Chapter 6: Now, What?

I woke in the morning to the smell of coffee. I went into the kitchen after pulling on a pair of shorts to see Alice at the counter eating cereal. “Good morning, Hank.”

“Good morning to you, Alice. Thanks for the coffee.” I took a sip. “It’s good.”

“Hank, coffee isn’t hard.” She shook her body. “Thanks for sticking with me yesterday. It was hard even though we suspected what we found would be what it was.”

I nodded. “It’s closure like you said. I would have desired a happier ending but it is what it is.”

“Hank, it’s just us. I don’t have anyone else and I don’t think you do either. What do we do now?”

“Alice, I’m not sure. Two things are in my mind for the short term. First, we are seeing fewer of the crazies but there are only a few normal people, too. That suggests to me that the crazies will eventually be gone as we had read on the Internet. The hard part of surviving will occur then. Our level of civilization requires lots of people to keep it going. There won’t be enough. In five years, we will be living in a different world.”

“What do you mean?”

Alice, think about it. “Who will fix the power when it goes out after a storm? Who will bring in more food and gas? Already, the TV stations aren’t showing live shows because there’s no one live to be on them or to operate the cameras.”

I paused. “We will have to learn some different skills. I’m not even sure what they are or will be. We will have to start thinking about different issues.”

I thought a moment more. “In the meantime, we have to avoid the crazies. Why don’t you call everyone in your contacts? I will do the same. We will leave the same message. ‘Hey, I’m alive. If you are, call me.’ Hopefully, someone will call us.”

We made the calls. No one answered or called to return our messages. It did use up another day so there was some value.

I was out of bright ideas or even dull ones. I told Alice. She giggled at my slight attempt at humor. She thought for a few moments. “Hank, what if we use the Internet to give us some ideas? I bet that someone has thought of this problem or something like it before. Maybe there, we can find some ideas or direction to take in our thinking about what to do.”

We went on line to find, preppers. Well, it sort of fit. After all, we were looking at an “end of the world” scenario. Some things were laughable but many made sense.

Alice said, “Your idea of moving is becoming very real as I read these articles. There are books that might help as well. Some of those people put some thought in what to do. Others didn’t do so well. Hank, I wonder how long we can go before we run out of food, gas, water, and electricity?”

I thought for a moment. “Food, some of it, will last a long time. Some items, like anything fresh, will go bad and be unusable. Milk is one of those items like vegetables and fruits and meats. There is gas in tanks that should last for years but it will go bad. Water will last as long as the electricity if it needs to be pumped. Even then, it will take a while to be exhausted from the big tanks and no longer flow. Electricity is the immediate problem in my mind. Many things can cause an outage. This house needs electricity to be comfortable. We can get a generator but those are noisy and use gas, diesel, or propane to work. Short-term that’s not too bad though the sound will draw crazies. We’ll have to plan it all out. Moving from here will probably make sense sooner or later.”

Alice said, “That’s a lot to take in. I guess we will have to plan if we’re going to survive for the long term. You’re thinking years, aren’t you, Hank?”

“Yes, we will need to find a safe way to find others, too. Two people aren’t enough to rebuild civilization. I’m trying to think about that long haul.”

“What do you mean, Hank?”

“I’m a mechanical engineer, Alice. There are other things that I know enough about to know I don’t know enough. How to produce electricity, to refine gas, to heal the sick or to farm are things I have never done nor studied to do. I could read up on producing electricity or refining gas and probably get enough information to do something useful on those items. Doctoring and farming would really be problems. We need more people and skills.”

It was quiet after that for a while. Alice finally said, “We could post notices in the stores. The crazies won’t read them but others will. It may take a while but someone will call.”

“That’s a good idea. We will still have to be careful because not everyone who survives will be a good person though most will. We can leave my number for them to call and figure out a way to meet that is safe for both sides.”

“Okay, Hank. I’ll work on signs and you start supper.” I nodded and headed for the kitchen.

After a few minutes, she joined me with a sheet of paper. I finished forming the meat loaf and put it with two potatoes into the oven. I washed my hands and then took the sheet of paper she proffered to me. I read it nodding.

It stated, “I am Hank Rivers, a healthy man, looking for other healthy people to join together for our mutual benefit as we all survive this crisis. Call me at 555-555-1212. Let’s talk.”

I said, “Alice, you didn’t mention yourself. Why not?”

“I think that a bad person will only see your name and not be prepared for a second person if they start trouble. I would like to think that everyone is good but I agree that I would rather be safe than sorry.”

“Okay, Alice, let’s print a dozen or so. We’ll put them up at the stores we visit and wherever we think they might do some good.”

“Good. We won’t put them at any liquor stores.” She grinned.

I grinned back at her nodding.

Alice went back to print out some more sheets. I watched supper cook and thought about a canned vegetable to go with meat loaf and potatoes. I selected green beans. I found some frozen ones in a package that I could microwave. I put them in the microwave but didn’t start it yet because the meat loaf needed time.

Alice returned with a folder and a roll of tape. I realized again that she is a sharp young lady.

She turned the TV on for the local news, such as it might be. The newscaster was saying that this would be their last live newscast. There were just two of them left in the studio and they were leaving to stay with their families. He said that the news hours would be on a continuous flow from now on. He expressed that the power would probably go out and the automatic generator would eventually run out of fuel. I listened and thought that wasn’t promising news at the end though probably realistic.

Alice looked at me questioningly. I said, “It’s starting. Let’s check the other Atlanta stations and determine what they are doing.” She nodded.

She used the remote to check the others. All were prerecorded. I shrugged. I said, “That’s not a shock. Why don’t you try the national news channels. They might still be broadcasting from somewhere. I think their New York or Los Angeles offices might be closed.” She nodded. Using the remote, she started checking them.