THE ALEX FLETCHER BOXSET: Books 1-5

by Steven Konkoly

  “Eric, or Todd, or most anyone on this block would be fair to those kids. I just didn’t like the precedent that their home invasion might set. I think this will work out fine. I’m more concerned about Amanda and Katherine getting sick. After we drop this off at your house, I’m going to run home and grab some anti-virals to put in the suitcase. If they start taking them now, and continue the full course, then hopefully, their symptoms won’t be as bad, and they might be spared the worst the flu has to offer.”

  “I’ll make sure they start taking those. They should probably try to keep it a secret. Are they the same ones you gave us last year?” Ed asked.

  “Yeah, either TerraFlu or Tamiflu. Same thing, really,” Alex said.

  ***

  Alex sat at the corner of the sectional sofa next to Emily, who was kneeling on the floor next to the coffee table putting away a board game.

  “Well, that was fun. Next time we’ll play Trivial Pursuit, the 80s edition, and your mother and I will be on the same team. Two decades should be a comfortable buffer for us,” Alex said, ruffling Emily’s hair.

  “Dad, stop it,” she protested, grabbing his hand.

  “Hey, Cartoon Network is on all day long around here. How could you miss so many of those questions?” Ryan asked.

  “Oh, I do everything I can to shut that channel out of my mind.” Kate laughed. “Most of the shows are either gross or confusing.”

  “We all know your mother is pretty easily confused,” Alex teased.

  Ryan and Emily laughed, and Kate moved over on the couch toward Alex.

  “Whoa, no need to resort to violence here. Third time today,” he protested.

  “Yeah, you’re an instigator, just like your son,” Kate said.

  “I don’t instigate stuff,” Ryan countered with a completely insincere look on his face.

  “Right. You and your father,” she said and managed to get one of her hands through Alex’s defenses. She dug her hand into his lower right side, knowing he was terribly ticklish around the waist, and he reacted by moving his lower body away from her hand.

  “All right, that’s it! Stop it!” he said in between bouts of uncontrolled laughter.

  Kate eased up on the attack, and Alex jumped off the couch and ran behind it.

  “I told you not to mess with me,” Kate said, raising her eyebrows.

  “I get the message. Kids, don’t mess with your mother, or she’ll tickle you.”

  The phone interrupted them. Kate reached back onto the coffee table and picked up the phone, checking the caller ID.

  “It’s your partner in crime, Ed,” she said and handed the phone across the back of the couch.

  Alex answered the phone just as Ryan turned on the TV. “Hello. Hold on. Hey, can you guys turn that down?! Sorry about that, Ed. What’s up?”

  “Hey, I just got back from Eric’s. I got a good feeling from Eric and Stephanie about the food and the kids. I don’t feel as stressed about it. I’ll tell you what, though, the Bishops’ house is a zoo. Everyone was over there. The Greens’ kids, the Bartletts’, the Perry’s. He said they’ve been swapping houses back and forth all week, so the ladies could get a break.”

  “Wow. They really don’t get it.”

  “No, they really don’t. Plus, one of Jamie’s kids doesn’t look so good. Katherine. She wasn’t coughing, but she had a nasty sniffle, and she felt warm. I put my hand on the top of her head, and her head was cooking. I told the girls that they had to take the pills and keep the pills out of sight. I also told Stephanie that Katherine had a fever. She said they’d keep a close eye on it.”

  “Ed, you’ve done your duty to Durham Road and mankind. You’re a good man.”

  “Thanks. I feel another one of your lengthy lectures coming on, and I really need to get out of these clothes. I’m soaked. I’ll catch you later.”

  “Am I really that bad?” Alex asked.

  “No, just bad timing. Later,” Ed said and hung up.

  He sat back down on the couch as the kids dispersed.

  “Hey, how many sets of anti-virals do we have left now? I’m starting to lose track,” Kate said.

  “Twelve for us, plus three I kept for Charlie, if they need them. Minus two for the girls. Thirteen total.”

  “Minus three for Charlie? That leaves ten for us. You’re already dipping into our core supply,” Kate lightly chastised.

  “Yeah, I know, but I had to do something for those kids. Ten is fine for us. The plan for twelve gives us three courses of therapy each, way more than we’d need. Ten is more than adequate.”

  “I’m sure it is, but that’s not the problem. You know what the problem is, right?” she said, looking into his eyes.

  “Yeah, I need to listen a little more to my own lectures,” he said.

  “A lot more. This isn’t going to be the last shitty situation on the block. Far from it…”

  “I know,” Alex said, stepping on the first stair.

  “I think from now on, we need to both be in on any decisions like that. You can be a tough guy most of the time, but when you give in, you really give in.”

  “I know. I have a few soft spots,” Alex agreed.

  She kissed him and walked toward the kitchen. “That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. You’re a tough guy with a soft side.”

  “Not that tough…”

  “Tough enough,” Kate said.

  Chapter 23

  “Good morning, this is Matt Reynolds. Julia Williams is filling in for Diane this morning. Our top stories this morning focus on the Jakarta flu worldwide and at home. Simply put, the worldwide figures are staggering, with Asia in the middle of an uncontained, and apparently uncontrollable pandemic disaster, and Europe, South America, and Africa following a similar pattern. Here in the U.S., the situation is deteriorating quickly, with labor absenteeism rates skyrocketing, and the total number of Jakarta flu cases multiplying daily.

  “According to CDC figures, the total number of confirmed cases of the Jakarta flu rose from around 90,000 last week to nearly 215,000 today, with a large majority of these cases centered near major metropolitan areas. Worse hit cities so far are New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami, accounting for over 125,000 of the total number of cases, with New York City alone reporting over 30,000 cases.

  “This number only represents the cases confirmed by health officials through testing. As anyone on the street will attest, symptoms of the flu seem everywhere, and even CDC officials admit that the actual number of cases waiting to be confirmed could be three to four times the officially reported numbers.

  “Hospitals and medical facilities in the heaviest hit metro areas are operating at near full capacity. HHS officials estimate that the nation’s hospitals will likely reach or exceed surge capacity by the middle of the week and have taken steps to deploy all remaining Federal Medical Stations to the hardest hit areas.

  “Three of these stations have already been established in New York City, and one is operational in Los Angeles. Furthermore, HHS officials have assured state governments that all remaining Strategic National Stockpile assets have been slated for the soonest possible delivery to individual states.

  “On Saturday, in a hastily assembled pandemic summit at the Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, officials from Department of Transportation, Energy, Labor, and Agriculture met with private sector food and energy leaders to develop and implement short-term solutions to the growing food and energy crisis. High absenteeism rates have plagued both fuel and food deliveries nationwide, nearly crippling the nation’s food distribution and supply system.

  “Coupled with weeks of unusually high demand, industry officials state that the system has been stretched to its limit. Several states have already taken steps to activate all of their National Guard units, though their roles in the pandemic response effort have not been announced. Department of Defense officials refuse to comment on the possibility of u
sing active duty military personnel to augment reserve and National Guard roles.

  On Sunday, Energy officials at the pandemic summit voiced strong concerns over the continued operation of the nation’s electricity grid in the face of an unreliable coal supply to the nation’s network of coal-powered power plants. Department of Energy officials and energy leaders have already implemented a plan to divert coal reserves to power plants feeding the grid’s weak points.

  “DOE officials are close to announcing the launch of a nationwide effort to conserve electricity. D.C. insiders predict that this announcement will be part of a presidential broadcast tentatively scheduled for later this week. The presidential address is rumored to include several broad sweeping measures designed to minimize the pandemic’s impact on the population and critical infrastructure. Let’s go to Maria Castelli for our international update.”

  “Let’s not,” Alex said, muting the television.

  “Not interested in the rest of the world?”

  “I don’t know. It’s the same thing. The numbers are rising. Death rate’s increasing. I’m a lot more concerned about what’s happening right here in the U.S., New England in particular.”

  “I keep thinking about all of the food and supplies we have downstairs, and I wonder if we’re making the right decision. If we shouldn’t make a hardcore assessment of how much we’ll really need to survive through the winter and come up with a plan to spread it around the neighborhood. I’m just wondering what it’s going to be like around here when the first wave of the flu passes, and everything starts to return to normal.”

  “What do you mean?” Alex asked.

  “Well, I guess I’m looking at how we’re going to fit in around here, if we choose to turn our backs on the neighborhood. I think if we make a better effort…”

  “No matter what we do, this neighborhood will be a vastly different place in the spring. We have a lot of stuff in the basement, but nowhere near enough to make a lasting impact on the neighborhood. We have over thirty families here, and our stockpile can probably feed four, maybe five families comfortably for the duration of the first and second wave. If we open the stockpile to the neighborhood, it’ll be like opening Pandora’s box. The consequences of trying to shut it down, once opened, will be worse for us than never opening it in the first place. Plus, I’ve already promised Ed that we’d take care of his family, and I plan to stock up the McDaniel house when Jamie is released from the hospital.”

  “How many of these promises do you have out there that I don’t know about?”

  “That’s it. While we were at Jamie’s, Ed packed up a bunch of food in a suitcase for the girls, and I suggested that he pack up more food for the Bartletts, to compensate them for feeding the girls for most of the week. He didn’t want to stretch their food supply too thin, so I told him not to worry about it, and that I’d take care of it. I see it as a way to ensure the girls are treated fairly until Jamie gets back and can take care of them,” he said.

  “You didn’t say that in front of Todd or Eric, did you?”

  “I don’t think so…maybe. Things were pretty crazy in that garage. I might have,” he said tentatively.

  “I really hope you didn’t,” Kate said, “because if you did, then Todd’s going to be all over us when things get really bad over at his house. So, basically, we’re supporting the Walkers and the McDaniels unofficially, and the Thorntons, too?”

  “No, not the Walkers. I just told him that if his kids got the flu from school, I would hook him up with some anti-virals. I think we would have heard from him by now. He’ll be the least of our problems. He’s set for food, and he seems to get it about the quarantine idea,” Alex argued.

  “Right, but if anyone in his family gets sick, you know where his first stop will be? And we’re down to thirteen courses of anti-virals,” Kate griped.

  “If we do this right, and don’t get involved, we won’t need to use any of the anti-virals. Why are we arguing about this?”

  “Because, once again, you’re out there making deals that conflict with our original plan, Alex.”

  He set his coffee mug down on the island and took a deep breath, knowing Kate was right. His level of involvement within the neighborhood was slowly escalating, and may have already fostered enough negative sentiment toward them to jeopardize their safety. He turned in the chair and faced Kate, grabbing her hands.

  “You’re right. There’s been a bit of a double standard…”

  “A bit?” she interrupted.

  “Hey, I’m trying to apologize here.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. “Go on.”

  “Anyway, I’m sorry that I’ve been making decisions without you. You’re right. I need to limit my involvement to matters directly affecting this house and quit aggravating our neighbors. So, what I propose is that we honor any promises already made, but I…we won’t promise anything else. I wish we could help more people, but we can’t without jeopardizing our own situation. Aside from that, we should still maintain enough contact with our friends to make sure we know what’s going on around the neighborhood. We don’t want to get blindsided.”

  “Apology accepted. I was really getting worried. I know that it’s hard to stick with a plan once you’re faced with the complexities and realities of real world adversity. You’ve been through some tough spots and probably know this better than anyone. We really need you to pull this off for us,” Kate said warmly.

  He knew that she was talking about his time in Iraq. Unlike many combat veterans, Alex had shared details of his combat tour with his wife. Though he had excluded many of the grotesque details from his stories, Kate probably had a better understanding of his combat experience than most other veterans would allow. She definitely appreciated the fact that a combat plan rarely stood unchallenged, and that a successful leader would tweak the plan accordingly, staying on course and never forgetting the objective. Unfortunately, he had been subtly working against both the plan and the objective by creating challenges and hostility where it may not have existed otherwise.

  “I understand what you’re saying. I need to focus more on getting us through this safely, and not get distracted by the stuff that doesn’t really matter,” he said.

  “That’s easier said than done. There’s a reason you’re the one we’re relying on to keep us on track. If I thought I could do a better job, I would have already taken charge, but I know I can’t. We’d already have a line forming at our bulkhead door if I was the one out there in the neighborhood,” Kate said.

  “True.”

  “So, right now, we’ll keep you in charge of managing all external aspects of our survival plan…”

  “Wait a minute, who’s we?” he asked jokingly.

  “You didn’t think you were in charge of the whole operation, did you? I, of course, am still in charge of everything. That has never changed. You just got a minor field promotion, which can be revoked,” she said, easing out of her seat.

  “Oh, really? I didn’t realize that I was still moving up the ranks around here. And what exactly is your rank in this organization?”

  “Supreme Commander. That’s the highest rank attainable, and it’s a lifetime position. I’ve held it for fourteen years. Actually, fifteen. I appointed myself when we got engaged.” She hopped off the chair.

  Alex got up swiftly and moved around the island toward Kate, who was laughing and circling the island. “Every now and then, the troops need to rebell and teach their leaders a lesson,” he said, closing in on her. He pulled her into his strong arms and kissed her passionately, lovingly.

  “I could get used to this sort of rebellion,” she said pulling back slightly to look into his eyes.

  Alex held her close, listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing. He hoped more than anything that he had what it takes to protect Kate and the kids during this crisis.

  Chapter 24

  Alex sat at the great room computer desk, scanning the headlines from dozens of online newspaper
s. The situation nationwide had deteriorated significantly, as he had expected.

  From the desk, he could see out of two sets of windows into the neighborhood. The temperature the past few days had been in the fifties, and the days had been sunny and clear, representing a welcome shift from the seemingly endless series of storms racking southern Maine over the past week.

  Derek Sheppard played with his kids in his backyard. Although all three of Derek’s kids and their dog, ran around the play set, Ellen was nowhere in sight, and Alex hadn’t spoken with Derek since the neighborhood meeting.

  The break in the weather also brought a few visitors, which they kept at a comfortable distance. Nancy and Paul Cooper stopped by Thursday morning to say hello while out for a walk with Max. Both of them had taken extended, unpaid leave from work, starting at the beginning of the week.

  Charlie Thornton brought them some freshly cut venison steaks later that same day, compliments of the normally off-limits conservation land behind the Hewitt Park sports fields. Charlie said that the area was full of deer, and that he’d be willing to take Alex out there on his next foray. Alex invited him around back to the deck for a few chilled beers. Charlie looked thrilled by the invitation, and they sat there for about an hour talking about the neighborhood and the pandemic in general.

  Kate’s accounting firm had closed indefinitely, and Kate hadn’t skipped a beat adjusting to a life of full-time leisure. Over the past two days, Alex mostly found her reading, napping upstairs, or taking long walks with Emily or Ryan. Despite the milder weather, Alex remained indoors, feeling that this was a better strategy for him, given the high profile he had been developing among his more hostile neighbors.

  Alex unfolded the worn and smudged neighborhood status board, laying it on the coffee table. He had begun to highlight the names of confirmed or suspected sick neighbors with a yellow marker, and several yellow lines crossed the diagram, signifying known interactions with potentially infected neighbors. A red marker was used to indicate death. Currently, only one name was highlighted red: Matt McDaniel. He examined the diagram of the neighborhood and added a line connecting the Thompsons’ house to the McCarthys’, the apparent babysitting hub on their side of the Durham Road loop.