After the Republic

by Frank L. Williams

  The camp had done such a good job of generating its own food supply that several families still had portions of the non-perishable food they brought with them a year earlier. Drew never hunted or fished, yet curiously never seemed to need food from others.

  All in all, morale was high. Caroline still had bouts with depression and some of the kids in the camp still struggled to adapt, but most residents seemed to have adjusted well and developed strong community bonds. Notable exceptions were Drew, always the loner, and Bob and Kane, who kept to themselves when not performing official duties.

  Andrea had put her background as an educator to use teaching the children. Despite the wide age range among the children her efforts seemed to be working, and the teenagers were helping the younger kids along. Since there were no textbooks Andrea made do with what she had: Bibles, copies of the U.S. Constitution, The Boy Scout Handbook, biographies Joshua had brought along and an assortment of books Thomas had in his cabin.

  Jack taught the teenagers how to safely use firearms and other weapons. Thomas educated them on construction and farming, Bob instructed them on military strategy, personal security and physical fitness and Joshua taught them about the U.S. Constitution and the American government. Joshua reflected that the lessons on the American government now seemed like a history class, not a civics class. Joshua and Perry gave fishing lessons and Keri taught basic first aid.

  Jim was still leading a weekly worship service, which nearly everyone attended. Drew attended but usually seemed disinterested. Bob and Kane were typically present but appeared to be there only out of a sense of duty.

  John and Ruth were no longer in Joshua’s cabin. They had made a deal with Thomas, who built a small, two-room cabin for them across the clearing from Joshua’s. They were sociable at times but tended to keep to themselves. Jim and his family were still living in Drew’s cabin.

  Joshua again scratched Reagan on the head. “We’ve come a long way in a year, haven’t we, boy?” Reagan’s tail thumped against the canoe in response. Things were going well. Almost too well. Joshua’s instincts told him more storms were coming.

  Joshua closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold winter air. The sound of the mountain breeze was relaxing. He had always been drawn to the water; that was one of the reasons he had taken up fishing as a hobby. Now, fishing was more than a hobby – it was a necessity for survival. Still, he enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lake, particularly at this time of morning. While it paled in comparison to the ocean, which he missed, the lake was a quiet place to think, reflect, and connect with God’s creation. Reagan seemed to look forward to this time of day alone with Joshua.

  Others, particularly Caroline, had stated that they felt like they were prisoners in the camp, but in many ways Joshua felt freer than ever before. He didn’t have to go to someone’s office and punch a time clock. There were no income taxes, no homeowners’ association rules, no zoning laws, no rat race – none of the sources of stress that seemed to burden so many people before the attacks. The more modern and “advanced” society had become, the more stressed people had become. Life here was simple.

  The organizational structure they had developed in the camp emphasized personal freedom combined with personal responsibility, and it had not been contaminated by the same encroachments on freedom that had clouded government in America in recent decades. Not bad, he thought. So far.

  Two hours, two largemouth bass and three large catfish later Joshua paddled the canoe back to shore. Deep red streaks were beginning to pierce the darkness, but the orange ball had not yet risen from behind the mountain. Reagan stood on the nose of the canoe, silently scanning the shore for potential threats. His ears and tail were perked up and he was as motionless as a hood ornament.

  When they reached the shore Joshua quickly cleaned the fish and hid the canoe and fishing equipment. The uphill climb back to camp was now an easy stroll – quite a change from a year ago, when the mountainous inclines took a toll on his cardiovascular system.

  As Joshua and Reagan approached the clearing Drew’s motorcycle whizzed by, headed toward the road. He was wearing the same blue backpack he wore every time he left the camp. Joshua shook his head. No one knew where Drew went, and he refused to tell anyone where he was going or what he was doing. Joshua had considered having Bob or Kane follow him one day, but decided that might cause more problems than it solved.

  Joshua kicked off his boots and left them on the porch. When he entered the cabin he was greeted by the welcome aroma of brewing coffee. Reagan followed him in and curled up in the corner.

  “Any luck?” Rebecca asked as she came down the hall.

  “Decent.” Joshua took the fish out of the bucket and put them on a plate on the counter. “Two bass and three catfish.”

  “Not bad. Ready for tonight’s meeting?”

  Tonight the residents would elect their new council. Deep down Joshua wished someone else would step up and assume the chairmanship, but he wasn’t holding his breath. “Not yet, but I’ll work on that in a bit.”

  They ate breakfast and Joshua took his Bible and coffee and sank into one of the rocking chairs on the front porch, perching his cup on the rail. Reagan sat on the edge of the steps and kept watch.

  A short time later Reagan growled, stood up, and walked down to the bottom of the steps, his tail pointing straight up into the air. When Bob and Kane entered the clearing he relaxed, wagged his tail and returned to the top of the steps. “Good boy,” Joshua said. Reagan’s tail wagged a bit harder.

  Bob and Kane raised the American flag as they had done nearly every day since arriving in the camp. Kane disappeared into the woods and Bob made his way to the porch. “Joshua, do you have a moment?”

  “Sure, Bob, what’s up?”

  “I wanted to give you a heads-up about tonight’s meeting. As you are aware, I believe we would be well served to have someone other than Drew on our council. I have spoken with Ruth and she has agreed to accept my nomination. I believe we have enough votes to elect her. Everyone is obviously planning on voting to re-elect you, Thomas, Perry and myself.”

  Joshua felt his stomach twist. “I’ve had some concerns about him myself, but I’m not sure this is the way to address them. Drew has a pretty strong relationship with Thomas, and Thomas has been very gracious in letting us use his land.”

  “I understand your concern, but I feel strongly about this.” Bob removed his camouflage cap and scratched his short, gray hair. “I trust you will not tip Drew off.”

  “I doubt if we’ll see him before tonight.” Joshua avoided directly answering the question. “I saw him heading out this morning when I was walking back from the lake.”

  After Bob left Joshua went inside. “I think we may have a problem.”

  “What kind of problem?” Rebecca asked.

  “You know Bob has had it in for Drew from day one. He just told me that he’s talked Ruth into running against him tonight.”

  “Well, it’s an open election. He has the right to nominate her.”

  “True, but it worries me. Drew seems pretty close with Thomas, and Thomas has been awfully gracious to us. And most of this land does still belong to him.”

  ***

  As the sun was setting camp residents gathered in the shelter next to Drew’s cabin, now referred to as the community center. The community center had detachable walls that protected those inside from the cold wind but which could be removed during warmer weather. People huddled near the fire pit as they waited for the meeting to start.

  Seven o’clock rolled around and Joshua called the meeting to order. Jim offered an invocation. The sound of Drew’s motorcycle grew louder as the prayer commenced, and he arrived at the community center just as Jim said “amen.” He was now often the last to arrive – a marked change from his behavior before the attacks, when he was always one of the first to arrive at any event. Drew used the mirror on his motorcycle to comb his hair before dismounting. As Jack led the Pledge of Allegi
ance Joshua wondered whether the nation whose flag they were saluting really still existed.

  “Folks, we all know why we’re here.” Joshua ascended onto the massive stump that Thomas had converted into a makeshift dais. “Our main business tonight is the election of our council for the next year. Every adult over the age of 18 who resides in the camp has one vote. Tommy, that means you get to vote this year!” Everyone gave Tommy a round of applause.

  “If there are more than five candidates voting will be by secret ballot,” Joshua continued. “The top five vote getters will be elected. Unless there are questions, the floor is now open for nominations.”

  Perry raised his hand and said, “I nominate Joshua Winston.”

  “I had a feeling that was coming,” Joshua chuckled.

  Thomas nominated Drew, Rebecca nominated Perry, Drew nominated Thomas and Chuck nominated Bob.

  “We have nominations for Bob Kendall, Thomas Page, Drew Thompson, Perry Edwards and me,” Joshua said.

  Bob raised his hand. “Mr. Chairman, I nominate Ruth Moore.”

  Drew’s head snapped around in Bob’s direction. Bob glared back at him with a condescending grin.

  “Are there any further nominations?” Joshua asked.

  After a few moments of awkward silence Jack moved to close nominations. The motion carried.

  “We have six nominees for five council spots,” Joshua said. “That means we will have an election by secret ballot and the top five vote-getters will be elected.” Rebecca was furiously tearing sheets of paper into small strips. “Rebecca is in the process of making ballots. I will appoint Jim, Chuck and Andrea to serve as tellers. Everyone must sign in to get their ballot. After all of the ballots have been cast the tellers will count the votes.”

  The tellers made their way to a table and everyone lined up to cast their votes. Drew was fidgeting nervously and Bob had a confident smirk on his face.

  As the first people received their ballots Thomas stood up. “Joshua, can I say something?”

  “Sure, Thomas, what is it?”

  Thomas removed the toothpick from his mouth and twisted it between his fingers. “Man, I’ve never been one for serving on boards and committees and stuff like that. I agreed to be on the council last year because y’all seemed to really want me there. You folks seem like you’ve got it pretty well under control, and I don’t need to be on the council. I’d like to withdraw my name.”

  Bob’s confident grin immediately turned into a scowl. “Son of a…” he muttered out loud before catching himself.

  Joshua was also caught off guard. “I, um… Thomas is withdrawing from the race. That leaves us with five candidates for five seats.”

  “Man, I’d like to make a motion that we elect those five candidates to the council for next year,” Thomas said. Kim seconded the motion.

  “We have a motion and a second,” Joshua said. “Is there any discussion?”

  There was no discussion so Joshua called for a vote. There was a loud chorus of “ayes.” When he asked if there were any opposed a lone voice rang out: Bob’s.

  “Ruth, welcome to the council,” Joshua said. “You’ve got a lot to offer and I look forward to working with you. Thomas, thank you for your service during the past year. That concludes our business at this meeting. Our governing rules state that the council is to elect a chair immediately following this meeting, so I will now call the council meeting to order. Those of you who are not on the council are welcome to stay, but I certainly understand if you have other things to do.”

  Joshua began the council meeting. “It has been a tremendous honor and a great responsibility to serve as your chair for the past year. We’ve come a long way, and I greatly appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me. With that said, if someone else is interested in serving as chair, I would gladly step aside.” He noticed Rebecca cock an eyebrow.

  Perry immediately interjected, “Joshua, I think you need to be our chair for at least another year.”

  “I realize I sprung this on you guys,” Joshua said. “If you want to sleep on it, I will accept a motion to table the chair vote for one week.”

  “I stand by my statement that you need to be our chair again, but if you want us to think it over I’ll make the motion to table this for a week,” Perry said. Ruth seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

  Bob stormed over to Joshua immediately following the meeting, red-faced. “You tipped Drew and Thomas off, didn’t you?”

  “No, I did not.” Joshua shook his head. “I was as surprised by his withdrawal as anyone.”

  “I’m not sure I buy it,” Bob said.

  Drew walked up as Bob was speaking. “Bob, predicting that you would nominate someone to get rid of me was so easy it was pathetic. You may know military tactics, but I know political strategy, and I saw your move coming a mile away. I didn’t know it would be Ruth, but I knew you would talk someone into it. No one had to tip me off.”

  Bob glared at Drew but did not speak.

  “Drew, are you saying you asked Thomas to step aside?” Joshua inquired.

  “No,” Drew said. “I did talk with him about the fact that I felt like Bob would try to get rid of me, and he volunteered to step aside. He said that serving on the council just wasn’t his thing and that he trusted us to take care of things.” Drew smiled like a victorious warrior. “Oh, by the way, Bob, that was six weeks ago.” He pointed at Bob’s chest. “Your move was all too easy to predict.” He rubbed his nose with his handkerchief, then turned and strutted away.

  “Joshua, I apologize for implying that you tipped them off,” Bob said. “I was just surprised and upset by what happened.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Joshua said. “I’ve been on the losing side of some elections and have reacted the same way myself. Consider it water under the bridge.”

  As soon as Bob left Drew made his way back to Joshua. “I gather from Bob’s statement that you had advance knowledge that he was trying to get rid of me?”

  “He told me about it this morning.” Joshua pursed his lips. “That’s when I found out, and I didn’t see you until the meeting started tonight.”

  “Hmm. That’s fine.” Drew said. “On a different note, if you’re serious about wanting someone else to step in as chairman, what would you think about me in that role?”

  Joshua froze. “Umm… Let me sleep on it. This has been a somewhat tumultuous meeting and I want to process everything. If you’d like I can also talk with the other council members and see what they think.”

  “Sure thing,” Drew said. “Be sure to bounce it off of Bob and let me know what he says.”

  After a few minutes Joshua and Rebecca began walking back down the hill toward their cabin. “I think we’ve got another problem.”

  “What is it this time?” she asked.

  “Well, Bob accused me of tipping off Drew and Thomas about his plan to knock Drew off of the council, which I did not. And then Drew seemed upset that I knew about Bob’s plan ahead of time and didn’t tell him, even though I didn’t know until this morning.”

  “Well, you can’t please everybody all of the time,” she assured him. “That’s something you’ve said for as long as I’ve known you.”

  “True. But now Drew wants to be the chair if I decide not to do it again. I just don’t think that will fly.”

  “Probably not,” she said. “On that note, I wish you’d told me you were thinking about stepping back as chair before you announced it to everyone else.”

  “Sorry about that.” Joshua pursed his lips. “But I know you’ve always wanted me to step back from politics and leadership roles.”

  Rebecca grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. She looked into his eyes with a deep, penetrating gaze. “Yes, I have wanted that. I never liked everything that goes along with politics, all of the public appearances and glad-handing. But this isn’t about politics. It’s about whether or not we survive.”

  Joshua looked down for a moment, then into h
er brown eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it to you. I thought it’s what you’d want.”

  “You should know better than to think you can read my mind by now. If you’d asked me, I would’ve told you not to make that announcement. I’m not sure there’s anyone else here I trust in that job.”

  “Well, the cat’s out of the bag now,” Joshua said.

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet. I need to talk to others on the council.”

  When they opened the door Reagan almost knocked them over. “I think he needed to go out,” Joshua observed.

  Joshua sat down, leaned back and closed his eyes. Rebecca poured two glasses of water and sat beside him on the couch. He sat motionless for what seemed like an eternity.

  After a while she broke the silence. “What’s on your mind?”

  Joshua opened his eyes. “Just thinking about everything that happened today. This morning I would’ve bragged how well everyone had adapted and how smoothly everything seemed to be going in the camp. Tonight it seems like things are suddenly going to hell in a hand basket. There is a lot of tension, and we are too small to be divided like this. And I have to admit that it doesn’t sit well with me that people who should know better would think I wouldn’t shoot straight with them.”

  Rebecca put her hand on his knee. “You’ve always said leadership is a tough business that requires a thick skin. You can’t get hung up on what others think. Their reactions say more about them than anyone else.”

  “I guess so,” Joshua said. “I just didn’t expect all of this today.”

  ***

  “You said you had something you wanted to discuss.” Perry’s breath was visible against the backdrop of the cold, pre-dawn winter air, and the breeze gently rippled across the lake. “What’s on your mind?”

  “The council.” Joshua re-baited his hook and dropped it back into the water. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you out here, where we can have some privacy. You know I’d like to step back as chair, and I know you want me to stay in the position. One of my goals when I decided not to run for the legislature was to spend more time with Rebecca. Now here I am, stuck in another political role.”