The Last Tribe (49 page)

“Let me see.”  Greg pretended to
look around the kitchen.  “No.”  He smiled at their exchange.  “You know, if it
were me, I would figure out a way to use a metal pole, move that old fridge and
freezer together, place the pole on the tops, and hang the meat that way.  You
don’t want to put pulleys and eyelets in the ceiling.  This isn’t a long term
project.  You just need a temporary place to hang the one moose we are going to
kill.” 

“Greg Dixon, you are as smart as
you are cute.”  She gave him a kiss on the cheek.  “Can you make me a cup of
tea or chicken soup?  I am frozen.” 

“I’ll get anything for someone who
calls me cute.”  Greg responded.

“I don’t think you’re cute, but
I’ll take some tea too.”  John walked into the kitchen with a broad smile on
his face.  His son blushed, and Rebecca made a quick exit.   

She went to the building behind the
cottage where they stored their dry goods.  She quickly found two sets of
t-shirt sheets. 

“Ah, water for baths.”  John
nodded.  “You might just be as smart as you are cute.”  John patted Greg’s
shoulders, moving next to him to sit down at one of the tables.  “Seriously,
I’d love some tea if you are making it.”  John glanced at the shortwave radio. 
“It’s 2:15.  I bet they arrive at around four, maybe later if they drive as
slowly as I did.”

“Anything left to do?”  Greg
grabbed three insulated cups and placed decaf teabags in each one.  He used
oven mitts to move one of the large pots of water to the brick floor
surrounding the woodstove, replacing it on the burner with a tea kettle filled
with potable water.

“If they have the moose under
control, I think we are good.   We have firewood and fires made in every room,
mattresses in every room, fish for dinner.”  John let out a sigh.  “I have
earned a few hours on that comfortable couch.  I’m too old to be lugging
mattresses around.”  John sat with his elbows resting on the table and his hands
clasped together.  He stared out the window, watching Rebecca leave the storage
room next door and walk towards Choate Road with an arm full of sheets.

“I like her.  I like her a lot.” 
John said out loud.  He turned to his son.  “You are lucky to have found her.”

“We’re all lucky I found her, but
yes, I am especially lucky to have found her.”  Greg sat next to his father at
the table.  “We have a lot of work ahead of us, don’t we, Dad.”  Greg changed
the subject.

“Yes we do.  Today is more like
what we can expect from our new life, finding food, working in fields.  I don’t
know, maybe there are other survivors, and we can grow, but if not, yeah, life
might be kind of hard.”

“Well.”  Greg put his hand on his
father’s shoulder.  “I’m glad we’re facing it together.  We had some tough months,
Dad, but we made it.”  He smiled at his father.  “We made it.”

They sat quietly until the tea
kettle whistle blew.  Greg jumped up and pulled the kettle off the stove,
pouring water into two of the prepared cups.  “I think Rebecca might be a
while.”  He picked up the cups and sat back down next to his father. 

“Do you miss Mom?”  Greg asked. 
“Well, I know you miss her, that’s a dumb question, but do you think about
her?  I think maybe it is because I was at school, and then on my own, and I
didn’t see any of you, but I keep expecting her to walk through the door.”

“She’s gone, Greg.  Believe me.  I
think about her every day.  I roll over to an empty bed every morning, and I
wish she were there.  I get in bed, and I sometimes still say ‘I love you.’ But
there isn’t anyone to hear it anymore.  It has gotten easier.  Taking care of
your brothers, you, it keeps me focused on the good times, and my job ahead.”

“I miss her.  I think of her at
least once a day.  I think about her at a meal, or when I wake up a little
late, or when I take too long in the bathtub, and I’m like ‘Mom taught me
better than this.’  Not that she was a task master or anything, but you know, I
don’t want to disappoint her memory.”

“I don’t think you can, Greg.  And
you’re definitely not disappointing her now.”  He patted his son’s hand on the
table.  “You’re a good kid, and a hard worker.  I think you’ve even lightened
up a little bit.”

Greg laughed.  “I kept telling
Rebecca, I’m the serious one, wait until you meet my brothers and father.”

“Your mother would like Rebecca.” 
John grabbed his tea.  “Now, I’m going to take a well deserved nap.”  He walked
into the other room.  “Try to keep things under control while I catch a few
winks.”  John was exhausted.  Between driving half of yesterday, staying up
with his brothers, and working all morning, his body was done.  He set the tea
on the table, put his head on the pillow, and was asleep in seconds. 

Greg went out of the kitchen
through the back door and headed down to the other house to see the moose
party.

“John?  Are you there?”  The radio
crackled.  “John, it’s Todd.  Are you there?”

The room was dim.  John was
disoriented as he opened his eyes.  “What time is it?”  He said out loud.  He
was on his side, a blanket placed over him while he slept on the couch.  He sat
up quickly to try and snap out of his haze.  He was alone in the cottage.

“John?”  The radio crackled again.

John grabbed the radio off of the
table, looked at the time, 4:10pm, and pressed the talk button.  “Todd?  Hey,
great to hear your voice.”

“John!  Where have you been,
buddy?  I’ve been calling you for 15 minutes.  Did you have something more
important to do?”

“I, uh, I’ve been busy.”  John was
embarrassed.  He had been asleep for almost two hours.  “Where are you?  What’s
your ETA?”

“We arrived at the Lebanon exit and
pulled off about five minutes ago.  I waited to hear from you, but got
restless.  We are getting close to Hanover.  It’s slow going, the snow is
deeper in some of the shady spots, but we should be pulling up in about 10
minutes.”

“Great!  Go right to the old
house.  We have dinner caught, and beds for everyone.  Talk to you then.”

“Sounds good.  I hope my bed is
ready now.  It was a long drive.”  Todd sounded exhausted.

“See you in a few.”  John jumped
up.  He was dizzy as the blood rushed back to his head.  He called out. 
“Greg?  Matt?  Craig?  Anyone?”  The house was silent.  “Where the heck is
everyone?”  He walked to the boot bin, pulled on his boots, grabbed his coat
off the rack, and went outside.  “They must be down at the other house.”  He
mumbled.  He turned and started a light jog down Choate Road.

There was smoke coming from the
chimney of the big house.  John opened the door and heard laughter.  Light came
from the living room on the left.

“There he is!”  Paul announced. 
“How was the nap?” 

Everyone was holding an insulated
cup of steaming beverage.  The room was warm from a fire roaring in the large
fireplace.  Paul, Hank, and Matt were in long, waffle knit underwear.  There
were two pots full of water sitting next to the fire. 

Craig, Rebecca, and Greg sat on a
couch pulled close to the flames.

“I heard from Todd.  He just passed
the soccer fields.  He will be pulling up in five minutes.”

There was silence as the room
absorbed the news. 

Hank, standing in his underwear
next to the fire, spoke.  “Well, I guess I have to get dressed to meet the new
people.”  He nodded to Matt and Paul.  “You guys want to head up and put some clothes
on?”

“Why don’t you guys have clothes
on?”  John asked.  “Do I want to know?”

“Because we were covered in moose
blood and needed new clothes, but someone’s children outnumber the two of us,
so we were forbidden from waking their father, who was taking an old man nap. 
All we could scrounge together were these thermals from the storage van.”  Paul
explained.  “Any other questions?  You want to hear how I had to clean up in a
cold room upstairs because you needed a nap?”

John laughed.  “Thank you for your
sacrifice.  I do feel better.”  As the men left in their underwear, John
addressed Greg, Craig, and Rebecca.  “Okay, now that the muscle is gone, I can work
with the brains of the group.  We have a giant grill in the U’Haul.  We need to
get that going as soon as we can and cook the fish for dinner.  We can start
the fire in the den to give people two places to warm up and congregate.”

“I’ll walk up the street and get
the fish.  Uncle Hank will help me with seasoning and other stuff.”  Craig got
up from the couch.  “We’ll bring the food back.”

“Hey, can you grab five boxes of
the red beans and rice mix?  That will go with the trout and be easy to make. 
It also has a lot of protein and calories.”  Greg asked.

“Red beans, trout, seasoning, got
it.”  Craig ran out the door.

“Thank you for letting me sleep.  I
needed it.”  John confessed to his son.  “I don’t even remember falling
asleep.  I just conked out.”

“We’re pulling down Choate, just
waved to Craig.  Where is he going?”  A voice asked through the radio on John’s
waist.

“I’ll put more wood on this fire
and start the one in the den.  You two go and see your family.”  Rebecca
volunteered.  She was excited to meet the new people, but also a bit
overwhelmed with the idea of fifteen more bodies invading her town.

Two car horns blared, announcing
the arrival of the RV’s.  John and Greg rushed outside and waved.   They saw
Emily crying in the passenger’s seat of the first vehicle.  A young woman Greg
did not know waved from the second RV.  She was blonde and looked to be in her
20’s.  Every  available window had little faces peaking through.  The RV’s came
to a stop, and the side doors opened.  People flooded out. 

Greg recognized his cousins, but no
one else.

“Greg!”  Jay and Brian yelled. 
They ran to their cousin and engulfed him.  “We just came from New York City. 
You won’t believe how big that place is, it’s HUGE!  We saw the Statue of
Liberty, and all these buildings.”  Jay told Greg all the things they saw.  It
did not occur to the young boy that he should be surprised or amazed to find
Greg alive.

“Can I give you a hug to make sure
you are real?”  A woman’s voice said from behind Greg.  He turned and saw his
aunt, tears rolling down her face.  His uncle was next to her.  They hugged him
tightly.  “How did you make it here by yourself?  We had given up hope after
seeing Baltimore and New York.” 

“I had a lot of help.  Hank and
Paul arrived a few months ago.  They made it a lot easier.”  He told them
during their tight embrace.

Todd let go and backed up.  “Paul
and Hank are here?  Where?”  He looked around wildly.

“There is a lot to catch up on. 
Let’s introduce everyone to Greg.  He met a girl on his adventures.  She’s
inside lighting a fire and stoking another.  Her name is Rebecca.”  John gave
them a hug.

“I’m sorry I left in such a hurry
yesterday.  It’s great to see you all again.”  John made his way around the
group, shaking hands and rubbing kids’ heads.  When he met Solange she gave him
a large hug and kiss on the cheek. 

“It is good to see you again,
John.  I’m glad you found Greg safe.  Would you introduce me?”  She walked
towards the boy.

“It’s great to see you again too. 
I hope you understand why I left.”  He did not know why he was asking her
forgiveness. 

“I understood, but next time, I
would love to join you on your adventures.”  She smiled at him as they walked
to Greg.  The boy was surrounded by people introducing themselves, patting him
on the back, laughing at knowing he was alive.

“Dad, why do all the people act
like they know me?”  He asked his father. 

“Because I talked about you a lot,
we all talked about you.  Greg, this is Solange, she was a sole survivor as
well.  We met her in Richmond, Virginia.”

Solange ignored Greg’s outstretched
hand and gave him a hug.  “It is very nice to meet you, Greg Dixon.  You were
missed by your father and brothers.”  She used his full name, like Rebecca.

“Nice to meet you, Solange.”  Greg
did not know what to do other than return the beautiful woman’s hug. 

Greg was overwhelmed by the
people.  They were all around him, young kids, another girl that seemed to be
his age, an older girl Matt’s age, two older people, two women who were trying
to corral the young children.  The beautiful woman with a Latin accent trying
to talk to him.  He tried to listen to what his Uncle Todd and Aunt Emily were
asking his father.

Greg looked for Rebecca.  He wanted
to introduce her to his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins.  She was nowhere to be
found.  He politely excused himself from Solange and walked into the house.  He
found Rebecca in the study looking out the window.

“Is it as chaotic as it seems out
there?”  She asked.  “We’ve gone from four to twenty-four in a day.”

He walked to her and grabbed her
hand.  It was sweaty.  He could tell she was nervous about the new people.  “If
it was easier with two, it has to be much easier with twenty-two.” He touched
her cheek and turned her towards him.  “Come on, let me introduce you to my
family from North Carolina.  You’ll like them.” 

She smiled nervously, but he could
tell she trusted him. 

“It is going to be better, isn’t
it.”  She stated rather than asked. 

“Better is a relative term.  Easier
I’m positive.  Better?  We’ll see how it goes, but we’ll see together.”  She
followed him out of the den and into the cool afternoon air.

Hank and Paul arrived with Matt. 
They were hugging Todd and Emily and crying.  Jay and Brian were high fiving,
and ran towards Craig when they saw him pulling a sled full of food.

There was confusion after Hank and
Paul arrived, as people were introduced and stories of the drive were given. 
Once people realized they needed the grill to cook dinner, the storage cart was
opened and the grill was ignited. 

People continued to talk and make
their way into the house and the fires.  Greg and Rebecca wanted a tour of the
RV’s, which Jay and Brian were happy to give.  Hank and Paul showed off their
moose in the basement.  When the grill was ready, everyone helped wrap trout in
aluminum foil to grill for dinner.

Hank and Avery set up three folding
tables in the living room.  They instructed the younger kids on how to set the
tables with plastic tablecloths, plastic ware, cups, and retrieve folding
chairs from racks in the basement.

At 6:00pm the new tribe was seated
at dinner.  A hush fell over the room as people realized the magnitude of the
moment.

Todd stood and held his cup of
water in the air.

“Well, we’re here, and we have a
great meal in front of us.  Thank you all for coming.”  There was a chuckle
from the adults who understood the joke.  “Thank you for joining our tribe or
group or colony, whatever we want to call it.  I think we have a great future
ahead of us.  I don’t want to be melodramatic, but let’s give thanks to
whatever kept us alive and brought us together.” 

The table let out a cheer.

“And one more thing, just a
request, not a command, let’s enjoy tonight, tell fun stories, focus on being
alive and here.  We have plenty of time to discuss the future and the work
ahead.  We’ll have another time to mourn our losses.  It’s been a long day and
a long trip.  Let’s end it with a celebration.”

Todd sat down.  Emily was one seat
over, Jay in between them.  Todd leaned back and over to give his wife a kiss,
something they did before every dinner together.  “I love you.”  He whispered. 
Todd sat up and put his arms around his sons on either side of him.  Their
journey was not over, but he felt like Hanover was a milestone.  The plan he
set in motion eight months earlier was finally complete.

Everyone had half a fish and a
large portion of rice and beans on their plates.  There was wine, fruit punch,
goat’s milk, and water.  As they ate, Solange told John about the previous
night’s dinner.  “We had canned ham and beans.  Please do not think I am
ungrateful for the meal your brother made for us, but fresh trout is a step up,
several steps up from last night.”

“I don’t know.”  Antonio cut in. 
“This fish is okay, but there’s something about spiced ham and baked beans. 
Mmmm, man, the way you got a nice sear on the meat last night?  It had some
snap to it.”

John was meeting the new Antonio
for the first time.  The gregarious and helpful teenager was very much in
contrast to the loner he left the day before.  He made a mental note to ask someone
what the heck happened in the last day to change the boy so much.

“So you are comparing fresh fish,
cooked with herbs on a grill to that meat you ate from a can?”  Solange
laughed.

“I’m with Tony.”  Ahmed cut in.  “I
grew up eating canned ham at least once a month.  Eating it last night brought
back some memories for me, took me back home for a minute.  There are no bones
in ham.”  He pulled a tiny pin bone from his mouth. 

“Remember that crab boil from a
week ago?  Now that was food.  Dumping Old Bay into a pot of water followed by
dozens of crabs?  Man, you can’t beat that.”  Peter looked around the table at
the people who did not enjoy it.  “Then, the next night, he made Paella using
crab stock made from the crab shells and leftover meat.”  He gave Todd a look. 
“I’m not saying you fell down last night, but you have to admit, crab boil to processed
canned meat?  Do I need to keep talking?”

“Look, I’m feeling a little anger
towards the dinner last night.  I was in New York.  There was no food.  It was
a long day.  I didn’t have anything to work with.  I fed all of you.  Come on, ham
and beans?  That was comfort food, a warm meal for your empty bellies.”  Todd
mock defended himself.

“Have you heard about how my dad
fed us tuna mac for like two months?”  Craig told the group.  “I’ll take crab
or trout over tuna mac.  You don’t know what you’re talking about until you
face a 50
^th
meal of tuna fish, macaroni, and Italian dressing.”

Cameron raised his hand.  Bernie
sat next to him.  “You don’t have to raise your hand, dear.  As long as you
don’t interrupt, you can speak up.”

Cameron nodded.  “I ate ten times
last month.  I counted.  Ms. Bernie told me when months started and ended, and
she told me it was March 1
^st
, and I counted how many times I got to
eat.  I’d put a little pencil mark on my wall, really tiny, so no one would see
and I wouldn’t get in trouble for writing on the wall, and when she told me it
was April 1
^st
, I counted the marks, and I ate ten times.  Then you
all came.  I liked the ham, and the meatballs, and this fish, even though I
don’t really like fish, I’ll eat whatever you give me.”  He turned to Todd. 
“Thank you Mr. Todd.”  He lowered his head from shyness.  He was a bold four
year old, but even bold four year olds get nervous in front of crowds.