by J. F. Krause
All of us jumped the moment we heard it and were headed to my car which was sitting in my garage. The boys and I jumped into the car as the garage door went up to let us out. Amazingly, I remembered to lower the garage door as I pulled out of my driveway.
There wasn’t any traffic moving down Southview Blvd., but there were lots of cars pulled over to the side of the road in a rather haphazard way. The road was passable, but the closer I got to Hillcrest Hospital, the thicker the cars got. I decided to pull over so we could walk the rest of the way. The car would be out of the gridlock in case we needed it, and we weren’t going much further except on foot.
The three of us started running as soon as we stepped out of the car. It was a good three blocks to the hospital that was clearly visible down Southview. The siren was coming from an ambulance that was hemmed in by scores of abandoned cars that had evidently all been trying to make it to the Emergency Room entrance. We zeroed in on the flashing lights of the ambulance while also making sure we didn’t trip on bodies lying between the cars or on the sidewalk. The boys followed me as I navigated my way through the maze of cars and bodies. A pool of vomit, blood, and feces surrounded almost all of the bodies. Birds had begun to peck at some of them, and we could clearly see rats moving among the cars as well.
When we reached the shrieking ambulance, there was a note under the wiper blade. “Come into the front entrance just around the corner to the right.” That was where the hospital waiting/reception room was. Hillcrest Hospital was a relatively small hospital and being so close to my condo, I’d been there for blood tests and a small medical emergency a couple of times. One of the surprising things about the general waiting room was how much seating it had. In my few visits, I’d never seen it even close to being fully occupied. The emergency room waiting room was a very different matter. It was small and almost always full, at least on my visits.
Expecting to find the reception waiting room fully occupied this time, my heart dropped when I could see that it was virtually empty. Just to the left of the entrance, three people were deep in conversation. They saw us through the large windows as we approached and all three stood up to face us. The man was about my age and wore the uniform of an EMT. In our area of California, it seems that most ambulances are from private companies although there are a few county and city fire department ambulances out and about too, just not as many. Next to him was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She was holding an infant who was sleeping quietly when we arrived. That was soon rectified as the boys let out whoops of joy at seeing someone new. Next to those two stood a young woman holding a bottle of water.
I will always remember my first glimpse of Kevin, Lydia, and Anna. I felt like we had been saved from a terrible fate. There were people! Even after it began to register that I was only looking at three people and a baby, I felt safe. I don’t think that I even recognized that I was afraid until that moment. Of course, safety was only an illusion even before the sickness as verified by billions of people dying in just a matter of days. Still, having seven of us felt much better than just three of us.
Jerry and Charlie were over the moon. We all sat down to talk about our experiences over the last couple of days. I couldn’t help being impressed and relieved that all three of the new adults listened respectfully to Jerry and Charlie as they retold their own stories as well. While we sat together, a man showed up at the door. He was maybe in his forties and was overcome by the sight of us. He introduced himself as Ed and was immediately part of the group. He worked for the post office, or he had.
Over the next half hour, as the siren blared away at the emergency room entrance, our group grew by three more: two women and one teenage boy. Jerry and Charlie remained by my side the entire time so I decided they were now part of my little circle. Anna told us about her brother back at her house just up from La Paz and the far-flung group of survivors they’d met on the Internet which still functioned.
I guess it was the phrase “still functioned” that triggered a whole cascade of thoughts that I felt we had to begin addressing. This meeting was starting to sound like one of our school teachers’ meetings. We talked about everything and lots of good ideas were shared but we never seemed to make a plan to do anything. Consequently, very little got done. That’s something I just can’t abide.
“We need to start making plans for how to grow our group and how to survive the day electricity stops running and the lights go off. We need to get away from all the bodies that are going to start rotting soon. We may not be survivors yet, but we have to start acting like survivors. I know we’re all in shock and still grieving, but we really don’t have a lot of time.” They looked at me like I’d just farted in church.
After a few seconds, Kevin and Anna both spoke at the same time. Then they both tried to let the other speak, and then started in again at the same time. So I asked Anna to say her piece. “He’s right” was all she said at first. Then she nodded to Kevin.
“I agree with Bobby.” He used one of the names I’d given the group to use for me. I actually prefer Bobby, but a lot of Californians seem to like Robert better. Maybe it’s because they see me as an adult, but I still like my kid name. “We may not have much time. What do you have in mind?”
“ I like the siren thing you started, Kevin, and I suggest we find a way to either get the ambulance moving through the neighborhoods, or we find another ambulance or vehicle with a siren, maybe a few of them. I also suggest that tonight we put up some of those Hollywood type searchlights that people can see from a longer distance than they can hear the sirens. Maybe if people hear the siren they will look into the night sky and see the searchlight. I also think we need to find a better place for us to set up a headquarters for the time being. Off the top of my head, the Richard Nixon Library would be a good spot. It’s not usually very busy and since it was closed I don’t think there will be lots of bodies there, and they should have an empty parking lot. It’s also just down the street from a couple of grocery stores, a senior center, a couple of drug stores, and some other places we may need”. I waited for someone to respond.
Finally Kevin spoke up. “I like that. What should we do first?”
Looking around at the group I could see they were all waiting for me to give them a plan. Like I said earlier, I look calm even when I’m going crazy on the inside. I also hadn’t just watched my family, my husband or wife and kids and parents die. That may have been why the two most composed people in the group were Kevin and Anna. They hadn’t seen anyone they dearly loved die either.
“First thing, we need a couple of people to get us a couple of searchlights and bring them over to the Nixon Library. I think there’s at least one over by the senior center off Capital Boulevard. I saw it there a couple of nights ago and I doubt they had a chance to move it. There may even be a generator with it. Oh, and we’ll need fuel for the generators. I think you can find generators at OSH or Home Depot. Will someone take care of that and meet us at the Nixon Library?” Lydia, Kevin, Ed, and Zach (the new teenage boy in our group) all volunteered. Needing Lydia and Kevin for other things I chose Ed and Zach and asked them to get started. After a brief verbal exchange, they left the building
Looking at Lydia I continued, “Would you and Kevin try to find a couple police cars or emergency vehicles to start driving around neighborhoods slowly to see if there are kids you might rustle up? You’ll need to drive slowly so they can come out to meet you. And Kevin, do you mind if Jerry and Charlie take care of Baby Girl. I’ll show them how to change a diaper, and I’ll be right nearby in case they need any help. Can you do that boys?” The brothers beamed to be included.
As Kevin and Lydia prepared to leave, another man and woman came into the room a few seconds apart. His name was Lamont and hers was Grace. They weren’t together, but both seemed relieved to have found a group of living people. I asked the other women, Gayle and Marjorie, to fill them in while I spoke with Anna.
“Does your cell phone sti
ll work? Can you call your brother and tell him what we are doing? Would you also ask him if anyone on the forum knows anything about HAM radios? I think we need to find some radio sets and try to get them set up. I don’t know anything about them, but we need to learn and get used to using them while we have access to each other through the Internet. Some of us will have electricity longer than others. We don’t want to lose track of people even if they live in Maine. Oh, and ask him to share with them what we are doing here. We need to know what they are doing, too. Is that ok? We also need to know if we can do anything about 911. I don’t know how that is done, but I’ll bet there is a location for it and we can might be able to jumpstart it and begin answering the phones when someone calls.”
Anna actually smiled. “I like the way you think. Do you want us to bring the HAM radios to the Nixon?”
“Yes. Bring everything, and while he’s at it ask him to download instructions for how to use a HAM. I think you can spot the HAM users because of the antennae on their roofs. They’re a little unique.”
“Good enough. I actually think one of our neighbors has one. The house is on my way to school. I remember my dad told me that’s what it was.”
“Anna, since you’re going to be going into someone’s house, be careful. Not everyone will be thinking straight after all that’s happened. People have guns, and they’re scared. And, Anna, I hope you parents are alright.”
She nodded sadly and started pulling out her car keys and her cell phone as she walked away.
Turning back to the remaining four, I asked them to start gathering food we could cook in the parking lot at the Nixon Library. I also asked them to be on the lookout for camping supplies and generators. They agreed and we talked over some of the particulars. Soon, it was just the kids and me.
As we set about gathering baby things, I wondered how people were managing to get anything done after what had happened to their world. It occurred to me that maybe the ones who needed more time to cope were still out there coping. Maybe the only ones who had shown up were more resilient somehow. That wasn’t a question I was ever likely to have an answer to. I didn’t have any idea how many people we would find in the next day or two, but I knew that time wasn’t a friend right now. So many bodies, and they were literally everywhere, were going to be a big problem. All these dogs, and they were everywhere too, were going to become a big problem as well.
I began to wish that we had brought Esther’s car so we could put Baby Girl’s supplies in it. I also decided that Baby Girl needed a real name. Maybe we could do that at our next meeting. In addition to being calm in a crisis, I’m pretty good at problem solving on the run. That’s a teacher thing I guess. Lugging all Baby Girl’s things to the car was made much harder because she was sitting in her baby sling looking out from my chest. Thank goodness she was a sweet girl. I’m patient but I’d probably have lost it sooner than later if she’d been a screamer. My last act before leaving was to leave my newest window notes complete with maps to the Nixon Library on the main entrance to the hospital and to replace Kevin’s note with one asking people to come to the Nixon Library, complete with a map.
As we neared my car, Charlie stopped suddenly alerting me that something was wrong. I looked where he was looking and didn’t see anything. Instinctively I stepped in front of him thinking there must be a dog around. Of course, Baby Girl was dangling between me and any danger from that direction so my instincts were going to have to become a little more finely tuned. As I was mentally adding the need for guns to my list of things to do and acquire, a child’s voice came from just ahead. Since it was now getting dark, I couldn’t see who was speaking.
“Hi Mister. Can I talk to you?”
“Of course. My name is Bobby and this is Charlie and that’s Jerry.” I didn’t want to introduce the baby as Baby Girl so I ignored her.
“I wanted to come into the room, but there were a lot of people and I was scared. I thought everyone died but me.”
“That’s okay. You’re here with us and you’re safe now. We’re nice people like you.” I wasn’t sure who I was talking to so I was careful not to make things even more frightening for this child. “Do you want to come and talk with Charlie and Jerry and me?”
“Are you leaving?” she asked.
“Not just yet. Would you come and talk to us?” I started to sit down on the grass next to the sidewalk. The boys did the same thing as I did.
The voice belonged to a girl who was about the same age as Jerry. That would be 11 or so. After what she must have been through, it had to have been a bit intimidating to see a tall man with a baby stuck to his chest. Seeing her dark skin and outfit, I understood why it had been so difficult to see her in the shadows. She probably didn’t even realize we couldn’t see her as easily as she had seen us. Jerry met her halfway across the street and took her hand. What a strong young man Jerry was turning out to be.
“It’s okay. He’s our teacher. We call him Mr. Caldwell at school. What’s your name?”
“Chanelle.”
“We’re going to the Nixon Library where it’s safer. Do you want to come?” That was Jerry the strong talking to Chanelle the brave.
By now Chanelle was next to me. I was still sitting so when I held out my hand to her, she took it and sobbed into my side. What horrible things had she seen? How awful to have been alone all this time. I let her cry it out before I said, “We need to leave now. Will you come with us? I’ll be right here with you. We all will.”
Chanelle nodded solemnly and we loaded up in my old car.
The Nixon Library was exactly as I hoped. It’s not an imposing building. It’s quiet and has lots of space both inside and out. I’d been there a couple of times with my class on field trips. I’d also been there a couple of times on my own. It’s seldom busy and always well maintained. It’s shaped like a square horseshoe with a sheltered inner courtyard. I didn’t know how I’d get inside, but I figured if I had to, I could break into one of the back doors or windows and still keep the integrity of the building intact. As it turned out, when I got there, someone was already there ahead of us. I saw a couple of cars in the lot right in front of the building, and I could see there were lights on and several figures inside, one I recognized as Anna. I guessed one of the others was Todd, her brother, but I didn’t know which one. The other three were a mystery. How had they made it here so quickly?
Getting things loaded for Baby Girl and meeting Chanelle must have taken longer than I thought. As it turned out, Todd had quickly gotten the information to and from the forum group that was practically exploding in size as each of the group’s original members found other ways to reach members using everything from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram as well as a myriad of other social connections I’d never heard of. The group liked the searchlight idea as well as the siren patrol. They seemed to be running with all the ideas and were finding meeting places central to their areas. One of their forum group members had some experience with her dad’s HAM radio set and gave them some quick tips including designating a channel for future communications should electrical power go out, something that had already started happening around the country. Several of the groups were already running their laptops on batteries or they had switched to gasoline-powered generators. Additionally, Todd had located several computer-using survivors of various ages in the local area and had invited them to his house and now the Nixon Library while Anna was at the Hillcrest.
As Anna introduced me to Todd and was catching me up with what had taken place at her house, a pickup drove up and parked next to my car out front. Two older men (well, older than I am) got out and began unloading what I soon learned was our very own HAM radio. They carried it inside and Todd directed them to one of the rooms off the hall. I didn’t see them again for the next half hour or so.
Anna introduced me to the three others, two women and another teenage boy. All of the newbies were from the forum group so I asked them if they would begin a research project on the
ir laptops to locate things we might need in the future. My mind was in overdrive now, and all I could think about was planning for the future. I felt under a lot of pressure about electricity. Since I really didn’t know how long it would last, I felt we had to get things done quickly. Right now, we needed information.
As I began rattling off the list of thing we need to know about, one of the women held up a finger signaling me to pause for a moment while she got a pen and pad of paper. I started again on the list: Where could we find a supply of solar cells? Where could we get wind generators? Were there any gun stores in the area? (That raised some eyebrows.) Where were the camping stores and bicycle shops in the area? Where were there seed depositories? Where were all the hospitals? Where were the closest warehouses/distribution centers for Target, Walmart, and all the other department stores?
I asked Anna if we knew where the 911 call center was located. She said Todd would be looking into it as soon as he got his equipment set up again. Figuring I was going to be very busy for a while, I asked her to see about sending someone there to answer the phone if that was possible. She told me not to worry, so, having no choice, I didn’t.
While this had been going on, the searchlight team was back. They had three searchlights along with the original generators as well as a new member of our survival club. They met him as they were pulling out of Hillcrest. We decided to start one of the searchlights up as soon as it was dark enough in the parking lot area farthest away from the main library building. Since it was getting later and later, I suggested we try to put up all three searchlights tonight. I asked them if someone would go over to Cal State Fullerton and put one up for a few hours.
Kevin had just returned in a Fire Department ambulance. He had been out on a siren run to the east of us when he found his first survivor. Sure enough, it was a small boy. I estimated his age at about seven. Kevin had cleaned him up a bit, but it was clear he needed a change of clothes. Kevin had also found something for him to eat. After finding him, cleaning him up a bit, and feeding him, Kevin decided to bring him to the library rather than continue his search.
