Survivors (14 page)

“After everyone in the community has had a
chance to speak, we will hold the election. I have
prepared ballots. Each person will choose a maximum of five candidates. Residents will form a line
and Margaret will check off their names to ensure
each person eligible to vote gets only one vote. They
will be handed a ballot and then proceed to the
voting table. They will mark their ballots and place
the ballots in the box provided. Beth, Margaret,
and I will then count the ballots and present the
results of the election immediately.”

Patty then smiled, “After the names of the
winners are announced, we will celebrate our first
free election by opening bottles of champagne, and
toasting the victors. I hope this can become a yearly tradition. Are there any questions?”

There weren’t any questions, but then again
the rules were pretty simple. The two survivors
from the Indian Reservation sat at our table. Beth
and the staff had prepared several choices of baked
fish and once again a selection of fresh fruits and
vegetables. I looked at the two kids and suddenly
had a thought. I called Janet over to our table.

“Janet, don’t you think it’s about time the
children’s vacation is over? When will school
start?”

Janet pulled up a chair and told me about
her plans. “We now have a total of twenty-one children who are of school age. We’re going to have
three classrooms called Early, Middle, and Advanced. Advanced will take the children through
high school. Our college curriculum will be customized to meet each person’s need, but we will
insist on technical studies for the foreseeable future. We need to train more engineers and scientists. We will ask some of our residents, who are
experts in these fields, to teach some of the courses, but Margaret and I have looked at the university’s library, and there are several teaching videos
from the great universities. We’ll use them to provide selective lectures. I would prefer to also teach
the fine arts, but today we need technical people
not artists. Maybe as we prosper, we’ll be able to
afford to once again teach the arts.”

I was astounded to say the least; Janet and
Margaret were both treasures we were lucky to
have. The adults at our table all offered to help out
with teaching any classes, and Janet was very appreciative.

Mary was the next to arrive at our table. “I
just wanted to let you know that I’ve been up to a
few things the last few days. I’ve asked all the residents to give me a list of any medications they are
taking. I’ve been stockpiling those drugs, but you
know most of these pills will exceed their expiration dates in one or two more years. That doesn’t
mean they won’t be effective, it just means the active ingredients will fall lower than what the FDA
allows. So we’re going to have to find a long term
supply for many of the key drugs.”

I said, “Mary, that’s a problem I haven’t given any thought to, but you’re right of course; we’ll
have to figure out how to get an ongoing supply.”

“Oh, and one other thing, the nursing
school here has a fully equipped operating room
they use for training purposes. George, when you
get a chance can you bring electricity to the room?”

“I guess it will have to be me, unless we can
find a doctor. But there’s a bigger problem, what
are we going to do when the first person needs to
have an appendectomy or a new heart valve. I can’t
do that.”

“Mary, I know I’m asking a lot, but if someone needs an appendectomy, I’m afraid you’re going to have to perform the surgery.”

Jessie said, “Mary, I can help run the medical equipment. I already know how most of the instruments work. We can practice doing simple surgery on some animals. We can practice until we get
it right.”

Mary thought about the problem and Jessie’s possible solution. “It will take a lot of studying
Jessie and a lot of practice, but there aren’t any
better solutions to the problem. I guess we’ll just
have to do the best we can.”

Jessie continued, “Let’s begin to practice.
Find out who wants to join our medical team. We
can do this Mary; we can do this.”

As I left to get some sleep, we agreed to
meet at 2:00 a.m. to transfer the weapons to my
apartment.

Seven of us spent the morning learning how
to drive sixteen wheelers. First gear was a problem,
but after an hour, I had mastered everything except for reverse. Even with repeated attempts, I
was not able to back up between two cones Stan
had placed in the parking lot. He finally gave up on
me and went on to the other drivers. Stan had
managed to find some CB radios at an auto supply
store, and we were all practicing our long-forgotten
CB language skills. During lunch all of the participants in our convoy were briefed on the three objectives, and each person was assigned specific
tasks.

After lunch Patty and her helpers confiscated all of the chairs available in the community and
created an area in the grass beneath a grouping of
shady palm trees. People, including all of the children, began gathering a little before one o’clock.

Promptly at one o’clock Patty called the
meeting to order. Margaret was sitting at a table in
front of the residents, and another table with the
cardboard voting box was positioned behind Patty.

She read off the names of the candidates in
alphabetical order, and then she asked each candidate to speak in support of their candidacy. Jessie spoke first. “My name is Jessie Bolden. Up until
all this happened, I was a Senior at Duke majoring
in genetic engineering. I’m a technical person, but
I’m best at working effectively with other people.
This year our problems will require people who are
technical. We need to solve our infrastructure
problems: electricity, water, telecommunications,
and we need to secure our food supply.
“These are all problems our present leadership team is addressing and with some good successes. I’m asking for your vote today so I can continue to help our community grow. Of course, I
can’t do it all by myself; we’re all going to have to
work hard if we’re going to be successful. I’m a
good listener and you can count on me to always
consider all of your concerns.”

The residents rose to their feet and applauded. Jessie sat down in the front row, and we
went onto the next candidate. The young man from
Cape Coral, Brad Davis, stood up and walked to
the front of the group. “My name is Brad Davis. I
lived in Cape Coral. I think it’s very important that
all of the various communities are represented
here. Most of the other candidates are from Naples.
Cape Coral also needs to be represented. Yes, we
need all the things Jessie talked about, but I can
help make those things happen, just like the other
candidates. A vote for me will be a vote for equal
representation. Thank you.”

The residents all applauded but not with
the enthusiasm expressed for Jessie. Patty then
asked Manny Garcia to speak. Manny looked very
uncomfortable as he stood in front of the group.
My name is Manny Garcia. I came here from Immokalee along with many of my friends. We know
farming. For years we have been supplying all of
you with the fresh produce you have learned to enjoy. I am committed to keeping us stocked with all
of the fresh vegetables and fruits we will need to
grow into a vibrant community. I was very skeptical about how the people from my community
would be welcomed here, but I want you all to
know the welcome you have extended to me and
my friends is greatly appreciated, and you can
count on me to do everything I can to make our
community a success. Thank you”

Again the crowd rose and applauded. Bill,
George, and I gave our little speeches and each
was received with great enthusiasm. Then Patty
asked for comments from the audience. Margaret
raised her hand, and she was recognized by Patty.

“Jessie and Jim rescued me the first day
our community was formed. My husband had died,
and I just wanted to sit in a chair on my balcony
and die with him. I had no reason to want to live.
Jim and Jessie gave me hope when I had none.
Jim told me we would need a librarian. I was skeptical, but he convinced me. He has a talent for convincing people to do the right thing.

“Now let me tell you about Jessie. She’s a
born leader. I predict she’ll lead this community in
the future. She has a feel for people. I’ve talked to
her, and she has this ability to understand what
the future is going to look like.

“I don’t know a lot about George and Bill,
but I know the four of these people work well together as a team, and that’s what leadership is all
about. I just met Manny yesterday, but let me tell
you what he did. He convinced Beth to sit outside
with him today and ask people what they wanted
grown in Immokalee. I can tell his friends in Immokalee look up to him as their leader. I think he’ll
work hard at making our community a success.

“Brad said we should consider equal representation, but I don’t agree. This is a new community, a new country, a new earth, and I don’t care
about preserving the old order; I want to help make
a new world where we all work together to make a
better place for the children, and I believe Jim,
Jessie, Bill, George, and Manny can make that
happen.”

Margaret sat down and then almost every
one of the residents except for the six candidates
stood up and cheered. It seemed Margaret’s words
had touched the hearts of almost everyone present.

Patty asked if others wished to speak on
behalf of any of the candidates. There was silence.
I had planned on speaking on behalf of Manny, but
I sensed that wasn’t necessary. My father once advised good salesmen stop selling once the customer
agrees to buy, because more words can only give
the customer second thoughts.

The community then lined up at Margaret’s
desk. She checked off each voter’s name and
handed them a ballot. Each person then walked to
the ballot box and marked their ballots with the
names of their five choices. It took almost half an
hour for everyone to vote.

When it was all over Patty and Margaret
and Beth counted the ballots, and forty minutes
later Patty announced the final vote count. George,
Jessie, Bill, and I received the votes of every resident. Brad received five votes, and Manny received
all of the others. If there was ever a mandate this
was it.

Patty congratulated the winners and then
she began opening the best chilled champagne
Costco was selling. After all of the celebrating had
wound down, I found Margaret and kissed her on
both cheeks. “Margaret, you’re one hell of a librarian and a wonderful person. The kind words you
offered touched all of the people in our community,
and I appreciate the confidence you have for all of
us who were elected. I promise to do the best I
can.”

“Of course you will,” she said, “because you
are who you are.” Margaret then kissed me on the
cheek and wished me good luck.

The five newly elected governors met in my
apartment. We took a bottle of champagne with us.
I was elected President and Jessie, much to her
surprise, was elected Vice President. Bill more or
less volunteered to be Secretary. As we were winding down from the celebratory atmosphere Jessie
introduced a somber note to our celebration. “I
want you guys to look at the big picture. Survivors
in our little area of Florida seem to be consolidating at our campus. I’m guessing the same thing is
taking place throughout the country, small pockets
of people gathering together trying to make a better
life. It makes sense to us because we’re here in one
of those communities. Unfortunately, I think
there’s another dynamic at play here. I believe
there will be groups of people coming together who
have no interest in working for a better life. These
people will want to take things from others. It’s
embedded in the genes of our species; the survival
of the fittest and all that shit.”

“Bill, I’m thinking our little soirée isn’t going to be a slam dunk. We’re going to be venturing
out into unknown areas. If we run into people
along the way, are they going to be friendly good
people like ourselves, or are they going to be the
second types who want to take from us because
they can? What I’m saying is we need to be prepared. As much as it offends my sense of what’s
right, I think we should be armed when we make
this trip. We need to plan for the worst and hope
for the best.”

At first I was against packing heat on this
adventure, but the more I thought about Jessie’s
concerns, the more I thought she just might be
right. “I think Jessie’s right; we need to plan for the
worst. Let’s meet with everyone taking part in the
trip tomorrow just before we leave. We can pass
out some weapons selectively, maybe one gun for
each truck.”

George asked an important question. “What
gives us the right to take these things? We’ve become too accustomed to just breaking into places
and taking what we want. I’m certainly not a sociologist, but consider this. The country is forming
up into tribes. Someone in a tribe in Orlando might
correctly ask what right we have to the food that’s
in their tribal area. After all, who now owns the
food in the Publix Replenishment Center? A Publix
stockholder might argue they still own the food, or
someone living in Orlando might argue the food is
theirs. So are we taking something not rightfully
ours? This will not be the last time we are confiscating what may not be ours to take.”

Ten minutes later, Patty was listening to
George’s explanation of our dilemma. Patty listened
carefully and then asked, “So what do you want
from me. Are you looking for the legal justification
to take these things?”