For the next part of the meeting, Lisa gave a report. Grant hadn’t seen her all day. She was really warming up to her role as the community doctor and described how people were still dying from a lack of medication. Some people, like Mrs. Roth, died quickly from this. Others, who were less dependent on their medications, were dying more slowly. Now that America was over two months into the Collapse, many of these less-dependent people were starting to die.
Lisa named four people who had died in the past few days, all from a lack of medications. She also mentioned that a teenage girl who cut her hand while filleting fish had a bad infection. They had some antibiotics for the girl, but couldn’t use too much on just one person. Finally, she described some of the lingering problems from people not having their mental illness medications. The very medicine-dependent had gone insane early on, but now the less-dependent were, too. Two people were detained and would be up for a mental ward commitment trial tomorrow.
Grant knew that he wouldn’t be training with the Team tomorrow, at least, not until the commitment trials were done. The commitment trials were a top priority. Two people were being detained, perhaps for no reason, although if Lisa thought they needed to be committed, they almost certainly did. Another reason for Grant to miss training with the Team tomorrow was that he should probably get to know Al better. He could do that tomorrow along with the commitment trials. Training with the Team would have to wait. Grant had plenty of things to do at the Grange. He needed to accept that he wasn’t a twenty-something year old gun fighter. He had different skills and a different job.
At the end of the meeting, Ken Dolphson handed out the latest edition of the Pierce Point Patriot. The only stories in it were the obituaries. Grant would need to go to the funerals on Sunday after church. He hated doing that. It was so depressing, but he had a leadership role out there and needed to be at community events, like funerals.
The meeting broke up. Tired on their feet after a long day, the Team shuffled toward Mark’s black Silverado with the extended cab and Marine Corps bumper sticker that was outside waiting for them. Lisa got into the front cab. The Morrells got in the rear cab. The Team, including Grant, piled into the back of the truck.
The guys were tired so they didn’t say much. They were excited because it was nighttime, which was girlfriend time, although they were tired. Grant quietly wondered how much more activity they could take. Oh well. It was a good problem to have.
In the back of the truck with the largely silent guys, he had a chance to reflect on the day. It had been good and bad, like so many things out here. Good in the sense that they had an amazing crew of fighters and some great equipment and training. Lots of “coincidences” that made them much better off than almost everyone. That was good.
But, the day showed the bad things, too. People dying and going crazy just because they lacked simple medications. Life threatening infections that would be no big deal when there were plenty of antibiotics. And refugees with nowhere to go who were forced to camp out while some people decided if they can come in. Grant could only imagine what it was like in places that weren’t as organized as Pierce Point, like Frederickson, Olympia, and Seattle. Let alone Chicago, New York, and LA.
“Collapses suck,” Grant said. He had anticipated the Collapse and had been frustrated when it was so long in coming, but he didn’t enjoy it now that it had come.
Chapter 177
The “Ted Project”
Grant and Lisa slept soundly until the sun came into their room. When they woke, they didn’t even remember getting into bed the night before after the Grange meeting. Given the angles of the windows, the sun didn’t come into the window until mid-morning this time of year. Grant noticed this and realized it must be late, like 8:00 a.m. or something crazy like that.
It was 8:16 a.m., to be exact. He knew Lisa needed to get up to go to the clinic so he woke her up by hugging her softly. She slowly woke up to him holding her, which she had always loved, but now it felt even better, more significant. She had often taken these quiet moments in bed for granted, but not anymore.
Grant, being a typical guy with typical appetites, was getting a little charged up from the hug, which wasn’t his intention. He just wanted to wake her up and let her know how much he loved her. His lower brain functions took over and then he wanted to take the hug farther.
That wasn’t going to happen. Grant didn’t want to blow the cool points he was getting for a no-strings-attached hug. Besides, he could hear the kids were up, and so were her parents. Not exactly a good ambiance. He decided to fight the urge and just kissed her on the forehead.
“Good morning, dear,” Grant said. “Your husband loves you.”
Lisa had a big smile on her face. That smile of hers meant everything to him. It was what he lived for. Grant forced himself to get out of bed before he tried to take the hug further and then went out to say good morning to the kids and Drew and Eileen. He hadn’t seen them in quite some time.
They were starting up some pancakes, of course. Grant had purchased over 100 pounds of pancake mix before the Collapse. It seemed crazy at the time; not anymore. The Morrells and Colsons (except Tammy) were coming over. Gideon would also be there as he ended his night guard shift by coming over to Grant’s cabin and having breakfast with everyone.
Gideon could eat at the Grange, but it was usually hard to get a ride up there and back in time to let him sleep during the day. Besides, it took him hours to get out of the Grange because everyone came up to him and thanked him for the semi-truck of food. He didn’t mind their kind words; it was just that after a night of guard duty, making small talk with people was the last thing he wanted to do.
Chip came over for breakfast, too. He was just stopping in to say good morning before he and the Team went to the Grange. Mark would take the Team, Drew, Grant, and Lisa up to the Grange where they would eat breakfast. They usually tried to be up there around 8:00 a.m. and they were running a little behind this morning.
“You still got gas?” Grant asked Mark, to which Chip laughed at the unintended double meaning.
“Yep,” Mark said. “I actually don’t drive much; just taking you guys around in the morning and getting you at night. Once in a while, I go out hunting. Tammy keeps my tank full with gas from work.”
“How is she doing?” Eileen asked. “That horrible attack she suffered through. Have they caught the people who did that?”
Mark, who had not been told what really happened, said, “Nope. They must have taken off. There’s been nothing like that around the power company. They all travel now in pairs and are well armed. Tammy insists on driving herself to work alone. I tried to talk her out of it, but she just thinks she’s OK. She seems very confident it won’t happen again.”
They all talked about what they would be doing that day. John and Mark would be setting some crab pots when the tide got right, which was in about an hour, and then they would go deer hunting until dinner. Mary Anne and Eileen would be working in the garden and making some strawberry jam with the ripening berries. Manda and Cole would play with all the neighborhood kids. Lisa would be at the clinic all day. Chip was running the day shift of the Grange guards. He was done overseeing the Crew; they were on their own now and were integrating very nicely with the Team. Drew was keeping track of people’s contributions to the community and overseeing the meal cards. He was also compiling a secret Patriot/Loyalist list for Grant.