entry and exit were no longer accessible.
“I guess the truck drivers were abandoning their trucks and making their way back to their families. They were probably trying to do so at the truck stop, until there was no more space. Then they had no choice except to abandon them at the roadside.”
“That would make sense. That’s why most of the tractors are missing. They dropped their trailers and then bobtailed it back to wherever home was.”
“I wonder why some of them left their tractors.”
“Just a guess, but I’ll bet if you checked their fuel tanks, they were short on fuel. Remember, CNN did a story a day or two after the meteorite hit that said all the gas stations were running out of fuel. A lot of people were tanking up trying to get down to Mexico, or to be with their families in other parts of the country. I’ll bet the same thing happened with diesel. Either the truck stops ran out of it, or they were so blockaded like this one, nobody could get to the pumps.”
“So instead, I’ll bet the drivers who were low on fuel just parked their rigs and hitched rides with other truckers going in the same direction.”
“Makes sense. And that would also explain those two rigs we passed that stopped dead in the roadway. I’ll bet they ran out of fuel trying to make it to the truck stop.”
“It must have been chaos.”
“And hell, rolled right in together. Kind of makes you realize how easy we had it, compared to the rest of the world.”
They arrived at the farm implement company without incident, and drove into its yard. The chain holding the gate shut had been cut with bolt cutters, its padlock still attached and now worthless.
“Looters, probably.”
The implements were arranged neatly in rows, and the pair drove up and down each row looking for a planter.
Bryan, meanwhile, parked his rig in front of the sales office and stepped through a shattered picture window to gain entry.
He emerged a minute later with the key for a Case swivel bodied diesel forklift. On the side were stenciled the words LIFT CAPACITY: 10,000 LBS.
“Yep,” he said to himself. “That’s plenty of power.”
He climbed on board, put the key in the ignition, and turned it halfway to the right. Through a small port, he could see a glow plug indicator. He was hoping to see it turn bright red.
Nothing.
He started to climb off the lift and open up the hood to check the battery, when he remembered something. Case equipment sometimes had a battery kill switch located in the frame in front of the driver’s seat.
He sat back down and reached in front of the seat until he found a lever, and switched it to the left.
Then he tried the key again.
After five seconds, the glow plug indicator glowed a pretty red color.
“Well, I’ll be damned. After all this time, you still work.”
But he spoke too fast. He turned the key the rest of the way, and heard the starter groan. It tried to start, but the battery was just too weak.
At that exact instant, Mark and Brad pulled up in the Hummer.
“We found one, in the third row. Looks like it’ll seed twelve rows at a time. Just the right size for our operation.”
“Great. Get the jumper cables and give me a boost, would you?”
“Oh, crap.”
Mark’s words said it all. They’d remembered to bring a spare battery and tools to install it. But they’d forgotten jumper cables.
Brad scrambled inside the building and looked around the service bay, but couldn’t locate a pair.
“We’ve got no choice. We’ll have to swap out the battery.”
F ifteen minutes later Brad was on the lift, following the Hummer to where he and Mark had found the planter. Bryan was close behind in the truck.
Fifteen
“I guess the truck drivers were abandoning their trucks and making their way back to their families. They were probably trying to do so at the truck stop, until there was no more space. Then they had no choice except to abandon them at the roadside.”
“That would make sense. That’s why most of the tractors are missing. They dropped their trailers and then bobtailed it back to wherever home was.”
“I wonder why some of them left their tractors.”
“Just a guess, but I’ll bet if you checked their fuel tanks, they were short on fuel. Remember, CNN did a story a day or two after the meteorite hit that said all the gas stations were running out of fuel. A lot of people were tanking up trying to get down to Mexico, or to be with their families in other parts of the country. I’ll bet the same thing happened with diesel. Either the truck stops ran out of it, or they were so blockaded like this one, nobody could get to the pumps.”
“So instead, I’ll bet the drivers who were low on fuel just parked their rigs and hitched rides with other truckers going in the same direction.”
“Makes sense. And that would also explain those two rigs we passed that stopped dead in the roadway. I’ll bet they ran out of fuel trying to make it to the truck stop.”
“It must have been chaos.”
“And hell, rolled right in together. Kind of makes you realize how easy we had it, compared to the rest of the world.”
They arrived at the farm implement company without incident, and drove into its yard. The chain holding the gate shut had been cut with bolt cutters, its padlock still attached and now worthless.
“Looters, probably.”
The implements were arranged neatly in rows, and the pair drove up and down each row looking for a planter.
Bryan, meanwhile, parked his rig in front of the sales office and stepped through a shattered picture window to gain entry.
He emerged a minute later with the key for a Case swivel bodied diesel forklift. On the side were stenciled the words LIFT CAPACITY: 10,000 LBS.
“Yep,” he said to himself. “That’s plenty of power.”
He climbed on board, put the key in the ignition, and turned it halfway to the right. Through a small port, he could see a glow plug indicator. He was hoping to see it turn bright red.
Nothing.
He started to climb off the lift and open up the hood to check the battery, when he remembered something. Case equipment sometimes had a battery kill switch located in the frame in front of the driver’s seat.
He sat back down and reached in front of the seat until he found a lever, and switched it to the left.
Then he tried the key again.
After five seconds, the glow plug indicator glowed a pretty red color.
“Well, I’ll be damned. After all this time, you still work.”
But he spoke too fast. He turned the key the rest of the way, and heard the starter groan. It tried to start, but the battery was just too weak.
At that exact instant, Mark and Brad pulled up in the Hummer.
“We found one, in the third row. Looks like it’ll seed twelve rows at a time. Just the right size for our operation.”
“Great. Get the jumper cables and give me a boost, would you?”
“Oh, crap.”
Mark’s words said it all. They’d remembered to bring a spare battery and tools to install it. But they’d forgotten jumper cables.
Brad scrambled inside the building and looked around the service bay, but couldn’t locate a pair.
“We’ve got no choice. We’ll have to swap out the battery.”
F ifteen minutes later Brad was on the lift, following the Hummer to where he and Mark had found the planter. Bryan was close behind in the truck.
Fifteen
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