Chapter 3

There were six or eight horses and five trucks in the party coming our way. They quieted when they saw us waiting there. Melissa and I were the only ones not carrying a rifle and we had pistols strapped to our sides. Even Charles had a small-bore rifle though it wasn't loaded. His instructions were to drop the rifle and grab Doris on the way to safety.

Right now, all we could do was wait and trust Melissa's feeling that things were right. I trusted my spouse. When she had a feeling about something, they were almost always correct and, as I looked at those coming our way, I felt she was right again.

These were smiling happy people who were welcoming strangers. It was a mixed group with young and old, male and female. Two young men were in front and looked like brothers. They did not have rifles and were waving excitedly with both hands. They came up to us. One of them said, "I'm George Anderson and this is my brother, Ed. We live here in Port Lavaca. You have a plane! Where did you come from? Wow! Flying over us was really neat!"

By then, an older man and woman arrived. The man said, "We are George and Mary Anderson. George and Ed are our sons." George and Ed were about the age of Mike or just a little older. George, the father, said, "Calm down, fellows. We need to greet these folk, not scare them to death."

They answered in the affirmative and slowed down. More people came up and Mary Anderson said, "Let's all sit down and get acquainted. They have a story and shouldn't have to tell it hundreds of times. Ours will make more sense if only one tells it.

"George, you were elected leader six months ago. Here's a chance to lead." She chuckled.

George now said, "Welcome to Port Lavaca. We call ourselves Lavacans now. We fish, farm, and refine gas for our boats and vehicles. Our story is simple. We were here before the Day and survived the virus. We have taken some people in over the years but it's tough to get through Houston. We're big enough that they don't bother us and we try not to bother them too much. It's not a great solution but it seems to have worked so far. We will have to do something about them soon. I am afraid that they don't treat people right.

"Who speaks for you folk?"

They all looked at me and said, "Okay Just remember what is said about paybacks.

"Mr. Anderson, we are the Cook-Thomas family. We have a plural marriage. I hope that is not a problem for you folk."

No, Ma'am. We have some though yours is the biggest. Please, go ahead."

"Okay, George. Thanks. I'm Janice and these are my spouses, Pam, Melissa, Robby, and Bennie." I pointed out each one as I named them. "The children are all ours. Charles, Jr., is our oldest. We are members of the communities of Preservation and Protection.

"Preservation is located in west central Georgia and Protection is located in central Tennessee. Each covers a lot of territory with farming, light manufacturing, and electrical generation being specialties. We also have radios and can communicate when we are traveling. My foster father, Jack Matthews, is the leader of Preservation and Dr. George Andrews leads Protection.

"We are allied with a third community in central Alabama named Pintlala. As you can see, we fly. We were at Bush International last night until we were disturbed early this morning."

George said, "It appears that they were not successful."

"No. They hurried us so all of them died except two and they were injured when we left. One of their groups had tried to sabotage the plane and then attack us. It didn't work out too well." I chuckled.

George said, "Are you the only one who doesn't shoot?"

Bennie said, "No, she shoots all right. It's just that she's so good at hand-to-hand that we can let her get close without much fear for her health." As did most people, they were a little in awe at the depth of his voice. He grinned and added, "After all, she can beat me up. We're all nice to Janice." He chuckled. It sounded like a happy rumble of thunder.

Mary said, "We've all learned things since the Day.

"Would you come stay with us tonight and a while. We would like to get to know you and you get to know us."

"We can do that." George, Jr., and Ed cheered that news and the word quickly passed around to all the Lavacans present.

George and Mary rounded up transport while Pam locked King and we prepared to go with them. Our tendency had always been to let the children go with whichever parent they wanted. They switched about regularly. This afternoon, I had Bobbi, our second oldest, and nine years old. Her full name is Roberta Pamela but we all called her, Bobbi. Charles chose Bennie, as did little Doris Janice. Doris was almost three and seemed to like the view from on high from either Bennie or Robby. She didn't mind me either as I was almost six feet tall myself. She liked heights. Our third was with Robby and Pam. Shirley Jane was a lovely girl of six years. She reminded me of Momma Shirley. SJ was watching for her parents and would take two of us to keep anyone from being without a child. Our youngest boy, Amos Benjamin, was four years old and was staying with Melissa. He was shy and, when there were many people that he didn't know, he went to Melissa out of habit.

We had the kids and some light baggage for extra clothes and loaded up leaving for town.

Once there, the Lavacans showed us to the local motel and we took adjoining rooms. George told me on the way in that there was a meeting at the church tonight anyway. With us here, there would be, according to George, a true crowd of everybody who could come. We went into our rooms and settled the kids. Pam came next to me and said, "Well Mrs. Spokesperson, it looks like you have to be ready to give a speech tonight." She chuckled.

I said, "Spouse, there's nothing that would keep you from making that speech."

"Oh, no! You are our official spokesperson!" She laughed and I smiled.

"You're next for this chore and, if they ask tough questions, I will refer them to my expert, you!" We gave each other a hug and, laughing, went about helping get the kids ready for supper. Melissa had me grab some blankets and pillows in case things went long tonight.

George, Jr., and Ed picked us up in two SUV's and chauffeured us to the church where all meetings took place. After a short prayer, every one dug in. As is true with most potluck suppers, it was great because many women considered it a challenge to cook their best dishes for the meal. Bennie and Robby surprised some with their ability to put food away. Charles ran them a good third. He wasn't skinny but wasn't fat either. He was going to be a fine looking man soon.

We had plenty of people to act as babysitters over the evening. We met many people and enjoyed talking with men and women. One man about my age said, "Which one is yours?" I answered that both were my husbands. He asked Pam the same thing and she answered the same way. "Wow!" He said, "You are both beautiful ladies. They are lucky men." He also turned out to be surprisingly good with SJ and Bobbi talking to both of them politely and as if they were more mature young ladies than they actually were. He was going to make some girl a great husband. I could think of a few in Preservation and in Protection who would be interested.

Finally, the meeting started, as people were finishing deserts. George stood and said, "Is there any old or new business to be handled this evening?"

One couple stood and the girl said, "Mister George, we want to be married. We're both old enough and Ron is a proven angler." She smiled at the young man.

George said, "It is before you. I know them both. They are of age and Ron is proven. Are there any objections?" It was quiet. "I now pronounce you man and wife as of this minute. We will have short reception after our other items of business." He paused. "Is there anything else for tonight?" He paused again. "In that case, many of you have met our visitors. Janice Cook-Thomas is their spokesperson and I give her the floor." Everyone clapped.