Survivors

by Rich Goldhaber

  Stan said, “They must have one of those backhoes somewhere on the campus. They might also have a front loader. We’ll need both to dig the trench and bury them. I’ll look for one tomorrow, and if I don’t find any here, then I know where I can get them.”

  I said, “It’s going to be a terrible job. George and I saw a body over in the energy plant and I threw up. It was disgusting.”

  Jessie said, “Let’s search the North Lake Village complex first. I’m thinking if about four of us focus on checking out every building, we can finish the work in one day. We can move onto the other areas of the campus over the next few days.”

  I added, “We need to pay a visit to the Home Depot. We’re going to need new locks for each of the apartments we move into. Bill, how many people are you going to need to finish up at the water filtration plant?”

  Bill answered, “Jessie finished all of the electrical work. I’m thinking four of us should be able to finish the whole thing tomorrow.”

  He then stood up and asked for everyone’s attention. “Listen up everyone. Tomorrow afternoon we’re going to turn the water back on, but nobody can drink any of the water for a couple of days. We’ll have to let the bad things work themselves through the pipes. Don’t drink or prepare food with the water unless it’s boiled first.”

  Josh walked up to our table and brought over a lawn chair. “I’ve been thinking about the fresh meat and produce problem.”

  I said, “Great Josh. What do you think we should do?” Josh cleared his throat and looked down at some handwritten notes. “Here’s the thing. We’re probably going to have to feed hundreds of people, assuming others want to join us. First, we’re going to need a place to freeze and refrigerate the meat and produce. I’m thinking the Costco near here will be perfect. If we get lucky, they may already have backup generators that can run the refrigeration equipment until we can restore power.

  “And like I was saying yesterday, we can drive up to the Publix Replenishment Center with a convoy of refrigeration trucks and move their inventory down to the Costco. That should last us a couple of months, maybe six months tops.

  “The biggest problem is how we find a longterm source of meat and produce. I’m thinking there must be survivors over in Immokalee. They grow all kinds of fresh produce there. Maybe they can supply us with food.

  “The meat is a bigger problem; I know some of Publix’s meats come from an area south of Orlando. We need to find some ranchers who survived.”

  As I was processing Josh’s take on things, Blaine added some interesting perspective on our new way of life. “At college, I took a course on the history of money. They talked about how money developed in ancient societies. My professors explained societies start out by gifting. Actually our society is starting out as a scavenging society. I guess that sounds better than stealing.”

  What’s a gifting society?” Jessie asked. Blaine answered. “They’re usually small tribes or communities. People give food and other things to people without asking for anything in return. They know the others in the society will do the same thing. Our people working at the water filtration plant aren’t asking to be paid. They’re working because they know people like Beth are going to help feed them. Everyone knows we’re all in this together.

  “But now let’s think ahead. Maybe a year from now we establish contact with survivors living in Tampa or Orlando. Tampa may have a supply of gasoline we need. They’re probably not going to just give it to us. They’ll probably want to trade for something. That’s when we’ll become a bartering society.

  “Then maybe five years from now we’ll be trading with people living in Atlanta. We may not need what they have to trade. That’s when money enters the picture. Back in ancient times, people accepted gold as an alternative to bartering, and you know the rest of the story.

  “So the question I will ask each of you is what are we going to barter with when we trade with people living in Tampa?”

  Jessie, who was quick to pick up on Blaine’s comments, smiled and said, “We’re going to be the infrastructure people. Think about it. Look how quickly we provided electricity and water for our group. We’ve done it by leveraging our understanding of solar power. We can become the infrastructure society, and we can provide power to Tampa, Orlando, or maybe even Miami. We should focus our technical resources on understanding how to reestablish infrastructure.”

  George said, “We can become the new Florida Power and Light supplier for all of Florida, but what about telephone service? That will be a real problem. We need to hope one of our survivors understands how the telecommunications system works.”

  Bill said, “Let’s ask Margaret to research the subject. They’ve got an engineering school here; they must have books in their library about how the telephone system works.”

  I waved to Margaret who was looking in my direction. After I asked her to research the subject, she walked away with a smile on her face. She now understood why her skills were going to be in such demand.

  After consuming the best apple pie I had eaten in a long time, I kissed Beth on the cheek and complimented her on the dessert. She was ecstatic. I continued walking around the beach and found some time to play kickball with the two boys.

  By nine o’clock, everyone had found a vacant apartment. Mary and Margaret bunked down with the little ones, and I knew between both of them the kids would be well cared for.

  Chapter 13

  Patty and Greg volunteered to wear the hazmat suits and help dispose of the dead bodies. Greg said he had served in the First Gulf War and had already seen the sight of burned and decaying flesh and nothing could bother him anymore.

  Stan left to find the digging equipment, and Bill and his team left to complete the work on the water filtration plant. Josh, Jessie, and I decided to break into the nearby Costco and see what the status of their refrigeration system looked like.

  Josh said, “We’re going to need a ladder to get onto their roof. We can enter through the skylights. That way we won’t have to break through any steel doors. There’s a Home Depot just off Daniel’s Parkway. We can take one of their trucks to transport the ladders and maybe bring some food back for Beth.”

  I borrowed a sledge hammer from the complex’s tool shed, and we left in Josh’s car. A few well-placed blows on the Home Depot front entrance shattered the glass door, and we stepped carefully into the dark building. The emergency lighting had long since stopped working.

  We located some flashlights and batteries near the checkout counter and then found a long extension ladder easily capable of reaching Costco’s roof. I took some empty carts and filled them with all of the front door locks I could find. We could use these to replace the locks on each apartment and give our new residents a heightened sense of privacy. Josh found a hundred foot long package of a strong nylon rope we could use to drop down from the skylight, and Jessie located a couple of hacksaws to cut through the steel grates Josh said were protecting the skylights.

  I found the keys to one of the rental trucks on a rack behind the rental counter, and after loading up a flatbed truck, we headed over to Costco.

  We parked in the back of the building, and Josh looked at some equipment behind a fenced-in area. “We’re definitely in luck,” he said. “They’ve got an emergency generator and a huge tank to hold gasoline.”

  Jessie said, “The gas tank must be empty because the generator isn’t working.” I said, “Maybe we can transfer some gas from the gas station to the gas tank. It looks like only a couple hundred feet.”

  Josh said, “Let’s get inside first. Then we can figure out what to do. If we’re really lucky, the freezer may still be cold.”

  The three of us carried the ladder from the truck and leaned it against the back of the building. All three of us climbed onto the roof and stood around the closest skylight. We took turns cutting through the steel grate, and then Josh pried open the plastic skylight with a crowbar.

  After the skylight was removed, Jessie said
, “I’m the lightest. You guys can lower me into the building, and I’ll open the emergency exit on the side.”

  We tied one end of the rope around Jessie’s waist and lowered her slowly through the open skylight. We climbed down the ladder, and by the time we reached the emergency exit, Jessie was opening the side door.

  I had been in this Costco several times, but today all the lights were out, and it was kind of eerie just walking around in the twilight created by the many skylights in the roof. The smell from rotting bananas filled the air. It was both sweet and pungent at the same time.

  At first I wondered why people hadn’t cleaned out the shelves, and then I realized it was because the CDC had warned everyone to stay in isolation. People didn’t want to risk getting infected.

  Josh immediately walked up to one of the freezers and opened the door. It wasn’t ice-cold, but it was definitely cool. The temperature on a thermometer read thirty-nine degrees.

  Josh said, “If we can start up the generator today, I think we can still save what’s inside.” Jessie said, “We can’t transfer the gasoline with our little hand bilge pumps; we’re going to need a portable pump.”

  Josh said, “I know just the thing. I think they have battery operated pumps at Home Depot. Why don’t I go back there and get what we need to transfer the gasoline. In the meantime, you guys can see what we can salvage in the way of food in the refrigerator sections.”

  It sounded like a good plan, and after Josh left in the truck, Jessie and I checked out what food we could save. The temperature in the refrigerator sections indicated almost eighty degrees. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand almost everything in these walk-in coolers was spoiled. We worked our way to the clothing section and Jessie said, “I’m going to change into some fresh clothes.”

  It seemed like a good idea, and we both walked the aisles searching for the perfect outfits. I found some beige cargo shorts and a blue flowery Tommy Bahama shirt. I picked out packages of underwear along with some white sport socks.

  Jessie began changing clothes behind a display, and I did the same behind another counter. As I striped off my dirty clothes I noticed Jessie looking. “Hey, no fair looking,” I said.

  “How would you know I was looking unless you were looking at me?” she said. We both laughed and soon we were admiring each other’s new look. We found two large carts and began checking over the fresh produce. Of course it wasn’t very fresh anymore, but the apples, potatoes, onions, watermelons, cucumbers, and peppers looked okay. We quickly filled up our two carts and then I thought about how we would load everything onto our flatbed truck.

  I found a propane powered pallet truck in the back of the store, and started it up. After studying the controls, I moved it slowly into the main section of the store. Jessie and I were able to manually lift the steel roll-up door sealing the front entrance to the building. Now we could use the pallet truck to move pallets of food from inside the building to the parking lot.

  I asked, “What should we get for dinner tonight?”

  Jessie said, “Let’s do Chinese. We can take stuff from the freezer.”

  “Let’s take some Mexican too,” I said, “Everyone may not like Chinese.” I moved the pallet truck over to the frozen food section, and I located an empty pallet that I placed on the forklift. We found Orange Chicken, Egg Rolls, Won-Ton soup, and then moved onto the Mexican food section and settled on some chicken enchiladas and guacamole. We soon had a full pallet, and with Jessie following, I maneuvered the pallet truck slowly out the front door just as Josh returned from his Home Depot trip.

  He parked next to the pallet forklift. I studied the controls and after a few unsuccessful tries, I was able to lift a pallet onto the truck. While Jessie and I finished loading the truck with pallets of food, Josh began setting up the pumping system to transfer the gasoline from the underground gas station tanks to the empty generator tank.

  He was finally ready to start the pump. “Listen guys,” he said, “a spark could touch off this gasoline, so why don’t you move the truck and stay in the corner of the parking lot until I do this. No use getting three people killed.”

  Josh had a point. Jessie and I moved the truck to the far corner of the parking lot, and we waited behind a couple of palm trees. If the whole place went up in flames, the trees wouldn’t provide much protection, but it was better than nothing.

  Josh attached a jumper cable from the pump to the battery in his car, and nothing blew up. He ran to the generator tank and checked the tubing leading into the supply tank. “It’s working,” he screamed. He ran back to where we were standing with a smile on his face. I think it’s going to take about a half hour for the tank to fill. The pump’s pretty slow.”

  Jessie said, “While we wait, let’s have lunch.” She ran back into Costco and returned ten minutes later with; a kosher salami, potato chips, and some bread that wasn’t quite stale. She had found one of those expensive ceramic knifes and began slicing up the salami. She had also collected some apple juice and soon we were dining on an acceptable lunch while we waited for the generator supply tank to fill.

  Josh finally shut down the transfer pump and capped off the underground gasoline tank and the generator supply tank. Jessie found the start switch and the engine started to turn over. It coughed a few times as it sucked in some fresh gas and then started right up. We walked back inside Costco and checked out the freezer and refrigerator areas. Coolant was circulating in both areas and we could feel the ice-cold air being pumped into the rooms.

  Josh said, “I don’t know how long the gas will last. We’ll have to check things out in a couple of days.”

  “We’ll have to place a solar array on the roof,” Jessie said. “We can start on that project tomorrow.”

  I added, “And we’ll also have to send a cleanup crew here to get rid of all the spoiled food. And that identifies a problem I haven’t thought about; how are we going to get rid of all our garbage?”

  Josh laughed, “You mean Waste Management isn’t providing service these days?” With our gifts for Beth loaded in the back of the truck, we headed back to the campus to see what was going on there.

  Chapter 14

  Six new cars I hadn’t seen before and a Marriott Hotel bus, the kind they use to shuttle people to and from the airport, were parked near building H. There were almost thirty new faces walking around. Jack and Bobby had found two new friends. Their names were Jake and Martha. George introduced us to each new person except he had forgotten a few of their names. No matter, they would become well known in the next few days. George explained these were the groups from Marco Island and Fiddler’s Creek.

  Beth was surveying the food in the back of the truck. She thanked us, “We better get this food into our refrigerators before it spoils. I see we’re going to have a multi-cultural cuisine night.”

  “Yes,” I said, “Let’s welcome our new friends with a beach party.” Margaret was sitting down at a small table in the parking lot and recording everyone’s names and skills. She told them each to pick out apartments in Building J and then to let her know where they were staying so she could record everything.

  Our welcome party was interrupted by a large black bear lumbering out of the woods and moving directly toward our little group. The four kids screamed and ran to the far corner of the parking lot to hide behind some cars. The bear, seeing the sudden distraction, began lumbering after the children as they ran for cover. I ran out into the parking lot screaming and tried to catch the bear’s attention. I waved my hands at the creature. It turned and stood up on its hind legs and then roared. I instantly knew I had made a mistake, but I had to do something to save the kids.

  I ran across the parking lot and the bear followed. It looked like it was in a pretty bad mood. I knew I couldn’t outrun the animal, but I ran into a nearby field to draw the bear away from the others.

  Suddenly, I heard the roar of an engine and Stan appeared in a Bobcat. He quickly sized up the situation and li
ned up the small construction machine on a collision course with the bear. He raised the frontend loader so it was level with the bear’s neck. At the last minute the bear saw the Bobcat, but it was too late. The tip of the front loader blade struck the bear in the neck and almost cut the unfortunate creature’s head off. It died instantly right there in the field.

  It was over almost as quickly as it started, and soon the whole adult community gathered around the dead animal while the children were told to play on the beach. Josh broke the ice. “Beth, I’ll skin and butcher it for you, but how are you going to prepare it?”

  Beth laughed. “I don’t have a clue. I don’t think any of the books in the library are going to have a recipe for wild bear.”

  Patty and Greg arrived to see the dead beast lying on the ground. They were not dressed in their hazmat suits. Greg said, “I hope you’re not going to ask us to bury that monster.”

  Beth answered, “No way, it’s going to be our dinner for tomorrow night.” I gave Stan a pat on the back and thanked him for risking his own life to save mine. He shrugged it off, and said I owed him one, and I guess I did.

  Mary shouted from the entrance to the apartments. “We’ve got water. There’s not a lot of water pressure yet, but at least it’s flowing.”

  I reminded everyone not to drink the water until we tested it and confirmed it was safe. Our new arrivals left to choose their new accommodations while the guys all helped load the dead bear into the Bobcat’s front loader. The Bobcat followed Josh who looked for a place where he could skin and butcher the fresh meat, and luckily I wouldn’t see Mr. Bear again until the next night’s meal.

  I heard the sound of Blaine’s airplane approaching. He circled the apartments a few times and then disappeared behind the woods. He landed the plane and taxied it over to his usual spot in the corner of the parking lot. He walked up to me and saluted. “I have news to report El Presidente. We’re probably going to have another hundred people showing up on our doorstep. There were three large groups of survivors: one in Fort Myers Beach, a second in Fort Myers, and a third in Cape Coral. I couldn’t land near them, but I dropped a few of my parachute messages. From the way they were reacting to my plane, they were really glad to see some visible sign of civilization.”