The Last Tribe (71 page)

“Pineapples!  Lots of ripe
pineapples right here!  Fruit!”  Hank turned to go to the cars when he realized
he did not know where the cars were.  “Hey, where are the trucks?”

Todd was halfway to the beach after
he heard the word fruit.  “I’ll help.  We didn’t even think about food, just
ran to the water.”  He pointed towards the parking lot on the other side of the
hotel.  “We obeyed pedestrian traffic laws.” 

They ran barefooted, using the
balls of their feet and trying to not step on anything sharp.  The light was
fading slightly as the sun approached the horizon behind the east facing
resort. 

Six SUV’s were parked in a row next
to the front of the resort.  Wild chickens surrounded the open trunks,
inspecting their caged brethren.

“This is mildly off putting.”  Todd
said as he shooed chickens away from his car. 

“Sorry the chickens scare you.” 
Hank pulled a plastic box from the back of the truck and removed a large
cleaver.  “Nice!”

“Yeah, I picked that one up at the
mall in Raleigh.  Sweet, huh?”  Todd pulled a chef’s knife from the box along
with a flashlight.  They walked back to the beach.  Hank carried the entire
plastic box filled with dinner supplies and cooking implements.  Faint shades
of orange and red filled the sky behind them.  It was officially dusk.

“If we are going to find places to
sleep other than the huts on the beach…”  Hank said to him.

“Yeah, I know.”  Todd looked
towards the lobby of the hotel.  “I’ll see if I can find a master key or
something to open doors.  We might have to kick doors down to get in.”  He held
up the chef’s knife, handing it to Hank to put back into the plastic bin. 

Todd went to find room keys.  He hoped
the batteries powering the room locks still worked.  Salt air and eight months of
time were not on his side.

During the early stages of the
plague, when the disease was ravaging South America, Europe, and Asia, there
were few travel restrictions for U.S. citizens within the U.S.  Still, no one
made trips to resort islands like Kauai.  Tourists already on the island
quickly departed.  International travel was suspended, but European and Asian
tourists fled the small island for the international airport on Oahu.  Almost
every plane in Hawaii was at the Honolulu airport.  The handful of tourists who
remained on Kauai died in the hospitals.  Locals passed in their beds.  The
island was deserted and pristine.

A stand at the front door of the
lobby, printed in large red letters read, ‘No Vacancy.’  The wording of the
sign was a trick devised by a hotel manager.  She argued that a ‘Closed’ sign
would invite looting and squatting, while a ‘No Vacancy’ sign would fool
potential squatters into believing the hotel was occupied and full. 

Todd, a potential squatter, fell
for the trick and believed every room in the hotel contained a corpse or had
dirty linen. 

Regardless, he scoured the front
desk for a log book or list that might indicate empty rooms. 

The front desk was clean of
papers.  There were six check-in stations with six computers.  There were no
log books or keys hanging from a peg board, similar to the system they found at
the car rental agencies at the airport.  The information Todd needed was locked
away on a dead server, only accessible from the dead computers in the dead
hotel lobby. 

Three drawers fell below each of
the computer stations.  Todd opened each drawer and found blank key cards, but there
were no cards with room numbers or the words ‘master key.’

“Think Todd” he muttered to
himself.  He looked at a door behind the front desk.  He walked over and opened
it.  The back room did not have windows and was pitch black.  He flashed his
light on a small desk and saw a clipboard with papers clipped to the top.  Todd
walked closer and saw room numbers, dates, and check marks to indicate the last
cleaning day.

“Cleaning staff.”  He mumbled. 
Todd opened one of the desk drawers and found several cards on wrist lanyards. 

“Bingo.”  He grabbed all of the lanyards
and keys and left the backroom for the beach.

Todd approached the first room on
the first floor next to the lobby.  The key box had a yellow light on the top
that was still illuminated.  He slipped one of the cleaning staff’s keys in the
card slot on the door.  It flashed green, and he heard the sound of a sliding
bolt. 

He pushed the door open.  He did
not look into the room.  He lifted his nose for the smell, the horrible putrid
rotting smell he met at the Manchester airport, or the houses in Raleigh and
Hanover he scavenged for food.  Other than a hint of mildew, the room was
clean.  Todd flashed his light and saw the bed was made.  He flipped the
deadbolt slider from the inside, assuring the door would stay open, and moved
to the next door.  Room after room was empty and contained clean linens.  Todd
unlocked the entire first floor.

He walked out to the bonfire. 
Hubba rested in the sand next to Peter and Jamie in lounge chairs.  A paper
plate filled with pineapple, moose jerky, and gold fish crackers rested between
them. 

“How did you do with the rooms?” 
Jamie asked.

“See that building?”  The resort
had several buildings.  Todd pointed to one behind him on the left side of the
beach.  “The entire first floor, twenty or so rooms, are all unlocked,
unoccupied, and have clean linen.  I can’t speak for bugs, but we are good to
go for mattresses and sheets.”

“You’re kidding.”  Jamie said
back.  “There aren’t any bodies?  How can that be?”

“Jamie?  I just flew on a jumbo jet
from New Hampshire to Hawaii eight months after a plague killed every living
soul on the planet.  I have a dog when no other dogs or cats survived.  I
stopped asking questions like ‘how can that be’ a long time ago.”  Todd held
his hands out to his side and shook his head.

“Would you mind if I went ahead and
used one of the rooms?”  Peter asked, sitting up.  “I need to get some sleep.”

“You can do whatever you want,
Peter.  Here is a lanyard with a key, but I will probably sleep with my door
open or unlocked.”  Todd tossed him a pink wrist lanyard with a key card.

“I will too.”  He stood up
carefully.  “It’s been a long day.”  Peter said goodnight to Jamie.  Hubba
lifted his head and watched the tall old man walk towards the hotel.  The sun
was not down, but daylight was almost gone.   There were millions of stars
lighting the sky.  A full moon reflected off the ocean.

The bonfire made enough light for
them to eat their fruit and enjoy the warm breeze coming off the water.  The
adrenaline loss Peter experienced swept through the group.  The children were
groggy, adults felt tired and sluggish, and the tribe made their way to the
bedrooms. 

John and Solange were the only two
left on the beach.  He placed another piece of wood on the fire.  They did not
need the warmth, just the light the fire provided.

Solange pushed two chaise lounge
chairs together to snuggle with John. “Finally, weather I can enjoy.”  She said
to him as he sat down next to her. 

“It does feel nice to not have on
long pants and a flannel shirt even when inside.”  He put his arm under her
back, and she shimmied next to him.  They lay together, under the Hawaiian sky
next to a fire on the tropical beach.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,
but not as much as I thought.”  John said to her.  “There is food hanging from
the trees and growing up from the ground.  If we can catch fish and find water,
we can survive here.”

Solange had both arms around him,
one under his back and the other across his chest.  “It is incredible.   Just
the idea that we are not cold, that we can eat food without setting traps far
from camp.”  She looked up at him, her chin on his chest.  “It is like this in
Ecuador, but the snakes and bugs would swarm us off the plane, and the
humidity, you would not like the humidity.”

John did not reply, he held her and
enjoyed the moment.  There were towels hanging on the back of the chaise.  John
pulled them down to cover himself and Solange.  He closed his eyes and drifted
off to sleep. 

Solange continued to talk about
Ecuador until she saw that he was asleep, his chest lifted and fell in a slow
easy rhythm.  He had a satisfied smile on his face, a tiny grin that told her
he was having nice dreams.  Solange put her head back on his chest.  She did
not fall asleep immediately.  She listened to the waves lap the shore of the
cove, and watched the fire dance in the night. 

John and Solange were on the beach under
half a dozen beach towels and next to a pit of smoldering black logs, when the
roosters began to crow.  It was in the low 70’s.  The rising sun added degrees
to the temperature every hour. 

Rooster after rooster crowed at the
light.

“Should we catch and eat one of
them?”  Solange asked without sarcasm.  Her belly rumbled.

“If you can, we’ll need more than
one.”  They spooned on the lounge chair.  “I bet we have at least a few eggs
from our own chickens.  Maybe we start our breakfast with those.”

“I do not want to get up.”  She
squeezed him.  “But I will light the fire.”  She stretched her arms out to the
side.  Solange went to where the bonfire had been, looking for embers she might
bring to life.  The fire was red in one spot.  She used dry coconut husk to
kick start the flame.

John walked towards the parked
SUV’s to check for eggs in the chicken cages.  He pulled a dozen fresh eggs out
of the cages, shooing away the native chickens that gathered around the cars. 
“I bet a few well placed kicks and I could have chickens for breakfast.”  

John believed a little hunger might
motivate the younger people in the group to focus on work, instead of lounging
on the beach like they did last night.

The roosters brought the camp to
life.  People staggered out of the hotel and made their way to the beach.  It
was early, only a few minutes after sunrise, and while they had adjourned at
9pm, getting up at 5:45 was still painful.

“How are we going to make coffee?” 
Melanie was a bear without her coffee. 

“I bet we can figure something out
with the pouches in the rooms.  We can use them like tea bags in a pot of
water.”  Paul needed his coffee too.  Necessity was breeding invention. 

The sporadic crowing of roosters
filled the air.

Paul collected the one shot coffee
pouches made for single serving coffee pots in the hotel rooms.  He looked at
the eight quart pot of water resting on the fire, and judged eight pouches
would make strong coffee.

 “It’s a start.”  He told Melanie.

The famous fireplace grill set
Rebecca and Greg used in their first house straddled the small beach fire, and
easily accommodated the water pot and a giant caste iron skillet.  John cracked
the eggs into the skillet, and began to scramble.

“There isn’t a lot, but you can
supplement with all the fruit you can find.”  John did not inspire the group.

Weak coffee from stale hotel
pouches and half an egg each was a bad start to the day.  Todd could not sit
idle and watch it happen.

“I love you, John, but please move
aside.”  He pulled two zip lock bags full of cooked rice out of the plastic
bin.  He seized the metal spatula from his brother.  “Ahmed, can you tear some
of this jerky into small pieces?”  Todd used the spatula to finish scrambling
the eggs and set them aside on a paper plate. 

Todd had small jars of olive oil
and soy sauce in the bin too.  He added oil to the skillet, dumped the cooked
rice onto the oil, and fried the breakfast.  “Throw the moose in as soon as
it’s ready.  Emily?”  He looked at his wife.  “Could you get some pineapple? 
It will add a lot of flavor.”

“How about mango?”  Avery asked as
she chewed a ripe fruit.  She held another mango in her other hand.

“Perfect.”  Todd accepted the fruit
from her, tearing pieces of the mango with his finger and dropping it into the
sizzling rice.  When the rice and jerky were reheated, Todd dumped the eggs
into the concoction, drizzled some soy sauce, and announced breakfast was
ready. 

“That’s how we stretch our eggs.” 
Todd prepared for the first meal two days earlier, cooking the rice, and
bagging the jerky, oil, and soy sauce. 

Despite his desire for motivational
hunger, John was pleased with the larger meal.

“It’s a little spicy.”  Meredith
said as she fanned her mouth.  She was not used to flavorful foods.  Her family
stuck to a bland diet.

“I mixed some garlic chili paste
into the soy sauce to give it a little kick.”  Todd was proud of himself, the
fried rice was excellent.  “I thought the mango would mellow the heat enough
for you.”

“It’s good.”  The girl told him. 
“I’m still getting used to spicy.”

Hank was the first to mention
work.  “We need to go to the plane and unload our supplies while it’s morning
and not blazing hot.  I bet it get’s over 85 by 10am.  We don’t have to get it
all unloaded this morning, but we need to start.”

“We have to find a place to live,
maybe get some larger vehicles.  The livestock, they need food and water. 
Let’s focus our efforts on finding a farm, some houses, water.” 

Kelly wanted to move her animals to
a comfortable, permanent place with food and water.  The shock of their new
environment along with the trauma of flying was a lot for an animal to take. 

“Okay.”  Hank conceded.  “I don’t
mind shifting our priorities, but we need to motivate.  We just used our rice. 
Our current cooking situation is crappy.  Let’s get to the real estate office
in town and move along with our plans.  We have our entire lives to play in the
water.”

“Tony and I are going to catch some
fish for lunch.”  Craig announced.

“We are?”  Antonio looked at him.

“Yeah, let’s go back to the
airport, get the fishing stuff, start that Mustang you were talking about, and
catch some fish.”  Craig was eager to try out the new waters.

“Okay, hold on.”  John cut in.  “We
have to figure out where to meet.  This is not a huge island, but it’s big
enough that we could lose each other for a few days.  Where are you going
fishing, and where are you bringing all the fish you catch?”  He was proud of
Craig for taking initiative.

Todd jumped up.  “Hold on, you keep
talking, I have an idea.”  He ran back to the SUV’s.

“If we are going to fish off the
shore, we can throw lines in right here.”  Antonio told John.  “We just have to
get the gear from the plane or try to find an outfitter here in town.”

John nodded.  “Okay, if you stay
here, we won’t have to scour the beaches for you.  Don’t forget to wear sun
block and hats.  This sun will burn the skin right off of you.” 

Todd came back to the beach
carrying a large plastic container and what looked like a big walnut cracker. 
“Here’s what I need you to do.”  He looked at Antonio and Craig.  “I noticed a
few lime trees.  When you catch the fish, please fillet and chunk the meat into
here, which I will have filled with lime juice and spices.  It will cook the
meat.”

“Ceviche.”  Solange announced.

“Yeah, under the current
conditions, it seems like the best plan.”  Todd replied.  “So, put the fish in
here.  At lunch, I’ll toss in avocado, mango, whatever else I can find, and
we’ll have a great meal.  If you get really lucky with the fishing, don’t put
it all in here, save some for dinner, but put enough so we can all eat.”

“Are you sure?  We won’t get
sick?”  Antonio asked, skeptical of the plan.

“It’s fresh fish, we aren’t going
to get sick, and the acid from the lime cooks the meat.  You’ll see.  All the
fish meat will be white.  They do this off the coasts in Florida, Mexico,
Central and South America.  It’s great food.”

“Whatever we catch?”  Craig asked.

“Whatever.  Shrimp, lobster, fish,
it all goes in here.”

“Let’s do it little bro’.”  Antonio
scooped the last spoonfuls of fried rice into his mouth and walked towards the
parking lot.  Craig followed him, talking a mile a minute.

Todd went to a grove of trees.  He
plucked limes and juiced them into the plastic container using the fancy lime
juicer he acquired at a cooking store in Raleigh.

“Alright, we have lunch squared
away, hopefully.   What else do we have to do?”

“Mel and I will take the kids into
town to walk around, find items we might need.  Tropical clothing is first on
our list.”  Emily gave Melanie and Bernie a head nod.

“Okay, the rest of us will hit the
real estate office, and split up to find a farm or place to live.  Kelly, are
you going to tend to the animals?”  Hank looked at the vet as she nodded in
response.

 “Well, if no one else has anything
to say, let’s rock.”  Hank finished his food and put his plate in the plastic
bag held by Rebecca.

Peter walked towards him.  “Do you
mind if I supervise Tony and Craig.  I am still run down.”  The man looked
exhausted.

“The rest of us sat around while
you flew the plane, take all the time you need.”

Jamie stood behind him.  “Peter,
I’m going shopping with the gals, but I’ll bring you back something nice. 
Maybe a new hat.”  She hugged Peter.  Jamie made sure he had a few large
bottles of water for himself and the fishermen.  She told him to watch the sun,
and go back to the room if he needed to. 

Paul got into Dan’s SUV.  It was
still parked right on the beach.  Greg and Rebecca jumped into the backseat. 
“Hold on.”  Dan advised them.  He pushed the gas down and shot the big truck
onto the sand.  He turned left and gunned it, tearing down the beach with all
of the windows down.  Dan and Paul squealed with excitement.  There was a small
access path at the end of the beach.  Dan turned the SUV onto it and soon found
a paved road back to town.

“Having fun?”  Greg asked the men
in the front seat. 

“You need to lighten up.”  Rebecca
told him.  “You’re too serious.”

Paul pulled a cd out of his
backpack and slid it into the player.  He and Dan turned the volume up when the
first song played.  They sang the entire 15 minute ride into town.

The other people arrived at the
parked SUV’s and had to figure out what to do with the chickens?  Kelly suggested
putting them in one of the hotel rooms with the door propped open and the cages
blocking the entrance. 

Within minutes the chickens enjoyed
scattered feed off the floor of a Hawaiian resort beachside bungalow.  The wild
local fowl strutted and clucked on the free side of a wire cage wall.

The local real estate office kept
detailed paper files on current listing.  Folders contained residential
descriptions and color photographs.  A special ‘green’ section highlighted
homes with alternative energy options.  Farm files were in manila folders with
tabs denoting crops and animals. 

The office had a large map of Kauai
on the wall.  John took the map down to use as a reference.  He wanted to
triangulate a living zone based on the farming areas and coastal fishing
access.  Walking and biking would soon be their mode of transportation.  They
could not live all over the island, and had to find a small area that fulfilled
all of their needs.

Rebecca researched Kauai while in
Hanover.  She drew a square on the map in an area on the northern shore. 

“It receives consistent rainfall,
and the temperatures are warm but mild.”  She explained.  “The forest has wild
pigs to hunt.  We can fish on the coast, and the farmland is the best on the
islands.” 

Rebecca knew finding empty homes
from real estate listings was a short term solution.  They needed to pick one
area and clear the bodies out of the neighborhood.  Sometimes, even though she
knew the outcome, she let other people figure out the solution. 

Rebecca felt it was important for
John to make the settlement decision.  She put the square on the map and let
him get to a solution on his own.  She was reluctant to accept the mantle of
tribe leader, though many of the members looked to her for answers and final
decisions already. 

“Dad.”  Matt said to his father. 
“We have too many people in here.  You can handle this, and no offense, but
Rebecca seems to have the solution already.”  He looked towards the red headed
genius.  “The rest of us want to do some exploring, maybe find more lunch, get
fishing tackle, towels, whatever.”

John looked up from his stack of
listings.  “Just be back at the hotel for lunch.”

“Dad, it’s not even 7am.  How long
do you think we could possibly take?  It’s a tiny island.  We’ll be there by
9am at the latest.”  Matt and the other kids chuckled.  Everyone was
disoriented from the time change and the early morning wake up.

“Oh, yeah, right, okay.”  He waved
them off, returning his attention to the farm listings.  John spoke to Hank and
Dan.  “Let’s take a ride up to these farms, see if we can find any equipment
that we can use to haul the cows and hogs.”  He looked over to Paul, Ahmed, and
Rebecca.  “You three okay to keep working?  We’re going to try and get a
trailer for the livestock, get them to a cooler climate today.” 

“I already know where I’m going to
live.”  Rebecca told him.  “But I’m happy to search for other places if you
would like me to.”  She had picked her street while in Hanover, and it was easy
for her to find the best home from the few listings in that area.  Rebecca did
her research, as always, so the actual work was quick and easy.

Solange lifted her head.  “Which
one is for you and Greg?” 

Rebecca held up a listing brochure
for an estate in Hanalei.  She handed it to Solange. 

Paul checked the address, and put a
red dot on the map with a marker he found on the table.  “Okay, let’s see
what’s near Rebecca’s house.” 

John looked up.  “So she picks and
we work off of her?”

“Why not?  We need a starting point. 
She’s the most versed on the island.  I say we go with it.”  Paul put down the
marker.

Solange flipped through the
listing.  “It is a perfect estate.  Our next step is to visit this house and
see what our options are around it.  I know it will not be a pleasant job, but
we should clear out the occupied homes in the entire area.”

“So what you’re saying is, now that
we have a house, we need to go up there and figure out all our other options. 
We have to find the nearest farms, fresh water, fishing spots, everything.” 
Dan was on board with going up to Hanalei.  “I am all for book work when
necessary, but it seems like an expedition would be more effective.”