Chapter 14

[Preservation – Janice]

"My name is Molly Malone." I smiled. "Yes, I know that it sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Anyway, I had just finished nursing school and my exams. Two days before the Florida explosion that you call the Day, I received my license. I had a job to start in a week at a new hospital. Two days after the Day, I received a call from my new employer asking if I could start early because they were swamped and having trouble. I got in my old car and rode over there. I lived in Columbia and that was the location of the hospital. I pulled into employee parking and went inside. I was immediately pressed into service by the emergency room nursing supervisor. She said, "We are being inundated with people showing flu symptoms. I need you to help get them situated and as comfortable as possible. There's not much we can do but let's do that. Mask and gloves. We don't know how this is going to go and I am not optimistic.' I did as she told me and started working the crowded emergency room. This continued without pause for another two days. Then, we started to lose patients. No one was getting over it.

"Kathy, the supervisor, had caught it and I became the supervisor because I was the only RN who was healthy. There were few nurses or doctors who were healthy. Kathy died three days later. I still hadn't shown any signs of sickness. People were dying faster than new ones were coming in. Actually, the hospital was starting to empty as the dead bodies were carried away.

"Then, the hearses quit coming but people continued to die. There were two other people in the hospital who, like me, were not sick. When the morgue was full, we started to put the bodies in rooms at a corner of the hospital and just worked our way along. There wasn't anything that could be done. There had been a few other healthy people but they had families and went to be with them.

"Finally, it was just the three of us. All the patients were dead. With me were Rob, a nursing assistant, aged about forty and divorced and another RN, Betty. She was in her late thirties and also divorced for a number of years with no children. We stayed together since none of us had anywhere to go. We ate in the cafeteria until its food ran out.

"That brought us to a crossroads. We would have to go outside and were not sure what we would find. The TV sets played a repeating tape on all the stations we could get and there was no new news. We talked about it over our last meal in the cafeteria and decided that we would have to go out in the morning to find food and, hopefully, other people.

"We weren't prepared emotionally for what we found. There just weren't any people. We had some coffee but stopped at the first restaurant we found and made some breakfast for ourselves. As we ate, we expressed how shocked we were that there just weren't any people. It was hard to believe it until you experienced it. We decided to go to our homes and meet in the afternoon back at the hospital and make some plans.

I got in my little car and drove to my apartment. My roommate was gone. She had left a note that she was going to see her guy. It wasn't dated. I checked the answering machine and listened to the messages. She had called twice; once to say that both were sick and a second time that they were feeling really bad. I hadn't any contact with my parents since graduating from high school. I was an only child of fundamentalist parents. When I decided upon a career in nursing, they were enraged and refused all contact with me. I had had a casual boy friend and he had called saying he was sick but was wishing me well in my new job. He said he wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate my success with my license and my job. There were a couple of other calls and the machine picked up but no messages were left.

"I decided to pack some clothes and check on my roommate and my boy friend. I was not real close to either one but they were friends. I left the apartment leaving a dated note about where I was going. I went to my boyfriend's apartment first. He was there as was his roommate but both were dead. There was nothing to do so I left for my roommate's guy's apartment. She and he were both dead, also. I left and headed back for the hospital.

"Betty was there when I returned. She had packed a suitcase and changed clothes. We agreed that those outfits weren't going to be worn again. We waited for Rob the rest of the day but he didn't show up. We went to the same little restaurant and cooked a meal and talked. Looking at the food, we figured we could stay for a week without food issues. The hospital had plenty of beds and shower facilities. Rob didn't have a cell phone nor did I. We didn't have a number or location so all we could do was wait and hope he showed up. We decided to give him two days and would leave on the third day though didn't know where we would go. We never saw Rob again. By the third day, we wanted to leave. Betty and I talked it over and decided to go to Hilton Head and enjoy the beaches. It was just warm enough.

"We got outside and looked at our two cars. We then decided to find something else to drive. Leaving a note at the hospital for Rob, we left and rode in Betty's car to a dealership. We talked about getting a convertible or something sporty but, in the end, decided a SUV would be our best bet. We found a new Ford Explorer and took it. We filled up at the nearest gas station and left for Hilton Head.

"We stayed at one of the finest hotels. The room was fine but the service, of course, didn't exist. We saw no one. We stayed there through the summer. Both of us had great tans and firmed up our figures by running on the sand and swimming in the ocean everyday. In September, we decided that long-term plans needed to be made and were having trouble finding food without living out of cans. Fresh food was gone. We pulled out a few days after Labor Day headed back to Columbia.

"When we got there, we went to the hospital. Rob hadn't been there. I never did find out what happened to him. We talked about moving out of the hospital and finding a house out of town. Betty's parents had been farmers so she knew something about farming. We knew that almost no one was left not having seen anyone for months and not much sign of people in Columbia. It was lonely. Betty and I talked about looking for people or setting up a place and waiting to be found.

"Finally, we decided to do both. We wanted a base other than the hospital and a farm with crop growing capacity fit Betty's desires. I agreed that we needed a base but felt that we also needed more people for a viable community. We started riding around Columbia's suburbs looking for a good place. It took a while but we finally found a farmhouse on the outskirts of town and fronting a main highway. We would be able to plant a crop of vegetables along with corn for starches. We moved in and cleaned it up and did a little maintenance getting it ready for winter. We then went out to gather seeds for next spring. It was while we were doing that chore that we met our first group.

"Ted, Al, Larry, and Marsha were all about thirty and had found each other after the sickness wiped everyone out. We were northwest of Columbia and they had all lived to the west close to Oak Grove. We met at a Tractor Supply store where we had just finished and were going to the Lowe's. They had come from Lowe's and were now at Tractor Supply. It was a great meeting. The six of us hadn't seen anyone in months. We went to a McDonald's' and, after breaking in, had cokes and talked.

"I think Marsha was particularly happy to have some female company added to the mix. As we sat, we talked about where we were living and our plans for the future. We made up three couples but I didn't know if any of us would become real couples. Only time would tell.

"The guys had helped us load up. We left for Lowe's as they went back to Tractor Supply for their shopping. We exchanged cell phone numbers so we could be in contact. I felt that more contact was likely. Betty and I talked about them in the SUV on the way to Lowe's. Betty made a comment that I would remember later. She said that it was good they were friendly because we were not armed."

By this time, Bob had returned with horses. We mounted and headed for Preservation. We arrived just in time for supper, which was waiting thanks to a call on the radio. Bob and Molly were both impressed with the ease of communication. Bob said, "Cell phones didn't work in Atlanta and we couldn't call back and forth."

"We know. Poppa had the cell towers shut down. We use these radios and it works for us. Molly, please continue with your story."