We all took off running back down the long pier and then along the beach to where the dolphin lay struggling in the sand about 10 feet from the water. Rocky got there first, but I was right behind him. Augie was last, because he stopped running halfway and had to walk, holding his side as he did.

The dolphin was clearly in bad shape. The sand, disturbed, showed where it had struggled to no avail. But it wasn't struggling anymore, just looking at me with that pleading eye to do something. Already showing a distinct skin redness as a sign of severe sunburn. I can only imagine its agony and inability to call out to its pod out of the water.

I looked at the size of it, apparently a male, closely and said, "It would be tough, even with all of us trying, to get this huge guy back in the water. And if we did, he either will die anyway or try to come back on the beach again. But it doesn't look like he has the strength even to do that. In the water he might drown."

Ray agreed. "What do you suggest we do?"

"I favor putting the poor thing out of its misery. Augie, what do you think?"

"I think we need food, fresh meat. This is no time to be sympathetic when our lives are at stake."

"I agree, Augie. Does anyone object?" I looked around at everyone and they all shook their heads, No, or said so.

I pulled out my revolver and showed it to the poor animal and then aimed at what I thought was his brain below the blowhole. The dolphin exhaled one last time and his blowhole stayed open. His eye no longer had any expression, just stared like a dead human.

Ray ran up to the beach bungalow he was staying in and brought back some coolers to put the meat in. Augie and I got out our knives and began experimental cutting to see if we could butcher the animal right. There was a thin layer of fat under the skin, so we skinned it like we would skin a deer to see if the skin or that fat would be useful, like whale oil.

The meat was surprisingly dark and deeply muscled. I estimated that we cut off about 300 pounds from the skeleton and entrails we left for the scavengers that were already circling. Carrying the meat back to the truck was quite a task, so we went back to the pier, gathered up the fish, shellfish and our gear, and then, drove the truck as close as we could to the carcass to put the meat on it. After lousy fishing, that dolphin saved our day. That is, if anyone would eat it?

As we loaded up, I asked Ray, "Are you coming with us? We could use another hand. You say you're a farmer and we've got crops to put in, cultivate and harvest. Are you with us?"

"You know I like it here. But I can't live on fish alone. I'll come along and help you out if you let me come down here often and fish for everyone. Maybe leave, if I don't like it."

"That's a deal then. You'll like the young ladies. It's not lonely like here. We are all working together to make it to next year and the year after that--starting over."

In no time, we were back in our growing compound and savoring some rabbit stew with homemade bread and all around the table again getting ready for the afternoon ahead. Once again, I checked on what everyone was doing by clicking on my glass with my table knife.

I was interrupted by my phone ringing. I looked at who was calling, put it down on the table and turned the speaker on, so that everyone could hear, and answered…

"Bob Emerson, it's good to hear from you! I hope you made it to your brother's place? I was wondering about you?"

"We made it, but it was rough at times. Since we left on the freeways we really didn't run into any trouble until we got out in the country where everybody has guns. We were shot at, both from the side of the road and by other cars that we came upon along the way. Everyone was so desperate they were shooting for no damn reason. And then, after we left California into Arizona we had to pay to get through a roadblock near Las Vegas. They didn't want money; they took our water and road food."

"Man, that sounds bad. Did you have to go without water after that?"

"We were so tired by that time we drove down to Lake Mead and camped. Boiled water from the reservoir so we didn't have to go the whole way without water, just without food we planned on."

"How was Albuquerque, like LA?"

"We got there near dusk and I didn't see any lights, so apparently they had completely lost power. Have you?"

"So far, we still have water and power, but we're not sure how long that will last. Our water pressure is low because of so many leaks. I expect the power to go out anytime soon and not come back on. Our plans are to get every house on the street, including yours, fully solar and wind powered in the next couple weeks. But getting our own water system is probably more urgent. With our three gardens, our cisterns will not provide water for all of us before the end of summer."

"Like in LA, we stayed on the freeway in Albuquerque until we got to the state highway we took to my brother's homestead. He was really glad that we got there. Roger and his wife have built that place in the mountains over the past 10 years. We will have to scramble to provide for all of us, but he has a deep well that is windmill powered so we don't have to worry about water. It's large for a homestead house and is fully solar powered. Neighbors are very cooperative and mostly Native Americans. But they've all been hit hard by the virus and lost many. Cooperation helps because everyone bears helping everyone else out."

"Bob, we are finding people that want to join us in an effort to collectively survive, too. But we had a violent gang come up the street and battle it out with Rodney Bloom until he died and they wounded his daughter, Stephanie, who is recovering from a broken leg. So far we are fine, but there's a lot to do if we are going to make it even to next year."

"Just wanted to reassure you guys. I'm so glad that we have this G6 network from satellites, otherwise, before, this was one area where there were no signals and I wouldn't have been able to call you."

"I hope you don't mind if we put someone in your place. Like I said, we'll put in solar power and connect your water up to our own system of water storage and distribution. We've been calling our subs and some are coming to stay here with us."

"You know, Drake, I've always admired the way you and Derek have handled yourselves and I can see you really have taken charge where I thought we wouldn't stand a chance. I'm so glad that I have a brother who has worked very hard over 10 years to be self-sufficient and now has to take us in as well. I'm going to have to sign off. But best wishes and good luck to all of you."

Derek, sitting next to me, answered, "Bob, don't worry about us. We are so glad that you made it okay in spite of what you ran into. We are faced with some vicious gangs but we will use deadly force if we have to. All of us wish you all well, too. Keep in touch. Goodbye."

Bob followed and hung up. I was greatly relieved. Made me think of grandpa by himself in the Valley… I need to call him… I thought, distracted

I followed that call with checking on what everyone was doing. I told them, "Based on what we caught this morning, fishing at the pier doesn't seem like a very good option for getting seafood. But Ray, who I've already introduced you to, has volunteered to go down there and fish for us so that we may have fresh fish quite often. But this afternoon, I'm going to drive down to the fish market in San Pedro with Ray to see if we can get a lot more fish that are low in mercury and PCBs, like salmon. It's a long shot but we need to explore all the options we have."

I told Ray and Augie to wait for me and caught Derek before he left the room with all the others.

"Der, I've been ignoring grandpa, being involved in so many other things. Will you stay with me while I call him? We sat back down, while Marsha, Melody and Stephanie were clearing the table and doing the dishes. I put the phone on the table again, hit the familiar link, and called.

Grandpa Hutchins rough voice answered. "Hello, Drake. Glad you called."

"I've been forgetting to. Is everything okay there? Derek is here, checking in, too."

Derek chimed in, "Hi, Gramps."

There was a look on Ralph Hutchins face that belied his cheerfulness.

"A neighbor boy, Carlos Ramirez, has been coming over here almost daily and helping me out with things. But it's getting a bit dicey because he told me that the townspeople are shooting it out among each other and he thought it would be only a matter of time before they would be coming out to the farms and raiding for food and water. The nearest town isn't that far… 19 miles. I'm really getting concerned and have my rifle and shotgun loaded on the front porch in case anyone tries to get nasty with me." He coughed to clear his throat.

"We've had a run in here in the neighborhood, too. Fortunately, thanks to the firepower of a neighbor, we were able to kill most of them and drive them off. But there are a lot more gangs here and we are preparing booby-traps and even have dad's tank here that we used to wipe out the gang that attacked us with a machine gun on the top of their pickup bed. They also carried banned automatic assault rifles we got from the ones we killed. Terrible killing weapons that we can use if we have to, like the tank."

"They've probably got them here, that's what I'm worried about."

"Remember that movie we saw at your place that time, No Country for Old Men, that's where you're at now. You're making me really worried about you. We need food and you have lots of it. So, I've changed my plans for tomorrow and we'll leave first thing in the morning and should get there by noon. Is that all right with you?"

"That makes this old guy  happy and relieved. Can't wait till you get here!" He looked relieved on the screen.

"We'll be there, I promise. Stay as long as we need to. See you tomorrow. Bye." Grandpa Hutchins said his “Bye" and hung up.

Derek said. "I was wondering when you would be going out there. Are you planning to take anyone else along?"

"I don't know yet. But I know you're going with me. We'll see who's free tomorrow who might go with us. There's a lot of work for us to do there for him. And to get the food he'll give us. It will take hands."

Both Ray and Augie spoke up at nearly the same time… "I'll go with you," they both announced.

Derek answered for himself. "No, maybe some other time, but I'm not sure we are secure here with both of us gone for a couple of days like you might be.  I'll stay this time. I'm sure with Augie and Ray along, you'll get the job done, and maybe bring Grandpa Hutchins back with you."

"I doubt that, Derek, Grandpa is married to that land." The others all laughed a nervous laugh. "And Melody, will you come along, too? That would make four of us armed who could harvest and load our trailer much quicker."

"I can't wait. I've heard so much about your Grandpa. To meet him would be an honor. My grandparents died while I was still a small child." That's what I liked about Melody. She was very adventurous, like me.

"Well, he's one adorable, tough old dude to continue to take on that little 40 acre spread alone after Grandma died some 10 years ago, when I was about 10."

That afternoon, everybody took off doing various tasks. I got Augie and his kids situated in one of the empty houses. They all agreed, that Ray should stay with them for now while he decided whether he would go back to his beach house. First, they had a big cleanup job to do. Two of the major tasks ahead were to get the swimming pool back in operation and to dig a garden to plant vegetables.

But first, I had them go with me to a place I thought we might get a lot more fish, the fish market down at the Port. We drove off and left everyone else under Derek's watch and advice. I didn't ask Melody to come along because I knew she would want to come along. I gave them both AR 15s with extra magazines from the ones we had confiscated. It was about 30 miles via the 405 and 110. I didn't know what we would encounter on the way and we had to be prepared.

From the freeway elevation we could see more flooded streets and dense smoke swirling up in some parts of the way, but like the 10 these freeways were relatively free to run with only a few wrecks and abandoned vehicles to avoid. We saw a couple of cars on the other lanes driving north past us. We watched them carefully as they passed, but they didn't fire on us so we didn't fire on them. I was sad that it had come to this. But we didn't know who to trust in this world that was evolving.

When we arrived at Terminal Island we passed a huge cruise ship with beautiful lettering on the side of the ship near the bow, Rambler of the Seas. It looked so pristine and ready to take thousands of passengers on one of those wonderful cruises that the whole family had gone on to the Fiji Islands and Australia. But that was then, and now was now. Still, that ship was so intriguing it stayed on my mind.

Just as was the Fish Market, where Josh and Dad often came to get seafood for parties or celebrations at the shop after a successful build. Lots of memories. As we approached, the market seemed to be vacated. Thinking for a minute about what happened at the grocery store, I'm sure that many came and took all the fish and seafood they could.

But, everything was way too neat and clean for nobody to be around. There weren't even any bodies. I called out as loud as I could, "This is Drake Hutchins! I've come to buy fish! Is anyone here?"

A shrill voice came from the restroom area at the far end of the market. "Okay, okay, I come. I remember your father and uncle coming many times. So glad to see you. We have many troubles. Trying to stay alive."

It was Van Nguyen, a guy I was very familiar with when he catered to some of our parties and celebrations. I ran to greet him, hugged him and lifted his skinny light body in the air spinning him around. Unfortunately, his breath smelled of fish.

Van declared, "Of all people! You and your family have come to save us?"

"Only Derek. The rest of our family died in the pandemic. How about you?"

"I was at sea with my son. When we arrived, most of the fish were gone and the rest were rotten, a horrible mess to clean up. All of the people here at the market were shot and left for dead. A few that survived are hiding out in their houses and apartments. All left of my family is my son, Quoc, and my sister, Sean." He started to cry. Once again, my eyes started to tear as well. So, I changed subject.

"This is Augie and Ray. They are fishermen and were going to help me get fish. But I guess there aren't any." 

Van lit up. "There is fish. We had boatload of abalone, crab and Chinook salmon. I catch up coast in kelp forest off Santa Barbara. I have stored in lockers where there is still electricity like in rich hotel over there," He pointed to the luxury Wade Towers, nearby. "I can't stand living in my house after my wife and family died there. I staying in penthouse, for now. I watching over this market until my son and I go out to sea again to catch fish for you and others like you. Friendly and will give us greens and vegetables, rice, mushrooms and onions so we can continue our diet instead of just fish, fish and more fish." He spat what appeared to be the remains of some fish in his mouth.

And then, he looked up to me and said, "How much you want?"

After promising him that we would bring back as much of those foodstuffs that we could bring and would help him start a rooftop garden on one of the warehouses nearby, we left with about 300 pounds of salmon, crab and abalone on ice. Before we left, I told him.

"I have to go see my grandfather in the Valley tomorrow. But as soon as I get back, I will bring what you need and some people who will help you get started with a garden on the roof along with what you will need to pull it off. Kelp is a great fertilizer, and I know you can get a lot of that."

The seafood was on ice so we had to get home quickly. We said our goodbyes and left.

  During the afternoon, Viktor Sarnoff, his wife, Veronika and son, 16, Peter, arrived hungry and thirsty with all their possessions on his welding truck. Viktor was an excellent iron rigger and his son was his apprentice, doing a lot of work for Dad's contracts.

Viktor declared upon arriving, "When you called, we were at wits end. We live in an area where Blods have taken control. Since the pandemic, there was a lot of shooting and we feared for our lives and hardly slept at night. The only reason we were able to get out of there today was I know a couple of the gang members who I helped out when they were kids. They let us pass and get out of the neighborhood when they saw who we were. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. Talk about Russian gangs!"

Derek replied, "I can imagine. Do you see that tank at the end of the street? We went into Blip territory a couple of days ago and settled a score with it. I'm sure glad you're here. We can sure use you as we try to rebuild this place and make it self-sustaining. There's a lot of work to do and no pay for doing it. We've got food for now, but will have to get a lot more."

Within an hour, a pickup with bullet holes arrived, driven by Monsour Habeeb, the mechanic for Dad's construction company. He told a terrible tale.

"My wife Andie and two children died during the pandemic. I couldn't stand to be with them so I packed up all the food and water that I could take and drove to my shop next door to your dad's yard. But I ran out of everything a couple of days ago. Why I was really glad to hear from Derek when he texted me. I packed up everything I had, including all my tools and my junkyard dog, Freddie, this morning. But then, along the way before I got to the 10, I ran into a couple of guys with AR-15s in the street who said they wanted my truck and everything on it, Freddie jumped out of the truck window and attacked them. He had one of them down when the other one opened up with his automatic on my poor dog, giving me the opportunity to run him over. But he still managed to fire a few shots at me as I drove away. I hope he died later! Nadhl! (Arabic for bastard).

All the subcontractors knew one another from various contracts in the city, so Monsour threw in with Gary Hastings and his mother, Peter Sarnoff, his wife and son. They chose the house next to the Emerson house, with immediate plans to make it solar powered with plumbing to provide for the house, a garden and the swimming pool that needed cleaning, first.

Derek had other plans for them and they agreed to work with him to get those accomplished, remembering the power of good management and design. By the time we arrived back from the fish market everyone was in the pool after a hot sweaty day of working and we joined them as soon as we got the seafood put away in various freezers. After everybody cooled down and washed off, wasting water at our outdoor shower, we started a welcome fish fry with the fish that we caught earlier and a few Chinook salmon fillets that amply fed the whole crew. The only thing missing was potatoes. We were out of potatoes but still had plenty of fresh greens--reminding me to get greens and basics together for repayment to Van when I got back from Grandpa's.

I noticed that Derek, while savoring the salmon, wasn't eating very much. So I asked him.

"Der, you must be hungry after all you did today, why aren't you eating?"

"I got an invite to dinner at sunset about a half hour from now from Daphne. She says she wants to treat me to dinner and 'after.' I've always had a crush on her and she sure is pulling me in. Just can't resist." He smiled slyly.

"Just stay in shape so we can get work done. What about your two other lovers?"

"They know. When I told them they said it was okay because they wanted to have a night alone together. It's a crazy world we're in now and I'm beginning to like it." He winked.

"A lot of responsibility, too, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I'll definitely keep that in mind. The two of us forever, right?"

"Yeah, Der. The two of us are going to turn this place around."

In a way, I was glad that no one was going to be in my bed with me that night. I was sunburned and exhausted and just needed to get a good night's sleep for the long trip in the morning with whatever we would run into along the way. But I didn't let it bother me and slept deeply until…

I was awakened suddenly by a loud explosion down at the end of the street and knew immediately what it was. One of our booby-traps had gone off and my phone was ringing. I reached for my pants.

Copyright 2023 © Ronald W. Hull

5/22/23