The Journal: Cracked Earth (24 page)

“Are you okay?” I asked with worry when she
put her hands on her knees and struggled to breathe.

“So far I’m okay. I’m just out of shape,” she
laughed. “Besides, twenty-eight inches of snow is no picnic to walk
through! Are you going to clear your driveway soon?”

“We’ll get right on it. So, what does Ken
have? When did it start?” I asked, knowing John and I had been
there not so long ago, in close quarters with someone who is now
sick, maybe very sick.

“So far it
seems
like any other flu,
but I called Gray in and he called the ER. Anyway, there’s an
epidemic of a nasty flu going on. I thought you should know, since,
well, you were in the same room with us.” She paused. “Allex, it’s
a really nasty bug. People are dying. Dying! We’ve gone into
isolation. You should too,” Karen cautioned.

Yes, John and I were exposed to Ken, before
he was contagious, I hope. At least before he had any symptoms.
Maybe we were okay.

“We’ll do that, Karen. We’ll be okay. You
need to let Anna know what’s going on,” I reminded her.

“Already done that.”

“Thanks. Did Gray give you any indication of
an incubation period?”

“It’s fast, 48 hours.”

48 hours?? That
is
really fast, but if
that’s the case, we’ll know soon enough if we were
contaminated.

After Karen left I called Jason and John
together. I pulled out a bin containing medical masks and gloves
from the front pantry.

“We really don’t need these, at least not
yet,” I said. “If John or I are contagious, which I doubt, then you
and Jacob have already been exposed. We will have to wait and see.
It won’t be long if we are. This is for if we have to leave here,
be in contact with others, or if somebody comes here. I feel fine,
if only a bit rundown and tired, but I’ve felt that way since the
start,” I mused. I reached over and cupped John’s face with my
hand. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, really.”

We no sooner cleared one major problem and
another is on us immediately. The stress alone could do me in. I
left the med box there in the kitchen, just in case. Face masks
will keep us from breathing
in
germs, and also from
breathing
out
those same germs. Physiological, I know…
Suddenly I was very tired.

I got the garlic and D3 vitamins from the
cupboard, asked the two of them to take extra doses. I did the
same. I knew that Jacob wouldn’t take them, but if
we
stayed
healthy, so would he.

JOURNAL ENTRY: January 11

None of has had any signs of illness. No
headaches, no fevers, no coughing. I think we’ve avoided the flu
that Ken brought back from the hospital. I’m wondering who else
might have it now? Ken was there, so was Gray, and Gray’s ambulance
driver, Patty. Patty is Buddy’s wife, and she is also the secretary
at the school.

Uh, oh.

* * *

The wind had finally died down enough for the
guys to get out and start clearing the snow. Jason did the hand
work around the steps and porch, plus clearing off the deck so we
could get to the generator. I think they are both tired of melting
snow and are more than ready to appreciate running the gennie to
pump the well. While Jason shoveled, John ran the snow blower up
and down the drive. Although I’m anxious to talk to Anna about
Patty, I know I won’t get to town until tomorrow. I just hope
someone else has made the connection.

Jacob is happy with the gooey cookies that I
made today. He needs the calories. I think the guys will enjoy a
few too, after they finish their snowball fight they think I don’t
see.

Tufts came out again and moped around, and
then curled up behind the woodstove. He really doesn’t like all the
people in the house. In spite of that, I think he’s adapting.

* * *

Anna looked like hell when I arrived at the
office. She had the flu. Joe let me pass only when he saw that I
had on a better mask than he did. I insisted that John wait in the
car. Even with a mask and gloves I wanted him away from any
exposure.

I leaned against the door jamb of Anna’s
office, not wanting to get too close. “How are you feeling?” I
asked. It was a stupid question, but knowing the symptoms might be
good.

“Like a truck hit me and then backed up.” She
took a breath and coughed behind her mask. I stood there waiting
for the spasms to subside. That cough was deep in her lungs.

“How are
you
feeling?” she managed to
wheeze out.

“I’m fine,” I said, not moving so much as an
inch. “I’m worried about you. The town needs you. John and I were
both exposed to Ken, but it was less than twenty-four hours after
his exposure. We aren’t sick, neither is Jason or Jacob. I’m
keeping them all isolated, though John is out in the car. He
wouldn’t let me come here alone, and I wouldn’t let him come in,” I
chuckled. “Anyway, I’m guessing there is a window before the new
host is contagious, and we were lucky.”

“Your mask is different from the ones Gray
gave us,” she said weakly.

“Mine is an N99. Yours looks to be surgical.
Why no gloves, Anna?” Even knowing what I had on under my mittens,
I was still careful not to touch anything.

“Gray gave us all some, however, I don’t see
the point,” she said as another coughing spell hit her.

“You need to be at home and in bed.”

“I know, I know,” she replied putting her
head down on her desk. “But there’s something that I need to do
first.” Although it was hard for her to stand, she insisted. She
gave me the oath of office to be her official and legal deputy. I
told her that I didn’t want the job. It was only when she promised
that it was temporary that I agreed.

“Now,” she went on, “I’ll go home when I
bring you up to speed on the school situation. When Karen noticed
Ken was sick, she called Gray and he immediately made the
connection that Patty had been exposed too, however, she had
already infected two teachers and from there it went from bad to
worse.” She paused to take a sip of water from a bottle of water.
“Don’t worry. Patty isn’t any worse, and she’s in isolation at
home. We’ve closed the school for classes indefinitely but it’s
open as a triage area for the sickest.”

“How many are sick?”

“Close to half the town,” she answered. “Some
seem to have a natural immunity, like Gray. I don’t know what we
would do without him.”

This flu spread really, really fast, and so
far, no deaths. I hope it stays that way.

I took off my mittens, surgical gloves and
mask when I stepped outside. They all went into a plastic garbage
bag that I had in my pocket. After I tied it shut and set it in the
back seat John drove us home in silence.

* * *

Most autistic children have an obsession-like
focus on something, often letters or numbers. Despite being a high
functioning Asperger’s, Jacob is no different. His plastic letters
are like a security blanket to him.

“If he doesn’t want to do his homework, then
we take away his numbers and letters until he’s does, and today
it’s his math,” Jason said. He knew his son well. Jacob is really
smart, but like any nine year-old, was always looking for a way out
of schoolwork. Like any nine year old autistic boy, he can be very
stubborn.

“Maybe we can try a different approach,” I
offered. I got my sprouter out of the cold pantry and washed it.
Then I got a jar of mixed salad seeds, mung beans and the bucket of
wheat berries. Once everything was set up, I called a pouting Jacob
into the kitchen.

“We’re going to grow something today, Jacob,
and I need your help.” He wasn’t interested until I told him he
could have one letter for every twenty-five seeds he helped me
with. That boy really loves to count. He counted out fifty, then
one hundred, then two hundred mung beans and put them in the
sprouter. When it came to the wheat berries, he protested.

“Nahna, these are too small to count!” he
exclaimed out of frustration.

“Then we need to count them in a different
way,” I explained, and retrieved my measuring spoons. I instructed
Jacob to take the two hundred mung beans out of the sprouter and
measure them with one of the spoons and then put them back. Next he
used the same measuring spoon to measure the small seeds.

“Nahna, we have one big T of the big seeds,
and one big T of the small seeds!” he happily proclaimed.

“That’s right, Jacob. Sometimes we don’t have
to count, we can measure,” I said. He seemed pleased with himself.
“You will still have to count small seeds so I know how many
letters to give you.” He frowned, then I explained the other
spoons. He caught on to what I was getting at real quick. Jacob was
doing double digit multiplication in his head long before his
classmates were introduced to the concept on paper. He took the
one-eighth teaspoon and carefully counted the small amount of seeds
that he scooped out then did the math in his head and gave me a
number. I have no idea if it was right, but the figure wasn’t the
point. I gave Jacob his baggie of letters back.

“We’re not done, Jacob.” I brought out a
packet of very tiny seeds. He took one look and picked up the
tablespoon measure and put a spoonful in the last sprouter unit. I
gave him his baggie of numbers.

Jason beamed; John looked astounded.

“We’re still not done yet! Now comes the fun
part. We need to water the seeds so they can grow.” With the seeds
in the different layers of the sprouter, Jacob added some water.
“In a few days they will sprout and we can eat them, but you need
to help me water them every day, okay?”

“It takes daddy’s seeds in the ground a lot
longer to grow, Nahna. Why are these different?” Jacob
questioned.

“It’s because they
are
different, plus
we will eat them sooner so they don’t have to get as big.” He
seemed satisfied with the answer and then carefully walked the unit
over to the table where it was close to some sunlight, and took his
letters to the other room to play.

I really don’t feel the need to go into the town
every day. Right now, every two days or so might be necessary to
stay in the loop with this flu epidemic, especially since now that
I’m the Deputy Supervisor and Anna is sick. Maybe Monday, Wednesday
and Friday; or maybe Monday and Thursday; it will depend on how
Anna is doing. Once she’s better, I won’t come in so often.

We stopped at the offices first. John is
still my shadow, which is okay with me. I really do feel safer with
him nearby. The main door was unlocked, and I couldn’t find anyone
inside. Since it was warmer in there than outside, I had John come
in to keep me company, while I sanitized Anna’s desk. With gloves
and mask, I cleared all of the papers off, glancing through them to
see if she’d left me any notes. They all went into a cardboard box
that I had sprayed down with disinfectant. I emptied the pen holder
into the box, the sticky notes and everything that she might have
touched, until the desk was empty except for the phone, which I
sprayed liberally. The place stank of cleaner, and now I was
confident the room was clean. I sat down to use the phone now that
I was comfortable touching it. I still left my gloves on
though.

The first call was to the cable company. Yes,
service was suspended because of non-payment. Geesh, it’s been only
nine weeks. I had paid all my bills in early November before
anything had happened. It’s only January 14th. I explained where I
was and that without power I couldn’t pay online. She took my debit
card number and said that it would be turned back on by the end of
the day. The rep then told me that not all channels were available
anymore. Most of the news stations were shut down by the
government.

Swell, now the news is censored even more
than it was before.

Before making any other calls, I set up my
laptop and managed to get online with the township server. I wasn’t
sure I’d be able to with my personal computer, I had only used the
township’s equipment. Only 2,759 emails behind. I skipped over to
my online banking to check account balances. Everything looked to
be intact and since I haven’t spent anything in weeks, I had no
idea what the dollar was worth. I got into bill payment and set up
automatic transfers to keep things paid. If we had any power at
all, some normalcy would be very welcomed, and that made me think.
I switched sites and looked up my account with our power company.
They aren’t delivering any power, however, I’m still being charged
the $25 per month surcharge. If we ever get power back, everyone is
going to have a huge bill that has nothing to do with electricity.
I went back into my banking and set up an automatic payment for
that $25.

Next call was to my cell phone company. When
I explained where I was and that it was their tower that was down,
they agreed to suspend but not cancel my internet service. They
also saw it reasonable to credit my account for the prior five
weeks of cell service, as they could see it hadn’t been used. The
rep was nice, and helpful, and said the first time there was
activity on the phone, charges would resume.

I had one more personal call to make, but
would do it after I called Tom White. He must have been sitting
right there, because he picked it up on the second ring, and had
apparently programmed the phone with caller ID. Makes me wonder if
there are those he doesn’t want to talk to. I also wonder how long
it will be before I’m on that list too.

“Allexa, how are things up in Moose
Creek?”

“Cold, snowy, and overall, crap. Half of the
town is down sick with this flu. I’m okay so far. Anna is sick and
I haven’t seen her in a few days, so I don’t really know what her
status is. What is going on, Tom? Is there any relief in sight? And
what about food? That would help us out a
lot
. And can we
get any kind of meds? That would really help Gray out.”