Amitola: The Making of a Tribe

by A. Grant Richard

  “There were people there.” Images bombarded her mind. She stared at the empty space in front of her. “Some men were there when we showed up. They said some of the people had already died and the rest left to go home. I thought it was odd. I had a bad feeling, but we stayed because things were getting worse outside and at least there we had food and Lance said we’d be safe. I felt like we could handle whatever was going on inside better than what was going on outside.”

  She paused, recalling everyone who was there when they arrived. She didn’t mention a couple of people because this just wasn’t the time to discuss it, especially in front of the kids. “The janitor and one of the construction guys died from a virus a couple of days after we got there. Another construction guy was shot on a run and who knows what happened to the third one. He disappeared. One of the security guards hung himself and the other one, Floyd Robinson, left to go home but was killed by a wild animal, we think anyway."

  Maia took a big sip of her water then continued, "Floyd is the one who walked us through everything and taught us how it worked. He gave us the keys and codes too. I asked him about Lance’s boss. He said he wished he knew what happened to him; that they were there one day and gone the next. He said a couple dozen people disappeared. It tore him up not knowing what happened to them. He was a good man.”

  They sat in silence as they considered all she’d shared but Caleb didn’t like it when there was no noise. Besides, he wanted to find out as much as he could about Maia. “How did you and Lance meet?”

  “Well, see, what had happened was…” She laughed and blushed.

  She continued, “There was this guy I had been talking to, and before we got serious he enlisted in the Marines. When he left, I gave him a picture of me, in a bikini, with my info on the back so he could write me. He pinned it on the wall by his bed while he was in basic and that picture caught the eye of one Pvt. Lance Graham. He stole the photo and saw my name and address on the back, and he started writing to me. I found out that his family lived not far from mine and when he came home on leave, I went to visit him. And the rest is history.”

  “He stole you? That must’ve been some bikini,” Caleb laughed. “I like this guy.”

  “Yeah, he was a cool dude,” Tye said. “The man was a character and a half.”

  She flashed a big smile his way then pointed in front of her to the small pile of heavy blankets. “Well, boys, I hate to break up the stroll down memory lane, but we should probably get some sleep. We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow."

  They spread three of the blankets on the floor and used the other two to cover up with. It was a tight squeeze, but they cozied up to make it work. Of course, Maia and Tye slept side by side again. She was growing comfortable with having him by her side.

  The crew packed up and headed out early the next morning. The first couple of hours were easy traveling. They saw very few people until they got to the next town.

  "We're close to our next landmark," she said.

  "Are we just not going to talk about the screams last night and the baseballs that were laying all over this morning?" Caleb asked.

  Tye shook his head. "Um, I'd rather not. We're alive and moving on, right? Besides, I hear screams every night."

  Caleb tightened his grip on his backpack straps. "But dude, the baseballs. What the hell was that about?"

  "It happens sometimes," Maia said as she pointed straight ahead at the twelve-foot concrete wall that had collapsed in several places.

  “This is the place they call ‘Bottleneck.’ It used to be Cajun Rouge, remember?” she asked, looking at Tye.

  Tye replied, “Yeah. This is where we used to come to see the Monster Truck Rally. We had the best times,” he said as he patted Junior on the back.

  "Fine, ignore me." Caleb rolled his eyes as they veered off towards a bunch of trees to use as cover.

  Hundreds of people walked through here daily. The survivors had taken advantage of the situation and mapped out areas of passage that were surrounded by floodwaters. They called this place Bottleneck. The roadblock they passed through earlier in the day was at the narrowest point of the bottleneck on the West Side. This central area became the prime source of activity because all foot traffic had to pass through there to go east or west unless they wanted to walk miles and miles out of the way to go around the water.

  “You said we have to go through here. Does that mean you and Sadie can go through unnoticed? Or do these people not care?” Caleb asked.

  “I’ve never had any trouble going through, but I still try to do it without anyone realizing I’m a woman. The guards keep order, but I wouldn’t want one of the crazies to see Sadie or me and follow us. There’s no security once you get past the gates on the other side.”

  “Got it,” he replied.

  Maia and Sadie stopped to make sure their handkerchiefs covered their faces well and smudged dirt other places on their face in an attempt to camouflage themselves. They tucked their hair, put on gloves to make their hands appear larger, and wore sunglasses. The finishing touches, which made all of the guys laugh, was to tuck a sock in their pants.

  “Quit laughing!” Sadie whined.

  Maia said, “Look these men are figuring out the tricks we use to blend in, so I figure we’ve got to do more than we’ve been doing. If you have any ideas as to how we can look more like guys, then please tell me.”

  “I don’t know. I know who I’m looking at, so it’s hard for me not to see you as female. I think the biggest thing is how you walk. You move like girls. You have to walk like a guy,” Tye said.

  “And how do we do that?” Maia asked, placing her hands on her hips.

  “First, take your hands off of your hips then let me see you walk.”

  She suppressed the sarcasm that was threatening to come out and put it out of her mind that she was about to be critiqued on her walking skills. Unfortunately, people have insecurities even post-apocalypse. She moved back and forth to loosen her joints then she put one foot in front of the other. She walked with the attitude that the world was on fire and she was the only one who could put it out. In other words, cocky, because that’s how she perceived men to walk.

  “No, that’s not going to work,” Caleb chuckled. “You can’t move your hips like that and—”

  “I’m not moving my hips!” Maia grumbled.

  “You are moving your hips. We notice these things.” Tye continued, “Keep your hips from swaying, and you have to take bigger steps, not those girly ones.”

  “Walk with your legs further apart. They’re too close together. And you can’t just swing your arms. You have to move them deliberately,” Caleb said while showing her how to move.

  “Ugh! Men are so complicated.” Maia moaned stomping her feet and then getting mad that she did because she feared she would open her blisters back up. She sighed. Trying to remember all of the instructions she just received she started the walk again. They busted out laughing this time.

  “What? Come on, what now?”

  Wrapping his arms around her, still chuckling, Caleb said, “Don’t be mad. It’s just cute. You can’t help but be a woman.”

  “Whatever,” she nipped back, pushing him away. She was irritated now. She didn’t even want to hear Tye as he was trying to explain.

  “When you try to move your shoulders purposely it makes your chest stick out. Ace bandages or not, it was obvious what was under that shirt, even with the jacket on.”

  Caleb thought for a minute then advised them of his plan, “What we’re going to do is surround the two of you. If you hold something, like your bag,” he said demonstrating, “then you don’t have to worry about the arm thing, and it covers your chest. Just try to remember not to move your hips and keep your legs further apart. And the two of you shouldn’t say anything if anyone is close to us. If we do that I think we’ll be all right.”

  “You good?” Tye asked her.

  “I’m annoyed with the whole situation. It’s not either
of you. I just want to get home.”

  Still several yards away from the Bottleneck Grounds, Maia warned the kids not to look to their right. The water tower that once supplied life to the people of this area now served as a warning to all potential thieves and troublemakers. Those who dared to challenge the powers that be were hoisted to the top only to be hurled down the 150 plus feet to their death. A pile of bodies lay at the bottom. Every couple of days they burned them, but the pile always seemed to be bigger than it was the last time she saw it.

  Caleb paused to take a good look around before he led his crew inside. They entered on the side where the concessions, souvenir shops, and administrative offices once were. The sales pitches immediately began. A man who looked to be in his late thirties called out to them as soon as they were in sight.

  “Hey, guys! Let me take care of that beard. You know the women like clean shaven men. It only costs a couple portions of food!” he hollered.

  They did their best to ignore him the way most people used to do with the kiosk sales guys in the middle of the mall selling flat irons or skin care products. But those guys weren’t selling to prevent starvation. Eventually, they gave up. This guy was persistent to the point that he walked right over to them with shaving cream and blade in hand.

  “No thanks, dude,” Tye said, putting his hand up to keep him away.

  They were a quarter of the way through the shops before Old Spice finally got the hint and left to bother someone else. At every booth, someone was trying to sell them something. It was worse than walking into a sales expo on the last day of business. Flashlights, manual can openers, foods, batteries, safety goggles, bandanas and chapstick lined shelves of the various booths like they were the blue ribbon special of the day.

  Junior pointed towards the booth with the longest line. “It’s hard to believe this is where we’d get those really good hot tamales from, huh dad?” Tye nodded and stared in disbelief at the dozens of people who waited in line to offer themselves as servants in exchange for food and shelter.

  Caleb touched the papers lining the utility poles as they passed. Looking around, he noticed nearly every vertical surface was covered in photographs or pieces of paper with messages and names of loved ones who were missing. He looked for anything that might be from his wife, but saw nothing.

  They stopped by the massive sign at the center of the sales grounds. It used to advertise the next event held at Cajun Rouge, but now it served to spread news from all over. They read the world, national, and local news, along with weather predictions, death tolls, and areas to avoid. Anytime someone came through with credible news they put it on the sign.

  “How do they know the entire west coast is gone?” Caleb wondered out loud. “How can they possibly know that?”

  A man standing next to them overheard him and offered an explanation, “A couple weeks ago about a dozen fellas made it here from New Mexico. They say their local radio reported most of California to Washington State sliding into the Pacific. One of them had an audio recording on his cell phone.” He pointed to the national news section on the board. “The Cascadia subduction zone and San Andreas fault had a series of earthquakes and tsunamis too. They say the biggest one was 9.7 on the Richter scale. The rest of the West was overcome with ash. Of all the people to come through here not one has been from that area. The men here also have radios. It’s probably the only way to communicate now.”

  Caleb shook his head while the rest of the crew stared at the headlines in disbelief. He looked over at the man beside them, “What about the kids that were taken? Is there any information about them?”

  “For that, you’d have to speak to the man in charge of this place, Randolph Reyes. He didn’t have any information a few days ago. I talk to him as often as I can. He’s looking for his grandchildren, and I’m looking for my son.” The gentleman held out his hand to Caleb, “I’m Tyrone Mills.”

  He gripped the man’s hand and introduced himself and the rest of the crew. He offered the names James and Cole for Maia and Sadie, but Mr. Mills wasn’t born yesterday.

  He smiled at Maia then looked back at Caleb and informed him, “Young ladies are usually safe around here at this time but be careful when you walk through that gate. There's a lot of men arriving from out-of-state, and many of them are looking for a bride, so those dog hunters are out in full force. They caught twenty-one women yesterday, and they’re auctioning them off as we speak. Don’t let them get caught.” He winked at Caleb and walked off.

  Caleb and Tye shared a look of concern before returning their eyes to the news. They all sighed or gulped hard when they read the latest death toll. According to the board, 78% of America’s population perished, and the current ratio of men to women was six to one. The present ratio of free women to men was nine to one. Caleb pointed at the board. “nine to one?”

  The local news posted about massacres in several of the surrounding areas including the old Mall at Cortana. At the mall alone, one hundred thirteen people were slaughtered. “That’s the place we stayed at.” Tye rubbed his beard. “That’s where they took Lanie from.”

  “And it looks like Charlie was right,” Caleb replied. A block of news mentioned some instances where gas had built up in silos and ignited during lightning storms. The weather section also showed the current June temperature at a high of 64°, and it mentioned the potential for a hurricane sometime over the next five to six days.

  It was a post in the “specials” section that caused their hearts to sink. It showed the going rate of females and what traits gave increase to value and which gave a decrease in value. Their eyes opened wide when catching sight of it. It made the current state of the situation even more real. Tye looked around and noticed several men staring in their direction. He saw the way Maia was standing.

  He leaned over to her and gently bumped her with his shoulder, “Stand up straight,” he warned her. “Don’t put all your weight on one hip like that.”

  “We need to go,” Caleb said, grabbing a flyer from the sign then urging them along.

  As soon as he took a step, he was accosted by a prostitute.

  “Come with me, baby…you don’t want any of those unskilled housewives. Why buy the whole cow when all you want is a glass of milk? I can do your body good,” she said, licking her lips.

  “Not interested,” Caleb told her and continued walking.

  Some of the old garages now served as taverns or brothels, and the prostitutes worked twenty-four hours a day. She stopped Junior next, “C’mon baby. You don’t have to train me or take care of me either. You just tell me how you like it.”

  Tye grabbed him and pulled him along while telling the woman, “You should think of some new pickup lines."

  Once they made it through the crowd of men and pushy salespeople they were able to discern what the speaker was saying out on the field. Just inside the arena, an eighteen wheeler flatbed served as a stage. A stout man with a thick southern drawl yelled through a megaphone. A nude woman stood by his side.

  “Brunette, 36 years old, pretty face, light skin, the jugs ain’t perky but they big, turn around, show ‘em your assets darlin’,” he demanded while turning the woman away from the crowd. “She still got at least four or five babies left in her, and you can see she got some cushion for the pushing. Based on age and physical traits with a deduction for brown eyes and because she had a c-section, I say we start the bidding at 1500 points.”

  “I can't believe this,” Maia said under her breath, hoping no one heard her. “They didn’t even use her name. They didn’t say her name.”

  Caleb translated, “1500 points, that’s the equivalent of two ounces of gold, one working condition vehicle, or one years worth of food for two according to this flyer.”

  Tye bumped his arm. “This is crazy, man. They locked them up in a horse trailer. Like they’re not even human.”

  They weren’t the only ones who had issues understanding what they were seeing. Three middle-aged men, who stood a
few feet away were overheard saying, “How did it come to this?”

  Caleb knew. “We did this,” he said under his breath. Standing there watching these poor women sold to the highest bidder. He couldn’t help but hit the replay button in his head.

  On Judgement Day when the disasters struck, photos and videos posted online made it appear as though more females perished though there would be no time for official numbers or fact-checking. However, even if it was true, it was irrelevant. The bigger problem was that afterwards, the media hype and rumors exacerbated it.

  The media didn’t break down right away. While anyone attempting to make a phone call received an “all circuits are busy” message, there was no problem reaching social media pages and news sites. This proved to be detrimental to the chaos that ensued when three random incidents became the foundation for an entire news phenomenon gone viral: deadly viral.

  Along with links to some recent studies citing the higher rate of females perishing during disasters, photos and videos of dead women began circulating almost immediately.

  Because they weren’t able to call or text anyone, the victims themselves, as well as others who had access to street and security cameras, were responsible for the original posting and distribution of the photos and videos online. Most of them only wanted rescuers to know where the survivors were to get help to them. Some victims, feeling the gravity of their impending doom, posted their final farewells to loved ones. It was the media and viral effects of billions of ignorant social media users who spread the personal, sacred moments along with misinformation.

  The headlines read, “Women Are 500 Times More Likely To Die in Catastrophes,” and “Recent Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Asteroid Impacts, and Supervolcano Eruption Kills Half of All Women.” The most unbelievable article was titled, “The Human Race is Doomed: An Expert Weighs in How to Best Utilize the Remaining 100,000 Women.”