by Lamb, Lynn
“I…” I started excitedly, but Mark cut me off with a look that told me he had it under control now. They had their army-speak going now. They really are “brothers”, I guess.
“Yeah, my wife’s family have lived here forever. They were here before Clinton shut down Fort Ord,” Mark’s voice was now authoritative and sharp, like he was speaking to a high ranking officer.
“Well, boy. I can tell you a thing or two about that area in 1972,” said Paul. Now he was completely into the conversation. Keep it up, Mark, I thought. I gave him a wide smile, but he ignored it.
“Sir,” Mark continued. “We can get back to you about the shape of Seaside when we are able to go outside and check out the state of things. But we can’t go out until we know the air is alright to breathe. The strike went on for a few hours. Not sure how many. We think that there were drones and air drops of biochems. Do you have any information, Sir?” Mark said, sharply, with respect.
“Yeah, we know some stuff. You are probably right about the drones and drop. Some are saying Amerax, some small pox, but I don’t think the small pox is right. They been under ice for a long time, but you can never be too sure with those chinks and towel heads.”
Oh, shit, I thought. Mark is going to explode at him. He hates racism and usually goes off on anyone who hints of it. And these were no hints. Mark looked me in the eye to make sure I wasn’t going to go off myself. I have a real problem with racism and bigotry myself.
And turbans are used by the Sikhs, moron!
“Sir, have you heard anything about the Variola Virus? That one is sneakier. It doesn’t show until it gets out there. It is very contagious,” Mark calmly replied. I was impressed at his constraint. This communication is important, and he knew it.
“Don’t know ‘bout that one. But people have been talking about some that might not show up right away. I talked to someone in Ohio yesterday, and she said that she’s heard of people who were just fine at first, and all of a sudden get fevers, pukin’ and welts on their skin. Then they just go down fast,” Paul sounded sad now.
I took the mic from Mark, and gave him a knowing look. I wasn’t going to blow it with the guy, either.
“Sir,” I asked. “Have you been getting people moving through there trying to make it over fifteen? My family would be coming that way.”
“Sorry, ma’am. We can’t see the highway from here and we aren’t goin’ out either. We didn’t board up before. Maybe we should’ve. We can see out the windows, but we don’t have much of a view of anything, anyway. But it’s real dark out there. And lot’s of ash, tho’. They nuked LA ya’ know?”
My head dropped down. Mark took the mic gently from my hand.
“Thank you, sir. This information is very valuable. Do you think we can keep in contact? We can let you know about Seaside and you can give us info about down there.”
“Okay, Mark. Will do. I’m on a lot, but I’m talking to a lot of folks now. I will get back to you as soon as I know more. When do you think that you will go outside?”
That is the number one question.
Mark finished up with him while I went to sit on the couch. They were exchanging personal information and Paul was letting Mark know how to reach him on the Ham.
July 20, 10:15 AM
After hanging up with Paul, Mark joined Mom and me on the couch. We were both in tears at the news of Los Angeles. I guess I knew all along that the big US cities would get “nuked” as Paul put it. But it was too much to think about. I was born in LA and lived in the suburbs until I was 12 years old. We had friends and some distant relatives down there; mostly people we were no longer in touch with, but it didn’t matter. It was loss.
I was lost, deep in thought. I was trying to figure out how my brother, Jared, and the girls would get up here now. I got the map, but my brain was completely overwhelmed.
“Well, we got Paul on our side,” he said. “He’s not that bad of a guy.”
I didn’t respond to that. Mark was always seeing the best in people, some of whom did not deserve it.
We spent the rest of the morning in quiet thought. Mark did call Jill and tell her our news. She was glad that we had an outside contact, as were we.
We made a plan to have our next “Meeting”, as we were now calling them, at noon.
I did have something of an epiphany this morning. I remembered that I had printed instructions that I had kept in our old emergency kit on how to make a stove-like flame from a can of beer, rubbing alcohol, a pocket knife and some scissors. We had a twelve pack in the fridge and I got two cans out. Following the directions, I cut along the top part of the ridge and took the entire top off the can so it came off cleanly. I continued to follow the directions, feeling that it was a questionable concoction. But when I lit the alcohol, it worked! We have hot coffee!!! Praise the Lord! When I was done, I smothered the flame with a plastic bowl and now we have it for tomorrow.
I am sitting with my hot cup, writing and petting Hershey. I almost remember what it felt like to be normal.
July 20, Noon Meeting
Mark: “Hi, Jill. Are you ready?”
Jill: “Ready, willing and able.”
Me: “Good. We made a contact on the Ham radio, and now we have some news and a way to get more in the future. That’s a big accomplishment. Now, maybe we can make a decision on when we can get out of our jails”
Jill: “Wait, you have a Ham radio? How did we not know you had one? Joe has been a Ham operator for years. Ours was broken, well, you know how, and he has been working on fixing it.”
Joseph: “I should have it working by tonight.”
Mark: “I wish I had known that. Oh, well. Once yours is working Joseph, you can take over the communications some. This guy was not happy that we don’t have a license to use it. Like that matters now.”
Joseph: “Yep, we don’t like talking to newbies. Later, let me know his information and I will talk with him.”
Me: “There is something you should know, Joseph. He is a bigot. We told him that Mark was not Muslim, that he’s a Christian. We had to or he wouldn’t have talked to us at all.”
Joseph, laughing: “Okay, I’ll take care of it.
Jill: “You aren’t the only ones with big information. I reached a neighbor about an hour ago, the Grahams over on La Playa. You remember talking to them, Laura?”
Me: “Of course I do. Katie is a psychiatrist and Malcom is a family practice Doctor. They were like hitting the lottery!”
Jill: “Yep, and they are doing pretty well. I mean, as well as can be expected. They were really happy to hear from us. They have been on channel 9. That’s why we weren’t hearing them. They said that a few of the other neighbors told them to be on that channel, and they completely forgot that we had a different channel; understandable. We have all had a bit on our minds.”
Me: “I think we should have them in on this meeting. Jill, do you think that you can reach them now.”
Jill: “Yep, hold on and I will hop on channel nine and ask them to join.”
My heart is beating hard. That makes twice today that we have heard from new people, people with information and people who may be able to help. Although it has only been days since we have been locked inside, the isolation, outside of my family, has been miserable.
Malcom: “Hello, this Malcom.”
Jill: “We are back.”
Me: “Okay, great. Malcom and Katie, I would like to introduce my mother, Anna, and my husband, Mark.”
Hellos are made all around.
Mark: “It is great to meet you both. I am sure Jill has filled you in on all that we knew up until this morning. But first things first, when can we take our surgical masks off, Doc? They are itchy, hot, and the smell is horrible!”
Malcom, laughing: “You can take them off right now. The truth is that they can only do so much, and after this long, they are not going to do you any good now.”
Oh my gosh, that feels so good, but what’s that smell?
Mark: “Well, the main thing we got from our early morning communication with Paul is that Los Angeles has undergone some type of nuclear blast. And in the rest of the country, it seems that there has been plenty of biochemical dropped, too. Part of my army training was a two week course on biochemical warfare and I think that we might be dealing with the contagious Variola Virus, Anthrax, and less likely, Small Poxes.”
Malcom: “Yeah, I am not certain about the Small Pox either. But Variola and Anthrax are good possibilities. There could be fifteen or more that I am thinking of, but the one I am really concerned about is Yersinia pestis.”
Me: “Yer what?”
Malcom: “Yersinia pestis, better known as the pneumonic plague.”
Mom: “THE PLAGUE?”
Katie: “I’m sorry. I know that the word ‘plague’ is very frightening. He shouldn’t have just blurted it out like that.”
Malcom: “I’m sorry. That’s right. Let me explain. It is one of the agents that the Center for Disease Control thinks is possible coming from the bioterrorists that we know of. But it is treatable if we get to it fast enough. We have to treat within twenty four hours of the first symptoms with a seven day course of antibiotics because it is spread person to person and even animals can be contagious to humans.”
Me: “Oh my God! That means that even though we are staying inside our tomb it could be out there multiplying within our food sources and from people who don’t know about it. Meaning pretty much everyone.”
Katie: “Yes, you are right. It is very scary, but we know it exists and we can take precautions. It’s important that we don’t scare ourselves into inaction.”
Joseph: “But do we have access to enough antibiotics?”
Malcom: “Good question. The truth is, at this point we just don’t know. It depends on if we can get to the hospital, Doctor offices, and other places we can find stashes, mainly pharmacies. Because we don’t know what the landscape looks like, we just don’t know.”
Jill: “This morning Malcom and Katie have been telling me about their communication with the other neighbors.”
Katie: “Yes, and we have good news on that front. Like Jill must have told you, we have been on channel 9, which we all should change to, because that’s where everyone else is.”
Mark: “You make it sound like there are lots of others you are in contact with.”
Katie: “I’m not sure it’s ‘lots’ but we have contact with 8 other households.”
Me: “Holy crap. I can’t believe we were not monitoring the other channels. How are they doing?”
Katie: “They are in various states. Unfortunately, some of them didn’t take the proper precautions. They all covered windows and doors but some people only did so minimally. Two groups even stepped outside but they went right back in when they said the air burned their lungs.”
Mom: “Shit”
Me: “Mom!”
Malcom: “Realistically, it is bad that they have had contact with the outside air. But no one seems to be sick yet. Speaking of which, Jill told me you all sustained injuries during the occurrences. Can you tell me what kind of injuries and how bad they are?”
Mark: “My wife might have some broken ribs. She was having trouble breathing for a while, but it’s better now. Annie has what I believe to be a broken wrist. We have it wrapped tight. We all have bruises and scrapes, black and blue, but on my black skin, it’s purple.”
Polite laughter
Mark: “Is everyone breathing alright now and is the pain within the bearable limits?
Me: “Yes, we are okay. I was taking some Hydrocodone we had in the house, but I don’t need it any more. We are all breathing fine now. All in all, we really are okay.”
Malcom: “Good!”
Me: “Doctor, I think the question on all of our minds is, when can we get out of what we so loving call ‘our tomb’?”
Malcom: “I believe that we need to stay in for two weeks as a precaution and as long as we all have enough water and food to get us by.”
Mom: “We will if you think so. We have enough food and clean water.”
Joseph: “It’s not going to be easy though. Being in the dark all day, every day, is depressing.”
Katie: “I know. We have been feeling depressed, too. It’s natural when you are getting no light. And compounding it with the events of the last two weeks plus a few days, it may get even worse. I can’t promise that it will go away when we get out either. This is the ultimate of horrible situations. But, now that you are connected with more people, you might find it a little bit better. It’s important that you stay active, and not only getting things ready for when we emerge. Play games, cards, board games, whatever you have around. You can read and even drink a little. But remember that alcohol can be a depressant, so be careful not to consume too much.”
Joseph: “Oh, trust me, we have popped open the bottles.”
Katie: “And if you need to talk to me in private, go into another room and call me. We will find a private channel and we can talk it out. The point I am making is that it’s just as important to stay in front of the depression as it is to stay in front of physical pain. When we get out of here, we need to be ready to rebuild our lives.”
I like Katie!
They are saying their good-byes, setting up next meetings and working out walkie talkie channels and how they should be used.
July 20, I don’t know what time it is
I just realized that I haven’t taken a real breath since I heard the first news story about the East Coast. Well, until just now. The news about the continuation of our incarceration is not great, of course. However, the fact that there are eight more households’ worth of people we are going to have contact with is incredible! I love my family, but I think we are getting rather tired of sitting around staring at each other.
I have been thinking about everything we talked about and there was a lot. There isn’t that much that can be done right now about the possible biochemicals, but what about our psychological well being?
I know that Katie recommends that we stop thinking about our predicament but thinking about how we can fix things makes me feel better. Plus, I have the outlet of writing my thoughts here. Mom and Mark are engaged in a game of cards and that really is great, considering that they weren’t even talking not too long ago, but I don’t think that will help me too much.
I have been considering our present assets and right now none look better (besides our food, water and toilet buckets) to me than our walkie talkies and our ability to communicate. Katie is right about our need to feel better about our circumstances and I think that one way to do that is to be able to socialize outside of our homes, even though we are stuck in them for now. First, I need to know if everyone has enough juice for their walkies and then perhaps we might be able to establish some ways to keep ourselves occupied and to become acquainted with each other better.
I can’t pretend that I haven’t been thinking about what Malcom said. The pneumonic plague has me completely freaked out. Obviously whoever did this is completely evil, but this? Maybe demonic is a better label for them.
We have tons of farms in Salinas which is only seventeen miles from here. I was thinking that we could find some livestock when we can go out again. In fact, it was part of a plan that I have been developing in my head. But they could be dead or have infected each other until they are gone. What are we going to do without meat and dairy?
And what about all of the people who are left? We are alive, so maybe a lot more people are alive too. At least the people around here might be okay, right?
I guess this is why Katie told us to not to think too much about it. I am going to get the Monopoly box. I don’t really like cards.
July 20, About two hours later
So I won in Monopoly, sort of. We all just gave up. At least some things never change.
But it’s almost time to have our group meeting. It’s weird but I am nervous. I have always been shy in group situati
ons but I would really like to put out my ideas. I’ll see how I feel and if there is an opening.
I will take the minutes of the meeting again. The short hand my grandmother taught me has been coming in handy. I have been taking notes in another notebook and translating it here in my diary.
July 20
Malcom: “I hope everyone is here. Let’s go through the role call that we practiced this morning. Number One: “The Grahams.”
Number Two: “Sheraton”
Number Three: “Burgess”
Number Four: “Estrada”
Number Five: “Santos”
Number Six: “O’Malley”
Number Seven: “Raja”
Number Eight: “Gianluca”
Malcom: “Mark, Laura and Annie, you are number nine. Jill and Joseph, you are number ten. Just this morning we came up with this way of quickly identifying that we are all here. Great job, everyone!”
Mark: “Ah, Number nine, Balous”
Jill: “Number ten, Richardson”
Malcom: “Great! So, everyone, we have two more families and five more people to add to our group. First, Sarah Burgess, will you give a little background as to how we came about and what we have discussed in our brief time together?”
Sarah: “Um, okay, sure. Well, we only started talking as a group yesterday. Before that we would talk to whoever answered, and usually it was to just talk about our injuries and if it was okay to go out now. Which it isn’t, as the Doc has told us in no uncertain terms. We decided to meet at seven-thirty in the evening. That’s all I can think of now.
Malcom: “Great. Laura, can you introduce you family?”
Me: “Sure. Well my name is Laura, my husband is Mark, and my mother’s name is Annie. We live on Ocean View Drive. I am a filmmaker. My husband has done many things, including construction. He was a soldier in Operation Enduring Freedom and he’s also a translator in Japanese and Arabic. My mother, Annie, is a retired preschool teacher. I guess that’s our introduction. I am so happy to hear you all out there. You don’t know how good it is to hear you all.
Katie: “Thanks, Laura. We actually do know the feeling. That’s why we need to keep this going. As you all know, Laura started going house to house getting information about the neighbors before the bombs. A lot of you have said that the information she spread actually saved their lives. And I agree. We owe her quite a debt.”
