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Authors: Lee Thomas
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to help clear the building. I wanted to see if anything useful was inside.
Those of us going inside crept up to the door. The windows were smashed out, but not covered, so it looked like looters had their way with the place, then deserted it. We opened the door and stepped in. The crunch of glass all over the floor made stealth an impossibility, so we just kept our eyes open. We spread out, all of us knowing what to look for. Food was gone, as well as anything that could have been a weapon. Radios, batteries, all gone. The shelves were pretty clear, except for the knickknack items you find at truck stops. Once we cleared the building I ordered everyone outside.
I let everyone stretch their legs a bit, enjoy the sunshine. I didn’t want to pause too long, but breaks were important so people didn’t go stir crazy in the cars. I checked on our siphon team, and they had found some to replenish with. The cans from the rig were enough to fill the RV tanks, but now those were extremely low. I knew we would have this problem, and our only hope for it was to keep finding gas stations and abandoned cars we could siphon from.
Once we got as much gas as possible, and everyone had a nice rest and lunch, we loaded back up and continued on. I had gathered the drivers before we left and informed them we would not be stopping for breaks unless it involved clearing the road or siphoning gas. We had at least two stops to make to search for families along the way, and I wanted to get to the ship as fast as possible.
Around three we passed the exit for Wynne, which according to my atlas was about three quarters of the way to Memphis, which was where we would pick up I-40. We had passed many abandoned cars along the way which helped us replenish our gas cans, but little else. I hoped we had the gas to make it to Memphis, as we should have a very good chance of finding gas there, enough to fill the tanks and the reserve cans. I checked in periodically with the other drivers to make sure there were not any problems in the other vehicles.
As we continued east on highway 64, we drew close to the city of Earle, AR. I decided that since it was almost dinner time, and we could use a top off on the tanks, I radioed Jeff and the other drivers to pull off the highway and find a place to park. We found what appeared to be a large warehouse, or shipping company with a large open area. I told Jeff to pull in there, and the other drivers to form a protective circle around the rig. With the trailers behind the RV's, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. I assembled three teams, one to get cars off the trailers and go in search of food, gas, and anything else they could find, while the other two teams, led by Jeff and myself, searched the building. I hoped it was secure enough we could camp out inside for a while and rest, make some dinner, maybe even stay the night if it was safe enough.
Where Jeff had parked, and our ring set up at, there were four bay doors for semi's to be loaded through. They all appeared to be locked, so both teams went down the wall until we found a service entrance that was unlocked. Since Jeff knew service areas like this better than I did, I told him to take his team to the left through the service bays and search there first. I was going to take my team to the right which appeared to lead into office space.
Jeff and I both listened at the door, and neither one of us heard anything. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. We waited for a few moments to listen, and when he looked at me I nodded. He took his team in first, then I took mine in. We entered into what appeared to be a lobby of sorts. There was a glassed in desk facing the door, chairs along the walls, some small end tables. I saw the last of Jeff's team disappear into a
Those of us going inside crept up to the door. The windows were smashed out, but not covered, so it looked like looters had their way with the place, then deserted it. We opened the door and stepped in. The crunch of glass all over the floor made stealth an impossibility, so we just kept our eyes open. We spread out, all of us knowing what to look for. Food was gone, as well as anything that could have been a weapon. Radios, batteries, all gone. The shelves were pretty clear, except for the knickknack items you find at truck stops. Once we cleared the building I ordered everyone outside.
I let everyone stretch their legs a bit, enjoy the sunshine. I didn’t want to pause too long, but breaks were important so people didn’t go stir crazy in the cars. I checked on our siphon team, and they had found some to replenish with. The cans from the rig were enough to fill the RV tanks, but now those were extremely low. I knew we would have this problem, and our only hope for it was to keep finding gas stations and abandoned cars we could siphon from.
Once we got as much gas as possible, and everyone had a nice rest and lunch, we loaded back up and continued on. I had gathered the drivers before we left and informed them we would not be stopping for breaks unless it involved clearing the road or siphoning gas. We had at least two stops to make to search for families along the way, and I wanted to get to the ship as fast as possible.
Around three we passed the exit for Wynne, which according to my atlas was about three quarters of the way to Memphis, which was where we would pick up I-40. We had passed many abandoned cars along the way which helped us replenish our gas cans, but little else. I hoped we had the gas to make it to Memphis, as we should have a very good chance of finding gas there, enough to fill the tanks and the reserve cans. I checked in periodically with the other drivers to make sure there were not any problems in the other vehicles.
As we continued east on highway 64, we drew close to the city of Earle, AR. I decided that since it was almost dinner time, and we could use a top off on the tanks, I radioed Jeff and the other drivers to pull off the highway and find a place to park. We found what appeared to be a large warehouse, or shipping company with a large open area. I told Jeff to pull in there, and the other drivers to form a protective circle around the rig. With the trailers behind the RV's, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. I assembled three teams, one to get cars off the trailers and go in search of food, gas, and anything else they could find, while the other two teams, led by Jeff and myself, searched the building. I hoped it was secure enough we could camp out inside for a while and rest, make some dinner, maybe even stay the night if it was safe enough.
Where Jeff had parked, and our ring set up at, there were four bay doors for semi's to be loaded through. They all appeared to be locked, so both teams went down the wall until we found a service entrance that was unlocked. Since Jeff knew service areas like this better than I did, I told him to take his team to the left through the service bays and search there first. I was going to take my team to the right which appeared to lead into office space.
Jeff and I both listened at the door, and neither one of us heard anything. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. We waited for a few moments to listen, and when he looked at me I nodded. He took his team in first, then I took mine in. We entered into what appeared to be a lobby of sorts. There was a glassed in desk facing the door, chairs along the walls, some small end tables. I saw the last of Jeff's team disappear into a
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