We Go On (THE DELL) (8 page)

I smiled ear to ear. "All right. It's not perfect but
it still has a chance to work. What we need to figure out now is what we’ll
need to make it work. We have the T-walls and say a suitable location can be
found. Do we have the knowledge to construct the barrier and a gate sufficient
to protect us? Do we have the ability to raise crops and livestock capable of
feeding us? What other resources will we need to establish this ... this colony
and to make it flourish?"

I had given them the problem now it was up to them to figure
out the solution. I continued, "What I'd like to do is break into working
groups. Give each group a particular problem to solve and see what solutions
you can come up with."

I looked at Dave first. "Dave, what kind of security
plan would we need to protect a place like this? How would the defenses need to
be constructed? Things I can see that will be a problem are the gate, any water
courses that may penetrate the wall, and observation both inside and outside
the enclosure." He nodded, hurriedly scribbling notes in his notebook.

Next was Jim's turn. "Jim, how do we organize the
community? How do we manage the resources so it’s equitable for everyone? There
will have to be space for food production but we will also need space for
security force training, medical facilities and school, church, and community
operations. Like a community center."

I turned to Doc. "Doc, I want your best advice on a
procedure for bringing new people into our community safely. I have a feeling
if this is successful, more people will turn up wanting to be a part of it and
I don't want to turn people away if it can be helped."

I looked around the room again. "I know I'm forgetting
things and I'm sure there’s plenty of stuff I haven't even considered. Please
if you have ideas, do not hesitate to put them forth. If you think you can
contribute to a particular group, feel free to invite yourself. If there needs
to be another group, please feel free to start it. Group leaders, you will have
to coordinate with the other groups. I know there will be questions that cross
from one area to another. You guys know what we’re looking for, don't wait to
be told to check out something. Just do it. We will meet back in here tomorrow
evening at the same time to discuss your solutions." And with that, I
turned the meeting over to the working group leaders.

The meeting broke up as people started converging on the
different group leaders and those groups headed out to quieter places to
discuss their particular problem. Once again, I was alone with my thoughts. Is
this the right direction? I could be setting us up to fail and if we fail can
we survive it? This leader stuff is tough.

I went back to my room and found Kat sitting at the desk
writing on a pad. I walked over and bent to kiss her neck. She tilted her head
to allow me to nuzzle a moment and moaned her appreciation. There hadn't been
enough of this in a long time and it felt good to be intimate a few moments. I
finally raised my head and asked her what she’d been working on.

She pointed out that I had forgotten a couple of issues when
I handed out the group assignments—namely the law. With a group living in close
proximity the way we were it was much easier to keep control. Once we moved to
a location where people had more privacy that would become tougher. People
start to revert back to their old habits when they think they aren't being
watched as closely and some of those habits would not be in the best interest
of the group as a whole.

So, we would need laws and a way to enforce them. We had
been operating under a sort of Martial Law since the group started to form.
Everyone’s too involved with trying to survive to be too uncooperative. I'm not
saying it was perfect. We had arguments and fights but most disagreements were
simple and were handled by separating the involved parties for a time. So far,
there had been no major incidents because the threat of being turned out of the
group to survive alone was too great a risk to do something stupid.

Besides, most of these people had been good, law abiding
citizens before the Event and they were just continuing that conduct. I could
see how it might change though, once we got to a roomier place. There hadn't
been much me … me … me-type thinking because it simply wouldn't work in the
close living situations we'd had. Once we spread out, that might come back and
Kat wanted to find a way to minimize the problems that would surely arise.

I asked her not get too carried away. Too many laws can be
just as bad as too few. I left her to her work and I went over and sat on our
bed to make my own notes.

I wasn’t aware that I had fallen asleep until I awoke the
next morning. I hadn't been sleeping well since the battle with the Road Gang
and it had caught up with me. Kat was already up and gone from the room but I
knew she had been there because her side of the bed was disturbed.

After slowly getting out of bed, I shuffled around the room
still groggy and uncoordinated as I tried to get dressed. I eventually looked
at my watch and couldn't believe it was after ten o'clock. I have never slept
that late, even before the Event. I was finally able to get dressed and made my
way downstairs in search of coffee. God, I dreaded the time when we would
eventually run out of the stuff. As far as I was concerned, it might mean the
complete end of civilization. Who would want to live in a world without coffee?

I was surprised when I made it to the main floor. On most
days, the main warehouse floor’s a bustling place. Different activities going
on. The children playing and laughing, but not today. It wasn't deserted, I
could see several people moving from place to place but it was definitely not
normal. I didn't immediately see any of the people I usually looked for in the
morning. Dave and Jim foremost to get my daily update on what had gone on
overnight and what needed to be done today.

I continued on to the kitchen area and found several of the
women huddled together discussing something. They looked up at me as I came in
and I told them not to let me disturb them, I was only there for coffee. One
pointed to a pot and went back to their hushed conversation. I poured a cup and
left in search of my two able bodied lieutenants.

Dave's room was empty and I hadn't seen Jim anywhere so I
headed in the direction of the Aid Station. I did find it to be in normal
activity and Kat was there as well. I went to her and asked why she hadn't
woken me when she left. She explained that I needed the rest and there wasn't
anything going on that the rest of them couldn't handle. Besides, if they
needed me they could always come upstairs and get me. I couldn't argue with her
logic but it still bothered me that I wasn't up and dealing with things in my
normal way.

I checked on our two convalescing security guy's from the
recent fight and they were doing better. I went to speak to Doc before I left
and before I could say anything he held up his hand and said, "Busy. Go
away." I thanked him for his time and told him that he eventually would
have to cut down on the amount of time he spent in conversation and do some
work or I would have to find a new doctor. He flipped me off and went back to
whatever he had been doing. I smiled and left still in search of Jim and Dave.

I found Jim with his group sitting in a grassy area in front
of the warehouse. They were doing exactly what I asked. Going over what was needed
to make my idea work and alternatives to the problems we faced. I asked how
things were going and Jim was upbeat, more so than I'd seen him in a long time.
I gave him a few other issues that I'd thought of. Such as, would we need power
and how much? Could we get it from generators and how big would they have to
be? Also, how about fuel for the generators? Water, could we dig wells and, if
so, how would we get the water up out of the wells?

I hated to keep laying problems on him but we would need a
plan to deal with all these things before we could establish a new location. He
agreed that these were genuine concerns and he'd get his group working on them.

Dave, I found behind the building with a group from his
security detachment, plus a few others. I asked him how things were going and
he replied that they were making progress. He also informed me that he had sent
Bob and some security back out to get an accurate count on the T-walls. I asked
him if this was smart and he made a good point.

He said it would have to be done, eventually. He pointed out
that it would be a real kick in the teeth to work out all these details and get
everybody spun up about moving to find out there weren't as many of the
barriers as we thought. I had to agree with his logic. I asked if he would be
ready by 7 p.m. and he said they would. They looked like they had it under
control so I left them to it.

It was a beautiful day so I wandered around the perimeter,
speaking to the people on guard duty. They all reported it had been quiet with
no sightings of either Stinkies or Road Gangs. There wasn't anything more for
me to do at this point so I went back to my room and sat at the desk trying to
think of all the things that could go wrong with my plan. I was determined to
leave nothing to chance this time. I hoped that the working groups would have
already thought of everything I had come up with and would have solutions to
them. If they didn't, at least I would be able to point out the shortages.

I completely lost track of time. I was aware when Kat came
in and we briefly spoke. She could see I was concentrating on my task and sat
down to work on hers. I didn't realize it had gotten so late until she asked me
if I planned to go to the meeting I had called. I looked at my watch and saw it
was five till seven. I grabbed my notes and headed to the planning room with
Kat in tow. I knew something was wrong as soon as I stepped through the door.

Dave sat in the same spot at the table but his head was
down, not a good sign. My first thought was that they had encountered a problem
they couldn't find a solution too. I glanced around the room and realized
someone’s missing. Bob Thompson was not in the room and he should have been.
Now I knew. I didn't want to ask but knew I had too. "Dave, where's
Bob?"

If it was possible he looked even sicker than he had before
I asked. "They aren't back yet," was all he said.

I tried to keep my anger in check. "Has anybody gone to
look for him?" Dave looked up at me and this was the first time I noticed
the tears. He was in obvious pain. I tried not to make it worse but I need to
know what had happened and what steps had been taken to correct it.

Dave finally spoke up. "No, I didn't realize he wasn't
back until a few minutes ago and I didn't want to endanger anybody else by
sending out a rescue in the dark."

I was pissed now. How could he have sent some of his own
people outside the compound and not known they were overdue? "Who's out
there?" I asked.

Dave turned away and lowered his head again. "Bob and
four or five others. And Jenny, she was in charge." 

Good Christ, not Jenny, I thought. This is a disaster. I
tried to think, formulate a plan. I had to do something, but what? The radio on
Dave's belt saved me from doing something that I would have probably regretted
later. The front gate called to inform him that they could see headlights
coming. Dave asked if it was our people and the guard replied he didn't think
so because they were coming from the wrong direction. They should have been
coming from the south, the direction of I-40. These vehicles were coming from
the north. I heard the guard tell Dave to stand by. Everyone in the room
listened intently to the conversation, hoping.

It took only a few seconds until the guard came back on and
told Dave it was our trucks after all. He said he had passed them through the
gate and they should be outside momentarily. Dave jumped to his feet and headed
for the door in a flash and I followed. By the time we got to the door leading
outside, the vehicles were coming to a halt and the doors came open. It
surprised me to hear laughing as the men and one woman dismounted from the
vehicles. Jenny rode in the front passenger side of the front vehicle so she
got out right in front of us. As soon as she noticed Dave and I standing there
she gave a salute and said good evening in a very formal voice, then
immediately giggled again. Her behavior made me think she’s intoxicated. Before
I could say anything, Dave asked, "Where the fuck have you been? I've been
worried sick."

Jenny turned to Dave. "Relax Dave, we're all fine,” she
answered. 

I saw Dave tense and I knew he was going to unleash one of
his loud and colorful Marine Corp style ass chewing's. I laid my hand on his
shoulder and squeezed. He looked at me and I said, "Later." He nodded
but I could still feel the tension in his shoulder. I directed my attention
back to Jenny. “If you guys are okay, why are you so late?"

Jenny looked straight at Dave and ignored my question like
she didn't hear it. From the expression on her face, I couldn't tell if it was
anger or something else but they were definitely staring at each other. Bob
noticed the awkward moment and came around from the other side of the truck. "We
had a spot of trouble," he said in his best fake British accent.

"That's right. We got cut off on I-40 by a bunch of Stinkies
and had to find an alternate route back. Nobody got hurt, it just took longer
to get back than we anticipated," Jenny explained. I asked why they didn't
use the radio to let us know.

"That would be my fault,” Bob said. “I grabbed radios
but didn't check to see if they were charged. They weren't."

 I nodded, not a good excuse but it had happened before.

Jenny spoke up. "It's not Bob's fault. I should have
made sure the radios were charged before we left. I didn't and that's on
me." Then she brightened again. Her smile was on full and the excitement
was back in her voice. "We found it,” she said.