Chapter 10

[Janice – In Tucson, Arizona]

We flew into Tucson's primary airport. We landed, one after the other. To my surprise, there were cultivated fields close by! We had noticed from our old information that a military base was part of the field and that it had reasonable general aviation facilities. We expected some green but this was truly cultivated! We pulled up where there were fuel trucks and stopped. Robby went on the radio and we could hear him from the back. He said, "Everyone, get radioed and armed. Janice, come with me. We're going to look at the field. The rest of you fuel us and watch. Pam, you're with Charlie."

My radio was always close along with my holster and rifle. I was out of the plane and ready to go. Robby and I looked around and he led off across to the nearest field. We continued to look around and saw a house in the distance. We could see what looked like a horse and wagon coming our way.

We picked a spot where we could be seen and stood waiting. It was a horse and wagon driven by a man with a woman beside him. They looked to be in their late fifties or early sixties. There was a rifle in a sheath beside him but, other than that, they appeared to have no other arms.

As they came up, we smiled and held our right hands up in greeting. Robby said, "Hello, I'm Robby Cook-Thomas-Sullivan and this is Janice Cook-Thomas-Sullivan. It's good to see someone here."

The man said, "I'm Ray Wallis and this is my wife, Mabel. We farm this area. What brings you people to these parts?"

Robby looked over at me. I said, "We're an exploring party from Preservation located in Georgia. We're on our way to California. Since fuel for the planes is uncertain, we take easy steps. We left El Paso this morning. We have aircraft and power in our community. We have radios for communications and are traveling looking for other survivors and hoping to link our different communities in peace. We have no plans to take anyone over. That's not our way.'

Ray said, "We don't want power or radios. We just want to be left alone."

I said, "That's fine. Then we'll be leaving as soon as we fuel the planes. We don't know if we'll come back this way but, if we do, we will fuel up and leave without disturbing you.

"Have a nice day, Mister Wallis." I turned my back on him and starting walking. Everyone in our group heard the exchange. Bennie had whispered, "Mel is covering you." Robby walked with me.

Wallis said, "That's it! You don't care about us!"

I turned. "Mister Wallis, we care including caring enough to not bother you. You don't want anything we might offer. We will not force anything on you. We came in peace and will leave in peace."

He said, "Man, why don't you speak?"

Robby said, "Our communities practice equality. I agree with Janice and, even if I didn't, I wouldn't argue about it in front of strangers. Anyway, she is an able speaker, whether one on one or before large groups."

We turned and continued to walk. I heard the sound of a horse and wagon being turned around. We returned to our planes, got aboard, and flew on to Phoenix and the Sky Harbor International Airport. I thought the name sounded really neat for an airport. We flew over Phoenix before heading in to land. We saw people and signs of habitation.

Mike mentioned our sightings over the radio. Robby came on saying we will prepare the same as Tucson. We landed without incident and taxied around to fuel trucks. In our travels, we found that a gathering of fuel trucks usually gave us the best chance of finding good fuel. Phoenix was no exception to that rule. Mike and Bennie tested with Herb's help. The other ladies worked with the children. George, with Charlie and Andy, stood watch at the planes.

Three vehicles came tearing into the airport and then moved rapidly toward us. Robby and I waved them down with rifles ready. The trucks all slowed quickly and two stopped while one came toward us at a more sedate pace.

When Robby put up his hand, it stopped about fifty feet away. Two people got out armed only with holstered pistols. They walked toward us with hands open and friendly smiles. This was starting much better than Tucson. It was a man and a woman. When they were about ten feet away, he said, "Hello. Welcome to Phoenix. We're glad to receive guests."

I said, "Thank you. I am Janice Cook-Thomas-Sullivan with one of my husbands, Robby. Our party is from Preservation in Georgia. We're glad to see people who are surviving well."

The woman said, "You fly! We haven't seen a plane flying almost since the Day. I'm Maria Mosley and this is one of my husbands, Blake. My other husband and wife are with our children."

I chuckled. "My other husband is with our other two wives doing the same thing."

I think we were all more at ease now. I said, "Your group allows plural marriage?"

Maria said, "Yes, we do. We're the only four though there are a number of triples."

"Cool! Ours is the same. No four's but we're a five."

Robby said, "Would you tell us some about the situation here?"

Blake said, "Sure. We call our place, the Valley of the Sun and ourselves the Valley People. That's an old tag for Phoenix. We vote on our leadership and rules. We have defended our territory from two different invasions over the years. We haven't had any trouble in about six years. We've never sent a crew to the airport before though. I'm glad that everyone can be friendly."

Robby looked at me. I said, "We are from the communities of Preservation in Georgia and Protection in Tennessee. We also have a couple from the Port Lavaca, Texas, community with us and the recent addition of a family from El Paso as well representing that community.

"All of these communities are democratic. Preservation and Protection are new names to represent new starts in a new world since the Day. Preservation territory now includes most of middle and southern Georgia and a good portion of Alabama and South Carolina. Protection is expanding in Tennessee. Pintlala is located in central Alabama and is expanding westward. Port Lavaca is heading into Houston after defeating some bad people there. The same is true for El Paso as they expand north.

"Preservation's leader is my foster father. He saw that the Day would result in the power grid failing. His new wife at the time was, is, a ham. We developed local hydroelectric power and utilize ham radios for communication. We set up a radio and talk to our homes every night.

"We support local autonomy. Our radios provide a means to communicate, share technologies, and offer one another moral support.

"Protection has two members who were aircraft mechanics before the Day. We have gotten involved in flying. All my spouses can pilot along with many other members of the various communities."

Maria asked, "May we invite the rest of our party up?"

Robby said, "I think that would be fine. Tell them to approach slowly."

Blake said, "You're in contact with the rest of your party, aren't you?"

Robby replied, "Yes, we are wearing ear buds and throat mikes. We use VHF for local communications. I have found that ham radios utilize many different bands of wave lengths with different characteristics."

Blake said, "We have used some CB radios but they don't have much range." He turned and waved. Soon, the other vehicles arrived. For carrying a number of people, SUV's were still a great choice. Everyone got out and shook hands with us. It looked like a friendly, comfortable group. We all walked back to our planes.

As soon as we got there, the questions started. Finally, one man said, "Folks, let's get everyone together tonight and let them tell their story once. Marty, take your crew and make sure the two houses across from the church are cleaned and ready. Jerry, take your crew back and spread the word that we have guests and a town meeting is called for tonight. I'll ride back with Blake and Maria."