Chapter 5

Gail and Grace sat side by side. Grace poked at small pieces of rabbit meat as Gail slipped another log under the makeshift grill balanced on stones over their small fire. They slipped into these roles each night as they prepared their evening meals. They had become used to the taste of rabbit. They were easy to trap. They had also grown accustomed to the event that cooking had become. It sometimes took hours to prepare a simple meal without the modern conveniences they were used to in the time before. Over time, their meal preparation became a daily ritual for the two women. They would talk about their plans for the Garden or how they would best preserve food for the winter. They shared memories from their past and marveled at how different life was now, seemingly overnight.

Tonight, Grace asked Gail “Do you think we’ll always have to cook like this?”

“No.” Gail answered easily. “Humans build. It’s what we do. We’ll find some other people like us, and we’ll build a community with them.” She broke a small stick in her hands and tossed the halves into the flames. “Once we find some friends we can help each other out. Remember how it was in the beginning, when everything was so volatile all the time? We build again and again. War, famine, disease, humans always rally. We’ll make it out of this, too.” She snapped another branch. “It’ll be different, but this isn’t the end.” Gail smiled at her friend. Grace looked hard into Gail’s eyes.

“You really believe that?” Grace asked.

“Yep.” Gail said with a wide smile.

That night they sat by the fire and Grace listened quietly while Gail thought out loud about the best route for rebuilding a functioning society. They each picked at the charred meat. Gail rambled about how she thought the ought to rebuild civilization. She listed one obstacle after another, followed by what she thought might be a workable solution for each. She revised her plans for efficiency as she went along, mentioning areas that could be streamlined, or where functionality could be duplicated. She recounted that long ago she read that the ideal number for maintaining stable social relationships was 150. “That seems like a good place to start.” She looked at her friend with a hopeful expression.

Death was inescapable in the time of the climate crisis. Humanity’s attempt to use artificial intelligence to quell their rapidly deteriorating environment had failed and, in some cases, turned against them. Many fell ill to psychosis induced by the technology and committed suicide. The engineers and scientists who created the tech could not explain the phenomenon and were not able to reverse it. At the same time, the quality of the living conditions on earth were drastically reduced due to extreme heat, food shortages, and unpredictable weather events. Governments could not keep up with the large need for aid, and people lost their lives to causes that had once been preventable. Daily death counts around the world were reported on the news until it stopped being broadcast.  

It had been months since the two women had encountered another human being. 150 people had come to feel like a million. Grace smiled back at her hopeful friend.

Gail’s education was in anthropology with a concentration in societal structures. She believed the most peaceful societies were those that allowed the people to govern themselves. In her view, they should aim to form small communities that provide and care for themselves however they see fit. For example, one community might choose to gather resources and distribute them evenly among their population, and another may employ a barter system. Collaboration between these communities would be possible with some kind of leadership to facilitate the communication and negotiations between neighboring groups. As they picked at their rabbit meat, Gail fantasized about creating an ideal community. “Life would be collaborative. What belonged to the community would belong to everyone. Everyone can choose to work in a field they felt called to.” She licked her thumb and her lips smacked. “We can use natural consequences to handle any behavioral concerns. If you don’t comply with the group rules, you have to go someplace else. But largely community life should be liberated. It’s best to not add too many restrictions to what the community can and cannot not do. Any laws” she added air quotes “would be intended to deter harm instead of control.” She paused for to chew and swallow. “Everyone could teach everyone else. And nobody misses out on education.” Gail was adamant about this. She had amassed quite a book collection in the time since everything had come undone. Grace hated lugging them around from camp to camp but Gail said she was “curating a public library to educate society” so it was non-negotiable. Now that they had been settled for a while, Gail had collected so many books, Grace doubted they’d be able to carry them in a single box as they had before.

She reached over and rested her hand on Gail’s shoulder. “You have some good ideas, kid.” Gail laughed at her friend. There wasn’t much difference in their ages. Grace was not even a full year older, but the dynamic between them often played out like this. Grace treated Gail like an optimistic, misguided child. Occasionally, it bothered Gail, but she preferred being the optimistic one, and if Grace saw that as childish then Gail felt sorry for her friend.

Gail finished the last of her meal and busied herself with the fire again. “Should I put on some tea?” She asked Grace.

“Sure.” Grace answered. “It’s a nice night to watch the stars come out. I’ll grab the blankets.”

Gail plucked a few leaves from a spicebush branch Grace collected on a walk and hung to dry. She added them to a small pot of water and rested it above the fire. She listened to Grace’s footsteps crunching the twigs and leaves between them. Grace approached carrying two cups and a worn wool blanket. She draped it over Gail’s shoulders. Gail patted the log next to her and Grace sat. Gail stretched the blanket around her friend’s narrow shoulders.

“This is not so bad, is it?” Gail asked. “We would have called this a vacation a few years ago.” The friends laughed together at the irony.

“I guess you’re right.” Grace said. She smiled at Gail in the firelight. The sky was going gray and the orange fire flickered in Gail’s brown eyes.

The two women sat together in silence for some time. Gail poured the tea when it was ready. She pointed out the constellations she knew when it was dark enough to see it. Grace said she was grateful they could see the stars now. They laid down side by side on the ground next to their small fire and their empty mugs. The blanket was warm and the air was still. They fell asleep.

***

Gail awoke to the feeling of rain dropping on her cheeks. The sun was up behind the clouds. She shook Grace awake and they moved their things onto the wooden pallets they arranged under a tarp that hung from a nearby tree. The rain fell for several days. When the ground became soggy and soft with water the women knew it was time to move on to try to find shelter. The short platform they built would not hold much longer. The needed to find a dry floor and a sturdy ceiling.    

The women made their preparations to move. Grace packed their belongings into the crates and bags they had collected, while Gail busied herself with something she referred to as a secret project. Grace rolled her eyes and muttered about doing all the work loud enough to be heard. She ate her words when a little while later Gail revealed a small, wheeled cart she made from a pallet and some wheels she scavanged from an old lawnmower. Grace laughed out loud at the reveal.

“See! I added a handle for both of us.” Gail declared proudly. She lifted a crate of heavy books onto the planks. “Think about how far we’ll get with this puppy!” Grace laughed again and began the process of balancing their acquired belongings. Once everything was loaded, they dismantled their makeshift tent and draped the tarp over the cart.

“Ready?” Gail asked Grace.

“Ready.” Grace answered, and the two friends decided to head east.

They moved slowly through the woods as the cart bumped along behind them behind them. They had to stop a few times to navigate around narrow trees and over large roots. Once they had to unload everything, tip the cart onto its side to slip it through a narrow passage and then reload it all again. Grace asked if it might be wise to leave behind a box of books and Gail ignored her.

On the second day they came across a road that was still passable and decided to follow it south. The relatively smooth surface was a relief, the increase to their speed brightened both their spirits. They chatted loudly with each other as they walked, and they fell into a fit of hysterics when one of the cart’s wheels fell off and rolled a little way ahead of them. Tears streaming down their faces, they sat on the wet road together to catch their breath before they could continue.

As Gail worked to fix the cart, Grace heard unmistakable footsteps in the woods nearby. “Gail!” She quietly tried to get her friends attention. Gails head was buried beneath the tarp, rummaging through their things for the tool needed. A tall, thin man appeared through the trees. Grace squared her shoulders and lengthened her spine. “Who are you?” She asked, her voice strong and dark. Gail popped her head up from under the tarp. She stood when she spotted the man Grace was talking to.

“I’m Chris.” He said. He raised his hands innocently. “I was out looking for plants to take back to my camp and I heard you laughing. Gail noticed the bag slung on his hip contained large bundles of branches. “I thought I’d come check it out. See if you needed help.”

“We don’t.” Grace snapped at him. “Thank you, Chris but you can go back to your business.” She waved her hand in the direction of the woods.

“Grace!” Gail pleaded with her friend, “Hi Chris.” She moved around the broken cart and offered her hand to him. Chris wiped his on his pant leg before shaking hands with Gail. “Sorry about her,” Gail gestured toward Grace. Chris gave a small smile.

“Don’t worry about it.” he said.

“You have a camp around here?” Gail asked. She picked up the wheel and started fitting it back onto the cart’s axel.

“Yeah, about 2 hours south.”  Chris said. “If you follow this road to the fork then walk east, you’ll run right into it. We have a building.”

Gail raised her eyebrows at Grace. “A building, huh? How many is we?”

“Um, well, I guess there’s around thirty of us now.” Gail’s eyes widened.

“Wow! We haven’t seen that many people together—” Gail started but Grace interrupted.

“Are they all men?”

“Uh… no.” Chris gave an uneasy smile. “There’s all kinds. May I?” He leaned over and lifted the side of the cart Gail was working on. “What do you have on here?” he groaned at the weight of it.

“None of your business.” Grace answered sharply.

“It’s just some stuff we’ve collected.” Gail smiled, embarrassed by her friend’s rudeness. She finished tightening the wheel’s bolt and Chris lowered the cart. Gail pushed the cart back and forth a few times to see if the bolt would hold.

“Would you like to come to our camp?” Chris asked. “We’re trying to rebuild and we’re looking for people. I could walk with you. I haven’t had much luck, looks like this area has homogenized already. I was looking for plant variety so we can try to make some more robust food sources. Everyone is sick of the same old crops.”

Grace perked up at this. “You have a garden?” She asked.

“Yeah. I mean, not me.” Chris clarified. “But there’s a couple of them. It’s enough that we aren’t totally dependent trapping and foraging. We even have a few chickens. When I first got there, they fed me an egg, and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”

Gail caught eyes with her friend. “We’d love to come visit your camp, Chris. Thank you for inviting us.” Gail said before Grace could object. Grace rolled her eyes. Gail lifted the cart handle and gestured for Chris to the lead the way and they started down the road together. Chris offered to pull the cart for a while, but Gail refused, joking that Grace would sooner cut of her hands than concede control to a man. Grace marched along silently, pulling her handle as Gail peppered Chris with questions about his camp. She discovered Chris’ camp had several functioning structures, and an operating kitchen to cook food efficiently. The camp had functioning generators and an electrician. She elbowed Grace. Gail had a good feeling about this chance meeting. She hoped that Grace would stay open to the possibility of something good.

The trio walked together toward Main. Gail gave Chris a history of the years she and Grace had spent on their own, and Chris was impressed by their steadfastness. She told him that they had been friends in the time before, and that they worked together. Gail was the head of the anthropology department at Harvard University and Grace taught Linguistics. Chris exclaimed “There is a Harvard professor at camp!” He shook his head at the coincidence. “His field of study was Computer Science.” Grace and Gail both stopped dead in their tracks. Chris spun around to look at them. “What?” he asked, confused.

“What’s the professor’s name?” Gail asked quietly.

“Ren.” Chris answered. “Why?”

Tears sprung to Gail’s eyes and she looked at her friend. “We found him Grace! What are the chances!” She hiked the cart handles in her grip and took off by herself down the bumpy path.

Grace smiled with her friend, but her joy was swirled with apprehension. She struggled to keep up with Gail and the cart even though she was only carrying a small backpack.

“You know him?” Chris asked, clearly confused.

“You could say that.” Grace offered. And the two of them hurried along behind the rattling cart.

Gail kept up the quick pace, wholly focused on the path ahead of her. “I think I see the fork!” she pointed down the road and Chris nodded. Just a couple of miles left to go. The group kept on. Gail was determined to arrive as fast as possible. Grace periodically begged her to slow down. “I’m too old to move this quickly, Gail! He’ll still be there if it takes us a little longer, please!” But Gail paid no attention to her friend. Her footsteps kept a steady rhythm with the noisy cart wheels. The heavy boxes bounced over every bump. The last leg of the trek flew by at their breakneck pace.

“There it is.” Chris pointed to a large cement building that had just come into view between some tall trees. “He’ll be in there.” He told Gail.

Before he could say another word, Gail dropped the carts handles and began jogging toward the building. Chris looked to Grace who only shrugged her shoulders and continued walking. “Um…I should go with you!” Chris called as an afterthought, suddenly acutely aware that he had led two perfect strangers back to his camp.

As she approached the building, Gail started calling Ren by name. Another man appeared through a gray door. “Who are you?” he asked, holding up his hands to stop her from entering. He noticed Chris walking toward the building. “Who is this?” the man asked him.

“I ran into them out looking for plants up north. It’s just the two of them. She says she knows Ren.”

“Where is he?” Gail asked reaching for the door handle, but the man grabbed her wrist. “Ren!” She was nearly screaming now. “Ren!”

Chris tried in vain to explain they couldn’t just enter the building, but Gail kept trying. She called Ren’s name long and loud. Both men looked to Grace for help but she offered none. The man positioned his back against the door and tried again to explain that they needed permission to let her in when the door suddenly opened hitting him in the back of the head.

“Gail?” Ren appeared on the other side. “Oh my god, Gail!” he opened his arms wide and she fell into him, tears streamed down her face. The men looked relieved that Ren appeared when he did.

“This lady says she knows you.” Chris stated the obvious.

“This is my wife.” Ren explained, his eyes filled with tears. He held her head to his chest. The two of them stayed like that for a long moment while the rest of the group stood in awkward silence. Gail sniffled quietly separating herself from Ren only far enough to wipe her eyes. “It’s good to see you, Ren.” Grace said finally.

Ren looked over Gail’s head. “Hello, Grace. It looks like you’ve taken good care of each other all this time. Are you well?”

“We’ve done alright.” She said. Her smile was tired, but proud.

“Well, come inside.” Ren held the door for Grace, keeping one arm around Gail. “I can’t believe you found me.” He shook his head in disbelief. Grace nodded as she passed him. He directed her to head to the top of the stairs. “Thank you, Chris, Evan.” He nodded to the two men. “I’ll take it from here.” Ren put an arm around Gail’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “I can’t believe you found me.” he said again.

“I’ll go back for their cart.” Chris smiled at the two of them together.

“Oh!” Gail turned to him and press both hands to her cheeks. “I left our cart! You don’t…”

“That would be very helpful, Chris. Thank you.” Ren said. He took Gail’s hand and led her inside. Grace walked a few paces ahead of them down the long hallway toward Ren’s study. Over their echoing footsteps, she heard Ren speaking quietly to Gail. “Tell me, Love, where have you been all these years?”