Authors: Rich Goldhaber
Army jeeps and civilian cars began arriving
at Major Connor’s home. The sergeant we met at
the airfield reported to the major. “Sir, we’ve let
everyone know. I’ve kept the guards out on the perimeter and we’ve got two scouts out in the city.
Other than that, everyone else is coming.”
We waited another fifteen minutes and
eventually there were almost fifty people crowded
into the major’s backyard. About half were soldiers, both men and women, and the rest were civilians, men women and children, roughly the
same demographics as our little community.
The major introduced us and asked me to
explain why we had come here. I stood up and addressed the crowd. I spent about thirty minutes
telling them about our community, how it had
started, the infrastructure we had built up, and
the school we had started. Everyone listened. Their
faces showed the desperation many of them felt,
and the sense of relief at knowing there was still
hope.
I then offered to answer any questions and
there were many. Then I got to one of the real reasons why we had come. “On several occasions our
people have had run-ins with people who have
chosen a life of violence. One of our women was
raped; another man, who was traveling from Atlanta, ran into a bunch of them who killed an old man
and abducted two women. These are bad people,
and from what the major has been telling us, you
folks are very aware of this problem.
“We came here today for two purposes, first
to see if any of you would like to join our community, and secondly to ask for your assistance in the
protection of our community. None of us are
trained in arms or know anything about how to
defend ourselves. We have a dairy farm and fresh
produce farms to defend, and if we can keep those
places running, we can supply fresh meat and produce for everyone here.”
“Major Connors answered for his group.
“The offer of food and shelter is greatly appreciated,
and our children need to live in a better environment than this one; that’s for sure. Getting rid of
these vermin is something we want as well.”
The Major asked the civilians for a show of
hands. “How many of you want to move to the Naples community?”
About half of the non-military adult males
and all of the non-military females raised their
hands. I suggested, “We can fly the children back
with us today. We’ll bring more food tomorrow and
begin shuttling people back to Naples.”
Major Connors addressed the civilians.
“Please get the children ready to leave and bring
them to the airport. Sergeant Gomez, I want to
meet with the soldiers not on guard duty in fifteen
minutes in the general’s conference room.”
Sergeant Gomez saluted and started to
leave the major’s backyard along with a dozen soldiers. The civilians also began to disperse. Blaine
stopped them with a question. “Are any of you aircraft certified?”
The conference room was the type you see
in all of those war movies: seating for about three
dozen people surrounding a large elegant wooden
table, dozens of computer stations with huge computer screens on the wall, and a variety of hightech communications systems. Of course with no
electricity, all the electronics were down. The windows were open, creating a modest amount of air
circulating in the room. It was almost tolerable. I
counted a total of twenty-three soldiers including
the major. We were the last to arrive and the soldiers had saved three chairs at one end of the table.
Connors said, “Sergeant Gomez can you locate one of those large maps of the area. I think
we’re going to need to identify where everyone is
located.”
While the sergeant left to locate the map,
Connors asked Blaine to tell us what he was thinking. Blaine said, “I haven’t thought the whole thing
through yet, but it seems we both have an interest
in getting these undesirables to leave the area. I’m
assuming these people aren’t soldiers, and they
don’t understand how the military would do things.
They haven’t bothered you yet, and that means
they’re afraid of you. One thing about bullies and
thugs, they fear people stronger than them. So,
what do you think they’ll do if they believe there’s a
major buildup of military forces at your airbase?”
“Exactly,” Blaine said, “and they could go in
one of three directions: south toward Naples, east
toward Orlando, or north toward Georgia. I think
they’d go north.”
“Because Ralph told us there’s a large
group similar to these guys in southern Georgia,
and birds of a feather flock together.”
Connors added, “If they were military types,
they’d go north for another reason. There’s plenty
of open land up there. They’d be isolated if they
went south. Why would they want to get trapped in
the Everglades?”
Blaine continued, “So here’s my plan. The
two pilots fly back to Naples with us. There’re at
least a half dozen 737 passenger planes at the Fort
Myers airport, and there’re some variable wing aircraft there as well. We’ll keep flying different planes
over here each day. We’ll fly an approach to your
base taking us over the bad guys’ territory, and
when we take off, we’ll takeoff over the water heading west and they won’t see us. What they will see
is plenty of different aircraft flying into your base,
and they’ll conclude there’s a massive buildup taking place.”
“Sir, if it’s got an engine, I can fly it, and if
Sammy flew Apaches, I’m sure he can handle any
civilian chopper.”
Sergeant Gomez returned with a large map
of the area. We unrolled the huge map and held
the corners down with a couple of water bottles.
Connors asked, “Circle the areas where you guys
are located.”
I took a red pencil and circled the campus
and Immokalee and then with Blaine’s help, we
located the dairy farm. Connors asked, “Lieutenant
Monroe, your assessment on the defense of the
dairy farm please.”
Vince Monroe stood over the map and studied the location of the dairy farm. “Sir, there’s no
high ground, just flat terrain. There’s one main
road leading to the farm. If the bad guys attack,
they’ll certainly be using cars and maybe a few motorcycles. That means they’ll attack from the road.
I’d set up machine guns on both sides of the dirt
road leading into the farm, two soldiers at each
station. I’d catch the group in a deadly crossfire
and then relocate to defensive positions inside the
farm. We could hold off a major attack for at least
two days unless they have heavy armament. At
night, I’d send out snipers with night vision
equipment to create havoc.”
I interrupted, “Arnie, right now we only
have people there during the day. All the volunteers working the fields spend the nights at the
campus. They only need protection during the
days.”
Connors turned to Lieutenant Monroe
again. “Sir, I’d set up a drone team during the day.
They could monitor the area around the perimeter
of the fields and then if something is spotted, the
farmers could hightail it back to the campus.”
Monroe answered almost immediately, “A
real problem Sir. The lake just north of their
apartments is a natural obstacle, but bad guys can
enter the university from all other directions. I’d
use drones again to get an early warning. I’d set up
machine gun nests in these six positions. We don’t
have enough people to man all the defensive positions, but with some training the residents could
be a formidable force.”
Major Connors thought about the lieutenant’s assessment. “Lieutenant Monroe, pick ten
men and make it happen. You have permission to
draw any weapons you need from the armory.”
“Are you kidding Jim? With electricity, I’ve
got eyes. I can use our military satellites to monitor
the bad guy’s positions. We’d be able to give Lieutenant Monroe’s team a couple days’ notice of any
change in disposition of the bad guys.”
I answered, “We’re running low on solar arrays. It’s going to be several months until we can
manufacture new ones from scratch, but beginning
tomorrow, I’m going to send a team here to take all
the solar cells we have left to get you some power.”
The meeting broke up a little after three
o’clock. Our trip had been a great success. Five
children, ranging in age from just over a year to
about fifteen were waiting next to our airplane with
small military duffle bags holding their belongings.
Major Connors asked Sergeant Gomez to
locate Sammy Lafayette and explain we want him
to volunteer for a new assignment. Captain Ami
Stewart appeared with a small overnight bag, and
she helped Blaine load the luggage in his airplane.
Major Connors talked to each of the children except the one year old, and he explained they were
going to a place safer than the airbase; and soon
he would see them again.
We were now waiting for Sammy Lafayette.
After twenty minutes, he appeared riding in Sergeant Gomez’s jeep. He had on his flight suit, and
saluted the major. “Sammy Lafayette reporting for
duty, Sir.”
We all boarded Blaine’s airplane, and the
soldiers saluted us as we taxied out onto the tarmac. There was barely enough space for everyone,
but at least the kids didn’t weigh very much. We
took off heading west out over the Gulf of Mexico,
and when we were well out of sight of land, we
headed southeast toward Naples.
Blaine crossed the Florida coastline a little
north of Venice. We were flying at a little over 2000
feet when the oldest boy, who was looking out the
window, said, “I see a little boy walking on the
road.”
Sure enough, a boy, maybe seven at most,
was walking south along a two-lane road. He
looked up and began waving at us. Blaine said, “I
guess we can squeeze in one more body.”
Blaine pulled the throttle back and extended the plane’s flaps. We settled down on the same
road the little boy was walking along and taxied up
to where he was standing. He started running toward the plane until Captain Stewart yelled, “Wait
there until the propellers stop.”
The kid slammed on the brakes and waited
until Captain Stewart opened the starboard side
door. She jumped down onto the road, and he ran
up to her crying. She put her arms around his
slight body and talked to him after he stopped crying.
“Mom and dad are dead. My mom told me
to wait until someone came to get me, but that was
two weeks ago. I ran out of things to eat so I started walking into town.”
I briefly explained who we were and where
we were going and invited him to join us. His name
was Peter Dickens, and he squeezed into the
cramped airplane clutching a picture of his family.
He sat on Captain Stewart’s lap next to Blaine, and
she talked to him, providing some level of comfort
to the young boy.
We landed at the Naples airport without
further incidents. Ralph was waiting in the U-Haul
and was shocked to see all of us pile out of Blaine’s
small aircraft.
Captain Stewart sat in the front seat holding the baby, and the rest of us settled into the
back of the truck. Ralph took his time driving to
the campus, not wanting to get into an accident
with all of us in the back. Margaret was sitting at
her small desk and smiled as we pulled into the
parking lot. She said, “Well, I can always count on
you guys to bring back more survivors.”
We found Mary, and after confirming Beth
was out of danger, she insisted the little one stay
with Carla. As if she had planned for more arrivals
in the nursery, she said there was an extra crib
available. I called an emergency meeting of the
leadership team and invited Sammy and Ami to
attend.
We all met inside my apartment, and I
could tell both Ami and Sammy were amazed at
what we had managed to accomplish in our new
community. The temperature was a comfortable
seventy-two degrees. Blaine and I took turns briefing everyone on our day at the airbase, and I explained MacDill soldiers would be arriving in the
next few days to provide security at the dairy farm
and our campus.
Then I explained the urgent need for starting up electrical power at the airbase and Bill interrupted. “Jim that will deplete us of solar arrays.
The guys are telling me it will be at least two
months before we’ll be able to manufacture our
own photovoltaic cells.”
Jessie said, “I have an idea. Let’s go back to
Opti-solar and find out where they’ve installed solar arrays. Then we can go there and take them
down and scavenge all the parts.”
Bill stood up from the table, walked over to
Jessie, and gave her a 235 pound bear hug. She
almost disappeared in his arms. Everyone laughed,
and then we got down to business. Manny explained his team would drive to Immokalee early
tomorrow morning and bring fresh produce to the
Fort Myers airport. Captain Stewart and Sammy
needed a couple of hours to check out the aircraft
they would be flying, so we set the departure time
for noon. Blaine was going to borrow a different
airplane from the Naples airport and fly it up to the
Fort Myers airport in the morning.