Reboot

We finally got a doctor. Dr. Harvey Stockton. Americans on holiday, he and his wife barely made it here in their small sailboat. Caroline Stockton is a chef.

They’d made it to a small island near Papua New Guinea with a small group of people but they soon became unhappy there. One violent man had taken charge and was enforcing his rules unchecked. It had been uncomfortable. The group split up into two factions and a “Lord of The Flies” scenario was getting out of hand. It wasn’t what Doc and Caroline wanted, so they left in the middle of the night, hoping for better. Wasn’t easy to leave either. A doctor is very important on an island with a few survivors on it. So they were watched. They had to sneak out. And then, lucky for us, they ended up on our shores.

Good timing too because Mary was about to burst.

So we finished the hospital and worked a bit more on our outdoor kitchen. The most important point about the hospital is that it be as clean as possible and protected from the weather. We chose Bob’s houseboat because it had proved effective for William. It was a relatively new converted tugboat with lots of headroom, plenty of space and very clean. Bob had taken very good care of it, and he graciously let us use it. He said he was proud to be able to say that his boat was going to be our hospital. So we stripped it, made it as light as possible so it wouldn’t hit the bottom, and then we moved it using the river with two groups of people pulling it with ropes on opposite sides of the river. When that became impossible because of difficult terrain, we pushed it. A bunch of us swam around it and either pushed or pulled, using logs to roll it when necessary. It took longer but it worked.

It was an empty husk when it reached its predetermined spot near our lake. Doc told us what to put back in and in what order. We needed beds of course, but only singles. We settled for five, in two separate rooms. We didn’t think we’d ever need more than that at any one time.

We didn’t need a complete kitchen in our hospital, but we did need a cooker to be able to boil water and an operating table, good lighting, easy access, an independent generator, and all the necessary tools and apparatus for taking care of patients.

We took the longest folding table we could find. It was two meters long and could fold away and disappear. We left all the cupboards in place because we needed them for storing whatever pharmaceuticals we could get our hands on and bandages, tools. And lastly, a large bathroom and shower. Patients needed to poop and wash.

As we were completing the fitting of the hospital, Mary gave us twin boys in an uneventful, but joyous birth. For six hours, everyone waited around Bob’s boat while Doc and Mary went to work. It was a stressful but exciting moment. We partied and ate and sang songs, until finally, we heard the baby cry. We all jumped in the air and yelled out in total joy. When Doc came out to tell us there was another one, we just exploded. There had not been a happier time since the bombs dropped.

We called ’em Shake n Bake. Not when Mary was around though. She called them Marc and James. And now she had to put up with a constant flow of visitors, and the babysitting offers were all set and reserved for the next ten years. They were gorgeous babies. The general mood brightened a lot after that.

Doc also looked at Richard’s leg and concluded that we’d done a great job and the leg wouldn’t have to be re-broken. So relief all around from that piece of news. Especially from Richard.

We’d stripped the boats of all tables and chairs and put them in the Hall. It now looked a bit like a bingo parlor. I stood in front of them all smiling and looking at each one in turn. I really enjoyed these people.

I opened the meeting by welcoming new arrivals, including Shake n Bake, and by giving a short summary of the work we’d done and new plans for other projects. I quickly moved on to the more pressing subject of defense.

“I have an idea that I’d like to discuss with you all.” I lowered my voice so that people would have to strain to listen. I wanted everyone to pay attention.

“As you all know from François and Evelyne’s terrible story, we could at some point get some unwelcome guests and I think we should prepare for it.”

“Absolutely!”

“Yes!”

“How?” someone asked. “We have nothing to fight with.”

“Yes,” I said, “That’s what we have to deal with. I was thinking that we can’t fight any organized group head on, so we have to use what we have as efficiently as possible.”

Everyone started talking then, all at the same time. I let them go at it for a couple of minutes.

“Could we build booby traps?” was one suggestion.

“We could use fire, gas, dig holes in the ground. Hide them. Create traps like that.”

“We could use rocks. Drop them on their heads. Hot oil? Go medieval on them.”

“Yeah…Let’s do that..”

I asked them to write down a bunch of ideas and then we’d put together a defense committee that would take care of it. It would keep them busy at least. Then I ended the meeting and grabbed Bob, Mack, Francois and Stan and I took them aside.

“I’ve been thinking about this ever since François and Evelyne joined us. I think our only chance is to surprise them. We’ll act like sheep, actually that won’t be difficult, we don’t have much choice in the matter.” I looked at Francois. “If we all surrender, put our hands up and do nothing, what will they do?”

“I think they’ll try to put us all in the same place and then decide what to do with us.”

“And what do you think they’ll do with us?” Bob asked.

“Oh I’m absolutely certain that they’ll kill us all before taking our stuff,” François

continued. “They might keep the kids. Might not. From what we saw, they don’t put any value on life. They’ll shoot us just because it’s easier than moving us.”

“Crap,” someone said.

“Ok,” I said. “Let’s think about how they’d go about doing it. That way we can plan better.”

“They won’t do it right away, that would be more difficult wouldn’t it. They wouldn’t just start shooting. Everyone would run off. No. Much easier to corral us first.”

“That’s what I thought.” I said. “So where would they corral us? Only two options I can see. Hall or boat.”

“In the hall of course,” said Mack. “No other choice really. Yes, I think in the hall.”

“Exactly. So I propose that we hide weapons in the hall, in different places. You all will know where they are so if we are ever in that situation, you must position yourselves near those guns. Then you wait for the proper time and start shooting. I think it’s our only hope.”

They thought for a while. Grasping the idea of having to kill someone. But in the end, there really was no other option.

“Are you all ok with that? Please tell me now. I want to be able to depend on you. It’s perfectly ok if you want me to find someone to take your place. We’d all understand. Right?” I said as I looked around at all of them. They all nodded. It had to be clear that they would risk their lives to save the others and it was a huge responsibility. If they lost their nerve, we could all get killed.

So we went to scout out the hall for the best hiding places. We needed some weapons up high in case our hands were in the air. Others in well concealed lower areas. I looked back to where the committee was bickering around a table. They were engrossed in their plans and ignored us. I thought it was better that way. Too many people knowing about this could jeopardize the plan. We chose four places and I said I’d put the loaded weapons in there when no one was around.

We all went back to see what the committee had come up with.

To be fair, some of their ideas made sense. Like setting up a last line of defense on higher ground. Digging trenches, etc.…

I let them to it and went into the woods. I needed to think. So I headed for my tree house and took a bath. My thoughtful place. Once in a while you have to stare at the sky and open your head, make space available for new ideas.

I wanted to get William to loosen up. I needed him onboard. He was a professional, our only soldier and he would be useful. He was the biggest mystery in this place and I just couldn’t let that slide. It was like a constant itch. So I came up with a plan. But I’d require some help and I went looking for it within Mabel’s group of students.