While cruises to Cabo San Lucas were interrupted during the summer by Pacific hurricanes of immense power, only one reached the area of San Diego and Camp Pendleton, causing some destruction, lots of flooding but inland rain that was beneficial to the Central Valley and even to the desert regions of Arizona and Nevada. Each year now they were getting more water than ever, creating lakes and oases where there weren't before. Just dried, alkaline valleys with little or no vegetation.

       We discovered settlements of people who had fled their cities in these places growing food and raising animals. More survivors than we thought initially, but still not very many. The whole climate of the desert Southwest had changed making it more livable than before. The Colorado River was once again flooding much of the area, as well bringing it to life, starting with wildflowers and willow trees along the paths where there was nothing but dry gulches before.

       More and more businesses and some manufacturing companies were opened during the summer. But we were still primarily salvaging what was left of the former city's stored wealth of almost everything imaginable. Most of that we had no use for anymore but were willing to keep available for some future time when we would get back to it.

       Of utmost importance was opening a nearby junior college into a university providing everything from post high school education in the trades to doctorates for those who would go online primarily and use the AI there and courses developed all over by various universities to complete their degrees.

       All this stretched our meager workforce to the limit but everyone was working far more than they did before the pandemic with the joy of being able to do whatever they wanted to do as long as it helped the village move ahead. When I asked for volunteers, I always got them. Especially for ventures into new territory. By the end of the summer, we had trained 30 pilots and Harlan was back doing most of the teaching. We were getting ready to fly great distances by jets to get to the rest of the country and see how they were doing.

       We got some gist of what was happening from the Internet. There were some news channels opened that had news from across the country in a ramshackle arrangement between various cities that had resurgence like ours. But it was tough everywhere.      

       People were still dying from lack of food and water. There were many places where there were as many new births as we had, creating large nurseries for us at the airport, on the ship, and in the port area where surrogates took care of the children while the parents were out doing whatever they were doing that day, to be returned to them in the evening.

       By September, Ron and Reg were walking and talking. Starting to get into things. Ahead of other children their age, like Derek and I had. We had record crops from all of our greenhouses and were able to share with the people in the desert along with seafood that they craved because they were a long way from the sea and could only get freshwater fish from the Colorado River when it wasn't flooding.

       We celebrated Thanksgiving with more thankfulness than ever before for our good fortune and how we were able to help others that were recovering, but not as well as we were. Ray and Daphne celebrated the arrival of Marilyn in mid-December and Stephanie, a son she named, Spike. There were several other births to members of the village to the new year.

       But it was after the New Year 2034, that a whole new second round of babies appeared from the mothers who had had babies the first year and, as soon as they felt able, got pregnant again, adding to our growing population of babies that needed caring for and the nurseries, and the soon to be developed, preschools. These children who have no memory of the hardship of the pandemic and after. They would take on our world the way it was and prosper in it.

       I just knew it, one night, after we put the twins to bed and were breast-feeding little Missy born just after the new year, Melody confessed…

       "You know Drake, she is so wonderful. And Ron and Reg are so smart and active. I just love babies, don't you?"

       "I do. But I want to see them grow up. Perhaps, too soon. They are all so unique."

       "I've been talking to the other mothers. We are all in agreement that we have as many babies as we can. That will mean that we probably will be away from some of the other work we've been doing with all of these children to look after, but it will be best, don't you think?"

       "It sure will. We need kids. The whole country needs kids. These kids will bring the world back to the way it was, but better, not us. We will be worn out by the time we're 50. There are times I wonder if I can keep up the pace that I have in the past year and a half."

       "Now, now, you're not going to abandon me, are you? Will I have to go to others to get this job done?" She taunted, and then laughed.

       "You have and didn't let me stop you in the past," I taunted back.

       That was the nature of our open relationship. Melody seemed to need variety. And more than just Ginger needed my attention when it came to the need to have babies. Some of them wanted me to be their only, but I always told them that I was bonded to Melody but willing to help. They had to agree or I wouldn't come to their beds. It was really with mixed feelings that I got women pregnant who I would never be with and probably not even know the children I fathered. It was a strange time we were in.

       The rains were relentless that year and one cold and rainy day in March we were called to the hospital because Martha Rosenberg had suffered a devastating heart attack while at her elementary school and was clinging to life. Those of us from the former compound who could make it crowded around her bed and wished her well.

       She died at 6:35 pm that evening with most of us still around her bed. Her last words were… "I only wish Jake was here to see what we have done. But I guess I'm going to see him now." She closed her eyes and never opened them again.

       I thought of all the mornings we gathered to plan in her dining room while she fixed us fabulous breakfasts with whatever she had at the time to feed us. We all would miss her much longer and more deeply than any other of us from the village. She had been that special to our recovery from the devastation of our families and our lives.

       On the contrary, in spite of a good summer of good crops and harvest, the flooding was back and the constant storms with cold dreary days and nights did not seem to get to Grandpa Ralph.

       Gramps was overjoyed that Derek and I were taking the lead in helping both Los Angeles and the Central Valley get back on its feet. He seemed to be rejuvenated by our helping him save his house and his animals. Welcomed us heartily every time we came. In February, I even flew in on a seaplane and floated right up to the house to his great joy and surprise. But I had to leave the same day because another storm was coming in.

       Once again, things dried up by April, and the convoys were able to run again. What was noticeable was the lack of any attacks from gangs or citizen militias. Everyone was so grateful that the trucks were running and there was life in the remote desert regions again that it was all cooperation and trade. Where there was nothing to trade, it was outright charity. We all had more than we needed. Why not share it with those that didn't.

       The Internet gave us some inkling that there was an attempt to start the government working again. We didn't know if we would have representation or not, but we made a few inquiries and by June 2034, Harlan flew a contingent of us to Washington DC where we met with the Secretary of State who was acting as president from the line of succession. Cyrus Greene had been quick to gather together the surviving members of the Congress and Supreme Court with the help of the military to bring some of them to Washington DC and start a United States government again.

       In his office in the White House, Dr. Green asked us to send five representatives and two senators that would be duly elected from California in the first election since martial law was declared and he was put in charge. He told us that rebuilding the government for the entire country would take some time because some parts of the country were doing better than others and elections were his priority as well as trying to provide for those who were starving or without clean water. Told us, "I haven't slept since this whole thing started. You don't know how I want to hold a presidential election and leave this office for my family who need me." He started crying.

       We reassured him that we would have elections according to the federal schedule in California as soon as we can get those set up and send the representatives and senators after the fall 2034 election. When we got back, our mayor, Joan Roberts and treasurer, Seymour Kaufman, immediately established committees to set up local elections and provide paperwork for elections up and down the recovering cities in California.

       We knew that we couldn't include everyone in the vote for the fall of 2034 or even all of the potential candidates. But it was a start and we had to get representative government from the entire country back in place, until a new census would determine what ratio of representatives would be elected to the House.

       Derek and I, after our brief trip with ten others to Washington DC and our meeting with the president, decided that our services would best be focused on Hutchins Construction Company and the rebuilding of Los Angeles for the near future. We spend a lot of time getting subcontractors operating again in all of the fields of construction and using the best techniques and materials to make whatever we rejuvenated or built from scratch would serve the village for a long time.

       In November, 3034, we elected the slate of senators and congressmen that the president had requested. Harlan flew them to Washington to begin to serve their terms in January when a new president had been elected and Cyrus Greene handed over the responsibility of President of the United States to her–Sylvia Wilkinson, a former federal judge and graduate of Radcliffe and The Stanford School of Law.

       In the spring of 3035, the 70 was finally cleared all the way to Denver and trucks begin traveling coast-to-coast. While most of the trucks were solar, natural gas or fuel-cell powered, a couple of refineries in Texas got to working again so there was fuel oil for those trucks that were still so vital to begin moving products and commodities around the country again.

       It would take a couple more years before the rail systems could be opened, although we began a subcommittee to work on planning the CalBulletLiner that originally was planned to run from San Diego to the Canadian border. Our initial work was to open the 300 mile-per-hour electric train between San Francisco and the Village. A task that would take several years.

       We were spread so thin that work had to be delayed and priorities set by the Town Council. I knew there were bumps in the road ahead. I just didn't know what they would be.

Copyright 2024 © Ronald W. Hull

4/8/24