The Last Tribe (56 page)

Rebecca answered.  “The ocean will
not run out of fish.  The tropical fruit alone can sustain us, but I assume we
are going to bring seeds to plant, corn, wheat, rice, etc…   I agree, flying to
Hawaii means we are going there forever, for the rest of our lives, but you
have to understand, if we settle in Virginia?  We are making the same choice. 
Once our gas goes bad, we have to walk, bike, or ride a horse to get where we
want to go.”  Rebecca looked around the room and could tell some of her
audience was not convinced. 

“I know it was two years ago, but
think about the hurricane that plowed up the east coast and took out all of
those bridges and homes.  Remember when the Mississippi River flooded ten years
ago?  The water rushed over bridges and washed out roads.  Just the freezing
and thawing that occurs every year will ruin any bridge that was close to being
replaced before all of this.  In a few years I doubt the highway system will be
available.  Trees will have fallen across most if not all of the roads. 
Vegetation in the warmer climates will consume everything.  In five years it
will not be a simple feat to move.  How do we get across the Connecticut River
without a bridge?  How do we get across the Mississippi?  How do we traverse a
highway littered with pine tree refuse?”  She noticed nodding and mumbles of
acceptance. 

“Where ever we go?  That is where
we will stay.”  Rebecca did not mean to sound dour or foreboding, but the facts
were the facts.  “Is there a chance we could migrate from Virginia to some
other place?  Sure.  But the odds would be small.  Greater than if we move to
Hawaii, but small none the less.”

Todd waited before he spoke. 
“Look, this isn’t a decision we need to make right now.  Maybe we explore the
options, see if there are any planes in Lebanon, have John and Solange check
the planes at Logan and Manchester.  I brought up our long term plans because I
know we’re all thinking about it.  Kelly brings up a great point, Hawaii has
finality to it.  I’d like to drink cow’s milk again at some point in my life. 
If we go to Hawaii, I’m not sure that is going to happen.  Let’s look into some
of this stuff, maybe continue the conversations informally.”

“I am a good resource for a lot of
these questions.  For one, there are cows on almost all of the islands.  At
least, there were cows eight months ago.”  Rebecca offered.  “I’ve been
studying Hawaii for a while.  I can discuss Virginia and Northern California
too.  Thanks to Paul, I can discuss just about anywhere we would consider
settling.  I’m really not as mean as Ahmed makes me out to be.”

Avery laughed to support her new
friend. 

“Okay, okay, that’s enough
laughing.”  Ahmed said.  “And she is as mean as I think she is, smarty pants.”

John walked over to Peter.  “Should
you come with us to Boston, or are there things you can tell us to look for
with regards to the type of plane we need?”

People began to engage in side
conversations.  The meeting appeared to be over.

Rebecca spoke to Greg and Matt in
the back of the room.  Avery walked over to join them.  “You go girl, look
who’s leading the group to paradise.”

Rebecca blushed.  “Thanks, and
thanks for laughing at my lame joke.”

“It wasn’t lame.  You were taking a
beating from Ahmed and people who felt you should have humored him more.  It’s
your time, Rebecca.  It’s our time.  Teenagers rule.”

Greg stared at Avery, “I’m Greg. I
met you last night for like two seconds.”

“Nice to meet to you again, Greg. 
I’m Avery.  I met you with my friend Meredith, who is over talking to Kelly,
the vet.”  Avery turned towards Matt.  “Hi, Matt, nice to see you again.”

Avery, pretty, and confident made
shy Matt tongue tied. 

Greg teased him.  “Seriously bro? 
We’re not at a dance.  Yes, Avery, this is my shy brother Matt.”

Matt managed a “hi” before elbowing
Greg.  “Dude, uncool.”

Avery was used to boys being
flustered around her.  Matt was tall, thin, muscular, and handsome.  She made
sure to give him a smile to let him know it was okay he blushed.  “So you are
the other half of the team that lived up here?”  She focused on Greg.  “You
have to tell me some stories.  Did anything crazy happen?  Did a bear chase you
into a house?  Did you see mountain lions or anything?”

“I take it you are one of the New
York City people.”  Greg said with a smile.  “Didn’t get out of the city much,
huh?”

“You’re making fun of me.” 

“Yes, yes I am.  No, we didn’t have
any wild animal encounters.  We probably could have if we had been careless
with food, but bears typically go to sleep in the winter.”

“Greg tried to catch a turkey.” 
Rebecca started.

“Seriously?  Again with the turkey
story?  Come on, at some point I have to live that story down.”

“Well it’s not today.”  Rebecca
recounted Greg’s early adventures with hunting. 

“Looks like two of us didn’t get
out of the city much.”  Avery said to him after they stopped laughing. 

Greg did not mind the ribbing.  He
was now a capable hunter and trapper.  His early attempts were amusing, even he
laughed when Rebecca talked about running at a turkey with a hoe.  “It’s nice
to be around other young people.”  Greg told them after a few minutes. 
“Rebecca and I were alone for a long time, and we couldn’t be young, couldn’t
be kids, and then my uncles, man, they are old men.  It’s great to have my
brothers and some other teenagers here.”

“Do you guys play tennis?”  Avery
asked them.

“I do, but I was way more into
baseball.  Matt was the tennis player.”  Greg used his shoulder to push Matt
forward.

“I played in my parent’s club
league, but that’s about it.”

“If we can find some rackets and
get a court cleared off I’d love to play a few sets.  You can show me your
stuff.”  Avery winked at Rebecca to let her know not to tell the boys about her
tennis past.

Matt, over his initial awkwardness,
was excited to spend time with Avery.  “Sure, hopefully in the next two weeks.”

“What should we do with the rest of
the daylight?”  Avery asked them.  “Is there anything that needs to get done?”

“Firewood.”  Greg and Matt said
together. 

“Greg had an idea of filling a
pickup truck with firewood and parking it down here, making it easier for
people to come out and collect wood when they need it.”

“We have to find a pickup truck?” 
Avery asked.

“There are a bunch of pickup trucks
parked behind one of the college buildings, a row of green utility vehicles
just about a half mile from here.  They will work, assuming they start.  The
keys are hanging in the office where they are parked. “

Antonio walked up to the group of
young people and listened.  “You should take one of the cars we have working,
use it to jump the truck.  No way it will start without a jump.”

Matt did not know Antonio very
well, and was happy for the advice.  “Any chance you want to come along and
help?”

“Yeah.”  Antonio stuck out his
hand.  “Tony.”  He said, introducing himself to Matt.

“Matt.” taking Antonio’s hand. 
“This is my brother Greg and our friend Rebecca.”

“Hey.”  Antonio flipped his head to
Greg and shook his hand.  “I know Rebecca from fishing.  Her old man taught her
how to fish just like mine. Hey.”  He said to her.

“Well, now that we know each other,
let’s get to it.  I’ll ask Meredith to come.  She needs to get to know all of
you.”  Avery waved to Meredith.

“Let’s do it.”  Matt walked over to
the coat pile before making his way to the adults on the other side of the
room.  “Dad?  We’re going to get some firewood for the houses.  Anything else
we should be thinking about?”

“Can you grab your brother?  He
should help.”

“There are six of us already.  Our
plan is to fill a pickup bed with wood, park it down here.  Craig and the other
kids can distribute the wood to the fireplaces when we get back.” 

“I like the way you think.  See you
when you get back.”

The young adults walked out of the
house and towards the cottage.  They needed gloves to avoid splinters. 

Matt and Greg, reunited for three
days, used much of their time together to catch up. 

Rebecca was glad to have friends. 
She was never close to people her own age.  It was amusing to her that Avery, a
senior in high school, would be so friendly.  The senior girls Rebecca met
before would not acknowledge her.  Rebecca was the curve buster, a freak
blowing through their grade, a nerd.  Today her intelligence was an asset, not
a character flaw.

Rebecca knew the circle of kids she
walked with today was her peer group for the rest of her life.  Unless they
started rounding up survivors, or found more teens in Boston, she was walking
with the same people she would see in fifty years.    It was an odd
realization. 

“Thankfully, everyone is normal.” 
She thought to herself.

The adults remained in the house after
the kids left, enjoying the roaring fire. 

Emily spoke to Bernie and Melanie about
developing a routine for the children.  Emily enjoyed the ‘every other day’
school system she used in Raleigh.  Bernie and Melanie agreed to anything, as long
as they did not have to teach. 

“We should turn off the movie and
video games.  Take the kids over to the library, let them check out the
building.  Heck, it might not work for us.  Better to find out this afternoon
than to show up tomorrow expecting to have school.  It’s a beautiful day
outside.  Let’s take a walk.”

“I’m in.”   Melanie said, moving
towards the shrinking pile of coats.  “I could use a nice walk.”

Bernie followed her over to the
coats.  “You are a doctor?“

“I’m a doctor from a hospital that
had all the latest gadgets.  I’m not sure I would know how to make a cast if we
needed to.  I am used to having ‘people’ do that for me, but I can diagnose the
heck out of all of you.”  Melanie joked.

“How did this happen?”  Bernie
asked.  “How did everyone die?  Why couldn’t you help?”

Melanie dropped her joke.  “It was
too fast.  It was just too damn fast.”  She walked ahead of Bernie and out the
front door before stopping.  “As a person of God, I ask you the same question. 
Why was the world forsaken?”

Bernie shook her head, not offering
an explanation. 

They waited silently for Emily to
guide them towards the library.

“We’re taking the kids over to the
library to scout out the school situation.”  Emily said to Todd, interrupting
his conversation.  “We’ll be back at some point.”

“Okay, I’ll see you.  Have fun.” 
He gave her a kiss, and turned back to his circle. 

“Our best case scenario is finding
a loaded fuel truck.  We will use it to fill the plane, but if the fuel is in a
holding tank, we have to figure out a way to get power into that pump, get the
fuel into the truck, and drive the truck to the plane.”  Peter explained
airport fueling logistics to them.  “If we don’t find fuel, obviously, we’re
done.”

Peter continued.  “The issue is figuring
out whether we land on the west coast to refuel.  It will depend on the type of
plane we find, and if we want to take the risk of not finding fuel out there. 
What if we land in San Francisco and cannot find a fuel truck or fuel?”

“We have dozens of airports to
explore.  I am positive we can find a plane and fuel.  We might have to drive
back to Raleigh to do it, but we can find something that will work.”  John
assured everyone.  “Seriously, Raleigh’s airport is probably pristine, and
definitely has fuel.”

Hank turned to Paul, “remember that
dairy farm we kept talking about going to after the thaw?  The Hummer should be
able to brave the trek, let’s hit it tomorrow.”

“The farm that ran tours?  You
expect to find something?”  Todd knew the place.  He took Jay and Brian there
in the summer.  The farm was a staple of his family visits to Hanover.

“If we don’t find animals there, we
can check the hundred dairy farms in and around here.  Maybe some of the cows
found hay stores.  Maybe the grass poked through the snow in spots.  I bet
something survived.”  Hank was convinced he could find livestock.  “We should
at least try.” 

“I’m up for a trip.”  Paul told his
brother.

“I’d like to come along.  I can
help with any sick animals.  I did a rotation on a dairy farm.  I know how to
get dairy cows producing again.”  Kelly looked at Todd.  “We could be swimming
in milk pretty quickly.  One healthy cow, milked a few times each day, would
give us four to six gallons of milk.  That’s just one cow.”

“What are the odds we find a cow
producing that much milk?”  Hank asked her, skepticism in his voice.

“Depends on everything you just
said.  If we do find a cow, we can get one producing with the right nutrition
and food.  If we find a few cows?  We’ll have enough milk and cheese for our
group, more than enough.  You have to realize, cows today have been bred to
give enough milk for millions of people.  When you only have twenty people to
feed?  One cow would overwhelm us with milk.”

“Speaking of feeding twenty some
odd people, I’m going to grind some meat and make sausage for breakfast and
dinner tomorrow.”  Hank gave the people on either side of him pats on the back
as he headed towards the basement.

“I can help with that.”  Jamie
called after him. 

“I am going to get an early jump on
dinner.”  Todd announced.  “I’ll light a fire in the oven and start on the
bread.  Fish stew is on the menu this evening.  I want to make sure we mix up
how we serve the trout.”

“I’ll join you.  I can fillet a
trout like nobody’s business.  You leave too many bones.”  Ahmed rubbed his
hands in the fire, almost standing in the flames during the conversation.  He,
like the other New York people, was rail thin, and had a hard time keeping
warm.

John, Solange, Peter, Paul, and
Kelly remained in the living room. 

“It’s a little after three.  I’m
going to catch 40 winks.  I’ll need my strength for tomorrow.”  Peter said as
he pushed himself out of his chair.

“What is tomorrow?”  Solange asked
him.

“You, John, and I are going to the
airport in the next town to look at airplanes.  I will show you what to look
for at the airports Manchester and Boston.  We might have what we need already,
and a plane could be a few miles away.”  He waved, taking his coat and heading
out the door to his bedroom in another house.

“No chance we can use a plane out
of Lebanon.  They are all turbo props.  We’d have to land every hour to refuel,
and it would only fit about twelve of us.  It will be good for us to see what
we need to look for in Manchester and Boston.  I’m hoping Manchester will suit
our needs.”  John grabbed the end of a couch.  “Hey, help me move this in front
of the fire?”

Paul grabbed the end, and the two
men moved the couch to the fire.  They repeated the procedure with a second
couch.  “Dinner’s being made.  Firewood is being collected.  The kids are in
school.  I heard a vote about relaxing for the next two weeks.  I might take
another nap, or at the very least relax in front of the fire.  I have a busy
next few days.”

John kicked off his shoes and sat
on one of the couches.  He looked at the fire and the pile of wood in a bin
next to it and nodded.  “Should be enough to keep me warm and happy for a few
hours.” 

Solange and Kelly sat on the other
couch.  “You do not expect to find cows alive, do you?  How can a cow live
through winter with no building or food?”

“They are animals.  They survive. 
It’s what they do.  I bet a couple figured it out.  I really do.”  Kelly was
confident they would find cows, cows that were alive and would serve them well.

The women started a long
discussion, only part of which was heard by John.  He was soon snoring next to
them. 

Paul was not tired, but he did not
have anything to do.  He walked back to the cottage to let Hubba out and read a
book.