by Patrick Shea
He also wondered what his ancestors would have thought of this new crisis brought on by the Emerald Virus. He had to believe they would have thought it was well deserved, at least for the white population and maybe for the Indians as well. After all, while the Indians were victims, there were also failed responsibilities in the mix.
Noah put those thoughts behind him. They were not fruitful and he had some real life issues to deal with starting at six o’clock tomorrow morning. He pointed his truck toward home and turned on the radio. Of course all of the radio programs were discussing the impact of the Emerald Virus. Europe was being ravaged and the virus was now spreading throughout Asia, moving steadily from east to west. After only a week the death toll was in the millions. All the news reports agreed that there was no way to stop the devastation. The only question was who were the few who would survive and how would they live? When Noah arrived at his small house he was happy to turn off the news and go to bed.
The Pine Ridge Reservation sat on the South Dakota and Nebraska border and Noah worked on a cattle ranch south of the reservation. He arrived at the Square Circle Ranch at six o’clock the next morning. He didn’t expect much activity since the herds had been brought down for the winter and most of the hands had been let go until spring. The foreman, Elliot Walker, was just walking out of the ranch house as Noah walked up. Elliot was an irreverent old-timer who was known for both his dry and ready humor and his knowledge of ranching.
Elliot asked “Are you ready for coffee?”
“I am, and I’m hoping someone other than you made it.”
Elliot laughed and said, “You’re in luck this morning, Ms. Randall just made a fresh pot.”
Noah went in the kitchen and filled his cup. When he walked back outside Elliot was leading a young horse into the circle corral. Noah said “I thought we were going to wait another two months or so before we started breaking Dutch.”
Elliot said, “We are, but I want to work him just a little with a rope halter to start with and I thought this morning would be a good time for me and you to work together, especially since we’re alone today.”
“Where is everyone?”
“Well, the two boys decided they would spend today in town seeing what they could learn about this Emerald Virus that’s in the news. I told them they could probably learn as much by staying here and watching the news but they left right after breakfast. I think they’re just flat worried, and I don’t really blame them. My guess is they really wanted to talk things over with their family, and I’m sure the family wanted to see the brothers as well. Alec and Kelly are in the house watching the news. How about you, aren’t you worried?”
Noah responded by saying “It’s not that I’m not worried, it’s just that like you, I don’t have any close family left in the area. This Virus is going to come or not come whether I work or not, and I didn’t see any sense in sitting by myself and trying to worry.”
“Well, I’m glad you came to work. I wouldn’t want to sit here and worry by myself either. The boys wanted me to come with them, but I’m just too old to tag along with those young cowboys. We could join Alec and Kelly in the house if we want, but I’m like you in that I can’t worry about things I can’t control. So, having said all of that, what do you think about this Virus and how fast it seems to be moving?”
“Elliot, I don’t know what to think. I don’t have a clue about the reasons for these kinds of things. I guess I believe that nature does its own thing regardless of what we want, and sometimes that’s good, and sometimes it ain’t. If what the scientists are saying about survivors, it looks like humanity is going to get a chance to do things over again, at least on a small scale. From my perspective that’s a good thing. I don’t believe we’ve done too well with this first chance.”
Elliot laughed and said “A reasonable man would have a hard time arguing with that assessment, but I don’t believe that will be enough for people to feel good about what’s about to happen.”
Noah said, “No, I don’t believe it will. It might be okay to be one of the survivors if you have the skill to live off the land and if you’re lucky enough to be in some wide open areas. But I can’t see a city person doing too well in the new world. You have to be able to hunt, fish, grow crops, or at least vegetables, milk cows, and do all kinds of things. There aren’t too many folks who can do that in today’s world.”
“Yeah, I agree with you there. Even those who hunt and fish use modern equipment and tools, and while they might can skin a buck or fillet a fish, I’m not sure how many of them are really tough enough to make it on their own. Hell, I’m not sure I’m tough enough to make it on my own.”
Now Noah laughed and said, “Elliot, if you ain’t tough enough then nobody is. Just the other day Tim, the new kid, was asking Alec if you had really earned your reputation as one of the best cowboys around. Alec looked at him and smiled and said kid, in your lifetime you’ll do well to be half the cowboy Elliot is today, and he’s past his prime.”
Elliot smiled and said, “You know, I appreciate Alec speaking up for me, but I don’t think he needed to talk about me being past my prime. I’m only fifty-two.”
Noah had a hard time not smiling. He knew that Elliot had to be at least sixty, and might be a little older than that. But however old he was, Alec was right about how good a cowboy he was, and Noah wasn’t going to argue with him over a few years.
After two hours of working with Dutch, Noah fed and watered the horse and gave him a good brushing. He then joined Elliot in the living room with Alec and Kelly.
Noah liked Alec and Kelly Randall. They had owned and operated the family ranch since Alec’s father had passed away. He had cowboyed for them for four years now and they had always treated him well. The first year he had worked only the summer season, but since then he had worked most of the year for them. When he wasn’t working for the Randall’s he was tending to his own small place.
As he walked into the living room he greeted the Randall’s by saying, “Good morning Alec, Ms. Randall.”
Alec looked up and nodded while Kelly said, “Good morning Mr. Yellowbird. I’m glad you joined us. We were just talking about you. We’ve invited Elliot to stay with us during this Emerald Virus scare, and if he chooses to, we want him to stay with us through the end days.
“You’ve always been a good man and we’ve respected your privacy, as you have ours. But this morning you mentioned to Elliot that you had no family in the area and we want to invite you to spend the end days with us if you would like to do so.”
As Kelly finished her statement she couldn’t help but glance at the wedding band on Noah’s left hand. He saw her look and said “Ms. Randall, I appreciate that more than I can say, but I lost my Sally and two little ones to an automobile accident some five years ago. I buried them in the Holy Cross Cemetery up in Pine Ridge. When the time comes I’ll join them there and spend my last minutes thinking of being with them again. But yours is a generous offer and I do thank you.”
Kelly said “Mr. Yellowbird, I’m so sorry to hear about your family. I didn’t mean to pry but I did want you to know you’re always welcome here.”
“Thank you ma’am”.
“Alec is there anything new about the virus?”
“Well the reports from Europe and Asia tell horrible stories of chaos and death. Rioting everywhere is rampant; the big cities are on fire, mostly because the firefighters have by and large gone home. The virus seems to be spreading more quickly than anyone thought possible. Even worse, the first reports of people with Emerald Virus symptoms in America came out this morning. There are folks with the virus in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Apparently it has been spread by air travelers to major cities and CNN reports that in the next couple of days they expect reports of the virus to grow exponentially.
“This Jack Sweeney guy from Homeland Security published a bulletin asking communities to help survivors by preparing RVs for them to live in, and he’s pub
lished a list of supplies he thought would be best for the survivors. It’s interesting that we have a Government man who actually seems concerned for the well-being of people he’ll never meet, and he seems to be using a lot of common sense talking about how we can help those who will survive this Virus.”
Elliot added, “It sure would have been nice if someone from the Government would have acted like they cared about the well-being of people before this happened. It seems to me the only thing they cared about before now was how to get more money out of our pockets and into someone else’s.”
Alec said, “Elliot, you’ve been beating that same dead horse for more years than I can remember. It might be time that you gave it a rest.”
Elliot snorted and said, “Well Alec, if what they say about this Virus is true, I do believe I will be giving it a rest in the near future. But between now and then I might still have a thing or two to say about a Government that acts more in its own self-interest than in mine or yours.”
Kelly frowned and said “Elliot, I don’t know how you can choose to laugh at news like this. The entire country is in a crisis and people are worried about their loved ones dying, and you’re laughing. That doesn’t seem right to me.”
“Well Kelly, I’ve spent my life finding humor where I could, and I always thought that me, and most times the folks around me, was better off for it. I know these are tough times, but I believe that humor might be the only thing that can help, if only a little bit and only for a short time. Or maybe it’s because I’m just too darned old to change.”
Noah interjected, “Alec, who is this Jack Sweeney fellow and why does he think he can help?”
“Apparently he is the head of the bio-terrorism division of Homeland Security and he got involved because of the early fear that terrorists were involved. CNN, when they introduced him, said that he had decided that his team was in the best position to step up and help so he just started doing things and everyone else stepped aside. I’ve seen a number of his bulletin by now, and I’ve listened to his recommendations about stocking RVs for survivors with food, weapons, and communication equipment and I’m impressed with how fast he has moved and how right he seems to be.”
Noah asked, “What kind of weapons is he recommending?” Are we talking about dual fifty caliber machine guns mounted on the top of RVs or what?”
“No, actually it’ just what you and I might expect; a 30.06 for hunting, a 9mm as a handgun, and a short barreled 12 gauge for defense.”
Noah looked up and said “That is kind of amazing, that’s exactly what I would tell someone to do in terms of weapons. Maybe I’ll pay a little more attention to this guy in the future.”
Alec replied, “I don’t think it’ll hurt any of us to listen to him. He has also given the whole country an email address they can use to send in suggestions for survivors. I hope he has a lot of people reading those emails; the world is full of crazies on a regular day. During a crisis like this they’ll be coming out of the woodwork with their suggestions on how to save the world. In fact I expect Elliot to email him as soon as he gets back to the bunk house.”
Noah and Elliot laughed and Elliot said, “I just might do that. I’m sure I’m the kind of honest man Mr. Sweeney is hoping to hear from.”
Chapter Eight: Don’t You Love to Travel
Jack sat at his desk late Monday morning and thought about the press conference that had just concluded. He thought it had gone okay and he had no complaints about the coverage. Every network and cable company seemed to be there, along with a lot of the foreign press. His statement included everything that he thought critical, and the questions were to the point. The press surprised him. He was used to questions that seemed to be asked just so the reporters could hear themselves talk, rather than for the value of the answers. Jack thought it must be the severity of the crisis that caused the change.
The hardest questions to answer were those about the possibility of a vaccine. The press wanted to know how soon to expect a vaccine, and there was no way to answer that question except to tell them that the chances of creating a vaccine in time were poor. The other part of that question concerned those showing symptoms. Jack told them that once the virus entered your system it was simply too late for a vaccine to help. There was no cure for anyone who caught the disease, even if a vaccine was available to help those who had not yet been affected.
His primary concern was whether the public thought his statement and explanations were creditable. His staff assured him that was the case, but that wasn’t convincing enough. He was aware that subordinates rarely criticized the boss, and for good reason. Bosses tended to take criticism by subordinates poorly, rather than as comments from another professional. As much as Jack liked to think of himself as a decent leader, he didn’t believe that he had magically transformed the nature of the boss-to-subordinate relationship.
Only a positive reaction by the public to the recommendations that had been published yesterday could assure him he was being taken seriously. He would know soon enough if towns and cities across the country were procuring RVs and stocking them as he hoped they would. He knew that the web site was getting thousands and thousands of hits, and that the press was publicizing every recommendation his team provided.
One thing he thought would help was the news he had received from Kathy Green during yesterday’s conference call. She had informed the group that one of her teams had created a software program that would allow a cell phone to become universal in nature. This of course was a top secret project that had been commissioned by a government agency for use by agents worldwide.
On Sunday Kathy wasn’t sure they could make this available to survivors since it could only be made to work after hacking into a company’s system to get the appropriate access codes. However, when Jerry and Dale had assured the group that the cell companies were willing to open their systems for access by any survivor, the universal cell phone project was in business. Her technical team had assured her that with open systems they could make any cell phone a universal cell phone by downloading the software to the chip in the phone. This could be done automatically, much like downloading a ring tone.
Jack knew it was time to stop thinking and worrying about today’s press conference. His message was either received or it wasn’t and he had done all he could for now to ensure success. It was time to move to more pressing matters.
The evacuation of the President, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, key military officials and the Congress had started on Saturday and had been completed yesterday, a day ahead of schedule. This was in large part due to the number of political leaders who had chosen not to evacuate, but to instead stay with their friends and families.
The President and almost all of the White House staff had evacuated to a bunker in Virginia with their immediate families. Less than half of the cabinet had joined the President, although the Secretaries of State and Defense did evacuate. Only five of the nine Supreme Court justices had evacuated, but this was enough to continue to issue decisions if need be.
Key military officials had evacuated to various bunkers around the country as planned. Jack knew the military would do what was asked of them, as it always did, regardless of the consequences for their families. It seemed to Jack that in times of crisis the country had always asked too much of the military, and the military always responded.
Fewer than two hundred members of Congress and the Vice-President evacuated to a bunker in West Virginia. Jack was sure that this was due to the fact that there was not enough room for families, and most had decided to stay with their families. Jack wondered briefly what this said about those who did evacuate, but he quickly decided there wasn’t any value in pursuing that line of thought.
Since those evacuations had been completed ahead of schedule, yesterday afternoon the military had informed A.J. and Jack that the Survivor team would evacuate in the early afternoon today. All team members scheduled to evacuate had brought with them everything they would take to
the bunker. They still did not know where bunker was located, other than in the Southwest.
Given the news this morning, from a half dozen cities, that people were showing symptoms of the virus, Jack was afraid the evacuations, as fast as they had been, might be too late. If the symptoms were showing this morning that meant that the virus had been present in those cities for at least six days. If anyone evacuated to one of the bunkers had been exposed to the virus in that six day period, everyone in the bunker would be exposed and would die. Well, they could only wait another week and see if anyone showed the symptoms.
For now Jack was getting ready to make one more call to Jane. Jack knew Harry had talked to her Saturday evening and told her that he had been showing symptoms. Both Harry and Jane were taking this better than Jack thought they would, but he knew that they had had five days to prepare themselves for the inevitable. Harry had told both Jane and Jack that he knew he was going to become an early victim of the virus. He was simply too close to it.
Jack understood that Harry’s death was inevitable, but it was still hard for him to realize he was losing a close friend. He knew that if he thought too much about it he would diminish his capacity to think clearly so he continued to try to put those thoughts aside and move on. But it seemed the more he tried the harder it was.
Jack was thankful when Irene buzzed him to tell him in fifteen minutes it would be time to go to Andrews Air Force Base for the evacuation flight. He talked to Jane quickly and then walked down the hall to A.J.’s office and told her the team was moving out.
A.J. looked at Jack with tears in her eyes and said, “Jack, I don’t know what to say. We’ll be in touch through the phone of course, and I’ll continue to support you anyway I can, but basically you’ll be on your own from this point on. Make your own decisions about how to interface with the public, and with the survivors. Continue to issue bulletins as you see fit, and do what you can to help those folks who will survive. I’ll think of you often and I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity to have worked with you.”