Vaxdemic Book 2 Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Well, everyone is here and ready to go to the dam. There are thirteen in the party, we have lots of food, ammunition, and supplies. I’ve packed several books, I scoured from various locations, two computers, a few windmills, batteries, and regulators, and all the other stuff we’ll need to get set up. There’s just one problem. I can’t leave yet.
Both Matt and Pastor Roth wanted to get an early start on the dam because of rumors they’d heard from the foundry. They think Saugus may try to sabotage or ambush us on our way depending on the rumors. Both men tell me everyday we need to hurry and they understand my hesitance, but after countless hours comparing their logic to my wants, I can’t bring myself to leave. The only two people on my side are Beth and Claire. Claire being on the skittish side, Beth has acted as our arbiter against everyone else. That woman works guilt in amazing ways. What is it that’s holding me back? I want to see my child when they’re born.
It's completely astounding to me that I’m in the circumstances I am. Before the old world ended, I had given up the idea of getting a girlfriend, forget marriage and children. Now I wanted to see my child when they were born. There is a Ruth rule for this, or rather a rule from Ruth’s husband, which she relayed to the best of her abilities. ‘Your heart maybe mush, but your face should be stone.’ The more I read the books she made me the more I wonder what she actually thought of me.
The original plan was to leave in October after Claire gave birth, since we believe we conceived in January or early February. It’s late September and I have twelve men eager to go on an expedition. Also, the more rumors I hear about Saugus, the more I don’t want to leave Claire with just two guardians.
A meeting was held in July in the meeting hall the Mennonites build near my home. Matt, Pastor Roth, and a bunch of people I didn’t know but were considered by both their communities came. The meeting was to decide what to do with the city. A few fights had broken out over salvage rights, who could take what land, or claim what property. It was decided that the area needed a leader, a mayor, and guess what fool they voted in to do the job?
Sometimes I like to reminisce about my quiet life before the world fell apart. The one where I ate what I wanted, talked to no one, and could just shut out the whole world whenever I wanted. Now once a week, I have to listen to petitioners. I hate it so much. I hoped that with so much land, and so many houses open ,people would be content to live peacefully. On my first day, one man petitioned for half the city, for his exclusive use. When I asked what he wanted with space that once housed tens of thousands of people, he looked offended and told me I didn’t need to be so greedy. Needless to say, the man didn’t get half the city. So far, I have been granting people between five and ten acres for homesteads depending on where they want to be. Once we leave the petitions will stop until I come back in the spring. If they stopped forever, I would be the happiest man on earth.
There’s a backlog of petitions and I’ve been able to use it as an excuse to delay the expedition, but that excuse was quickly wearing thin. Then on October 1, Claire finally went into labor. I was taking inventory in my little armory when Harold gave me the news. When I entered my house one of the Mennonite women blocked me from entering the bedroom. Then I heard Claire scream. I guess I got a little panicked. Next thing I knew some of the men in the expedition were dragging me out of the house. I found myself sitting in the meeting hall with Matt and Pastor Roth.
Roth was all smiles as he tried to keep me distracted. “Yes, it’s a great day when a man become a father. I’d say it’s the first day a man begins to understand God.”
It occurred to me how little I knew about the preacher. Since I was in desperate need of a distraction, I decided I would find out what I could. “I’m guessing you’re a father?”
Roth patted me on the shoulder, “Father, Grandfather, and hopefully soon great Grandfather.”
I was mildly surprised. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be sixty-two in November.” Roth said with a soft chuckle.
Now I was fully surprised. I assumed the man to be in his late forties. I thought I may be bad with age, but I saw Matt’s surprise at these words as well. “How many kids do you have?” Matt asked.
Roth thought for a moment then said. “I have six children, four boys and two girls. Then I have twenty-one grandchildren twelve girls and nine boys. My oldest granddaughter got married in May and is expecting.”
Matt whistled in awe. “You guys were made for this world.”
“We are as God made us. How about you sir?” Roth asked Matt.
Matt looked at the door for a moment before saying, “I have three children. My oldest just turned twenty-two. When he was in high school, I taught him how to weld and machine, I told him it was a good trade and a way to make a good living. He’s doing better than most. My daughter still lives with me, my other son went to college the fall before everything collapsed. I lost touch with him when the phones went down. I hope he’s alright.” The room was strangely quiet.
Roth turned his attention to me. “Stackey’s a name I haven’t heard around here before. Do you have family in the area?”
So now it was my turn. “No, at least I don’t think so. My parents live up north, or did, I’m not sure. I moved here almost ten years ago because I wanted to avoid people, and that’s easier in a city where you don’t know anyone.”
Roth frowned, “Why would you want to avoid your family?”
I tried to keep my face emotionless, maybe I did, but the questions were becoming as uncomfortable as what I needed distraction from. “I can’t say. I didn’t hate them, I just didn’t want to be around people. I taught myself to code in high school and took college classes in the summer. I was really good a programing. I started landing jobs before I graduated and moved on to college. I got a college degree because my parents pushed me too. I was almost half done when I left high school anyway. I got an apartment, a new computer, and set to work. Eventually I grew to hate my noisy neighbors so I rented a house. Then I got tired of paying rent so I decided to buy one. I packed up my computer and clothes and bought my house here. I’d made a lot of money and houses here were pretty cheap at the time so I paid cash. For the first few years my parents and friends would call. I would just never call them. Over time they called less and less, then one year I checked my phone and realized it had been eight months since my last phone call or personal email. I knew I should have felt bad or sad, I just didn’t. I kept working, kept living my life. I had everything I thought I needed. Food could be delivered like everything else. I made more money than I could spend, and I could buy whatever I wanted. I lived like that till the pandemic.” I said more than I intended. Even now I’m not sure why. Maybe I felt guilty, or maybe I just needed the distraction that bad.
Roth had a strange look of concern on his face. “Then how did you come by the farm, son?”
“On the second day after the power went out, I met Ruth. She was old and alone. She was so happy to see me. At first, she annoyed me. She started bossing me around the moment she set foot in my house. She ran a farm with her husband years ago. She sent me out to gather supplies, showed me how to farm, how to cook, patched me up when I was injured. The farm, the food, almost everything I accomplished wouldn’t have been possible without her. She set me on the path I’m on.” I still feel sad when I talk about my old friend, but I was not about to let the men around me see that.
“You never did say what happened to her,” Matt said.
It’s funny how when you try to avoid something uncomfortable you often stumble into something far more uncomfortable. “I think it was a lot of things. She had Alzheimer when we met, then last fall she broke her shoulder shooting a cougar, the shoulder didn’t heal and soon she had pneumonia. She died on Christmas eve, one day before her birthday.” Dwelling on that day made me think I might be more comfortable in my house with my screaming wife.
As God’s sense of humor goes, that’s when one of the women from the house opened the doors. “Mr. Stackey, you can go see your wife and child now.” Roth, Matt, and myself turned to face the newcomer.
“Well, don’t keep the boy in suspense. Is it a boy or a girl?” Roth asked.
The young woman bit her lip then said. “Mrs. Stack… I mean Claire wanted to tell him herself.”
Roth patted me on the back and said, “Go get her boy.”
I started walking out of the meeting hall, but before I hit the door I was running. I could hear the dogs barking at the house. Guests staying for the expedition congratulated me as I ran past. I was out of breath when I reached my front door. The women inside directed me to my bedroom. When I entered Beth and another woman were pushing bloody sheets into a bag. Claire sat in the bed. Her hair was slick with sweet and her skin was pale, but she was smiling at a small bundle in her arms. When she saw me enter, she said, “Come say hello to your son, Brock.”
Bob Stackey
October 1, 2023