Chapter 7

We left for Belize without incident the next morning targeting the primary airport. According to our map and book, it was in Ladyville. In honor of the name and because it was our turn, I piloted and Pam was my copilot...

The flight was uneventful. Landing was a bit tricky. If possible, this area had suffered more than the Cancun area. I found landing tricky because of the broken appearance of the asphalt. It was bumpy but useable. Tom and Vic were in the air and waiting for us to tell them what to do. I talked with Tom on the radio explaining the poor surface and the damage to the buildings. We decided that bringing in the Connie would not be a good idea and we should move on to Sal Salvador plus over fly the Pacific.

We took off and flew almost directly south overland aiming for San Salvador. We found the Pacific instead. As Bennie said, "It was bigger." Our best guess was we missed it to the east. I turned west gently and quickly saw a city and was able to identify the airport. This airport was in great shape and we landed easily. Mel called Tom and the Connie was headed our way as we stepped out to fuel King and explore. We found a couple of fuel trucks with good fuel in them and brought King to them. We had to use the hand pump but were used to that. While Robby and Bennie did that with Charlie on watch, Pam and I went exploring. From the map, we had discovered that the airport was miles from the city and neither of us had hopes of finding anything of great interest. We went into the terminal and found a true surprise. Someone had left a message!

It was more like a small book with multiple copies in both English and Spanish. The writer had thought ahead. There was even a notepad for any person or persons to leave some message when taking a copy. From what I could determine, two Spanish copies had been taken and messages left. We were the first English-speaking people.

I said, "Pam, we need to have Robby look at the messages. We will leave our own and take an English copy."

"I agree. Let's take our copy and the messages and we'll return the message pad with our own appended to the first two."

I nodded and we left at a fast walk. Robby and Bennie were just finishing fueling King and both were tired and sweaty. As we came up, Mel told us that the Connie would arrive in moments. Just as she told us, we all heard the Connie as it flew over the airport to line up for its landing.

As it was coming in, I told Robby and Bennie what we found showing them the notepad and the English printout. Robby read the notepad entries for us. The first was dated, April 10, 2015. He translated it. "Miguel Torres took a copy of the book on this date. I am walking to Acajutla."

The other was dated, "May, 2021." He translated it, "Jesus de Santos took a copy to read. I came from Acajutla and saw no one. I am going to Panama."

"Nine years ago," I said. "That's a long time on foot by yourself in this area. I wonder if he made it."

Pam said, "We may never know unless we head further south. I don't think that would work well for Mike and Jen's wedding plans." We all grinned.

Robby said, "Janice, write something to give a little history and suggest the possibility of contact by radio. We need to return the notepad. We should study the manuscript."

That's what we did and I wrote, "The Cook-Thomas family (10) persons picked up an English copy on April 26, 2030. We represent the communities of Preservation in Georgia, Protection in Tennessee, and Port Lavaca, Texas. We are accompanied by more people and are traveling by airplane. Our communities hold a meeting by radio nightly on 3.970 MHz. Find an amateur radio, put up an antenna, power it, and join in. Best of luck to all who follow. Janice Cook-Thomas"

It wasn't much but all agreed it was adequate. Charlie and I took the notepad back and then returned to the planes.

While we were gone, everyone had decided to stay the night at the airport. They had picked out a building and cleared it sufficiently to make adequate sleeping quarters for everyone. The planes were refueled and locked up for the night. We would have sentries over the night hours though didn't expect any trouble. There were no signs of any recent people activity in the area. Bennie and Robby both believed in not receiving surprises. That meant sentries.

George asked half kidding, "We've never set sentries at Lavaca but you are careful. You sure you're not paranoid?"

Robby said, "I'm paranoid. I just don't know if I'm paranoid enough."

Bennie chimed in, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."

Everyone had a good laugh but we did set out sentries that night.

The last item for the night was to read some of the manuscript we found. Doctor George was asked to read it aloud. He had a good, natural speaking voice. It was easier to understand than Bennie's bass rumble.

George opened the manuscript and read.

"My name is Arnold Ralston. I am writing this while there is still power during the week of March 15, 2012, about a year after what the news outlets called, the Day.

"The first disaster was the tsunami from the cleaving of Florida. There was enough warning for many to head for higher areas so it wasn't as bad here as news reports from other areas have suggested. I was here working on a company project to bring fruit to the United States market. The emergency workers here were swamped with people who were coming from other areas that felt the brunt of the waves. Many died from the tsunami to our east.

"Then people started to get sick. Some had obvious symptoms that came to be associated with the virus but others had other initial illnesses like typhus. The girl I had met was a nurse and was called in to the hospital. I volunteered to help and was put to work. There wasn't much that could be done. People just got sicker and sicker until they died. Eliana caught it and, tired as she was, quickly succumbed. I was alone and tired. Nothing seemed to work.

"As we reached the three-week mark from the Day, most of the doctors and nurses were dead or dying. No new patients were coming in and there were only two of us who didn't have the virus in the hospital. When the last two of the staff died, we were alone in the hospital. Neither of us had anywhere to go. My parents, brother, and sister were in Orlando and I had to presume that they were dead. Nothing had been heard from anyone in that area since the Day. I could have evacuated by plane but I watched two of them crash from pilots who were infected. Flying just didn't seem safe to me. Maria had been sick but recovered. She was a widow with one child who had lived to the east. She had had a moment to say good-bye to her daughter before the tsunami had swept her away.

"The hospital and the surrounding area were deserted and we would have to figure out what to do soon. The Morgue had filled up and we had been putting bodies in rooms and sealing the doors. Sooner or later, the smell would be beyond what we could stand.

"One reason I had been picked for this project was my ability to speak Spanish. It made it easier for Maria and I to talk. We discussed what to do. She wanted to return to her home and wait for things to get better. She was in her late forties and really wanted to give up. She had no one left after her daughter was swept away.

"On the other hand, I wanted to do something. I looked around and noticed that almost everyone was dead and, at twenty-eight, I would have to make some long-term plans if I expected to survive."

One of George's wives, Judith, picked up reading the narrative.

"Maria had left and I went to my hotel room and considered my options. I had a rental car but it was unsuited for rough traveling if I wanted to make any serious move. On the other hand, I knew the city now and knew I could stay here for a while. I decided that the first thing would be to get a four-wheel drive truck and prepare for the worsening conditions that, sooner or later, must occur.