Chapter 13

"Actually Leslie and I found each other first," Marie said. "I was living with my boyfriend in one of the suburbs of Boston when IT happened. Jim came down with the virus almost immediately. He was also one of the first to die. When his symptoms started getting bad, I got him to the hospital. It wasn't even that crowded when I took him in." Marie looked at her spouses and Leslie took her hand.

"Over the next three days I watched the hospital go from what I had always imagined one would be like to a complete madhouse. When Jim finally died, the halls were full of patients on beds, gurneys, stretchers, or just lying on the floor. I was with him when he died. I managed to get a nurse's attention and told her, but she just said she'd make sure someone took care of the body and hurried off.

"I sat with the body for hours, but no one came to take it away. One of the other people in the room died before I finally made my way out of the hospital. I didn't know where else to go so I went back to our apartment. When I turned on the television for some company, I began to realize how widespread the disaster was.

"Most of the TV stations weren't even broadcasting. The ones that were had gone to an 'All News' format. I watched the news and began to wonder when I was going to die. By that time I don't think I even cared.

Leslie took up the story at that point. "It was a little over a week after the missiles hit that I saw Marie for the first time. By then more people were dead than were left alive. The power was off and most of the people who were left were scrounging for food. The really stupid thing was, I saw people carrying off television sets and stereos.

"Marie was in a grocery store stocking up on canned foods. That's why I was there as well. We talked for a few minutes. She told me about her boyfriend dying and I told her about watching my parents pass away. We both agreed we were probably going to die as well. We ended up going our separate ways.

"We met again about two weeks after IT happened. By then almost everyone was dead. I hadn't seen another living soul in a couple of days and when I saw Marie, I lost it. I burst out crying and so did she. We ended up hugging and crying on each other's shoulders for ages. When we finally managed to calm down, we decided to stay together."

"Neither one of us had been thinking of the future," Marie said. "We were just kind of surviving from day to day, waiting to see what was going to happen. We went back to my apartment because it was closer. We cuddled together that night and talked most of the night. We came to the conclusion we should get out of the city.

"The next day, we got in my car and drove out into the country. We still saw a lot of bodies lying around, but the stench wasn't as bad. We drove until we came to a small town and raided the grocery store. My father had been into camping and I knew a little about it, so we found a sporting goods store and got ourselves a camp stove. We had our first hot meal that afternoon since the power had gone off.

"We found an empty house not far from town and set up housekeeping. Neither of us had the slightest idea how to get gasoline out of a pump when there was no electricity, so we stuck close to home. We did put a big sign up out front that said 'People Here' with an arrow pointing toward the house."

"By the time Cindy showed up three days later, Marie and I had become lovers," Leslie said. "We had just heated up some beef stew for lunch when we heard a car pull into the driveway. We totally forgot about our meal as we ran out to see who had seen our sign."

"They were a sight for sore eyes," Cindy said. "I was out of the car and we were all sobbing in each other's arms before the dust settled. They led me inside and fed me stew while we all talked over each other.

"We ended up with all of us in the same bed that night. We cuddled and talked, just enjoying human contact. It was a couple of days later when we saw this huge RV pull into the driveway. Before we could even get outside, this extremely handsome guy had gotten out and was walking toward the house."

"Don't let that go to your head, Big Boy," Marie said. "We figured out later that we only thought you were handsome because we thought you were the last man on earth."

All three women giggled and Jack beamed. He knew what they thought of him and he knew how he felt about them.

The other new people were three women in a group. As I was talking to Sergeant Friday and the three stooges I noticed the three women might be drifting away, so I asked Tina and Syl to go over and talk with them until I could meet them.

I found out that Jack had been a mason. He claimed to be very good with concrete blocks, brick, and stone. Leslie had been the personal assistant to the president of a large company. Marie had been an account rep in an advertising company and Cindy had been a photographer. All of them seemed nice and I was sure that if they didn't show signs of abuse when they had their physical, we'd ask them to join us.

The three women Tina and Syl were talking to were a diverse group. Ruth Ann Green was a short, maybe 5' 0", redhead; Doris Gifford was a tall, 5' 10", willowy blond; and Betty French was a 5' 6" brunette. Although the three women were together, they were not lovers.

"Hell, honey, with no men around, I was thinking about becoming a muff diver. We hadn't even seen any men until we pulled in here today," Doris told me in a loud brassy voice.

"Muff diving is one of Ed's favorite sports," Syl kidded. "I'm kind of partial to it myself."

"Never tried it, Honey. I don't like living without a little recreation though, if you know what I mean."

"Well, Ed here is pretty much taken," Tina said defensively. "He has six wives already."

Doris's eyes got big. "He takes care of six wives?"

"Don't let that impress you, Doris. We resort to a lot of muff diving too," Syl said.

"Enough of this," I said, feeling a little embarrassed. "What did you do before IT happened, Doris?"

"I was a plumber," she said. "I had my own business with twenty people working for me."

"How about you, Ruth? What did you do?" I asked.

"I was a receptionist in a doctor's office. I was married and had two kids. All of them came down with IT."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ruth. Tina here was only sixteen at the time and she had to watch her mother, father, and little sister come down with IT. What did you do, Betty?"

"I was a Navy pilot. Carrier based. I was on leave when IT happened."

"That's great. We have several pilots in our group and one aircraft mechanic. Did you ever fly helicopters?"

"No, fixed wing only. I do have a private pilots license for small planes as well as the jets."

"I'm sure we're going to be able to make good use of your talents. California still has electricity so we're going to make a run out there to see if we can stock up on frozen foods before it goes off."

"That sounds like fun. I have had a little experience with cargo planes. I had a friend who flew them for the air force and he gave me some stick time on them."

"Very good. Our helicopter pilot, Rob, will be flying in later today or tomorrow. He says he flies fixed wing also. You two should have a lot in common. He was army before IT."

"So, you're putting up a town," Doris said. "Did you have anyone who knew about plumbing to help hook up to the water and sewer lines?"

"Jim Fox was a building contractor. He's been handling all of that so far. I'm sure he will appreciate any help though."

Doris was just getting ready to say something else when a very large motor home pulled into the parking lot and drove up right behind Glen's vehicle. The vehicle had only set there a couple of minutes when a white haired gentleman got out. He was dressed just like the colonel of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.

As he started toward our group, several women came out of the RV behind him. Each of them was dressed in a white robe and each carried a book. They didn't approach us, but formed a line in front of the RV.

The first thing I noticed about the guy was that he wasn't smiling like the chicken guy. The man had a scowl on his face that made him look like he'd been eating lemons. He stopped about twenty feet away from us and said in a grating singsong voice, "I am the Revvverend Michael Blackstone. Who is the leader here?"

"I guess that would be me, Reverend Blackstone," I told him. "I'm Ed James."

"This is a den of iniquity, Mr. James. I demand you break up this gathering and disperse immediately. It is my understanding, from reading your pamphlets that you are setting up a community where black people are allowed to associate with God's people. God doesn't want this to happen. That's why God wiped out most of the people on this wretched planet. The black race must be wiped out completely."

"How do you know what God wants?" I asked. I tapped Syl on the butt and when she looked at me I kept my hand down at my side and motioned toward our RV. She started moving slowly off in that direction.

"God has spoken to me in a dream, Mr. James. He told me he had killed off most of the people so we could have a fresh start. He described to me what a paradise we will have once we had rid ourselves of the Negroes, Arabs, Hispanics, and Orientals. He said we must do this before paradise can be achieved."

"If God wanted that done, why didn't He just kill off all of those people when he destroyed most of the people on earth?"

"He said it was something we had to do to prove ourselves worthy of paradise. Renounce the Negroes, Arabs, Hispanics, and Orientals Mr. James. Execute them as God wants and you can share in paradise. I will lead you all into God's promised land."

"Who are the women outside your RV?"

"The women outside my temple are the handmaidens of God. They are consecrated to God and to God's pleasure."

While we were talking, Tina had worked her way around behind Blackstone, then walked quickly over to the women. "Are you women okay?" she asked in a whisper.

The woman she was closest to looked terrified. "No!" she whispered. "We're being held captive. Be careful. Two other guys got out of the RV about a block from here. I think they're trying to circle around behind you."

Tina squeezed her hand and moved away. I was watching Tina while I tried to keep Blackstone thinking I was watching him. Tina held up two fingers then pointed behind me. "Oh shit!" I thought. "I think she means there's two more behind us."

"Reverend Blackstone, we have a guy named Glen, who was a Navy Seal, and another guy named Homer, who was in the army, back at our village. Both of these guys are really nice guys. They watch my back all the time when I'm in danger. They carry M-16s to protect us, but they are black. Are you saying we should just kill them?"

"I know that sounds cruel, Mr. James, but that's the way it has to be. It's the way God wants it."

I hoped I'd gotten my message across. Then I saw Glen and Homer start toward the door of our RV, so I knew I had. They disappeared around the front of the RV. Blackstone was continuing to harangue me about the heathens as he called them. I watched Tina head off toward Homer's RV with Belinda right behind her.

"Reverend Blackstone, I'm afraid you're wasting your time here. These people are our friends. The God I believe in wanted us to love one another, not kill one another. One of my wives is black and I love her dearly. So..." I said as I pulled my Glock out of its holster, "I'd suggest you peddle your racist crap somewhere else."

"Mr. James, I'm afraid you've made a serious error in judgment. God will smite you down for this."

"Is that God or the two goons you have sneaking up on us?" I asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, suh."

"Why don't you just call them on in, Blackstone? They're going to end up dead if you don't."

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, let me tell you a little secret. As soon as I hear a shot, I'm going to put a bullet through the third button down on your shirt."

Blackstone pointed at me and yelled, "Shoot him!"

Nothing happened. A few seconds later someone said, "What the hell?"

Two groups came walking toward us from the end of the parking lot. Each group had one man with his hands raised above his head. In the group closest to the building were Glen, Syl and Tiffany. In the other group were Tina, Homer, Sandy, and Belinda. I was never so proud of a group of people in my whole life.

When they got close I said, "Sandy, there are handcuffs in the luggage compartment. Would you get out three sets please."

Sandy was grinning from ear to ear as she went over to the RV. She came back shortly thereafter with the handcuffs. They hooked up the two they had with them, and then Glen went around behind Blackstone and cuffed him then patted him down.

The women who had been standing in front of Blackstone's RV broke down crying as our two groups were approaching, then collapsed completely when Blackstone was cuffed. Tina, Chris and Evie ran over to them, followed closely by Sheila Duffy.

Homer went into Blackstone's RV while Glen guarded the prisoners. He came back out in a few minutes and said, "There's no one else in there, Ed. You should see the place though. I think there are copies of every piece of hate literature ever written in there. The back bedroom is a mess. It looks like the women may have been held prisoner in there."

We decided to lock the three prisoners in that bedroom until we decided what to do with them. We left the handcuffs on them just to be safe. When they were secured, I collapsed into one of the lawn chairs we had been sitting in before. Tina looked over my way and I motioned for her to come to me.

"There are nine of the women," Tina told me. "Most of them are too out of it to be coherent, but one or two of them are able to talk. Would you like for me to bring someone over to talk?"

"That'd be nice, Lover. Thank you for stepping in while I was talking to Blackstone. If those two goons had been able to sneak up behind us, I'd have been a dead man."

"I could tell they didn't want to be there, Ed. The youngest is a girl named Della Smith. She's only fifteen. She kept looking at me as if she were pleading for me to do something. I just had to sneak over there to see what was wrong."

"Is Della one of the coherent ones?"

"Yes."

"Bring her over then, if she's willing. Tiff, my love, would you sit with me and Tina and the girl she brings over? I don't want her to be afraid."

"Sure, Ed," Tiff said as she pulled over three chairs for us to sit in.

Tina came back in a couple of minutes, followed by the girl. "Hi, Della, I'm Ed and this is my wife Tiffany. Are you okay?"

"I think I will be now," Della sobbed.

Tina pulled her chair close to Della and put her arm around her. Della laid her head on Tina's shoulder.

"What was going on with Blackstone, Della?"

"Ed, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to use some bad language," she said.

I nodded. "If you don't feel like it, you don't even have to talk right now, Della. I know you must have been through a lot."

"I don't mind talking. In fact I've got a couple of months of talking bottled up that's screaming to get out. They wouldn't let us talk except to answer questions."

"It must have been bad."

"It was. Sometimes the other girls and I would whisper to each other when we were locked in for the night. Even that was dangerous though, because we never knew when one of them was going to come in and drag one of us out to rape us."

"They raped all of you?"

"Yes. I was one of the last to be added to the harem, as that cocksucker, Blackstone, liked to call us. I was doing okay, living on my own, when I saw this big RV coming down the street. I thought I was saved, so I ran out and waved them down. I learned quickly that I had been much better off by myself."

"You were locked in at night?"

The girl nodded. "There are nine of us. The back bedroom had a king sized bed, but that's just not enough space for nine people. We took turns sleeping on the floor. There were ten of us, but they killed Judy. They said it was an example of what would happen to all of us if we fought them. We were all scared to death."

"Why did they kill Judy?"

"We were in a little town in eastern Kentucky. Judy tried to escape. They hunted her down. Each of them raped her while the rest of us had to watch. Then they tied her to a lamppost and made us line up. Blackstone shot her in the head."

"Della, you've had it rough, especially for someone your age. My wives and I will make you a promise right now. We'll see nothing bad ever happens to you again."