Black Market Merchant

Skimming slowly through the files of the dam's blueprints, Lisa was only able to remember some of terms and designs that were depicted. After all, she did only take three years of Engineering and most of her classes were at the freshman and sophomoric level. She would have to go see the dam parts and operations in person to fully understand how everything worked. She had to make a bet that the dam would be able to function when she inspected it and be able to provide enough power to keep the laptop powered. At least until she understood the blueprints enough to make repairs.

The afternoon was nearly over by the time Lisa felt like she had studied the blueprints enough for the time being. Not to mention the power of the laptop was getting low now. She would have assumed that after two hundred years in the future that technology would have evolved to have more superior energy storage capabilities. However, it seemed the wars must have slowed progress of technological somewhat in this particular field. Upon seeing the time, Lisa decided to wait until the morning to go to the dam and set up her new base.

As Joan, Hanna and Richard were out for the moment, Lisa went to find John or Benny to tell her intentions. Stepping outside Lisa found that John was out in the back working on the community garden. He was pulling weeds and Crab Grass that were out growing the cucumbers near the edge of the garden.

"Hey John." Lisa called to him while crossing the little field.

John stopped working hearing his name being called and stood up from a crouched position. Rubbing his hands together and knocking dirt everywhere, he looked Lisa's way. The two waited until they were closer before continuing the conversation.

"What's up? Did everything work out with the laptop?" John asked.

"Yes, it worked just fine. In fact, I plan on leaving in the morning to set up a base there. Assuming no one is already there." Lisa said tapping a finger on her chin as if the thought just occurred to her. The idea that someone might already be there was definitely going to be an issue. She hadn't seen anyone that looked like they were living there when she spied on the meeting, but that was another bridge to cross at a later time.

"I doubt anyone would want to live there." John said shaking his head. "It's too out of the way from where the merchant's ship in food and supplies or from where the market is as well. Most people, including us, are not far from food and water."

"Hopefully, you are right." Lisa said nodding in reply.

"Well, it's starting to get late." John said looking up at the sun's position.

The sun was still two finger widths from the top of the mountain to the west of town. The sun would soon fall behind the mountain, but daylight would still last for an hour or more before darkness really came. This life in the mountain's shadow helped everyone to know when it was best to go home from their jobs or prepare for dinner. It was the lack of electricity that eventually forced everyone to accept this quaint lifestyle.

"Maybe since it might be your last night with us for some time, Joan and Mary can make something extra yummy?" John said with a hungry smile.

Lisa gave a chuckle. "That would be nice. Hopefully, they will."

That night, John's wishful guess turned out to come true. When the two women heard that tonight was the last night Lisa would be with them, Joan added some chicken to the soup just for the occasion. Mary even went back to her home and made hand-made bread from scratch. The small group of neighbors had given Lisa a wonderful place to live in peace for a few days. She almost felt reluctant to leave them, but she knew she couldn't stay here leaching off of their kindness any longer. Everyone talked long after the sun went down, and it was quite late before they decided to rest.

Everyone slept great that night. They all were well fed and ready for the next day's challenges. All except for Hanna.

Hanna ended up tossing and turning all night. She was afraid to let Lisa go. She felt safe knowing that if anything happened, Lisa could take care of it. Now that her parents were gone the little child in her sought solace in Lisa in their absence. Hanna understood that Lisa wasn't abandoning her or going far away, but it just wasn't comforting to know that help was not close by either. Before she knew it, morning had already come.

Lisa was the first one up and out of bed that morning. She was ready to get an early start and make sure she had everything ready before leaving. The night before Joan and Mary had packed a small supply of food in a create for Lisa, so she could work on the dam and her base for a while. The create had potatoes, carrots, and corn. Also, a small pot and metal spoon to stir and eat with.

Lisa had intended to leave early to avoid saying goodbye. However, as soon as she opened the door of Richard and Joan's house, Hanna and John were already coming across the road towards her.

Hanna waved, giving a rare smile. John nodded at Lisa and said, "We couldn't let you go without a proper goodbye."

"Yeah, well I'm not too good at saying goodbyes." Lisa said giving a quick grin. "How about we just say, 'see you soon', instead?"

"Then in that case, see you soon." John replied.

"See you soon, Aunt Lisa." Hanna said quietly just above a whisper.

"Aunt?" Lisa said surprised. "Did I hear you correctly?" She said while leaning forward to look at eye level with Hanna.

Hanna blushed, clearly embarrassed, and nodded silently before ducked behind John. Lisa didn't mind her reaction and smiled feeling flattered.

"Well I've never been called 'Aunt' before. Do I really look that old?" Lisa said jokingly.

Hanna didn't reply but nodded 'no' fervently while still hiding sheepishly behind John.

"Well if that's all, I'll accept the nickname for now. But if you are lying and think I am old looking, I forbid you to call me that." Lisa said crossing her arms, but still smiling. "I'd better be going now." She turned to leave, heading for the dam to the North of town. Giving one more look behind her, the two were still watching her. She waved goodbye and they cheerily returned the wave.

…

After arriving at the dam's buildings, where she had seen the gangsters and soldiers meet, everything was quiet. Lisa first decided to check the perimeter for any signs of inhabitants. There was a tall fence with rusty barbed wire that surrounded the place. Despite being rusty and old, the perimeter was still in great condition and still looked sturdy enough, nor where there any large holes in the fence.

There were only three entrances to the fenced in property. Two entrances had traffic stop gates, and the one to the south was where she had come from in the direction of Hanna’s cul-de-sac. The other one to the west was in the direction of the government buildings that the Mad Dog gang’s assumed base was. The third entrance was the small road that crossed over the dam to the eastern side of the river. On the far side the road it was not connected down to the eastern portion of town, like it was on Lisa's side. Instead alongside the river and dam created lake, was a dense forested area. Then there was a tall cliff further to the right of the dam itself and a far-off mountainside that prevented anyone from being able to cross the dam and into the east side of the town. The road, however, turned and traveled northwest around the small mountain and along the river.

Lisa remembered that the AFR soldiers and helicopter had come from that direction. She would have to keep an eye on that area in case they came back. As for the gated areas, she would have to come up with a solution to block anyone from entering through them. That could wait for now.

Seeing everything was in secure order, Lisa turned to the smallest of four buildings located at the north west corner of the property. Coming up to the rusty door, she tried the handle and found it was already broken and it opened right away. Inside she found that it was a pump house. Nothing seemed to be clearly damaged or living there, and though the pipes inside were peeling paint and slightly rusty, they looked entirely intact. This was a good sign. She wouldn't need to worry about fresh water while she lived here, that is if she got the electricity running and the pump wasn’t busted.

Going to the next building, which was in the south west corner of the property exactly between the two gates, Lisa found this door similarly was similarly damaged. When she entered the building, however, it was in much worse shape than the pump house. It was the old security building for the dam. There were two big holes in the collapsed roof that let rainwater rust and rot everything inside. All the monitors, cameras, computers and facilities were all completely destroyed.

Next, she went to a mid-sized building at the south east corner of the property. Just like the other two, its door was destroyed as well. Stepping inside, she discovered it was a storage and maintenance building. The storage area was nearly empty. Only a few boxes and a forklift remained. It seemed that someone a while back had looted this place and taken anything of value.

Then going to the maintenance workshop, Lisa was relieved to see that nearly all the tools and manuals to the hydroelectric dam were still there. She carefully opened a few of the yellowed manuals just to check on them and sure enough, most of the words were readable. If the climate had been any more humid the pages would have wasted away long ago.

Lastly, was the main building of the dam. This time however, the doors were all ok, except for the big sliding doors on its south wall. The chain and lock holding it closed had been cut. Going inside carefully and quietly she surveyed the giant room. There were three floors above ground and at the east side of the room was a long slopping pathway going underground to the dam itself. She decided to explore the three floors first.

She started by looking over a dismantled generator, several transformers and power converters briefly on the first ground level floor. Fortunately, it appeared that despite some rust, they all looked like they could still function. Still walking around quietly, Lisa went through the storage rooms and other small side rooms and saw no signs of anyone living there. Then going up the metal stairs to the second floor, she headed straight to the main control room.

She could feel her heart beating in her chest. This was the first moment of truth. If the control room were destroyed, her plain would be a total failure! Pushing on the heavy metal door to enter, she was relieved to find it was locked. Taking a step back she kicked the door hard twice. Its rusted hinges and lock gave out, knocking the door inwardly and onto the floor causing a puff of dust to rise. Upon stepping inside her fears were immediately gone. Everything looked dusty, dry and undamaged. Anxiously she tried turning on the computers at the main desk yet found there was no power running to them.

Now for the last top floor to check out. Up here she found that the roof had leaked in several of the offices, molding and rusting everything inside them. There were only two rooms that were still in ok condition. Looking around these rooms, Lisa decided to make the closest one to the stairs, an old office call center, her temporary base. It even had an old couch inside the boss’s room for her to sleep on.

Things were really starting off on a good note.