"I thought the generator room was back on one of the upper levels."
"There is a generator room upstairs," Ralph said, "but this here generator supplies the bunker and only the bunker. I suspect the others supply power to the rest of the facility."
"So, we have power to just the bunker then?"
Ralph nodded.
Sawyer squinted at the man. "How?"
He thought everything had been destroyed when the mechs attacked.
Ralph grinned as he settled his arm around his son's shoulders. Tim smiled, as well, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Ralph Henderson of Henderson and Son Electric, at your service. How do you do?"
Sawyer chuckled. "No shit?"
Ralph's grin grew. "No shit."
"But, how'd you get it up and running? I thought everything had been destroyed when the mechs attacked."
"A lot of it had," Ralph replied, "but the bones of the system were still in place. I won't bore you with the details, but it basically took a little rewiring and then she was purring like a kitten."
"How did you rewire it?"
"Tim found a few spools of wiring up in a supply closet in the main generator room. I'm pretty sure that room got overlooked by the mechs because it doesn't look like it's been touched."
"Is there enough stuff to wire the rest of the complex?"
"Possible," Ralph replied. "But I'll need to do some rooting around before I can give you an answer to that. I need to know what we're working with, how much damage there is and such. I do have a suggestion, however."
"Go ahead."
"Anything electrical that is not in use needs to be turned off, especially in the rest of the complex. If we turn on the generators with a bunch of stuff running, not only will it short everything out, but it can start a fire."
"We can make that a priority once the guys get back, go room to room and make sure stuff isn't plugged in."
"I'd also suggest looking into some sort of power source that doesn't take gasoline. There's a couple of large tanks a few rooms over that will feed this puppy for a while, but they eventually will run out. If you don't have another power source, you're not going to have power."
"I've been thinking about solar panels, but I'm not sure where to put them where they won't be seen by other people or mechs. I worry if people see them, they'll know someone is up here."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Tim and I will take a look around later and see if we can come up with a good spot. Once you get the panels in place, it shouldn't be too hard to wire them into the generator and the battery banks."
"Having power here will make a huge difference, but I think for now we should just concentrate on getting everything running here in the bunker. We can work on the rest of the complex at a later date."
"We'll do whatever we can to help," Ralph replied. "This is our home now, too."
Sawyer cocked his head. "I don't suppose you know anything about plumbing, do you?"
"I can flush a toilet."
Sawyer snickered. "Not quite what I meant."
"I know basic plumbing, but that's about it. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Sawyer patted Ralph's arm. "You've done far more than you had to. Bringing us power is huge. I mean, you seriously don't know. I haven't seen a real light in years."
"I wish we could do more."
"Well, you can. I believe you said everything not in use needs to be shut down. We need to go room from room down here in the bunker and make sure stuff isn't drawing power unless it needs to."
