Joe's Story & Plans

by michaelcahill

Background
A catastrophe strands campers in Yosemite. All most band together and find a way to survive.

A man wanders into camp dirty and stagerring and is attacked due to the extreme paranoia of the group that percieve him as a threat. Once they realize that he is no threat, they begin to question him. The story picks up now as he explains where he has been and what he has seen. The group listens intently as he describes a rescue attempt.

“In one frenzied moment the exhilaration of rescue plummeted to the depths of hopelessness. Most of those on the ground survived the crash of the helicopter. Some of those hanging from the runners were crushed on impact. I remember thinking in the least compassionate moment of my life: Idiots! I noted that the pilots and rescuers were absolutely terrified of us and realized that we had slowly transformed over the months into something too feral for the civilization that remained in us as a vague memory. Whatever anger and frustration that was in us overflowed into a sea of violence and retribution. The fools that clung to the runners and caused our crash were pummeled to death or near it. Suddenly we were looking down the barrels of guns held by well-trained military types. We froze more out of surprise than fear. Had it been one of us with a weapon everyone would be dead. The ease with which hostility ended was in a strange way more frightening than when it began. Once it was clear that we were subdued, the weapons were secured one at a time. Very little of the helicopter was salvageable. There were a few medical supplies ejected during the crash. The radio was dead and all the electronic gadgets were fried in the fire. Whatever plans our rescuers conjured up clearly didn’t include us. Frankly, we saw them as being nothing more than extra mouths to feed in our ever-sinking boat. There was little reaction to finding them gone in the morning. For reasons still unclear to me, I set out on my own. I think I had some notion that I would try to find them. My plan never formulated beyond the simple act of leaving.”

“Did the soldiers tell you anything about what happened and what the state of our country is?” I ached for any clue as to what had actually happened.

“Very little. It all happened so fast. We did gather that the President survived and that the country still exists in some form. The capital, which is where they were taking us, is now Salem, Oregon. Why, I do not know. They referred to the unfriendlies. Foreign invaders? Crazed survivors? I don’t know. I know I heard gunfire in the distance."

"Come on now. They must've said something specific. Gunfire? We've been here for a few weeks and never heard a damn pea shooter. Whose guns. Our guys? The enemy? What the hell, tell us something." I'm thinking that he isn't telling us anything really. Just random crap.

"Whose I can’t say. The soldiers I know had weaponry. My journey here was perilous to say the least. There are small groups like yourselves spread out as far as the eye can see. Most are in more disarray then you appear to be in. I have been met with hostility at every turn. I approached here having given up and growing weaker by the moment. At least you all haven’t discussed how I might be cooked for diner though I fear that it won’t be long before that becomes a necessity. I can tell you this; I haven’t run across anyone in better conditions than you. I have seen many in worse. Anyway, I know this; since we were being rescued, there are certainly better places to be than here. I don’t know what is in Salem or anywhere else. But, there is a government and there must be places better than this. Of course, there are certainly many places worse as well.”

I could see that it would soon be time to do something. What….I couldn’t say though travel seemed to be inevitably on the list. For now, we would settle back into what had become for us our normal existence. I’m guessing we will stay until being here appears more dangerous than the unknown perils that await us.

I motioned for Christine and Jennifer to join me. Linda and Carlos came along too. I had no objection. I didn't know this Joe guy. As far as I was concerned, he wasn't part of anything. He could prove himself or whatever. Right now I'd keep my eyes on him. I didn't know him, I didn't trust him. None of the others in our group indicated any other attitude towards him.

We had some nice tents that were holding up well and the mercantile store for shelter. There were a s couple storage sheds that were good size and adequate for sleep. There was mobile home of sorts that appeared to be used by whomever owned the mercantile. We had no idea where they were. We used it as an office. That is where the five of us met.

"Okay. I'll start. Today is the day to start making decisions. At this point we have food. The water in the river is clean. The water isn't going to be a problem that I can see. The food is. We haven't had much meat in our diet and that isn't going to change. Rice and beans are fine. Canned and dry goods are fine as well. But, there's no milk, butter, cheese, fruits, vegetables and frankly anything that tastes worth a damn. It is survival food already. There isn't enough game to rely on. We aren't in bad shape as far as starving, but it will get slowly worse and worse. That is one issue."

"Johnny, that isn't the biggest problem. It's the clients. Christine doesn't know and Carlos doesn't live with either enough to really know. Linda is new and hasn't seen them when they aren't right. We have. It will take over everything we are doing. These people are too much when they are out of control. And I don't mean Tonnie and Rhonda screwing in the bushes. I mean Nathan and David with criminal records. Long ones. David's a registered sex offender. The last time Nathan was taken in he was walking around with a headless pigeon talking to it. No one knows where it's head went. He had blood all over his face. That was a clue."

"Jen's right. You wouldn't believe how strong Tonnie is when she's off the deep end. I'm strong and I can barely restrain her. You don't realize Carlos and that isn't a criticism. You just don't have living with them as part of your duties."

Christine got right to the heart of it. "So, what do we do with them."

Linda spoke, "I'm not for murder. But, I'm not for them getting us killed or them killing us for that matter. It's a practical matter here, I think."

"What are you saying? Are you saying we should kill tham?" Carlos seemed a bit put off by that idea for a military man.

"We have to do something. They are going to get worse, I've seen it. Ask Jen. She'll back me up."

I guess nobody wanted to come right out and say it. We needed to decide whether to kill them or not. If we decided to kill them, then when? At he moment David and Nathan were like zombies. They just shuffled around in an apparent fog. Tonnie and Rhonda were having the time of their lives. They were just having sex in the bushes. Not really a threat. Well, it could wait for now. At least we were talking about it.

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