John O'Brien - Conspiracy

Krandle steps outside and contacts the rest of his team, adding a few items to his previous list. While he waits for their arrival, he grabs a few dish towels from behind the destroyed counter and begins hauling bodies and parts of bodies out through the café entrance, the doors of which now lie in the parking lot. On his third trip in, he notices Charles, and then Jim, emerge from the kitchen to help. They deposit the bodies on the sidewalk a couple of stores away.

The others eventually arrive, all shaking their heads as they look from the bodies to what’s left of the restaurant interior. During the day, the team scouts for transportation and supplies for the survivors. They eventually find a Hummer and a used four-wheel drive SUV from the local dealership. Locating an auto parts store they can enter, they take one of the batteries off the shelf. After draining the water from the tanks, they manage to get the vehicles started and charge the battery. They will have enough room for all of the people and allow the weakened ones room to lie down. The team also takes atlases from the parts store, giving the pertinent ones to the survivors and keeping the rest.

“It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing,” Franklin says with a shrug.

With nothing much left to do, the team hangs in the parking lot, looking over the blue waters of the Pacific and exchanging lies… aka stories. Blanchard continues checking on his patients who seem to gather strength as the day progresses. It would be a peaceful outing if it weren’t for the underlying tension of knowing that night runners could be hidden within the empty houses facing them and that darkness would eventually close in.

The night is a repeat of the previous one with the exception that Krandle had set the explosives outside and farther from the building. Another blast like the one the preceding night would bring the restaurant down on them. Although the freezer would most likely hold up, there is a chance the door could become blocked.

The days and nights pass. After the second night of explosions, the night runners leave the small group alone. Krandle doesn’t know if it’s because the last of the ones in the area were taken out or if they decided the effort wasn’t worth it. The four who were weaker grow stronger each day until they are able to move around. They still appear wasted, but are able to walk by themselves for short distances. Their strength will improve over time with sustenance but the hobble to the front of the restaurant tires them.

The third day arrives, and the team helps the four to the vehicles parked in front. Loaded with some supplies, Charles and Jim climb into the driver seats. Krandle verifies that they have the correct location marked on their atlas and, with many words of thanks, the small group of survivors drive off.

Krandle feels a measure of satisfaction as he watches them turn down one of the streets and disappear from view. The entire team sees them off and their eyes linger on where the vehicles vanished. They then gather their gear and begin the walk back to the beach.

Krandle knows that the team’s thoughts are on their own loved ones. As they make their way through town, he ponders this trip. Finding these last survivors means that there is still a faint hope of finding others… and of finding their families… but their time to do so may be running out. However, there is the group with Captain Walker and the hope that others have come together and formed a wall against the darkness.

The team reaches the shore and, in silence, pushes the rubber craft into the gently rolling surf.

Leonard waits patiently in the control room for Chief Krandle and his team to stow their gear in the deck locker. Waiting patiently is a matter of perspective. Having his boat exposed above the security of the depths has him on edge. Loitering in the area for three days added to that edge. Those three days had him surfacing several times and he felt his blood pressure elevate each and every time. Even though the evidence shows that there may not be anyone or anything that can threaten him, old habits die hard. Right now, the sub and each other are the only things they have, and he is hesitant to put either in danger.

He knows that what they were doing is right, that it is their duty to see to the survivors, but it is also his duty to look after the crew…and that includes the one thing that can keep them alive in this new world — the Santa Fe . The sub is their lifeline, and with it, they have a better chance at surviving. One thing weighing on Leonard’s mind is that the sub won’t last. It takes a lot to keep the old nuke attack boat going; it’s only a matter of time before they’ll have to put ashore for good. That time, he hopes, is a long ways off. They’ll be able to use the depot in San Diego for parts and, if that fails, there is a depot at Bangor.

The thought stays in his mind that he’ll have to find a location that’s best for them. At the moment, the best place they’ve come across is with Captain Walker and his group, but that’s only if they don’t find anything better. There is the danger that they’ll break down at an inopportune time and become stranded. If that happens, the choice will be taken away from them. The worst possibility is that they’ll become stranded in the middle of the ocean should he endeavor beyond the western shores and strike for Hawaii or Guam. The sub has taken them wherever they desired on patrol without difficulty, but they haven’t undergone their usual in-port repairs after their last cruise. He knows the chance he’d be taking.

For now, though, they’ll continue to take observations on the way to San Diego. That’s their base, where their families are, and their best bet to find anyone still in charge. Deep down, he knows they may be the only ones left. There would have been communications if any part of the military still operated. Captain Walker and his group would have received some message and become a part of the rebuilding.

Perhaps that’s all we’re left with… all that remains to rebuild. Small groups carving out a niche for themselves in an otherwise desolate land , Leonard thinks while waiting on the all clear. It could be that’s what we have to rebuild from .

The all clear finally comes, and the watch descends. Leonard orders the boat to submerge. The sleek black lethal m an-of-war sinks below the cresting swells of the Pacific and turns toward deeper waters. Feeling more comfortable, Leonard sends a quick thought of good will towards those who are, at this very moment, making their way northward. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about their well-being when talking with the chief; he had his crew to think of and couldn’t risk an illness being brought aboard. They just don’t have the resources at their beck and call that they used to. He’s playing it by ear in this new situation, and if he is too cautious, then so be it.

Checking with the comm officer, he finds they still can’t communicate with Captain Walker and his group. They dove one evening after giving a sit-rep and when they tried again in the morning, there wasn’t any reply. Each time they surface, they try to establish communication, but the airwaves remain empty. He should have left a message with the ones they helped, but he was anxious to get underway and the thought didn’t occur to him. If they come into contact with another group, he’ll rectify that and send them off with a note. Until then, observing the coastline and getting to San Diego is his priority. He’ll base further decisions on what he finds there. However, he has to get them there first. At their present speed, it will take about three-plus days. Sometime tomorrow, they should be pulling into the approaches to San Francisco.