by Shane Woods
James nodded vigorously, then, to the group gathered around, “Alright people, you heard him, let’s go!”
“I need all of the good bullet casings gathered in buckets,” Wayne began explaining to them, “we’ll take them and the reloading equipment to Rich’s room.”
I heard Rich question Wayne, “Reloading equipment?”
“Yessir,” Wayne replied. “Place was a good haul. Just you wait.”
“Alright,” I began. “Henry, Tony, Dave, ninth floor. Now, guys.”
“What about the plants?” Dave and Tony asked, nearly in unison.
“Fuck them for now guys,” I admonished, “they’ll go to Bri to ration out, just like everyone else will be rationed things.”
They reluctantly resigned themselves to this, and made their way inside with Henry. I then motioned Jennifer over.
“They’re going to have to open the gate back up to get that car,” I explained. “Get the kids inside with Carolyn where it’s safe, keep them calm and help her out.
“Okay,” Jennifer said, giving me a kiss and departing.
“Shannon! Ashley!” I yelled over to the pair, who both approached.
“Check everybody out,” I ordered. “Treat every cut as an infection ready to happen. If nobody needs to be patched up, then help the cleanup crew.”
They both nodded and accepted their directive and got to work as I spun and moved inside the building to follow my crew leaders upstairs.
Joining my three buddies in the command room, I gave them a moment to marvel at the progress, then interrupted their banter.
“Okay,” I began. “What the fuck happened out there?”
“Uhhh we were attacked?” Tony said.
“Yeah no shit,” I retorted. “But why? How?”
“One of them things found us,” Dave began, “from the south. I snuck him with a knife, but others saw and called more to them.”
“Yeah,” I concurred, “that seems to be how they work. Apparently, these things are smarter than Hollywood ever let us believe.”
“We got almost everything, though,” Tony reassured me.
“What’s almost?” I asked.
“Like,” he started, “everything we came for, plus a whole lot more. We pretty much only left clothes and bed linens, we were about to load those up when we got hit.”
Almost as if on cue, James passed our doorway leading a convoy of people carrying solar panels in pairs. I crossed the room and shut the door, nodding to the passing work crew as they made their way to the roof access.
“Anything good, besides electricity?” I asked.
“We got these,” Tony said, unzipping his rucksack and producing one two-way radio after another, to a count of six, then adding, “I checked them out. Range of ten miles, channel lock, they had fresh battery packs and spare packs on a row of chargers.”
“Those will come in handy, because I’ve got a plan for the morning,” I advised. “We’re going to make our streets a bit safer before any crews go out, and we’re going to do it every morning.”
“We also found some shit that you’ll really like. Like, a lot, dude,” Dave said, a grin spreading across his face.
“Yeah?” I replied. “Shoot.”
“Ex-fuckin-zactly, man!” Tony exclaimed. “Reloading gear, powder, ammo casings, primer, they had a nice ass setup and a fuck ton of guns in a big cabinet in one of the back rooms.”
“No shit?” I said, barely able to contain my excitement.
“Yeah man, these people had some strange shit,” Dave picked up where Tony left off, “gas masks, guns and gear, military equipment, whole bunch of stuff. Even some weird posters about Rhodesia on the wall, and a badass computer setup. They were loaded, man. We left the furry costume we found though.”
“Yeah, good thinking,” I chuckled, “don’t know where that thing’s been.”
So, the in-town pot farmers turned out to be probably the best place to hit in the neighborhood. Good, maybe we could take it easy for now with the scouting parties. I doubted it, but it was a nice, placating thought to hold onto for now, considering the closest friends I had left on this planet were just chased by death itself.
“Alright guys, good shit,” I congratulated. “Henry, make sure the work crews are in order and everyone is pulling their weight, even Katie’s big ass. Dave and Tony, go around and inform everyone that we are having a meeting after dinner tonight. Everyone shows up, we’ve got stuff to do. And it’s time we assign some solid positions for people to hold down, for anyone that doesn’t have one, or is unclear of who does what around here.”
They all nodded, confirmed, and left the room. I began walking around the new command center, admiring the work that the crew, my crew, had done. I didn’t want the role of leadership, but having a good percentage of the crew here as reliable and hard-working as they were, I was feeling better about it every time I looked around at our progress. We had a good thing going here. Every single day that passed, in one way or another, this was becoming a better place to call home.
I passed through the balcony door and leaned over to watch, people moved about all over, even a couple of the older kids. Everybody was working together, except for two. I watched as Katie and Parker stood sideline, leaned in toward one another and talking in what appeared to be hushed tones. That is, until Henry appeared, marching straight toward them from the front of the building. I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying from my vantage, but I could distinguish the tone, and just imagine what he was barking at the pair. They immediately went to the bed of the truck and began carrying armloads of stuff into the building. Henry paused, looked around a bit, looked right up at me, and issued a thumbs-up and a big grin before grabbing his own armload of things and disappearing toward his garage with the items.
I heard James pass by with another crew in the hallway and decided to follow them up and see what they were up to.
Making a left out of my office, and passing my own apartment on the way, I climbed the single flight of stairs and stepped out into the clear, unfiltered sunshine bouncing off of the off-white apartment roof. James and his crew were moving along quite well. One side of the flat roof was already lined with solar panels, all arrayed with their mounts and coils of wire set up at regular intervals, laid out like a living instruction manual and ready to be worked on. As I watched them set down the last of their loads and listened as James directed each item to where it belonged, they stopped.
“Okay people,” James barked. “Five-minute rest, then we should only have one more load to the rooftop.”
He looked my way from the other end of the roof and smiled, then waved, but didn’t have time to approach or start conversation before Bri found me.
“There you are!” she said, smiling. “Hey, uhm, the people whose house it was, I don’t know, some of the guys are calling them the Rhodesians, but, anyway-”
“What’s up, Bri?” I asked, hoping to break her up enough so she could regain her thought process.
“Right,” she continued, “they had a bunch of food in their freezers, some of it was freezer burnt, but there was still a lot of ground beef and a whole bunch of chicken tenders. The problem is, we have no way to keep it, and James doesn’t know when we will have enough power to run my chest freezers. What do we do?”
“Well,” I replied, “I hate to let good food go to waste, so, let’s not do that. Have the ladies get the grills ready, and we’ll cook it all up. We’ll feast tonight. Everyone’s working hard as hell today anyway, I’m sure they can use the calories and protein.”
“Okay!” she said cheerfully. “I’ll see what they suggest! Thanks!”
She left in a rush before I could get another word out. I chuckled to myself, and turned to head back downstairs, intent on retrieving the cigar that I never got to smoke.
I was met with disappointment in that area, as all that was left of my Cheap Bastard cigar was a black mark and some ash where I’d dropped it. Apparently, it rolled off the ba
lcony at some point. Great. Not like I really needed the thing anyway, but it made a nice way to relax.
I instead plopped down in my deck chair, took a swig of the coffee I’d had left behind, and promptly fell asleep with the mug still in my hand. I know, it sounds counter-intuitive. Drink coffee, fall asleep, but it’s not uncommon for me. The coffee is a luxury, but the caffeine does little. My wife has picked on me many times in the past for falling asleep sitting up with an empty energy drink can still grasped in my hand.
TWENTY-ONE
I was awoken some time later by a nudge to my arm, and Jennifer’s voice.
“Hey,” she chided. “Everyone else is hard at work, and I find our fearless leader passed out in a deck chair on the balcony. Come on hero, dinner’s ready, everyone is heading up to eat outside again.”
I groaned, then grunted a response as I stretched and she scooped Gwen up to head upstairs. I heard Shannon and Ashley say something and the three of them laughed, presumably at my expense.
Making my way onto the balcony, I was greeted by a cacophony of scents. I could smell chicken, beef, what smelled like beef stroganoff, and an undertone of B.O. from a herd of hard-working people who didn’t have access to clean showers. We’ll have to find a way to remedy that. Personally, I’d been sneaking and using baby wipes, but for a guy who was accustomed to daily showers, even that didn’t feel like it was enough. And it was a bitch shaving with little more than a large bowl of water and a bar of soap, especially for those of us who chose to remove a whole head of stubble every three days.
I sat at my spot at the head of the table and began eating. Hamburger Helper and a pile of chicken tenders and fries for each person. The fries had a kind of smoky taste, and I would bet that they’d been done on the grill, too. Probably on a baking sheet, but it was actually quite nice. They were likely healthier than when done in the fryer, and the addition of grill smoke added a level of flavor that kind of made me wish I’d thought about doing them this way pre-infection.
Conversation was kept light, though I was so deep in thought I didn’t take part in it. For the most part, families and friends stuck with each other, but banter was spread around the tables as a whole. I did notice Dave and Bri sitting unusually close, talking quieter and amongst only themselves. I wondered what was going on there.
Jennifer, Shannon, and Ashley sat together, nearer to me, with Gwen among them and they all seemed to be getting along very well. It was interesting, to say the least, if you could just sit back and observe as I was doing, you could see groups and cliques forming up. Mostly for the better, but I didn’t like the way that my two least favorite people, Katie and Parker, had glued themselves together and always seemed to be conspiring about things while they avoided doing any real work. That’s fine, I’ll be remedying that, as well. I’ve got the perfect idea for those two.
As the meal began to grind slower and slower, people obviously getting their fill, I figured this would be the best time to start directing their attention towards our next steps, and what needed to be done for the community as far as safety and prosperity. I drained the last of the Guinness from my bottle, stood up, and clanged my fork against it like a wedding guest about to give a speech or prepare a toast.
“Y’all, this food won’t keep. Eat up, let’s not waste it,” I began, and was met by clapping and laughter, and several jokes and jabs at one another. I continued once the dust had settled, “Now that we have essentially all experienced the danger out there first hand, we need to make a plan.”
“Let’s hear it, my brother,” Henry encouraged. Great, instead of pitching in, my friends had spotlighted me. Okay, here goes nothing.
“Departments,” I started, and was met with blank stares. “Look, we have some people who have already claimed places in our little community here, others will be given things to do. We all pitch in, we all have an important role in surviving in comfort. I don’t want to see us living like animals within a year from now.”
“I like what I’m doing though,” Bri began, to which I put up a hand to calm her.
“Tony,” I started again. “Tony is for all intents and purposes, my second in command here. He’s also going to essentially be in charge of making sure each of you know what you’re doing when you pick up a weapon. He was an infantryman in the Army, I’ve known him for many years, I’d trust my life, and any here at the table to his hands.”
Tony sat back, hands clasped behind his head, both his tattooed arms and casual grin on full display for the group.
“Does anyone have any objections to this?” I asked in earnest, then rolled my eyes as Katie’s hand shot up. Of course, she did. I motioned for her, and she stood.
“Why do you get to just nominate your best friend?” she challenged. “Don’t any of us have a say in this?”
“First off,” I started in on her, “I never said best friend. Don’t twist things. Second, this is why I literally just asked if there were any issues with it. Anyone here who disagrees with the choice, let’s see some hands.”
My gaze never left hers, but I could see the only other hand that went up was Parker’s, right next to her.
“Then it’s decided,” I continued. “Tony is it. Anyone develops a problem with this, or his way of doing things, bring it to me directly. No consequence. I’m trying to lead, not be a damned tyrant.”
This actually seemed to put a lot of people at ease. Cool. This was more what I wanted, cooperation.
“Anyway,” I spoke up again, “Tony leads security and any weapons ventures we run, and he will have a hand in tactics and planning when we make bigger moves from now on. This brings me to my next order for the night,” I took a pause, waiting, as Parker and Katie murmured to each other. “Parker, Billy. Both of you. You’re with Tony. You will be his support, and he will mentor the both of you on how to handle yourselves. Get up, go stand by him. Now.”
It had the effect I desired, that was for sure. Tony stopped chewing and just stared at me like he was waiting for the punchline. Katie’s jaw dropped. Both Parker and Billy, surprisingly, kept their mouths shut in resignation, jaws tight, and moved to stand behind Tony’s seat. Tony, upon realizing that I was serious, and possibly figuring my plan, went back to being at ease and continued chewing his last bites of chicken.
“Very good,” I remarked, satisfied. “Briana, Carolyn. You two are next.”
Both ladies eyed me wearily, looking at each other, Bri swallowing hard on a bite of food, then they looked back at me.
“Relax,” I told them both. “You two are happy where you are, yeah? And you’re both good at it. Carolyn, if you’ll have it, you’ll assist Briana whenever you’re not loaded down at the daycare. And we will be building that floor into a daycare for you to run how you see fit. Briana, the supply floor is yours.”
The pair looked both relived and grateful. They both spoke thanks, and I kept on moving. I had great momentum going, and the more people who were pleased, the easier it would be to keep them all happy. That told me the directions I would need to give next would have to be another guaranteed easy selection.
“Henry,” I called out, as Henry shoved his last bit of chicken in his mouth and wiped away a bit of barbecue sauce. “You are pretty much set for our motor pool, and I want you to focus there. You’ll be given help if need be, and I’m sure you’ve got a mile-long list of things to give to Bri. If you don’t, then get the list going soon so we can start scouting things out to help you. You’re also going to be pulled from construction projects.”
Henry looked confused, and almost a bit offended, so I explained.
“I just want to lighten your load, man. We need survival vehicles. We need cages welded and weak points on our scavenging rigs hardened. We’ll put some work trucks for you on the top of the list. You’re going to need the generators and equipment they can provide you.”
“Alright alright my friend,” Henry beamed, “thank you very much.”
“Not a problem,” I replied, then mo
ved on. “James, that leaves you. You have knowledge in planning, construction, plumbing, and renewable energy. You’re our crew leader for that now full time. Same as with Henry, you’re going to need some serious shit. Make a list, give it to Supply.”
James seemed to be very pleased with this and agreed that he’d get his list of needs sent up as soon as he could.
“Alright now, Rob,” I started again, going down my list. “Once we get power back, you’re our computer guy. Get it all set up and running smoothly. There’s no internet, so you should be pretty well free of viruses and porn spam.”
Everyone laughed, Rob himself letting out a barking laugh from the heart that seemed to help relax the group even further.
“But, there’s limited need for such trade, so, when you have no computer or electronics work to do, you’ll be a go-between. Find a crew that needs help and do it. Good?” I asked.
“Yes, oh definitely,” Rob agreed. “Will do, boss.”
“Ashley, Shannon and my wife have already claimed medical.” I explained further, “they are either all experienced, or learning quickly. Let’s see here. Ah, yes, Dave! If you can grow pot you can grow vegetables. Fourth floor. That’s where those hydroponics will be set up once we have the extra power in place to run them, and, if we secure enough land to start farming, you run that, too. If you don’t know for sure, get a book.”
Dave just kind of stared at me, his pale eyes focused on my face.
“Hey, every job is important. Until we’re ready for you to do your thing, you can get it all set up and ready, then be another go-between guy like Rob.”
He put his back against his chair, exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke, and mumbled something that I couldn’t hear, and I don’t know if I cared to.