over produced a hidden slider, which, when opened, exposed a key. She dug it out. Deo caught up just in time to see her turn and throw the rock across the road and into the weeds.
The dim light inside exposed a long, open space crowded with vehicles. Dust lay heavy on gleaming paint and chrome.
Brother and sister moved slowly together, looking at each vehicle in turn. They knew this was a special place filled with someone’s heart, their blood and their sweat, and even their tears. Their father had told them stories about before, and one of his favorites was about the classic cars and the shows where hundreds would congregate. They remembered seeing several individual vehicles in garages as they explored with their dad after settling in Roseburg. He would look, always without touching, explaining that these were works of art. Sometimes they found vehicles in the process of being restored and modified. From the cars and the stories, they learned how much work went into the final result.
Lecti and Deo were not brought up in an age of ready vehicular transportation. Older vehicles were some type of internal combustion powered system and the later electric vehicles built before the plagues needed recharging. After the plagues hit, most of the power grid was lost in a few months. Public transportation systems were the first to go. The combustible petroleum-based fuels had a short shelf life. By the time Lecti was old enough to remember seeing anything operational, everything except solar powered vehicles were extinct. Even the solar-powered cars became scarce. After the plagues, there were so few people that when the cars broke down, drivers would just find another and use it until that one broke. Without learning how to repair them, the technological skills became scarce and gradually fewer and fewer vehicles survived in operating condition. Still, as kids, they had both had a chance to learn how to operate what there was, thanks to their father’s insistence on learning anything worthwhile.
The majority of the vehicles that Lecti and Deo were looking at were vintage. Deo wasn’t very good at identifying cars, but three were familiar due to his father’s particular interest in them. These were AC Cobras, or at least very good replicas. Another was a later model Shelby Cobra, a dark blue GT 500 fastback built on a Mustang chassis.
The fastback drew Deo’s interest because it had an unusual fitting on the left front fender. Overcoming his aversion to touching the car, he opened the hood and found a beautifully fitted electric power plant. This car was rechargeable. Unfortunately they had no way to charge it. They would have also needed the capacity to charge it somewhere down the road in order to catch up with their prey.
They kept looking.
The last two bays were filled with what their father called “big-boy toys.” Most of them were state-of-the-art, built just before the plagues. Many of them were also solar-powered. Two full-dress road bikes, six bikes built for off-road use, five quads, and a four seat dune buggy on a trailer.
The last vehicle was a new looking, three-wheeled, off road motorcycle/dune buggy hybrid. It had solar panels mounted within the top of the roll cage, as well as on all other sun-facing surfaces. A rack of small, rechargeable vanadium batteries sat behind the two seats. Two rifle mounts graced the front cage supports. A pair of goggles lay on each seat. The two smaller front tires and the wider rear tire were made for off road use but had a solid center rib for smooth highway use. Although Deo and Lecti didn’t know it, the tires were also filled with foam. You couldn’t flatten them even if you stuck them with a knife.
Hal had informed Lecti of two places that held possible transportation. Lecti knew they would not have to investigate the other.
Deo opened the garage door. Light flooded the interior.
The bikers were riding solar motorcycles so the dirt bikes were considered. They
The dim light inside exposed a long, open space crowded with vehicles. Dust lay heavy on gleaming paint and chrome.
Brother and sister moved slowly together, looking at each vehicle in turn. They knew this was a special place filled with someone’s heart, their blood and their sweat, and even their tears. Their father had told them stories about before, and one of his favorites was about the classic cars and the shows where hundreds would congregate. They remembered seeing several individual vehicles in garages as they explored with their dad after settling in Roseburg. He would look, always without touching, explaining that these were works of art. Sometimes they found vehicles in the process of being restored and modified. From the cars and the stories, they learned how much work went into the final result.
Lecti and Deo were not brought up in an age of ready vehicular transportation. Older vehicles were some type of internal combustion powered system and the later electric vehicles built before the plagues needed recharging. After the plagues hit, most of the power grid was lost in a few months. Public transportation systems were the first to go. The combustible petroleum-based fuels had a short shelf life. By the time Lecti was old enough to remember seeing anything operational, everything except solar powered vehicles were extinct. Even the solar-powered cars became scarce. After the plagues, there were so few people that when the cars broke down, drivers would just find another and use it until that one broke. Without learning how to repair them, the technological skills became scarce and gradually fewer and fewer vehicles survived in operating condition. Still, as kids, they had both had a chance to learn how to operate what there was, thanks to their father’s insistence on learning anything worthwhile.
The majority of the vehicles that Lecti and Deo were looking at were vintage. Deo wasn’t very good at identifying cars, but three were familiar due to his father’s particular interest in them. These were AC Cobras, or at least very good replicas. Another was a later model Shelby Cobra, a dark blue GT 500 fastback built on a Mustang chassis.
The fastback drew Deo’s interest because it had an unusual fitting on the left front fender. Overcoming his aversion to touching the car, he opened the hood and found a beautifully fitted electric power plant. This car was rechargeable. Unfortunately they had no way to charge it. They would have also needed the capacity to charge it somewhere down the road in order to catch up with their prey.
They kept looking.
The last two bays were filled with what their father called “big-boy toys.” Most of them were state-of-the-art, built just before the plagues. Many of them were also solar-powered. Two full-dress road bikes, six bikes built for off-road use, five quads, and a four seat dune buggy on a trailer.
The last vehicle was a new looking, three-wheeled, off road motorcycle/dune buggy hybrid. It had solar panels mounted within the top of the roll cage, as well as on all other sun-facing surfaces. A rack of small, rechargeable vanadium batteries sat behind the two seats. Two rifle mounts graced the front cage supports. A pair of goggles lay on each seat. The two smaller front tires and the wider rear tire were made for off road use but had a solid center rib for smooth highway use. Although Deo and Lecti didn’t know it, the tires were also filled with foam. You couldn’t flatten them even if you stuck them with a knife.
Hal had informed Lecti of two places that held possible transportation. Lecti knew they would not have to investigate the other.
Deo opened the garage door. Light flooded the interior.
The bikers were riding solar motorcycles so the dirt bikes were considered. They
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