I awoke refreshed from sleep, so I reached for Melody. The bed was warm where she had been, but she wasn't there. Then, I heard gagging in the bathroom. I jerked off the covers and ran into the bathroom to see if she was okay.

I found her leaning over the toilet, struggling. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Better than okay…" She turned and smiled against her nausea, "I'm pregnant!"

"How do you know?"

"Felt the same way with Flower. It'll go away in a little while and then come back when I least expect it. The price we women pay for having babies."

She smiled broader, came to the sink, poured some mouthwash into a glass and gargled the bad taste from her mouth.

"Well, congratulations! We all will be looking forward to its arrival. I hope you won't be slowed down too much by the pregnancy."

"Don't you worry. You men always worry about us doing our work… Women's work? When we get pregnant. If it's like Flower, it will be a piece of cake. That is, with a dramatic ending!" She laughed.

We joined the others for breakfast and there was a lot of chatter going on around the room. It seems that Martha had collected pregnancy tests when we raided a pharmacy for what we needed and left a note telling anyone who might be still running the place where we were and that we would pay. No one ever responded to our notes. But we felt better leaving them.

Anyway, it turned out that not only Melody was pregnant, so was Daphne and Wondah! Melody assured the other two girls she had experience and she would help them get through their pregnancies together. Everyone at breakfast cheered.

I was grateful we had milk and cream for butter from the cow and soon from the nanny goats, growing up quickly. And eggs from the chickens. We would have to try to find baby formula if any of them couldn't breast-feed.

With everyone agreeing to head on down to the port and get started on securing the place and providing water, we got underway with every vehicle we had available.

Derek and Wondah drove back to a couple of looted electronics stores to gather as much as they could to put together a security system for the port. Using wireless Wi-Fi made it holy easier to do those networks. Wiring was always a nightmare and would've been harder to scavenge. And power could be provided from solar and batteries. In short had when we arrived

I drove downtown with Viktor looking for a construction project and we found one off Wilshire. There was a crane there working on the construction of another high-rise building stopped dead by the pandemic.

Viktor climbed up into the cab and found it was open. We didn't know where the key was but he knew how to get it started and soon had it running. There was plenty of diesel fuel to drive it down to the port and that's what Viktor did. He was blocked by abandoned cars in a couple of places until we got to a freeway, but with his big steel bumper easily pushed them out of the way.

The rest of us drove on down to the tank company to find a suitable tank to put on top of the hotel to provide water pressure there and for the surrounding buildings. When we arrived, we found that our note from when we came there before was still there on the desk collecting dust. We added a couple more.

Ray and Peter drove the milk truck down to the port to begin scoping where they might put planter boxes on warehouse rooftops and figure a way to get water there, either by something, water catchment or both. Something that had to be done for every rooftop in the area if they were to get enough water to last through the long dry summers.

We were just beginning the longest and hottest period of the summer when it was difficult to grow anything without irrigation. Ray wanted to try a drip system, both to save water and make sure that the plants were continually irrigated.

We found an electric forklift and Augie and Rocky helped me get a tank on my trailer. Within an hour, we were back at the port and catching up with Viktor as he positioned and stabilized the crane for lifting.

Van and some of his people were there to help get the tank off the trailer and in position to be lifted to the top of the hotel. First, Viktor and I took the stairs, since the elevator wasn't working all the way to the roof.

Fortunately, there was a helicopter landing platform that served as a great place to mount the tank. With the help of Peter and some others, Viktor set about providing a stable mounting place for the tank to go.

When Van asked me, "Where are we going to get any water for this tank and for the planters that Ray is going to be putting in? The ship won't be able to give us that much, will it?"

I had been wondering the same question without daring to stop and think about it. The idea of getting water from drying up sources in the relentlessly long and hot summers we had been having, except for going great distances, hauling water looked pretty bleak until an idea suddenly popped into my head.

From my knowledge of the anatomy of tall buildings that Josh and my father had built with me tagging along, there was always a standpipe to a rooftop tank providing water in an instant to sprinklers throughout the building if there was a fire. And, there were places where a firehose could be connected or a fire truck to the standpipe to draw water to help fight fire in the building from those levels where a fireplug was built in.

In the current situation, with fires all around the city burning without anyone fighting them, only the high-rises and business towers had any kind of self-extinguishing protection. No longer needed if there weren't any occupants in the building and no one to take care of the building, especially if it caught fire. So, I decided we would go plundering again.

While all that thinking went through my head in an instant, I answered Van. "I know where we can get water. But I'm not telling anyone right now where. Let me grab Gary from whatever he is doing. We'll be back with a truckload of water for your tank very soon."

With a puzzled look on his face, Van replied, "That's great!" And then, shook his head in wondering.

I found Gary finishing the piping to the hotel roof tank with no water to pump to it. All I told him was, "Let's go get some water. Take a break."

He had been working hot and hard up until midday and had welcomed my suggestion with a happy, "Yes, boss."

We got in the milk truck and I drove directly to the nearest high-rise building I could see. Some company I didn't know of alongside 147 that probably dealt with the port because of its location.

I drove directly to the parking area of the building underneath and parked by the stairs. There were no cars in the parking area--a good sign. It would take too long to check the entire building for occupants, but they wouldn't probably know anything about the standpipe unless they were maintenance people. And then, they would be using the water.

I led Gary down the stairs to the basement where I found the fire suppression standpipe. Back up on the parking area it appeared in the same location basically unnoticed by building occupants, but clearly with a way for a fire company to hook onto it to help fight a fire.

We connected a hose to the pipe, and within 15 minutes the tank on the milk truck was full. And, I believed we could come back here several more times before having to continue on to one of the many thousand buildings in the greater LA area with standpipes for fire.

I cautioned Gary not to tell anyone where we got the water. There was a danger that people unaware of what they were really doing would open the fire plug and water would come flying out and be totally lost, even those just trying to get some for their own use without knowledge of the pressure. At this time the year, terrible waste of water.

Like I told Van earlier, we were back in no time and pumping water into the newly installed water tower on the roof of the hotel. Van and the others gathered were ecstatic.

He had to ask me again, "Where did you get freshwater so fast?"

I told him, "It's a secret. But anytime you need water, we'll get some for you. You do have some secret fishing techniques you use, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Only my son knows them. It's a family tradition."

"Someday soon, I may be free to tell you. But, not now. All I ask is that you and everyone else who uses this water except for bathing, washing, etc.… For drinking, make sure you boil it first. It may be very good for drinking, but don't trust it unless you have it tested by Hans Hansen or someone else who can test water for purity."

We had to make one more run to completely fill the water tank we figured would last them about a week before it needed to be refilled. When he returned, Gary began, with several helpers from the hotel and from the Rambler, to begin installing catchment systems on some of the warehouses with huge roofs to catch and store water during the rainy season.

Hand-in-hand with the the catchment systems was the need to power pumps to bring water from cisterns at the ground level. That was accomplished by installing both solar panels and windmills on every building that had the rooftop boxes.

Frances, Gary's mother, with three willing helpers using their company double cab electric service truck with a trailer ran trips to their shop and to plumbing supply houses and alternate energy yards throughout the LA area gathering supplies for the ambitious plumbing an electrical systems needed to convert the water starved village into one that would be drinking plentiful water year-round. 

A bonus to their trips the first day was their discovery of two starving plumbers and their families who had already started rigging ways of giving water to neighbors who had none. Both of those plumbers agreed to come and work in the village in exchange for food, especially fish and seafood. One of the plumbers brought his family, his service truck and trailer, with the intention of staying. The other, after he saw what was happening, brought his family, too. The neighborhood families followed and began working with the plumbers on the plumbing and electrical jobs.

Wondah had printed contracts. As soon as the stragglers came wandering in, Van, Melody and I approached them to sign it if they planned to stay in the growing village. Van preferred that recent immigrants, especially Asians, would stay in the hotel with his family and fishing friends. For now, the others were sent to stay in the ship until they would have suitable renovated housing near the fish market.

The contract was simple. It merely asked everyone who came for food or water and stayed, be willing to work for only food and water until a reasonable means for barter or even Internet credit or coins, US money, gold or silver could be exchanged.

They must build work equity into restoring the village until such time as they could leave safely back into other parts of the greater Los Angeles community again. They must not hoard, be violent or behave in a way that the members of the village would find unacceptable.

Anyone found unacceptable for reason would be banished. The document had to be signed by the person/persons seeking to stay. Anyone with prison or gang tattoos would not be allowed to stay but given food and water for a few days.

Captain Jensen of the Rambler agreed to take 500 families. Especially, if he could train some of them to help him maintain and run the ship. He agreed to set up the lowest dining room on the fourth level as a buffet from early in the morning until around 9 pm for everyone working on the village projects to come and eat.

He also had a very detailed contract for those staying in the ship. Jens was adamant about maintaining the ship the way that Royal Caribbean always kept their cruise liners--pristine--with everything working. He needed a large maintenance crew to keep everything that way.

I thanked him profusely for that extremely generous offer. I showed him plans I had made to incorporate many of the houses nearby into the village as long as we could barricade the streets enough to keep marauders out. Hopefully, with either electronic surveillance or barricades. Anyone coming into the village with security or law enforcement experience would be asked to become part of a 24-hour per day security force watching the monitors from cameras set up everywhere an operating the guard gates at the entry.

Wondah and Derek found as many Wi-Fi security cameras they could. They gave about 30 to Captain Jensen to install along both sides of the Rambler to catch anyone trying to board either from the dock or waterside of the ship. 

With all that help, I got some of the people finding derelict vehicles, mostly older with gasoline engines and had them brought to block the streets leading into the port area I had decided to encompass and close off as the initial village. Eventually, a wall might be necessary. But thinking further ahead. I didn't want the village to go beyond those initial boundaries.

I wanted the people in the village returned to their homes and businesses in the greater Los Angeles area or new ones. Restarting the whole city. Why was I thinking so big like that? I didn't know, I just was. Trying to make the best of a bad situation. Right now a month after the epidemic started, making it to the fall rains again was the highest priority--capture water then.

We all returned late that night to a huge dinner and celebration for all we had accomplished. But a lot of work remained undone. I asked everyone to devote two more days to the project. And then, maybe one day a week to take care of any problems the village wasn't able to take care of itself. It was my project, but I needed everyone's help in making it thrive. They all heartily agreed. I was happy.

I even took an invitation from Daphne that night to spend a little after dinner for candlelight cocktails and dessert with Melody and her. None of us were disappointed with the result. But we nearly overslept.

For the next two days, everyone from our compound devoted full-time to the village. We made tremendous progress. The fires had largely burned out, the mosquitoes and flies were gone, and the nightly sea breezes had blown away the smoky air and especially, the earlier ever-present stink of rotting human flesh.

When the water catchment systems were finished, we focused on finding solar panels and windmills that we installed throughout the buildings we were working on to provide power for the pumps, lights and in the case of the hotel conveniences, hot water, refrigerators and even air conditioning.

We encountered both people and vehicles, mostly armed and walking the streets looking for food and water and finding little or none. We encouraged those with transportation to go to the port and sign the contract. We needed, especially, people who could do hands-on work as well as teachers and caregivers for children and people sick.

So many we encountered were at stages of dehydration or starvation that needed to be reversed. Thankfully the Rambler infirmary with one doctor and two nurses was invaluable in helping these people get back on their feet and to work.

It was sad to see so many like that. But we were glad we could help them recover and help us rebuild a village first and possibly, a great community again like Los Angeles had been before. It would take years and many babies. Our little compound had a good start.

I turned most of the work over to Captain Jensen and Van, to use the new recruits, when they were healthy again, continue the work that we had started, and perhaps have many move into the nearby houses and go back to their houses in the city, with help. Safety was a big issue and it wasn't completely resolved, yet.

I turned most of the work over to Captain Jensen and Van, to use the new recruits, when they were healthy again, continue the work that we had started, and perhaps have many move into the nearby houses and go back to their houses in the city, with help. Safety was a big issue and it wasn't completely resolved, yet.

It was late, nearly 8 pm, as we returned to our compound for a welcome shower and dinner before attending to the needs of our compound again in the morning.

But as we drove, off to the left, it wasn't going to be a normal sunset because an ominous round cloud was approaching and I thought I knew what it might be.

Copyright 2023 © Ronald W. Hull

7/10/23