The Last Tribe (2 page)

Five days later Todd left his home before
dawn.  The car horns had stopped days ago.  He walked through his subdivision
in hopes of finding other people, friends who could help him through the
crisis.

He was back at his house by 7am. 
Emily stood in the kitchen drinking coffee.  Jay and Brian were still asleep.  Jay
was fully recovered from his fever.

“How many people are still here?” 
She asked anxiously.  Neither of them had left the cul de sac since the yellow
hazmat encounter.

“You don’t want to know.  I went
through ours and three other subdivisions.”  He went to the coffee.

“I’ll walk around myself.”  She
threatened.

Todd poured a cup.  He turned
around and faced his wife.  He dropped his eyes and stared at the floor as he
responded.  “Every house is vacant or dead.”  He raised his eyes from the floor
and looked at his wife.  “We’re alone.”

Emily put her hand over her mouth
in shock.  “Do you know who is dead as opposed to gone?” 

“Most of the people are gone, two
thirds of the houses have a “V” in the driveway.  About twenty-five have a
black circle.  The Mitchells are dead, so are the Vogels and the Taylors.” 
Todd’s voice was flat, emotionless as he relayed the deaths of their friends.

Emily bent over.  She was almost
sick.  “All those kids, oh my god.”  She started crying and stood upright for a
hug and comfort from Todd.  “This has to be a nightmare.  Tell me this is a
nightmare.”

“We’re going to be okay.  Let’s
stick to our plan, stay in the house, maybe the backyard or the pool next door. 
We don’t go in the front yard or cul-de-sac until we know it’s safe.  I will
retrieve as much food as I can.”  He held her tightly.  “We’re going to be
okay.  The rest of the world is screwed, but we’re going to be okay.”

Emily sobbed uncontrollably in her
husband’s arms.

Todd rode his bike a few miles from
his house.  Sweat dripped off his forehead from the stifling heat and humidity.
He used a paved bike path system called the Greenway that ran through woods and
public parks throughout Raleigh.  The Greenway kept him off the main streets. 

When Todd was far enough away from
his house, he pulled off the path and into a subdivision.  He did not find a
charged cell phone until the third house.  He only went into homes with what he
now call ‘the black circle of death.’

The power was still working in
Raleigh.  The front door opened into an air-conditioned home.  Todd welcomed
the cool air as he searched. 

He dialed his brother, John Dixon,
in Charleston, South Carolina.

 “John, it’s Todd.” 

“What the hell is going on up
there?  Are you okay?  Is your family okay?”  John had not heard from his
brother since the start of the epidemic.  All he had was second hand news from
Hank.

“We’re all fine.  I’m going to
explain everything.  Let me conference Hank and Paul into the call.”

John heard the phone click and go
dead.  One minute later the four brothers were on the line together.

“We all on?”  Todd asked the
group.  He received three “yeses.” 

“Seriously, what the hell is
happening?  Raleigh is a dead spot on the map.  There is no communication. 
Whose cell phone is this?”  John was desperate to know what was happening.  The
flu had taken its first victim in Charleston yesterday. 

Hank and Paul were equally excited
and curious to hear the happenings in the “dead city” as it was referred to on
the news. 

“About two weeks ago my neighbor
died, followed days later by his wife and four children.  Jay and Brian played
with those kids every day since we moved here.”  He went on to talk about the
Hazmat suited people, Jay’s flu, and the markings on the driveway.

“No one has been back since.  I
haven’t seen any trucks or people for about a week.  I think everyone is either
dead or gone.  It’s crazy.  We really are a dead city.”  Todd waited for
questions.  When none were asked, he continued.

“So far we are fine.  Jay’s flu
came and went.  It helped us fool the government people.  We heard army trucks
rolling up and down the main streets all the time, but since the pandemic has
moved to other cities, the military bugged out.  If there are people alive in
Raleigh other than us, I haven’t seen them.”

“What are you going to do?”  Now
that the basics were answered, Paul was curious about the future.  He and his
wife Rachel were in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“We are holding tight for now.  The
power is still on.  I plan on stealing a generator if it goes off.  Of course,
then I have to figure out how to work the damn thing.  I’ve been collecting
food from other houses, food and water, and rain barrels.”

“We had our first case yesterday,
first death I should say.  It’s here in Charleston.  You’ve all seen it, it’s
everywhere along the east coast.”  There was panic in John’s voice.  “Greg is
up at Hightower for baseball camp.  I don’t know what we’re going to do.  The
travel restrictions and checkpoints mean I can’t get to him and he can’t get
back here.”  Greg was John’s fourteen year old son, stuck at his prep school in
Massachusetts. 

Todd did not have an answer.  “I
don’t know if I’m out of the woods yet.  A lot of people left Raleigh healthy. 
They might still be healthy like me.  Maybe my time hasn’t come yet.”

“Rachel hasn’t been eating.  She’s
been picking her food for months.”  Paul was talking about his wife, his voice was
soft.

“My girls are losing weight too,
but Paul, they’re women, none of them ever eat.  Don’t panic yet.  There is
hope for a cure or a vaccine, just hold tight.”  Hank was upbeat. 

“I don’t want to stay on the phone
too long.  The government may be monitoring, and I don’t want them coming back
to my house and finding healthy people.  I’m not calling from my house, but if
they trace who I called, it won’t be hard for them to figure out I’m Todd Dixon
and not the dead owner of this phone.  We should plan on speaking again,
developing a plan.  Assume you will survive and figure out what our next steps
are.  I won’t have access to a phone for another few days.  I’ll try you again when
I do.”

“The whole world dies and you think
the four of us will make it?”  Paul asked him.

“Yes.”  Todd lied.  “And let’s make
some plans for when that happens.”

Todd left the cell phone on the
counter and checked the house for any food or supplies he could fit in his
backpack.  Scavenging was a habit now, but it was not necessary.  Todd and Emily
had more food than they could eat in ten years.  He put three un-opened boxes
of cereal and two bottles of water in his pack, opening a third water to drink
before walking to his bike. 

He clicked the button on his
walkie-talkie.  “All good.  Heading home.”

“You didn’t say ‘over’.”  His son
Jay crackled from the other device.

“Be back in thirty.  Love you,
over.”  Beads of sweat returned to Todd’s forehead as he rode home.

The Dixon brothers spoke weekly,
updating each other on the status of their towns.  Media outlets were useless,
spewing propaganda and false information about a cure and hope against the
unrelenting death. 

They were two months into the
pandemic.  John, Todd, Hank, and Paul remained healthy.

“Rachel died today.”  Paul said solemnly. 
“Why I’m not dead, I don’t know.  We did everything together.  It’s been in
Cincinnati for weeks.  I should be sick.”

“I’m so sorry, Paul.  I wish we
could be there for you.” Todd offered.

“I buried her behind our house,
under the lilac trees she loved.“  The last word was lost as Paul sobbed.

 “My girls were sick too.  They’re
all gone now.”  Hank’s voice was empty.  His family died two phone calls ago,
but the memory was fresh and painful enough that he continued to tell his
brothers.

Paul answered loudly through his
tears.  “Hank, we need to turn ourselves in.  We can help.  There is still time
here in Ohio.  They can use our blood to test for a cure.  We’re the answer.  It’s
what Rachel wanted me to do, to save people.”

“No.”  John said firmly.  “You’re a
fool if you do it.  If you believe those yellow suited assholes are going to
take a pint of your blood and thank you for your service, you’re insane.  If
you don’t end up locked in a room after everyone else is dead, you’ll be carved
up with your liver in a bowl inside of a week.”

“You selfish jackass.”  Paul
yelled.  “I’m talking about saving the rest of humanity, and you’re scared they
might detain me for longer than I want?  You’ve seen the news.  No one has a
clue what to do.  Maybe we have antibodies in our blood.  I’ve contacted people
at the university here, doctors I can trust.  We can help.”

“Everyone calm down.”  Todd found
himself breaking up the same arguments during every call.  “Paul, we voted, you
need to stay hidden.  Hank, you have to get it together and keep yourself
alive.  Focus.”

There was a pause before John
spoke.  “My kids are still fine.  I don’t think we are going to get sick.  We
need a place to meet.  All of us.”  John did not talk about his wife, Sharon.  It
was understood non-Dixons would succumb to the disease nicknamed “the rapture.”

“You could be saving her.”  Paul
interjected.

“You son of a bitch, you think if I
believed that for a second I wouldn’t turn myself in?  If I thought the idiots
left in the world could figure out how to save my wife with my blood?”

Todd cut him off.  “I want to meet
in Hanover.  I know it’s cold, like, all the time, but it’s remote.  I don’t
believe any bad people or things will find us up there.  If we pick a good
house, like the house we grew up in, well, it was built a long time ago, before
modern conveniences.  It has fire places, wood stoves, a wood room connected to
the house.  It’s almost colonial.  It’s right next to a pond for water and
fishing.  We could keep the land around the pond cleared for crops.”  He paused
to the let the idea sink in. 

Hanover was in New Hampshire.  It
was their hometown.    

“Greg is still at Hightower.  He’s
not sick.  He can get to Hanover on his own.  I don’t know when I can get
there.  My family would have to avoid DC and New York and Philly and Boston. 
It might take a long time without cars.”  John’s brain worked through the idea,
but he was sold.  Todd could tell from the response.

“Hank, Paul, think about it.  I’m
going to ride out the winter here in North Carolina.  When it starts to get
warm, I am going to make a move.  That’s about six or eight months from now. 
Frankly, everything should be over by then. Either we have a cure and we are
rebuilding our world, or we don’t have a cure and avoiding people won’t be much
of a problem.  Either way, setting up camp in New Hampshire isn’t a bad idea.” 

Paul continued to weep. 

Hank responded.   “Things are still
crazy here.  We’re probably in the middle of the cycle, so I don’t know if I
can leave by spring or if I’ll even be alive.  The government has stepped up
the raids and collections.  If I make it through, I’ll get to New Hampshire by
May or June.”  There was life back in Hank’s voice.  “I’ll be there.”

“Hank, what do you mean by collections?” 
John suspected the government was kidnapping healthy citizens, but he had not
witnessed it.

“Just keep to yourselves and don’t
trust anyone.  Paul, believe us when we tell you to stay home.  Don’t turn
yourself in.”  Hank’s tone was firm.  “Don’t trust anyone.”

“Paul?  Take care of yourself,
think about our plan.”  Todd brought the conversation back on track.

Paul cleared his throat.  “Hank,
I’ll come up in the spring and we’ll make the trip together.  It’s too
dangerous for me to try and get up there now.  I’ll be there in the spring. 
Please don’t leave without me.”  Hank lived one hour north of Paul.

“I wouldn’t dream of it brother. 
I’ll see the rest of you in Hanover.”  Hank issued another warning.  “I’m going
to say it again, because it’s important.  Don’t trust anyone.” 

They said their goodbyes and
condolences to Paul before the brothers hung up for the last time. 

John held the phone in his palm. 
“Matt, Craig, come in here for a minute.”  He called his sons into the room. 
They were around a corner listening to the conversation.

“Aunt Rachel died.”  John told them
quietly.  “We’re meeting your uncles in Hanover next year.  I need to call Greg
and tell him what to do.” 

John put his hand on his youngest
son’s shoulder as he dialed Greg’s phone number in Massachusetts.

John hung up the phone, closed his
eyes, and bowed his head.  His sons, Matt and Craig, stood in the living room
with him, listening to every word their father said to their brother. 

John’s request for Greg to stay
alive hung in the air.

“What do we do now, Dad?” Matt
asked.  “Do we start to make our way up to Hanover?  We might make it before
the first snow.”  Matt, 17, was a few years older than Greg.  He was doing well
at a local private school, and had hopes of going north for college next fall.

“But Mom is upstairs, and she’s
still alive.  We can’t leave her.”  10 year old Craig yelled at his older
brother.  The young boy was crying.

John opened his eyes and looked at
his sons.  He was the father, but there was nothing that prepared him to lead a
family through this type of situation.  The world was in chaos, his partner was
days from dying, and one of his sons was 700 miles away.  John’s head was
swimming.

“Your mother isn’t dead.  We would be
killing her if we leave and a cure is found.  We don’t leave, we stay with
her.  Do you understand?”  John looked at Craig as he said the last sentence,
reaching out and wiping the tears from the boy’s face.  His sons nodded.  Craig
cracked a small smile.

“When your mother gets better, and
we think we can make it up to Hanover?  We leave, and we decide if Craig stops
at Uncle Todd’s.  He can ride out the first winter in Raleigh.  Todd and Emily
will need a lot of help with your cousins.”

“I don’t want to split up.”  Craig
said quickly.

“I know, that’s why I said we will
decide later.  Hey, maybe the government will come through with a cure, and
this whole thing will be over.”  John gave them a weak smile, a knowing smile
that told his boys none of that was going to happen.

“Has Mom had anything to eat?” Matt
asked.

“No, but she’s a fighter.”  John
was the only one who had been in Sharon’s room in the last two days.  Once the
end symptoms of the rapture began, she asked her sons not to see her again. 
She gave a teary goodbye three days ago.

It was not a bad thing for her kids
to see her.  During the final phase of the rapture a person was delirious with
joy.  A rapture victim was more creepy than scary.  The high fever or bacteria
or virus, whatever it was, boiled the brain to the point where people felt
happy, peaceful, and full of joy.  The name was coined by the rapturous like
emotions exhibited at the end of the disease.

John was devastated.  He knew there
was no cure coming, and his wife would be dead in 24 to 48 hours.  He continued
to lie to Craig, though he assumed even the boy knew the truth.

While the last three days for a
rapture victim were peaceful, the world’s last few months were chaotic and
violent.  Countries were filled with looting and rioting.  Governments were
unfriendly to survivors, seeking healthy people who did not exhibit symptoms.  Distrust
and paranoia reigned.

The crazy time was winding down.  It
had been two months since Raleigh went dark.  Everyone in North America was
sick or dead.  There was still mild panic, but “it” was over.  Humanity was finished. 
The world slowly accepted its fate. 

Even as the population dwindled,
and the military’s power disappeared, John believed there were roadblocks on
every route headed north.  Information was sparse.  All he had to work off of were
looped television images of yellow suited people with guns and thermometers checking
cars and separating families.  John would not make a move north until he was
positive everyone was dead, and by the time he could be sure, winter would
block the way to his son. 

For now, at least for another day
or two, John would care for Sharon.  How his wife had lasted this long he did
not know.  Every other person from their circle of friends had been dead for
weeks.