The Emerald Virus (9 page)

    
Jack and A.J. walked back together and A.J. asked, “What are your thoughts
about how the survivors get the necessary equipment? That in itself seems almost
impossible”.

    
“I think we need to ask communities to help. I agree asking survivors to do
everything themselves isn’t going to work. I think some will be so grief
stricken and so distraught that they’ll be fortunate to get through the first
week or two by themselves.”

   
 A.J. frowned and asked, “Do you actually think that you can expect people who
know they are going to die soon that they should help survivors? That’s asking
for an awful lot from folks.”

    
“I agree it’s a lot to ask; but yes, I think enough people have enough good in
them that we will get the help we need for the survivors. In fact I’m
absolutely sure of it. I think that has always been the case with people, at
least with the majority of people. Just as important is the fact that a lot of
people are going to want to do something, just so they can feel useful during
the crisis. At least I would. We do have to move quickly though.”

    
“Jack, I’m still not convinced. Do you have a back-up plan in case your idea
doesn’t work?”

    
“Yes I do, but it requires state governments or the military to get involved.
I’m going to put that in place as well, but I’ll do so with the hope that it
won’t be needed.  

    
“First, I think we need to ask not individuals but communities to provide the
needed help. Individuals will feel overwhelmed, but communities have always
worked big issues together. Civic groups are already formed and leaders occupy
positions of influence within those groups. I believe if asked they will want
to help take care of their own. And survivors all belong to these communities.

    
“I think one thing that will help us is that no one knows who the survivors
will be. Many of them will actually belong to local civic and community groups,
or at least be related to members. Of course, others will not. But if we get
enough communities to prepare, I think all the survivors will be taken care
of.    

   
“I actually think we will have more participating communities than we will have
survivors. So we’ll have plenty of extra gear scattered all over the country.
This can only help in the long run.”

    
A.J. smiled and said, “Are you ready to tell me what you actually have in mind?
I’m getting the feeling that this is more than a passing thought for you.” 

    
Jack laughed and said, “Yeah, I’m ready to talk to you. I’ve had a couple of
folks working on this idea since yesterday morning and I think it’s very doable
if we approach it the right way.

    
“Let’s go to your office and talk. Nancy makes really good coffee and I could
use some right now.”

    
After they had settled into their normal seats and Nancy had brought coffee,
Jack slouched back in his chair and closed his eyes. He then said, “Doc, I’ve
tried to think about the real impact all of this death will have on survivors.
I’ve concluded that no one is going to be able to imagine the horror before it
happens. I think many, and maybe most, of the survivors are going to find it
impossible to cope with the aftermath. I’ve come to believe that some of them
will choose to take their own lives instead of trying to go on. I think some
will become mentally unstable, and some will turn to drugs and alcohol as
alternatives to a quick suicide.

    
“Since last Tuesday my thoughts have been about how to mitigate, for the
survivors, the impact of a dying world. I don’t think we can do that for
everyone, but I do think we can make recommendations to survivors, and those who
choose to help them, that will make living a little easier.

    
“The entire basis for my recommendations is to get survivors away from the
areas where their loved ones and friends have died. I think those who die very
early in the process will be buried or cremated, but in a matter of a day or
two from the first deaths, our systems will be overloaded to the point of
paralysis. Bodies will be left where they died. And there will be a lot of
bodies”.

    
At this point Jack hesitated. He was worried about what impact this would have
on A.J., since this was in essence a description of what was going to happen to
her and her family in the near future. He asked, “Doc, are you okay talking
about this? I know it has to be hard but I don’t know what else to do.”

    
“Jack, I can’t say I’m fine with this, but we need to have this discussion. I
think it might even make the reality of what is about to happen a little easier
for me. At least it should help me prepare myself and my family for the
inevitable. Please go on, and don’t try to soften this up. There’s no way you
can do that.”    

    
“Okay, but I’ll stop whenever you say to.

    
“We know the virus manifests itself physically after a week and it then takes
two more weeks for the person to die. Only the last three days are physically
difficult for the victim, and Harry tells us that only the last day is really
miserable.

    
“While nothing helps control the virus, pain medications still work, and
alcohol seems to help as well. I bring up alcohol only because we’ll run out of
pain medication early on and alcohol might be the most viable alternative.
Anyway, the point is that it will be possible to project the day of death for
almost everyone.

    
“More importantly, after the first week of symptoms we can be pretty sure who
the survivors will be, at least for that region.”

    
A.J. said, “Yes, I see where you’re going with this. People in one location may
be on a different timetable than those from a different location because the
Virus got to them either earlier or later. But the Virus spreads so fast once
it gets to a location, that everyone in that area will be infected within days
of each other. At least that’s what has happened in Europe to this point. And,
if someone is not showing symptoms seven to ten days after symptoms first appeared,
they are probably immune. You know that won’t be a 100% indicator, but it
should be very close to that. I like your logic, but what are you going to do
with it?”

    
“I’m going to ask communities to prepare large Recreational Vehicles for
survivors and load them with all of the equipment we recommend and with enough
food to last for at least six months. With the number of RVs sitting on lots
around the country, I think that is more than plausible. If we ask them to add
a twenty-four foot trailer, and put a mobile, electric freezer box in the
trailer, we can add enough frozen meat, chicken, fish and vegetables to last
six months.

  
  “The large RVs all have built-in generators which provide a power source to
the RV when it is parked, and which will provide power for the freezer box.”

    
“Jack, what happens when the RV runs out of fuel?”

    
“Some of the RVs operate on gasoline and some on diesel fuel. Both are
available at most gas stations in the country. All we have to do is to convince
the owners or managers of gas stations to leave the pumps on when they walk out
the door for the final time. Our back-up plan is for communities to physically
take the survivors, one at a time, to a local station and show them where the
pump power switches are generally found, and what they look like. The survivors
should be able to access fuel at most of the stations.”

    
 A.J. thought for a second and then asked, “Why do you want to use RVs? There
will be ample housing available for everyone.”

    
“That goes back to what I said earlier about getting survivors away from the
deaths. Just about every house in the country is going to have bodies in them.
First of all, the odor itself is going to be repugnant. Secondly, disease is
going to be rampant during the decomposition process. I don’t think survivors
need to deal with either of those issues. If they can live in RVs for at least
six months, both of these problems go away.”

    
“Have you thought about where the RVs will park during the six months?”

    
“That’s the beauty of the RVs. They can park anywhere they want, and they can
move whenever they want. They can park close to towns or cities without being
too close. Ideally they can stay in RV parks with water and electricity
available to them, so they don’t have to worry about re-fueling often, and they
won’t have to empty the sewage and grey water tanks at all, they can hook up to
the RV park’s system. But if that doesn’t work, most truck stops in the country
have stations that allow RVs to empty the tanks and take on fresh water while
they’re being fueled. It’s less convenient but certainly possible.”

    
A.J. asked, “Will they be alone for these six months?”

    
“Only if they choose to be, with the communication gear they have they can
contact other survivors and arrange to meet with them. I would guess that this
will occur after survivors have traded emails and phone calls, and feel
comfortable with each other, but we have to leave that up to each survivor.”

    
A.J. frowned and said, “That brings up an interesting point. Your scenario
seems to assume that all of the survivors are good guys. And yet if this is a
true cross section of the country, some of them will have criminal pasts. Some
of them may simply be evil. What do we do about those?”

    
Jack grimaced when he said, “There isn’t anything we can do about that. The
strong have preyed on the weak for all of history and that won’t change now. We
can help by reminding survivors of the risks they face, but ultimately they
will have to exercise good judgment. Some of them will be cautious, and others
will be taken advantage of.”

    
“Have you thought about the survivors arming themselves?”

    
“Yes, I’ve given it a lot of thought. I think all survivors should have weapons
for two reasons. The most important is that they will need to hunt for food in
the future. But they also need to be able to defend themselves if need be,
either from nature or from other people. The population of wild animals will
begin to increase immediately and they will all want to eat. And not just large
animals, for example, the number of snakes will go up dramatically.

    
“I’m recommending that each RV be equipped with a Remington 700, 30.06, KS
Mountain Rifle, with a Luepold VX-I 3X9 scope. Each rifle should have 500
rounds of 150 grain ammunition for small game, and 500 rounds of either 180 or
220 grain ammunition for large game. I’m also recommending each RV be equipped
with a Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun. I’d like to see 1000 rounds
of ammunition stocked with each handgun. Lastly, I’d like each RV to carry a
Mossberg short barreled, pistol grip, 12 gauge shotgun with 500 rounds of double
ought buck. This will seem excessive to some, but I think it is the minimum
needed to meet both hunting and self-defense needs. Ninety five percent of all
gun shops carry these types of ammunition so restocking in the future should be
easy.”

    
“Jack, don’t you think the bad guys will find bigger and better weapons?”

    
“Of course I do. I believe those survivors who have experience with firearms
will also add weapons like assault rifles and combat shotguns to be safe. But I
think for some survivors that will be too much. Some of them will have never
fired a weapon before. Our community leaders will need to take them to a firing
range and teach them the basics of shooting and cleaning the weapons, and I
think learning three weapons is as much as we can safely ask.”

    
“Okay, that makes sense, although as I think about it, arming a lot of amateurs
does have its drawbacks.”

    
Jack laughed and said, “At least the bad guys will know that everyone they
approach will be armed and will have had at least minimum training.”  

    
A.J. looked concerned and asked, “How sure are you that these weapons are the
best we can do?”

    
“These are all compromise weapons. The Remington is probably the most versatile
rifle made, but some hunters prefer a smaller caliber and others a larger
caliber. The Luepold scope lasts forever under tough conditions even though
there are better optics out there. The Smith and Wesson M&P nine mil is on
the list because it is ambidextrous and can be used by either a left-or-right
handed shooter. Since we don’t know who the survivors will be, I think this is
the right choice. The Mossberg is there simply because I’m familiar with it. I
know it’s easy to use and at close range it’s impossible to miss your target.”

    
“Okay, enough on the guns. Will you create a list of recommended food items for
the RVs?”

    
“I have a couple of people working on that as we speak. We’re going to be a
little excessive in case the six months turns into a longer time for some
folks. However, my hope is that the food in the local supermarkets will be
available for some time to come, especially the dry foods. The frozen foods will
last as long as the freezers continue to operate. Dried beans, rice, flour,
sugar and those kinds of foods will last a long time but will need to be
protected from animals and insects. Survivors are going to have to do that
themselves.”

    
“Jack, do you really think all of this will work?”