Them 2 - Epilogue

Epilogue

Ten years later
Near Greenbriar State Forest, Tuckahoe, West Virginia

The large group sitting around the massive campfire was thoroughly enjoying themselves. They were listening with rapt attention to a story teller, who also happened to be the children’s history teacher. Several generations of survivors sat around the warm blazing fire. Most knew the story being told, as they had heard it many times before, and most present had actually lived through it.
A young girl of seven raised her hand to ask a question. This was her first time hearing the scary story and her blue eyes were wide with fear and curiosity. “What happened to the little boy Jacob and little girl Caitlin?”
Caitlin smiled and glanced across the fire where her husband Jacob was sitting. He was holding their seven month old daughter, Lilly. “They grew up and got married and lived happily ever after.”
Her gaze moved to the left of Jacob where her father, Eoin Gallagher, sat rubbing his callused hands and laughing at something humorous his wife had muttered. He and Buttercup had been married for almost five years and Eoin looked like he had shed at least ten years of age. For Buttercup, it was love at first site, but it didn’t take Eoin long to realize that she was full of amazing information and she possessed a no-nonsense disposition that tickled and excited his scientific mind.
Another youngster asked. “Did Hamish and Dorbec get the seeds and other things?”
Caitlin moved her gaze to another part of the circle and spotted Hamish and Dorbec sharing another mug of new beer. They were well into their cups by this time and the noise they were making almost drowned out her voice. Their wives gave them dirty looks and pointed towards Caitlin to remind them she was trying to tell a story.
“You have seen the breeding farm, Rachel,” Caitlin noted. “They brought all those embryos back and with the help of the American and British Navy, distributed them around the world to the places that were their original habitats. The animals are reproducing fast and in a few years we will be able to release some of them back into the wild. The ants ravished the entire world and we found very few wild animals that survived. As for the seeds, the new farms are flourishing. Where do you think you got that oatmeal and milk for breakfast?”
“Mister Theopolis said it was left by the faeries.” Rachel looked for Theopolis and Angel among the group enjoying the fire. Rachel was Jacob’s young sister. A year after the ants were destroyed, his mother Tappy and Colonel Grace were married.
“You must be careful of what Uncle Theo tells you,” Caitlin grinned. “He’s known to be a prankster and to tell little fibs.” She finally caught sight of Theopolis who was sharing a mug of new beer with her mother and father. He raised the mug in salute and flapped his arms up and down like a faerie. Her mom Kayle and step dad Huck seemed to agree with his misguided humor.
“When are we going to visit the President and Congress?” asked a young girl with honey blond hair. Her name was Swan and she was the second daughter of Theopolis and Angel. “Congressman Hopper promised to take us to Cincinnati to see the government in action.”
“President Prestano is a very busy man,” Caitlin replied. “He and First Lady Cathay are still trying to get our county up and running. There is so much to do and very few people to do it.”
“Tell us the part about Beth and Moses,” another youngster stated. “I like that story the best.”
Caitlin didn’t particularly relish that part of their history. The majority of those who followed Moses finally realized he was a con artist and they quickly chose to become productive members of society. The handful of devout fanatics who followed him into the complex they called OZ, sealed their fate when the door was closed.
Communication with the complex was lost shortly after the door was sealed, and the government was so preoccupied with trying to protect people and prevent people from starving and forming a new government, it was almost a year before the fate of those people became known.
When DARMA was finally persuaded to unseal the vault and allow access to the base, the military security forces and accompanying scientists discovered a ghastly scene. Instead of humans they found grisly piles of dead powdery fungus. DARMA shed light on what happened via an electronic diary entry made by Beth.
Beth was truly in love with Moses. When he continued to reject her, rather than live without him, she sealed their fate. Beth introduced some of the formula that killed the ants into the complex water system. Within days the inhabitants started showing signs of fungus blotches all over their bodies. It didn’t take long for all of them to succumb to the ravaging fungi. It must have been a terrible shock to Moses when he realized what Beth had done. The diary noted that Moses tried to get DARMA to open the complex but the computer refused. The deadly fungi was too dangerous to allow it to escape the complex so the place was sealed until DARMA’s sensors identified that it died from lack of a viable host.
After the dead piles of fungi were removed, the water tanks were drained and cleaned and restored to working condition by the military. The bunker complex was now being used to store art treasures and other museum items that required a climate controlled environment. Everyone, especially those searching the city museums and other sites, was encouraged to take what irreplaceable treasures they could salvage and bring them to the safety of the bunker complex.
The military continued to encounter gangs of thugs and criminals who lived off the remnants of the old civilization. The government spread the word they must accept law and order or exile without help. The only exceptions were those individuals and small communities who sincerely wanted to live in peace and were no danger to the newly developing nation. A new census conducted nine years after the ants, estimated the population of North America to be around one million people. It was also determined that Europe, Asia, South and Central America, and Africa had suffered much more severely. Barely two million inhabitants world-wide survived the scourge of the ants, a third of that number from very remote islands.
Several years earlier, Bert and his gang of criminal thugs tried to rob a small community that was receiving food and other assistance from the government. It was well known that they were responsible for a string of murders and rapes in that and other areas. Huck, Horse, First Sergeant Brett, and a small squad of Army Rangers tracked the gang down and killed them to the last man.
Theopolis and his followers continued to live in the National Forest, although now it was legally their home and they were free to expand as much as they desired. The little commune was now five times larger than before the ant plague and more settlers were joining daily.
Huck and his wife Kayle and their extended family lived near the old city of Cincinnati, as did Mike and Tappy and Hamish and Dorbec. A large military post was built there and they spent a considerable amount of time salvaging valuable materials from the major cities. A well-established farming community nearby and a gaggle of small industries helped to provide their food and basic necessities.
President Prestano established several Search and Destroy Teams whose sole purpose was to locate and destroy any remaining ant nests. None had been found in the past several years of searching, although mounds of the smaller, cat sized ants, were still being encountered and eliminated. They were a serious threat to both humans and animals and could not be allowed to exist.
Mankind had a long road to recovery. The world was a new place. Civilization may be set back but man will endure. It was not the beginning of the end for mankind, it was just the end of the beginning.

Finis

I hope you enjoyed this. It's off to editing and polishing now. Omnivictus, "The Road to Recovery," coming soon.