Day of Destruction
Chapter 15

Copyright© 2010 by Frank Speaks

JIM

Ed drove in a few days later. He told me that he made a detour around Winchester, Virginia, as there was a lot of smoke coming from there. He had described it over the radio with Melissa talking to Wendy while I listened in. He brought another SUV into the fold festooned with antennas and equipped with radios. He carried only clothes for he and Melissa for the trip along with special things of theirs. The rest of the SUV had radio gear he had picked up at ham stores while he was on the road. We unloaded the clothes and special items and left the rest. He would stay with Wendy and me in the big house for now. He went through my setup and made only a few changes. He told me that I had done a great job setting up the radios and antennas. He told me that antennas were more important than radios because they decided in what direction and how far you could receive and send.

Ed was late thirties and Melissa was nine or ten. Both Doris and Joan showed polite interest. Melissa and Jean, Doris' daughter became fast friends. As that occurred, Doris began to show more interest in Ed. She also became interested in the radios. Wendy and I were interested for their communication ability whereas Doris questioned Ed about theory and was soon able to hold her own in their discussions.

We kept in touch with Paul and Susan. They had found radios and set them up in their SUV for the time that cell phones would no longer work. They had reached Susan's home without much incident and found her parents dead though they couldn't figure out how they died. They were just lying in bed like they died in their sleep. There were no cups, pills, guns or anything. They buried them together and left for Paul's home in Oklahoma. They were avoiding the larger cities staying on the outskirts at most. Paul's parents lived outside a small town on a ranch. When Paul drove up, they were surprised to see the ranch flourishing. In the distance, they could see a tractor moving. They pulled up to the house and Paul's mother was outside watching them. Paul was overjoyed to see her. He introduced Susan and his mother took them inside to bring them up to date. Paul's father had died of the virus. His mother was healthy and so were Paul's two brothers and two nephews and niece. It was his brothers who were working the farm. One brother's wife had died but the other had done well as the rest of them.

A tornado had hit the town and cut power and telephone lines. They just left it all down. They hadn't thought about Paul not being able to reach them. His brothers had gone into town and picked up two diesel tankers. They were running on that until they could train livestock to handle the chores. They had figured out also that eventually there would be no power or diesel. They weren't looking to add people. Paul said it was strange not to feel welcome in his parents' home. He and Susan left the next morning headed back to us. They decided there was nothing out there for either of them.

Paul had written down information on how to contact himself including the address of the farm. He just didn't believe they ever would. He told me he understood my concern about the eventual future with few people and no children to continue. He liked the direction in which my family group was headed. He and Susan had discussed it and had decided together that, if things did not work out well at their parents' homes, they would return and be part of our community. I told them that they were more than welcome to become part of us.

We were seeing benefits of both Jim and Ed in our community. Jim's mechanical ability and Ed's knowledge of electronics and practical application ability were great for us. We were able to build things that would put off the eventual time when we lost power and gas. Except for the internet, we did not need the "grid" any more. I had started noticing that pages were not available any more because the site would not respond.

Paul and Susan made good time until it was time to cross the Mississippi. In just a month, the river had wrecked bridges and there weren't many in the first place. They hunted around avoiding Memphis with its columns of smoke for a path across. Finally, they went over the I-155 bridge well north of Memphis. When Paul talked to me after crossing, he joked that he was afraid it might have to abandon the SUV and use a boat. They were glad to get across but were miles out of their way.

They stayed in touch as they worked their way south still avoiding all the big cities. They made their way southeasterly to I-40 and found themselves in Jackson, Tennessee. They were listening to local radio stations and heard one that piqued their curiosity. They waited for the top of the hour as instructed, got the phone number and made the call.

BOB

We were working out in the barn when my phone rang. The caller identified himself as Paul accompanied by Susan. We had been disappointed in the response to our radio message. Paul asked if we could meet. He said that he had gone around Memphis because of smoke rising from the city and was returning to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where there was a community. I arranged to meet him after lunch.

We took the usual precautions and I noticed that Paul was also cautious. I took that as a good sign. He was mid to late twenties. After we met and talked for a moment, I motioned to Doris and he motioned to Susan. Susan was a strikingly good looking woman of about the same age as Paul. They had been married to others who died in the sickness. They had gone west searching for their parents. They were now headed back to Chapel Hill where they planned to join a community there. They showed us the radios and I asked if they would help us set some up so we would be able to communicate in the future. He called the leader of the other group, Jim, and talked to him for a moment. He handed the phone to me.

 
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