Vaxdemic Book 2 Chapter 8
Chapter 8
I have to admit lying on my back having a sharpened pipe pointed in my face was not how I saw the expedition going. Neither did I expect to find someone who addressed themselves as a lord. Part of me felt I should be more scared than I was, but something about Garv Farkas made it hard to take him seriously. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was his odor. It was something between a port-a-potty and an early 2000s anime convention. Everyone else looked terribly confused. The small quadcopters moved closer all the time, their prods crackling menacingly.
Under all the weary mumblings of the other men I heard something else. A kind of rumbling that would stop and start. It wasn’t until Garv glanced to his right and fear entered his eyes did, I know what it was. Abby was growling, baring her teeth at the self-pronounced lord. “Call off your dog!” the man said in what he must have thought was a commanding voice, but there was too much fear in it. Abby is a good dog, but she has always been too willful for training beyond sit and lay down. “I don’t think it will do much good,” I told the Lord.
Garv’s spear shook, as if he couldn’t decide who to point it at. Abby had no such dilemma and lunged at the filthy man. Garv emitted what I hold to this day as the unlordliest scream ever made as he cast his spear aside and attempted to run away. Abby was not so obliging and sunk her teeth into the man’s backside. “I give! I give! Sleep mode! Sleep mode!” he shouted as Abby did her best to rip off the seat of his pants.
The drones dropped to the ground, and the confusion in the room started to subside. It took a moment to remove Abby, who had done no real damage, but was having a wonderful time shredding his already haggard clothing. While helping Lord Farkas up I noticed his clothing was far too big for his frame, as if he had lost a lot of weight in a short time, or it may be that his clothes had stretched from over use. Either way the man was surprisingly light.
“Step away from him Stackey,” Matt said as he approached with his gun leveled. My first thought was he must be kidding, Garv was no longer a threat, if he ever had been.
I tried to ease tensions but was interrupted by the disheveled lord. “You don’t give commands here. This is my home.”
Matt narrowed his eyes. “You think so, do you?”
Garv crossed his arms nearly touching the tangled greasy mass he wore for a beard. “I claimed it, sleep in it, and fixed it. So yeah, it’s mine!”
“Fixed it?” Matt asked. He looked around the room. Sure, enough the lights were on if not very bright.
“That’s right, I got that old generator working again, but there’s not enough power to share. So, piss off!” Garv said nearly yelling. Abby growled at the noise and Garv quickly hid behind me.
After quieting Abby, I turned to Garv and asked, “The dam is working? You were able to fix it?”
He looked unsure for a moment before saying, “As well as I could, given what was left.”
“Can you show me?” I asked.
Garv eyed the group suspiciously. “I don’t know,” he said his eyes drifting over the many guns. I waived for everyone to lower their weapons. Matt did so grudgingly, but only after his men lowered theirs first. “I’ll show you, but not them.”
“Hell, no!” Matt said.
I waived the man down. “Just me and Abby,” I countered.
“Abby?” Garv asked.
I nodded towards the dog who had recently savaged him. “She won’t stay here either way.”
Garv bit his lip in frustration. “Fine, bring your damn dog.” He started walking towards the door that led further into the dam. I followed watching the men part in front of us. The door led to a staircase and as we descended, I could hear something growing louder. At the bottom of the stairs, I could tell the sound was coming from behind a large set of double doors we were headed toward. The generator must be behind that door. I was hopeful, it sounded big. Maybe it just needed a few tweaks and it could start making real power again.
When the doors were opened my hopes were immediately dashed. The generator was indeed huge, it was indeed working, but it would never work for our needs like it was. Garv had pulled the cover off, but was apparently unable or unwilling to put it back on. This wasn’t surprising as it was a curved sheet of steel taller than he was. Parts were scattered everywhere; the machine had been almost gutted and there were buckets under the turbine and the pipe collecting dripping water. Most of the parts I could see were rusted in several places, and the exposed wheel at the end of the turbine was turning far slower than I was sure it should.
“What, happened to it?” I asked.
“What do you mean? It’s working. This thing wouldn’t even turn when I got here. There was a foot of water on the floor. Fixed the drains, and rebuilt this thing with whatever I could get my hands on. It works and that’s what’s important.” Garv sounded more than a little defensive. He was obviously proud of what he had done.
Ruth’s rule number four, everyone wants to feel appreciated. I’ve always had trouble relating to people. I used to just shut down or ignore them. Since it seems like I have little choice anymore I try to take whatever charisma advice I can, and since I’m not about to ask people how to talk to them, I’ll take advice out of a book every time. I put on the best smile I could, trying to not make it look forced and said, “I’m impressed you got it working.”
“I’m not lord of this dam for nothing. As it’s master it keeps me warm in the winter, as well as entertained,” Garv raised his head in clear adoration of himself.
Entertained, I thought. The graphics card box, he’s using the dam to run a computer. “You’re a gamer, aren’t you? That was your 3080 box I saw.”
Garv jumped back and eyed me suspiciously. “You’re not after the dam, are you? You’re from what’s left of the government! I won’t let you have my rigs! They’re mine, the people who owned those stores were dead and they’re mine by right of salvage!” He quickly walked for the stairs.
“Wait, come back. We can help you.” I said taking off after him.
“Nope!” he shouted and was now running up the steps. At least he did for the first five. He immediately had to stop. He clutched his side as if he’d gotten a crap. When he saw I was gaining on him, he continued his climb but slower.
“Wait, we’re not from the government. I doubt there even is one left. We came to fix the dam to get power back to the city and outlying areas. We don’t need your computers.” I tried to reason with him but Garv kept climbing.
“I don’t believe you!” he said reaching the top of the stairs. Abby ran past him and sat down at the top looking down on the both of us. She regarded Garv with a playful curiosity. She no longer saw him as a threat. The feeling was not mutual, as when Garv, nearly crawling at this point reached the top, he stayed as far away as the guide rails allowed. He got back to his feet and walked into the main room. “You call can leave,” he wheezed clutching his side. “I won’t be giving you the dam. He headed straight for the door to the top of the dam.
Everyone watched him in surprise as he opened the door. I followed him outside, but stopped almost immediately. The area between the two concrete entrances had been turned into a makeshift green house. Windows, glass doors, and skylights had been cobbled together with nails, screws, duct tape, lumber, and scaffolding to build the transparent walls and ceiling. Various branches were secured to the rails outside the greenhouse walls in an effort to camouflage it. The room was noticeably warmer than outside. Several plants grew in the room in pots of all different sizes. I was so transfixed by the makeshift hothouse I didn’t notice Garv enter the other blockhouse and bar the door.
Matt and his men followed me into the greenhouse. All seemed equally stunned and started examining the plants. I made my way to the other blockhouse door and knocked. “Come on Garv, we don’t want your stuff. We can help each other out. Having the dam fully restored would help you too.”
“So, he got it working?” Matt asked from behind me. He sounded impressed.
“Kind of,” I responded. I pounded on the door again. “We don’t want to kick you out, just come out and talk to us.” Garv didn’t respond. I tried several more times but got nothing. Matt suggested using the battering ram, but I turned him down. Garv was weird and smelly, but he had gotten the generator working. I was sure he could be useful.
Matt left two of his men with me in the green house as the others went to set up camp. After a few minutes of trying to get Garv to come out I gave up for the time being and started walking around his greenhouse. I noticed a lot of the plants looked a like. The first was a tomato plant, then a green bean vine, then another tomato, green bean, etc. I looked at the pots, but they weren’t pots, they were old bulk sized cans. Some even had the labels on them. I also noticed despite the large number of plants in the room, there was little produce. No tomato plant had more than four unripe tomatoes, and while the beans were better, it wasn’t by much. Has he been living on nothing but the food produced in this room? I had an idea.
I walked to our camp. The cooking area was already set up. I took some beef from our food stores along with some potatoes and butter and made a quick meal. Soon I had a large plate of iron grilled steak and mashed potatoes. The smell was intoxicating. I carried the plate into the greenhouse and straight for the bared door. I pounded on the door as hard as I could and shouted, “Hey Garv, how long has it been since you had meat? If you come out and negotiate, I’ll give you some steak and potatoes!”
I had almost decided my ploy had failed when I head the bar being lifted. The door cracked open an inch or two and Garv’s nose appeared. He inhaled deeply once, then twice, then I swear I heard his stomach growl. The door opened wide enough to reveal his face. He eyed the plate in my hand like what it held was the face of God. “Well, I guess negotiations wouldn’t kill me.”
Bob Stackey
October 12, 2023