Survivors (25 page)

“We heated quartz crystals to over 900 degrees in the presence of gaseous hydrochloric acid.
The acid formed a salt with the impurities, and
then we filtered out the salt.”

“So what’s the next step?” I asked.
“We just finished the hardest part. Now we
take the molten pure quartz and dope it with boron
and phosphorous. The cooled glass, when exposed
to sunlight, produces a movement of electrons
which creates the electricity.”

I barely understood a word he was saying.
“Wow, that’s great Greg. Can I borrow the sample
of glass?”

He handed it to me in exchange for my
pledge not to break it. He wanted to keep it as a
memento. I placed it carefully in my pocket.

I spent the morning with Jessie planning
what we would talk about at our meeting with the
west coast survivors. I wanted it to be much more
than a social visit. The highest priority was to see if
both groups could exchange some experts to solve
some of our common problems, and of course there
was the bigger issue of how to put the country
back together again.

Lunch was just plates of cold cuts and
bread with a request to make our own sandwiches.
We all understood the kitchen staff had higher priorities than our lunch. Mary was eating lunch, and
I asked her to take a look at Margaret.

The wedding ceremony was scheduled to
begin at 4:00 p.m. By 3:30 p.m., the designated
area on the beach was filled with adults and children. A beautiful white canopy with pots of multicolored flowers had been placed near the water. It
was the perfect location for the service. People had
brought blankets and towels to sit on. Jessie and I
sat in the middle of the crowd.

A few minutes before the appointed hour, a
middle-aged woman from Cape Coral walked up to
the front and began playing the violin. She was excellent; I had forgotten about the importance of
music in a society. She played a variety of famous
classical pieces and then stopped momentarily.

She began playing again, and I recognized
the love song from Romeo and Juliet. Suddenly
Paul appeared at the podium and a moment later
Ralph dressed in his tuxedo walked slowly up the
center aisle to the front of the gathered crowd. He
looked very nervous.

One of the little girls, she was about three
years old, followed Ralph. She was dressed in a
beautiful pink dress and had some white flowers in
her hair. She was carrying the rings on a pillow,
and when she reached the front, she stood next to
Ralph.

The violinist then began playing
here comes
the bride
. Everyone looked back at Debbie who had
suddenly appeared at the rear. She looked absolutely beautiful in a long white traditional bridal
gown, and I guessed her female friends had spent
hours getting her ready.

Debbie walked slowly up the aisle dazzling
the guests. All of us had been working so hard we’d
forgotten what well-dressed people looked like. Finally Paul started the service.

“Residents, we are gathered here today to
celebrate the union of two very special people. Our
community has suffered much sadness over the
last six months, and it feels wonderful to be able to
celebrate something as a community. The bride
and the groom have requested a very simple service so I will save all of you from hearing a long
sermon or readings from scriptures.

“I would just like to tell the lovely bride and
groom how much the community has grown to love
both of you since you arrived, and I know you will
both continue to make us proud.”

Paul then held up a document and prepared to read it. This, I am happy to say, is the
first Marriage Certificate for our community. I
know it is official because Patty prepared it, and
the new official seal of our community has been
embossed on it. Let me read it to you.

“It is hereby certified that on the onehundred-sixty-third day of the beginning of our
community, Ralph Emory Becker and Debbie Ann
Foster have come together in the sight of the residents and have been enjoined into matrimony before witnesses, and we have set our seal and signature hereupon this certificate as proof that such
union and ceremony did take place at the location
known as the Campus in the state of Florida.

“This contract has been signed by both parties and witnessed by Patty and me. Judy, may I
please have the rings.”

Little Judy handed Paul the pillow with the
rings, and Paul handed one ring to Debbie and the
other to Ralph. They both took turns placing the
rings on each other.

“Now, therefore, by the power vested in me
by myself, and the exchanging of rings, and the
signing of the marriage certificate, I now pronounce
you husband and wife. Ralph, you may kiss the
bride.”

To shouts of approval and a standing ovation, Ralph kissed Debbie and they walked back
down the aisle hand in hand and disappeared into
the apartment Debbie had left. Beth stood up and
announced dinner would be served in thirty
minutes.

Jessie was crying and I squeezed her hand
as we both walked back to our apartments. Jasmine and Hunter had loved the ceremony. Janet
and the other teachers had found new clothes for
all the kids, and they were all dressed up for the
special occasion. Debbie and Ralph were waiting in
a receiving line to greet all of the guests.

Beth and her expanded staff had prepared
Beef Wellington and huge Red Snappers as the
main course, and a group of four musicians were
playing in the background. When Beth’s staff rolled
out the wedding cake, the guests were in shock. It
was one of the most beautiful wedding cakes I had
ever seen. It would have been fitting for royalty.
Everyone chanted Beth, Beth, Beth…. Beth walked
out from the kitchen with a woman named Irene.
Beth motioned for silence and then explained the
cake was Irene’s project. The crowd rose to their
feet and Irene turned beet red. Then the residents
were demanding a speech from the bride and
groom. They finally walked up to the front, hand in
hand, and the guests became very quiet.

They were both crying and then Ralph
spoke, “Debbie and I don’t really know what to say.
We are both overwhelmed. Two days ago we asked
Paul if he would marry us. We were ready that day,
but Beth wouldn’t allow it. She demanded we all
celebrate, and she with her helpers have created
the happiest day of our lives. I know there were so
many people who helped make this celebration
possible, and Debbie and I want to thank you all.”

Everyone took up the chant and Ralph finally kissed his blushing bride. They cut the cake
and then danced together, and then as the party
went on and on, they silently left to enjoy their
special day privately.

I walked back into the kitchen and talked to
all of the helpers. “On behalf of the community, I
just want to tell you all how important this evening
is. Your efforts have allowed our citizens to enjoy
themselves for the first time in many months. Beth
demanded we do this; I failed to recognize the importance, but now I understand. This celebration
gave us all a chance to remember what life was like
in the best of times, and it brought comfort to us
all. You have all done a wonderful job, and our
community will long remember this night.”

I walked over to Beth and gave her a hug. I
whispered in her ear, “Thank you, and don’t you
ever leave to go make pancakes for Major Connors.”

I danced with Jasmine, and Jessie danced
with Hunter. The party went on and on. At ten
o’clock I dragged the kids off the dance floor, and
we walked back to the apartment. Jasmine said,
“I’ve never been to a party like that. In our culture,
we don’t celebrate this way.”

I sat Hunter and Jasmine down on Jasmine’s bed. I knelt down so I was looking them in
the eye. “Both of you listen to what I’m going to tell
you; it’s very important. We are all living in a new
world, but it’s important to remember where you
came from. Your Native American heritage is something you must always remember. Never forget
your roots. The wonder of our country is we are a
mixture of many cultures, and each has much to
offer our society. You both need to carry on the
traditions your people have carried on for thousands of years.”
They both gave me a family hug, and it really did feel like family.

We took the Piper Cub over to MacDill and
taxied over to the Delta 737 being prepped by Captain Stewart and one of Major Connor’s soldiers.

Arnie Connors asked what Beth had prepared for box lunches. “Leftovers,” I said, “Beef
Wellington; we can warm them up in the plane’s
microwave oven.”

It was clear he didn’t believe me. He would
be pleasantly surprised by our in-flight food service. Arnie had packed several dozen satellite
phones to give to the west coast survivors. Blaine,
with my help, transferred a portable fuel-pumping
system into the 737’s baggage compartment. After
Ami and Blaine walked around the plane giving
everything a final inspection, we boarded the aircraft. Blaine and Ami sat up front in the cockpit
and Arnie, Jessie, Bill and I sat in the first class
section.

We were airborne a little after nine o’clock
and began our cross-country flight. Jessie and I
warmed up the lunches in the microwave oven over
Texas, and we presented Major Connors with his
surprise lunch. “Jim, I’m going to steal Beth from
you. In the middle of the night I’m going to sneak
in and make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

Captain Stewart was conserving fuel, and it
took almost four hours before we were circling the
military field in Arizona. This isolated military base
was packed with a variety of military aircraft sent
there by MacDill’s commanding officer.

Ami lined our plane up with the main runway and lowered the flaps. The 737 touched down
and taxied to an area of the airbase filled with refueling tankers. We didn’t want to deploy the inflatable escape ramps, so we lowered Blaine down
to the ground with a rope and he found a truck
with a built-in stairway that he maneuvered alongside our aircraft.

We stepped out onto the hot tarmac and
looked around the airbase. It was deserted. The
disease should have left a few survivors, but it was
clear they must have left after realizing they
couldn’t survive here for an extended period of
time.

Ami checked out several KDC-10 refueling
tankers grouped together. She picked one filled
with jet-fuel; it looked new and in excellent shape.
We transferred all our equipment and luggage into
the sparsely appointed aircraft, boarded the plane,
and closed the hatch.

Ami and Blaine completed an extensive preflight check, and an hour later we were headed toward Meadows Field just north of Bakersfield. Ami
estimated we had about an hour’s flight, and I
spent the time looking out a window in the cockpit
searching for any signs of civilization, but flying at
30,000 feet made spotting people difficult.

We arrived over Bakersfield about noon.
Ami extended the flaps and reduced our airspeed
to just above stalling. We seemed to glide through
the air as we headed for Corcoran. Captain Stewart
passed over the city at an altitude of 500 feet. A
group of people, surprised by the sudden appearance of an airplane, were jumping up and down in
the streets.

Blaine had rigged one of his parachute
messages to a system he had built from a garage
door opener. After Ami lowered the landing gear,
Blaine pressed the remote control, and the parachute message was released from the landing gear.
As we circled the group of survivors, I saw a man
run over and pick up the message. We circled the
group of people, and the guy reading the message
gave us a thumbs up. I hoped it would mean they
would be sending people to Meadows Field to pick
us up.

Not surprisingly, Meadows Field was deserted, and Ami taxied the plane up to the terminal. We began unloading our cargo and walked
past an unmanned TSA checkpoint and out into a
deserted arrival area. Thirty minutes later a caravan of cars sped toward our group and stopped in
front of us.

It felt a little bit like they were welcoming
aliens from a flying saucer, and perhaps it was actually pretty close to that. I walked up to the person in the group who was out in front and extended my hand. “Hi, I’m Jim Reed. We’re from Florida,
and we thought it was time to make contact with
another group of survivors.”

The middle aged man shook my hand, “I’m
Floyd Manning; I guess I’m in charge of our little
group. Welcome to Corcoran.”

Then he pulled me toward him and gave me
a manly bear hug. It took us almost ten minutes to
make all of the introductions. It was as if two
groups each isolated on a deserted island had
suddenly come across the other, and realized they
were not alone in the world.

We split up and the Corcoran people drove
us back to their little community of survivors. I
drove with Floyd, and I told him briefly about how
we located his community from the lights during
the night. When we arrived in their small town, he
led us into a small building he said was their town
hall, but not before he stopped and addressed a
group of about two-hundred residents who had
heard the airplane overhead and naturally wanted
to know what was happening.

Floyd said, “These people are from Florida.
There’s another community of survivors there, and
they wanted to make contact with us. We’ll keep
everyone informed with a town hall meeting later in
the day. We’ll ring the bell when we’re ready to
meet.”

Of course they weren’t prepared to meet us,
and Floyd set up an impromptu meeting in his
conference room. He asked one of his people to see
if he could find some refreshments for their guests.