Chapter 3- Scavenger Hunt
Both Joe and Lindsay woke up in the morning to Trixie’s mowling, demanding her food and water bowls be refilled. When that problem was handled, the two got up. Lindsay filled the shower bag with warm water from the tub on the hearth and showered while Joe built up the fire from the woodpile in the garage. When she was done, she refilled the bag and gave it to Joe, who went into the bathroom, hung the bag up on the curtain rod, and enjoyed his first shower as a pegasus. Once dried off, he spent some time working on his wings, knowing without exactly knowing HOW he knew that a good preening was essential to proper flight.
Once dried and preened, Joe came out to find breakfast waiting, warm rolls, oatmeal and tea. “Where you get the rolls?” he asked.
“I made them. I have a jar of dough start near the hearth, and every few days I make up a fresh batch of dough, which I keep in another room, to keep cool. There’s nothing like fresh bread in the morning, with butter. Thing is, I took the last of the good butter from Stop and Shop three weeks ago.”
“That’s one thing I’ll have to do, learn how to make bread. I may be Italian, but to me, there’s nothing like a good Jewish rye, piled high with roast beef,” Joe said around a hot roll.
Lindsay looked a little downcast. “Not any more, Joe,” she said with a sigh. “Ponies and meat products do NOT get along. I have heard on the radio that pegasi can have fish, but Trixie ate all the tuna we had here, and I never thought to get any more. She likes tuna.”
Joe shrugged as he sipped some tea. “I can wait. Where do you want to go first, Target or Costco?” he asked.
“Target is just up the hill. Let’s hit that first before the Costco. Let’s take the radios and phones, just in case. Let’s leave the dishes for later. I want to head out while I’m still willing,” Lindsay said with a small smile. “Besides, I want to see you fly.”
“Well then, sweet lady, grab your bags, because we are about to go shopping!” Joe said in a friendly toe, which made Lindsay laugh.
“You are a most unusual man, Joe. I have never heard of any man enjoying shopping!”
Joe struck an indignant pose, his wings held up over his body. “In case you have not noticed, little lady, I am NOT a man, I’m a pegasus! Pegasi like to shop!”
“Grab your bags and let’s go!”
Together, they put on their backpacks, Lindsay put on the boots she had made, while Joe went with his knee socks, plastic bags and duct tape booties. “I’m going to want some of those boots of yours, Linz.”
“I’ll see what I can do tonight, Joe.”
They set out, Lindsay shutting the garage door behind them. Joe moved out a few steps before taking off, circling the house some, to Lindsay’s rapt admiration. Joe did that for a minute to get his blood flowing before landing. “Shall we?” he asked.
“Surely!” Lindsay said, leading the way down West Palmer Avenue to Middletown Road.
“Don’t call me Shirley!” Joe laughed as he walked along in her path.
The snow had barely melted any, the weather remaining clear and cold, at Joe’s guess about twenty degrees. They walked down the road to Rockland Plaza, using it as a short cut to get to the hill, at the top of which was the Target.
“It’s so strange, with nobody here. Our footsteps are the only ones in the snow.” Lindsay observed as they climbed the hill.
“No doubt, plus the streets have not been plowed yet. When this happened, it was six-thirteen a.m. I had just woken up for a fire call when the flash happened,” Joe said as they made their way up the hill.
“I was asleep. Last I remember it was Friday night, I had studied for a while, then went to bed. I woke up in my bed, freezing cold. Trixie was there within a minute, meowing at me.
“Think we’ll find anything there?” she asked as they passed under the train bridge.
“I don’t see why not. I have not seen any trace of anyone around yet. Want me to fly ahead and take a look?” Joe asked.
“Yes, please. I’ll wait here out of the wind. I’ll be listening to the radio,” she said, pulling it out of her pack, making sure it was on. Joe checked to make sure of the frequency setting, got his radio set and took off.
Only a minute or so later, Joe was circling the Target. The place looked deserted, only a few cars in the lot. He flew down and landed in front of the doors, which he noticed were not locked. He tried to wiggle a hoof between the doors to pry them open, but he could not get enough leverage. With a sigh, he grabbed the extension mic of his radio. “Linz, come on up. The doors are unlocked, but stuck shut. No trace of activity. I’m by the front door.”
“Be right up,” Linz said. A few minutes later, she became visible to Joe, coming up into the parking lot.
Puffing a little, she trotted up to Joe. “What’s the issue?”
Joe showed her how he tried to open the door. Linz concentrated, her pink glow coming from her horn. Slowly, the doors slid open, letting out a musty gust of cold air. “Not as bad as Charlie’s,” Joe observed.
“Ice must have got in to the tracks. Let’s see what we can find.”
Together, they walked in to the store. The produce section looked like something from a horror movie, decayed fruits and vegetables in abundance on the racks. Mold was evident in the freezer doors, so they left them alone. “You start on groceries, I’ll see if they have a generator here. Sitting idle, they should be all right, once we find fuel,” Joe said.
“Don’t forget candles and some sort of lantern. We can do some work at night with them,” Linz reminded Joe.
“Will do,” Joe grunted as he started walking towards hardware and sporting goods. Passing the toy department, he saw several large plastic wagons on display, all assembled. That gave him an idea. Going to sporting goods, he looked for some rope or straps. While he did find some, he kept looking. In automotive, he found some ratchet straps. “Now that’s more like it!”
He took several straps with him to the wagon display. There, he managed to fashion a crude harness to wrap around his body and pull the wagon with, putting the hooks on and around the wagon’s handle. Satisfied, he hooked up a second one to the back of the first. Wagons in tow, he kept on exploring.
In sporting goods, he did find lanterns, camping stoves, dehydrated foods, and candles, along with campfire lighters and sleeping bags. Loading one of the wagons with the goods, he searched for a generator. He did find a display, but the boxes were too unwieldly for him to lift on his own. Encouraged, he went back to find Linz.
He found Linz in the grocery department, an assortment of cans in her glow. “Just what the hell have you got there, Joe?” she asked in a startled tone of voice.
“A means of hauling goods without carrying them!” Joe said with obvious pride. “I found a generator, but I can’t manage the box. Can I get some help?”
“AFTER I fix those straps. You’ll chafe yourself raw before we get home like that! Let’s find something I can use to cut and stitch with, okay?” Linz said, trying not to laugh at such a comical sight as a pegasus wrapped up in tow straps.
“Yes, Linz. Put the cans in the first wagon and I’ll take you to the crafts department.”
Once that task was completed, Joe led the way to the crafts department. Linz found some shears, heavy duty thread, and the biggest needles she could find. She told Joe to remain still while she did the cutting and stitching. Inside of an hour, the crude harness was neatened up considerably, with enough slack so that Linz could adjust the straps to fit her body, which was a bit more robust than Joe’s slighter pegasus build. “With what I’ve learned now, tonight I can make better ones. This will work until we get home,” she said when she pronounced herself done.
“Good. Let’s grab the generator, then head home. We’ll drop these off, then I want to do some more scouting. We’re going to want to get some cans of gas, and I want to scope out the Costco, my father’s apartment, and that wreck scene that woke me up,” Joe told his friend.
“Where was that, Joe?”
“Middletown Road and the P.I.P., one of the ramps. Call it morbid curiosity, but I want to check it out, for due diligence. My father’s apartment is up that way, too.”
“Okay, then. You look about while I get the house set up. I’ll see if I can make you some hot tuna casserole for lunch. Deal?” Linz said with a smile as she put the sewing supplies and strap scraps in one of the wagons.
“Deal!” They went to where the generators were kept, finding the box being just a touch too big for the wagon, but with a little creative jiggering, they got it to fit and lashed down. They filled the chinks in the wagons with more supplies before taking their leave of the Target, closing the doors behind them.
Fortunately for them, the way back to the house was mostly downhill, Lindsay having to hold back the wagons from slipping and sliding down the snowy slope of Route Fifty-nine. On the flats, Joe found he had to work hard to pull the wagons, his ‘boots’ not giving him good traction, but between the two of them, they made it home safely, with goods intact.
In the garage, Joe had himself some warm water to drink before heading out on his expedition, not without giving Lindsay a hug and a kiss before departing. His first destination was the wreck scene, which he easily located. Two cars had a rough meeting at the end of the off ramp on West Clarkstown Road. A quick search, after using his wings to blow off some of the snow, showed no bodies present, but a lot of mangled wreckage. “This would have required extrication gear. Good thing I’m trained on all the Hurst tools,” Joe said to himself after his inspection.
His next stop is his father’s apartment, a half-mile south. Checking the parking lot revealed the Chief’s car parked in its spot, and a check of the apartment showed that his father WAS home at the time of the flash, had heard the same call Joe did, and was half-dressed when the Flash happened, thanks to the disturbed-looking bedding and the collapsed pants by the bed. Joe wrote a note on a torn open paper bag with a Sharpie, letting his father know he had come back and when. Leaving the note on the kitchen table, Joe locked the place back up before heading for his last stop, the Costco.
Circling the shopping center with the Costco, once again Joe saw no signs of habitation, no smoke, no disturbed snow, no tracks. Checking at the doors found the place securely locked up, so Joe decided to check out some more shops in the area, just to see what was open.
One place he found was the Dunkin Donuts, whose doors were open. The smell of decay inside was tolerable, so he went in, to raid for several things he prized- they being coffee, sugar and creamer. Loading a bag of each in his backpack, along with stir sticks and napkins, Joe kept on checking storefronts. A check of shopping plazas west on Route Fifty-Nine all the way to Spring Valley revealed a lot of locked doors. After two hours or so, he flew back to Linz’ house.
At home, he found that Linz had kept herself busy- the generator was unboxed and set up in the garage, with an extension cord leading inside. Letting himself in, the first thing he noticed was getting pounced on by Trixie, who was either mad at his leaving or glad of his return, take your pick. He soothed the cat with a wing as he called out, “Loo-cy! I’m ho-ome!” in his best Ricky Ricardo imitation.
“About time, Ricky! You been hanging out with the band again? Fred and Ethel want us to call them! They want to speak to you!” Linz shouted from the cold stores room, which was their pantry.
Joe got out of his pack. “Which one called, Linz?” he said as she emerged from the store room.
“Manhattan. They got a call from Alexandria, and they want to talk to us. I told them you were out scouting and would be back before dinner,” Linz reported. “What did you find?”
“Not a lot,” Joe sighed before explaining his findings. “At least, I found some better coffee than that cheapie brand you have,” he concluded, pointing to his pack with a wing.
“I’ll put some water on while you call Manhattan. Deal?”
“Deal. If there are any rolls left, I’ll take some and a package of tuna fish as a schmear, with butter, please,” Joe requested as he went for the phone.
“Fifteen minutes on the rolls. Maybe a bit more. I’ll bring them all over to you, okay? Want to use the stores room for talking?”
“Good idea, Linz. Be back in a bit.” Joe picked up the phone and went to the stores room. It was cool in there, but not bad enough to warrant a blanket. Using the last number redial feature, Joe placed the call.
After a few rings, the other end picked up. “Central Park campsite, office of the Mayor. This is Fred.”
“Fred, I’m Joe Velloti, in Nanuet. Sorry I was out scouting when you called. What can we do for you?” Joe asked.
“Hello, Joe! The main thing I want to know is, want to come down and join the party? We’re camping in Central Park, at the Belvedere Castle. There’s sixty-one of us now, and we can use all the hooves we can get.”
“I know I could be there in short order but getting Lindsay down there will be one heck of a walk. I doubt we could get there in less than a day. There’s over a foot of snow up here, and without a vehicle running, travel will be slow,” Joe said honestly.
Fred hmmmed some in thought. “Tell you what, Joe. Why don’t you come down in the next day or so and see for yourself? We do have a few vehicles and generators up and running, and scavenging teams out combing Manhattan for supplies. Lindsay said you’re a pegasus who can fly. We have ten here, and a griffin, but flight is not easy for them. How did you manage to learn how to fly so fast?”
“Walking into a butcher shop that had not been entered since the flash. The stench alone was enough to make me want to de-ass the area, and the fastest way was up. I can’t say I know HOW I learned to fly, but if I don’t think about it, I don’t have a Centipede’s Dilemma.
“Let me talk with Linz today, and I’ll call you tonight with my decision. I do want to see your campsite and seeing will help me decide which way I want to go. I may have grown up here, but I doubt we could stay here on our own for very long.”
“Let me guess, now that you found her, she’s reluctant to be alone for long, right?” Fred asked.
Joe snorted gently. “That’s the truth, Fred. I can’t fault her one bit, though. I’m sure she’ll let me. What was this about cultists that came through?”
“All true, I’m afraid. They wanted us all to go with them, but we really were not fit to do much traveling, so they went on their way, with a little encouragement. I’ll tell you more when you get here. We’re going to have a lot to talk about,” Fred said.
“Okay, then. I can smell lunch cooking, so let me let you go. I’ll call back about four. How’s that?”
“Sounds good to me! I can put some details about your impending visit on the newscast tonight. We’ve got groups out in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and the radio casts are our means of letting them know what’s going on here at the Park. They may decide to bring back their scavenges just to see you.”
“Well, meeting fresh faces is always a good thing. I’ll call you back later, Fred. Have a good day!” Joe said, going to push the off switch.
“You too, Joe!” he heard before the connection broke.
Joe went back to the living area, where he found Linz working on something that smelled good, his promised rolls and schmear waiting on a paper plate nearby. “How did it go?” she asked.
“Fred wants me to come down tomorrow or the next day to look around. It should not take me more than an hour each way. I can just do what Mom called IFR flying there and back,” Joe said as he first picked up a cup of the coffee, which his nose told him was the Dunkin Donuts stuff, not the cheap stuff she had used before and taking a sip before adding sugar and creamer.
“IFR flying?” Linz asked.
“In her words, IFR means one of three things, they being Instrument Flight Rules, I Follow Roads, or in my case now, I Follow Rivers. Following the Parkway under the snow is going to be hard, but I can follow the Thruway to the river, turn right, and go to Manhattan. Finding Central Park won’t be too hard,” Joe explained as he adjusted his coffee. “The one thing I have to ask is will YOU be all right by yourself?”
Linz checked what she was mixing before slipping the pan into the bake oven. “I can manage. I won’t enjoy it, though. Now that Trixie has tuna, she’ll be happy for a while and keep me company. Just take a radio and phone with you,” she said nervously before slipping up alongside Joe, on the side away from his coffee cup.
“I don’t blame you one bit, Linz. How about I leave tomorrow morning about nine, and be back before sunset? I don’t want to fly at night, but in case I must, I’ll phone ahead. We can get some lanterns ready in case of need.”
“We can do that. Let me make you some better boots than your socks and bags tonight, so you won’t get cold feet. Also, hit up the Target and bring a pack full of food with you. Every little bit helps, right?” Linz suggested, trembling some.
Joe put his coffee cup down and gave her a hug. “I know you’re scared about me going out. If I like what I see, we can get the Patrol bus running and drive down. If not, we’ll head for Alexandria or Toronto. Much as this is home, we won’t be able to live here on our own for very long,” he said to reassure her.
The words had the desired effect, Linz stopping her shaking. “Yes, I’m scared, but I’ll manage. Now, have your lunch. You need it. I’m sure you’ll want to do more scouting before dark.”
“Best idea so far today,” Joe said, letting go of Linz and turning his attention to the thick roll, filled with butter and tuna. The tuna was very good indeed, making Joe feel a lot better after his meal.
“I’m going to take a wagon and go to Target, getting another load of goods. We can pack tonight, and you can stow tomorrow while I’m gone,” Joe said after putting his mug in the wash basin.
“Good idea. Glad you thought of it,” Linz said with a smile.
“Hey, I’m the brains, you’re the brawn around here, right?” Joe laughed as he found the harness and put it on.
“Got that right!”
Joe hitched up a wagon and trudged his way up to Target, taking his time going up the hill, following the tracks from before. At the store, he filled the wagon with assorted groceries, namely flour, canned fish, cat food, spices and catnip. He did a small detour to a gas station, looking about to see if he could get the gas out of the station’s tanks easily. Easy it would not be, even though he found the tank vent and cover. No power, no pumps, no easy withdrawal. With a sigh, he headed back home, following his tracks. At home, he did remember to call Fred and bring him up to speed on their plans, except mentioning the pack of food he would be bringing. They wanted that as a surprise. Over dinner, Joe and Linz listened to the radio broadcast, which highlighted Joe’s projected visit. That evening, they cuddled together to sleep, sharing warmth under the sleeping bag covers, Trixie working her way in as well.
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Next? Find a siphon hose and a few fuel cans . Siphon fuel for the genset or for vehicle(s). An auto parts store will be the most likely place to have the right kind of hose.
Never having done that, I didn't think of it...
First, Joe should get his hooves on fire department entry keys that would allow him to enter most businesses and apartment buildings with the front door keys?
Knox Rapid Entry System
For an extended journey, I can see Joe driving a fire department vehicle, while Linz drives a three axle supply truck, a Humvee, or if she learns about dangerous creatures are now about and hunting ponies a M1117 Armored Security Vehicle with a cargo trailer. As the M1117 has a turret that has a .50 caliber machine gun and grenade launcher that firepower would deter almost any antagonist from attempting to harm Joe, Linz, and anypony else that they find on their journey.
When I put myself into this situation, I’d put an armored vehicle with two mounted guns between my little pony body and something that wants to make me their next meal.
Moreover, as I’m the size of a big dog, I’d attempt to raid police stations to get my hooves on some K-9 dog body armor. Beyond that I’d find and then wear some horse saddlebags. And then, I noticed that it is 2:30 AM and time to get some sleep.
Try and find older gas stations with electrical, not electronic gas pumps. They tend to just have a simple motor driven pump, the motor mains supply relay controlled from a button in teh station. Put a generator lead on the motor to spin it, or pull the belt, put a wheel brace on the pump pully and spin it youself? But thats a lot of years ago. 80s at latest?
US vehicles are completely different than UK vehicles, but finidng out what is with those cultists is the main one, because in times of stress, cultists are teh easy way to get numbers, no matter how badly the followers are used or used to abuse.