Survivors

by Rich Goldhaber

  Stan asked, “Why not Jim. Blaine’s got enough rooms for all of us and he’s got a generator to give us electricity.”

  I answered, “What happens when we find more survivors?

  Stan was silent, processing the problem in his mind. “You’re right. What about a hotel?” George interrupted our one on one. “I’ve been thinking about the problem. You’re right Jim; you’ve identified the keys to our survival, but these things are not independent. Let me explain. The Florida Power and Light plant is located near Fort Myers just south of the Caloosahatchee River. I think there’s a water filtration plant over on Alico Road. I don’t know a lot about this stuff, but I think the closer we are to utility providers the easier it will be to build up the infrastructure. So maybe we should be settling down further north.”

  Janet spoke for the first time. “What about Florida Gulf Coast University. It’s up in that area. We can take over one of the student residence halls.”

  Bill added, “And it’s close to the airport. I’m betting they store a lot of gasoline up there, and we’re going to need gas for our cars.”

  Blaine left and returned with a large foldout map of the Naples area. Janet was right; the university might be an ideal location. We found the Florida Power and Light power plant along the river and the water filtration plant over on Alico Road.

  Everyone studied the map and then the feedback started to come in. Margaret said, “They’ve got a good technical library up there. We’ll have to add some specialty books, but it’s a good start.”

  Janet added, “We’re going to have to set up a school, and what better place than at a university.”

  Bill said “There’s a Home Depot and Costco near there for any tools and food we may need. I think it will be a good location.”

  We all seemed to be in agreement. There were a lot of nodding heads. “Okay,” I said, “it looks like it might be a good place to live. Some of us can drive up there tomorrow and check things out. Now let’s talk about how we can get electricity back up and running. Any thoughts?”

  The analysis of the problem came from an unexpected source. Jessie said. “I think we need a short, a medium, and a long term solution. Shortterm we can get some gas-powered generators like the one Blaine has and bring them up to the university. Long-term, getting the power plant up and running may be the answer, but only if we can be assured of a long-term supply of whatever fuel they use to power the generators.

  “I think medium term is the important thing for us to focus on, and I’m thinking solar energy. Last summer my dad was exploring getting a solar powered stand-alone system for our house. There was a company in the Naples industrial park selling solar systems. I remember looking at their catalog, and they had some systems able to generate over 10,000 watts. A couple of those systems could power our residence, and then we could use a few more to power the water filtration plant.”

  George became very excited. “Jessie’s right. Those solar power systems would be very flexible and fairly simple to install, and it’s going to take several months to figure out how to start the Florida Power and Light plant back up.”

  I asked, “Jessie, do you remember the name of the company or where it’s located?” “No, but all the information is in my dad’s office. I can find it tomorrow.” “Okay, tomorrow George, Jessie, and I can check out the university and get the company brochures from her father’s office. Then we’ll check out the company before we meet back here.”

  Jessie added additional insight into our problem. I was beginning to understand she had this unique ability to think outside the box and step out of the minutia and to see things from a broader perspective. “We’re forgetting about the bigger picture. I agree with our focusing on all the things we’ve talked about, but we’re forgetting an important thing. What we need to do to get things back to livable conditions requires a lot of people and a lot of skills. Where’s our expert on power plants; where’s our expert on water filtration plants; what about waste removal; what about telephones? We’re going to need experts, and we’re probably not going to find survivors with all the skills we’ll need. That means we’re going to have to become self-educated experts. We’re going to need a critical mass of people to accomplish all of this. I’m thinking a couple of hundred people at least. We need to find more survivors and bring them all to the university.”

  Jessie was right; we needed to find more survivors. I thought about what we needed to accomplish tomorrow, and a lot needed to be done. “Jessie’s right, so let’s split up tomorrow and agree on a list of things to accomplish. Bill and Stan, why don’t you try to break into a hardware store or Home Depot and get some gasoline powered generators.”

  Bill said, “We can borrow one of those UHaul trucks with a power lift, and Home Depot will have a pallet truck to help us load the generators.”

  “Margaret, why don’t you and Janet take the two boys and Carla and get us food supplies for the next few days. Try the Fresh Market and Wynn’s over on Route #41 and maybe those places have emergency generators. They may have invested in them to save their frozen and refrigerated foods, and if we’re lucky, they might still be working.

  “Blaine, Ruth, and Mary, in the morning, why don’t you begin looking for other survivors, and the rest of us can join you in the afternoon. Let’s split up the area into different sectors, and we’ll search each zone one at a time.”

  We took a break and Blaine led us to the two wings of the house. There were a total of eight guestrooms, each with their own private bathroom, more than enough for our little group. We agreed to meet downstairs in the kitchen at five o’clock, and Blaine said he would take care of the dinner arrangements.

  Chapter 4

  Each of my fellow survivors took a separate bedroom, and we decided to have the two boys share a room with twin beds with Mary and Margaret staying in the next rooms. We arranged a sleeping area for little Carla on a twin bed in Janet’s room and surrounded the bed with tall chairs to ensure Carla wouldn’t fall out during the night.

  I was too tired to lie down on the bed. I knew if I did, I’d be asleep in a minute. Instead, I walked down to the main floor and found Blaine busy in the kitchen. “I found two tenderloins in the freezer and thawed them in the microwave. I figured we might as well use them up. At least we can all eat like royalty for one night.”

  “Can I help?” I asked.

  “Sure, why don’t you fix the salad? I think we still have some good lettuce in the fridge.” As I was cutting up the lettuce I asked, “Tell me about yourself.”

  Blaine snorted. “Me, I’m a loser.”

  Needless to say, I was surprised by his response. “What do you mean?” “This is my parent’s home. I normally live in Manhattan; I run a hedge fund up there. My father made a fortune in the commodities market. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but I didn’t want to work for him. From then on I was a loser in his eyes, and he told me so in those exact words. I’m taking care of their house until they get back from Europe, but I guess that’s not going to happen. I talked to them about six weeks ago, just as this all started. They were stranded in Paris, and even with all his money, he still couldn’t find a way to leave.”

  “You know Blaine, I think we’re all going to find out money can’t buy anything anymore. My wife had an insurance policy; I’m not going to collect on that. How am I going to access the money in my checking and savings accounts? And even if I could get it, what good would it do. You know we could probably get into Fort Knox and steal all the gold, but what would that get us?”

  Mary showed up with Carla who was demanding some formula. I held the little girl while Mary prepared Carla’s dinner. Mary said, “I’ll find Carla a crib tomorrow. There’s an upscale baby store over on Fifth Avenue.”

  Mary sat down out on the lanai and fed Carla her bottle. The little girl was guzzling the liquid like there was no tomorrow.

  Others began to arrive, and we set up dinner on the lanai. Stan offered to cook the tenderloin
s on the barbeque. Blaine explained a large propane tank buried in the ground still powered the stove and barbeque. Blaine walked into a large walk-in closet off the kitchen and returned with four bottles of wine. I looked at the labels. Gaja Barbarosa, I recognized the brand and knew each bottle of the excellent Italian wine was worth well over $200.

  The dinner was special. We were all eating together and enjoying the wine. I guess we were all trying to move on from the personal loses and horrors we had all experienced in the last few weeks. Margaret stood up and gave a toast. “In the Jewish religion when we toast we say l’chaim; it means to life. So, let me toast my new family with the simple words l’chaim.”

  We all raised our glasses and said l’chaim. Jack and Bobby clicked their glasses of apple juice together and half the juice spilled on the table. Everyone laughed, so Jack and Bobby did it again, and the rest wound up dripping onto the Travertine pavers. Nobody seemed to care.

  By the time we finished dinner, we had gone through six bottles of the wonderful wine. Stan asked how much each bottle cost, and when Blain said $300, he almost choked.

  I said, “Listen everyone, why don’t we go around the table and tell everyone about ourselves. We need to know what each of us can do. We all have skills we’re going to need if we’re going to survive. I’ll start.”

  Margaret stopped me. “Wait, I’m going to write down everyone’s skills. I’ll prepare a spreadsheet, and when we need a skill we’ll know who to talk to.”

  Margaret returned a few minutes later, and I began. “I grew up in Chicago and studied Business Administration at Northwestern University. I had a good friend in college. Bruce was an engineer, and he had an idea for a new way to injection mold those plastic cups you see all over. Anyway, we started a company, and it was an instant success. We sold out a couple of years ago and moved down to Naples. I lost my wife and daughter in the plague. I don’t have a lot of skills. I know how to manage a business, and I think I know how to work with others to make things happen.” It was Mary’s turn. “I grew up in Fort Myers. I studied at Florida State University; I’m a Registered Nurse. I used to work at Naples Community Hospital, first as a Scrub Nurse and then in Orthopedics. I retired two years ago and did volunteer work at the free clinic over on Livingston Road. My husband Ralph died two years ago from cancer. We never had any children. Up until today, I’ve been all alone.”

  Margaret began, “I’m just a good librarian. I grew up in Naples and started working at the main library. I worked my way up and finally managed the branch over on Orange Blossom Road. When we lived in a house, I was a good gardener, but when we moved over to Venetian Village, my gardening days were over. My husband died from the plague, and I don’t know what happened to our two children and grandchildren. I guess they all passed away.”

  Ruth seemed embarrassed. I guess it was due to her young age. “I go to the Community School. Well no, I guess I don’t go there anymore. Both my parents died near the beginning. My dad made a business trip to New York, and I think he caught it up there. I don’t have any skills yet. I’m too young.”

  Janet interrupted Ruth. “Nonsense Ruth; I’ve seen you do pencil sketches; you’re a very good artist. You’re able to capture the emotion of a scene with just a few lines on a piece of paper.”

  Ruth blushed, “I guess I can draw pretty good.”

  “What about you Janet?” I asked. “I’m a retired school teacher. My husband and I just moved down from Minneapolis last year. I got my degree from the University of Minnesota. George died seven weeks ago in the hospital. They didn’t know what happened to his body. I never had a chance to say goodbye. There was so much confusion there. It was horrid. They just had dead bodies lined up in a garden behind the hospital; just stacked up, one on top of the other; can you imagine that.”

  Janet began to cry. Ruth put her arms around her new friend and just held her for all she was worth.

  George continued on. “I’m an electrical engineer. I worked for a solenoid company for twenty years and then moved down here to manage a design team working on miniature transformers. Marge, that’s my wife, passed away three weeks ago. I had to carry her down sixteen floors, but I knew she would have wanted to be buried looking at the beach and the ocean. She loved to walk along the beach each morning looking for shells.”

  It was Stan’s turn. “I don’t have any degree, but I worked in construction, mostly new developments, and ten years ago I began doing major rehabs. I buy a beat-up property in a good neighborhood, fix it up, and sell it for a profit. I’ve made a lot of money; not that it’s going to do any good now. Oh, and I love to fish. I’ve got a boat on the river over by the Naples Airport, so if we need some fresh fish for dinner, I’m your man.”

  I asked Stan, “There’s a fishing fleet over at Fort Myers Beach. Do you think you could operate one of those boats?”

  “Sure, but I’d need a crew, and I’m not sure how long the diesel fuel would last, but I can go over there and scout things out.”

  It was Bill’s turn. I’m a mechanical engineer by training. I got my degree at the University of Miami, but I haven’t used the degree in forty years. I own ABC Paver Company, maybe you heard of us. We specialize in commercial projects. I guess we won’t need that skill for another hundred years.”

  “You’re right Bill,” I said, “but we will need your mechanical engineering skills. I think you should be studying your old textbooks again.”

  We moved onto Jessie. “I’m studying genetic engineering at Duke. I’m a Senior there. I was going to specialize in bio-pharma manufacturing processes. I interned last summer at Amgen, and they said they were going to offer me a job after graduation. My parents and younger brother died a few weeks ago.”

  Blaine was the last to speak and after identifying himself as a loser, I wondered what he would tell the others. “I received a degree in economics at Princeton. I manage a hedge fund in Manhattan. I guess that job’s on hold for a long time. Other than knowing how to make money trading foreign currencies, I know how to fly an airplane. Mine’s parked over at the Naples airport.”

  I asked Blaine, “What kind of plane is it?” “It’s a twin-engine Cessna Turbo Skylane. On a full tank it has a range of 1360 nautical miles.”

  Jack, who was listening to the conversation said, “Can I fly on the airplane?” Bobby immediately said, “Me too, me too.” Blaine was smart enough to answer the question with no definitive answer. “We’ll see guys. I’ll know better in a few more weeks.”

  Both Jack and Bobby accepted this answer with no complaints. How many years before that would end? Margaret and Mary decided it was time for the two boys and Carla to get some sleep. There were no disagreements from the boys; they just left.

  I asked Blaine, “Do you think we can use your plane to search for survivors?” Blaine considered the question with a long silence. He was clearly thinking. “The Cessna isn’t really good for a search. If we find someone, we’re going to want to communicate with them. I’d want to be able to land the plane on a road near them. There’s a real small Piper Cub that would be ideal, and it’s just sitting at the Naples Airport. Tomorrow Mary, Ruth, and I can search for survivors in a car, and then we’ll check the airport in the afternoon.”

  By nine o’clock everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep. It had been a stressful day, and we all had a lot of things to accomplish tomorrow. I was thankful Jessie had pulled me out of my selfimposed funk. My fellow survivors were a very interesting group.

  Falling asleep without my bottle of bourbon wasn’t easy. I had memories to deal with, terrible memories of death, of loved ones, and the end of civilization as I knew it; and if I finally fell asleep, the nightmares would come quickly, terrible dreams of Gloria and Sarah delirious and dying in my arms.

  To prevent the nightmares I tried to think of nice memories: growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, playing with my friends at school, my wedding, standing at the side of my wife as she gave birth to our daughter. I hoped the good
memories would displace the dreams of demons and other ugly creatures of the underworld trying to destroy my life. I guess that was why I had taken the bourbon, hoping it would blur the realities of the last few weeks. I finally fell asleep thinking of Sarah and watching her score the winning goal at a neighborhood soccer game.

  Chapter 5

  The nuclear submarine USS Jimmy Carter The Seawolf class submarine left its home port of Bangor, in Washington State, just two days before the first reported case of the pandemic. The crew of 143 reached station one week later under the polar icecap 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle near the northern coast of Greenland.

  They had been receiving routine coded messages from their home base via military satellite. Initially, the messages had focused on the usual military communications necessary to conduct covert undersea operations. The messages changed seven weeks into their mission. At first there were warnings of a severe epidemic; then the word pandemic became the norm. Nine weeks after leaving their home base all of the communications focused on the global catastrophe. They were into their thirteenth week at sea when communications began to deteriorate, and by the fourteenth week, communications with all United States military bases around the world had ceased.

  Lieutenant Bob Farrell, the ship’s Communication Officer, had been keeping the fifteen officers up to date, and the crew was receiving the horrifying news via the grapevine. Captain Edward Sanchez had finally heard enough. He called a meeting of his officers.

  Captain Sanchez turned to his Communications Officer for an update. “What’s the status Bob? Is there any good news? I want a detailed summary of what’s happened since all this began.”

  Farrell looked down at his notes. “Let me start with some good news. We’ve been able to monitor some sporadic communications on the short-wave band; a total of three distinct frequencies in the United States and two more in Europe. They appear to be from small groups of survivors, so at least we’re not the only ones who are alive.