Saturday Survival Serial, Volume 3 – Week 11

This is week 11 in volume 3 of the Saturday Survival Serial. To learn more about what the Saturday Survival Serial is, click here. To start at week 1, click here.

Shannon gave one last turn to the bolt that would keep the large water tank in place and stood up, stretching her aching back. She hadn’t had to work this hard in months but it felt good. At the old camp, all she had to do was maintenance for the most part. Here, she was setting up new systems with piecemeal parts gathered from all over the place. She was the main person in charge, with workers under her supervision like it was before IT happened. She both enjoyed feeling normal and hated herself for it, too.

Stepping back, she walked around the tank and rechecked pipes and hoses to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. She’d only been working with these people for two days. They all seemed nice enough but so far, only one of them seemed competent.

Nodding, she turned to Nick and said, “Ok, let’s fire it up and see how far we fly when it all explodes!” Shannon laughed loudly at the concerned expressions she got from the group. “I’m kidding! You know, sarcasm, jokes? You remember those, don’t you?”

Leslie was the first to smile back, replying, “I do, but you never know when you’re supposed to laugh. At least, that’s how it was at our camp before here.”

Shannon’s smile was wiped off her face as she nodded somberly. “Oh yes, I am all too familiar with that myself. That’s why if we have the ability to joke and laugh, even if for two seconds, we should. Time is too precious not to try and have a little fun.” She eyed the others with her and decided to take a risk. “We may not be in the closed in cell of that other camp, but don’t kid yourself – this is just a prettier jail without walls.”

She waited and looked at the others, trying to gauge their reactions. To her relief, the others looked over their shoulders out of habit before turning and agreeing quietly. “I intend on making the best of it, and that means a lot of smart ass comments, insults flung to those I like, and heavy doses of sarcasm. Y’ better get used to it now!” She forced a smile against her pounding heartbeat. If I can get the six of them to go along with us and form a core group, we might have a shot at getting out of here!

She clapped her hands loudly to snap them out of their paranoid trance and said, “Nick! Fire it up! I want a hot shower like a normal human being tonight! How about you?”

Everyone laughed together as Nick turned and dashed off to the control panel. He hovered his finger over the large green button for a moment before pressing it and stepping back quickly. The machine’s engine cycled a couple times before roaring to life. Shannon directed people to stand in certain spots she worried were weak and sent others to walk the pipeline to check for any problems. Having some water in the line was one thing. Water under pressure was another thing altogether.

They went over the water system two more times before she went to the mayor’s office to report the water was running successfully. Before she started building the system, she had sat down with the person deemed the Utilities Manager and sketched out a plan for turning sections of camp on, one at a time.

Tuckert was nice enough but it was plain to see all his training about utilities had come from the military. Obviously career military, he thought, and worked, in those terms. Shannon didn’t really mind, it actually made things easier. She didn’t have to explain in minute detail because he already understood.

He clapped his hands together with a smile and said, “That’s great news! How long do you think it will be before we get some kind of sewer going? We have more people coming in everyday.”

Shannon shrugged and said, “Depends on what I have to work with. I hope there is more of the original set up left over than there was of the water system?” The water system had been set up on the side of this town they had burned.

Tuckert nodded and said, “Actually, yes. I already have a place scouted out and have had tanks and whatnot moved there. A foundation will need to be poured and that will take a couple days. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll want to keep an eye on the water systems as we get grids activated. Plus, there’s this you’ll need to read.” He reached down and picked up a booklet off his desk and handed it to her.

Shannon looked down and read the title. “Code of Conduct, Settlement Camp NM-01-A” It was bound with heavy stock paper used for the cover and was about an inch thick. She looked up at him in wonderment. “Where the hell did they get these printed?”

Tuckert shrugged. “No idea but that’s the military for ya. I was reading it last night and it’s really not so different from the way things were before, except you only get so many passes a month out of camp.”

“What?! Passes out of camp?” Shannon’s expression must have been humorous because Tuckert started laughing and explained.

“Yep! How many days a month is determined by what color your band is. The band represents groups of skilled people and their job description. You are a specialist with a blue band, which means infrastructure. That color band gives you more freedoms that most. You are needed, absolutely vital, to the whole camp.” He gave her a big smile as she just stared, trying to process it all.

“I know it’s a lot of changes to take in all at once, or even over a few days like you have. Take tomorrow afternoon off from the plant and just read the manual. I think you’ll find it’s not all that bad.”

She thanked him and left, manual in hand. Her mind was going in a hundred directions at once. They will let us leave the camp? It’s all just too good to be true!” She felt a moment of panic and conflicting emotions so strongly, she had to stop and take several deep breaths to pull herself together. One thing at a time. Slow and steady with eyes wide open. That is how I will survive all this.

Two hours later and Shannon walked into the Food Commons, looking for her friends. She’d read about the passes and learned that they were for up to 24 hours. Her band color earned two passes a month and would carry over until she had five built up. Of course, you couldn’t take five days in a row. You had to check in before the 24 hours was up and could only take multiple days with special permission. Those who failed to check in after 24 hours were considered deserters but there was nothing about how they would be dealt with.

She saw Joli waving with a huge smile and waved back as she got in line for food. She smiled at a few people who made eye contact and looked around the room. There were less people in there today than the last two and she was curious what the reason was. She wondered if Dale knew.

As she got closer to the front, she noticed a table set up by the stack of trays. Some were handed a piece of paper and stepped out of the line, leaving the room. She watched with interest and noted that not everyone took the paper and left. She asked someone a couple people ahead in line if they knew what was going on. A lady turned to answer.

“Food stocks came in today. Those are ration papers so you can go get your portion and take it home. How long has it been since you cooked your own meal in your own home?” The lady smiled widely, excitement twinkling in her eyes. “Not all the stocks came in though, so they only have so many papers to hand out. I hope I can get one!”

Shannon nodded and thanked the woman. Well, that explains that. There were less people here eating because they were at home, cooking a meal for themselves. She knew Joli hadn’t taken the paper and figured she would wait, too, declining when it was offered.

“We should have full stores in a few days and then everyone will be able to do their shopping,” said the lady behind the table.

After getting her food, she beelined toward her friends, only to stop short when she saw Edgar sitting down, laughing at something Dale had said.

“Where the hell have you been?” She demanded with a smile.

Edgar turned to her and smiled back, “Fixing every damned machine with more than two moving parts in this place. Where have you been?”

Shannon laughed and said, “Getting your water running, Sir. Just came up today. By this time tomorrow, with a little luck, every building hooked up to the lines should have water flowing. Be a week or so before the toilets work though.” She noticed his band was green which meant transportation and machinery.

Greywater was easy to deal with. It was human waste that was another matter entirely. They had opened the lines for greywater drainage that went into a large drain field on the edge of camp. People could shower and do dishes now but still had to use the construction site styled outhouses a while longer.

They caught up while eating. Shannon learned that Edgar had been getting generators functioning, vehicles running, and had even worked on a helicopter that was located “about 15 minutes East of here.” That surprised her and asked if it was running, only to laugh at his expression at being asked such a thing.

“Is it running? Are you kidding? I worked on it, of course it’s running!” Their laughter was loud and genuine. Shannon let the sound and feeling seep into her and remind her of why it was worth fighting to be free. It strengthened her resolve to get out of there.

“You guys want to come over and see where Joli and I are living? It’s nice out and I could use a walk.” She eyed them, silently telling them she wanted to talk where it was more private. They all nodded and got up, cleaning off their trays.

Once outside and away from the building, Shannon asked them if they’d gotten their Code of Conduct books. Each one of them had. Dale held up his wrist, showing his band color had changed from the dark blue to yellow. Yellow bands were for operations and communication. She’d read that purple bands were for all medical staff, red was worn by those who did various things such as janitorial, cooking, etc. It was all simple and yet complicated.

“Did you see the thing about passes? I couldn’t believe it! It’s like a twisted, nazi version of paid time off. Except of course, we aren’t getting paid.”

Joli made a noise. “We are, just not in money to buy stuff. I talked with that couple that lives across the street earlier. They opted to get their food and said it was just like shopping at the grocery store. A cart, food on shelves, your list of what you can get. The only difference is there’s no money, the bags are all cloth and you have to bring them with you or hand carry your stuff home. Oh, and you’ll have to report in what you have left over when you go to get your next ration papers.”

They took that information in. Edgar asked, “That won’t last long. Even if they had taken over all the warehouses across the country, a lot would already be looted out, gone bad, or burned up. Eventually they will run out. Then what?”

Dale replied, “I know there’s supposed to be some chickens and a couple cows delivered tomorrow. There’s also rumors of some goats. Milk, cheese, eggs, meat, butter. They need to get a bunch of pigs. I would kill for some bacon.”

“I sure am thankful you’re on my side. All the information you get being in comms will be helpful.” Shannon dropped her voice a little. “I want to have some dinners at each other’s places, if it’s safe, so we can really talk. You all OK with that?” Everyone nodded. Dale caught Shannon’s eye and grinned.

“What’re you grinning about? Yeah, I said I was grateful, so what?” Dale laughed and shook his head.

“While that is music to my ears, that’s not why I’m smiling.”

They stopped in front of the duplex Shannon and Joli lived in. “Well? You gonna make me play 20 questions?”

Dale laughed again and opened his arms to hug her. Before he let go, he whispered in her ear, “You think that’s good, I got my hands on a hand crank two way radio!”

*************

Jessica was sitting at the radio, flipping through frequencies, listening in with only half an ear. There was the usual static here and there, a lively conversation about fixing an axle somewhere in Nebraska, and a lot of silence. She was distracted about not hearing from North Camp, all the information going on about the United Nation’s activities, and worries about their food situation. With the harsh winter and increased hunting, it was possible that meat would be hard to get. They needed to increase their chicken flock but there was the worry about feeding them to get good egg production. It all just goes around and around.

On top of all that, the death of Ms. Emmie had hit everyone hard. She was the whole camp’s grandma for the most part. An encouraging word could make someone exceed their own expectations, her wisdom and experience in living through the later part of the depression was priceless, and a single look of disapproval was enough to keep the children under control. Ryan was improving some but still weak, Kimberly’s fever was still off and on. Holly was exhausted and Shirley wasn’t much better.

She flipped the knobs with practiced ease when she heard something that made her sit up and flip backward.

“This message is to all remaining survivors of the global catastrophe that has claimed the lives of over 4 billion confirmed dead. The United Nations has set up numerous camps all over the North American continent. Everyone is encouraged and welcome to approach these camps where you will be provided housing, clothing, food, and work to help rebuild and persevere.

In exchange, your skills and efforts are needed to help rebuild, persevere, and prosper. You will be protected from tyranny and those who would turn the remainder of humanity into a mob of anarchist barbarians. Do not lose your civility, your humanity! Current locations of camps in North America are….”

Jessica was writing furiously and didn’t hear the door to the Comm Shack open. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing! It certainly didn’t sound like a military message, the language used wasn’t right. As the message repeated itself, she realized that she could hear the broadcast both in and outside the headphones and finally turned, seeing Tyler standing there with a small radio in his hand and a “wow” expression on his face.

“Well that’s certainly just putting it out there. I have to wonder though. Those who’ve dealt with the U.N. before learned to run away quickly. You’d think it’d be hard to turn the tide on that one, get people to see them as helpers instead of the biggest bullies on the block.”

Jessica shook her head. “Whoever is at the helm of all this knows their psychology. People who are still alive and not in a camp or group like ours – which is rare, you can be sure of that – will be paper thin, starving, and barely holding on. I can’t really blame them for going to the camps either. The will to survive is pretty strong.”

She was about to get up and take the information to Jimmy when they heard shouts outside. They moved quickly and when the opened the door, saw a large group of people coming down the trail from North Camp. She saw Russell and knew these people were from North Camp. If they were here, something really bad happened.

She asked Tyler to get Jimmy and moved toward the group, spotting Al and Sarah.

“What happened? Is everyone OK?” She noted how ragged everyone looked, and sad.

Al looked at her and around at everyone gathered there. “North Camp is gone. Flooded out. We lost some there, then more trying to cross a bridge. There are only 19 of us left.”

Jessica gasped, covering her mouth and feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. Jimmy came running up with Tyler, RR, and others. He took one look at the people from North Camp and started giving out instructions on getting warm clothing, more food put on, and places for people to sleep made up.

“Come on, Al. You look like hell and it’s warmer inside The Hall. You can tell me all about it there but how about we get some food in everyone first, OK?” Al nodded silently, the lump in his throat making it impossible to talk.

Once everyone was settled in and eating a hot vegetable soup, Al filled Jimmy and the others in on what happened. Amie came in with the twins, which Austin was immediately drawn to. He watched over them and his brother Leo while the adults talked.

“Well you know we will do whatever we can, Al. It’ll be tight but we can manage. One thing though, we’ve had some sickness so your people will need to avoid that side of camp until people pull through. It’s a nasty one. Took Ms. Emmie. We have to let it run its course since we are so low on meds.”

Sarah cleared her throat to get their attention and smiled widely. “I think I can help with that.” She opened her dive bag and pulled out two large bottles of pills. “This one is penicillin and the other is amoxicillin. I’ve also got doxycycline and a couple others.” She pulled out a small book, too. “This has notes on when to use, and when, and what doses depending on age. I’m sure Holly knows all of it already but-” she was cut off.

“Of course I know it all already. What are we talking about?” Holly smiled as she walked up.

Sarah tossed a bottle to her and said, “How to use that.”

Holly looked down at the bottle and said, “Fish medication? Why would I-” She gasped loudly and exclaimed, “Azithromycin! Wherever did you get this?!” She saw the other large white bottles and stepped up to the table, jostling her way closer.

Sarah pushed all the bottles and the book to Holly and said, “It’s all yours. I heard you have some sick people who might feel a little better with those.”
Holly was speechless, arms now full of the life saving medication. She thanked Sarah and Al before practically running out of The Hall to get treat her patients. There were a few chuckles before Jimmy said, “I’m sorry you lost your home, Al. Well, all of you. We will make it work, like I said and thank you so much for the medication. There is no doubt you saved lives today.” He felt humbled. Here these people were who had no home and still, they gave what they had.

Sarah smiled again and said, “Oh, there’s more. We have seeds, other medical supplies…”

Jessica took it all in and thought to herself, Funny how things work out. Just this morning it was all doom and gloom and now, there is hope on the horizon. When most of the excitement had died down some, she filled everyone in on the U.N. message. It didn’t really surprise anyone: they kind of expected it, just didn’t know when it would go out. They still had to get people chosen to head south to infiltrate and with all of North Camp here, there was no way they would be sending anyone.

Clothing had been found for everyone and places to sleep. Several of the people from North Camp had something to sleep in or on already but were thankful for the extra padding or blanket nonetheless. Sarah had already gone to bed in one of the little cabins that had been cleared for them with the kids.

Al and Jimmy stayed up late, talking in The Hall. Al looked around and his eyes fell on the cured bear hide that hung on the wall. He pointed, “Is that the one that got Ryan?”

Jimmy nodded. “Yup. I think I still have some smoked bear meat if you’d like some. I gave most of it to the camp kitchen to be added to whatever.”

Al laughed suddenly and couldn’t stop himself. He tried to be quiet but it wouldn’t be contained. Jimmy watched him with concern, wondering if the man had been pushed a little too far. “Umm… Al? You feeling alright?”

Al laughed all the harder for a moment before trying to answer. “It just… the bear hide on the wall…remem…remember the first night I met you and that bear was on the porch?” Al lost it again at the memory and Jimmy joined in, recalling it clearly.

It wasn’t long after IT happened and Jimmy had managed to make it to his cabin. Al, Sarah, and Austin had come across his place while on the way to theirs. He’d let them sleep inside and had been woken to the sound of noises on the porch. When Jimmy had moved the curtain aside, a bear’s eye was almost pressed against the glass, right in Jimmy’s face. He’d back pedaled so fast and hollered so loud, the bear had taken off at full speed.

After they had caught their breath, they shook hands and headed off to sleep. The next day was going to be a busy one with lots of adjustments to be made.

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