the sections in Lees emergency manual said to “prepare to bug out.” The instructions contained a list of priorities to stockpile in the garage. If the Garrett home became unlivable, they would evacuate using whatever running cars they had at their disposal. Currently, that included the old Mustang, which Logan backed up to the garage door, plus two Yamaha dirt bikes. Logan had retrieved both bikes from their respective shed and had drained and refueled them. Using a car battery power air compressor Logan topped off the air in all the bike tires, the Mustang, and even the Kubota tractor. The bikes would not carry large supplies, but they could traverse rugged terrain and would be valuable scout vehicles if the family was escaping to other places. He also found a tool bag made special for the bikes, which contained spare parts such as spark plugs and tire tubes plus an assortment of the needed tools. If the time came, forcing the family to flee, everyone knew the plan was to head north toward Lone Pine California. Lee’s Aunt Betty lived North of Lone Pine California in the foothills of the High Sierra Mountains. It was a perfect retreat spot should the need arise. Aunt Betty welcomed the idea of the family bugging out to her house in the mountains.
Madison also found a large box, which contained ten battery powered LED motion lights. They were small flat lights with 120-degree motion sensors. They contained small solar chargers to renew the rechargeable batteries during the daytime. Lee’s instructions said to install new rechargeable batteries in each unit and then place them around the property, hiding them within bushes or rocks. The small LED lights would provide warning for anyone trying to move around the property at night. Madison installed the new batteries in each unit and tested them, but she would let Logan do the placements later.
The five acres was only fully enclosed with three-wire metal post fencing. This fencing was more of a border marking, which did little to keep out people or wild animals. A portion of the yard around the backyard and side yards of the house had six-foot tall wood fencing. Madison knew that Lee had been working on a “sensing” wire, which he planned on running around the three-wire fence. Lee had explained to Madison how the extra sensor wire would run on electrical insulators close to the center bare metal fence wire. Most people would not notice the small wire. However, if a person tried to cross under the top wire, there was a good chance they would squeeze or bump the sensor wire into the heavier metal wire. When the sensor wire touched the fence wire, this grounded the circuit and sounding an alarm. If anyone cut the sensor wire, the alarm also sounded. Madison knew it was pointless, as Lee had not finished running the sensing wires around the property. So with the large open property, the family needed to be vigilant day and night.
An electric gate protected the main entrance to the property. The gate motor was a low voltage motor, which was powered by a pair of RV type batteries. The control panel had a simple solar panel above it to keep the batteries charged. Logan had already confirmed the gate was working except for the keypad. EMP waves had apparently damaged the small controller used to store and confirm keypad entries. Logan figured out how to jump the wires inside the control box to open and close the gate. He found two simple toggle switches in the workshop. He wired them up, and after testing them, he used duct tape to adhere them inside the control box. A padlock on the control box secured it. Logan found four keys that fit the lock. He tagged them all with paracord. He kept one, gave one to Madison, and placed the extra in the kitchen. The last one he placed near the gate under a large lava rock.
Around 4:00 p.m., Logan was partway up the hill above the house when he spotted two old Honda three-wheelers coming up the road toward the property. A single person was on the lead bike, towing an odd-looking trailer behind it. The unwieldly trailer tilted side to side from the large pile of boxes, and bags secured to it rope and straps. The second bike with two riders was trailing back a bit, obviously trying to avoid the dust kicked up by the lead bike. Gear and bags dangled from the handlebars of both bikes. Logan could see what looked like rifle cases tied on top of the gear. Both bikes looked way overloaded with weight.
Logan ran down to the house and yelled for Madison. They both moved to the kitchen window just as the bikes stopped at the gate. The rider on the lead bike climbed off and started punching numbers into the gate keypad. He removed a full-face motorcycle helmet, which allowed Madison and Logan to see it was Lawrence. Logan sprinted down the hill, with Madison trailing behind at a slower pace.
Logan yelled out as he got closer to the gate, “Hey, Lawrence, keypad is out. I have to override it.”
Lawrence replied, “Hey, little brother.”
Logan was close enough to see his brother was wearing a military combat leg holster filled with his 9 mm Barretta 92FS. The FS was a civilian version of the M9 pistol Lawrence had carried as an Army Ranger. Richard and Dena Silva stopped the second three-wheeler behind the trailer and climbed off. Logan arrived at the gate and opened the metal control panel and used the new switch he had installed to open the gate. The motor hummed, and the gate swung open. Logan and Lawrence met as the gate opened and hugged each other. Richard and Dena moved up and hugged Logan. Lawrence and Dena both had on bulky, overstuffed backpacks. Richard was the only one of the three not wearing a backpack. Lawrence assumed this was a need for Dena to ride behind him on the small old ATV. Both of the bikes sat idling as the four chatted a moment before Madison arrived. Madison repeated hugs for each of the newcomers.
“Where did you get these antiquated three-wheelers?” Logan asked.
“Richard’s old neighbor had them since sometime in the eighties. He was the owner of some ATV company back then. I guess he did lots of racing on three-wheelers and buggies. But he is barely able to ride his little electric scooter now days, so he offered them to us. He told us he had no plan of bugging out. He had his 357-revolver strapped to his scooter and was just daring anyone to come take his stuff.”
Richard chimed in, “Yeah, that ornery old bastard will probably go down, but only after he reloads that revolver several times. He helped get these two running. He had two newer Yamaha 4-wheelers, but they would not start. Carburetors had plugged up from stale gas. These old Hondas just needed a shot of starting fluid and some air in the tires.”
Lawrence added, “Frank did not have any premix for these old two-strokes. None of the neighbors did either, so Frank convinced us that power steering fluid would work. We drained gas out of his Lincoln Navigator and mixed in power steering fluid, and here we are. They smoked a bunch but started running better and better as we went. The new gas and steering fluid must have cleaned out the carbs.”
Lawrence pointed at the tires and said, “Look at those tires. They have so many cracks we did not think they would make it here. They were so out of round they about shook our teeth out for the first few miles, but they eventually smoothed out. I just knew we would be walking sooner than later.”
Madison asked about the trailer.
“Frank also had that old garden wagon. It is actually a dump trailer. His ex-wife used it in the garden. But now that she is gone, I think Frank does not care much about trying to survive. We told him we would come back for him in the Mustang, but he said don’t bother. Said he ain’t leaving his house. Been there for forty-plus years. Told us he buried his wife’s ashes in the rose garden and is not leaving.”
“God rest the first people who try to rob or loot from old Frank.”
As the group stood talking, the second three-wheeler engine suddenly started running faster and then coughed and quit, producing a large cloud of white smoke. The group looked at each other and started laughing hysterically
Chapter 13
1710, Day 1, Sandy Valley, Nevada
Lee and Jake rode their borrowed bikes into Sandy Valley in the early evening. The sixteen-mile ride was uneventful although tiring because of numerous hills and valleys. Both men were dead tired after the long walk
