The Last Tribe (17 page)

“That sounds fun.”  Rebecca said,
acknowledging Greg as he continued.

“I was always bored when my mom
would make us go on her cultural tours.  We spent a day at this cow farm over
in Vermont, it was like 100 years old or something like that.  They had milking
cows, chickens, lots of animals.  It was fun for a little while, but you know,
when you’re a kid, that stuff gets boring pretty fast.”  He looked up towards
the sky.  “Who knew that my mom would save my life with her boring tours. 
Finding Webster Cottage is all thanks to her, like she was looking out for
me.”  He continued looking up.  “Thanks, Mom.”  He smiled as he said it,
thinking of her, how much he missed her, and how much he loved her when they
were together.

Greg was not paying attention, he
was too caught up in his thoughts.  He did not tell Rebecca to turn around
before leaving town.  They were five minutes outside of Hanover when Greg realized
his mistake.

“Oh wow, I’m sorry.  We were
supposed to turn, like, way back there.”  He looked around and saw they were
entering the town of West Lebanon.

“Well, where are we?  This is your area,
Greg.”  Rebecca did not mind an adventure, and they could hardly get lost if
they stayed on the same road. 

“You know what?  This is Lebanon or
West Lebanon, I’m not really sure of the difference.  We are going to come to a
Dunkin’ Donuts at a fork in the road.  Take the right fork and we’ll run right
into LL Bean and West Lebanon.  This is the back way I didn’t think I knew.” 

They drove down Main Street in West
Lebanon, a straight road with businesses on either side.  The town was looted,
most of the shop windows were broken.  One of the stores, “The Paint Barn,” was
burned out.  Black smoke stains clung to the side of the building around the
front doors and broken windows.

“What the heck?  I haven’t seen
this anywhere else.  I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but I did walk by a few
towns between Hightower and Concord.  The State Liquor Store was looted for
booze, but it wasn’t ruined.”  Greg worried about the stores in West Lebanon. 

“This was vandalism, not looting. 
Look at the spray painting on the Paint Barn.  It’s punks who did it, not
looters.  Who loots a paint store during an epidemic?”  Rebecca pointed to the
black words scarring the side of the building.

The Lebanon library was on their
left, it too was covered in symbols and words.  Its front doors were broken. 

“I heard about towns like this on
the radio.”  Rebecca continued.  “If the police got sick, and no one was there
to stand in for authority?  The bad influences took control.  There was some
bad stuff going on all around New England.  People realized there were no
repercussions for their behavior.  It got ugly, quickly.  Not a lot of places,
but some.  This part of Lebanon went to the mobs.”

They did not see a sign of life. 
Despite the destruction, they could tell no one had been around for months. 
Leaves covered the ground, unmoved except for animal tracks. 

They arrived at the Dunkin Donuts
and a fork in the road.  The donut shop was untouched by the violence.  “I
guess even mobs have their rules.  Don’t mess with the donuts.”  Rebecca said,
surprised that one store would survive above all the others. 

“Should we make a joke about how
all the police were probably at the donut shop, and that’s why it survived?” 
Greg laughed at this own joke with a loud chuckle. 

“Nice.”  Rebecca complimented. 
“Nice.”

The turned right and headed towards
the big box stores.  Greg wanted to visit the high end indoor mall.

“Up there, on the left, that’s the
LL Bean and sporting goods store.”  He turned his head to examine this area of
West Lebanon.  “Everything looks fine here.  I bet the police drew a line in
the sand at the Dunkin’ Donuts.  Maybe they decided these stores were more valuable. 
There are two groceries over here.  Food must have been a priority.”  Greg was
pleased to see this part of town was not burned to the ground. 

Rebecca became more animated when
she pulled into the indoor mall.  “I love LL Bean.  There was an outlet in
Concord.  You could buy monogrammed stuff that people sent back, so if you
didn’t mind having someone else’s initials on your luggage or backpack, you got
a sweet deal.  It was the best store.”

They parked by the mall and got out
of the van.  Greg walked up and tried the entrance door.  It was unlocked.  He
held it open for Rebecca, and followed her inside.  LL Bean was the first store,
anchoring the mall on one end.  Eastern Mountain Sports anchored the other. 
The roof of the mall was glass, sunlight shone brightly throughout the mall. 

“Brrr” Rebecca said as she rubbed
her hands on her arms.  ““I bet it’s five degrees colder inside than out.  I’m
not sure how long I’ll last shopping in here.”

“I agree.  Let’s make quick work of
this place.”  They tried the doors at the LL Bean store.  They were locked. 
Greg went outside and picked up a large rock from the stream that ran next to
the mall.  He came back inside and threw the 15 pound stone through the glass
door.  “Don’t call the police.”  He said to Rebecca as he kicked the jagged
glass away from the frame.

“Don’t worry, one of my uncles was
a cop.  I can get us leniency.”  She stepped through the gap left by the rock.  “We
have a very large van.  Whatever you want, take.  I’m getting several sets of
flannel sheets, and a whole bunch of snow pants.  I’m not saying this is our
last trip to West Lebanon, but if it snows later today or tonight, this might
be our last trip to West Lebanon.”

Greg went to the clothing section to
find pants and shirts.  He carried a large black plastic trash bag and began
stuffing underwear, shorts for next season, hats, gloves, anything and
everything he could think of for winter into the bag as he walked by the
circular racks.  He made two trips to the van with four bags full of clothes
before he found the camping section. 

Greg stopped dead in his tracks.  Set
up as a display was the most beautiful thing he had seen in months, a portable camping
bathtub.  The red canvas frame folded out like a baby crib with strong aluminum
cross bar supports.  The tub was six feet long, three feet wide and three feet
deep.  A plastic drain opened at the bottom, perfect for their house with no
running water.  He could set it up in the dining room, kitchen, or their
bedroom next to a fire. 

Greg checked to see if Rebecca had
seen the bathtub.  She was busy on the second floor of the store walking through
the women’s clothes.  He folded the tub and ran it out to the van.  He put his clothes
and new sleeping bag over the tub.  He wanted to surprise Rebecca later that
day.

He jogged back inside, passing
Rebecca on her way out with an armload of clothes.  “I love this store, I
really do.  It’s awesome.”

Greg went back to the camping area,
grabbing four pair of snow shoes and walking poles.  On his fourth trip into
the store he found another key item, a shotgun, a one hundredth year L.L. Bean anniversary
shotgun on display in a wood and glass case.  He broke the display case with
one of the snow axes nearby and picked up the gun.  It was heavy, but perfect
for hunting or defense.  He went back to the van with the shotgun, the snow
axe, and used his free arm to grab a handful of lanterns. 

“I’m going to drop this stuff in
the van and head down to the other sporting goods store.  You staying here, or
do you want to come?”  Greg called to Rebecca.

She poked her head over the
railing.  “Did you get boots?  We need good snow footwear.  We should get all
the available sizes.”

“Yes, ma’am, I did.  I also put
several pair of snowshoes in the van.  We’ll need them along with the boots.”

“Okay, let’s see if the other store
has a better bike selection, and I want to find a smaller canoe, one I can
handle on my own.”

“You are a picky shopper, aren’t
you?”  He said back to her.  She scrunched up her face with a smile that told
him “whatever.”

They walked down the center of the
empty mall looking at the shops.  They stopped at a novelty store and loaded up
on board games.  The candy shop provided a quick snack of pre-packaged Belgium
chocolate.

“Look at these stores, handbags,
jewelry.  None of this has value anymore.  And look how cute that purse is! “  Rebecca
sighed as she walked to the store window.  “I can finally get one of those
expensive bags, and they aren’t worth anything now. “

Greg looked at her.  “Yeah, life
can be cruel, you survive a plague, only to be cursed with unnecessary accessories. 
What a world.” 

She scrunched her face at him
again.

Eastern Mountain Sports had a
better bike selection and a smaller canoe.  It also had better sunglasses,
which Greg took full advantage.  “I love sunglasses.  I could never afford
them, or more than one pair, but I coveted all these sunglasses.  Unlike your
purse, these still have value.  I win again!”  He smiled as he put a pair on
his face, the tag hanging down his nose.

They spent almost two hours
shopping in the stores.  They wanted to get home to eat lunch and unpack their
haul before it got dark.  Greg looked at the sky as they loaded the canoe into
the truck.  “It’s going to rain or snow, look at the black clouds coming over
the mountains.  Let’s go through a few more stores and call it a day.”

“We have to go to Home Depot or the
hardware store to find the window sealers.  I’m glad we have all these
lanterns, because Home Depot and Walmart typically do not have windows.  You
want to go to those two stores and leave?”

“Sure.”  Greg replied.  “There’s a
hunting store up here too.  I want to see if I can get some shotgun shells for
the shotgun I found.”

“You got a gun?  For what?”

“Thanksgiving is coming.  I owe you
a turkey.”

“Okay, whatever, like you are going
to be able to bag a turkey.  I don’t like guns.  You’re more likely to shoot
your foot off.”  Rebecca frowned.

“I’ll be fine.”  He rolled his
eyes.  “I’ll just run into the store and grab what I need.”  He pulled down the
backdoor of the van before walking to the passenger’s side.  Before he did, he
walked to the sidewalk and picked up a large stone from the river, similar to
the one he used to break the LL Bean entrance.  He put the rock next to him on
the bench seat.  “I can’t forget the key to these stores.”

Rebecca drove down the road and
turned into a strip mall, one of many that filled West Lebanon.  A hunting and
fishing warehouse sat at the end of the parking lot. 

“I’m coming in with you.  I forgot
my fishing stuff.  ”  Rebecca told him. 

“Works for me.”  Greg said back,
picking up his rock and walking to the front door.  He threw the rock through
the glass and cleared the shards with his foot.

Rebecca tried the door.  It was
unlocked.  “Men.”  She said as she went passed him.

She shuffled off to the fishing
section.  Greg made his way to the hunting area.  It was dark inside.  Greg turned
lanterns on as he walked passed a display.  He soon located his shotgun shells. 
He grabbed a case of them.  As he walked towards the exit he found a trap
display.  He put down the shells and examined the cage.  A “critter” entered
one end, tripping a door that closed behind it, trapping the animal.  It was
used to humanely trap and transport pest animals.  Greg would use it to trap
food.  He brought the shells out to the van, and returned for a dozen of the
traps.

Rebecca sat in the warm van waiting
for Greg. 

“There is an Orvis store in Hanover
if we need more fishing stuff, and the hardware store carries fishing rods and
tackle too.  I took fly fishing lessons at Orvis one summer.  My grandfather
loved to fish.  You should see my little brother, Craig.  It’s all he’d do if
we let him.”

“You only talk about Craig.  What’s
your other brother’s name?” 

“Matt.  You’ll get to meet both of
them.  Matt is a bit of a character, not serious like me.”

“Wait, you’re the serious one?  You?”
She feigned shock in her voice.

“Yeah, me.  I’m the serious one. 
Really.”

 “What do you say to skipping
Walmart, grabbing the window stuff at Home Depot, and going back to town? 
Heck, let’s skip Home Depot and get the window insulators at the hardware store
in town tomorrow.  It’s getting late.  We have to unload.  I don’t know why we
would run ourselves ragged when we are staring down the barrel of endless
time.”  Greg was tired and sore from moving the furniture yesterday.  He wanted
to setup the bathtub and soak for a while.

Rebecca shook her head.  “Let’s get
the window stuff.  I don’t want to risk a storm blowing in and dumping a foot of
snow and suddenly we can’t get back over here.  If hardware store doesn’t have the
plastic we face a problem we don’t need to face.  You just run in and grab the
stuff.” 

“Perfect.”  Greg replied.

She turned the engine over and
drove to Home Depot.  The cab of the van was hot.  They enjoyed the warmth
during the short drive.

Greg smashed the glass door with
his rock, turned on the floodlight he held in his left hand, and braved the
dark warehouse by himself.  There was no light inside the windowless box store. 
He flashed the flood beam to read the aisle markers and quickly found the
window insulating sheets.  He picked up an entire case.  “No reason to only
take one package.”  He mumbled as he walked back through the store.  His eye
caught the fireplace section.  He already had plenty of tools for their
fireplaces, but he inspected a carton of easy light logs.  He moved the
flashlight around before spotting a shopping cart.  He placed four cases of the
starter logs in the cart, putting the window insulation on top. 

He rolled the cart over the broken
glass and out of the store.  The van was running, but Rebecca was not in the
driver’s seat.