The Last Tribe

by Brad Manuel

  She opened the door. “Hello!” She wore the same smile she did when Solange drove towards them in Richmond. “My name is Emily Dixon. Welcome.” The door of the RV was on a spring. It closed behind Emily as she walked outside. The last thing the inside group heard was, “hello to all of you.”

  Todd jumped up and leapt the few steps to the door. He opened it to find Emily shaking the hand of an elderly man, probably in his late sixties or early seventies. He was accompanied by four people, three children and a woman. None of the people looked to be related. The woman was Asian, the older man was Caucasian, two of the children were African American, and the last child, a younger girl of approximately three or four, sported beautiful red hair and freckles.

  The Dixon group lined up behind Todd.

  “Todd, come meet the people.” Emily said to her husband as he stepped out of the RV. “Everyone, come out, it’s okay.” The Dixons and Solange stood by the RV, an awkward silence fell over the two groups.

  “Hello, I’m Todd Dixon, Emily’s husband, very nice to meet you. This is our family.” Todd made introductions and included Solange as part of his family, though she was just five hours into her tenure with the tribe.

  Peter was 68 years old.

  Melanie, or Mel as she preferred, was 37.

  Jacob and Jaclyn Jones were 8 year old twins.

  Casey Frank just turned 4 years old. She was shy and clung to Peter’s leg, peaking out from behind the tall man. Jay, the child ambassador of the group, walked over to her and said simply, “My name is Jay Dixon. Want to be my friend?” The little girl nodded and shook Jay’s hand. “We have spaghetti and meatballs inside. Would you like some? How about you guys?” He offered food to Casey and the Jones twins.

  Casey nodded and looked up to Peter.

  “It’s okay, Casey, you can trust them.” Peter gave the little girls head a pat. “Go ahead. You all can.”

  “I made enough pasta for everyone.” Todd went back in the RV to assist the children.

  “It’s cold out here. You are welcome in our RV. It will be a little cramped, but it’s warm and there are lights. We offer you anything we have that you might need.” Emily opened the door.

  “I’d love to come inside. It’s freezing out here. I don’t like the cold.” Melanie said quickly. Emily followed to help manage the six young children inside waiting to eat dinner.

  “John is it?” Peter asked. “Where did you come from, and where are you going?”

  John appreciated the blunt questions. “We drove from Raleigh. I am originally from Charleston, joining my brother a month ago. We are headed to New Hampshire to meet my third son and my two brothers. We are stopping in cities along the way to meet survivors, invite them to join our group. We hope to gain strength through additional numbers and increased skill sets.” If Peter was going to ask straightforward questions, John would give no-nonsense answers.

  “Well, John, as far as I can tell, having searched for the last two months, you are meeting all the Washington D.C., Annapolis, and Baltimore survivors. We are glad to meet you and your clan. I can’t speak for the group, but I’d like to hear more. I’m too old to keep caring for the twins and that little cutie.” Peter looked tired. He was clean shaven. His complexion and waistline were healthy, but his eyes wore dark circles from stress and lack of sleep.

  “I was an airline pilot for 30 years after serving as a Navy pilot. I retired eight years ago with my wife. She taught at Georgetown. She passed this fall from the rapture. We returned from a trip to Virgin Gorda before all hell broke loose. I was almost trapped down there. I guess that wouldn’t have been so bad, although I don’t think they have much fresh water.” He paused as he thought about the Caribbean and his last vacation with his wife. “Anyway, I am a hard worker, I just can’t work that long anymore.”

  “Peter, it is great to meet you. My son, Matt, and I have been living in Charleston for the last 10 years. His mother passed from the rapture. I don’t know how or why, but my three boys and I are immune. I owned a small company in South Carolina that paid our bills. Matt is a smart young man. He contributes more to the group than I do most days.” John put his hand out and patted Matt on the shoulder, the pride John had for his son was obvious.

  “My youngest brother, Todd, and his wife are both immune, as are their kids.”

  “I’ll be a son of a gun, a married couple who both survived?” Peter could not believe it.

  “I know, insane that Todd and his kids survived, but his wife Emily too? It makes no sense, but we are thankful for it. I have two other brothers, both from Ohio, meeting us in Hanover, N.H. They were still alive and healthy when we spoke to them last fall. We grew up in New Hampshire, and it was the last place we mentioned before the phones went out. Our long range plans do not involve Hanover, but our short term plans are firm. My middle son, Greg, was at prep school when this all happened. He was alive when I spoke to him last September. I have to get up there to find him. After Hanover we are open to other locations, and would enjoy input. We have ideas on where we want to settle, but no concrete plans.”

  Peter nodded as John filled him in on finding Solange, on their dog, on their plans for New York City and Boston. “Those three kids need to come with you. I don’t know how excited they will be to leave me and Mel, we’ve been taking care of them for five months, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m too old, and they need kids their own age. I guess I should talk to Mel before I speak, she’s more their mother than I am their father, but that’s my opinion.”

  “How did you find each other?” Matt asked, curious to hear why he was sure the group of five were all that was left of the D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis area.

  “You know the story, what happened to the big cities, the curfews, the round-ups, particularly here.” Peter started. “I was in the Navy. I knew what it meant to get rounded up. I saw it in Vietnam. Screw that. I stayed with my wife, stayed with her until she passed. I mourned her, then I hid for a few weeks. That damn disease was like a brushfire. It killed places in days, maybe a week, it didn’t take long for the city to dwindle down to nothing.” He looked towards the White House.

  “When the President died, well, that was it. He lasted longer than his cabinet, two weeks longer than his wife and daughters. That man was a fighter. When the radio broadcasts announced he was gone and said the military was in charge? That was September, and I was like, what military? Are there ten of you in a bunker somewhere broadcasting? I hadn’t seen a tank or jeep or motorcycle in days.”

  “I stayed in my apartment eating dry cereal and canned fruit. The electricity didn’t go off until mid-October. I could cook things, and keep some food cold in my fridge. I scavenged in my neighborhood, but didn’t venture farther than a few houses. I don’t eat much. It was easy to stay alive. The streets were empty. The trash smelled horrible, the stench of death and rotting bodies was almost unbearable, but I stayed in my row house in Georgetown. The radio broadcasts went out, I waited another week, and then I got in my car and started driving around. I found the Jones twins breaking into homes and eating out of trash cans. I took them in, gave them a hot meal, set them up in my guest room. They’re great kids, a little energetic, but they are smart and respectful. The three of us drove around for another week, and I suggested we take a trip to the ocean, go over to Annapolis, try to find other people, maybe catch some crabs or fish.”

  “We get over there, we’re downtown, I wanted to go to the harbor and find a boat, maybe take the kids fishing, and we run into Casey and a woman named Barbara Stevens. She wasn’t Casey’s mother, but a survivor who found the little girl wandering the streets. Barbara is late stage breast cancer, lost her chemo when everything went FUBAR from the rapture. She grimaced with pain at every step, every time she moved, but she’d cared for that little 3 year old girl with everything she had.” He looked at the ground, he choked up for a minute before clearing his throat.

  “Anyway, we meet, I tell her I can help take care of Casey. Barbar
a comes back to Georgetown with us, lives for another week, making sure I’m not some sort of pedophile or horrible person, that I really will take care of this sweet little girl. I came into the kitchen on the morning of the eighth day, and she was sitting at the table. She asks me to forgive her. I nodded, I knew what she meant. She weighed 80 pounds by then, she could barely move. She took a bottle of pills and died quietly in a house down the street. Can you imagine? You survive the rapture, but you’ve got cancer and die anyway?”

  Peter stopped for a moment, pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket to wipe his eyes and blow his nose.

  “Jake and Jackie knew the situation, just 8 years old each of them, but they understood. I’m old, I can’t take care of Casey all the time. The twins took on most of the responsibility of caring for her. I still cooked, but the twins kept the house clean, they kept Casey entertained, they read to her. They suggest I move a third bed into their room so she can sleep with them.” He looked over to the RV. “I hope they can play with your kids, get some of their childhood back, whatever they can reclaim after this, this horror.”

  John put his hand on Peter’s upper arm. “My son, Craig, is young. I worry about the same things. He ran away for weeks after the rapture, after his mother died. He plays with his two younger cousins like it’s a long weekend from school. He gets his work done, he knows the score, what the world is right now, but he also plays. The twins will be okay, you did a great job with them, keeping them alive.”

  “I did what I could.” Peter responded, choked up again. “I did what needed to be done.” Peter cleared his throat and continued. “A week after Barbara left us, we decided to look for other people. We headed over to Baltimore, and I am driving around in my car. I installed a car seat for Casey. We have movies going for the kids. I turn a corner and we almost run over Melanie. She’s walking in the middle of the road, crossing the street. I almost mow her down. It was a fine way to introduce myself, driving like a maniac. She’s coming back from Johns Hopkins, where she’s been trying to keep a baby alive in the NICU. She’s a doctor. The baby boy was immune, and in the old world, would have made it, but didn’t have the lungs to keep himself alive. Mel is walking around like a zombie, having hand pumped the babies’ lungs for 14 hours before she collapsed from exhaustion. The power was out, the generators at the hospital finally failed, and she had to move the little boy from the electric ventilator to a hand ventilator. She couldn’t do it alone. She woke up in a chair with the little boy dead in her arms. She was pretty rattled up by it.” Peter shook his head.

  “I stop the car and she gets in. We introduce ourselves, talk about plans, and she comes back to D.C. to help me with the kids, and see what the winter brings. Casey sat on her lap, and I saw a tear roll down Mel’s face.”

  “We made additional swings through Baltimore and Annapolis, but we haven’t found anyone else. If there are other people in D.C., we can’t find them. We burned signal fires, we blew horns, no one until you drove up.”

  “Mel had the great idea to move to here, near the White House, as these building were cleared by the military during the rapture siege. There isn’t rotting corpse smell, you don’t run into bodies when you look for food. It is a clean zone. It’s also how we saw you pull up to the White House.”

  He rubbed his hands and blew into them to warm them up. His ears were getting red as the temperature dropped.

  “So that’s it, that’s our story, the abbreviated version. We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve struggled in some areas, but we’ve kept those kids alive, we’ve kept them fed, and Mel has done a nice job trying to get them to read and write.”

  “You’re cold.” John said, “and I hate for you to miss out on my brother’s meatballs, if there are any left. Let’s go into the RV and get you some food.”

  Matt put his arm on the old man’s shoulder and led him into the RV. “Again, welcome to the group. Where did you grow up? Are you a native of Washington D.C?” Matt opened the door for Peter. The spring shut the door behind them.

  John turned and saw Solange standing firm by his side during the conversation. “He is a nice man.” She said. “He reminds me of my grandfather.”

  “I didn’t realize you were still out here. Aren’t you cold? You said you hated the cold.” John was surprised she stayed outside instead of going in with Emily, Todd, and the new people.

  “I wanted to hear his story, and I wanted to make sure you were not left alone outside. It is okay to trust people, but I do not trust people 100%. Four people standing outside is less of a target than three. If he was part of a larger group, a scout sent to see our weaknesses, having three of us with him was a sign that he or his group could not get us into situations where we might be vulnerable, when there would only be one of us.”

  “Thank you.” He said, glad another person was thinking of security and weary of survivors.

  “You are welcome.” She said, flashing a smile, the first John had seen her make. She looked down at the ground for a second, almost as if embarrassed to smile at him. “I hope there is still some food. I did not eat very much, and I am hungry.”

  John opened the door for her. “Let’s find out.” He put his hand on her back, an instinctive gesture to help her into the RV. She turned and smiled at him again before going inside.

  John could hear children’s laughter from the RV. The group was talking loudly. The two tribes were merging into one.

  Sleeping arrangements were complicated. Jackie and Jake wanted to sleep with their new friends on the floor of the RV. Casey was scared to sleep without Melanie. Melanie did not want to sleep on the floor or on a couch. Jay said he would go back to Melanie and Peter’s apartment and sleepover with Casey, but Todd and Emily would not let him go alone.

  Peter described their three bedroom apartment, and there appeared to be more than enough room for a few children and at least two adults.

  Todd and Emily went with Jay, Casey, Melanie, and Peter to sleep at the apartment. Jake, Jackie, Brian, and Craig slept in sleeping bags on the floor of the RV. Matt slept on the couch. Solange slept in the large bed in the bedroom of the RV. John slept on the pullout.

  Before they split up for the evening, Peter and Melanie agreed to travel to Hanover. Peter was a man who made decisions quickly, and after eating his meal and seeing how well the children played together, he took Melanie aside and asked her if she was willing to join the new group.

  “I don’t like being cold, Peter. You know that, but you’re right, this is the best scenario for us and the children. I want to bring our own vehicle so we have options, but staying with this family seems like a good idea. I like them, and I trust them after just one meal.”

  Peter announced his decision to join the Dixon tribe, and suggested they leave for New York as soon as the next day.

  Emily protested immediately. “If you think I am leaving before I tour the White House and show my kids Washington D.C., well you are mistaken. Part of this trip is creating memories.”

  “You know what?” Peter admitted. “I’ve never toured the White House. I’d like to do that before I leave. It’s also been a few years since I walked the Wall. I would like to say goodbye.” Peter typically avoided the Vietnam Memorial as he knew too many names etched into the black stone.

  “Part of our plan is to take the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with us, if we can. We are also open to art, so if you see anything or remember anything from the National Gallery, or during your White House tour, grab it.”

  Melanie had not considered taking art with her. She loved art, and was a patron at most of the museums in town. “We should take these things, preserve as much of the world as we can.” She turned to Peter. “With new people come new ideas.”

  The tribe agreed on at least one week of site seeing and playing before departing for the next city, Philadelphia.

  John spoke with Emily and Todd before splitting up for the night. “What do you think?”

  “What do I
think about what? The people? They are smart, hard working, honest people who want to join us. There is no downside to this scenario.” Emily told him bluntly. She had no time for conspiracy theories or distrust.

  “I agree, I’m very comfortable with all of them, but I don’t want Craig, Jay, or Brian left alone with anyone.” John replied.

  “John, that’s just parenting etiquette. Do you really think I am going to ask Peter to look after my young kids?” Todd was annoyed with his brother. “Look, I appreciate that you are looking after us, but I don’t think there is anything sinister happening here. If there is, I trust that you have it under control.”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll lighten up, but please try to elevate your senses a little. We’re not in Raleigh, a place you combed for survivors. We’re in a huge metro area, there could be a bad person or people.”

  “You’re right, and that is a reasonable statement. I don’t think the new people are bad, but there could be another person out there. I’ll keep a gun with me, and I will have my walkie talkie turned on all the time.” Todd conceded John’s fears as he and Emily prepared for their evening away.

  “We’ll see you back here tomorrow morning. Make sure you have eggs and milk ready for us when we get back.” Emily patted John on the back.

  “If we are here for a week, we are setting the pizza oven up first thing tomorrow morning. It’s only been two days, but I’m already jones’ing for some fresh bread.” John gave Todd a hug.

  “I will make fresh dough in the morning. You, Matt, and I will get it set up after breakfast.”

  The parties split up for the night. Solange was the only person who protested her sleeping arrangements. “I am new to the group. Why do I deserve the big bed?”

  John calmed her protests. “Sol, there will be plenty of time for you to sleep uncomfortably. Take the high points when you can get them.” She relented and went to sleep, happy in her big bed. She was ecstatic to sleep with people for the first time in 6 months.