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- 04/19/2025
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The Last Boys in Clinton - 6. Finding More Survivors
There were quite a few ideas about what to do next. Put up more signs was one. Suggesting places where people might gather and checking them out was another. Benjamin suggested the airport, since Dr. Allen had indicated there were people at Atlanta's. Once again, it was one of the younger ones that came up with the right questions.
George asked, "Why don't we try posting things on social media? Or even seeing what has been posted by others?"
Nia responded first, "I've been watching my Facebook and Instagram feeds, nothing."
"That would only work if your friends were alive too. Sorry if that sounded mean. But I was thinking more like X."
"X, George?"
"It used to be called Twitter, Mrs. McDonald. You don't just see what friends are posting. You can search for anything that people are talking about, using hashtags."
"I'm sorry for being ignorant too, George, hashtags?"
"It's just a way of highlighting words in the message, Mr. Green. We could search for things like #survivors, or #imalive. Anything, really, that we can think of to try to find recent posts."
Ryan playfully smacked his forehead, "Why didn't I think of that? I could have been doing that all along, I brought my laptop."
Nia added, "Why didn't any of us? I brought my laptop too. It's been sitting out in my car all this time."
Ben and Tamika echoed Nia's comment.
"OK. I'll get us all some pads and pens. There's a Staples across the way, but I suspect they may have been closed when things went sour. Target was likely still open. We have four laptops already, and two more PCs in the business center. Mathias, would you be willing to take George and Lionel to Target and pick up three, no, five more laptops or computers? Whatever you can get your hands on."
"Sure."
Emma spoke up, "I don't think I'll be much help there, but I can take everyone's notes and organize them, maybe."
"We'll get you a laptop anyway, Emma. I'm sure one of these young men would be willing to teach you the basics."
"Well, if you think so, Mathias. OK."
"Great. I'll be back in a minute with notepads and pens."
"Boys, shall we go shopping?"
"Are we just going to take them? That isn't right."
"You'd be right, Lionel, if things were the same as earlier in the week. We're talking survival now. Making use of anything that's available to us is alright. I'm sure God will forgive us for what would normally be considered stealing."
"OK, if you say so, Mrs. McDonald."
"It will be fine."
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Marie-Louise had begun driving south again on route one. After a short while, the truck started dinging.
"Shit. I'm almost out of gas."
She stopped and searched for car dealerships, thinking she could get out of the truck and into something nicer. It was in the wrong direction, north on 202, but there was a Chevy dealership not too far away from the hotel. She pulled the old truck in there with the gas gauge on 'E.'
"Wow, that Corvette is nice. Damn it, stick."
She settled on a brand-new, white Camaro. The dealership’s doors were locked, but that wasn't about to stop her. She walked around the building until she found something she could use to break in. She found an old length of pipe and went back to the main door, smashing her way in. She ignored the alarm and started searching for keys. She found a few that said they were for Camaros. She grabbed them, went back out on the lot and started pushing panic buttons. The third one she tried had an automatic transmission. It was black, but she didn't care about the color. When it ran out of gas, she'd find another. She dropped the rest of the keys on the ground and got into the car.
She headed south on 202. When she saw a McDonald's sign, she decided to replenish her food supply, hoping there was also a convenience store nearby. She got lucky and found a Wawa. She grabbed a bag and filled it with mostly junk food. As she turned toward the door, she saw a little boy in the doorway. She thought to herself, 'Great, another baby.'
"Are you real?"
"Yeah."
"My mommy and daddy are dead. I can't find anyone else. Can you make me something to eat? I'm hungry."
"Yeah, come on in, I'll fix you something here."
Marie-Louise grabbed a bowl from behind the food counter, "You like cereal?"
"Yeah."
"Is Frosted Flakes OK?"
"Yeah."
She opened the box, and got a quart of milk from the cooler, silently wondering how long the power would stay on with nobody around. She poured the kid a bowl and left it on the counter near the cash register. She turned to leave.
"Don't go, please?"
"Oh, fine. What's your name, kid?"
"Lorenzo Perduto."
"Lor... Let's go with Lorry."
"Sometimes mom called me Larry."
"Larry works. How old are you, Larry?"
"I'll be six in a week. I guess I won't be getting a birthday party."
"Guess not."
"Will you take me with you?"
"Crap. You can't stay with me, but I know where there a bunch of other people. I'll take you to them."
"OK, I guess."
Lorenzo finished his cereal, "Can I have a candy bar?"
"Sure. Take a bunch."
"Really?"
"Yeah, everything's free now."
Lorenzo started putting candy on the counter. Marie-Louise stopped him after five bars and put them in a bag for him. Only because she wanted to be rid of him as soon as she could be.
"OK, let's get you to more people."
They walked to Marie-Louise's stolen car, "What about my booster seat?"
"You'll be alright without it. There are no other cars, and it's not too far to the hotel."
"OK, if you say so."
Lorenzo got into the back seat, Marie-Louise put the seat belt on him, putting the shoulder strap behind him since it was laying across his neck, and took off back toward the hotel. She stopped at the front door, helped him get out of the car, and walked him in.
She yelled, "New customer," and turned around to walk out.
"Why aren't you staying?"
"I was here before, nobody likes me."
"Oh. Thank you."
"Yeah."
Ryan came out from behind the desk in time to see Marie-Louise walking out the door.
"Hello there. What's your name?"
"Lorenzo Perduto. Sometimes mom used to call be Larry."
"Are you hungry, Larry?"
"Yeah. The lady gave me a bowl of cereal, but I'm still hungry."
Ryan thought, 'I'm surprised she did that much.'
"OK, let's go find you some more food. I was just about to put lunch together for the rest of the folks here. Follow me."
Ryan led them to the kitchen.
"You like hamburgers?"
"Yeah."
"Good, that's what I started to make."
Larry sat and watched Ryan make the food for everybody and helped, as best he could, carry it to the breakfast room, where nearly everyone else had gathered.
"I see George and Lionel are missing. Can someone go check and see if they're in the pool again?"
Nia volunteered, "I will."
She walked into the pool area and saw the boys swimming. She couldn't be sure, but she thought they were skinny-dipping. She quickly discovered she was right when they saw her.
George saw her first, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to tell you lunch is ready."
"OK. We'll follow after we dry off and get dressed."
"I'll wait."
Lionel didn't like that idea in the least, "You can't!"
"Why not?"
"We're naked. You'll see our..."
"OK. We're in the breakfast room, like usual."
After Nia left, Lionel asked, "Do you think she saw our wieners, George?"
"No. At least not clearly."
"I hope not."
They got dressed and headed to lunch. They were surprised to see Lorenzo there but went straight toward him.
George said, "Hi."
They introduced each other. When they saw Nia again, they both blushed. Nia did the zip my lips and throw away the key action. George smiled a thank you.
Ryan, ever helpful, asked, "OK, help yourselves. Lorenzo, do you want me to help you?"
"Can George?"
"Will you, George?"
"Yeah, no problem."
After they all ate, Emma asked Lorenzo how he got there.
"I saw the lady pull into the Wawa across the street from my house. I'm not supposed to cross the street by myself, but I didn't see any cars for a long time. I went in the store; told her I was hungry, and mommy and daddy were dead. She said I couldn't go with her, but she knew where more people were. I guess she meant you. I asked why she wasn't staying, and she said you didn't like her. Why not? She seemed nice to me."
Ryan answered, "Well, she wasn't very nice to some of us, so we asked her to leave."
"Well, thanks. I guess if she stayed, I would never have seen her. I didn't know what to do."
Emma played grandmother again, "We'll take care of you, Larry. You're safe now."
"OK. Thanks."
They had made quite a bit of progress perusing social media. For the most part, they were finding single individuals all around the east coast. It seemed that nobody west of the Appalachian Mountains was affected, other than south of where the mountain range ended. Southern Georgia and Alabama were decimated. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana were hit almost as hard. Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in Canada were nearly wiped out as well. Further north and west from there seemed to be mostly unaffected. George didn’t know the mountains well enough to know that Knoxville was to the west of them.
Everyone outside the affected areas they contacted was curious about what happened, so they spent a lot of time posting what they knew. There were another thirty-five or so folks alive and on-line within about fifty miles. Ryan had the team invite them to come to the hotel. Most declined, but throughout the rest of the day, another fourteen people joined them.
One very obvious gap that was determined was that only a single Congressman and Senator in Washington D.C. survived the death cloud. Another dozen were visiting their home states, so they were spared as well. It hit so quickly and without warning, even the President couldn't get into the safety of the bunker in time.
Putting the government back together would be both a challenge, and a battle. But that wasn't the worst.
Next Up - "Beginning the Recovery"
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.