Survivors (13 page)

Jessie said: “Guns, guns, guns; here we go
again; we can’t live with them, and we can’t live
without them. You’re right of course.”

George said, “Here’s the thing, anyone who
wants a gun can break into a gun store and steal
one, and we’ll never know about it. That’s just the
reality of the situation.”

“George is right.” I said, “So instead of preventing, let’s just control the storage and use of the
guns. Let’s enforce some common-sense rules.”

I answered, “For example, people scavenging for things should never go out alone, and one
of the persons should always carry a gun. And all
guns need to be locked up and away from the children when they’re not being used. Why don’t we
appoint a small working group to help us set up
the rules? We can set the objectives, and then they
can make recommendations.”

Jessie answered, “I think you’re asking for
the impossible. I doubt they’ll ever be able to agree,
but we can give it a try; and I think Patty as our
lawyer should head up the group.”

Bill changed the subject. “We’re going to
have to send a solar array team with Barbara tomorrow. We’re going to need to give her power and
also set up a power supply for the dairy processing
plant she uses to pasteurize the milk and make the
other dairy products. I’ve got some new people
from Marco Island who can manage the projects.
One of them is a mechanical engineer, and he
knows exactly what needs to be done.”

With no further items on anyone’s agenda,
our meeting broke up. Jessie and I walked over to
the table Barbara was using to talk about her dairy
farm. There were two women there looking at the
pictures and asking questions. Barbara was a natural at selling the wonders of life on the farm. At
the end of their discussion the two women signed
their names on a list of about a dozen volunteers.

I smiled at Barbara, “It looks like you’re one
hell of a saleslady. How are you going to select
your staff?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. We’re going
to need some men to do some of the heavy work,
but all men would be a bad idea, so I’m thinking a
total of six people, half men, and half women. I’ve
got enough bedrooms to take care of everyone. I’ll
pick the middle-aged people. They probably know
how to work together.”

Barbara circled six names and left to inform
them of her decision. Jessie said, “She’s one strong
and determined lady. She’ll make it work.”

I decided to call it a night, and I hit the
sack as soon as I closed the door to my apartment.
I couldn’t understand why, but I fell asleep almost
immediately.

Manny and the other Immokalee survivors
arrived early in the morning in a convoy with one
truck filled with fresh produce. I watched with fascination at the welcome our residents provided.
The vast majority ran up to the convoy and greeted
the Immokalee men and women with open arms.
They guided them over to see Margaret and register
at her makeshift desk. A few of our residents stood
back with frowning faces and just observed. I made
it a point to remember their faces. I would have to
pay special attention to these people in the future.

As Beth supervised the unloading of the
fresh produce, I walked up to Manny and gave him
a welcoming hug. I asked him to join me for a cup
of coffee in my apartment. One of the residents had
given me one of those fancy espresso machines he
had taken from Costco, and after preparing two
coffees, Manny and I sat down at my small kitchen
table. “Manny, I would like to ask a favor of you,
something many of us believe is very important.
Tomorrow our community will be holding elections
for the Board of Governors who will lead our community for the next year. There will be five residents serving on the Board, and I would like you to
file an application so you can be on our leadership
team.”

Manny was shocked to say the least. “Jim
the people here don’t know me, why would they
vote for me?”

“Manny, a number of us will stand up and
speak on your behalf at our town meeting. Remember yesterday I spoke about the importance of
starting a new life. It is critical everyone is truly a
part of our new community. I’ve said it too many
times; we’re all in this together; and that really
does mean all of us.”

Manny thought about my proposal. “Jim,
yesterday I thought what you said was just words,
but I can see you’re ready to back up your words
with deeds. I have to get used to this new world,
but I’m ready to help out in any way I can, and if
running for the Board of Governors will help the
community, then I’ll do it.”

“Good,” I said, “Let’s both go outside to register. We need to get our applications in by tonight.”

Margaret was keeping the signup list of applicants. Manny and I both signed and printed our
names on the sheet. In addition to Jessie, George,
and Bill, there was one additional applicant. I
didn’t recognize his name and I couldn’t place the
face. Margaret said he was a young man from Cape
Coral in his late twenties, and she didn’t like him.
He was too arrogant when he registered.

Manny registered with Margaret, and was
told to pick an apartment in Building G. Margaret
suggested one on the third floor overlooking the
lake. Manny thanked her and left to get some of
his belongings from his car.

Bill and George were reviewing work assignments with their people and Jessie was helping
some of the Immokalee people carry produce into
Beth’s kitchens. A few cars and one U-Haul truck
left to start up Barbara’s dairy farm. All of the future farmers of America were excited about their
new jobs. I waved to them as they got into their
cars and drove away.
The four of us finally met in front of Margaret’s desk. “Let’s take a trip over to the Bass Pro
Shop in the Gulf Coast shopping mall. We might as
well collect all their guns and ammunition. We can
keep them locked in my apartment.

It took only a few minutes to break into the
store. We were getting to be experts at breaking
and entering. Bill seemed to know his way around
the place, and after one hour, we had cleaned the
store out of guns, accessories, and ammunition.

Jessie disappeared and I eventually found
her in the archery department. She had taken possession of a modern compound bow, and was
pushing two carts, one filled with arrows and quivers, and the second holding a round practice target
and an assortment of other bows. “I think I’m going
to be like Katniss in
The Hunger Games
,” she said.

We loaded up our U-Haul truck and closed
the back door. We decided to transfer the weapons
after everyone was asleep. Back at the campus, we
agreed to meet in my place after lunch. I found
Patty in her apartment. She was planning the election we would hold tomorrow. After I explained the
problem, she agreed to chair a committee to recommend rules for guns and other weapons.

Patty and I both walked to the dining area.
Beth and her staff had baked some fresh bread.
The lunch consisted of tuna salad or pasta and a
variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. I cut two slices of bread and made a tuna salad sandwich with
a slice of tomato and some lettuce. As I looked
around, everyone having lunch was certainly enjoying the fresh produce.

The afternoon was spent in extensive meetings. Josh presented his plan for raiding the Publix
Replenishment Center. Isaac had put together a
plan for getting the Verizon server, and George and
Bill had developed a fairly complete proposal for
collecting the photovoltaic cell supplier’s equipment.

When we put the three plans together, we
were going to need a total of six refrigeration trucks
and three moving vans to collect the other equipment. Stan reported he had been able to locate all
the necessary refrigeration trucks, but only two
drivers had any experience in driving the large vehicles. It would take a day to shuttle all the trucks
to the campus, and Stan would need several hours
to train each of the drivers in the basics of how to
handle the sixteen-wheelers.

We took a break from our meetings and I
walked out to the parking lot to see what was going
on. Beth and Manny were sitting at Margaret’s table taking orders for the kinds of fruits and vegetables our residents liked to eat. A small group was
gathered there debating the merits of various produce. I just listened in and enjoyed the discussion.

I heard the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle enter the parking lot. Suddenly Rebecca was
running toward the young man riding the bike.
They hugged and kissed, and she refused to let go
of him.

He finally got off his bike, and as the two
held hands, he began to talk to Rebecca. I waited
patiently to give them some privacy, and when they
were done talking, Rebecca, who was crying, led
the young man to where I was standing.

“This is Ralph Becker,” she said. “He’s my
boyfriend from up north. He says my mom and dad
are dead, and before they died, he promised to
come find me.”

I introduced myself to Ralph. He had driven
his motorcycle down from Indianapolis, and he had
run into problems along the way. I immediately
convened an emergency meeting of our unofficial
leadership team and asked Manny to join us.

Ralph and Rebecca joined us behind my
apartment, and I asked Ralph to describe his trip
in detail. He finished drinking a bottle of water and
then began his story.

“I left Indianapolis three days ago. Most of
the survivors had already left. There were dead
bodies everywhere, and the smell was horrific. My
parents and two sisters died four weeks ago. I
stayed with Rebecca’s mom until she died.

Around Macon, Georgia I ran into a group
of men and women blocking the road with their
cars. I didn’t think much of it, but they were all
drunk or high on drugs. They asked me if I wanted
to join their group. They could see I wasn’t carrying
anything of value except for my motorcycle. It took
me about a minute to realize they were up to no
good. One of the guys pulled a gun; I knew I had to
get out of there right away.

“I was still sitting on my motorcycle, but I
kicked the gun out of his hand. I started my bike
and drove around the blockade before they could
react. They chased after me in their cars for a couple of miles, but when I left the road, they couldn’t
follow me through a wooded area.

“I hid out in those woods until nightfall. After that, I stayed off the main roads with my headlight off. I reached a crest in the road and saw a lot
of headlights up ahead. I hid my bike by the side of
the road and walked toward the lights. There was a
small town there, and the lights were coming from
a grouping of cars.

“It was a terrible scene. Some guys had
found some women, and they were dragging them
out of houses and forcing them into their cars. An
older man tried to help them, and they shot him,
and then they all left in their cars and headed
north.

“I walked into the town, and the old man
was already dead. You remember that movie
Mad
Max
. It was sort of like that. I waited a couple of
hours until I was sure the road was clear.”

“About fifty miles southeast of Macon. From
then on I was very careful. I only drove at night
and without headlights. I found a map at a gas station, and I only took the side roads.”

I said, “Thanks for the information Ralph,
and welcome to our community. Rebecca, make
sure he registers with Margaret, and then please
show him around the campus.”

Our meeting adjourned, and I walked back
outside looking for a diversion from Ralph’s tale of
woe.

Some of the men helping Beth had found a
large party tent from somewhere and were trying to
erect it in the parking lot near the beach. They said
this would become the new dining area, and it
would be protected from the rain. I spent an hour
helping them set up the tent and pound the stakes
into the asphalt.

Blaine had flown his airplane over to the
Everglades Indian Reservation early in the morning
looking for survivors. I heard his plane land, and
after the engine stopped, he jumped out along with
a boy and a girl and reported to me. “I found them
at the reservation. They said they were the only
ones who survived. They’re too young to drive over,
so I decided to fly them here in the plane.

Both kids looked like they were still in
shock. I knelt down on the parking lot and introduced myself. The girl was twelve, and her name
was Jasmine. The boy was eight, and his name
was Hunter. Jessie came over and introduced herself and immediately put both of them at ease.
Jasmine reminded me of my own daughter Sarah,
and I told Margaret they would both be staying
with me. The three of us walked to my apartment
and we arranged a room for each of them.

At dinner, Patty announced the applicants
for the five positions. I finally had a chance to see
the guy from Cape Coral who was running. I recognized him; he was one of the people who wasn’t
too pleased with the arrival of the Immokalee survivors. I hadn’t seen him working on any of the
crews and wondered how he was spending his
days.

Patty announced the final rules. “Everyone
wanting to vote must attend the town meeting
scheduled for one o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
Each person running for office will have no more
than ten minutes to talk to the community about
their plans if they were elected to office or anything
else they would like to discuss. After the candidates speak, I will allow ten minutes for anyone in
the community who wishes to speak on behalf of
any of the candidates.