Legacy

I’m Garvey Wilson, my wife is Julia Wilson.  We are both in our early seventy’s.  If anyone had every alluded to the possibility of what we’d experience, I’d have laughed my self silly and suggested someone needed to see a shrink about to many fantasies.

But as they say, truth can be stranger than fiction.  This is what happened. We’d heard on the news that human right’s commissions around the free world were very upset with China.

China was also upset the cat got out of the bag. I’d sure think they ought to be; and ashamed of themselves.  Apparently they had developed a airborne virus and tested it successfully on their own people.  It wasn’t harmful in the normal sense.  It was short lived and if it didn’t find a host in 72 hours it would burn itself out.  It was an effort for population control. Population in China is a problem.  This virus if it found a host within the 72 hours, that person would become permanently in fertile, never being able to have children.

Once the cat was out of the bag, of course they stopped using it and denied everything, typical.  But apparently terrorists got a hold of a large quantity of the virus somehow and were able to replicate it in massive amounts.

One to two canisters with small explosive charge, when set off would release a fast rising pink plume.  That was the tell tale sign.  The plume would quickly settle as it spread and the wind took it from there.

Then the bad news came.  According to a snitch, one who had proved reliable in the past; said there were one to two canisters placed in every city in the United States with a population exceeding fifty thousand.  There were set to go off in five days all at the same time.  No way of finding all those, so they would go off and after awhile the virus would become inert. Irrelevant if it got you.

The government as usual didn’t come up with a common sense plan.  They had a herding  mentality and ordered the military to evacuate every man woman and child. Now this made no sense regarding people past child bearing age.  But our unfaultable  government thought it simplest to make no exceptions. People would be taken to temporary internment camps fifty miles from any major city.

I’d been out running errands when the evacuation notice came over the car radio, so I hurried home as fast as I could.  To late she was gone, I cried out loud “Where’s my wife” I saw a notice on my front door.  I hurriedly read it. It said residents of this house being transported to Camp Bravo.  I thought where in the world is that?  About that time an Army Transport Truck rolled up and the driver spotted me.

He came over and said I’d have to board the truck due to the mass evacuation order.  I said is this truck going to Camp Bravo.  He said no this truck is going to Camp Alpha, as Camp Bravo was full up.  I told him that wouldn’t work as my wife was taken to Camp Bravo.  Well around and around we went, finally I said let me pack a quick bag, he said Okay.  I went in the house but it wasn’t for any bag I came back out with my snub nose 44. That gave me control of the situation.  I took him in the house and made him get out of his Haz Mat suit, and his uniform.

Then I had him put his Haz Mat suit back on and tied him to the bed posts.  I then put on his uniform, even though I was a little old for it.  I figured turn the collar up a little and maybe no one would notice that.

Now I had an army military transport truck in my control.  I was happy to find a map on the front seat that told me where Camp Bravo was.  I figured in about an hour I’d be where the wife was.  I figured with a little luck I’d liberate her from the functionally needless internment and we’d just head home.  I had my reasons.

I passed through the check points with no effort.  That truck helped me do that for sure.  I got there and was almost overwhelmed by the number of people milling around. I drove in for a ways and then I spotted Julia fairly near the truck path.  I hollered and got her attention; she knew my voice and ran right over.  She said Garvey, what are you doing in that outfit driving that truck.

I said we are going home, so quickly jump in the back and I’ll explain later.  She did and off we went. Since she was in the back out of sight we passed the check points very easily, at one I joked, yep! going back for another load.

We got back to our house and on the way in I explained my rational to Julia.  I said as you know at our age the virus don’t mean squat.  But our belongings do.  There will be soldiers in Haz Mat suits to protect them from the virus patrolling downtown and at the big shopping centers to guard against looters.  She said but won’t the virus affect the looters?  I said of course it will. But they are gang punks who don’t care.  It won’t affect their sex life and they care nothing about having a family, just getting rich.

I went on to say that there aren’t enough soldiers to go around, so looters will hit the neighborhoods for easy picking.  There won’t be any easy pickings here.  As we got in she said whos that tied to our bed.  I said a fine soldier that left me no choice and I hope he will forgive me.  He did and I untied him.

He then started in with the, I’m sorry Sir but I still need to transport you out, orders are orders.  I said I understand that, but you need to understand we are not going.  He got the idea.  Then he said if you refuse to go, I’ll have to stay and protect you best I can.

I thanked him for that profusely.  About that time there was a knock on the door.  It was retired Major Hogan from across the street, in his old Marine Uniform and well armed.  He said when he knew the trucks would be coming, he backed his car out of the garage and put it in the street, creating the illusion no one was home because the front door was also locked.  He and his wife hid in a closet until the trucks went away.  They were also beyond child bearing age and concerned about looters.

I had been a long time gun collector also and was a well armed household.  So well that I even outfitted the soldier who only had a side arm.  Between the three of us we had automatic high powered rifles and plenty of ammo.

We live about half way into a cul de sac.  We took up appropriate positions and waited.  It was about an hour when we heard the hoops and hollers of joyful looters loading up and coming closer.  They rounded the corner and started into the cul de sac going house to house.  As they got about one hundred and fifty feet from us we opened up with a good triangular cross fire.

There was some fire returned, but none of us got hit and when the noise stooped and the smoke cleared, we could count seventeen of the scum dead in the street.  If there were more, they skedaddled out of there.

It had been the young soldiers first time under fire, but he did well.  We all agreed that we hoped within our lifetimes, what was left, that we’d never see anything like it again.

The next couple of days were spent contacting our children in Chicago and Portland, miles apart but fortunate all were well, except for having their places ripped off. Well that’s that end of story.