The Last Tribe (53 page)

“I know there is a library, but can
we find a bookstore?  I want to pick up books for Meredith.  I know Bernie is
also struggling to find things for the kids to read or be read to.”

“And maybe get a few books for
yourself?”  Todd smiled.

“I admit I have selfish motives. “

“We walked right passed a bookstore
while we were talking.  It’s three stores back.  Why don’t we grab some books,
use a basket or something to bring them with us, and we can cross the street to
the real estate offices.”

They walked back to the bookstore
and picked out books for everyone on their list.  “There’s a library right down
the road, and it has a fireplace.  We will start school down there this week. 
I know Emily wants to get Brian and Jay back in the groove of school a few days
a week.”

“Meredith isn’t going to like that
idea, but it works for me.”  Avery held two plastic shopping baskets.  “I don’t
need to learn Calculus, but I’d like to study solar energy, and maybe some
house building and repair.”

“I know my nephew, Matt, has been
studying farming for the last five months.  He is in the same boat as you,
doesn’t need to learn how to read and write, he needs practical skills.  My
sons need to learn how to read, write, and use math.”

Todd held up his two baskets. 
“Let’s take these with us.  Leave them by the door at the real estate offices. 
My mother always told me, don’t backtrack if you don’t have to.” 

Avery followed Todd across the
street to an office with house pictures taped to the windows.  Todd tried the
door.  It was open.  The bolt was broken and the wooden frame was splintered. 

“If I had to guess, I would say
someone tried this idea already.”  Todd said.  “The office is not ransacked,
but the files have been searched.” 

“Do you think this was our group?” 
Avery asked, looking around at stacks of papers neatly placed around the file
cabinets.

“I do.  They had the same idea as
you, and went down this road already.  It was a great idea, Avery, keep them
coming.”  He leaned over and picked up his basket of books.  “Looks like our
mission is going to be shorter and less successful than we thought.  We didn’t
find a water tower, and we didn’t find an alternative source for water.”   He
opened the door for Avery.  “We did figure out one thing, though.”

“What?”  She asked as she walked
passed him.

“We need to have a group meeting to
set up daily chores, brainstorm about solutions to any problems we have found,
and find out what has been tried already.”  He followed her out the door,
letting it shut behind him.

“What was it like in Raleigh?  The
news reports were so strange.”  Avery asked.

“Raleigh?”  He replied.  It felt
like he left the town a year ago.  “How do you mean?”

“I don’t know, the government was
focused on your town for a few weeks, before the nationwide outbreaks.  You
were all people talked about.  After the first deaths, and the mass exodus, no
one had a way to get reports out of Raleigh.  You were this black hole in the
country.  Reporters were not allowed in and did not want to risk getting the
illness.  You were a word and an arrow on a map.  They ran footage of the
traffic jams getting out of town over and over again.”

“I was too worried on finding food
and staying under the radar from the guys in yellow Hazmat suits to watch much
television.  I was lucky in more ways than one.  Jay had the actual flu that
week.  He had a temperature, was flat on his back, so we didn’t even try to
leave town.  We wouldn’t have made it through the first check point.  I lived
in a nice neighborhood.  Everyone bugged out, more or less.  Some of people in
my neighborhood died quickly, but most of the houses in my subdivision were
empty after the first week.  I had access to food that was left behind.   There
was no looting.  Everything happened too fast and people left so early.  The
black hole on the map was just that, a void of activity.  Once the government
pulled out to try and contain the disease, Emily and I were alone.”

“You had food, water, electricity?”

“We did, for the most part.  The
electricity went off in late September, but I had propane tanks to use on the
grill.   I had a generator to heat the house if I needed it.  We had chickens
and goats that we rounded up from farms.  As I said, the level of despair and
loss that you endured?  Emily and I had our issues, but they did not compare to
what everyone else in the country went through.”

They were on the corner of Wheelock
and Main Street when they heard a person yell, “Uncle Todd!”  Avery and Todd
looked left and saw Craig waving to them with his left hand.  His right held a
chain creel with 5 large trout.  A group of people walked behind the boy, Hank,
Antonio, Ahmed, and Rebecca. 

“Hello!”  Todd and Avery yelled and
waved back.  They held up their baskets full of books.  “Need any help?”

“We have it.”  Antonio yelled
back.  “They want to carry the fish and take credit for our catches.  No way.” 
He smiled to the rest of the group.

Avery and Todd crossed Main Street
and waited for the fishing group at the corner.  When Craig reached his Uncle
he held the chain up to show him the big rainbows.  Avery stepped back, not
happy about fish dangling near her face.  “Um, they’re nice.” 

“Did you not get to see fish on the
upper west side, Avery?”  Antonio laughed. 

“I’m starting to get used to the
new ways, Tony.  Give me some time.  I milked a goat this morning.  I may be
grossed out by fish, but I milked a goat.” 

“You milked the goat this
morning?”  Todd asked her.  “And you didn’t brag about it until now?”

“I know, right?  I mean, that’s
pretty cool.”

“You’re cool, Avery, you know it. 
I’m just messing with you.  You should come out fishing with us tomorrow or the
next time we go.  Craig will clean your fish.  You just need to catch them.” 
Antonio gave her a pat on the back.

“I’ll clean your fish, I will.” 
Craig agreed.  “I don’t mind.”  He was overly excited.  He loved to fish, and
he had a new friend in Antonio.

Rebecca was quietly pulling up the
rear.  Avery waited to walk with her.  “Rebecca, hi, I’m Avery.”

“I know.  We met last night.” 
There was an awkward silence between the two.  Rebecca was not intimidated by
Avery, but she was not used to being friends with a girl like her, tall,
pretty, most likely popular.  Months after society’s collapse, Rebecca found it
difficult to deviate from social paradigms. 

Despite her old tendency to ignore
‘pretty people,’ like Avery, Rebecca understood when a person was making an
effort.

“What books did you get? ”  Rebecca
reached out.

“I picked up some picture books for
the little kids, and some young adult junk for Meredith.  Todd and I went to
see if we could find a water tower.  We couldn’t find one close to town.”

“That’s a smart idea.  With only
two and then four people, we used rain barrels.  Once it got too cold, and the
water was freezing at night, we shoveled snow into them in the kitchen.  It’s a
pain for not that much water.”

“Yeah, well, we couldn’t find a
tower.  Then we thought about looking for a solar house at a real estate
office.”

“We tried that.  We couldn’t find
anything outside of ‘solar water heater,’ which didn’t help.”  Rebecca was
impressed.  “You and Todd were smart to think of the real estate office so
quickly.”

“Todd thinks we should get our
ideas and previous attempts down on paper or something, so that we can be more
efficient as a team.  Not that our time was wasted this morning, but maybe next
time we try something that you and Greg didn’t already attempt.”

“I totally agree.” 

They fell behind the group, walking
slowly as they talked. 

“I like your hair and cap.  It
makes you look like a catalog model or something.”  Rebecca was sure Avery
modeled in New York.

“Thanks.  I got this at Barney’s
during one of my many ‘shopping’ trips this winter.”

“Oh my god,” Rebecca said loudly. 
“I made Greg go shopping at the stores here like fifty times, until the snow
came and blocked us.  You did that too?”

“Yeah, I mean, what teenage girl
isn’t going to love shopping?  It’s awesome.”  Avery paused.  “So where are you
from?  What grade were you in?”

“I’m from Concord.  My parents
owned a grocery store.  I just finished High School, well, I had another
semester because I had to fulfill these stupid credits, but I was already
accepted to a few colleges.”

“Wait, what?  How old are you?” 
Avery stopped.

“I just turned 13.  I know, I sort
of skipped some grades.  I have book smarts.” 

“That is so cool.  I worked hard in
school, it was tough for me, but I made sure I got good grades.  Wow, finished
with high school already.  So, where were you going to college?”

“I don’t know.  I hadn’t decided. 
Greg and I fantasized about where I was going, used it as a game to pass the
time.  On the worst winter days we’d always default to Stanford.” 

“You got into Stanford?  I thought
young kids who graduated early always ended up going to some mediocre school.” 

“I don’t know, I got into
everywhere I applied.  Maybe I was old enough so that they didn’t think I was a
freak or something.”  Rebecca remembered her interviews, and her ability to
sway the committees towards admitting her.  “What grade were you in?  Were you
a senior?”

“I was, but never got to that
magical senior year.”  Avery told her.  “I was a tennis player, pretty good for
New York.  I was riding that talent to get into a good college.  I studied too,
but if I was going to Stanford, it was to play tennis, not because of my grades
and test scores.”

“You know, I would not have spoken
to a girl like you before the rapture.”  Rebecca admitted.  “I saw you last
night, and you’re pretty, and you were probably popular, and I was this twelve
year old brainy kid in high school.  Our circles would not have intersected.  I
judged you, and I’m sorry.” 

“I wasn’t a nice person a year ago,
and I wouldn’t have spoken to you either.  You’re right.  I was the person
you’re talking about.  I’m trying to be better.  You know, Meredith?  She’s
eleven.  She’s a great girl.  You’ll like her.  She was only in sixth grade
though.”

“The rapture wasn’t a blessing, it
was a horrible thing, but I’m trying to take all the positives I can from the
experience.”  Rebecca told her.  “I didn’t have any friends before.  I was
always younger than my classmates, and while people were nice to me, I didn’t
have friends.  I’d never spoken to a boy before, not one like Greg.  He’s the
boy I met last fall.”

“Oh, I know who Greg is.”  Avery
winked at her.

Rebecca blushed, “Yeah, well, I
didn’t have friends, I didn’t talk to boys.  I was happy.  I did eighth grade
volleyball.  My parents pulled some strings to get me on an age-appropriate
team, but I only saw those girls in the afternoons, and I was not really
friends with them.”  Rebecca paused.  “I guess I’m trying to say, I’m glad you
stopped to talk to me.  I’m glad I talked to you.  I know we are going to be
friends, and Meredith too.  I’m not happy the rapture happened, but I’m
learning to be happy for the things that come from it.  Does that make sense?”

“It’s so cliché to say that you are
making lemonade, especially when the lemons were the total death and
destruction of the human race, but yeah, I get it.  You have to move on.  I’m
trying to do the same, to be a good person, to be kind to people.  I was not a
nice person ten months ago, and maybe I still have my moments.”  Avery stopped
in front of the cottage.  “We may not become friends, I’m okay with that, but it
won’t be because I’m mean.  If we aren’t friends it is because we don’t click. 
Does that make sense?”

“Wait, you don’t like me?”  Rebecca
asked in a serious tone.

“No, I mean, I didn’t mean that.” 
Avery was flustered, something she was not used to being.

“I’m just kidding.  I’ve been
living with a sarcastic boy for six months.  He’s rubbing off on me.”  Rebecca
laughed.

“Not funny, well, kind of funny.  I
am never the butt of jokes.”  Avery feigned anger, but thought, ‘I just met my new
best friend.’

“Let’s go see what’s for lunch. 
You can introduce me to Meredith beyond the ‘hello I’m Rebecca.’”  Rebecca
walked up the shoveled path.  Melting snow ran down the concrete in small
rivers. 

“You got it.”  Avery told her.

Rebecca expected the cottage to be
packed with people, particularly because it was lunch.  She found only Hank. 
“There is a cookout at the other house, everyone is down there.  Greg brought
the meat grinder.  They are grinding fresh moose burgers while the grill
heats.” 

Avery set her books down.

“Sounds good to us.”  They said in
unison. 

Hank, having raised daughters,
understood when two people clicked.

“I can walk down with you.”  He
wore a light jacket, tan canvas on the outside, flannel lined on the inside. 
The weather was turning.  Hank did not need the heavy coats he wore for the
last five months.  “Avery, isn’t it?  I met you last night for a second.  You
were with that other young girl, Mary?  Is that your sister?  My name is Hank.”

“Her name is Meredith, and she’s
not my sister.  She’s a friend, a fellow survivor from New York.  Actually
she’s from New Jersey.”

“Meredith?   I was close with
Mary.  Okay, thank you.  I’m still trying to learn everyone’s name.  I’ll get
there.  Let’s head down for some food.”  He opened the back door for the two
women and followed them out.  “So what were you and my brother doing in town? 
Were you looking for books?”

“We were trying to find a better
water source.  We failed.”

“Water is tough.  We struggled with
it all winter.  Not locating it, but keeping it in drinkable form, plus having
water on hand for dishes and bathing.  It’s a mystery we’ll have to solve.  We
live by a river and a pond, and it rains here.  We have to learn how to harness
our sources better.”