim. He labored across the shop over to the room where the outdoor sporting goods stuff was kept. “The smaller one has two good tires, so I’ll take three hundred dollars for that one.” Joshua swallowed hard and tried not to appear shocked. “The bigger one needs a new tire, but we can get one off of the bicycles over there for you—I’ll take just five hundred for it, on account of the tire.”
“Eight hundred dollars for the pair, huh?” Joshua said. The man nodded. “Do you have any mess kits? How about green wool army surplus blankets?” Joshua asked.
“’Bout how many were you needin’?”
“Five blankets if you have them, and I could get by with three mess kits.”
“I reckon that would bring us to eleven hundred U.S. dollars—this is my reserve stock, you understand, and I’m not expecting to be resupplied anytime soon.”
Joshua maintained his poker face. “No, I get it. I might need a few other items, but are you willing to entertain an offer for a trade on that merchandise?”
“It depends on the trade. I am not taking any kind of electronics like TVs or Xboxes if that’s what you had in mind.”
“No, I’m looking to trade a modified Jeep that I rebuilt. I have the title document.” Joshua pulled out the Android to display the photos, keeping one eye on the kid with the shotgun, who had crossed the floor to look over Joshua’s shoulder at the pictures.
The kid spoke up with the savvy of someone who had grown up in a pawnshop and said, “Suppose you need to get on through to Kentucky and the bridge is closed now for vehicles.” Joshua nodded, and the kid continued, “What if we say ‘no’? Then you’ll be stuck without the carts, blankets, and everything. Sounds like you’re the one in the weaker position here. We may need to talk about this price some more.”
Joshua assessed the situation dispassionately, took one look at the pimply-faced kid, and said, “True, I won’t overestimate the strength of my position. I need the game carts to get to where I’m going, but you need to attract the girl of your dreams—this deal could help us both.”
The old man laughed out loud and slapped the kid on the back as his shoulders dropped and he turned bright red. “Ha, how did you know that? Mister, I’ll give you a forty-five-hundred-dollar store credit in exchange for the Jeep!”
Joshua hated to be so crass, but he simply could not get stuck without a way to transport what he and his family needed to get through the winter. Forty-five hundred dollars for the Jeep was a pittance, but he wasn’t going to accept a stack of U.S. dollars, knowing their fate. Joshua replied, “Great, I’ll bring my family back with the Jeep. There will surely be something that my fiancée needs to buy with the balance.”
Joshua stuck to the main roads through town. It was already 9:00 A.M. and he was feeling pressed to get on the road heading west. He caught up to the girls, who had bargained to let the boys count as one person, allowing the three adults to load up on their fill of pancakes for forty-eight dollars.
Making full use of the time, Malorie had gotten a complete rundown from an Eagle Scout with an Order of the Arrow pin about the local lay of land, flora, fauna, and so on. She was not flirtatious, but she wasn’t upset over the attention she was getting, either. The Eagle Scout spread out the Kentucky map and recommended that they head west for two days’ walk to the Olympia State Forest, where the population density is low and there are a lot of caves to take shelter in for the winter. He told her which fishing lures would work to catch fish in the lake there and how to identify muskrat scat, and gave her many other useful tips—he was an encyclopedia on living outdoors, and he was sweet on Malorie. “I could come with you, you know—just as far as the state park if you like. It would take just two days to help you with all of your stuff. I could even show you some good caves. There are lots of caves there.”