by Lynn Lamb
So, we got that far and decided to break until 7:30 to pick up from there.
With all of this BS, doomsday has started to look a lot like regular life. I am not sure if that’s a good thing.
Sigh, moving on…
Meeting Three: Book Club
This is an easy one to explain. We talked about Pride and Prejudice. I am too tired to go into the whole discussion, but it was pretty typical of all of the other Book Clubs I have been in. I must admit that it was good to do something that reminded me of the past.
Meeting Four: Evening Survivor’s Club
People mellowed out by 7:30, and we were able to have a productive meeting. Tonight’s subject, “Living without Electricity and Plumbing” wasn’t as bad as “Living without Food and Water.” We even got a laugh at how we all continued to flip the light switch every time we walk into a dark room. We also continue to open the refrigerator door when we are hungry and turn on the faucet to wash our hands after using the “facilities.” We are just a bunch of trained howler monkeys, aren’t we?
Meeting Five: Teen’s Club
Ahh, my final meeting of the day, and I have no idea at all how to talk to a bunch of angsty teens about living through the end of the world. This must be really tough on them. Not only are they dealing with all of those hormones, but now they have to try and figure out their place in a world that isn’t even a world anymore.
In attendance we had Jayden, who is twelve and was supposed to be at the Kid’s Club this morning, but, according to her, “she’s not a baby and isn’t going to meet with two little boys,” Chandra, sixteen, who was forced to come to the meeting by her parents, Gita, fourteen, who was the only one happy to be at the meeting and finally Kristi, age fifteen, and Pete, age seventeen, who would sit and listen but “aren’t gonna say a word.”
Maybe I should be the one to volunteer to go into the toxic ooze.
So, that productive meeting broke up after fifteen minutes.
July 25
It’s early, but I think that all of us “in the know” are nervous about this morning. The Colonel is going to go outside and see what it is like in just a few hours. Annie, Mark and I, along with the Grahams, will be glued to channel thirteen. I made us some oatmeal and coffee for breakfast as we waited.
~~~
The morning was dramatic, to say the least.
At exactly 7:30 on the dot, Jackson came on the walkie. “I have already taken down the wood over my front door,” he said. His voice sounded official, not like the laughing jerk I have gotten used to… heh. “I am wearing protective eye wear, goggles, thermal underwear over my wet suit, a ski jacket and a ski mask.”
A ski mask, I mouthed to Mark. He shrugged.
“You’re going to pass out,” I said.
“We already discussed this,” interjected Malcom. “He needs to stay as protected from the air as much as possible.”
“I have my Geiger-Muller counter ready to go, and I am about to open the door,” Jackson continued, as if he were recording official findings into a recorder. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“That’s sexist,” I said. Annie hit me on the arm playfully. We all held our breath and waited. It seemed like forever, but no one interrupted the silence.
“Back inside for the moment. It’s raining. Acid rain, maybe. It burned where it hit my wrist, the only part of me that was exposed. I’m going back…” he began.
“No you aren’t,” Malcom ordered. “Keep your ass in that house.”
“No can do, Doc,” he broke character from Mr. Scientist. “I have to bring food and water to the Sheratons. Talk when I get back.”
“No,” Malcom began to protest.
“He’s gone and I’m sure he didn’t take the walkie with him,” I said.
“God damn it. Everyone switch to channel one. I have to warn the Sheratons.”
About a minute went by.
“This is Shelby,” she finally answered.
“Shelby, this is Dr. Graham. Colonel Jackson is bringing you food and water. Have Matt get down whatever it is that is covering your door so he can get in and out immediately.”
“Oh, my God,” said Shelby.
“I’m on it,” said Matt, with urgency.
My face went hot, and I was getting light headed with worry. This was so stupid of him.
“Don’t be shocked when you see him. He is wearing a lot of protective gear. Shelby and Jessica, take the baby into the furthest room in the house and leave Matt with the walkie, now,” I could hear the stress in the Doc’s voice. This must be much worse than I had realized. “Matt, grab some gloves, and when he gets to the door just take the stuff and shut it immediately when he walks out. Don’t worry about being polite. He will understand. Put what you can into the bathtub and use some of soap and the water you have left to rinse the containers. Don’t worry about the water, he is bringing enough.”
“He’s here,” said Matt.
“Okay, go,” urged the Doc.
Minutes passed, and we heard nothing from either of them. We knew what was happening, yet waiting was still excruciating.
“Okay, got it,” said Matt.
A few more minutes went by before we had our next transmission.
“I’m home. Snug as a bug in a rug,” said Jackson, not at all contritely. “I’m going to wash. This is Jackson, over and out.”
“Son of a bi…” I stopped myself.
“Heh, I heard that, Laura,” he said.
How did this guy get to be a Colonel? He’s a loose cannon.
~~~
Later in the day, we all got on the walkies to talk about Jackson’s findings.
“My readings were above 1,000 CPMs, that’s clicks per minutes,” Jackson started. “Like I said, it was raining and it burned my skin.”
There was a silence that I was more than happy to break. “Well, that’s what it’s supposed to do, right? Acid burns, so acid rain burns, right?”
“No, Laura,” said Malcom. “Acid rain doesn’t burn the skin, and you can’t feel or taste it, either. This is something more, something worse.”
This time I was the silent one.
“So, does that mean we can never go out?” I finally wondered aloud.
“No,” said Malcom. “I am not sure what caused the burning, but what I hope is that the rain is washing away some of what was released into the atmosphere.”
“What about the 1,000 CPMs?” asked Mark. “What does that mean?”
“It’s high,” explained Jackson. “But it could be worse. We need to get some readings when it’s not raining to give us an idea of where we are at.”
“But how are we going to know when it stops?” I asked.
“Easy; I am going to be checking,” said Jackson.
July 25
We asked the Sheratons not to mention their visit from Jackson to anyone.
Our nightly meeting went by unremarkably, and yet I have been unsettled. I am glad we didn’t let Annie in on these walkie conversations. She would be driving us mad with questions we had no answers for.
Mark has been understanding of my mood today. Generally, we try and stay together in the living room until bed time so that we can share one lantern, but tonight we retired early.
“Are you alright, honey?” Mark asked. “You have been so quiet today.”
“I’ve been thinking about what happened this morning and what it really means,” I said, careful to keep my tone low so that Annie could not hear. “We can’t stay inside indefinitely. And when we finally can go out, will we start growing another set of arms or tentacles or something?”
“No, but Doc tells me that we will go blind, but to compensate we will gain an extra sense,” he said trying to keep a straight face.
“And what sense would that be?” I asked.
“Um, we will all be able to see with our toes now,” he laughed at his own stupid joke.
I pushed him playfully, and we hugged. Trying to keep up a h
appy façade was a strain, but we were working at it.
July 26
It has been twelve days since our lives drastically changed forever with the news of the first devastation, but I woke up this morning in my own bed, and for few minutes, I had completely forgotten. I hate the feeling when everything comes rushing back to you. It’s sort of like it’s happening all over again.
~~~
“Hey, Malcom, Laura, pick up. It’s Jackson and I need to talk to you.” His big voice boomed through the living room.
“I’m here,” I said.
“We are, too,” replied Katie.
“I was checking the other bandwidths, and I discovered something. There are other survivors in our neighborhood. Around twelve of them were talking, I think. And those were just the ones talking. If they have families, we are talking a lot more,” Jackson said.
“Are they okay?” It was the only thing I could think to ask in my shock. How did we miss this?
“They are alive. I interrupted their conversation, and they couldn’t believe we were here either. But I have to tell you, they are,” he paused, looking for the right words. “They are not in good shape, Laura.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They aren’t doing too well. They told me about fifteen others who decided to go outside early on.” He gently continued. “Those people are dead.”
Tears formed in my eyes. I didn’t know those people, and I wasn’t even aware of their existence. My rational mind knew that millions upon millions were also likely dead, but those people were my neighbors; ones I hadn’t talked to when I went door to door because I didn’t start early enough. Annie came over to comfort me, but I pulled away. I didn’t, don’t, deserve comfort.
“You aren’t responsible, Laura,” said Katie. How did she know that’s what I was feeling?
“How are the survivors?” asked Malcom.
“Some are doing better than others. Some were part of the group Laura talked to in the beginning, so they had done some prep. Like us, they didn’t think about different frequencies and bandwidths. They just assumed that the others were dead,” said Jackson.
“Did they tell you why those people went outside in the first place?” asked Annie.
“It seems that a few of them didn’t believe that there was any danger in it,” he answered. “And others went out when their food and water ran out. That first group died shortly after they returned to their homes. They didn’t get much information from them. The second group lasted a little longer than the first. It sounds like they died from Yersinia pestis.”
“The plague,” Annie said, as her voice trailed off in fright.
“So, now what do we do with this new group?” Mark pressed on.
“They are… angry,” continued Jackson. “All they wanted to talk about was how we were going to retaliate against our enemies.”
“Against the countries that attacked us?” asked Malcom. “That’s insane.”
“I tried to tell them that; to get them to understand that we most likely have no government left and very little organized military, but they wouldn’t listen. They kept saying it was my job to get their asses moving,” Jackson’s voice was becoming more and more angry. “I have been trying since the minute we were hit to reach anyone. I do have a variety of airwaves and electronic devices that I am using, but I have not reached a single person in the government or military. We are on our own, folks.”
“We have to figure out a way for both groups to come together,” I said. “We have been keeping some things from our people so that we didn’t scare them, but now we need to tell them everything before the other group does. If that happens, our people will lose it just like the others. I won’t let that happen.”
~~~
Emergency Meeting:
“Hi everyone,” I began the meeting. “As of yesterday and this morning we have had a few events that we wanted to bring to your attention. Yesterday morning, Colonel Jackson voluntarily went out to check on the state of the atmosphere. He is trained to do readings and has a great deal of knowledge about the possible problems we may run into outside. I will relinquish the floor to him so that he can give the current state of the outside environment. Colonel…”
“Thank you, Laura,” he started. I warned him to use his official, PR demeanor so that he could keep things under control. He went on to explain what he discovered on his trip to the Sheratons. I was a bit nervous that, by telling everyone that he went to take provisions to them, we would have people asking for food and water they might not need at this moment to stock pile for the future. Thankfully, that did not happen. As he talked, I composed my thoughts and came up with several replies for the questions and comments our group might have. The first came soon enough.
“This is Samantha Santos, and I have a question. Why didn’t you tell us that the Colonel went out yesterday after it happened, or better yet, why didn’t you discuss it with us before the decision was made?”
“I’ll answer that,” said Jackson. “The topic was not up for debate. I had made up my mind that we needed to know if it was safe to go out yet. I am the most trained person to do so.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us that the rain water was so bad that it burned your skin?” asked Samantha’s wife, Carrie.
I had decided that I wasn’t going to keep this potentially frightening information under wraps anymore. We all have to deal with reality, ready or not. “We were concerned that several of you would not take the news well, and honestly, I am not prepared for a mass freak out.”
“What I think Laura is getting at is, if too many of you became so terrified by the information that you might stop functioning, then we might not be able to come together and problem solve like we have been,” explained Katie.
“That’s part of it,” I continued. I wasn’t going to hold back anymore. “But there is more to that. I believe that our fates are intertwined. We are no longer neighbors who barely nod to each other as we pass on the street. I believe that if we don’t survive as a group, we don’t survive, period.”
I stopped and waited for any responses. None came.
“Let’s take the worse possible scenario,” I pushed forward, not knowing if I was going too far and not caring if I was. “Let’s say that we are the only people who emerge from this alive, at least in this area. If we don’t come together, that means we are all on our own. Some of us might go out and get what we need to survive, but some might not have those skills. Those people would start to get hungry and thirsty, bringing forth their most animal instincts. This would cause people to defend what they have and start to murder for what they don’t have.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little exaggerated?” asked Robert.
“No, actually it’s not,” answered our war expert, the Colonel. “I have seen a lot of horrible and gruesome things during my long time in the army, and the one thing that comes back to haunt me every time I see people fighting for survival. Humans will do anything to live,” Jackson finished delivering the cold, hard truth.
I took a long breath in, preparing for what came next, but it didn’t come. Everyone must have been digesting the Colonel’s truths.
“I have to tell you something, though,” Jackson must have believed he was getting through to them. “You are very lucky to have a leader like Laura.”
Wait a minute, what the hell was he doing now? STOP, I silently screamed, but it was too late.
“I have never met a civilian with such an intuitive ability to lead under extreme duress,” he finished.
“I second that,” said Katie, thus pounding the last nail into my coffin.
No one protested.
I know now that I no longer have a choice. I am the ipso facto leader of this small band of survivors. I had to do what I had to do. And, at that moment in the meeting, it was to convey the last piece of information to these people.
“This morning Colonel Jackson found another radio bandwidth where more of our nei
ghbors are communicating. He has told them about us and has gathered information from them, as well. Colonel Jackson,” I ordered him to proceed.
I was quiet while he explained the communications he had with the people outside of our immediate group. He was forcing me to set him up as some sort of position below him; as if I was the President, and he was my Secretary of Defense. Why?
Finally, I explained that the newest members of our group would be joining us tonight for our evening meeting of the Survivor’s Club because, after all, they are survivors, too.
I just wish I knew what to expect from this new group of no longer lost neighbors.
August 8
For the first few days, integrating the new group in with our preexisting one was logistically confusing, but nothing of great consequence was mentioned by them. Strangely, this other faction has seemed to accept me as leader, too. It must have been Jackson’s doing. Again.
Everything has been really busy since the new group showed up. And it’s not just the combining into one bigger group. We have been making preparation for the next phase.
Jackson had been checking the atmosphere and he and Doc have concurred: it’s time.
Tomorrow we are going outside.
Part II: Surviving the Outside
August 9
I got up early this morning. I have been sleeping in from the beginning of all of this, but that is probably over now.
I got up early to wipe the layer of grunge off of myself with a wet wipe. We have been talking about a shower system and the engineer, Thomas Stevenson, thinks he might have come up with some ideas. I can’t wait for a real shower.
I put on make-up for the first time in almost a month. So much can change in just one month. I barely recognize my reflection. I have lost some weight, which is great, but my face looks sunken in now. I look a little like a refugee you see on the news. I guess I am a refugee of sorts now; we all are. =
“You look beautiful,” Mark lied.
“Right,” I smiled at him.
“I’m about to start taking down the boards from the windows. I can start in here, first. Ready for the grand opening?” he asked.