The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (20 page)

He moved his
headquarters to Sky Harbor Airport and soon had Phoenix more or less subdued
with the help of Cobra helicopters from Yuma.  Jim was very happy to see Luke
Air Force Base back in their control even if it would be a while before it was
functional again. 

Vehicles with
loudspeakers were driven through neighborhoods with loudspeakers announcing
that the city was under control of the Federal Government. 

The
forgiven
and the
forsaken
were asked to work on necessary tasks.  Most were eager
for to join in and be fed.  The freeways and main roads were soon cleared
enough that they could be used and semis were being repaired for use hauling
goods and produce. 

In Tucson, Davis-Monthan
Air Force Base remained locked down and its personnel were anxious for a real
mission.  Jim requested that it shut down the border to prevent any further
cartel members from crossing north.   General Whitman gave orders for patrols
of the border with armed drones and gave authorization to fire on anything
unauthorized coming north across the border.  Discretion about warning shots was
left to the pilots.  

Jim had set up
his headquarters at Sky Harbor Airport.  At the morning meeting, Jim was
insistent on getting the power grid up and running.  “You can’t have a desert
city without water, and we can’t pump water without power.  We need Palo Verde Nuclear
Power Plant up and running.”

Al said, “It
was shut down after the EMP and much of the staff and their families were squirreled
away at Luke, then moved to Davis-Monthan.”

Jim responded,
“Get them vaccinated and get them out to the plant.  Top priority is getting
power to the water pumps.  We need water or the city won’t survive the summer. 
In the meantime, get some water trucks filling the ponds at the power plant. 
Use lake water if need be. I want a realistic estimate on how long it will take
to have basic power as soon as you can get it for me.

“Next priority
will be transportation of food.  I need someone working on the railroad
system.  Replace whatever we have to on the engines, jury rig if we need to,
but we’re going to need those trains running.  Same thing for any trucks and
buses we can manage to get working.”

Dave said, “So
far we’ve been able to pull in a few diesel mechanics and we have them working
on semi tractors.  Can we pull from the military?”

General Whitman
was on the large monitor at the front of the room.  “I think we can arrange to
loan you a few.  You’ll need to figure out how to repair the trains and what
can be worked around.  Once you have that, let us know how and we can fly
mechanics out to the trains that are stuck so we can get the tracks clear.”

Jim answered,
“Sounds good.  I want to get into Las Vegas and on to California as soon as
possible.  We need to keep the momentum going.  We need to clear the freeways
as soon as possible.”

Rob said, “I
have teams working on that now.”

“Okay, what
about vaccinations?”

Whitman
answered, “Production is coming along steadily.  We should have about 8,000 more
doses for you in the next few days.”

Jim thought for
a moment.  “Al, what is our total population now?”

“We’re up to
27,437 registered between Sky Harbor, Luke, and ASU, and the other centers
we’ve opened.  We anticipate that increasing to about 40,000 in the next few
days.”

Jim said, “The
population was over 1.6 million.” 

Al continued,
“There will be another 10 or 15,000 that won’t come out until they have to, but
there won’t be any more than that.”

The room was
silent for several seconds as the numbers sank in. 

Rob asked, “Why
are the numbers so low?”

Al answered, “Food
and water ran out while the flu was still working its way through the
population.  All efforts to organize were overrun and eliminated by the gangs,
who took everything and killed anyone they wanted.”

Jim stood and addressed
everyone at the table, “This is where things get brutal.  We have a short time
to get agriculture up and running, and we don’t have enough food to support the
population we have here for many months.  George and his folks will help, but we
can’t grow enough food in this area to meet all of our need.

“We’ll put
people out on small farms to start producing food, but the bottom line is that
we have to have large factory farms working and transportation systems
functioning.  That means that we’ll need to leapfrog into areas like Southern
California and the Midwest in order to get food production working while we
provide enough security to prevent people from setting up shop as local
warlords.

“General
Whitman, I’ll need as much coordination from your people as possible to
identify the appropriate farmland and to transport people quickly.”

The General
said, “Not a problem, Director Ambrose.”

“Is everyone
here clear on their tasks?”  After getting affirmative answers from around the
room, Jim said, “Let’s wrap up then unless there’s anything else.”

General Whitman
said, “One thing, Director Ambrose.  We found someone I want you to meet.”

The door to the
conference room opened and a man in a black suit was brought in by two National
Guard troops.  General Whitman continued, “This is Tom Hunt, former Secretary
of State and currently the Governor of Arizona.”

The Governor
walked up and shook Jim’s hand.  “Director Ambrose, I want to personally thank
you for what you’ve done for our state.”  

Jim said,
“Thank you Mr. Governor,” but he was actually wondering whether the politician
was going to help or hinder his job.

The Governor
said, “The General and I have been talking.  I would like you to accept a
Senatorial appointment to represent the State of Arizona.”

“Governor, I
really don’t have the time to play politician.  Thank you, but no.”

“That’s what he
said you would say.  Arizona needs a senator and it will give you the
legitimacy you need to eliminate certain obstacles.  And I would worry about
anyone who would want the job.  I need you to agree to accept the position
now.”

“You understand
that rebuilding efforts come first, no matter what.”

“I wouldn’t
have it any other way.  Someone give me a Bible to swear him in before he
changes his mind.”

The swearing in
was done in the lobby outside of the conference room with a couple of hundred
people in attendance.  Jim was relieved to have Susan there.  This entire thing
was insane and a distraction, but it was good to see her.

After the brief
ceremony, Jim was stunned by the loud cheering.  He took the microphone and
thanked the gathering, “I’m a little surprised at becoming a senator, but I
will do everything in my power for the people of Arizona and of the United
States.  Okay, folks.  Let’s get back to work.” 

No one was
moving.  He looked over to see Rob and the governor grinning like Cheshire
cats.  Something wasn’t right.

Al walked over
to Jim and said quietly, “Sir, Washington was hit with a nuclear weapon at the
start of this mess.  We have not been able to find any congressmen or senators
who survived.  You are now the President Pro Tempore of the United States
Senate.”

“
What
?!” 

“Exactly,
sir.” 

Rob walked over
as well.  “We have another ceremony to complete, Senator Ambrose.  You may
recognize Justice Hart from the Supreme Court.  He was out of Washington that
day.”

The Justice
walked up shook Jim’s hand, and said, “General Whitman’s kept me up on your
progress here.  I think you’re the right man.  Do what you have to do to get
the country running again and the constitution back in force.” 

The ceremony
was short.  Jim spoke a few words then insisted that everyone get to work on
their assigned tasks.  He looked over to see George grinning from ear to ear. 
That's when it dawned on Jim that he had really just become the president.  When
George walked over to shake his hand, Jim said, "I bet you didn't see that
one coming. 

George was
beaming.  He said, "I think we can change some things, sir."

"I believe
we can, George."

Justice Hart
asked for a few minutes of his time.  They went back to the conference room. 

“President
Ambrose, you have the power to appoint temporary justices to the Supreme Court
to serve until the Senate can confirm permanent members.  General Whitman’s
staff and I have prepared a list that I would like you to consider.”

Jim reviewed
the dossiers for the next two hours.  He was bothered that six of the justices
were from the military, but told Al to prepare the paperwork for him to sign. 
The new justices would be sworn in the next day.    

JUNE 13th

Samantha talked
Jim into naming her his official Presidential Photographer and was running
around taking pictures of everyone all the time.  "Same thing, different
title," Susan had said to Jim about it. 

Al had Samantha
release a number of pictures from the past few months and soon Jim's story and
face were all over what was passing as the internet.

PHOENIX
AREA

JUNE 14th
,

Luke and Jamie
had taken one of first raised sleeper semis to be repaired in Phoenix and were
part of the convoys running loads of water and produce into Phoenix from
outlying areas and taking working electronics, generators, and fuel back out to
where needed.  Helen had given them a crash course in driving big rigs and told
Luke to say he was sixteen if anyone asked.  Matt, Ricky, Deepak, and Zach were
also driving in the convoys, but more than half the trucks were driven by Hopi
and Navajo drivers. 

By now it was
clear to everyone that Luke and Jamie were a couple, and no one had any qualms
about it.  Today they were running a load of and supplies and two busloads of
the
forsaken
out to farms in Maricopa.  It wasn’t far and should provide
some crops within a few weeks if they were lucky.  The key was irrigation, and
Deepak would be staying to guide work on the pumps to get irrigation working
again. 

Tomorrow they
would be driving in to Las Vegas.  Jim had ordered troops from Nellis Air Force
Base to secure Hoover Dam.  With a little luck, Las Vegas would have power
restored in a few days.

“I still can’t
believe your uncle is the president," said Jamie.  "That’s a trip.”

“I don’t think
he’s too crazy about the idea.”

“Still, I think
it is pretty cool.”

“And now we’re
truck drivers.”

“Yeah, and it’s
the single most important job in the country.  And, by the way, could I see
your license?  And why aren’t you in school?”

Luke said, “OKAY,
I’m not complaining!”

They were soon
at their destination.  It was fortunate to have a few of the farmers still
living on their properties to teach and direct the efforts of the volunteers. 
They dropped off and helped unload their cargo and were soon heading back into
Phoenix with an empty rig.

FLAGSTAFF,
ARIZONA

JUNE 15
^th

Julie had
volunteered to stay at the village and keep food production running.  Helen was
back this evening but would have to fly out in the morning.  They enjoyed a
bottle of wine as they sat under the brilliant night sky.

Julie asked
her, “How’s Uncle Jim holding up?”

“Like an old
pro.  Nothing seems to rattle the guy.  I’ve never seen anything like it. 
Susan’s not too crazy about the First Lady title, though.” 

Julie laughed,
“No, I bet she’s not.”

“I think Jim
figures he’s in a patsy role, and he’s not about to be a patsy without a real
fight.  I’m betting he makes it.”

Julie agreed,
“I don’t see my uncle taking anything sitting down.”

“He intends to
make Las Vegas the capitol.”

“
What
?!” 

Helen laughed
and said, “You need electricity and lots of rooms.  It’s a good choice.”

“I know, but
Vegas
?”

“Yes, the idea takes
some getting used to. 

“There haven’t
been any more cases of the flu, but we’re still using the
forgiven
as
our front line. You should see them.  You’d think they were missionaries.  It’s
amazing to watch.  Jim has them delivering food, phones, radios, satellite
dishes, and televisions.”

“There’s
TV
now, too?” 

“The Air Force has
been launching satellites from Vandenberg, and there are even a couple of
private companies launching the commercial satellites that were on their
schedule before the virus hit. Things are really moving along.

“I brought a
dish for us to set up.  You like Elvis movies and concerts?”

“Oh, no!  They
let Manny in on the programming!”

“It was his
price for taking the Chief of Communications job.”

Julie said, in
her best impersonation of a Filipino Elvis, “Thank you, Thank you very much.”

They laughed,
and after a moment, Helen said, “I’m sorry I can’t stick around up here, but
I’m flying all the time.  I don’t know when things will settle down.”

Julie answered,
“Don’t worry about it.  We’ll cut back to a skeleton crew up here once the real
farms are producing better, plus I’ll be running refrigerated loads down to
Phoenix every so often.  I do miss you, though.”

Helen looked at
her and said, “You know, who would have thought that our time here at the
village would disappear so fast?”

“Yeah, but you
can’t be indispensible sitting up here.”

Helen looked
her in the eyes and said, "You're always indispensible."

They sat
silently enjoying the night sky, wondering what the next few weeks would bring.