It would be a week before Peak officers finished checking the area. They found a set of tracks connected to the main line. A resistance team had laid down tracks leading to the cliff face. Then, in the brief time between the passage of the survey crews and the train, they had connected the tracks to the main line. To camouflage their work, they had ripped up a section of the main line and covered it with a jumble of trees and bushes.
It would be a month before the Peaks decided it would be too difficult and too expensive to retrieve the bodies from the train. Time and weather would take care of the remains.
But it took just a day for the Peaks to attack suspected resistance targets, to raid their homes, and to torture those they captured into giving the names of sympathizers. Darius, who knew firsthand what attacking the Peaks meant, had moved Ilona and Helena to a house the resistance used to hide its members who became vulnerable. It was supposed to be secret, but one of the people the Peaks captured was a man who hated the natives and who hated Ilona. His information didn’t save his life, but it revealed the location of the hideout.
The attack was sudden, brief, and brutal. Six men, their faces obscured by visors, their boots shiny black, their weapons polished and primed, burst through the front door. Before either Darius or Ilona could react, the men seized them and pinned them down while one of them pulled out hypodermic needles. Four-year-old Helena was the first to be injected, the first to slump into unconsciousness. Darius understood. The Peaks would not drug them if their destination was an interrogation centre. They were about to join the Vanished.
PART 2
THE COORDINATOR
34
Report on Survival Operations
Food – Ross Candale
THE AREA AROUND Wishbone is full of game. Deer, moose, elk. Also, there are fish, mostly trout although there is an annual salmon run. There are two rivers that meet at the town. Incidentally, that’s why it’s called Wishbone. The rivers form a Y.
I’ve researched hunting techniques. I recommend archery. We can get some high-quality equipment now, and I’ve attached a couple of articles on making bows and arrows from saplings and using the gut of animals for a bowstring. I also recommend getting some rifles and ammunition just in case, but I suspect we may want to hold these in reserve for defence.
There are berries and edible plants in the area. I’ve attached a list. I’ve also bought some garden implements and a couple of cases of seeds for vegetables. We can plant in the spring and keep seed aside for the following years. On the pessimistic side, I’ve listed the plants we won’t be able to grow. No avocados, so no guacamole. Sorry, Todd. And no coffee.
One thing we should look at is a greenhouse. I’ve done some research and even found ways to heat them without fuel, but building one is beyond me. If we can recruit a carpenter who’s familiar with greenhouses, that would give us a better array of veggies year-round.
Toilet Paper and Other Essentials – Todd Baxter
IT WILL BE rough, but I’ve attached a couple of articles on making paper from plant fibres. I actually cooked some up in my kitchen. The toilet paper companies don’t have anything to worry about, but it works.
While we’re on the subject of the bathroom, I researched how to make soap. I’ve attached a list of the plants that produce the oils we’ll need. Again, it won’t be luxury, but it should make us tolerable. Showers probably won’t work because we won’t have water pressure. Even if they did, no hot water. But the houses have baths, and we can heat water, although heating is on Ellen’s list.
I also found out how to make material from tanned hides, softened tree bark, and grasses. I’ve attached another list of things like needles and thread that we can get in advance. If we had to, we could make clothing although I suggest we pack extras because anything we can put together won’t be as comfortable as what we’re used to.
Light, Heat, and Water – Ellen Sangster
MAKING TALLOW CANDLES from animal fat isn’t hard, but the candles are dirty. I found out that the mine and the town were powered by a hydro turbine on the river. An electrical engineer friend who wants to join us is confident he can get it running, although he recommends using it just at night to prolong its life. That way, we can socialize without the soot of candles, although they’ll make a good backup. Rod, the engineer, is also making a list of spare parts we can stock for the generator.
As for water, we can use the existing hot water heaters as holding tanks. We’d have to move them to the attics to provide water pressure, and we’d fill them by manually pumping water from the river, but at least each house would have its own supply. Incidentally, the water in the river is as pure as you can find anywhere.
For heat, the houses had natural gas furnaces with forced air. We can gut the chambers, line them with fireproof bricks, and use them to burn wood. We won’t have power for ventilation, but we should be able to use the existing ductwork to funnel the heat into the house.
Cooking will be a problem. Even if we could round up wood-burning stoves, just getting enough of them to Wishbone would be a challenge. We may have to bring in a handful and use the community centre as a common kitchen. Alternatively, we could use the existing electric stoves and restrict cooking to the evening hours when the generator is running. For the rest of the day, we’d have to eat cold leftovers. I’m open to suggestions on that one.
I’ve also researched solar and wind power. Wind doesn’t work at all. Wishbone doesn’t get enough to make it viable. In the summer, solar would be fine because Wishbone gets a lot of sun. But in the winter, the sun is up for only about seven hours a day, and over half those days are cloudy or snowy. Of course, winter is when we need power the most.
TODD BAXTER SAT with Ellen Sangster and Ross Candale in a living room. “Not bad. Comfy. The tea. Is that from local plants?”
“Yes. One of our members was a botanist who figured out how to process it so it’s drinkable. She’s even hoping to mix herbs that taste like coffee.”
“But you can still get coffee.”
“We could, but we’ve decided to become self-sufficient while we still have the option. That way, when we don’t, it won’t be a problem.”
Baxter asked, “How’s the toilet paper thing working?”
“It’s working.”
“How many people are in the community now?”
“We have a couple of hundred. That will grow.”
“Friends?”
“Friends, relatives, a few who you’ve told us are on the subversives list. And people who are angry at the government or the direction things are going. We’ve been careful to recruit like-minded people.”
Baxter said, “That’s a risk. The more people you have, the more likely it is that one of them will decide to report you to the NPF or to an interrogation centre. They might get a reward.”
Candale nodded. “That is a risk, but you recall the journey in here. There are a couple of places the road just hangs off the side of a cliff. This spot would be easy to defend if we had to.”
“You think you might not have to? I’d say that’s something you need to plan for.”
Sangster studied Baxter. “You keep saying you instead of us. Aren’t you planning on joining us?”