The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  “No, I’m ready for bed also. You want me sleep on the couch just in case someone decides they don’t like you being around?”

  “I don’t think so Ben. These RVs have pretty good locks on them, and I’m getting in the habit of keeping the pistol nearby. I’ll be fine by myself, but thank you.”

  Ben nodded and left for his own RV.

  Sam thought that life had gotten real interesting in the last twenty four hours. She now had two friends she felt strongly about. One she had to figure out how to teach without acting like a teacher, and one she had to figure out how to learn from without acting like a student. There seemed to be a lot more to Noah Yellowbird than he was comfortable showing.

  She wondered why he had given her the benefit of the doubt so quickly and so easily. Maybe one of these days she would get up the nerve to ask him. And maybe he would actually tell her.

  Sunday, Monday and Tuesday: Clearing snow in Southern Montana

  It took them three more days to reach the Butte group. While they had plenty of people willing to help, they could only use one loader at a time. The group from Butte was also working hard at clearing the road, but it took them almost three days just to get through Thompson Park. But, they didn’t receive additional snow and by Tuesday evening the entire group was in the park. Meanwhile others coming from east of Bozeman were trickling into the park. By Tuesday night they had forty nine RVs in the park, and four children.

  Sam asked the group to meet her in the lobby of the big lodge, where a huge fire was warming the survivors who had been working the snow equipment.

  Sam told them that as far as she knew almost everyone who could make it to the park was now here. A couple of the other drivers said they had talked with folks trying to get through snow drifts and if they could they would still make it to the park.

  Sam said, “I’m glad you’re all here now. We’ve talked on the radio and through email for days now so I think everyone knows what to expect. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for winter and we’ll all need to participate. I’d like to meet back here in the morning at seven o’clock and start making work assignments. Please think about what you think needs to be done, and what you would like to be involved in. With just a little bit of luck we can match up people’s skills with necessary work.

  “For example, we need stables for the horses. I’d like to get heat and water working in the lodge. I would also like to start stockpiling fuel here in the park.

  “For now let’s have a relaxing evening. This fireplace is kept burning as long as anyone wants to use the lobby. I just ask the last person here to bank the fire for the night.

  “Does anyone have any questions for me before I go to my RV for dinner?

  A small man with round glasses said, “Hi, I’m Warren; I’m the one who checked the road from Bozeman to Butte for you. I’d like to know if you plan on making the lodge livable for the winter or if we should plan on using our RVs?”

  “I think we’ll use our RVs for the winter, although if we get the electricity and water working we may be able to choose between the lodge and the RVs. We’ll have to wait and see how things work out. Are you worried about living in the RV all winter?”

  “Not really worried. In fact there’s probably more room in the RV than in most rooms. I am worried about keeping the RVs fueled all winter long, and about being able to empty the tanks now and then.”

  “I agree we should worry about both of those items, but if the snow will hold off for a while longer we should be able to set ourselves up okay.”

  “Thanks, Sam. I’ll look forward to working with you.”

  When no one else said anything Sam called it a night and went to her RV.

  Noah joined her and a minute later Ben came in. Sam volunteered to cook dinner while they talked.

  Noah said, “Thanks Sam. As soon as I eat I’m going to talk with the group in the lodge. For now I thought maybe the folks that have been here the longest would be better off by themselves, talking to the newcomers.”

  Sam smiled knowing that what Noah actually meant was if he wasn’t there everyone could talk about why and how Bob Turner had left the park.

  Sam, Ben and Noah met for breakfast at six o’clock in Sam’s RV. They talked about the things that they needed to work on and agreed in general with the direction the meeting should take this morning.

  When they met the group in the lodge Sam asked everyone to take a few minutes and gather enough chairs for everyone to sit.

  She opened the meeting by saying, “I hope everyone saw the email Jack Sweeny sent last evening. The President died yesterday. He was the last leader left. I talked to Jack this morning and he said to his knowledge there were no elected politicians still alive. He thought there might be a military bunker somewhere that was still okay, but if so they weren’t communicating with anyone in the outside world. He thought it was very unlikely anyone was still alive except for those at the research facility at the CDC, which had bio level four seals, which were built to protect inhabitants from a virus.

  Sam waited for a minute while the news was accepted by those who had not read the email and then continued, “We need to find a place to stable the horses for the winter. Preferably a nice warm barn, but if not, let’s look at alternatives. I’d like to be able to start working the horses by the hot springs later today. Ben is an expert horseman and I know he wants to be involved. Sixteen of us have horses so I think we’ll have plenty of people to make sure they are well cared for.

  “For now we need volunteers to take care of the stable issue.”

  About twenty people volunteered and Sam randomly chose six of them for the job. She also told them if they needed help to let her know.

  She continued, “The areas around the springs should be clear from snow so the only issue will be getting from the parking lot to the springs, which start about a hundred yards from here. There will also be other animals wintering around the springs, which is okay with me, but we’ll need to bring rifles in case wolves show up.”

  She added, “I want you to know that I’m not a normal rancher in that I think there is room for us and the wolves. In the future that is going to be even truer. I won’t shoot an animal unless I need to. I have no qualms about hunting for food though, so you need not worry about that.

  “The point I’m trying to make is that we won’t have any need for sport shooting in the future. We’ll have to hunt to survive in the future, but we don’t need to start yet. We have ample food in our RVs and trailers, and the last thing any of us want is carcasses lying around. I can’t think of an easier way to attract wolves now, and bear in the early spring.

  Noah felt a bit of relief since this was his approach to wildlife as well, and he said, “Sam, you won’t get any argument from me about that.”

  “Thanks Noah. I hope the rest of you feel the same way. If for some reason you think you need to hunt before spring, bring it up with the group and we’ll talk through the reasons.

  “A related subject is shooting, not sport shooting, but survival shooting. I think we need to maintain our shooting skills throughout the winter. We will need to hunt for food after this winter, so I’d like a couple of volunteers who will set up a shooting range for us, maybe a short range for pistol shooting and a longer one for rifles. I know we won’t hunt with pistols, but I think in this new world we all need to know how to shoot, and shoot well.

  “That means those responsible for the two ranges will also need to find additional ammunition for the group. You can start in West Yellowstone, and check all of the towns on the roads that have been cleared. If we need more we can go to Bozeman and Butte as long as the roads are cleared. But if we have to go into the cities we’ll take precautions first.

  “As much as I hate to say it, most of the people who died from the virus will not be buried. I know that all of us did what we could to put our loved ones to rest, but not the rest of the population.

  “One of the reasons Jack Sweeney recommended we
leave our homes and use the RVs is because of the problems with so many bodies. I want to leave those people alone if at all possible. First out of respect, and second to be safe from possible disease.

  Sam’s words had reminded the group of what they had left behind and she could see that they needed some time to get through this reminder. She told everyone she was going to take a quick break and go to her RV for a cup of coffee.

  Others did the same and when they regrouped and looked like they were ready to start again, Sam started by saying, “I forgot to mention this earlier but if you’re with a group that needs to leave the park, catch a ride on the snow equipment and pick up a decent four wheel drive vehicle in West Yellowstone. We don’t need to be driving the RVs around during the winter. Fuel your vehicles outside of the park please. We’ll use any fuel we bring to the park for the RVs.

  Next Sam asked for volunteers to search for fuel tankers they could bring to the park. One of the men said he had been a driver for fuel trucks and he would be willing to lead that group.

  Chapter Twenty Five: Life in the Rockies

  Saturday: Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming.

  Three days later Noah joined Sam and Ben for breakfast in what had become a pleasant ritual for each of them. They talked while Sam cooked, while they ate, and while Ben cleaned up. Noah had offered to either cook or clean but Sam and Ben seemed to like things as they were. Noah didn’t know what had changed, and he felt slightly guilty. He wasn’t used to being catered to, although he realized he could get in the habit if he wasn’t careful.

  Since the incident with Bob Turner things had moved along well. The group continued to meet each evening and continued to talk about work assignments. They now had a group of people responsible for snow removal from the Inn to the town, and further if need be.

  Ben was with the group caring for the horses and they all agreed he was both enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

  They had found more pieces of snow removal equipment in the park and they now had fourteen trucks, loaders and graders and a crew of eighteen prepared to use them. If needed the group would ask for more volunteers.

  Sam was thrilled that the group had decided to put Ben in charge of care for the horses; it would be a great experience for him. She knew they had done so because they knew he would spend most of his time with the horse and would do most of the work. They couldn’t have slowed him down had they wanted to. She almost hoped there would some kind of conflict of a minor type so he could experience problem solving also.

  The first thing Sam had told Ben was that if a conflict did come up he should tell the group that he wanted to think about the options and they would decide during the next evening meeting what the solution should be. She stressed that if you weren’t absolutely sure of the fairness of a solution you’re better off taking the time to think first, rather than shooting from hip and missing the target. She knew this wasn’t always the right way, but it was the right way to start as a leader.

  She also advised him to take the time needed to find out all of the facts. No matter what he thought he knew, it was almost inevitable that another side of the story was lurking out there somewhere, waiting to trip him up if he didn’t do his homework first.

  All of the RVs were fully stocked and the food would last well into the next year and everyone assumed they would continue to eat in their own RVs. However, one of the men jokingly mentioned that he truly was going to miss fresh baked biscuits each morning and the group murmured their agreement.

  Lily told the group she had been a baker in Cheyenne, and that she had checked out the kitchen in the Inn and found the commercial sized ovens were powered by natural gas and it looked like the gas could be turned on and the ovens used for baking. She would be willing to set up a baking schedule for the group, and bake each morning. Everyone would have to register and she would collect ingredients from each of them. The group would have to accept egg substitutes and perhaps other modifications, but she’d do her best. By the end of the discussion she was joined by two other cooks and four helpers. This team would be responsible for all baked goods and everyone would contribute ingredients.

  She mentioned that they might need more people since there was no electricity, the bread would have to be kneaded by hand. This would be a hard job, especially if the group continued to grow.

  One of the men said he was an electrician and he would look into how to get the power back on. Three other men had some experience with electricity and two others volunteered to be on the electrical group if more help was needed. The first priority would be to get the power back on for the entire area. The second priority would be to use auxiliary generators for the kitchen and lobby area.

  There were two plumbers in the group who volunteered to check the gas lines and get the ovens working. The woman was a master plumber and Sam could see that the other craftsmen were impressed by that.

  Sam was impressed that every craftsman had brought along a full complement of tools. These people knew their skills would be critical in the future, and they all seemed anxious to put them to use.

  Two of the group said their heated horse trailers had also been equipped with live chickens, just so they would have eggs. These two volunteered to maintain one of the smaller heated horse trailers as a chicken coop and to use the internet to figure out how to expand the number of chickens, and to harvest eggs each day. Everyone agreed that the eggs would go to the baking group until there were enough for the group to begin sharing. Sam thought this was really generous of the two chicken owners and said so.

  Noah thought it was interesting that in the past chicken farmers might be the object of jokes of some sort. No one was thinking along those lines now. These chickens were going to become precious commodities for the group.

  This led to a discussion of how to keep up with who was in the park. Three volunteers formed a welcoming committee and became responsible for finding out who was currently in the group, and tracking the new residents. An accountant joined this group and started to set up a spreadsheet. This group would welcome each newcomer and explain the group’s rules to them.

  The group decided that the registration spreadsheet would be an open spreadsheet posted on the survivor web page so anyone in the country could see at any time who the residents were. There turned out to be Forty Six adults, each with an RV, and eleven children in the initial group, four of whom were teenagers not yet sixteen. The expanded group agreed that by spring each of the four teenagers would be taught how to drive and the group would find RVs for them at the first opportunity.

  Lily said she would use this spreadsheet to keep track of who should be contributing ingredients on what day. Everyone could easily see when their turn was due.

  When Sam looked around the group, she realized that some members were ready to talk all day and others were anxious to get started. She could see that some of them were deep in thought and were coming up with more ideas.

  She decided that any more than an hour or so each morning would be overwhelming for some of the group and she didn’t want to lose anyone.

  She thanked everyone for their ideas at each meeting and encouraged them to be prepared to raise any issue they thought needed to be addressed in any of the meetings.

  Noah had kept good notes from the initial meetings, but by the third morning the welcoming committee thought they should be the ones to keep track of minutes. This, in essence, was going to be a history of the Yellowstone group.

  The lobby was large, with a huge stone fireplace in the middle. It had two floors above the lobby with rails around the central opening, which was seven stories high. It was way too large to heat with just the fireplace, but a large fire would keep the area near the center warm enough for the group to gather.

  She also noticed that there were new faces in the group. She asked how many folks had joined the group since yesterday’s meeting. Nine hands were raised.

  As soon as she started the Saturday morning meeting a
dozen hands were raised. She pointed at one of the newcomers who raised the question of medical assistance. Sam found that the group had two Registered Nurses and three Nursing Assistants. They agree to set up a clinic of sorts. They started by asking everyone in the group to give them an inventory of all medicines and medical equipment they had brought with them.

  Like the craftsmen, all five of these people had brought their own tools with them, including a ton of bandages, medicines, books on medicine, antibiotics and so on. The group was disappointed that there were no doctors but seemed really pleased with the five trained people.

  The older of the two nurses ensured the group that short of surgeries the nurses could take care of almost any problem. She also told the group that she would search for Doctors amongst the survivors gathered elsewhere, so if they did have a major issue they could get advice from a Doctor.

  She then said that she and her colleagues would want to conduct a medical interview with everyone in the group. She explained that they needed to know about all existing conditions in order to prepare to deal with them. During these interviews they would collect the information about who had brought what medicines.

  Sam noted that the medical group had come prepared for this. They weren’t being drafted; they wanted to use their skills to help the group.

  The fuel problem was raised again. Sam explained that they had formed a group who would bring tankers to the park, and failing that they would use fifty gallon drums to transport fuel. As soon as she mentioned the drums a half dozen people volunteered to go into nearby towns and try to find as many drums as they could, and trucks to transport them. Sam agreed that having a backup plan was a good idea. The group understood this was a high priority item because if they got snowed in and ran out of fuel, they would have real survival problems.

  The fuel group informed everyone that they had been searching nearby towns for tankers and yesterday had found two full tankers. They would start bringing them to the park today.