Chapter 15

Day 159 - October 27

There had been several new RVs that had come in during the last two days, so we decided we should start interviewing again. The first person to come in was Theodore (call me Ted) Applegate. He seemed like a nice enough guy and he disparaged his old occupation as a lobbyist for a major oil company. Ted was a little lacking in skills that were usable in the new world, but he said he was willing to work at anything.

Ted's first wife was Tilly Dauber, who had been a medical lab technician. Chris was thrilled. The second female member of the family was June Pacheck who had been a staffing coordinator.

"Just what did a staffing coordinator do?" I asked.

"I worked in a large hospital. My job was to make sure each department had the proper people with the proper skills to do their job on a daily basis. I scheduled time off and vacations so that every critical position was covered."

"That sounds like a very usable skill for us. By the time we get back, we're going to have a couple of hundred people and about a million jobs to get done. We'll need to work out a system for work assignments."

The last member of Ted's family was Stella Masters, who had operated a greenhouse. Another valuable skill.

The next group we interviewed was the James K. Smith family. James was in his early to mid twenties and had been a construction worker. He was very personable and I liked him immediately. He had operated almost as many types of heavy equipment as Jim Fox had and admitted to being a fair carpenter as well.

James' wives were Connie Lauper and Jennifer (Jen) Coleman. Connie had been a beautician and Jen had been a telephone operator. All three of them seemed like just the kind of people we wanted for our new society.

Rob came flying in while we had broken for lunch. We were all surprised to see Della Smith with him.

I introduced Rob to Betty French and left them talking about planes and flying. When I went back over to get a cup of coffee, Della and Tina were sitting together. I pulled up a chair and joined them.

"Hi, Della," I said. "To what do we owe the honor of having you visit us?"

"Hi, Ed. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you this, but I was afraid."

"Did someone do something that sacred you, Honey?"

"No, Ed, it's just that you guys saved my life and I feel safe when I'm around you. I know you're going to keep your promise and protect me."

I reached over and took her hand. "Yes, we will protect you, Della. We're trying very hard to make sure the only people who live in our village are safe to be around. I don't think there's anyone in our village who wouldn't protect you as well."

"In my mind I know that, Ed. It's just that when I'm with you guys I actually FEEL safe. Do you know what I mean?"

"I certainly do," I heard Evie say behind me. "Della, why don't you just stay with us until we go back over to the village. We have plenty of room if you'd like to."

Della squeezed my hand and beamed. "Could I, Ed?"

"If it's okay with Tina, Tiff, Chris, Syl, and Sandy," I said.

Tina gave her a hug and assured Della it was fine with her. The two young girls took off together to ask our other spouses. I pulled Evie down on my lap and asked her if she knew what she was doing.

"I don't know, Love. I do know this girl is scared. If we can help her, then I want to do so."

I had to agree.

Our first interview after lunch was with Leroy Henderson. Okay, I thought Homer was big. This guy was bigger. He was about the same height as Homer, but he had to out weigh Homer by at least fifty pounds, none of it fat. He was also the first black male we had encountered since IT happened. He was a handsome man with a face like Denzel Washington and a voice like James Earl Jones.

I was so caught off guard that I just stood there looking at him. Luckily, he must have been used to that response, because he started laughing.

"I'm sorry, Leroy," I said. "I don't know if you've met Homer Renfrow yet, but I thought he was the biggest human being I had ever met. I was sure wrong about that."

"Would you believe I grew up skinny?" he laughed.

"I know there must be some kind of proverb in there somewhere, but I'll be damned if I know what it is. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Leroy."

"Please call me Lee. It's nice to meet you as well, Ed. I've been hearing some very good things about you."

"Thank you, Lee. We're just trying to do what's right. The community we have going is going to be free of prejudice, and we're trying to exclude criminals and abusers as well. So, what did you do before all this happened?"

"I was a farmer. My parents were farmers, and that's the way I grew up. I never really had any desire to do anything else."

"That's good for all of us. Farmers are at a premium. Most of us wouldn't know which end of a hoe to pick up, and if we're going to survive, we're going to have to be growing our own food."

"That's the way I figure it too. I know a lot about food crops and about corn, wheat, oats, and soybeans. I'd planned on just staying on the farm after IT happened. I knew I could make it on my own."

"How did you meet your wives, Lee?"

"I'd been sticking pretty close to home, but I needed salt and flour and a few things like that so I made a trip to town. That's when I met my wife Sharon. Ed, Sharon is white. In fact, all of my wives are white. Is that going to be a problem with anyone?"

"It damned sure better not be," I said. "One of my wives is in the hospital right now, so if you want to meet her, you'll have to go there. Her name is Syl and she is black. If anyone says anything about you, they're saying it about my wife as well. I wouldn't take very kindly to that."

"No, I don't suppose you would."

"You said wives, plural, did you meet them all on the same trip to town?"

Lee laughed. "No, but I met them all because of that same trip to town. It wasn't much more than a week after they quit broadcasting on TV that the power went out. I decided I'd better stock up on things I couldn't grow on the farm, so I made my trip to town. One of the first places I headed was the grocery store."

"Yeah, that was my first excursion outside too."

"Anyway, when I pulled into the parking lot, here was this young woman trying to break into the store. She saw me pulling up and I thought for a minute that she was going to run. She didn't, so I got out of my truck slowly then introduced myself. She was scared, but she was more lonely and hungry than she was scared."

I laughed and said, "You can't blame her for being scared, Lee. You are one hell of a big guy."

"Yeah, and I was black and she was white. That never should have been an issue, but it always was. Anyway, we talked for a few minutes and she asked me if I could help her break into the store. I got a hammer out of my toolbox and broke the glass. As soon as the door was open, Sharon all but ran to the canned goods and grabbed up a can of ravioli. I could see she was going to have a problem, so I went to the aisle where they had the kitchen gadgets and got a can opener for her."

"Ed, she gulped down that can of gunk like there was no tomorrow. I found out later she hadn't eaten in three days. We talked some more and I asked her if she'd like to come back to the farm with me. She was really hesitant, but I told her the house had three bedrooms and that they all had locks on the doors. She finally agreed."

I told him how I had met Tina. "It turned out I should have had a lock on my bedroom," I told him, then Tina came over and slapped me around the back of the head. We all got a good laugh then Lee continued.

"Anyway, over the next couple of weeks we talked a lot. Heck, there isn't much else to do now. We were complete opposites. I was a farmer and she was a systems analyst. I'd always lived in the country and she'd always lived in the city. I was black and she was white. I was large and she was small. What the hell, we fell in love."

Lee stopped and took a sip of water. "We started out by cuddling together when we talked. At first, I think it was just for the human contact. Then I began to realize just how good it felt when I had my arm around her and she was snuggled into my chest. A couple of weeks after that and we were sleeping together. Ed, I love her with all of my heart and she loves me just as much."

"That's great, Lee. That's the way I feel about all of my wives."

"So, we started planning for the future. I knew there was a lot we were going to need if we were going to make it on our own, so we started making lists of what we were going to need. Sharon was a city girl, but she was a quick learner."

Lee shook his head and laughed. "Then, we decided to make a run into town to start stocking up on the things we needed. That's when we met Beth Ann and she pretty much saved our lives."

"How did that happen?"

"We had broken into a hardware store and were carrying things out to our truck. We didn't know there was anyone within ten miles. We had the tailgate of the truck down and were loading in a generator. Both of us were lifting the damned thing. Then we heard shots. I gave a big shove and the generator slid on in and we whirled around and saw a pack of dogs heading at us."

"We've had a lot of dog problems too."

"Then we saw Beth Ann. She was standing across the street from us, firing into the dogs with a shotgun. I think it was six shots she got off with the shotgun. By then there were only three or four dogs left. Beth Ann pulled out a handgun and started firing at the last ones. They broke and ran. Sharon and I had been standing there, frozen to the spot the whole time."

"I've seen it happen. Until we realized that dogs were now our enemies instead of our friends, being attacked by them shocked us to the point we basically froze."

"Yeah. Beth Ann is a piece of work. She reloaded her shotgun then came over and read us the riot act. After she had yelled at us, she grabbed us both and hugged us. She had been so afraid she'd never see another human being, then to find two of us and almost lose us to a pack of dogs was more than she could take. She started sobbing and collapsed into our arms."

Lee took another drink of water. "Anyway, I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. I told Sharon to get inside the hardware store, then picked Beth Ann up and carried her inside. To make a long story a little shorter, Beth teamed up with us and helped us get the truck loaded. Then she made us go to a sporting goods store where we nearly cleaned out their inventory of firearms."

"After that we decided to make one trip a month through all of the surrounding towns, driving slowly and blowing the horn frequently. That's how we met both Lily and Julie."

"Sounds like you've had some interesting times, Lee. Is that how you ended up seeing our signs?"

"Yes. We were a little hesitant at first about wanting to join you. We had most everything we needed on the farm. The only problem was, we didn't have full-time electricity. We had a generator, but we had to keep the gas tank filled. Anyway, I'm glad we decided to come."

"We're glad you did too, Lee."

Lee's wives were a delight. They had been so totally different before IT happened, and there wasn't a one of them who would have even thought of dating a farmer, let alone a black farmer. Now, they were so devoted to Lee and to each other, they reminded me of us.

Sharon White had been a systems analyst. Beth Ann Julian had been in marketing. Lily Timlinson had been a chemical lab technician. Julie Anderson had been a nurse. Now, they were a survival group.

We asked them all to join us after Chris had examined them and they all accepted.

Rob and Betty had hit it off quickly. I found them talking a mile a minute to each other. "Rob, why don't you take Betty back over to the village with you, if she'd like to go? That way you could show her the Citation and introduce her to some of the clan."

"That's a great idea, Ed. Betty, would you like to go over and meet some of the crew?"

"Let me grab my toothbrush," Betty said, then took off for her RV.

"Better watch out, Rob. You may end up with another wife," I told him.

"I could do worse," he said. "Problem is, I have three wives now."

"And, I have six. What's the problem?"

Rob just laughed.

We only interviewed three families, since we had talked so long with Lee. I visited with Syl for a while, and then Tina called me to dinner. Syl told me Chris said she would get out in the morning.

Chris and Tina took a plate over to Syl and kept her company while she ate. Della was eating with us and we were all inside, since the weather was starting to get a little nippy at night. I was about half way through eating, when Evie came over and pushed her way onto my lap. Okay, I didn't fight it too hard.

"Ed," Evie whispered into my ear. "I think Della needs a positive experience with nudity. We're all going to strip. After we're all naked, then you strip too."

I nodded and then Evie nodded at Sandy. Sandy stood up and started removing her clothes. She folded each item of clothing and laid it neatly on the counter. When she was naked, she sat back down and resumed eating.

Tiffany took that as her clue and got up and repeated Sandy's performance. Okay, so by now I was sporting a woody.

Della asked, "What's going on?"

"Don't ask me. Ask my wives," I said.

Evie kissed me on the end of my nose, then got up and performed her own strip. As she removed her clothing, Evie said, "Della, our whole family goes naked most of the time when there is just family or friends present. I know that all of you who were with Blackstone were forced to go naked at times. We just wanted you to be able to feel what it is like to be with people who are naked, but who want to be that way instead of being forced to be that way." She then sat back down on my lap and snuggled in.

"Do you... Do you want me to get naked too?"

"No, Honey," I said. "What these wonderfully crazy women are trying to get across is that it is okay to be naked, but it also okay to not be naked. It is entirely up to the individual. Does it bother you that these three lovelies are nude?"

"No... No it doesn't bother me. This definitely isn't like the situation with Blackstone. You are not like those men. Are you going to get naked too, Ed?"

"I don't know Della. None of us want you to feel threatened and I'm afraid me being nude would bother you."

"I don't think it would," Della said shyly as she looked down at the floor.

"Are you afraid of men?" Evie asked her.

"Yeah, I think that's what most of my problem with being at the village was all about," Della said.

"Are you afraid of Ed?" Evie asked again.

"No. Ed is different."

Evie stood up. "Della, would you be willing to sit on Ed's lap?"

Della nodded. "I think so."

"Why don't you come over here and sit on Ed's knees. He won't put his arms around you or touch you in any way until you're ready. Would that be okay?"

Della got up and came over beside me. She sat on my knees, very stiffly. I just let her sit there. She was there for several minutes before I could see her start to relax. Finally, she leaned over against me.

Again, I just sat there. After a while, she seemed to snuggle in a little, so I asked, "Would it be okay if I put my arms around you, Sweety?"

Della nodded, so I gently put my arms around her. I didn't hold her tightly, because I didn't want her to feel like I was holding her against her will. We sat there for quite a while, and then I saw that tears were flowing down her face. I squeezed her a little tighter and she threw her arms around me and started sobbing. I held her until the sobbing stopped, then I kissed her gently on the forehead. "It's okay, Della. No one is going to hurt you again, Sweety. All of us promise you that."

"I... I know, Ed. It's just that... Oh, it was so bad, Ed. They hurt me. They'd beat me up and kicked me and..."

"It's okay. It's okay to cry, Della. We've got you now, but we know you have to cry."

"But... Ed... You're not supposed to treat people that way. Why were they like that?"

"Honey, I don't know. Evie probably has a better idea than most, but I'm sure she doesn't have all of the answers either. All I can tell you is that some people are bad. You just had bad luck in running into them before you ran into us. I wish it were different. I wish I could take away the pain, but I can't. All we can do is make sure it doesn't happen to you again."