After the War--The Journals

In which we establish contact and set new prices.

Day 9

6 am

I am wondering if there is a book up in the library that discusses group dynamics. I have never been any good at politics, and I worry that our group is becoming a political beast. A very hungry and not particularly discerning beast, at that. Votes seem to have gone out the window and the non-voted in leaders, who seem to have taken over, have become something of a dictatorship. I am feeling very minion-ish.

All of the writing I do in this journal not-withstanding, I miss writing. I miss writing for the sheer joy of turning a mere thought into a wonderfully descriptive phrase. Is that pure luxury now, I wonder?

I don’t miss my computer quite as much as I would have thought I would. Granted, it is easier to type than write, and granted it is far more legible, but I am not missing the mind-candy things I did at all. Perspectives. *Sigh*


10am

John, Doc and Cyndy just called a meeting. It seems that one of the supplicants (seems that way to me) at the gate had a ham radio. This person will be allowed to join our happy throng. The new currency or perhaps, it really hasn’t changed so much. That person has something we can use. Something we want and are willing to exchange space for use.

Lilac asked about our voting on important things. Doc said that it was a waste of time on things clearly in the best interest of the group. She mentioned that we had voted on voting on things. He changed the subject.

I asked about the others at the gate and if there was a new standard for who is and isn’t acceptable here. John suggested that I concentrate on maintaining my ‘little history journal’ and leave well enough alone.

Duncan asked why the change and since when weren’t we all equal parts of this venture.
John looked over to Doc, who nodded and then John told us that we ‘were’ still equal, but that some, by virtue of their leadership abilities, would ‘seem’ more equal than others. Most everyone nodded at that and the subject was changed yet again. I can’t help but think about “Animal Farm” and I think Duncan was having similar thoughts.

The new addition will be arriving this afternoon with his wife and 2 children. And, of course, his ticket, the ham radio. It will be nice to find out what is going on outside the castle gates. But at what price?

4pm

We have expanded beyond the confines of the dungeon. John, Martha, Cyndy, Trevor, Doc and Lanie are still sleeping in the dungeon. The outsiders, Matt, his wife Donna and their children Scott, 8 and Sharon 7 are sleeping in the inner sanctum as well. The rest of us have spread out in the basement. I will ask them to add their stories to the journal. They are now a part of our growing family.

5pm

I am Donna Jamison. My husband and children are now safe, here in the castle, as we in town have always referred to it. Everyone here seems very nice and they clearly have a good set up. It is like a nicely run corporation and that, my husband Matt says, is a good thing because, it is quite possible that this is how it will be in this age of uncertainty. Families will be like businesses and the expansion of the family will be based upon a clear and equal balance of safety and usefulness.

I am, or was, a member of the Lady’s Aid Society and as such, have been in charge of doling out supplies, food and occasional shelter to the needy. It was a difficult job because we simply did not have the resources to give to just anybody. It was a complex mix of factors which would let us decide whom we would help and who we couldn’t.

~~~~~~

I’m Sharon. I’m 7. I wish there was a girl here for me to play with.

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I’m Scott. I am glad there is Trev to play with. I know him from school. He has a game boy.

~~~~~~


I am Matt Jamison, and I am a deacon of the church, the owner of the Dorset Playhouse and a ham radio operator. My call sign is K2MAD. We decided on this because it served several purposes. Matt and Donna as well as the fact Donna is the leader of our local Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers chapter. The radio is now our only link across the country and the world. We operators are now the newscasters and commentators of the human condition.

7pm

The radio is hooked up and Matt directed Steve and Bobby in climbing up onto the roof to affix the new antenna the guys spent the afternoon building. Steve slipped while coming down off the roof and broke his leg. It was a bad break and Doc has set it the best he could. We used sheets to stop the bleeding and strips of sheet to hold his ‘cast’ in place. They used leftover antenna pieces. Doc gave him some pills and he is now asleep with his leg propped up on a bench over his sleeping space. I hope it doesn’t get infected. Doc had to sew up Steve’s leg where the bone came through the skin. Martha didn’t have any thread because she used to send her stuff out to a seamstress. They used fishing line instead.

World News Tonight: As more and more radio operators get back online (so to speak) there is a greater flow of ‘chatter’ on the airwaves. Much of the time it is very difficult to understand. Sometimes, all you hear is Morse code.

Southern NJ. They said that NYC was a huge bonfire. All traffic has been stopped at the tunnels. There had been a stream of survivors trying to get out by way of the tunnels and bridges that were still passable. No one else is being allowed out, instead there are armed men turning them away and shooting them if they don’t turn back.

Toronto, Canada. A man was on the air blaming the US for everything. They don’t have power in Canada either, even though none of the bombs dropped there or were aimed at Canada.

Harrisburg, PA. People are dying from radiation sickness. Pretty much everyone is sick or dying. Bodies are piled in the streets. No one is well enough to dispose of the bodies. Water is non-existent and a variety of health issues are endangering everyone. Hospitals are clogged and turning people away. There is an urgent call for doctors and nurses. (Doc said that he wouldn’t go for love or money. There were all dead men walking.)

Manassas, VA. A group purporting themselves to be surviving governmental employees and elected officials has issued a triage statement. Anyone who received a high dose of radiation, was in or down wind from a bombsite or who has catastrophic injuries of any kind will not be treated nor will have access to medical treatment of any kind.

San Diego, CA. There was an earthquake today that they figure was about 7.5 on the Richter scale. It was centered just east of LA. Not much left there anyway.

Somewhere in northern Idaho. The people there were fine, working with generators, hadn’t had much problem with radiation and were spreading the word that interlopers and outsiders would be shot on sight.

There appears to be no good news tonight.

Thus we end Day 9, Week 1.2