The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (15 page)

APRIL 11
^th

Jim woke late
in the morning after standing the early morning watch.  Shifts were set at four
hours because that was about as much as you could expect people to maintain full
focus. 
Even that
assumes that human beings actually do what they are
told even a fraction of the time,
he thought
.

Jim also
worried that things had been too easy so far.  He spent his down time reading
books on military history, game theory, strategy, and leadership.  Very
enlightening reading, but much of it kept him awake at night.

Before the collapse,
I knew that anyone could kill almost anyone if the motivation and acceptance of
risk was there.  I don’t see that the equation has changed all that much.  Next
time might not be such a stupid attack.

His biggest
fear was still of fire.  All an enemy had to do would be to start a fire upwind
of the camp during dry season, and they wouldn’t have a chance. 

Rob’s
perspective on the matter was unsatisfying, if useful.  Rob said, “It’s all a
matter of where you draw the arbitrary line between safety and functional
compromise.  Total safety is living in an oversized bomb shelter with a
lifetime supply of food.  Functionality is having an effect on the world that tomorrow
will become.  It’s the classic tradeoff between risk and benefit.   The problem
is that the reward will go to the ones who take the big risk and guess
correctly.  Playing it safe will land you in the gutter.”

“So we bet
everything time and time again, and hope we’re the lucky bastard in the stadium
who bet correctly on twenty coin tosses in a row?”

Rob answered,
“The problem with that analogy is that the lucky bastard in the stadium is
there only because, statistically, someone has to be.  We’re not playing
roulette, or even craps.  We’re playing blackjack and we’ve fixed the deck.”

“If you’re not
cheating, you’re not trying hard enough?”

“When the
stakes are this high, damn straight.”

Jim paused, and
then asked, “Rob, you don’t have the vaccine sitting in a box in one of the
RV’s do you?”

“If there were
any way possible, I would have a ton of the vaccine ready to go, but, no, it’s
not ready.   I’m not even sure that it will ready in the next year.  We may be
waiting for the virus to burn itself out like the 1918 flu, but the bottom line
is that with as virulent as this one has been, it’s not likely to be around for
more than a year or so.  And once it’s gone, the world will be a very different
place.

“I don’t think
that we’re going to have a lot of people coming out here looking for revenge. 
Right now all they are thinking about is survival.  I agree with you completely
on having more firebreaks ready to go and we’re keeping the vehicles in running
condition in case we ever have to pack up and go quickly, but I don’t
anticipate that.” 

Jim thought for
a moment and asked, “What about the percentage of people who get the flu then
are immune afterward?”

“It depends on
how much food is left.  If they can overcome the food issues, then they will do
okay.   If anything, they will be the ones with full mobility while the rest of
us are stuck in place.  Still, I like our odds a lot better all the way round.

“What it comes
down to is that we’ll be able to use this as a base and gradually expand
outward once the flu is no longer a concern.  We’ll recruit those who remain
and start to rebuild.  That’s what this endeavor is all about.  The village
only has to last for a year, but we have to use that year to become fully
prepared.

“We’ll treat
the threat of further attacks as a motivator to push training further.  These
folks are going to be like a spec ops team by the time we’re finished.”  Rob
looked off in the distance. “And I have the feeling that they’re going to be
used as such before all is said and done.”

APRIL 20
^th

Julie and Helen
had taken responsibility for the greenhouses, hydroponics, and fish stock. 
Between the greenhouses and hydroponics rooms, they had far more fresh
vegetables than they could eat.  The fishing pond had its own set of
challenges, but seemed to be functional. 
Not that I’d want to depend on it
for food,
thought Julie,
but at least we’re not eating rats and
pinecones.

The work was
important, but not as difficult as she thought it would be.  The toughest part
was making sure that the watering systems continued working and that the soils
were getting the correct amount of moisture. 

They used
kerosene heaters to keep the green houses warm enough for the plants.  It
seemed to be working well, though she was glad she wasn’t paying the heating
bill.

They had
continued the classes with Jim and Julio and continued to improve rapidly, so
much so that they were consistently able to disarm and shoot training partners
in training scenarios.  The two of them functioned seamlessly in a fight.  Ann
was impressed enough that she had taken them under her wing for additional
training as well.  

It was a little
creepy how much they were learning, and how seriously the training was being
taken.  Everyone who was training had made their own ghillie suits and they were
getting eerily good at disappearing.  By now, most of them were wearing WEB
gear, essentially a harness with shoulder straps and a belt to disperse the
weight of the equipment that was always worn.  Jim insisted that everyone be
armed with a combat knife, pistol, and rifle at all times.  Since the attack,
no one argued the point.  Surprisingly, the WEB gear was actually a lot more
comfortable than carrying heavy equipment on a belt.

By now Julie
had started thinking of the village as more of a training camp than a town. 
All of them were learning new skills, from horseback riding to cooking.  Helen
was even teaching classes on flying small planes and driving 18 wheelers. 
Julie was her most dedicated student.

The commons
room was most often used as a classroom, whether with mats for the martial arts
classes or with fold up chairs and tables set up for classes.  There was even a
large flat screen and DVD’s on a plethora of subjects.  This morning’s class
had been on lock picking and forced entry.

Helen convinced
Rob to teach her to fly the Blackhawk and he had started her off with a stack
of books helicopter maintenance.  She was soon doing short flights with him. 

All of the boys
were doing shifts in the kitchen as well as standing watches and helping with
livestock.  Aunt Susan had insisted that there would not be a division of labor
leaving the women doing all of the drudgery while the men beat their chests and
“watch football.”  Julie approved.  With the exception of Rita and Kathy, the
women were also standing watches and participating in all of the training. 
Rita and Kathy both trained with pistols, but refused to accept any security
training beyond that.

The entire
resources of the village were available for learning, but Julie wondered how there
would ever be enough time to learn everything they needed to know.  It was essentially
years’ worth of military and CIA training combined with farming and ranching
condensed and crammed into their heads in a period of weeks. 

At least Jim
and Rob had agreed to a Sundays off for everyone not on watch or doing
essential tasks.  Settling into a rhythm was helpful.  Julie was surprised to
find that she was starting to enjoy the experience.

MAY 1
^st

Luke was pleased
that he and Jamie were spending so much time together.  They weren’t dating or
hooking up or anything like that, but both enjoyed the other’s company.

Jamie had been
a hospitality major at NAU and had planned to run a resort one day.  “I don’t
see much chance of that happening now,” she had told him early on.  “I think I’ll
settle for surviving the next few months.”

The group had
set up a small lookout in an unused cabin at a high point about five miles from
the village.  The owner was not likely to be showing up if he hadn’t by now.  They
would take turns hiking up to the shelter and spend a couple of days up there,
eating MRE’s, and watching for activity or signs of fires.   

Luke was
surprised that his mom was okay with him spending a couple of days with Jamie,
but since the attack things had been different. 
Mom is smart enough to let
go of what she can’t control,
he thought,
but I’ll probably pay for it
elsewhere.

Jamie was
taking a nap and he was on the patio deck scanning the distant I-40 with
binoculars when cold steel poked him behind his left ear and a voice behind him
said, “Stay still so we don’t have any misunderstandings.”  The intruder took
Luke’s pistol belt and knife but didn’t frisk him.  “Okay have a seat here and
we’re going to have a little chat.  You’re from the camp down the road, right?”

The intruder
was an old guy, maybe in his fifties with grey hair and a well trimmed beard. 
He reminded Luke of his math teacher.

Luke didn’t see
any point in denying what the man already knew, and nodded. The guy continued,
“I heard about you guys taking out that posse.  Good work there.  Those
assholes would have killed you then gone through everything you had, and would
be starving again now.”  

He holstered his
pistol, walked over and handed Luke back the WEB gear with the weapons in
place. “Sorry kid, I just didn’t want to get shot before getting through
introductions.  I’m Jake Williams.”

Jake waved and
two unarmed younger men walked out of the woods.  “My friends are Deepak, don’t
ask me to pronounce his last name, and Zach Meyers.  We’ve all had the flu and
survived it so are immune, so don’t get all freaked out on me.  We’d like to
join your group if you’ll have us.” 

Julia stepped
out of the cabin with her M4 leveled at them.  Luke looked at her and said,
“It’s okay.  They’d have had us both if that’s what they wanted.”  She lowered
the rifle but kept it handy.

They talked for
a couple of hours.  Deepak was twenty-three and had been an engineering student
at NAU.  He had been born and raised in the States, though his parents were from
India.  Zach was twenty-eight and had been a UPS driver, but had a degree in
music.  Jake was retired Navy and had been working at a warehouse store in
Flagstaff to keep busy. 

Jake, said, “I
noticed you folks cleaning out the store of certain things and made a point of
finding out about you, because you certainly seemed to have knowledge of
something coming.  I actually followed you out to your ranch one night.  By the
way, I stocked several months of food.  Thank you for the warning, even if you
didn’t know you were giving it.”

“Unfortunately,
I got the damn bug.  Not a lot of fun, but I made it.  I hooked up with my
amigos here after the flu took out most of the people in the city.  They had
both also recovered from it.  We don’t need your food, but would be interested
in being part of your operation.”

Jake smiled and
said, “So you want to get your old man on the phone, kid?”

MAY 2
^nd

The debate had
extended well into the night.  Finally it was decided to leave Luke and Jamie
quarantined in place with the strangers for ten days then admit all of them
into the village afterward.  Jim drove supplies up to the cabin and left them
in a box in the driveway.  Luke had waved from the porch and looked completely
at ease.  Jim was relieved to see it. 

The three men
looked like regular guys who would fit in just fine.   It’s not even like they
would have to live in the village unless they wanted to.   Having people who
could come and go without adding much risk would be a very good thing. 

MAY 20
^th

The additional
mouths to feed didn’t even make a dent in the food supply.  Julie and Helen
were producing more vegetables than they were able to use and the tilapia that
had been introduced into the pond were reproducing rapidly, much to the delight
of the hungry trout and catfish, she was sure.  
We’re going to be so sick of
fish by the end of summer,
Julie thought.

Julie was
thrilled to see single young men around to keep some of the college girls busy
and out of her hair.  Both Deepak and Zach were enjoying the attention, and she
was sure that Dave was glad for a break, though he seemed to be pairing up with
Angie more these days anyway. 

Julie thought
that Luke and Jamie would be a couple for life, though neither of them seemed
to realize it yet.  It seemed strange at first with the age difference, but she
was good for Luke and there was only a three year difference between them.  Then
again, Luke had turned 15 and functioned as a full adult in this new world so maybe
it shouldn't seem strange at all.  Jamie seemed oblivious to the developing
relationship and only said, “I enjoy hanging out with him,” when asked about
it. 

Helen pointed
out to Julie that it was clear that Matt had some new experiences under his
belt, but everyone looked the other way and pretended not to notice.  He didn’t
appear to be interested in coupling up, but had enjoyed some casual flings with
at least a couple of the girls.  Helen had taken him aside and explained how
temporary life in the village would be and how he needed to keep that in mind
because they would be going back out in the world before too terribly long, and
he agreed to be careful. 

Julie told
Helen later, “I’m glad he listens to you, because he never seems to hear a
thing I say.”

"Almost no
one does what their older siblings say unless the age gap is tremendous,"
said Helen.  Don't take it personally.  But they always listen on some level or
another.  Especially when you say something really stupid."