“Yes, we would. Please do tell,” Claudine expressed.
“First of all, I noticed a lot of people fishing in the lake. If it’s food you need, which I am certain you do, then that’s not the wisest place to be directing your time and energy.”
A man near the fire crossed his arms grumpily and said, “Oh really? There’s trout in there. They’re not that hard to catch and most people like the taste of ‘em. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that the WDFW stocks Cranberry Lake with fish every year, but usually in April. It’s not April yet, so it hasn’t been stocked. You’re catching what’s left of last year’s trout.”
The grumpy man huffed and said, “We’re still having luck with the trout.” The man shook his head with severe disagreement, then barked, “I don’t see the problem.”
Stephen countered, “Here’s the problem. The resources in the lake are finite. Eventually it will be fished-out. Why not focus your efforts toward an infinite wellspring of resources? The ocean.”
Mr. Grumpy huffed once again and spouted, “Oh, that’s real smart. You do realize that the salmon aren’t running this time of year, right?”
“To hell with salmon,” Stephen said and waved away the salmon comment with a flap of his hand. “There are plenty of bottomfish like flounder, sculpin and rockfish that can be caught. And easily, too! Earthworms are all you need for bait. Yeah, they’re not as tasty and easy to clean as salmon, but it’s food in the mouth.”
Stephen looked at Mr. Grumpy, awaiting a response.
Mr. Grumpy frowned before declaring, “Harvesting rockfish is illegal in this part of Washington State.”
“That’s correct, they are illegal to harvest here. But you know what else is illegal? Setting up roadblocks and demanding payment at gunpoint to cross a bridge.”
Many of the leaders chuckled at Stephen’s comment. Some shrugged their shoulders and others whispered to each other.
Mr. Grumpy had no counter to what Stephen had said. He just continued to shake his head and stare at the fire with his arms still crossed in disgust.
Stephen wasn’t finished with the Puget Sound supporting argument yet, “Even more plentiful are herring. I saw that you have boats, right? There are tons upon tons of herring in the Puget Sound. Fish and I both have herring rigs in our tackle boxes. Hell, the two of us could fill a five-gallon bucket in a half an hour or less. We used to catch them all the time as bait for bigger fish, but they are quite edible by themselves.”
Most of the leaders were nodding and smiling at the same time. Stephen was proving himself to be quite a knowledgeable asset.
Stephen wanted to further impress the group, so he joyfully continued, “Oh, and on top of all that, you’ve got a virtually endless supply of crab just north of here at Bowman Bay! I’m sure that a few of these outdoorsmen must have some crab pots or cages hidden away in their RV’s or-”
Claudine interrupted Stephen by putting her hand up. She shook her head and said, “No, absolutely not. Bowman Bay is not an option at this time.”
Stephen was stunned. Claudine had thrown him a curveball. He asked, “What do you mean it’s not an option?”
“The campground at Bowman Bay and the area around it has developed into a breeding ground for criminals,” Claudine stated. Stephen, Tarra and Fish looked confused, so she elaborated by saying, “Agitators, thugs, delinquents, outlaws, pieces of shit, or whatever else you want to call them. Not very nice people.”
She allowed the three adults a second or two to absorb the revelation. Claudine’s face went solemn before she said, “There have been some….incidents, recently. Do you think that we secured the bridge simply as a measure to obtain resources from people passing through?”
“No,” Stephen said. “I’m guessing that there are other reasons. I’m sorry, I had no idea.”
“It’s alright, we understand. Continue with your suggestions, please,” Claudine requested.
Stephen took a quick moment to process the news. Bowman Bay is now a haven for outlaws? Stephen wondered if Bowman Bay had turned into something similar to the AWOL compound in Oak Harbor. If so, that would mean that there are now two dangerous mobster outfits within miles of each other. Both of which will eventually run out of resources and will need to expand their territory to survive. The Park was in the middle of both groups!
“Stephen? Please continue,” Claudine said. Stephen shook off the news and refocused.
“Another suggestion I would like to make is in regards to the woodcutting and harvesting inside The Park,” Stephen said.
Mr. Grumpy was back at it again, voicing his opinion, “Really? What now? Do you think we should stop or something? Yeah, that’s a great idea!” He laughed loudly, almost too loudly, and looked at the other leaders, assuming they would laugh at Stephen’s ridiculousness as well.
They didn’t.
Stephen glared at Mr. Grumpy’s and continued with, “No, wood is necessary. Everyone needs wood for one reason or another. What I am suggesting is an organized harvesting effort. Set up two wood stations. One between Quarry Pond and Forest Loop, and the other between Forest Loop and Lower Loop. Only trees outside the actual campsite areas will be harvested. All of the wood will be separated by type. Alder and maple will be reserved strictly for cooking and smoking meats. Cedar and pine can be used as regular firewood. I am also recommending that some type of rationing system be established so that people aren’t burning out of control for no reason.”
Mr. Grumpy laughed again, “Ha! Good luck with that! You’re gonna piss everyone off!”
Claudine put up her hand again and said, “Larry, that’s enough. In fact, I think we’ve heard enough from you as well, Stephen. Thank you for your suggestions.” She and her husband William glanced around at the other leaders, who were also nodding in agreement. They looked as though they were waiting for something to happen next.
Claudine and William turned around and whispered something to each other, then resumed their standing positions next to each other in the middle of the group.
“I believe that we’re ready for a vote,” Claudine stated. “All in favor of Fish and the Alexander family remaining with us in The Park, raise your hand and say ‘aye’.”
“Aye,” was spoken by almost all the leaders. All of them except Larry, of course, who was still angrily cursing to himself with his arms crossed over his sizeable pot belly.
Stephen, Tarra and Fish began smiling uncontrollably. They were in! They were now officially residents of The Park!
Katrina asked as she looked around at all the leaders with their hands up from her chair, “Does that mean we get to stay here with you?”
“Yes, it does my dear,” Claudine affirmed with a smile. “Welcome to The Park.”
“Hell yeah!” Fish shouted and ran over to Stephen to shake his hand. Stephen gave Fish a quick brotherly hug and then hugged Tarra, who was still out of sorts from Stephen’s speeches.
Claudine interrupted the joyful chatter by saying, “We have some rules here, I’m sure you’re aware of that. We’ll brief you on those later. Now, for introductions. We’ll start with you, Ox.”
“Jason Oxnard, day shift bridge team leader.”
“Ed Quentin, night shift bridge team leader.”
“Hal Hollingsworth, day shift gate team leader.”
“Ed Jones, night shift gate team leader.”
“Alexis Tillman, beach security team leader.”
“Gerty and Victor Martinez, provisions managers.”
“Carrie McDonald, resident nurse.”
“Lawrence Paulson, resource manager.” – AKA Mr. Grumpy.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Claudine assigned each of the adults with a responsibility.
“Fish, with your combat experience we are assigning you as the night shift beach security team leader. Our previously assigned individual decided to leave the park to take his family elsewhere. Please see Alexis tomorrow morning for your briefing,”
Claudine announced. Fish initially had his heart set on being a member or even a team leader of the bridge team, but after he got a good look at Alexis Tillman….nope! Screw the bridge, the beach it is!
“Tarra, we would like for you to work with Carrie. Our community is certainly in need of anyone with health care training.”
Tarra shook her head in acknowledgement and then glanced at Carrie McDonald, who smiled at her. Tarra smiled back, of course.
“Stephen, you are going to be our new resource manager,” Claudine declared, and then braced for shock.
“What? Are you kidding me?” Larry screamed with disgust.
William said to Larry, “Nope. You’ll be working for him effective tomorrow morning.” He then stepped in front of his wife, Claudine. Was he protecting her from Larry? Why? Maybe ol’ Larry had a temper. Ya think?
Larry shouted angrily, “I have a god damn degree in ecology! What the hell qualifications does this guy have?”
“He has a degree in common sense,” William answered with a chuckle. “Now deal with it.”
Fish, out of nowhere, suddenly blurted toward Larry, “Yeah, he has a degree in shut-the-fuck-up, too!”
Stephen sensed confrontation and became nervous. Larry was initially angry at William, but once Fish had yelled at him, he completely lost it.
“You better watch your mouth, navy boy,” Larry hissed, and balled his fists. His upper lip was quivering. Stephen noticed that the furious man was sweating, too. It wasn’t even that warm out, maybe upper forties or lower fifties at best. The guy was about to explode!
Fish laughed and said, “Yo, what are you gonna do? Bleed on me? Ha-ha!”
Tarra giggled, but then said, “Fish, don’t.”
Larry stepped forward, eyes trained on Fish, but Claudine stepped around her husband and got between the two men, saying, “Gentlemen, calm down! Save your energy for something constructive. For Christ’s sake, be responsible enough!”
Fish looked like scolded child as he replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
Larry said nothing to Claudine in response as he turned away from the group. He huffed something under his breath and stomped away from site 137.
After Larry stormed away, the leadership dispersed as well. Some of them were still on shift, and needed to get back to their posts. Claudine and William informed Fish and the Alexanders that they could use the remainder of the day to get their camp set up, and that they could choose any of the vacant sites in The Park that they so desired. Additionally, she made sure to emphasize that Fish and Stephen now had positions of leadership, and would need to be at every three o’clock meeting. They would be notified of the meeting’s location every day at around one o’clock by their daughter Meghan, who would make a round-robin through The Park to notify all of the leaders of the day’s location.
Before departing, Claudine called Fish back to her and William to speak with him privately. Stephen and Tarra assumed that they were going to lecture him about the confrontation with Larry, so they collected the Kays and began walking back to site 62.
*****
Back at site 62, Stephen let Pharaoh out of the truck and the dog immediately watered a nearby tree. When the dog was finished, the Kays took off with him over to the grassy area near the bathrooms to play, leaving Stephen and Tarra sitting alone at the picnic table. They couldn’t leave the site yet, they had to wait for Fish. Stephen asked Tarra, “Do you think Fish is getting his ass chewed?”
“Probably,” Tarra replied. “That was kind of funny, though. ‘What are you gonna do, bleed on me?’” Tarra did a perfect impression of Fish.
“That Larry guy is a real piece of work,” Stephen muttered. “I really don’t want to work with him at all!”
“Then don’t. What do you need him for, anyway?”
“He knows what’s going on, he knows what people are assigned to what tasks. I have no idea. I need information,” Stephen answered.
“Stephen, c’mon. You’re a smart man, you can figure it out. Don’t worry so much about it, just take a walk-about through The Park tomorrow morning and you’ll know who’s doing what. You don’t need to adhere to his messed up procedures anyway. Start your own,” Tarra consoled.
“Right. I’ll try.”
“No, babe. You won’t try, you’ll do,” Then she tried to cheer him up with her Yoda voice by saying, “Do or do not, there is no try.”
Stephen laughed and playfully pushed her shoulder and said, “Whatever! Hey, are you nervous about working with that butch-looking nurse?”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Stephen acknowledged. Then he grinned and said, “I’ll bet ya my last dollar that she’s a lesbian.”
Tarra laughed, “So what? Big deal.”
“I know, I know. I’m just joking around,” Stephen explained. He then changed the subject by asking, “Where the heck is Fish?”
Then, as if Fish had known they were talking about him, he arrived.
“Speaking of the devil…” Tarra joked.
Fish said as he walked up to the picnic table, “Devil’s in the house. Are we out of here, or what?”
“Wait,” Stephen asked. “What did ol’ Claudine and William have to say to you? Did they yell at you about the Larry thing?”
“No, they never even mentioned that douchebag,” Fish explained. “They told me that the beach security chick, Alexis, is like a daughter to them. I guess that she was a police officer, and the only cop in Oak Harbor to stick around after the shit hit the fan. She guarded the Probst family until they made it here. She also helped them set this place up to the way it is now.”
Tarra immediately laughed, “So, they have you working side-by-side with a hot cop? I guess they didn’t really think that one out, did they!”
Fish grinned his toothy trademark smile from ear to ear and said, “Nope. They sure didn’t!”
Stephen said, “Let’s get out of here and find a site. I say we put up the tents and worry about the rest of the stuff tomorrow. Tarra and I haven’t slept yet.”
“Agreed,” Tarra answered. She and Stephen had been running on fumes. They needed rest.
Chapter 3
Stephen was the first one up the next morning. He hadn’t slept well, he was too worried about his new responsibility and position of leadership. Even though there wasn’t much light at that early hour, he managed to dig through the food bags in the back of the truck until he had found the instant coffee and vanilla flavored dry creamer.
Stephen thought about setting up the propane camp stove to heat up some water for his coffee, but then decided against it. They only had two bottles of Coleman propane left, and one was already depleted a bit from a previous camping trip. They needed to conserve the propane for a rainy day (literally). Instead, Stephen walked into the forest adjacent to the site they had chosen and gathered up some deadfall to build a fire. He needed to warm up, anyway. It was a very chilly morning indeed.
Once the fire was blazing away sufficiently, Stephen used his fire stick to push the burning deadfall under the steel cooking grates of the fire ring and set his pan of water upon them.
“Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Stephen announced joyfully to himself as his hands began to thaw. But then his peaceful coffee making time was disrupted.
A gunshot. Then another one. Stephen’s heart began to race in his chest. He surmised that the blasts had come from the west beach area or somewhere thereabouts, but it’s very hard to tell which direction gunshots come from when a person is surrounded by trees.
The tent’s zipper sounded behind him, and Tarra poked her head out.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I did. Sounded like they were coming from the beach, I think.”
“Are you making coffee?” Tarra asked, excitedly.
“Yupper,” Stephen replied proudly.
“Hell yeah, give me a second, I’m coming out!” Tarra exclaimed quietly and disappeared back into the tent.
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br /> Stephen and Tarra chatted the rest of the morning away until the sun had illuminated The Park. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, which was probably why it had been so chilly the night before.
Stephen had asked Tarra what she planned on doing with the Kays while she was working with Carrie McDonald.
“I’ll just take them with me, I guess,” she responded. She couldn’t leave them alone at the campsite. Fish couldn’t watch them, since he was assigned a night shift and would likely be sleeping most of the day.
As the fire dwindled down to nothing more than a few smoldering coals, Stephen got up and sighed. He said, “I guess it’s time for me to go to work. I’m going to steer clear of the beach for a while, at least until I find out what happened.”
“Good idea,” Tarra agreed.
“Once Fish wakes up, let him know what we heard so he has a heads-up. He’s assigned to the beach,” Stephen said, worriedly. “Let’s meet back here for lunch at noon?”
“Sounds good, babe,” Tarra replied. Stephen thought about taking his M-4 rifle with him before he departed, but decided against it. He didn’t want to intimidate any of the folks that would be working for him. He still had Eddie’s .38 special in his shoulder holster under his light jacket. That should be enough, right?
*****
Stephen’s first order of business that morning was to do exactly what Tarra had suggested; take a walk through The Park to determine who’s-who-in-the-zoo. He intended on introducing himself and speaking with as many people as he could. He needed to get his teams working on new projects as soon as possible, but not until after he identified who was actually going to be working for him. But, it was only his first day, how much could he actually accomplish? Especially on foot. It was a big park, after all.
As he walked, Stephen noticed that there weren’t any of the familiar smells of breakfast cooking as there normally would have been any other time prior to The Collapse. No bacon, no eggs, no sausage, no hash browns. He thought he might have smelled some Spam frying at one site. Possibly. What he did notice, however, was the smell of fish on the grill. “Hmmm, let me guess….trout?” Stephen thought about Larry’s idiotic defense of fishing in the lake versus the Puget Sound. What a dumbass!
THE COLLAPSE: Seeking Refuge Page 3