Okefenokee

A loud voice appeared with crackling noises simultaneously. It was a man broadcasting his own update on his position and secondary info he was receiving from other operators, “This TOP17 coming at you from central Georgia near Warner Robbins. The town is dead, nobody moving around at all. The base is closed but I am not sure if anybody is there or alive. I think they locked it before the pestilence arrived. Most people I knew are deceased including my wife. I checked on some friendly neighbors, all deceased. I am not sure what spared me. We took all precautions seriously and did not leave home for the last couple of days. We were prepared so my supplies were good. I can’t figure how Doris caught the evil death since she never left me at home. It happens fast sometimes before the end of the first twenty four hours is what I have heard and experienced in her case. I feel I am all alone. I’m sure that some are alive like me but I don’t know who or where they are. I can continue for some time and since I seem to be immune I will venture out at some point and re-supply, keep my generator going. I don’t want to be premature coming in contact with anyone because I don’t know if I will harm them. I don’t know if I am carrying the disease or whether it moves through the air on its own. I suspect that I am not a danger. I will be listening all day if anyone out there can contact me. I hope my broadcast updates will help those remaining who have listen only sets. TOP17 over and out for now.”

Rob felt Cyndi’s touch from behind and she wrapped her arms around from behind so he said, “did you hear any of that?”

“Yeah, some. It’s scary isn’t it. That poor guy with his wife gone, all alone. I wish we could talk to him.”

“But we can’t. I mean even if we could we can’t. We don’t want anyone knowing where we are. We could say something that might make a listener know we are here and they would come.”

“But he said his wife caught it while staying away from people.”

“I know what he said. We don’t have time to determine if there are any flaws in his perception. Maybe she did talk to someone she trusted in her yard or something that he was unaware of. Hopefully it is not like he said or it could mean we are not safe anywhere. I pray that is not the case. We have a mission to make sure our child lives and gets to grow up. We will teach the child everything we know. If we pass away we need to teach the child what to do, return to the mainland and try to find others. That is a long way off right now though.”

“When did you get the time to hash this all out in your mind. My mind is a blank.”

Rob turned and kissed her, “When I start on something I’m like a dog on a bone.”

“I’m glad you are, don’t stop,” she replied. They went back in the house and Mom was up.

Cyndi, “Morning Mom, are you OK?”

Mom, “I’m fine, when do we start?” She looked and Rob and Cyndi who were both smiling from her response.

Rob, “We start right away and the good thing is we have a restroom to take with us,” referring to the RV. They gathered their stuff. They hadn’t time to unload or unpack anything when they arrived late.

The RV made an appearance as it rounded the house and entered the road. Rob drove back toward the location of the boat. A couple of miles on a remote paved road, then a mile on a rough dirt trail and he stopped. “This is it.”

Cyndi, “How can you tell? All I see is jungle all around.”

Rob turned into the brush and drove a couple of hundred feet very slowly knocking down most of the young greenery in the path and then stopped. He backed the vehicle into a heavy canopy of full mature trees covering it pretty well. They exited the RV and Cyndi was surprised by what she saw. The boat and trailer were waiting.

Rob, “It’s time to get the boat in the water and go exploring.”

Mom, “All of us?”

Rob, “Yes, unless that is a problem. We have a lot of work to do.”

“I don’t know how much physical work I can do.”

Cyndi, “That’s OK Mom. You do what you can and don’t worry we are young and fit. You need to get acclimated to the surroundings and the life we will be leading.”

Rob picks up the nose end of the trailer and directs the tail end to the waters edge.

Cyndi collects water and food for the day and the handgun and ham radio from the RV and loads them onboard with the already packed supplies which included a tent Rob purchased before bringing the boat here. She swaps out her sneakers for a pair of boots like Mom was wearing. They were going to be prepared.

Mom, “The bugs are getting bad. Will they be bad there to?”

Rob and Cyndi responded simultaneously, “Yes.”

“Oh dear,” Mom said swatting at a fly buzzing her face as if it found a meal.

Rob handed her a flyswatter, “This will help. Why don’t you two get in the boat before I launch.” Into the water the boat slid as Rob pushed from the shore. The water depth was shallow so he stepped in the water and continued pushing it away before pulling himself on board. He sat in the rowing position with oars in the water. “Were off,” he said seeming to be enjoying the experience while Mom had a frightened expression and Cyndi looked excited but concerned.

As Rob rowed away from shore Cyndi said, “So you know where you are here?” She looked at the abundant wildlife around, fish breaking the water surface for insects, birds with long stilt like legs stalking minnows and a snake zipping across the surface on one side of the boat.

“Sort of,” was all he replied. His attention was looking for markers that he was familiar with. He squinted in the direction of a tree formation across an ocean of flat grass topped wetlands. There was plenty of water so far to keep the boat from scuffing the bottom. “That should be it” pointing. He rowed on. He looked back to the launch point noticing a series of tall thin trees from left to right a tree, a space, a tree and a tree. “Remember that view so when we come back it will help guide us.” He held up his hand making the same series with one finger down.”

Cyndi, “Got it.” She looked at her Mom who nodded.

Rob, “We have to follow the path of least resistance. There is no direct path.” He kept the trees in his view as the boat seemed to be heading like a snake in every direction but where they needed it to go. It was like a maze following the water way. His path made a pretzel seem like a straight line.

Mom, “Do we have to worry about gators out here?”

Rob kept rowing while Cyndi clutched the revolver and replied, “I think were OK in the boat”. She looked at Rob for reassurance but didn’t get any. She thought to herself, if he did say anything, he would’ve said we don’t have a choice.

After a few moments he finally said, “We are OK in the boat.” The trip was slow and took about an hour to reach the high ground as Rob referred to it. Hard to tell how far it was. The mind uses visual reference to determine distance. That is thrown off here because of the vast openness between them and the destination.

Arriving at the island he jumped out of the boat into knee high water and pulled the boat onto land. The women were relieved that they finally arrived safely but were startled when a cloud of gnats over took them. Fortunately they were not biting gnats. Just annoyed them by getting in their ears, mouth, eyes and nose. The air was still, muggy and hard to breath.

“Cyndi, you and I will carry the tent which came in a long duffle type storage bag inland till we find a high position with suitable clearing where we will pitch it. Once we get the tent up we will rest a little and then back to work outside exploring sources of food and water. We should also get a fire started nearby the tent.”

Mom. “I will gather wood for the fire when we reach the clearing.”

Cyndi, “That’s it Mom.”

They hiked inland looking for a spot to camp. They came across a high positioned clearing with only a few large trees and a noticeable breeze. On the far side of the clearing was a higher bluff. Straight up. Out in the center of the opening they cleared the ground for the tent to go up.

Mom, “Wow, the bugs aren’t bad here are they?”