The Last Tribe (60 page)

“Pull a u-turn, we’ll pick up the
exit ramp a little ways back and take Storrow Drive to our house.  Boston is
pretty easy to get around when you don’t have to follow the directional laws.”

“That’s what I said.”  John
laughed.  He actually giggled.  Solange gave him a stern look, similar to the
one she gave him after his bad dancing at the Manchester Airport.

“I know you are going to have to
repeat this to our group, but what’s your story?  Where are you from?  You’ve
hooked up with other survivors in other cities?”  Dan was ecstatic to meet new
people.  “This nightmare may be coming to an end after all.” 

Solange gave their background.  She
did not give details about their future plans, focusing instead on the events
that led to today.  She was at the part about meeting the group in Washington
D.C. when John pulled up to a large stone house.  He parked next to the truck
Ryan drove.

 “This is it.”  Dan said, waiting
for Solange to finish.  “I’ve been here since October.  I gave serious
consideration to driving across the country to get back home to Seattle, but
the reports I read about the Midwest discouraged me.  I knew the owner of this
place, he and his wife were good friends.  They got stuck in Bali.  I had a
place in Rhode Island, but it was huge, and there was no way I could keep it
heated.  I also wanted to find some people, any people, and I knew the city was
the best place to do that.”  They exited the Hummer.

“Do you have food?”  John asked
him.

“Oh, yeah, we have plenty of food. 
We have some lobster traps we…”

“So will anyone be offended if I
bring my lunch inside and finish eating?  I am starving.”  John cut him off and
held up the picnic basket.

“No.”  Dan shook his head and
chuckled.  “Don’t worry about it.  We have plenty of food.  It might actually
calm Ryan down.  He is worried you are here to steal our supplies.”

They went into the building through
a back door.  The house had a reverse floor plan.  The first level was a four
car garage.  Stairs led to an empty floor that used to be a laundry, gym, home
office, and a half bath.  John and Solange followed Dan up the stairs to the
true third floor, a beautiful room with a gigantic fireplace and open kitchen
concept.  The ceilings were low, and the room seemed warm, warmer than what a
single fire, even the giant fireplace roaring in the wall, should have
allowed. 

“I picked this house because my
friend was very into green energy.  There are a few solar panels on the roof,
and he had electric heat on this floor powered by the solar cells.  I would
have been dumb and made the ceiling vaulted in here, you know, create a
dramatic effect.  He kept them low with double insulation.  The fire place, the
heaters, we were comfortable during the harsh winter.”

Ryan and Karen waited to speak, not
wanting to be rude.  “Hello.”  Karen said, rushing over to hug Solange.  “Oh my
god, this is incredible.”  She moved to John and gave him a hug.

Ryan was not as warm.  He stepped
forward to shake their hands.  Lucinda stood alone, waiting for an
introduction.  She was shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

“Hello, John Dixon.”  John said to
her, stretching out his hand. 

“Lucinda.  Danny calls me Lucy
sometimes, but he’s the only one I let do that.”  She looked down at the floor
as she shook his hand.  “Glad to meet ya’ll.  We have so much space, so please make
yourselves at home.”  She shook Solange’s hand.  “I was tickled when Karen
radioed me and said she’d found two more survivors.  Ryan,”  She turned to
him.  “Why don’t you check the lobster traps, let’s have some lobster tonight. 
I know we’re sick of it, but it’s been a few days, and I bet these people would
love some.”  She was frenetic in her mannerisms.

“Would you mind if we sat down and
finished our lunch?  John and I have been working all morning, either driving
or trying to find you.  We are very hungry.”  Solange looked towards John who
held up their basket.

Five minutes later they were seated
around a table, except for Lucinda, who would not sit down.  She was too jumpy,
and stood in the kitchen area.  She prepared lunch for her group while John and
Solange ate.  John gave a quick recount of their tribe’s story.

“So your three brothers survived?” 
Ryan asked.  John could tell he was suspicious.

“Yes, and my three sons and two
nephews.”  John told him.

“I don’t buy it.”  Ryan said,
leaning back in his chair.  “None of that makes sense.”  The lawyer shook his
head.

“So you think Solange and I are
making up our story?”  John asked him.

“I don’t know, I’m just saying I
have a hard time believing that an entire family survived.  Ask Karen, she saw
thousands of people die, tens of thousands.  No way nine people from the same
family lived.”

Solange did not like Ryan.  He was a
rude bully.  She did not have time for a person like him.  “It is more amazing
to me that John’s sister in law, Emily, survived with her husband and sons. 
You could convince me that a group of brothers survived, and that maybe their
children would be resistant, but for a husband and wife?  Truly unbelievable.”

Karen stared at John and Solange as
they ate.  “Where did you get that bread?”  She had a tone in her voice that
conveyed deep envy.  “We don’t have bread, or don’t make much of it.  Where did
you get that?  It looks so good.”

John smiled.  He could tell she
would follow him to the northern provinces of Canada for bread.  “My brother,
Todd, has become a bit of an artisan bread baker.  He has a pizza oven, makes
different kinds every morning.”  He held the sandwich out to her, “would you
like a bite?  Honestly, it’s too much food for me.”

She shook her head.  “I’m a little
afraid of eating sausage that is probably a year old.”  She made a face.

Solange put her sandwich on her
plate and used a nearby knife to cut the remainder in half.  “It is fresh
sausage made yesterday.  We, or I should say Hank and Paul, John’s other
brothers, killed a moose a few days ago.  We are curing most of the meat for
steaks, letting it get tender, but we had moose burgers and moose sausage
already.”

Solange handed half of the sandwich
to Karen.  The nurse accepted the gesture without hesitation.  “Oh my gawd!” 
She said in a thick Boston accent.  “This is amazing!  Can we go to your camp
tonight?  How far is it?  Can I go there by myself?  I’m there.  I don’t care
if you have three fake brothers, and claim Paul Bunyan and Shrek are up there
making these sandwiches.  If there is more bread and sausage, wait a second, is
this cheese?  Dan, there is cheese on this sandwich.”

“There is more, and we can leave
whenever.  Solange and I are just a search party, we do not plan on staying
here more than one night.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Karen, you just
met these people, and now you’re willing to take your life in your own hands
for a sandwich?  I know you used to be fat, but come on.”  Ryan leaned forward
in his chair and turned to John.  “So that’s your game.  You come in and steal
people from other groups? ”

“Ryan, I am a direct person, so let
me be as blunt with you as you appear to be with everyone else.  We are a group
of survivors.  We are living in New Hampshire.  We are making plans for our
future.  I,” he paused.  “Solange and I.”

“Thank you.”  Solange said to him.

“Sure” he nodded to her.  “Solange
and I made a trip down here to find survivors and ask them to voluntarily join
our group.  If you do not want to come with us, okay.  If you do, you are
welcome.  We don’t have rules, we don’t have a grand plan.  We still need to
figure out how to survive once the cans of soup and boxes of pasta run out.  I
don’t have an agenda.  If you don’t trust me, I don’t really care.  Stay here. 
Live on your own.  Drive to Florida.  If a person chooses not to come with us,
totally their decision, but please understand, it is anyone’s individual
decision to make.  You make yours, she can make hers.”

“Nice choice, join the cult or get
left behind.”  Ryan narrowed his eyes again.  His hands clenched. 

“Okay, let’s just calm down.”  Dan
put his hands up.  “Ryan, check the attitude. I understand you are leery of new
people, but you have to at least be polite.”  He looked at Karen.  “You’re not
fat, he didn’t mean that.”  She nodded to Dan, who knew the fat comments from
Ryan stung her.  “I guess story time is over.  We can catch up later.  Let’s
eat, talk, find out more, then we can make a decision.”

“I’m going.”  Karen said quickly. 
“I can’t rot here anymore.  They have children, they have families, I want to
feel that again.  I’m going.  Dan, I respect you more than anyone I’ve ever met
outside of my parents, but this isn’t a group decision.  This is my life.”

“Fucking ingrate.”  Ryan spit at
her.

“Ryan, calm down.”  Dan tried to stop
him.

“No, no fucking way, Dan.  We keep
her alive, we find her, fat and helpless, and we give her a warm place, and
food for what, six months?  And now she finds a new sugar daddy and she walks
away?  You ungrateful bitch.”

John’s eyes narrowed.  He gave
Solange a look before turning towards Karen.  “You are welcome to come with us,
Karen.  I am sorry I have caused an issue within your group.”

“John, it’s not your fault.  We’ve
been cooped up in this house for months.  It’s safe to say that we are four
very different people from different walks of life, and our personalities don’t
mesh as well as they could.”  Dan put his hand over Karen’s hand resting on the
table.  “I agree with Karen, I’m ready for a change, a life instead of
survival.”

“Are you out of your fucking
head?”  Ryan said to him.

Dan turned his full attention to
Ryan, “I’m a laid back person, you know that, but you also know I’m not going
to let you talk to me like that.  Karen is right, this isn’t a group decision. 
I speak for myself, and I want to leave this house.  I can help these people,
but not as much as they can help me.  They are making the best of this horrible
situation.  It’s time we started to do the same.”

“Great, so my choice is to join a
group I know nothing about, or stay here with Crazy Lucinda?”  Ryan flipped his
thumb over his shoulder towards the frail woman standing in the kitchen.

John’s knuckles were white, his
hands clasped in fists of anger.  He did not understand who this person was,
and he did not want Ryan’s poison near his family. 

Solange squeezed his leg tightly as
Ryan threw insults around the room.  She could tell John was ready to pop.  She
could also tell that neither of them wanted Ryan to come up to Hanover.

John stood up from the table. 
“I’ve caused a bad situation.  I’m sorry.  You need to talk as a group.  You
owe each other that.”

“Who the fuck do you think you...”

John put up his hand as Ryan was
talking.  “I have no idea why you talk to people the way you do.  Maybe you are
lashing out because you are threatened, maybe you’re just an asshole, I don’t
know, but I do understand your argument, and you’re right.  You all need to
talk.”  He turned to Solange.  “We’ll figure out where to go for tonight, don’t
worry about us.  There is a lot for you to digest.  How about we come back
tomorrow morning?”

“Did you seriously just call me an
asshole?”  Ryan pushed his chair back.

Dan stood too.  “I think you’re
right, we could use some time.  The four of us owe each other that much.” 
Dan’s eyes moved from Karen to Lucinda, then back to John and Solange.  “Are
you sure you can find somewhere to stay?  ” 

“Dan?  This guy comes in here…”

“Ryan, he’s leaving, we can talk
about it when they’re gone.  Let it go.”  He extended his hand to John.  “We’ll
see you tomorrow.”

John and Solange packed their
basket and walked down the stairs with Dan.  “Hey,” the tall muscular man said
to them at the car.  “Karen and I are coming with you.  I’m not sure what
Lucinda will do, she has some issues.”

“It was very nice to meet you, Dan
Couples.”  Solange gave him a hug.

After the hug, Dan pointed down the
road.  “Lucinda mentioned our lobster traps.  If you want a few, we’re tired of
eating them.  Our traps are set in the harbor, near the aquarium.  There are a
bunch of big red buoys.  You can’t miss them.  There are hooks on the pier,
just haul them up using the pulley and crank.”  He pulled a walkie talkie out
of his pocket.  “Take this.  I’ll let you know if anything happens before
tomorrow morning.”

John shook his hand and thanked
him.  “Any advice on a cheap room for the night?”

 “If it were me, I’d find a
church.  Most of the back offices have a fireplace.  They were built of stone a
long time ago, and should heat up nicely for the evening.  Find a pot, boil
some water, enjoy some lobster.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  Hopefully we can talk
in a more civil manner.”

“Dan, I’m sorry we caused an
argument.  Solange and I have been through this before, and we’ve never had a
negative reaction.  The people we met in New York were starving, the people in
D.C. were desperate for help with three kids under the age of eight.  I did not
expect to be such a problem.”

Dan shook his head.  “You hit the
nail on the head.  Ryan’s a total asshole.  I’ve had to live with him for six
months.  He’s scared.  Hopefully he’ll figure it out, because he’s a good
worker and a strong set of hands.” 

John liked the way Dan thought. 

“I can handle Ryan.  We’ll figure
it out.  Keep the radio on, find a warm room.  I am excited to drive to New
Hampshire and eat some steak.”  Dan went back into the house, but spun back
around.  “Where did you get cheese?”

“We have a few goats that give us
milk.  We also have chickens, and we just found some cows and pigs that
survived the winter at a nearby farm.  One of our members is a vet, she’s
confident we can get the cows healthy and producing.”