by Ryan King
Chapter 4 – Rumor Control
Reginald Philips was not a man who sought duty or responsibility, but throughout his life he seemed to consistently find both. He was voted high school class president despite telling anyone who would listen he didn’t want the job. He had grudgingly served as county judge when the incumbent died without warning, and then he was voted back into office for three subsequent terms. Reginald had even been put in charge of his neighborhood watch program, despite telling his neighbors he would not be around often enough to watch said neighborhood. He had accepted the post as Kentucky Lieutenant Governor mostly as a favor to Governor Jason Henry, his old college roommate.
Reggie was told he simply carried an air of purpose and quiet dignity about him that people admired without feeling threatened. Right now he wished he did not have any of those qualities.
He paused in front of the mirror and continued to knot his tie. A tall, gaunt figure with grey hair and wrinkles stared back at him. Many would say he was ridiculous for putting on a suit and tie; that such trappings were now out of place. Reggie could not disagree more; he believed appearances were even more vital now.
He also knew people were desperate for any type of information, and without it they would believe anything, no matter how outlandish. This was the main reason he agreed to the weekly radio broadcasts in the first place. They were initially a simple means of putting out information, but they had since turned into one of the most anticipated events of the week. Reggie became the public voice of the Jackson Purchase; even though he wasn’t really officially in charge of anything. Heck, no one is, he thought.
The Jackson Purchase as a geographic area was an anomaly. It was composed of the extreme western part of Kentucky bounded on the west by the Mississippi River, on the north by the Ohio River, on the east by the Cumberland River, and on the south by the Tennessee state line. The region was technically part of the state of Kentucky when it was organized in 1792, but in practicality remained under Indian control for many years. Only in 1818, when Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby purchased the area from the Chickasaw Indians, did it really open for settlement and development. For nearly two hundred years the name ‘Jackson Purchase’ was no more than quaint tradition and history, of no real significance. That all changed with Nuke Day or N-Day for short.
Reggie made his way down the stairs and out the front door of his father’s old house after giving his wife Janice a quick kiss. He rode towards the radio station on the ancient three-speed bike he resurrected from the garage. It had needed some oil on the chain and air in the tires, but otherwise was in decent condition.
The town of Murray was mostly quiet, which he thought of as a good thing. The people he passed waved back to him readily enough. Armageddon is no excuse not to be neighborly, he thought.
At the WKPO station, he entered the front door and walked back to the control booth where Tim was setting up for the broadcast.
“Hey, Reggie, you ready?” Tim asked.
“I believe so. Same as usual?” responded Reggie.
“Yes, I’ll introduce the show, then you, then allow you to put out general information,” Tim explained. “Based on available time, I’ll ask you some of the more popular questions that people have requested we bring up. Here’s a list of what we’ve got.” Tim handed Reggie a sheet of lined notebook paper with all too familiar topics written down. “We’ve got about six minutes before air time. I’ll signal you one minute out.”
Reggie scanned the topics and was not surprised by anything on the page. People wanted to know exactly what had happened and why. They wanted to know who was responsible and who was to blame. They also wanted to know when this would be over and they could go back to their normal lives. Reggie had held off as long as he could, but he was afraid it was time to wake everyone up for their own sakes. It had been over three months since N-Day, and society had not yet fallen apart, at least not in the Jackson Purchase. Reggie suspected things would eventually get much worse.
Tim signaled him from the booth and Reggie moved to sit next to him. Reggie put on the headphones and pulled his own sheet of paper from his jacket pocket.
The clock on the wall was right at noon when Tim flipped several switches and a light on the wall went from red to green.
“Good afternoon friends and neighbors. This is Tim Reynolds of WKPO and you have tuned into our weekly discussion with Lieutenant Governor Reggie Philips where he talks about the issues that are important to you. Good afternoon, sir.”
“Good afternoon, Tim, it’s good to be here and thanks for inviting me back.”
“My pleasure, would you like to talk about a few of the topics that have come up at the latest Jackson Purchase County Cooperation Council?”
“I certainly would, thank you. For those of you who do not know, this council is made up of all the county executives and mayors from within the Jackson Purchase area. They all work together to cooperate on our common interests and I can frankly tell you this initiative has been a grand success so far.” Reggie thought it best not to talk about the fistfight between two of the county executives that occurred at the last meeting.
“Let me go over a few of the key issues decided,” Reggie continued. “First, the moratorium on the use of fuel remains in effect. No consumption of gasoline, diesel, natural gas, or kerosene is allowed without authorization until further notice. Any violators will have their supplies confiscated.”
Tim raised his hand and Reggie nodded, “Reggie, why is this such an important issue, I mean won’t we get more fuel soon enough?” Reggie gave Tim a smile and a thumbs’ up gesture.
“Actually we have no idea when we will ever get more fuel. We have every resource we need to survive for a long period of time, but the fuel we currently possess may be all we have. Eventually horse and manpower might replace gas engines, but we’re not ready for that yet and we’re going to need all the fuel for this coming year’s planting and harvesting. We also need the fuel for emergency and essential vehicles. We’ve been fortunate that we’re going through a mild winter and spring should come early. Electricity and wood will have to fulfill our heating needs for now.”
Reggie was off his agenda, but went with the flow anyway, “I also want to remind everyone that electricity and water will not be a concern due to the continued operation of the TVA hydroelectric dam at Grand Rivers. The hours of electricity and public water operation are still limited to six hours per region each day.” Although he had explained the rationale for this move many times, he decided to cover it again because people were always upset by the rationing. “The reason we have applied these limitations is in order to minimize wear and tear on electrical equipment and the dam turbines. Currently we only operate one third of the turbines at any one time.”
Reggie paused remembering an argument he'd had yesterday with an irate citizen over the limitations. “Folks, we don’t know when, if ever, things will get back to normal, and we need to conserve and take care of the resources we have. Need I remind you of the horror stories we’ve heard about in other places? There are people out there starving and freezing and dying of sickness and violence. I think we’ve got it pretty good all things considered.”
“Indeed we do, Mr. Lieutenant Governor” said Tim with a slight raise of his eyebrows, “Perhaps we should move on.”
“Right you are Tim, thank you. I want to remind everyone also of the importance of fulfilling your responsibility by paying the levied taxes. Again the preferred means of payment is a gallon of fuel per family per month, but other items can be substituted in lieu of fuel if necessary such as batteries, light bulbs, medicine, salt, canned goods, harvested food, or farm animals. I would also ask families that are better off to help their neighbors if there is a need. We don’t have the resources to tax according to people’s prosperity at this time.” Reggie decided to hold off on mentioning the threat of seizure by force that the committee was considering. Let everyone think cooperation was universal, and maybe it would
be.
“Also, please cooperate with all Kentucky State Police and National Guard forces you encounter as they are here to protect you. General Anderson has assured me that the Jackson Purchase borders are secure as per the FEMA plan, and he asks that everyone practice patience and understanding under such trying times.”
Tim raised his hand again and Reggie nodded, “What about those borders? A lot of listeners want to know about freedom of movement.”
Reggie rubbed his hands together and continued on, “Let me assure everyone that the purpose of the closed border is to protect the people of the Jackson Purchase. Anyone who wishes to depart may, but I would strongly advise against it since things appear pretty nasty in certain places. Additionally, we are fortunate enough to be in a belt not affected much by any of the radiation fallout, but we can’t vouch for any other areas. I want to remind everyone to continue to practice caution in that regard and stay indoors during cloudy or rainy weather to avoid potential radiation exposure. Also filter any non-bottled, or non-well, water through six to eight inches of uncontaminated soil.”
“What about other people wanting to get into the Jackson Purchase, such as relatives or friends?” Tim asked with some intensity.
“Well, we have decided for the time being to be very judicious in that regard. It sounds harsh, but we have to take care of the people here first. Anyone who possesses a valid driver’s license or other proof of residence, from one of the eight counties of the Jackson Purchase will be admitted in. All others’ entry will be reviewed by the on-site border crossing commander.”
“Can you talk about the food situation?” asked Tim.
“Certainly,” said Reggie. “We estimate that supplies are enough to get us through the next planting and harvest as long as we’re smart and don’t waste anything. With that said, I want to remind everyone not to throw away any old fruits or vegetables even if they appear to have gone bad. Plant these in gardens in your yards and they may grow. This is especially true for potatoes. Cut them up into as many small pieces as you can and plant them. Each eye can produce a plant which could grow as many as eight or more potatoes. Everyone needs to start planting, not just the farmers.”
Tim pointed at the clock and then a question on the sheet. Reggie nodded after rubbing his head. “Reggie, we’re almost out of time, but before we’re done, could you please comment on what you know about Governor Henry and what your role currently entails?”
“First, I want to say that we have heard nothing from the Governor since N-Day. He activated the National Guard placing them under state control, ordered martial law, which we have since decided to suspend locally, and initiated the FEMA plan for a state of emergency. At the time, as you know, I was home in Murray for my father’s funeral.” Reggie thought back, was that really only a few months ago? It seemed like years.
Reggie continued on, “We have heard nothing from the Governor since that time, but I must remind you that most everyone else likely does not have electricity or working phones. The roads are also blocked in many places, so even if there is an operational state government in Frankfort, they have no way to contact us or share any information. This is the main reason we decided to set up the cooperative council.”
“How would you respond to some who claim the Governor is dead and that you are now in charge?” Tim asked quickly.
Reggie frowned at Tim. This was not on the agenda, and was a rumor he did not want to encourage. “I would tell them that we know nothing yet. Yes, there were rumors that the Governor suffered a heart attack, but that’s all we know. Governor Henry is a dear friend of mine and I know he would want each of us to do our best. I also want to add that I am simply the lieutenant governor, and in the governor’s place I have assumed control of state resources such as the National Guard, State Police, and public lands and works like Kentucky Dam. I am only an advisor to the cooperative council, which is the lawful operating local civilian government at this time.”
“Thank you sir. Until next week, this is Tim Reynolds and you have been listening to WKPO. Stay strong friends.” Tim flipped the switch, turning the light from green to red, and faced Reggie.
Tim spoke quickly, “Reggie, I’m sorry, it just kind of came out,” he said with obvious embarrassment.
Reggie sighed wanting to be angry, but knew that feeling was counterproductive, “I know and its okay. Others are thinking and asking the same thing so it’s probably best to bring up. My intent was to give everyone a cold hard splash of reality, but something kept me from it.”
“Ran out of time I guess?” asked Tim.
“No,” answered Reggie, “I just decided that it might not be a good idea to suddenly take away their hope without replacing it with something else. That leads to chaos and then society breaks down.”
Tim smiled, “Oh you don’t really think something like that could happen here, do you?”
“Actually, I think it might take a miracle to prevent it,” said Reggie grimly.