The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  After a minute of silence Charlotte said, “James was my husband.” Andy could hear the pain in her voice and was sorry he had raised the issue.

  But still he said, “Charlotte my brother’s name was George and his girlfriends name was Maiya. I think they spent their last night in Atlanta with you and James, and they left in James’ truck.”

  “Oh my goodness Andy, I can’t believe I’m talking with someone who actually knew them, and knew what special people they were. They called James and I every day until the end. I was so happy they found each other.”

  “I was too. They were happy with each other all the way to the end. The only thing they were ever sorry for was that it took so long. They were both extraordinarily pleased that I was a survivor. It was more touching than I could explain.”

  “I know what you mean. This means you were the one who drove the truck during the shootout. They were both very proud of you when they told us the story.”

  Andy had to smile, “Actually I was proud of the three of us as well, but more scared that I could believe.”

  “I’m glad we got a chance to talk alone so this could come out. I’ll be here to help you, anytime you need me you let me know.”

  They talked for a while longer and then promised to talk again frequently. Andy now better understood why George and Maiya had talked so highly of James and Charlotte.

  He had talked again with Charlotte on Monday, and explained some of what he had been going though, and what Ken had done to him during the last meeting. She was the one that had advised him to turn the tables on Ken. She assured him that if things didn’t work out in his favor she would welcome him to her group.

  He called her now to talk through this new problem. When she answered he said hi and told her exactly what he had heard and what he was planning to do. He was afraid it wasn’t enough, but he couldn’t convince himself to go beyond it.

  She assured him he was thinking the right way. He couldn’t stop a group of people from moving on, and he had no way to know what they had in mind. If people wanted to go off and drink themselves to death that was their prerogative, and she was sure they wouldn’t be the only ones who wanted to live and die like that. She did agree however that he needed to talk to Sam.

  He called Sam next and explained the problem. She asked him to wait by his phone for a minute while she gathered her senior folks; she wanted Andy to share this with them.

  While she was gone Andy thought how nice it would be to have a senior staff he could trust like that.

  Sam came back and told him that he was on speaker and that she had been joined by her deputy and the head of their militia. Andy thought, the head of the militia, how in the world did they get so organized so quickly.

  He said, “Hi, I wanted to call and warn you about a conversation I overheard last night. I won’t go into the circumstances but here’s how the conversation went….”

  When he finished with the explanation he said, “I don’t think I have any grounds to keep them from leaving, and to tell you the truth I don’t think I have the means to stop them if I wanted to. We are still really disorganized here.”

  Noah said, “Thanks Andy. I think all of us here agree that you really can’t do much on your end. But I want to ensure you that your phone call will make a huge difference to us as we prepare our defenses. We all thank you for that courtesy.”

  Andy sat back and wondered why he felt frustrated after having taken a positive step. But he knew that he wanted to do more than make a phone call. He wanted to be able to stop that group from moving on and doing harm. But how could he? He didn’t know for sure they were going to do harm to anyone but only that they had talked about it. And he had even heard them say they might not even make to the other camp. They could choose to settle anywhere.

  The only thing he could think to do would be to break in to Sandy’s RV and see if he could retrieve any of the email, and that would only help if the emails proved that Sandy had agree to wrongdoing, which wasn’t likely.

  He decided to leave it alone before it drove him crazy. He called the Southern California group next, looking for an update. He got through to Padraig, the group leader, on the first try.

  They talked for about organizational difficulties and Padraig told Andy that his group looked like they were going to split into a number of smaller groups. A group this size seemed to result in anarchy, simple because they could never decide on a single issue without days of discussion and argument. Even the simplest issues seem to be controversial.

  Padraig continued, “I’m going to take a group to Pacheco State Park. They have a wind farm there and the park is adjacent to the San Louis Pump Generating Plant. It’s a Pumped Storage Plant and should give us both power and water for irrigation for years to come. The plant has eight generators which operate independent from each other. Which means that we only have to keep one operating to meet our needs. That also means that we can use each one until it quits on us, and then we’ll move to the next one. We could have electricity for a long time.

  “The wind farms nearby produce enough electricity for about thirty five hundred families, so between the two of them we should be set for the foreseeable future. We have two Hydro Engineers in our big group and I’m hoping one of them comes with us to Pacheco.

  “Of course power and water are our primary sources of controversy here. We’ve located ourselves in the Imperial Valley. Most of us thought that would be worthwhile for a lot of reasons. We could grow anything we wanted to; it’s close enough to San Diego so we could move to the coast in the future, and we wouldn’t have to worry about snow and cold in the winter.

  “To the surprise of a lot of the group, the Imperial Valley is serious desert, and there’s very little natural water here. The big lake people saw on the maps is the Salton Sea, which is a large salt water lake.

  “There are apparently thousands of miles of irrigation lines, pipes and canals that move water from the Colorado River to the Imperial Valley. By the way, some of those canals take water from the Colorado and move it to you in Phoenix.

  “The engineers tell us we don’t have nearly enough people to maintain an irrigation system that large. And if we have a dam collapse near the Colorado, water to us could slow to a trickle overnight.

  “So I’m moving to a smaller irrigation system and more secure water and power. We formed a committee to come up with workable locations, but I had done my own research and announced that I was willing to locate a group in the Diablo Range in the Central Valley. It gets chilly there in the winter, but it doesn’t snow, and it’s close to the ocean as well.”

  Andy responded, “That sounds well thought out to me. Tell me, what size group are you hoping for?”

  “From my experience here I’d like to keep my group to a hundred or less, although I’ll probably be okay up to one hundred fifty if need be.”

  “Maybe that’s our problem here in Phoenix; the group is just too large. We can’t seem to get agreement on anything.”

  “Yeah I know that feeling. Well, if you get tired of Phoenix you’re always welcome to join me in the central valley of California.”

  “Thanks Padraig, take care.”

  Andy hung up and spent some time thinking about breaking the group into two parts and organizing smaller groups. The idea surely had merit.

  Next he called Dale, the head of the Alaska group, and when he didn’t answer Andy called Marci, Dale’s deputy.

  This was a short conversation, Marci confirmed that they were snowed in, but that they were all used to winter semi-hibernation. She confirmed that about half of their group had never registered on the web site, and that they weren’t even sure where everyone was from. A number of languages were being spoken and while she recognized Russian and Inuit, there were others.

  Many of the Inuit’s and Yupik’s were abandoning the RVs and setting out on the ice in dog sleds. It was evident they weren’t looking for life on easy street.

  After finishing his con
versation with Marci he called Charlotte to let her know about his talk with Sam.

  Charlotte said, “Andy, that’s all you can do. You can’t shoot people for talking you know.”

  “Yeah I know that, I’m just a little sorry about it is all.”

  Charlotte laughed and added, “On the positive side Jack has finally come to grips with the fact that he’s a survivor, although he has been procrastinating badly about sending an email to everyone letting them know the good news. Actually I think the problem is that he doesn’t consider it good news.”

  “I know what he means, and so do you. It’s hard to consider yourself lucky when you look around at the total devastation. I think I’m always going to feel a little guilty about being a survivor.

  Andy continued, “What do you think Sam and her folks will do. Do you know they founded a militia? Holy cow, how did they get that organized?”

  “Yes I knew about the militia, Sam and I talk every day, and they got organized because the entire group realized early on that their life was liable to depend on getting organized for the winter.”

  “As to what they’ll do, I’m not at all sure. But to tell you the truth if I had to put money on anyone in an upcoming fight, I’d put it on those folks in the park.”

  Andy said, “I agree with that. But to change the subject, what’s Jack going to do now?”

  “I wish I knew. On Monday he told me no matter what happened I should plan on taking over the TRV group. But when I pressed him he just said he hadn’t decided yet. I don’t know him well yet, but I certainly trust him. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “How are you doing on getting your group organized?”

  “Pretty good actually, Jack took a group of veterans into Knoxville for some equipment we needed. They went to a National Guard Armory first and got what Jack referred to as Mop Gear for everyone. That’s some kind of chemical warfare suit with a full head and face mask. They all dressed in their mop gear and got on the bus Jack had picked up for the trip.

  “Jack and a group of them took out the seats on one side of the bus so they’d have plenty of room to get out of and store the mop gear when the time came. They apparently also picked up quite a bit of other equipment at the armory.

  “I asked Jack why they needed the mop gear and he explained how bad the cities would be with all of the unburied bodies lying around. It’s really hard for me to picture, but he has to be right about it. So he wanted to make sure that his group was as protected as they could be.

  “So, in the sense that we have twenty veterans doing things secretly, we have a militia. I’d worry about a coup except that the group belongs to Jack anyway.”

  Andy laughed and said, “A coup would be strange anyway. You have to be crazy to want to lead one of these groups.”

  Charlotte didn’t laugh when she said, “Andy, power does strange things to men. Some of them are crazy in the sense that they would do almost anything to be in a position of power. Remember the gun battle you were in. Those men were trying to exert their power over you, and others.

  “You have men in your group who are only a couple of steps from being willing to use violence as a means of securing a powerful position for themselves. Until you move your group forward to the point that everyone understands the need for, and truly agrees with a non-violent method of changing group leaders, you have to stay on your guard.

  “Andy, I’m sure that’s the reason that Sam agreed to a short tour as leader, because the group didn’t vote for her. The rest of us have all used one year as the limit to our terms. Anyone who wants to work towards defeating me in the next election is welcome to do so. Anything is better than violence as a means of determining who should rule.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine: The Yellowstone Militia

  Wednesday Evening: Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming

  Sam and her senior staff had been discussing the defense plans for their group since Andy had called. They had now moved to what Sam considered the heart of the matter.

  Danny still wanted to return to what they had been calling ‘Turner’s Saloon’. Sam was convinced that had become too dangerous.

  She now said, “Danny, whoever the insider is, he or she knows you have been here. It just won’t work for you to return. I’m sure Turner will know you’ve been with us. I don’t know what they’ll do to you, but I don’t think it will be kind.”

  Danny smiled and said, “Sam, I think you’re right about Turner probably knowing that I’ve been here. I have been thinking about how to do this and I have a plan I’d like to share with the group.”

  Noah was afraid Sam was going to say no too quickly so he said, “Danny, we’d like to hear your plan, but make it good, I’m skeptical.”

  Danny said, “Thanks Noah”, while Noah intentionally avoided the fiery look Sam was giving him.

  “My plan requires a few assumptions. One is that the insider isn’t also a member of the militia. If we can’t make that assumption, the plan becomes too dangerous.”

  Colonel Green spoke up, “Danny, I feel from a professional stand point that all those men and women are as loyal as you and I. The problem is that I can’t guarantee it.”

  “I know Colonel. I’ve appraised everyone in the group and I agree with your assessment. Let’s press forward accepting the premise that the militia is loyal, but holding the final decision in reserve.”

  “The next assumption is that I can explain to Turner and his group everything we’ve done, without hurting our defensive posture.”

  The Colonel said, “I think that’s 75% true. Some of what we’ve done I’d consider quite sensitive and potential harmful if an enemy was aware of it.”

  “How about we eliminate everything you and I have done with just the two of us. How does that look.”

  “It looks pretty good. We’ve restricted those sensitive things to the two of us just to be sure we avoided the insider.”

  “Right, which means that unless one of us is the insider we should be okay with me talking openly.”

  “I agree with that. All we’ve done as a group is organize, start to train, close the camp at night, and put out guards. If Turner knew that he might change his mind about attacking us, so I have no qualms about you talking to him about our progress.”

  “Good. So I now go to Turner with really solid intelligence about this camp. And I tell him that I’ve looked at both sides and I think he has the better idea of how to live in the new world. And I tell him that I believe I can now move in and out of the park without anyone suspecting I’m working with him.

  “He’s going to ask me where you think I’ve gone and I’ll tell him that I’m on a scouting run. That I find it hard to stay in one place for too long, and with the snowplow on the front of my RV I can go anywhere except into the mountains, so I’m out looking at the world. That’s actually what I was planning on doing anyway, until I diverted here.

  “I’ll stop by Turner’s Saloon and then go on my scouting run. Maybe I’ll call him from a couple of distant cities, so his cell phone will show an inbound call from Minneapolis, or Salt Lake City.”

  Sam asked, “But what good will that do? If you check in with him and then leave, what can you accomplish?”

  “That’s where the loyalty of the militia comes in. I’d like my partner to stay behind when I go on my scouting run.’

  Sam was looking at him openmouthed, “What partner, what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about my Coup De Theatre. This will work if I can find a female partner to go with me and spend maybe a week alone with Turner’s group.

  “I can assure you, and her, that I’ll put the fear of God in Turner’s group about her being my girl and I’ll take out anyone who touches her while I’m gone. The problem is that I can’t guarantee she’ll be safe. I need someone who can also look after herself.

  “Sam, it can’t be you so don’t even think that. Turner will recognize you of course.”

  Sam said, “Well, where are you going t
o find this super woman who won’t mind risking her life for us, and who can take on an Army by herself after you desert her.”

  Danny winced, “Sam, I’m not going to desert anyone. But if I do this right I’ll have to leave for at least five, six, seven days. I don’t see how I can be convincing otherwise.”

  “You can stay at Turner’s Saloon the entire time.”

  “Not if I want him to trust me I can’t. He is one of those men who see women as toys, not serious players. Unfortunately there are enough women who want to be treated as toys out there, so that men like Turner can ignore people like you Sam. Turner would never believe that a woman, especially a woman who dressed like and acted like a toy, could be a serious adversary.

  “He would believe that such a woman would be loyal to me. I’d have to explain that I needed to make the scouting run as I promised, and that she didn’t want to be bored while stuck in the RV for a week. I’d ask him personally to keep his eye on her while I was gone. And I would ask her to stay as close to him as she could during the time I was gone.”

  “What makes you think he would protect her while you were gone?”

  “I know how that kind of man thinks. He’ll play the protector for the right reason. The right reason is that I’d take a gift to him. Maybe a couple of RPGs, although that might be too dangerous.

  Sam looked up and said, “RPGs?”

  “Rocket Propelled Grenades.”

  “Oh great, now were going to help arm him. Have you gone totally crazy?”

  With a lopsided grin Danny said, “Actually I think I’ve always been that way, so I think the answer to your question is no, although in a roundabout way you could say the answer is yes.”

  “Danny, this isn’t the time to be cute. What else?”

  “I need to make a substantial gift of some kind to him. If I used RPGs I’d first take out about 65% of the explosives, so while they wouldn’t be totally safe, they would not perform as expected.

  “Next I’d have to start a fight with a couple of the biggest and meanest guys in his group. Men like Turner understand strength, even if he is a bully. And by the way, I’m not convinced he’s just a bully. He might actually be a tough guy.