The Jakarta Pandemic

by Steven Konkoly

  “Did you have something to add?” Laura Burton boomed, the other self-appointed pandemic coordinator.

  Alex shook his head. “Nope.”

  Most heads returned to Nicki, though Mike Lynch drew out his glare a little longer than necessary.

  “The next topic, which was suggested by Todd Perry, deals with basic necessities and supplies. As we are all painfully aware, food and other basic survival needs are in short supply at the stores. I tried to put together just one emergency kit earlier in the week and couldn’t find even a quarter of the things needed. CVS and RiteAid are wiped out daily. Same story with all of the hardware stores. Everyone is out there trying to assemble their own emergency stockpile from the federal disaster checklist.”

  “I got all my stuff,” Charlie Thornton whispered, who had drifted over to Alex’s right side during Nicki’s speech. “Got it all the week before last. You’re smart to hide your firewood in the garage. I didn’t know what to make of it when I talked to you. I knew you were up to something, then it suddenly hit me. Of course. I moved all of mine in a few days later. I have to thank you. It got me thinking about the whole situation. I went on a few of the NRA websites, found a shitload of survival information, and I got a jump start on those checklists. While everyone else was waiting in line for groceries, I spent the better part of three days buying up supplies and dried food, MREs from the surplus stores, whatever I could get my hands on. I bet you have the same thing over there,” he whispered with glee.

  “I might have some supplies on hand,” he said, studying Charlie’s face.

  Actually, he doesn’t look too crazy.

  “…so, if you could list on this sheet what supplies or food you have on hand, we can create sort of our own Durham Road stockpile. If someone needs a certain item, then they can get it, as long as they’ve put into the stockpile themselves. It’s kind of like a swap shop idea,” Nicki was saying.

  “I don’t know. How would we manage this stockpile? Would it be located in one place? Or just a list of who has what and you can trade? It sounds kind of complicated, and…I don’t know,” Beverly Silva said.

  A majority of the crowd backed her sentiment, and there was considerable protest from all corners of the driveway. Alex focused on Todd, whose face had turned a few shades redder since Beverly opened her mouth.

  “Yeah, I don’t feel comfortable taking what I have and putting it in a central location. Is that what you’re suggesting?” Jamie McDaniels asked, who was visibly shivering.

  “Uh, it’s just an idea, but if we all have an idea of how much food is available, then…well, we can work on a system,” Nicki said.

  “The idea isn’t to start a communal soup kitchen, but like Nicki said, it would help to get an idea of what we have here if times get really tough,” Laura Burton said, looking to Sarah Quinn for confirmation.

  Oddly enough, Sarah Quinn did not look pleased by this agenda item. As one of the lead coordinators, Alex had expected her to support the idea, but she appeared to have suddenly grasped the true meaning of the concept’s design—that everyone else in the neighborhood would know exactly how much food she had on hand, and that she’d be expected to share some of that food in the very near future. Alex remembered that Sarah was one of the first people on the block to head to the Hannigan’s when the massive food lines began forming.

  “We can revisit this at the next meeting after everyone has had time to think about it. It’s a lot to ask, given the fact that none of us are in great shape when it comes to food. If you want to put this information down now on the sheet, you’re encouraged to do so,” Sarah dodged.

  He could tell that the meeting was about to break apart on its own. The last agenda item had hit everyone deeply, and it was clear that nobody relished the idea of giving up any of their food. Alex saw Todd stirring in his seat.

  “Can I say something here?” Todd asked, standing and facing most of the crowd on the driveway. “I’m not sure what everyone’s problem is with sharing food. To be honest, it seems a bit selfish to me, and frankly, I’m surprised. We’ve had parties at our house over the years, and we’ve always put out a nice spread for everyone. We’re all neighbors, right?” he asked, his face reaching a deep red color.

  “Yeah, but that’s what you do when you host a party,” Michelle Hayes said cynically. “This is a bit different. I agree with Beverly and Jamie. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want any of you knowing how much food I have in my house. That’s my family’s business.”

  “Well, I don’t mind telling you how much food I have,” Todd responded.

  “How much food do you have, Todd?” Charlie blurted.

  Alex inched away from him. “You’re on your own with this nut,” he whispered to Ed.

  “What do you mean?” Todd responded, stunned by the blunt question.

  “If you don’t care, then tell all of us how much food you have on hand,” Charlie demanded.

  “Well, I don’t know exactly. I’d have to take a good look and figure it out,” Todd said, flustered.

  “Bullshit. You know exactly what you have. In terms of a regular grocery week, how many weeks do you have on hand?” Charlie persisted.

  “Probably…like, a few… I don’t know. Not much,” Todd admitted.

  “Exactly. Now I know why you’re pushing this socialist agenda so hard. You don’t have shit. That’s why nobody else likes this idea either. Because they don’t want to start supporting other households from the very beginning of this crisis. I agree with Alex here. This pandemic thing isn’t going to last a few weeks. More like a few months, maybe longer. And you want the handouts to start next week? You can still get food at the stores. It’s rationed, but the lines are faster, and each member of your family with a driver’s license can show up once a day. I suggest that everyone take full advantage of this system. There’s just no excuse for anyone having nothing,” Charlie concluded.

  Alex put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “You all right, man? I swear, you’re gonna explode.”

  “Look, I’ve got four kids at home and—” Todd started.

  “You work from home, Todd. The stores open at six a.m. Figure it out!” Charlie said.

  Todd moved around the chairs and was restrained by his neighbor, Daniel Lewis.

  Thank God.

  Eric Bishop stood up and turned around. “Someone needs to slap a muzzle on him,” Eric said, indicating Alex, as his wife nodded in agreement.

  “What's your problem today, Eric?” Alex asked, and the entire crowd went silent.

  “What do you mean, what’s my problem? You and your friend came here with the wrong attitude. This whole meeting was put together so we could help each other. Todd’s idea is just as valid as anyone else’s.”

  “Great, another communist with nothing to throw into the pile but empty hands,” Charlie yelled.

  Great. How did I suddenly become this guy’s champion?

  “Charlie, you gotta take it easy. Okay?” Alex whispered to him.

  Charlie actually looked composed compared to Todd, Eric, and several other jeering neighbors. He appeared at ease with the confrontation, which frightened Alex for a couple of reasons: Charlie was either slightly sociopathic, or he was carrying a weapon. Neither possibility comforted him.

  I need to defuse this ASAP.

  “If you’re not here to help, then get the hell out of here,” Tom Hodges said.

  Mark and Beverly Silva edged away from Tom and Vicki, as Mike Lynch echoed Tom’s sentiment. He saw Charlie stiffen.

  This is getting ugly.

  “Take it easy, guys,” Alex cautioned, passing glances at Tom and Eric. “I happen to strongly agree with them. I don’t want anyone else shopping at my house for food or supplies. I can tell you right now it won’t work. I didn’t exactly see a lot of enthusiastic faces when Nicki described the idea. Nobody wants to put an inventory of their house out there. I sure as hell don’t. So don’t get pissed at Charlie. He said exactly what most
of us were thinking.”

  “Maybe we should just forget about helping each other at all. You don’t sound like much of a team player, Alex,” Eric said.

  “I’m willing to help out, but we’re all dealing with a very unique set of circumstances. When the power goes out after a nasty spring storm, I have no problem opening my house to all of you. Everyone here knows that. We’ve all done last minute babysitting for each other. This is going to be very different, and I think we all need to get a grip on that.”

  Shut up, please.

  “I guess I’m not getting it,” Andrew Greene said in a hostile tone.

  Alex guessed that Andrew was also part of what appeared to be a growing faction of disgruntled neighbors from the northern loop of Durham Road. The Greens lived next door to the Bartletts’ house, and just a few houses down from the Burtons’, smack in the middle of what Charlie might now call the socialist side of Durham Road. He was not surprised at how quickly the neighborhood had become polarized at the meeting. Each side of the loop tended to band together at social events, and even the kids’ interaction was loosely bound by the north/south polarization of the neighborhood. The neighborhood was no longer than one third of a mile, end to end, and there still existed a wide separation. What surprised Alex was how quickly animosity rose to the surface at this meeting.

  Deep down, he really didn’t care how the meeting went. His only goal was to keep his family alive and intact. He hadn’t lied when he said that he was willing to help the neighborhood. His assistance would be guided by his own rules of engagement, and the first overriding rule was that he wouldn’t let anything jeopardize his family’s safety. Keeping most of his neighbors placated for now might be an important part of this strategy.

  “I can answer your question, but first, let me say that I really meant what I said about helping. We all probably have something to offer. As most of you know, I work…rather, worked for Biosphere pharmaceuticals, the company that makes TerraFlu, an anti-viral similar to Tamiflu. When I left the company, I managed to retain about twenty courses of therapy, which is enough for twenty people. I would be more than happy to relinquish these into a communal pool, and then as people get sick, they can be treated,” he said, mentally redoing the math.

  28 to give out. Gave 12 to the Murrays. 16. Close enough.

  “If anyone gets sick,” Andrew said.

  “Which brings me back to answering your question. We all need to get a solid grip on the fact that some of you, maybe many of you, are going to get sick. Especially if you put some of these ideas into play,” Alex said, and the group erupted into a verbal geyser of doubt and anger, all directed at Alex.

  “Hey, hey…let Alex finish,” Ed yelled.

  “Yeah, I want to hear the rest of this,” Michelle Hayes called out.

  The group calmed down, and Alex continued, though he seriously considered just walking away. He wasn’t sure if he was helping or hurting his situation.

  “Don’t shoot the messenger. My point is that the only way to guarantee that you won’t catch the flu is to quarantine your entire family. That means zero, or at a minimum, very controlled contact with anyone outside of your family. That’s really the only way.

  “So, am I going to put my name down on the daycare list? No. Am I going to volunteer to drive potentially infected people to the hospital? No. Am I willing to be part of a neighborhood crime patrol when police service is no longer available? Sure. You all need to start thinking like this, or the flu is going to spread through the neighborhood like wildfire.”

  Eric and Stephanie Bishop were both shaking their heads, with disgusted looks on their faces. Alex made a quick mental assessment of the scene, dividing the group into two factions: those that thought he was an asshole, and those that either didn’t know what to think or seemed to support his ideas.

  Right away, he put Todd Perry, the Bishops, the Hodges, Mike Lynch, Nicki Bartlett, Laura Burton, and Andrew Green in the hostile group. He left the Quinns out of the group, based on Sarah Quinn’s reaction to the food sharing idea, and the fact that she didn’t react either way to his last comments. Ed Walker, the Silvas, Charlie Thornton, the Coopers, and Michelle Hayes fell into the second group.

  As he continued to scan the faces, he put Peter Brady and Michael McCarthy into the hostile group. They were standing side by side, with loathsome faces, talking to each other and glancing up at Alex while shaking their heads. Mary Thompson and Jamie McDaniels appeared to be quietly arguing with each other. Alex couldn’t make a determination one way or the other about either of them.

  Todd calmly stepped around the chairs and approached Alex as the group continued to disintegrate into a chaotic mutter-fest. Todd’s face was no longer swollen red, but Alex could tell by his bearing that Todd was about to get something important off his chest. Most of the driveway went silent in anticipation.

  “Let me handle this, Charlie,” he whispered to his left as Ed put a hand on his shoulder.

  Todd stopped about ten feet in front of him. “You know, Alex, you really surprised me today.”

  “Not me,” Eric Bishop said.

  What is Eric’s problem with me?

  “I used to think you were a stand-up guy. All that talk about the marines, band of brothers, looking out for the guy next to you. I guess that was all just a bunch of crap. I’m starting to put together a pretty clear picture of your situation. Put in a wood burning stove and some solar panels recently…extra oil tank. You’re not worried about a thing. You don’t need anything from any of us. I see exactly what kind of guy you are now. I guess my only question is: why the hell did you show up to this meeting in the first place?”

  Todd stood his ground with his hands on his hips, awaiting a response. Alex sensed that everyone else was waiting for his response as well. Most of the adults were standing in a loose perimeter around the current epicenter of controversy.

  “I’m starting to ask myself the same question, though I have managed to accomplish one important task. I’ve identified the belligerent assholes on the block,” Alex said, letting his rising anger get the better of him.

  Todd took a few steps forward, and Daniel Lewis put a hand on his shoulder, attempting to defuse his lack of self-control.

  “Well, my offer still stands. Sarah, I’ll bring the anti-virals over to your house later this afternoon. You can all figure out how you want to distribute them. I’ll catch you later, Ed. Derek. Jamie, give me a call when you get home. It’s important. Charlie,” Alex said, nodding to them as he started to walk toward the end of the driveway.

  They all acknowledged him with various gestures and quiet responses.

  “I wonder how much you’re keeping for yourself,” Todd grumbled.

  “You just don’t quit, do you?” Alex said, turning around to face Todd.

  This guy needs a warning.

  “I guess not. I don’t turn my back on friends, like some of us,” Todd said in a strained voice that betrayed an underlying fear of the situation.

  “Well, that can be a positive quality in the right situation,” Alex said lightly, taking a few steps toward Todd. “Oh, Nicki, could you do me a favor and put me on the security roster? Especially if we need any heavily armed patrols. You know, if looters become an issue. Thanks.” He turned to leave.

  “That asshole’s threatening us? I don’t believe it,” he heard someone whisper.

  You’re damned right I am.

  Alex heard Charlie call out to him.

  Here’s the real powder keg.

  “Alex,” he called again, and Alex turned his head while continuing to walk.

  “What’s up, Charlie?” he asked, as Charlie closed the gap.

  “That was a nice finishing touch.”

  “We’ll see. I don’t have a good feeling about Todd. I think he’s going to need more than a veiled threat,” Alex said.

  “You might be right. I should have said the same thing. I know that fucker has it in for me, too.”

  “Well, y
ou called it like most of us saw it.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m sorry to have gotten you involved in that little fiasco over there. Looks like half the neighborhood hates us,” Charlie said, and Alex sensed that Charlie just might be happy about his new outlaw status in the neighborhood.

  “Yeah, I’m a little surprised that so many people rallied against me. Jesus. I’m not making any of this up. If they execute their little daycare plan, the neighborhood is screwed. How are you guys set? It sounds like you’ve been doing some prep work,” Alex said, as they passed Todd’s house.

  “Pretty good, I guess. You’re probably the expert. We have at least two months of those Meals Ready to Eat…MREs, and freeze-dried meals. I couldn’t believe these were still on the shelves. I guess no one thought about it at first. Now you can’t find that stuff anywhere. Other than that, we have a bunch of dried stuff, like rice, beans, and nuts, a good amount of canned food, some jugs of water. I can melt snow if I have to. I have a bunch of those water purification tablets, from our deep woods hunting trips. Propane stove, plenty of firewood. I thought you were nuts putting in that solar panel system, but now it looks like a pretty damn good idea.”

  “Yeah, it’s something we wanted to do for quite a while. For more than one reason,” Alex said.

  “Like sticking it to the power company?”

  “In a sense. Unfortunately, it’ll take another fifteen or twenty years for this system to pay for itself. But that’s definitely part of it,” Alex agreed, as they passed the Walkers’ house.

  Charlie looked up at Ed’s house. “Ed seems like a good guy. How are they set for this thing?”

  “All right, I suppose. Ed’s biggest challenge will be keeping his distance from the rest of the neighborhood. Ed understands the gravity of the situation better than most around here, but he’s not far enough along yet for me to say he’s good to go. He’s too nice. The best advice I can give you, Charlie, is to steer clear of the neighbors. If you have to interact, keep your distance, and for God’s sake, don’t provoke anyone. You and I both could use some help with that one.”