Avalon: The Retreat (20 page)

For added heat, they re-purposed a small coal-burning pot belly stove that Sam and Harlan installed with a large pot on top to keep the humidity high. They also installed a metal wall behind it by using several pieces of scrap metal they scrounged up in order to reflect heat out into the greenhouse. They didn’t need the little stove yet, but they would when the strawberries and tomatoes started to bloom; winter was coming fast, and it was going to get very cold outside.

The manure piles continued to grow and had to be moved weekly to another location. The compost bin was maxed out and yielding methane daily; they had plans to build another so they could maintain methane productivity when they added or turned over each pile. Someone wanted to move it by the kitchen for convenience, but the idea was nixed in a hurry.

Occasionally a calf or pig would get butchered to put fresh meat on the table, but they were conservative, even though all of the animals were multiplying nicely. They had chicken, eggs, pork, bear, calf and cow beef, mutton, and occasionally a deer, but that was rare.

They also had rabbit from the small coop they kept behind the barn. In addition to their reproductive speed, rabbit meat was the lowest calorie conversion from grain/hay they had and was consistently lean. The rabbits multiplied lightning fast, at the rate of several pounds of meat a week, so there was always rabbit stew or rabbit gravy.

At Dan’s suggestion, they only listened to the world news once a week. It lowered everyone’s morale for nearly a day or two after each broadcast, and the news worsened each time they listened.

They discovered that the area between Chicago in the North and Biloxi in the South, essentially those areas surrounding the Mississippi River, was managing to keep its head above water, but no one was making an effort to rock the boat either. Anytime raids happened in that territory, hundreds of citizens rushed to the scene and killed every perpetrator they could find. There were no exceptions; the battle cry became, “If you come in here looking for trouble, you will die.”

Nationalism was getting a new life, and people began praying and asking, not only for help, but for forgiveness. Things seemed to be turning around slowly.

Until
it
happened!

The plague, mankind’s most unmerciful killer, swept through the human population and annihilated people everywhere. As best anyone could tell, it started in Europe and spread like a forest fire, crossing oceans in quick succession.

One hundred million died in Europe the first month, and the plague quickly crossed the Dardanelle Straights into Asia, where another hundred million perished in bone wracking misery. It didn’t stop there, however, and it quickly swept across what was left of China and Russia, making its way through the former “fertile crescent” and down into Africa.

Human skeletons were everywhere, the flesh rotting off where people had fallen in agony.

Not a single continent was spared the wrath of the wholesale killer, which left a huge scar on the human race, killing nearly six billion people in its aftermath. Later written by survivors for hundreds of years thereafter, it would go down in the journals of history as the “Big Sorrow.”

Bodies floated in the waterways and stacked up in towns and villages. Abandoned houses and vehicles were left to rot or rust where they had each stopped for the last time. Buildings in the large cities became ghost towns because not many brave souls ventured into them.

In the upcoming years, weeds and trees would grow up and begin to reclaim their lost territory. Forest fires would burn themselves out, leaving nothing more than blackened stumps in fields that resembled a lonely and abandoned battleground.

People wandered the land like nomads, armed with whatever weapons they could find to protect themselves from wild beasts. Many were once-domesticated dogs and cats and some were zoo animals that now roamed freely. They were starving and ferocious and would tear to shreds any living thing that would serve as food.

Worst of all were those people who had abandoned their own humanity and begun preying on their fellow man.

Much of society had shifted, almost overnight. Slavery came back into being, and women were reduced to either sex slaves or used to do whatever dirty work the new warlords required of them… and there were many dirty jobs that needed to be done.

There was no equality… a sharp tone from the mouth of a woman, enslaved man, or child usually meant a severe beating, mutilation, or even death. In some areas, skin color was redefined as either white or non-white, and those non-whites who were able to escape death were caught and enslaved. In other areas, the line was simply drawn between the strong and the weak and the “might makes right”.

Most Mexicans attempted to make their way back to Mexico but, without knowing of the nuclear attacks on the Russian forces there, were killed either by the radiation or they starved to death. Some were murdered as a misguided sense of retribution for Mexico allowing the Russians to land there and those who survived were enslaved.

The slave trade quickly became a brisk industry and spread throughout the remaining uncivilized populations.

By the time the “Great Sorrow” had run its course, there was snow on the ground at Avalon and the big fireplaces in the main building burned most of the time, as did the various coal stoves situated here and there. Mike and Caroline eventually moved into one of the bigger cabins.

The entire Avalon community continued to train, and each season brought its own different set of circumstances and challenges. The sentries wore white, made from old sheets, over their winter clothing when there was snow on the ground. The ash dumping was spread over the various sidewalks and then out toward the road, creating a near concrete finish.

Most of the animals were in the barn full time; two colts had been born to the saddle horses and one filly from the draft horses. As challenges unfolded, regardless of the circumstances, the people at Avalon came together as a team and made it happen. Big jobs or small, they all worked in unison to do was required of them.

The kids had a wonderful time celebrating Halloween; the group did their best to preserve the old traditions that kept everyone connected to another life and another time. They had recently observed Thanksgiving, and it was a time of earnest appreciation for all they had. They had eaten a huge meal, and most of them made speeches about how much they cared about the others and how thankful they were to be at Avalon. Now Christmas was fast approaching, and everybody was involved in making presents for everyone else.

Mike, somewhat under duress and to the obvious amusement of the group, brought home a tree that Caroline made him go out and chop down in the back meadow. Sam assisted, snickering as he went, but his mirth was cut short when he had to backtrack to get one for Crystal; she had visited Sam’s cabin quite a bit lately. When the other women saw them coming back with Christmas trees in tow, the other men got their orders until almost everyone had a tree to decorate.

Mike ended up having the last laugh.

The big dance and potluck they had planned was going to be the biggest party since they began stockpiling nearly seven years ago. Anticipation was high, and it was the only thing anyone talked about when they weren’t listening to outside news. Feelings ran in high gear, with a mood of happiness and togetherness they all felt for each other and for their community.

Each flip of the button on the shortwave radio only brought more depressing news, and although there were some small highlights, it was pretty much always bad throughout the rest of the world.

Crystal said it best by summing it up in a single word, “Bummer!”

One particular night, the radio was tuned in on shortwave and a man was describing a savage attack by one of the Feudal Gangs in Southern California.

Everyone had gathered around, and someone flipped off the switch. There was complete silence in the big room.

Sam yelled out, breaking the eeriness everyone felt and grabbed Bobby, Sally’s twelve year old, spinning him around as he said,

“I’m gonna show you a trick. Are you ready?”

Bobby nodded his head, and Sam stuck out his hand and said to Bobby,

“Pull my finger.”

Everyone ran for the big double doors laughing and squealing.

Some group members were beginning to suffer from boredom and what amounted to cabin fever. The snow was light, but it was cold outside so many just spent their time in the library, one of the cabins, or the great lounge of the main building where it was warm.

The truth was that some of them simply didn’t exercise, and other than having to stand the guard duty, there was little to do. Of course there were chores, and everyone chipped in, but there was always that feeling of nothing to do. Boredom led to crankiness, which, in turn, led to arguments.

Occasionally the harshness of the moment carried over into the next day and resentment was building among some of the group members. Mike called a meeting, and except those on guard duty, everyone attended after supper and cleanup.

They normally conducted their meetings in the restaurant of the main building because there were tables and enough chairs to accommodate everyone. The small talk was buzzing, and everyone wondered what it was all about.

“He looks pissed, Caroline,” Susan said while leaning over from another table.

“What’s going on?” It was Crystal, also in a hushed voice.

Caroline replied to both of them with a look of mystery on her face, “I think we’re all in for a lecture in human behavior.”

Crystal smiled, but it was with a look of not understanding what she had just heard. Curiosity better described the look on her face.

Mike was standing at the front of the tables, his back to the stage; he said with aloud finality, “Quitcherbellyakin!”

Most of them didn’t get it because it was delivered quickly and they weren’t really paying attention to him at that particular moment.

“What was that?” It was Penny and Crystal, in unison. They both laughed.

They had their arms up in the air trying to be noticed, as were others in the room. Mike just glared at them, appearing stern and annoyed. He began to talk when the mumbling and moving around stopped; all got quiet. He paced back and forth and had a hand to his chin as if he were in deep thought about something important. He stopped and turned to face them and said in a voice they could all hear well,

“How many of you are happy being here in the safety of Avalon and not down below? Show of hands, c’mon.”

The hands went up to the very last person. He stared at them again.

“Okay. So you think you’re happy… good… that’s a start, but I think some of you are lying to me. There’s a lot of petty dissension going on here, and we need to nip it in the bud! And that, my friends, is the purpose of this meeting. We can’t continue under duress from within because Greg didn’t get laid or Linda is having her period. Your spouses will put up with that crap, but I won’t, and I’m telling you that it ends here and now!”

It was quiet. Someone coughed and a chair scraped the floor, but no one said a word. Mike continued, with a more benevolent tone of voice this time, “Now, let’s hear the reasons for all this strife.”

He pointed to Crystal, “You first!”

It caught her completely off guard, and her face flushed at being singled out. Her mouth opened but there were no words. Finally, in a meek but firm manner and with her voice wavering a bit, she said,