by Brad Manuel
“Pull a u-turn, we’ll pick up the exit ramp a little ways back and take Storrow Drive to our house. Boston is pretty easy to get around when you don’t have to follow the directional laws.”
“That’s what I said.” John laughed. He actually giggled. Solange gave him a stern look, similar to the one she gave him after his bad dancing at the Manchester Airport.
“I know you are going to have to repeat this to our group, but what’s your story? Where are you from? You’ve hooked up with other survivors in other cities?” Dan was ecstatic to meet new people. “This nightmare may be coming to an end after all.”
Solange gave their background. She did not give details about their future plans, focusing instead on the events that led to today. She was at the part about meeting the group in Washington D.C. when John pulled up to a large stone house. He parked next to the truck Ryan drove.
“This is it.” Dan said, waiting for Solange to finish. “I’ve been here since October. I gave serious consideration to driving across the country to get back home to Seattle, but the reports I read about the Midwest discouraged me. I knew the owner of this place, he and his wife were good friends. They got stuck in Bali. I had a place in Rhode Island, but it was huge, and there was no way I could keep it heated. I also wanted to find some people, any people, and I knew the city was the best place to do that.” They exited the Hummer.
“Do you have food?” John asked him.
“Oh, yeah, we have plenty of food. We have some lobster traps we…”
“So will anyone be offended if I bring my lunch inside and finish eating? I am starving.” John cut him off and held up the picnic basket.
“No.” Dan shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. We have plenty of food. It might actually calm Ryan down. He is worried you are here to steal our supplies.”
They went into the building through a back door. The house had a reverse floor plan. The first level was a four car garage. Stairs led to an empty floor that used to be a laundry, gym, home office, and a half bath. John and Solange followed Dan up the stairs to the true third floor, a beautiful room with a gigantic fireplace and open kitchen concept. The ceilings were low, and the room seemed warm, warmer than what a single fire, even the giant fireplace roaring in the wall, should have allowed.
“I picked this house because my friend was very into green energy. There are a few solar panels on the roof, and he had electric heat on this floor powered by the solar cells. I would have been dumb and made the ceiling vaulted in here, you know, create a dramatic effect. He kept them low with double insulation. The fire place, the heaters, we were comfortable during the harsh winter.”
Ryan and Karen waited to speak, not wanting to be rude. “Hello.” Karen said, rushing over to hug Solange. “Oh my god, this is incredible.” She moved to John and gave him a hug.
Ryan was not as warm. He stepped forward to shake their hands. Lucinda stood alone, waiting for an introduction. She was shifting from one foot to the other nervously.
“Hello, John Dixon.” John said to her, stretching out his hand.
“Lucinda. Danny calls me Lucy sometimes, but he’s the only one I let do that.” She looked down at the floor as she shook his hand. “Glad to meet ya’ll. We have so much space, so please make yourselves at home.” She shook Solange’s hand. “I was tickled when Karen radioed me and said she’d found two more survivors. Ryan,” She turned to him. “Why don’t you check the lobster traps, let’s have some lobster tonight. I know we’re sick of it, but it’s been a few days, and I bet these people would love some.” She was frenetic in her mannerisms.
“Would you mind if we sat down and finished our lunch? John and I have been working all morning, either driving or trying to find you. We are very hungry.” Solange looked towards John who held up their basket.
Five minutes later they were seated around a table, except for Lucinda, who would not sit down. She was too jumpy, and stood in the kitchen area. She prepared lunch for her group while John and Solange ate. John gave a quick recount of their tribe’s story.
“So your three brothers survived?” Ryan asked. John could tell he was suspicious.
“Yes, and my three sons and two nephews.” John told him.
“I don’t buy it.” Ryan said, leaning back in his chair. “None of that makes sense.” The lawyer shook his head.
“So you think Solange and I are making up our story?” John asked him.
“I don’t know, I’m just saying I have a hard time believing that an entire family survived. Ask Karen, she saw thousands of people die, tens of thousands. No way nine people from the same family lived.”
Solange did not like Ryan. He was a rude bully. She did not have time for a person like him. “It is more amazing to me that John’s sister in law, Emily, survived with her husband and sons. You could convince me that a group of brothers survived, and that maybe their children would be resistant, but for a husband and wife? Truly unbelievable.”
Karen stared at John and Solange as they ate. “Where did you get that bread?” She had a tone in her voice that conveyed deep envy. “We don’t have bread, or don’t make much of it. Where did you get that? It looks so good.”
John smiled. He could tell she would follow him to the northern provinces of Canada for bread. “My brother, Todd, has become a bit of an artisan bread baker. He has a pizza oven, makes different kinds every morning.” He held the sandwich out to her, “would you like a bite? Honestly, it’s too much food for me.”
She shook her head. “I’m a little afraid of eating sausage that is probably a year old.” She made a face.
Solange put her sandwich on her plate and used a nearby knife to cut the remainder in half. “It is fresh sausage made yesterday. We, or I should say Hank and Paul, John’s other brothers, killed a moose a few days ago. We are curing most of the meat for steaks, letting it get tender, but we had moose burgers and moose sausage already.”
Solange handed half of the sandwich to Karen. The nurse accepted the gesture without hesitation. “Oh my gawd!” She said in a thick Boston accent. “This is amazing! Can we go to your camp tonight? How far is it? Can I go there by myself? I’m there. I don’t care if you have three fake brothers, and claim Paul Bunyan and Shrek are up there making these sandwiches. If there is more bread and sausage, wait a second, is this cheese? Dan, there is cheese on this sandwich.”
“There is more, and we can leave whenever. Solange and I are just a search party, we do not plan on staying here more than one night.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Karen, you just met these people, and now you’re willing to take your life in your own hands for a sandwich? I know you used to be fat, but come on.” Ryan leaned forward in his chair and turned to John. “So that’s your game. You come in and steal people from other groups? ”
“Ryan, I am a direct person, so let me be as blunt with you as you appear to be with everyone else. We are a group of survivors. We are living in New Hampshire. We are making plans for our future. I,” he paused. “Solange and I.”
“Thank you.” Solange said to him.
“Sure” he nodded to her. “Solange and I made a trip down here to find survivors and ask them to voluntarily join our group. If you do not want to come with us, okay. If you do, you are welcome. We don’t have rules, we don’t have a grand plan. We still need to figure out how to survive once the cans of soup and boxes of pasta run out. I don’t have an agenda. If you don’t trust me, I don’t really care. Stay here. Live on your own. Drive to Florida. If a person chooses not to come with us, totally their decision, but please understand, it is anyone’s individual decision to make. You make yours, she can make hers.”
“Nice choice, join the cult or get left behind.” Ryan narrowed his eyes again. His hands clenched.
“Okay, let’s just calm down.” Dan put his hands up. “Ryan, check the attitude. I understand you are leery of new people, but you have to at least be polite.” He looked at Karen. “You’re not fat, he didn�
�t mean that.” She nodded to Dan, who knew the fat comments from Ryan stung her. “I guess story time is over. We can catch up later. Let’s eat, talk, find out more, then we can make a decision.”
“I’m going.” Karen said quickly. “I can’t rot here anymore. They have children, they have families, I want to feel that again. I’m going. Dan, I respect you more than anyone I’ve ever met outside of my parents, but this isn’t a group decision. This is my life.”
“Fucking ingrate.” Ryan spit at her.
“Ryan, calm down.” Dan tried to stop him.
“No, no fucking way, Dan. We keep her alive, we find her, fat and helpless, and we give her a warm place, and food for what, six months? And now she finds a new sugar daddy and she walks away? You ungrateful bitch.”
John’s eyes narrowed. He gave Solange a look before turning towards Karen. “You are welcome to come with us, Karen. I am sorry I have caused an issue within your group.”
“John, it’s not your fault. We’ve been cooped up in this house for months. It’s safe to say that we are four very different people from different walks of life, and our personalities don’t mesh as well as they could.” Dan put his hand over Karen’s hand resting on the table. “I agree with Karen, I’m ready for a change, a life instead of survival.”
“Are you out of your fucking head?” Ryan said to him.
Dan turned his full attention to Ryan, “I’m a laid back person, you know that, but you also know I’m not going to let you talk to me like that. Karen is right, this isn’t a group decision. I speak for myself, and I want to leave this house. I can help these people, but not as much as they can help me. They are making the best of this horrible situation. It’s time we started to do the same.”
“Great, so my choice is to join a group I know nothing about, or stay here with Crazy Lucinda?” Ryan flipped his thumb over his shoulder towards the frail woman standing in the kitchen.
John’s knuckles were white, his hands clasped in fists of anger. He did not understand who this person was, and he did not want Ryan’s poison near his family.
Solange squeezed his leg tightly as Ryan threw insults around the room. She could tell John was ready to pop. She could also tell that neither of them wanted Ryan to come up to Hanover.
John stood up from the table. “I’ve caused a bad situation. I’m sorry. You need to talk as a group. You owe each other that.”
“Who the fuck do you think you...”
John put up his hand as Ryan was talking. “I have no idea why you talk to people the way you do. Maybe you are lashing out because you are threatened, maybe you’re just an asshole, I don’t know, but I do understand your argument, and you’re right. You all need to talk.” He turned to Solange. “We’ll figure out where to go for tonight, don’t worry about us. There is a lot for you to digest. How about we come back tomorrow morning?”
“Did you seriously just call me an asshole?” Ryan pushed his chair back.
Dan stood too. “I think you’re right, we could use some time. The four of us owe each other that much.” Dan’s eyes moved from Karen to Lucinda, then back to John and Solange. “Are you sure you can find somewhere to stay? ”
“Dan? This guy comes in here…”
“Ryan, he’s leaving, we can talk about it when they’re gone. Let it go.” He extended his hand to John. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
John and Solange packed their basket and walked down the stairs with Dan. “Hey,” the tall muscular man said to them at the car. “Karen and I are coming with you. I’m not sure what Lucinda will do, she has some issues.”
“It was very nice to meet you, Dan Couples.” Solange gave him a hug.
After the hug, Dan pointed down the road. “Lucinda mentioned our lobster traps. If you want a few, we’re tired of eating them. Our traps are set in the harbor, near the aquarium. There are a bunch of big red buoys. You can’t miss them. There are hooks on the pier, just haul them up using the pulley and crank.” He pulled a walkie talkie out of his pocket. “Take this. I’ll let you know if anything happens before tomorrow morning.”
John shook his hand and thanked him. “Any advice on a cheap room for the night?”
“If it were me, I’d find a church. Most of the back offices have a fireplace. They were built of stone a long time ago, and should heat up nicely for the evening. Find a pot, boil some water, enjoy some lobster. I’ll see you tomorrow. Hopefully we can talk in a more civil manner.”
“Dan, I’m sorry we caused an argument. Solange and I have been through this before, and we’ve never had a negative reaction. The people we met in New York were starving, the people in D.C. were desperate for help with three kids under the age of eight. I did not expect to be such a problem.”
Dan shook his head. “You hit the nail on the head. Ryan’s a total asshole. I’ve had to live with him for six months. He’s scared. Hopefully he’ll figure it out, because he’s a good worker and a strong set of hands.”
John liked the way Dan thought.
“I can handle Ryan. We’ll figure it out. Keep the radio on, find a warm room. I am excited to drive to New Hampshire and eat some steak.” Dan went back into the house, but spun back around. “Where did you get cheese?”
“We have a few goats that give us milk. We also have chickens, and we just found some cows and pigs that survived the winter at a nearby farm. One of our members is a vet, she’s confident we can get the cows healthy and producing.”
“Unreal.” Dan flashed a smile and slapped the top of the Hummer twice with his palm. He turned to walk inside. “We’ll see you tomorrow morning. We’ll be ready to roll.” He yelled over his shoulder.
Solange and John got into the Hummer. As soon as the doors were shut, John spun his head to look at Solange. “This is unbelievable.”
“I know, Ryan will not fit into our group.”
“No, not that, I just met Dan Couples. Danny frickin’ Couples! This is insane.”
“Who is Dan Couples, other than the nice man I just met?”
“I can’t talk about this with you.” He thought for a second. “It’s like I just met Pele, or, or, Maradona.”
“I am from Ecuador. Maradona is Argentinean. Ugh, Americans.” She shook her head. “I did meet Pele once, at a reception in Quito. I had a picture taken with him. It was in my bedroom on my desk. He was Brazilian, but I still liked the picture.” She stopped for a moment. “You know, I do not have anything from my past life. I have some pictures on my tablet, but really I have nothing.” Something triggered her sadness. “I miss my family. I loved them all, and I never got to see them in person to say goodbye. We did video chats, but I will never see my home again.” She looked at John as he drove the truck towards the piers to get lobster. “It makes me sad.”
“I know.” He rubbed her shoulder. “I know. It’s easy for me to forget that I have my sons, I said goodbye to Charleston, I was there when,” he stopped. “I said goodbye to who I needed to.”
They got lost on their way to the piers, but eventually pulled up to the water. Boston Harbor was enormous. Luckily, the large red buoys were easy to find. John used a nearby hook to grab the rope, and he wound the rope onto a pulley bolted to the pier. He brought the lobster trap to the surface.
“There are a dozen lobsters in there.” He said excitedly. “Let’s cook six of them and let the rest go.”
“How are we going to get them out of the trap? Look at those claws.” Solange took a step back from the edge of the pier. The pulley was on an arm that swung the trap onto the pier.
“You unhook the carabineer, and voila, the top opens and you grab the ones you want, toss the other ones back.”
“And the claws?” Solange made a claw shape with her hand, two fingers on the bottom, three on top, and made a snipping gesture with the hand.
“Well, we have to be careful, that’s for sure.” John spun his head around in search of something. He walked down the pier to search the SUV’s in the parking lot.
; “What are you looking for?” She asked him curiously, rubbing her hands together. It was much cooler by the water. A stiff breeze blew from the ocean.
“We need a cooler or a bucket to put the lobsters in, maybe splash some water on them too.” In the fourth SUV window he saw what he needed. John pulled a window hammer from his coat pocket, the kind found in car safety kits, and smashed the window of the SUV. He carried the hammer around with him for just such occasions. He pulled a blue cooler with wheels out of the broken back window and wheeled it down the pier.
Solange had not touched the lobster trap, not even the carabineer clasp. “Come on.” He said to her. He undid the top and flipped it open. The lobsters were not friendly. Some of them began opening and closing their claws.
John used two sticks he found on the ground in a chopstick fashion to move eight large lobsters from the trap to the cooler. “I thought you said six?”
“I’m hungry”
“How can you be hungry after that big sandwich?”
“I don’t know, I’m hungry, it’s no big deal, there are two other traps.” He used the giant chopsticks to free the five smaller lobsters in the trap. “Tomorrow we’ll empty the other two traps, and bring the lobster up to Hanover for a lobster boil.” He left the trap on the pier. “You know what? If this dries out, I think we should bring it with us. Maybe we can put it in the flatbed of their truck. We can use this to catch things in Hawaii. This is all coming together.” He had his hands on his hips as he looked at the lobster trap on the pier and the red buoys in the water.
“If you are done being proud of yourself, can we find a place to light a fire? I am very cold.” She hugged herself for warmth against the cold sea breeze.
They found a church close to the harbor. Dan was right, the office in the back had a large fireplace. It had a giant iron hook made specifically for a pot. Before Solange could ask what they would use for wood, John smashed a wooden pew with an axe from the Hummer. They lit two of the starter logs, heaped furniture wood on top, and their little room was warm within a few minutes.
