I was really torn about what to do while we ate lunch. But I was regaining my strength and trying to focus on the neighborhood while thoughts of Daphne kept nagging me to go get her. Daphne was one of those privileged kids who grew up in wealth and inherited beauty from her celebrity parents. Her father was Walter Hughes, one of the top grossing actors in Hollywood and her mother was the supermodel, Vanessa Wiles. She was an only child and grew up with nannies and private tutors. Both Derek and I had crushes on her in our private high school, but neither of us ever dated her because of her social standing and ours.

   I shared my thoughts with Derek as we ate.

   "Derek, it's going to take a while to check on the remaining houses on our street. Frankly, it's taking time and after what I've found this morning, it isn't going to be easy. I've already saved a dog and a little girl. Don't know if anyone nearby is dying of thirst that we should save or not."

   "Daphne sounded desperate."

   "But it would take all afternoon to get there and back. We have to know if anyone is still alive or maybe in trouble here. That's my problem."

   "We could call them. I've got a couple of numbers from the Eversons and Waltons. I'm sure your dad and mom's phones have some more numbers if we can open them."

   "Sorry, I never had their access codes. Just respected their privacy like they respected mine after they confiscated my phone that time and we had a good talk."

   "Yeah, I remember that. When I heard what happened to you, I cleaned up my act, too. It would've been much worse for me if my dad found out. So in a way, you kind of saved me, bro." They both chuckled.

    "I have an idea." Derek offered. "We could print some flyers and either make airplanes of them and toss them over the walls, or we could tie rocks to them and throw them over the walls."

   I thought for a moment… "That's a great idea. Mailboxes won't work. How about, 'Derek Jones and Drake Hutchins, If you need help, call us,’ and then, give them our mobile numbers. They can call us while we are on the mission to help Daphne."

   "Great idea."

    Derek went to my computer, typed in the message, colored and enlarged it for a standard piece of paper and printed 20 copies.

    We rolled each paper up and tied it with some ribbon we found in my mom's work area. Then, with some string tied some rocks to each roll so they would be heavy enough to throw over the fence. Paper airplanes would be nice, but the updrafts that we parasailed on here would make them landing in the front yards very iffy.

   While Derek gathered up what we would need or might need for the trip, I went to the part of the walk-in closet in my parent's bedroom where dad kept his guns. I picked out two pistols with holsters and loaded them, leaving the chamber empty for safety. Also a shotgun and rifle that I loaded the same way. Strapped one holster around my waist for the 9 mm and dropped it in. I took the rest of the guns and additional ammunition to the garage and put them in the cab of dad's utility truck that had a range of 600 miles. The double cab truck also had a generator that ran off gasoline to run all the electrical power tools and welder on the truck as well as recharge the batteries if there wasn't a plug-in around and the batteries got low.

   We put Regis in the backyard with some water and food. Double checked if there was anything we'd need, and left the house, driving slowly down the street, throwing our flyers over the fences of about 20 homes until we ran out. Soon after, as I drove east by northeast through familiar streets to the 2 and on to the Hollywood Hills, we passed few cars in the streets that were mostly empty. Eerily quiet compared to its usually bustling traffic.

   And then, once in a while, there was a car parked strangely out of place and we could see someone slumped over the wheel that we knew was dead. Probably really sick people who are trying to drive to the hospital or to a loved one and didn't make it. As we passed expensive shop areas we saw occasional windows smashed and in the distance along the way we saw a moving car or two. Other people out like us.

   The spiraling vultures in some places told us where something dead was out in the open. They circled over those spots telling us where the dead were. We were drawn to them to find out what they were eating. We just knew. I shuddered at the thought and drove on. Here and there come we saw dogs and cats running loose. But no one walking them like before.

   From various vantage points we could see the fires that left the smoky haze in the air. But thankfully, there weren't any fires along the path we were taking as we left Hollywood and I drove up into the hills where Daphne lived. Not wanting to get her hopes up, we waited to call her until we got close.

   Daphne's home was in a neighborhood of large walled compounds of the stars. Walter and Vanessa's compound was as expected. Neither of us had ever been there. From the gate, there was a long drive curving out of sight up into the trees. There was so much vegetation that no buildings could be scene. We called Daphne…

   The phone rang about five times and she answered. "Drake! Where are you guys?" She sounded anxious.

   I answered, "We are at the gate, let us in."

   "Oh gosh, yes! Right away. I can't believe you're here!"

   The gate opened and we drove up the drive past the luxurious greenery until it opened up into a large circle drive with a fountain in the center that we took to the right and up underneath the awning where there were already a couple of expensive cars.

   I saw her come running from the house down the stairs as I was getting out of the cab and she reached Derek first, jumping into his arms barefoot and in a body revealing nightie that seemed inappropriate for midday. Something more like that seven-year-old, Melissa had on when I rescued her earlier. After kissing Derek profusely on his cheeks and then a bit prolonged on his lips, as I rounded the cab, she turned and ran to me with mascara stained cheeks, giving me the same treatment while gushing…

   "Oh, Drake! I'm so glad you came. My folks and my brother are dead. I couldn't stand it in the house with them staring like that. I didn't know what to do. I'm running out of everything and no one is here to help me get it. I don't know if I can stay in this place. I've been in the guesthouse until I knew you were coming."

   "Do you want us to help you bury your folks?" The thought of doing it again was dreadful to me but I didn't want her to know it.

   "Oh my God, No. I just want to leave this place and all that's in it. The memories would haunt me too much. Can I go with you guys wherever you're going?"

   Derek put in his two cents. "We're staying at home for now trying to figure out what to do to make our neighborhood a place we can stay in. We've already rescued a dog and a seven-year-old girl. Our next-door neighbors, the Rosenbergs, are still alive."

   "Oh, geez, you guys are lifesavers. You have it so together. That's [what I have always liked you so much."

   I wanted to believe her a little bit, but wasn't sure if I should.

   I suggested, "Do you have any family or friends that you need to get in touch with before we leave. They will want to know where you are."

   She had a puzzled look on her face while she thought for a moment. And then, she started to whimper a bit, as she said, “No, nobody but that, Wanda, who called me two days ago. She was in our group at school but I never really liked her, she was a nosy bitch." She scowled.

   "Well, if you think of anyone, let us know. I'm sure you called everybody already, didn't you?"

   "Oh, oh, I forgot!" Daphne reached for her phone. "There is my uncle Louie Hughes, my dad's older brother who lives up in Laurel Canyon. He's kind of a recluse artist who does work for the studios. I haven't seen him since I was a little girl. I have his number here on my phone that dad gave me before he died.

   "Go ahead and give him a call, it won't hurt." We waited while she sniffled and rang him.

   The phone rang about five times when a gruff old voice came on the phone. "Who's calling and what do you want, Daphne?"

   "It's me, your niece. Do you remember me? The last time I remember seeing you was when dad took me to your place when I was about six, do you remember?"

   The voice on the other end softened a bit. "So it is you, child. I thought someone had taken your phone because I never got a call from you before. With finding everybody dead around here I thought that might have happened to you, Walter, and Vanessa. So glad to hear your voice after all these years, so grown-up." She started crying.

   "No, uncle Louie, dad and mom and my brother, Scott are all dead. I can't even bear to be in the house with them. Two of my friends from high school are here to help me out."

   "Poor child, you need to come here and stay with me. You shouldn't be running off with guys from high school. I can take care of you. And we can live a long time here without the help of outsiders. See if you can get them to bring you here. If not, get in one of your cars and drive to my place."

   "Okay, uncle Louie, I'll come. You may need me as much as I need you. I promise I will learn to cook and help you around your place if you teach me."

   "I will, child. I will." He abruptly hung up.

   Derek had a disappointed look on his face. "You can still go with us if you want. Okay?"

   Through her tears, "But he's my uncle?"

   I interjected, "Der, she's right. But remember, Daphne. If this doesn't work out, just call us again and we'll take you. And, it sure looks like we are going to be taking in others that will be needing our help. But, everybody's going to have to pull their own weight."

   Derek sighed. "Well, let's load the truck with everything that you will need to take and we'll drive you up to your uncle's place."

   Daphne led us to her bedroom that was unruffled because she had been staying in the guesthouse. We went into her closet and she began gathering up loads of clothes and accessories to take until I told her.

   "Daphne, we are in a different world now. Only take what you will need that will be durable and washable. Don't take too much right now because you can probably come back and get more as you get situated rather than a lot of stuff you'll never wear or use again."           

   From her closet, we went into her bathroom and took all the essentials but none of the extravagant amount of jewelry, cosmetics and other beauty stuff that Daphne had in abundance. While Derek was helping her with that, I did a quick survey of the house including her parents' palatial bedroom and closets looking for anything that we might need, but didn't find anything that I thought she might need. We gave her time to take a shower, snack on some food we brought and dress appropriately in shorts, one of her many pairs of walking shoes and a light blouse. Obviously without a bra. She didn't seem to care about taking all of that fancy underwear with her.

   It took about an hour and there was way too much stuff, but we were all too tired to argue. We put it on the truck and drove up to Laurel Canyon where we found the small, almost hidden, drive leading up hill with a strong metal gate with a big "No Trespassing" sign on it and an old-fashioned voice intercom.

   Daphne pushed the buzzer and called out, "Uncle Louie, we're here!"

   A crackling response came back. "Okay, I'll be right down."

   "We could hear the sound of a gasoline powered four wheeler start up and come roaring down the road to the gate. Louie was a thin but strong looking man with a full head of white hair and long beard wearing a black T-shirt showing the arms of a sculptor. The first thing he did was jump off the four-wheeler and run up to Daphne.

   "My, my, how you have grown!" He hugged her and she struggled a bit before hugging back. "I can't believe you're here. After that falling out I had with your father I thought I'd never see you again. But you were only six and neither of us wanted to let you know. Welcome to my humble home!"

   Louie unlocked the padlock on the heavy chain securing the steel gate to the concrete anchored heavy steel pole and swung it to one side. He had Daphne hop on to the four wheeler with him and we followed with the truck up the long drive rubbing and breaking tree limbs on each side until we reached a more level spot where a couple of vehicles still left room for us to park under the trees. Before us was a midcentury redwood beam structure reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright. The perfect artist sanctuary.

   Louie announced upon our arrival, "I'd invite you in for tea but it's a bit of a mess, so if you don't mind, you can just unload Daphne's stuff right here on this table…" He chased some leaves and branches off the top of the table with his hand… "And we'll take it all into the house."

   I wondered what he meant by not allowing us in the house, but I didn't ask.

   Derek and I quickly unloaded all of Daphne's stuff on the table and after saying our goodbyes to her and waving at uncle Louie, we beat a retreat back to our house.

   As we got underway, once again, scraping the sides of our truck until we got to the Laurel Canyon Drive, I saw in the rearview mirror that Louie was already there closing and locking the gate.

   Derek said, "I wonder what that was about? Why he didn't let us in and why he hadn't seen Daphne in twelve years?

   "I thought the same things. It must've been something really bad for her father to disown him for so long?"

   "Oh well, I guess we'll never know, now that she went with him instead of coming with us."

   "I don't know about you, Derek. But I had mixed feelings about her coming with us."

   "Yeah, I know. I would've been fighting you for her affections."

   "But remember, she was pampered all her life up until now. How could anyone turn her into a hard-working housewife?"

   "That's a very good question. I was wondering how we might share her, somehow. You know, like all of the babies that were black or colored were mine, and the blue-eyed white ones, yours…" He laughed out loud and I joined him. What a pleasant thought.

   We spent the rest of our time on the trip back with Derek making some more calls and I trying to think of what we needed to do next.

    We certainly needed to clear the street all the way down to the end where it entered the Boulevard and maybe put up a barricade there so that we wouldn't get unnecessary visitors.

   Somehow, I just suspected that they would be coming. At least I believed we had time before they would come. Perhaps after their easy raiding for supplies, food and water would run out in midsummer and they would need to range further into more secluded neighborhoods to get what they needed.

   We also engaged in a little good-natured banter until I saw dogs and cats roaming along the way and knew that we would find dogs and cats, and even, other pets like Regis. I tried to think of ways that we could help them without them becoming a real burden of maintenance and birth control.

   And then, we passed it, the local SaveWay grocery store where our mothers always shopped. It appeared abandoned, so I did a U-turn and we drove into the parking lot, mostly empty except for three cars. Two of them were empty and one contained a dead body behind the steering wheel.

   As expected, the double doors were not working, so we took a crowbar and pried open the door to the disabled access entry for wheelchairs. Once inside, there was air conditioning running and the lights were on, but otherwise the place was eerily quiet.

   We each grabbed two grocery carts and started going through the store. The produce section contained a lot of very wilted greenery that we didn't need much of because of our gardens. But we picked up some fruit that we didn't have growing in the neighborhood and then headed towards the meat department where we got both fresh and frozen meats. I recalled that our freezer in the garage was only half full from our last deer hunt in the Valley. So, we loaded up with frozen fish, steaks, hams and other meat that would quickly spoil if the electricity went out.

   There was a distinct odor of rotting flesh that didn't come from the meat counters. We didn't see any bodies but there may have been some in the back rooms where there may have been a lot more food. It was unpleasant, but we had to do what we were doing while we could.

   Like those contests where people were allowed to take something like 15 minutes to grab all of the groceries they could, we had trouble deciding how much of what we would gather. I really felt guilty taking the food because as a young child when I followed my mother, she scolded me if I tried to pick up any little candy or other treat without paying for it. It was even worse for Derek, because he always hated watching young black looters during the protests and riots in various parts of the country.

   As we left with all four grocery carts filled with bags of groceries, I made a note to come back soon before others started destroying the store while taking their share. And I knew that the power would soon fail, and all of the perishables would start to rot.

   We arrived home to more new challenges that we hadn't foreseen.

Copyright Ronald W. Hull

3/9/23