The Emerald Virus (38 page)

    
“Let’s talk about the rules committee I mentioned earlier. I’d like to nominate
Christian to chair the committee. A number of people threw out seconds. Sam
asked, “Any other nominations for chairman?”

    
Nobody said a word so Sam called the vote and Christian was a unanimous choice.

     
He took the podium and said, “Thanks everyone, I’ll do my best for you. I’d
like to start by asking Lily to join me on the committee.”

    
As the group applauded the choice Lily said, “But I know nothing about the
law.”

    
Christian responded, “Lily, we need simple common sense more than we need
anything. You have that in abundance.”

    
Lily agreed to join Christian and the group voted her in.

    
Christian then said, “If the group will accommodate me, I’d like to ask you to
hold any other nominations until tomorrow night. I’d like a chance to talk to
Lily about other members before we go any farther.”

    
Sam walked back to the podium and said, “I think that’s an easy request to
agree to.

    
 She continued, “I know some of you have seen these numbers on the web but I’m
going to announce them now for those who have missed them.

    
“As you probably know, there are 2,621 survivors registered. We suspect there
are some out there who aren’t registered since our Mr. Yellowbird came to us
out of the blue. We have since taken care of that, but one person in Virginia
is shown as deceased so the number doesn’t change.

    
“Most people have joined groups like ours and we now have group numbers. The
Delaware group has 142 residents; the Phoenix group has 192; the Tennessee
River Valley group has 251; there are 274 in the Texas group, 313 in the
Florida group, 633 in the Southern California group; 76 in the Alaska group and
102 in our group. That makes the total 1979 of 2,621. Those numbers change each
day since people come and go from the various groups, but at least we have a
count.

    
“I’ve talked to the leaders of most of these groups in the last two days and
they would all like to do what we’re doing tonight, but with so many people not
only joining their groups each day, but leaving them as well, they don’t think
they’re stable enough yet to move to the rule stage.

    
“The exception is the Tennessee River Valley group. Jack Sweeney is leading
that group and he thinks he will be able to start this process in just a day or
two.

    
As hands went up Sam said, “Yes, this is the same Jack Sweeney you all know,
and no, he isn’t a survivor. He felt he had done all he could to help us, so he
left his bunker to go to Baltimore and help a friend, who is a survivor.

    
“He plans on leaving the group when he starts showing symptoms, although some
of us think if he has the virus he should have become symptomatic by now.
Anyway, when Jack leaves the TRV group a lady named Charlotte White will take
over the group.

    
“It looks like Jack might be the last person in the country to die from the
virus, although to tell you the truth I have no idea about the people in the
bunkers. Except that Jack told me that in both the congressional and
presidential bunkers the seals failed and all the occupants have died by now. We
really are alone out here.”

    
Noah spoke up with, “Sam, does this mean that women are taking over the new
world, or are there any men leading groups?”

    
The group laughed, and Sam said, “I think all of the other groups are being led
by men, but I’m sure they’ll all wait for us to show them the light and the way.”

    
After the boos and laughter Sam adjourned the meeting and headed to her RV.  

Tuesday:
Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming

    
Sam
conducted the morning meeting as always. There were no unusual events until
near the end when the front door to the lodge crashed open and a man in blue
jeans and a buckskin jacket seemed to blast into the room.

    
He took one look at the full room, where everyone had now turned to see what
the noise was, and at Sam standing open mouthed at the front.

    
With a grin on his face he said loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Hi, my
name is Danny Gardner, I was wondering where everyone was; now I see that I’ve
interrupted your service. I’m sorry for that.” As he talked Colleen closed the
door behind him and Danny looked at her and said, “Thank you ma’am, it is a bit
cool out there.” He then looked at Sam and said, “Ma’am please go on, I’m not
used to a woman preacher but I’m sure I can adjust.”

    
Sam was flabbergasted, this man hadn’t stopped talking since he walked in and
she was afraid if she didn’t say something he’d start again. He was about six
feet tall with long blonde hair, a slender build and blue eyes. He had on big
snow boots with laces that he wore loose, and a leather hat with fur on the
inside, and earflaps he could tie down under his chin if he chose to do so, and
he wore a large hunting knife strapped to the outside of his left thigh. He
hadn’t stopped smiling since he walked in and she had no idea who he was or
where he had come from.

    
She looked at the group; half were smiling at the newcomer and the other half
were looking at him questionably. He started talking again by saying, “I’ve
been north of Bozeman and thought I’d come by the park here and see what was
going on with all of you.” He said this as though it were perfectly normal for
someone to just drop by to check on them.

    
Sam said, “Mr. Gardner, this is not a religious service and I’m not a minister.
We are the residents of the park and my name is Sam Klein. I’m the leader of
our group, and you are welcome to join us. If you will just hold on for a
couple of minutes we’ll finish our morning meeting and you can talk with our
welcoming committee.”

    
“Oh, sure, I’ll be happy to wait. By way, you’ve done a great job; it looks
like the electricity is working in here. The generators are certainly loud
enough aren’t they? And I saw you have horses here, I’m glad to see that since
I’m partial to horses. Please, call me Danny if you will. That goes for
everyone. I hope this isn’t a formal group. I’ve never been overly formal.”   

    
Sam was astounded; she didn’t know what to do to keep him quiet. He said
everything in a soft voice but it projected so well everyone heard him. He kept
the smile on his face when he talked and his eyes were constantly moving around
the room. He looked around randomly, but every few seconds he would look one of
the people directly in the eyes and nod at them as if he had known them his
entire life. People nodded back and a couple of the young ladies blushed. A few
of the people actually half raised their hand to wave.

    
Sam had seen social people in her life, but she had never encountered anyone
who could make an entire group feel like they knew him inside of three minutes.

    
Danny stopped to take a breath and Noah decided to try to stop this avalanche
of words. He stepped forward and said, Danny I’m Noah Yellowbird, maybe you and
I could step outside for a minute and Sam can finish her meeting and I can
brief you on our group.

    
Danny smiled even broader and said “Noah that sounds good to me. I feel bad about
interrupting your meeting.” He then looked at Noah and said, “Yellowbird, I
knew a fellow named Stan Yellowbird some time ago, he was from South Dakota and
was a Lakota Sioux. Would you be any relation to him?”

    
Now Noah was flabbergasted, he wasn’t sure there was any way to stop this guy
from talking. He said, “I had a cousin by that name. He cowboyed on a ranch in
northern Montana the last I heard.”

    
Danny reached out and shook Noah’s hand again and said in Lakota, “I can’t
believe it. Stan was a good friend of mine, and he used to talk about his
cousin Noah a lot. He thought that maybe you were the best cowboy or ranch hand
he had ever been around. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”

    
Noah did a double take at the change in languages and realized that if Danny
hadn’t been blonde and blue eyed he could pass as a Lakota. He was not only
fluent but he spoke without accent.

    
Now Sam was really lost. She did not understand a word being spoken; she wasn’t
even sure what dialect it was. She looked at Ben who looked captivated by this
man. And he seemed as if he understood him as well.

    
She thought she would make one more futile effort. She said, Noah, do you think
you can get Mr. Gardner outside for just a couple of minutes while I finish
this meeting, or will I have to ask for volunteers to chuck him out?” She
smiled as she said this and most of the people in the room were smiling as
well.

    
Danny broke off his conversation with Noah and said, “Oh. I’m sorry, I got
carried away there. I know Noah by reputation. You folks are lucky to have him
from everything I’ve heard of him. I’ll have to tell ……” He saw the look on
Sam’s face and started laughing and others joined in. “Okay, okay, I’ll just
step out here while you talk to your folks.” And in a blink he was out the
door.

    
Noah looked at Sam and with a smile said, “I’ll be outside with him, and if he
isn’t gone by the time I get out there I’ll hold him for you.” Noah went out
the door a little more slowly than had Danny and Sam looked at the group.

    
She said jokingly, “Boy, I don’t know if I want him to stay or if I want him to
get the heck out of here. I’m not sure my ears can take being around him too
much.”

     
There were smiles and nods of agreement from some of the folks, but Sam noticed
that there were no looks of animosity. Whoever Danny was, he was going to be a
hit with the group.

    
Sam ended the meeting a couple of minutes later and reminded the veterans in
the group that they were going to meet with Colonel Green. By the time she got
outside there was quite a group gathered around Danny, all of them introducing
themselves to him.

    
Sam saw the three Hispanic survivors start to walk past Danny’s group. Sam felt
bad that they always kept to themselves but she knew that none of them spoke
English very well, and they all seemed a little shy or perhaps lacked
confidence.

    
Danny looked up and addressed them as a group in Spanish. Sam was amazed to see
the transformation on their faces, which all became animated and bright with
smiles. All of sudden everyone was talking at once and Danny was talking to all
of them at the same time. Sam realized what a huge difference being able to
communicate made. She would remember this lesson. A couple of the residents
spoke Spanish, but at a minimal level, and while they got by, this was a
different thing altogether. She wondered what other surprises this man had in
store.

    
She watched him say goodbye to the Hispanic group like he had known them all of
his life, and then turn back to the others. He started talking like there had
been no interruption, and no one who was waiting to talk to him seemed to mind
at all. He was so easy going and smiled so much you had to like the guy.

    
She watched him as he kept his eyes constantly moving, but always returning to
the person he was speaking with. He was able to watch everything while making
sure the person he was talking to felt important. Suddenly he looked at Sam and
smiled and nodded like he knew what she was thinking. She pointed to her RV and
gestured for him to come.

    
Without breaking stride he said, “Okay Sam, I’ll meet you there in just a
minute” and went back to his conversation as if there had been no interruption.
Sam shook her head and walked to her RV. Noah was sitting in the living area
with a cup of coffee in his hand.

    
Sam said, “Noah, how did you get in here?”

    
“Sam, you gave me a key. Remember you and Ben and I all traded keys since we
all trust each other. That guy must have really shaken you.”

    
Through a smile Sam said, “My goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like
him before. He’s like the most social whirlwind you could find. Do you think he
ever shuts up?”

    
“Actually I do. When he was talking to me about my cousin, I remember Stan mentioning
a friend of his named Danny. A guy who in Stan’s eyes could do no wrong.”

    
“Stan told me he was a hard worker, a good cowboy, was magical with all animals
and was a guy you just didn’t want to mess with.”

    
“Why would your cousin say that? He looks a little on the thin side and he
doesn’t appear to be overly muscled.”

     
“Stan said he was a member of the Army’s Delta Force. They are the most elite
of all soldiers. Knowing that, I’ll be the last person that tries to take him
down, although to tell you the truth, from what I’ve heard we don’t have
anything to worry about.

    
“The only reason Stan ever knew about his background was because of a bunch of
drunks that tried to extend their fight to include Stan and Danny one night
when they had gone to town. Stan said he was ready to run just to avoid the
hassle of a fight and then possibly the police.

    
“Before he had a chance to take off one of the drunks pulled a gun. Stan said
it took Danny about two seconds to disarm that guy and disable the other three.
He had never seen anything like that. He asked Danny where he had learned to
fight like that. He said Danny was almost embarrassed about his actions, but
told Stan that in a previous life he had been a Delta soldier. That was the
only time he ever talked about it and Stan had the good sense not to ask any
more from Danny.”

    
Sam responded, “Well, he certainly is an unusual guy in a lot of ways. I just
watched him talk to the group of Hispanics who are always so quiet. As it turns
out they aren’t as shy as we thought, they just can’t communicate with us
gringos.” And then she smiled and said, “Assuming that name can refer to you as
well.

    
“I motioned for Danny to join me here when he finished talking. Of course that
could be a week from now.”

    
With a smile Noah said, “I told him about the meeting with our veterans. He
said he would be interested in sitting in on that. I’m not sure which one he’ll
do. If he isn’t here soon we’ll find him with the militia group I’m sure.”

    
“That’s okay with me. I’m sure Colonel Green can use his help.”

    
Sam and Noah used the next forty five minutes as a planning meeting. A loud
knock on the door announced Danny’s arrival.

    
Sam opened the door and Danny said, “Oh good, you’re both here. Sam you
indicated you wanted to talk with me so here I am. Noah, Colonel Green asked if
you could meet with him briefly in the lobby.”

    
Noah said, “Thank you. Sam I’ll see what the Colonel wants and be right back.”

    
“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute. Danny come in and sit down. I was just about
to put on a fresh pot of coffee. Are you interested?”

    
“That I am.”

    
Noah walked into the lobby and said, “Ted, what’s up?”

    
Colonel Green looked up and said, “Noah, thank you for coming. I just wanted
you to know that all of us think a militia is the right thing to do. We’ll make
the proposal to the group this evening. I don’t know what you’re thinking of
but I think we need to form at least two squads of men who will train daily for
a couple of weeks, and then regularly after that. But I’d like to include all
of the men, and women if they want to participate, in regular training as well.

    
“A fighting force is a funny thing. You don’t ever want to have to use one, but
if you do, you don’t want be undermanned or outgunned.” 

    
“That sounds reasonable to me. We don’t have many people in the group that
strike me as soft, so I think you’ll get a good response tonight. Do you have
enough leaders to help you with the training?”

    
“I believe so. I’ll know for sure after the first couple of days. But we have a
nice assortment of officers and sergeants to work with. The Navy veteran who
spoke up last night was a Seal, Navy Special Forces, three of the Army vets
were rangers, one was in Special Forces, and four more have experience in
combat. An additional four fought in Vietnam. That’s a great deal of skill.
More than I could hope for.”

    
“What did you think about the new guy?”

    
“Surprisingly he was quiet. He seemed much more interested in listening than in
talking. I think we need to be careful with our first impressions of him. He
told me he did one tour in the Army and got out as a First Lieutenant. When I
asked the group about combat experience he didn’t say anything.”

    
“My cousin Stan knew him in the old world. Did Danny mention to you that he was
a member of the Delta Force?”