Recruitment Driver
The Mayor and John walked down the street toward their latest appointment. Although they looked similar enough to be brothers, they dressed very differently. The Mayor wore dress slacks, a short sleeved collared shirt with a red tie and well shined shoes. He carried his jacket since the walk warmed him up quite a bit. John wore combat boots, black leather pants, a brown bomber jacket and black biker gloves.
Most of the Mayor's constituents were outside in their yards on this sunny afternoon and many of them greeted and waved at the Mayor. Some of them came up to talk to him about things which were important to them or just to say hello. No one talked to John so he just stroked the rabbit he was carrying.
At last they came up to the house with the people they needed to see. The Dad was atop a ladder fixing some of the roof shingles. His skin was very dark brown almost back. His bald head glistened with sweat. It was not that he was out of shape, in fact he was in great shape for a man well past his prime.
The Mayor called out a greeting as the pair stood at the front gate. Dad waved back and climbed down the ladder to let them in. They all shook hands and he invited them to sit on the front porch. On the way up Dad called for his wife to come out and bring some refreshments for them. They could hear Mom and their daughter fixing something in the kitchen.
The men took seats, the Mayor and John on the front porch swing, and Dad in a metal chair by a small table. John moved the rabbit to under his jacket. Mom and Daughter came out carrying a pitcher of water and a platter of cookies. The two of them looked enough alike to be sisters. Both light skinned with slim builds, the only difference between the two were their hairstyles. Mom's hair was very curly and seemed a little untidy. The daughter had her hair in multiple braids, each ending in three white beads and one blue bead. It was also obvious Mom was closer in age to her daughter then her husband.
Once everyone was settled in their seats with drinks and a cookie, except for John and Daughter who only took a drink, the Mayor started things off. "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. First let me welcome you to our community. Second we would like to present you with some welcome gifts."
The Mayor stood up and gave Mrs. Wilson an envelope. She opened it and found five tickets inside. When she looked up the Mayor explained, "They are vouchers, each one is good for a five pound bag of flour from the commissary."
Mrs. Wilson smiled broadly, stood and hugged the Mayor repeatedly thanking him. Mr. Wilson also thanked the Mayor. When the Mayor sat back down it was John's turn. He approached the Daughter and said, "This is for you Lashonda." John held the rabbit out to her by the scruff of its neck. She looked both excited and nervous as she took the little animal and cradled it in her arms. The Mayor pointedly looked away and took a sip of his water.
Mrs. Wilson seemed about to protest until John said, "It's not a pet. You know we raise them for food, since we don't have the room for larger animals and are pretty much cut off." This mollified her and he could see her begin to think about the implications.
The Mayor then put his glass down and fixed his tie. He then got down to business and said, "Well I now must get to the reason for our little visit today. You arrived here a week ago and I hope you have gotten settled in."
He paused to let Mr. Wilson speak, "Yes, everyone here has been very nice and helpful."
The Mayor continued, "Wonderful, since the Incident people have really learned to pull together. Now that all of you are settled, it is time for all of you to contribute to the rebuilding of society." The Mayor put on his warmest vote winning smile. "By that I mean we have found jobs for all of you and would like you to start work tomorrow."
To the Mayor's relief, even though he didn't show it, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson seemed to be happy at the news. The Mayor risked a glance at Lashonda but she was only interested in the rabbit.
Mr. Wilson said, "That is great news. I have always been a very active person and frankly I was starting to go a little stir crazy."
Mrs. Wilson chimed in, "I appreciate all my husband has done around to fix up this house you assigned us but he really does need to get out."
The Mayor sat up straight for his next part and said, "Yes we actually were able to find some records about you Mr. Wilson. You owned a construction company worth millions. One you had built up from nothing by yourself."
John took note about how smugly Mr. Wilson took the compliment. Mrs. Wilson beamed at her husband. John felt sorry for the pair since the rest of what the Mayor told them would not go down as well. John looked over at Lashonda. She had the rabbit on its back and was rubbing its belly.
"Mrs. Wilson you were a housewife. But you also had a hobby you were quite enthusiastic about?" The Mayor asked.
The pride in Mrs. Wilson's eyes shown through as she said, "I believe we should never forget the past no matter how painful it was. That is why I volunteered as a historical re-enactor. I showed the young people what the life of a slave was like."
The Mayor's smile was real this time as he said, "A very good attitude Mrs. Wilson. The big plus for us is that now that the infection has spread and cut us off from many of the necessities and luxuries we were all used to. We need to rediscover many of the skills from the past if we are to survive."
Leaning forward the Mayor took on a more serious tone and said, "Now the positions we have for you are based on your skills and on what we had available."
Mr. Wilson looked angry at this and said, "Are you planning on making my wife some kind of maid?"
The Mayor held up hands and said, "No, no in fact we would like your wife to become a teacher." The Mayor leaned forward again and began to get very excited. "The skills she has in candle making, food preservation, even how to spin thread are invaluable." Turning to Mrs. Wilson he continued, "We need you to teach others. Thanks to our mindless friends beyond the wall, we will all need to learn how to live in the past to make it to the future." John smirked to himself; he knew that was the slogan the Mayor had been elected with.
Mrs. Wilson was very pleased. It was her husband who answered, "Yes, of course she will be happy to help out in anyway she can. I am sure she will be a great asset to our community."
The Mayor spook to Mr. Wilson, "We are very hopeful she will be. Now Mr. Wilson you kept up your electrical license?"
"Yes, I might have been in the board room for the last few years but I still liked to check on the work my people were doing. Best way to make sure the quality remained high was to let the men know someone was going to check on them. But why is that important now?"
The Mayor's false smile returned, "Well we don't have any electricity to the residential units, for now. We have managed to find enough solar cells for the clinic and for security. With the wind turbines, we have enough power to electrify the fence. Has you know that is one of the ways they can be returned to death."
John smirked. He knew the Mayor hated to say zombies. He always used some other term, like that would make them less of a threat.
Mr. Wilson leaned back and everyone could tell he was thinking before he said, "I see, you need someone to figure the best ways to use the power so the system does not overload."
The Mayor just said, "No, we actually have a counsel of five electrical engineers who have done that. What we need are people who have worked with wire and can install the system."
Mrs. Wilson spoke up, "Mayor my husband is not a young man. He can not be out there, with those things, hauling wire around."
The Mayor held up his hands again. John knew him well enough to know it was one of his favorite disarming gestures. The Mayor said, "That is not what we have in mind for your husband." Turning to Mr. Wilson the Mayor said, "We need someone who knows quality. Since our lives will literally depend on the wall keeping them out. What we want you to do is to teach all these strong young backs we have how to wire and then making sure they do it right."
Before either could protest or agree the Mayor started on his favorite speech, "Like it or not we have become Communists. Everyone must contribute what they can and take only what they need. You two have valuable skills no one else has and we need you to share them." The Mayor stood up and walked to the front of the porch. The Wilson's eyes followed him except for Lashonda's. John kept an eye on her.
"We don't have a country club or golf courses like you are used to. We will expect you to contribute and to work harder then you ever have, for no greater reward then the people hauling the trash get or babysitting the children. This is the only way we can all survive now."
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson both looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked at each other. Mrs. Wilson nodded at her husband and he said, "Very well, we will do all we can to pitch in."
Mrs. Wilson tried to change the subject and asked, "Mayor, when will Lashonda start school? Do you have a program to help her catch up? The three months we took to get here and everything else that has happened she has lost a great deal, but she is very smart and can catch right up."
The Mayor looked at John. John stepped up to the Mayor's far side drawing Lashonda out of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson's eyesight. He glanced and saw her rubbing the rabbit's fur against her cheek and purring to it.
John said, "My name is John. Lashonda will not be going to school. We have decided that education would end at 8th grade. We have found your daughter a job. I will be her supervisor."
Mrs. Wilson looked very cross, "How will we train the next generation of doctors and scientists and teachers if they can barely read."
John took no offense. He had done this before, "Frankly Ma'am even at our best scenario, 25% of the people around you will be dead within two years. The government has collapsed and from what little outside news we do get there are five groups out there claiming to be the federal government and fighting each other for the privilege."
John sat back against the rails and continued, "If we are going to make it then everyone must contribute as best they can. Your daughter is 16 and has a unique ability we can use."
Mr. Wilson looked confused and asked, "What is so unique about Lashonda? Please, I love her but I also know her. She is just an average teenage girl and not anything special."
John said, "Sir on your trip here you were attacked by the zombies. Your daughter was bitten. She only survived because your son and you fought them off." John paused a moment and then said, " Your son did not make it. He was very brave to save his sister."
Both of them looked forlorn for a moment. John did not let them dwell on it and said, "As I am sure you know anyone bitten by a zombie eventually becomes one. It has been two weeks and your daughter looks to be doing very well."
Everyone looked over at Lashonda. She was kissing the rabbit about the face. John got their attention back on him by saying, "Your daughter is one of the few people who have immunity to the infection. No one knows how or why but we have found that these people are partially infected. This lets them do things non-infected can't. They can move among the zombies unmolested. They can walk right up to them and beat their skulls in and other zombies won't attack them."
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson both went into shock at this statement trying to picture their daughter out there killing half rotten corpses. John said, "We use them to keep our borders clear and to retrieve supplies and many other things uninfected people can't. But we do need to take precautions. They can spread the infection so we have to isolate them. All of our partials live together in a special compound. I am here to take your daughter there."
Mr. Wilson stood up and poked John in the chest saying, "Now see here I know things have changed but if you think you can walk in here and take the only child left to us, then…"
Mrs. Wilson interrupted her husband, "John is one of them."
At her words Mr. Wilson stopped and sat back down. John said, "Yes I am. You have probably noticed some changes in your daughter. Lack of appetite, not sleeping, not feeling pain, among others."
John pointed at Lashonda. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson turned to look and then both reeled back in horror. Lashonda sat with a part of the rabbit's leg in her mouth. She had bitten through its throat and the blood had spread all over her face and chest and lap. She was now pulling the limbs off and happily munching on them.
John and walked over to her. He pulled a packet of wet wipes from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Lashonda. She took some and began to clean herself up a little with the rabbit foot sticking out of her mouth.
John looked over his shoulder and said, "As I said before Lashonda has a unique ability we need. Her living with us is the best thing for all."