Chapter 22

Dinner had been eaten. Dishes had been washed. The islands and tables had been cleared and everything was clean. Bryan had lit a fire in the fireplace and was readying himself for addressing the group for the first time in an organized manner.

Everyone had seated themselves around the fireplace in an ellipse, some on the floor, some on the benches that surrounded the focal point of the fire. Everyone was there except for the five youngest children, who had been sent to get ready for bed though it was still fairly early.

The group had sat there for a few minutes while Bryan had stepped into the bathroom to relieve his bladder. When he returned the small chitchat that had been going on prior to his departure had died down and every eye was riveted to the fire.

Bryan reflected briefly on this. Fire had been with human-kind since well before the dawn of civilization in one form or another. In one sense it was just a chemical reaction, the way that nature sped the process of redistributing chemicals and eliminating waste.

But on another level fire seemed like something more; something living, breathing, feeding. Men and women had learned to control it through centuries of trial and error. They knew how to keep it alive, how to create it, how to keep it within their grasp, and how to destroy it should the need arise. And so with the strange symbiosis that fire and humanity shared, it held a mesmerizing effect for those who chose to look it in the eye. Such was what Bryan was observing. Every person in the room was totally absorbed into the lifelike flickering of the flames.

Bryan looked from face to face wondering if his presence was even being noted. Finally he decided to gather his thoughts and say what he thought he needed to say. Maybe everyone would hear it instead of zoning out into the fire. He looked around the room again having another thought.

Everyone looked serene, their minds and faces blank, their thoughts clear. He recalled many times before seeing the children sit serenely before the fire, not talking for what seemed like hours. He also remembered times sitting there staring blankly into the flames, his mind thinking about nothing, absolutely nothing. So perhaps speaking to everyone when they were blankly staring into the heart of the flames was the best way to get his points across.

He seated himself next to the fire, which disrupted the mesmerizing affect slightly, but also got the attention of everyone in the room.

"Ok," he said somewhat nervously. He had never been a big fan of public speaking. "I wanted for us all to sit down and discuss what our expectations for this situation are, to make sure that we all are on the same pages. Does everyone agree to that?" No one spoke up to voice dissent.

"First of all, I think we've all had the chance to be introduced to each other and I'm not going to start this like a corporate retreat with the going around the room and introducing ourselves." Chuckles escaped from the adults, the younger ones remained passive, not quite understanding the joke.

"So we all know each other or will," Bryan continued. "And I do want to welcome everyone if I haven't already. However I want to make one thing perfectly, one hundred percent, crystal clear." He scanned the room looking for any kind of negative expressions. "This is not a vacation." Everyone nodded except the younger ones, who hadn't really gotten the best idea of what was going on anyway. "Nothing is free. Not to You. Not to Silver here. Not to the kids. Not even to me. Nothing." He looked around again, looking for some hint of doubt. Seeing none he continued. "There are sixteen people here. That constitutes a small community and that means everyone has to get along and we all have to work together. We cannot become divided." He sighed as he prepared for the next statement, expecting that there would be dissent because of it.

"I want to say this as plainly as I can, though it's not meant to offend what I have to say is harsh. Please try and look at this from our perspective please."

He took a deep breath, eyeing everyone carefully. "Maggie, Silver, and I are the legal owners of this property and everything on it that was here prior to your respective arrivals. Agreed?" Heads nodded. "As I am the head of the house..." he looked at Silver and she nodded her agreement. " ... I am the one taking charge of this, at least for now."

Eyebrows shot up all over the room and Bryan felt that he needed to change tactics before he had open rebellion.

"Now don't get me wrong," he said, using a milder tone of voice. "We are all going to have to work. We are all going to have to do our parts and I mainly want to make sure that there is a harmony and a purpose. I don't want to set up my own little tin dictatorship and I don't care what we can all agree to. We could do this by committee or by democracy ... But I feel like Silver and I have put years of sweat blood and tears into all this so we could invite you all as guests here, safely within our walls." He sighed, noting that the eyebrows had gone down and there were several thoughtful looks out there among the ten people he was addressing. He took another deep breath and continued.

"I am a reasonable guy. I listen to what people have to say. I don't want anything from you all except your cooperation and I won't ask for anything that I am unwilling to do myself."

"And I don't always know the right way. I expect to be questioned. I expect for suggestions to come forward. I expect us to discuss and work through problems. If there are complaints or concerns, I expect to hear them before anyone else."

He paused, looking from face to face again, silently praying that there wasn't any dissent; silent or otherwise.

"Though all of this may be a moot point if this all blows over and nothing major happens." He chuckled. "I guess in that case we all get a working vacation." This seemed to lighten the mood a bit with the adults, though there were two distinct frowns from Matthew and Amber. Bryan stood for a minute unsure what to do.

"Uh," he began. "Rob? You've had the best intel so far. What are we facing out there?" Rob paused for a moment then without getting up turned toward the bulk of the group.

"Nothing much to say really," he said. "I'm actually kinda second-guessing this as easy as it was to get here." He looked at Bryan. "From what I've heard the National Guard is supposed to cut off road traffic from twenty major US cities by morning. I expected to see some sign of that but the road was almost what you might expect with holiday traffic."

"It was really pretty anti-climatic," Jack added.

Bryan nodded, looking at the floor taking all the information in. "How much of that traffic was going into the city verses leaving the city?"