Pandemic Reboot_Survivors

by J. F. Krause

  I looked around the workroom. Anna was talking to a couple of other young adults; Todd was part of a group of slightly younger near adults; and Jane was surrounded by excited middle school kids. She caught my eye so I nodded that I was ready to go back into the conference room.

  Once in the conference room, I asked if we could talk about the types of work groups we had and would need. “Jane, can you start us off by telling us what the work groups are? Would you start with your own group?”

  “My own group? Oh, yes, sure. Until we get the communications network going we have a lot of very enthusiastic middle schoolers to carry messages from us to the work groups and wherever else we need to send messages. We have an education work group; there’s an electricity work group. Then there’s the agriculture work group, the water supply/plumbing group, there’s a fuel supply group, a defense group, an internet group, a radio group, the HAM radio operators, a medical group, an animal control group, a housing group, food supply group, food preparation group, sanitation group, airplane group, a library/research group, a fishing group, an engineering group, and our own group, the council”

  “Can you tell us what each of those groups does?” I didn’t need to ask since I knew the answer for myself, but I was pretty sure not everyone knew the answer.

  “Of course. It’ll take a while.”

  “I don’t mind, as long as the rest of us are up for it. Are you all okay with going through the list one at a time or would you prefer to wait until later?”

  “I don’t think now is the time to do this since some of the leaders aren’t here yet. I want to wait until everyone is here.” George almost sounded reasonable.

  “I’d like to hear what they are doing now, and if we need to add more to their agendas we can always do that when we all are here. In the meantime, we can begin thinking and asking what other people are thinking.” Carl made sense too. And I agreed with him. Putting off learning something isn’t very useful.

  “Ok, shall we go ahead and learn about what the groups are working on? Would you raise your hands if you want to talk about the work groups?” All the hands went up but George’s. I suspected some of them voted yes just to annoy George.

  “Question. Are we going to make any decisions about the groups?” Irma’s question was a good one, I thought.

  “I hadn’t planned on it. Personally, I’d rather wait until everyone is here to make any decisions, the same as George.” I knew it wouldn’t help but why not try to build a bridge to George.

  “Well, in that case, I don’t mind as long as we’re just listening to what the work groups are doing.” George seemed to like to get the last word in on a subject.

  “Ok, Jane. Let’s hear it.”

  “Well, the educators are working on day care, pre-school, k through 12, and setting up a college at one of the campuses. They are already running day care, and they’re planning to start the elementary classes early next week. The pre-school will start about the same time. Middle school and high school may take another week or so. They have to work out things like work study and so on. College and vocational school may take a longer since we need to update the curriculum to current needs, and we also need the young people to be part of our work groups.” Jane was reading from a stack of papers right in front of her. We’d placed her at the end of the table so everyone could see her, and she us.”

  “Wait a minute!” George again. “How do you know all of this, and who are you anyway.”

  Before I could answer, Carl spoke up. “George, this is Jane Spencer. We elected her secretary at the same meeting where we elected Robert. I was there, and I voted for her.”

  “Thank you Carl. In case you haven’t noticed, these lovely young people are my runners. They have been going around to all the work groups delivering messages from us to them and from them to us. Shall I continue?” Jane was unflappable.

  I nodded.

  “The next group is the electricity group. Some of them are electrical engineers, some of them are electricians, and some of them are apprentices. They are just now getting familiar with the electrical set up here in San Luis Obispo so they don’t have much to tell us yet. They are setting up generators for use when we finally lose our electricity. I can tell you that some of them think we are already on borrowed time.” Of course there were questions. And of course, we didn’t have any answers. Not yet anyway.

  “The agriculture group is fairly small since there aren’t a lot of farmers left, but fortunately, we have a few. They’ve already begun rescuing farm animals around here, and they are planning how to get nearby farms started again. Even as they’re having to take care of a lot of livestock, they will be coming up with a plan for what to plant, where to plant it, how to train future farmers, how to support the farms once they get going, and a lot of other questions like those.” Oh Lord, but there were questions again. My lack of sleep the night before was kicking in.

  “The water group is like the electricity group. We have a couple of civil engineers, both of whom are coming in on caravans tomorrow I believe, an irrigation specialist who will work with the farm group, too, and several plumbers. According to my notes, there are two big related but separate issues to work on: where do we get the water from, and how do we get it to our people. They will also be coordinating with the electricity group.” Thank goodness there were only a couple of questions. Since we couldn’t answer them, they were starting to understand that when I told them I don’t have answers, I meant I don’t have answers. But thank heavens some of these people will have answers. We just have to stay out of their way.

  In a nutshell, the fuel group works on safe storage and stabilization of currently available fuel, the refining of future petroleum products, transfer of refined fuel, and the development of biodiesel.

  The defense team concerns itself with general protection of members as they carry out their various projects, the search for survivors, the training of survivors in self-defense, the recruitment and training of reserve local militia members, and the coordination of our defense efforts with other communities and state defense teams. They also answer to the elected leader of the community, which was me.

  As you can imagine this elicited a good deal of conversation. One member, in particular was against everything the defense group was doing unless somehow the leadership group, with himself in charge presumably, had jurisdiction. At the moment and for the time being, the defense team answered to me, for whatever that was worth. Most people, well actually, everyone, except for George, was okay with that.

  As soon as Jane paused in her presentation, George spoke up. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I never signed on to young Mr. Caldwell becoming the dictator of America. Now, we find out he’s got his own little army to do his bidding!”

  George started to say something else when I interrupted him. “George, let me make myself clear about my role as head of the defense team, I don’t know anything about guns or the military or fighting or self-defense. I’ve never shot a gun; I’ve never had a fistfight; I’ve never been hit by anyone. But in this world, we have lots of dogs that no longer view humans as their friends and certainly not their masters. Some of them have already acquired a taste for human flesh. There are going to be mountain lions, wolves, and other predatory animals that can attack people as they walk around the community, our children on the playground, or farmers and anyone else outside doing their jobs. I won’t even begin to talk about the people who have decided to finish what they think God started, and we know they’re out there. I’m going to rely on Marco and Enrique and all the others who know what to do to protect us, because I have to. As for being the dictator of America, none of us should forget that in this new world no one has to stick around and be told what to do against their will. For the next several years, any adult can live anywhere they like and be left alone and survive. We can’t possibly enforce our wills on anyone unless we chain them up. No one can. There won’t be any large scale oppression possible, at least n
ot for long, and not when all a person has to do be free is get out of sight and hightail it out of whatever situation is troubling them.

  The only reason any of us are staying with each other is that there is hope in community, and safety, and friendship, and stability. If we mess with that, this community will dissolve. George, you brought up communism earlier today, but the reality now is that we are all Libertarians whether we like it or not. We aren’t going to have any laws or rules that aren’t truly necessary for a long time to come. People don’t have to put up with it. Period. If you disagree with me, fine. I’m young; I can learn.”

  There was a stunned silence in the room. Even Lydia and Marco looked at me as if they didn’t know me. Then someone said “Hear, Hear!” and it sounded like everyone started talking at once. Slowly the noise level dropped as everyone was looking at me, and I just sat there. When it got quiet enough for me to speak, I decided I’d better say something or George would.

  “Don’t tell me I’m the only one who understands that the world ended five days ago. Our civilization died when the world died. And if we don’t want to be scattered like the wind, we have to wise up and start our own civil society all over again. Right now, there are no guarantees in our life. We used to say nothing was certain but death and taxes. Well, our certainties have been cut in half. I don’t want to live in a world where I’m afraid of the wolf at the door, or the bully down the street. There are going to be rapists and serial killers out there, and we can’t control them if we don’t intend to live lives of purpose and dignity ourselves. There’s a whole world out there for the taking if people want to sit around and do nothing. People can have all the gold and diamonds they can ever want, but gold and diamonds can’t hold a candle to the only thing we can offer, a community built on mutual respect and assistance. Maybe for the first time since the words were written, we can truly become a society ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’. And now, I’d like to adjourn until tomorrow at 9 AM. Thanks for listening to me, and I apologize for being so verbose.”

  I stood up without waiting for a proper adjournment vote and walked out the door of the conference room to a standing ovation by everyone in the workroom just outside. I could also see through the open double doors that the lobby was filling with people coming from their nearby meeting rooms. There were smiles everywhere. I was embarrassed, of course. Evidently, when Todd left the conference room he broadcast the meeting to the workrooms so he could record it to send it out to the other groups later. He had done that with our other two meetings back in Orange County. They weren’t as interesting as this one, I guess, because we certainly hadn’t gotten this kind of a reaction.

  I was a little embarrassed since I really don’t like the spotlight. I don’t really know what got into me, but I guess all the responsibility and death and sadness finally turned me into an adult. Maybe it turned me into an angry adult. I sure missed my mother right then. And I was sure getting sick of George.

  As I stood just outside the conference room where we had been meeting all afternoon, I suddenly felt Lydia’s arms reach around for a backward hug. I turned around and properly hugged her. Then Jane, Marco and everyone else in the room wanted to shake my hand or give me hug or a pat on the shoulder. Not everyone was happy, I guess, since I didn’t see George.

  Crowds aren’t my thing. All I really wanted to do was get over to my motor home and hear about Jerry and Charlie’s day. I hoped they had a better day than I had. But I realized, even through my self-doubt and introversion that what I said had struck a chord with a lot of people. No one had wanted to admit that the world was never going to be the same, at least not in front of a significant part of what was left of the world. I’d just lanced a giant boil. There were tears everywhere. I wasn’t a closer right now; I was a mid-wife.

  I was soon surrounded by people again, and in the midst of the crowd, I discovered Jerry and Charlie were standing next to me. Ms. M had delivered them to me personally. After what seemed like hours, the boys and I were on our way to the motor home to meet Kevin and head back to the dining area of the fairgrounds.

  Kevin and I agreed earlier to have dinner together at the food court that had been turned into a cafeteria. It was amazing having so many people all together. I actually liked the crowd there, just not if I have to talk to them. In addition to Kevin’s new family and mine, we were joined by Jane with her two middle school kids, and Lydia and her two girls. There were kids everywhere it seemed. It was surprisingly comforting.

  Our kids were at one end of the table, and we four adults were on the other end. Kyle, who was sitting between the younger children and the adults said everyone was talking about my speech today.

  “It was awesome”, he said.

  “Well, thank you. It sort of slipped out.”

  “Really? It sounded like you had it all written down,” he continued.

  “Nope, I was tired and my filters failed to deploy,” I responded.

  “Well, someone needed to say it, and I’m glad you did. I am getting tired of George myself. April told me that almost everyone in the Santa Barbara group avoids him. He was a bank branch manager and likes to give orders. Todd said that listening to him on the internet was tedious for everyone, but no one was up for a confrontation so he just got away with it. The best thing is you said everything so well.” Lydia was smiling as she remembered the moment.

  “You know, Todd played the whole speech through the intercoms they have connected in every pavilion. He records all the meetings and then he and Anna send them out to all the other communities over the internet. But this time was different, he plugged the recording of your speech into the fairground intercom system so we all heard the speech almost as soon as you started giving it. I’ll bet we were only half a minute behind what you were saying in the conference room live. I’ve already heard it again on the radio. That was just a few minutes ago. I’ll bet they play it a lot over the next few hours.” Kevin was beaming at me, and I felt a little shiver run up my stomach. I realized I wanted him to be proud of me. For the first time I wasn’t anxious about what I had said. Speeches aren’t my thing, and soapbox speeches are really not my thing. But I was starting to be glad for my little outburst.

  Even Jerry decided to put in a plug. “As soon as your voice started coming over the speaker thing, the adults stopped what they were doing and just stood there and listened. I heard it was you so I stopped to listen too. I liked it, and then some of the teachers started crying and hugging each other. I was afraid it was bad news for a few seconds, and then I realized they were crying and laughing at the same time. It was neat.”

  Just then Carl stood on one of the tables with a microphone, and the speakers crackled into life. Carl has a nice deep voice people like to listen to. Mine isn’t awful, but no one wants to listen to me if they can listen to Carl. I had one thought right then and that was to run, but that wasn’t going to happen so I sat and listened to that beautiful, deep voice pick me up and drop me down the rabbit hole.

  “People, you all heard Bobby’s speech this afternoon. While it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind, some of us wanted to ask him to talk to all of us about our community here in San Luis Obispo. Bobby?”

  As I walked over to the microphone and the table platform, all I could think was, “Oh my goodness. Now I’m Bobby.” My mind was completely blank and I had to say something. So I opened my mouth and said what I’d been thinking for days.

  “I guess you all heard what I said this afternoon. I’ll be very honest with you; I’m scared. I’m scared we’ll get complacent because all around us we have food, and we’ll have food for years to come just by opening a can of something. I’m scared that we’ll forget how to build things because all around us are things that have already been built, things that will last for generations, and all we have to do is live in them and use them and, in the process, become lazy and indolent. I’m afraid we’ll learn how to play and forget how to study. I’m afraid all our progress i
s in the past, and we’ll simply stop dreaming of anything new.

  Right now we’re still grieving and we’ll be grieving for a long time, many of us will grieve for the rest of our lives. But even while we’re grieving we have to begin to rebuild life. Life, not just existence. Life. Life grows and creates and dreams…..

  Please be kind to each other. Everyone here is hurting and carrying on in spite of it. Please remember that all of us have had almost every shred of humanity ripped from us as we watched our dearest loved ones and friends die before our eyes or disappear from our lives. Please remember to respect each other and yourselves because you have survived and stood by the sides of your fellow survivors despite your pain. Please remember that all of us have endured the unendurable. Please be patient with yourselves; be patient each other; and be patient with me.

  Every one of us is a volunteer here. None of us should ever forget that. We are truly a community formed ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’. As long as enough of us remember that, we don’t have to be afraid of anything, not animals or bullies or self-indulgence. Rest up. We have work to do. Thanks.”

  As I stepped off the table, I wanted to cry. From sheer exhaustion, I wanted to cry. I held it together long enough to get to our dinner table where I gathered up the boys and started for the motor home. Kevin came too, and I realized Enrique was just a couple steps away as well.

  Everything in my motor home was ready to go so I had the boys shower and hop in bed. I like to shower in the morning so I brushed my teeth and checked on the boys who were looking pretty tired in their beds. Charlie was already too far gone to even say good night. Jerry smiled up at me, and I told him I was going next door to talk to Kevin for a few minutes and not to worry. He assured me they would be fine.