Survivors – A Novel of the Coming Collapse

By itself, San Juan could not serve the entire western grid. Efforts to reconstitute the grid were almost comical. Only the hydroelectric plants of the Pacific Northwest and a couple of mine-mouth plants like San Juan stayed online during the reconstitution attempts. All of the smaller plants were off-line, mostly due to lack of workers, many of whom were striking in an attempt to get inflation indexing of their salaries. The nuclear plants all went off-line. Frustratingly, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission refused to recertify the plants for operation unless a three-day checklist restart procedure with umpteen inspections was strictly followed.

Wholesale payments to the San Juan Generating Station from the power utilities-averaging 2.5 cents per kilowatt/hour-had already become a joke, so the grid collapse was actually a relief to the plant management. With inflation raging, the break-even point for the plant would have been somewhere north of fifty cents per kilowatt/hour in the inflated dollars.

The adjoining coal mine, wholly owned by the Navajo Nation, stayed in operation for just two days after the San Juan Generating Station went offline. This production filled their staging area to capacity: 178,000 tons in open-air piles. It was decided that this coal would be designated a “tribal asset” and that it would be made freely available to “any registered Navajo Nation member, or anyone else who spoke fluent Navajo.” All others had to pay cash. The rate was eventually settled at twenty cents in silver for a pickup load or one dollar in silver for a fifteen-yard dump truck load. Although the coal was inferior to hard anthracite, it sufficed for home heating.

Despite the collapse of the larger power grids, the lights stayed on almost continuously in the Farmington-Bloomfield region because the FEUS had its own generating capacity.

When Lars, Liz, and Kaylee gathered for breakfast one morning in November, they decided to put their preparation in high gear. On three legal pads, they created three priority lists, titled “Urgent,” “Important,” and “Tertiary.”

The “Urgent” list had just four items:

Alps Prosthetic Skin Lotion (or maybe a safe oilfield goop silicone equivalent that will work with chafing for prosthetic arm?)

Detailed topo maps-preferably 7?-minute or 15-minute scale; need our local map sheet and the eight contiguous sheets

Gas lamp mantles-need 20+

Contact lens saline solution and spare glasses for Kaylee

The “Important” list included:

More batteries-especially need NiMH rechargeable; prefer later low self-discharge (LSD) type

Extra chains and spark plug for chainsaw

Distilled water for battery bank (Can make a solar still, if need be.)

The “Tertiary” list included:

Tampons

A LOT MORE salt for preserving meat and attracting deer

Playing cards

Books

More spices

More kerosene-any extra would be great for barter or charity

.22 LR ammo for bartering

Elk hunting calls

The Laines and Kaylee Schmidt were only able to work their way through part of these lists before they ran out of cash. After that, they successfully bartered for a few items, using ammunition and pre-1965 silver coins.

17 Buckaroos