log begins.
June 12th, 2205.
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
I haven't written much since the marriage. Commander Jarvis and I spent much of our time underground bumping into each other until we stopped making excuses. A few months later, he came to my tiny room and asked me to marry him. Once, the all clear was given we returned to our burnt out city. It looked like a flash fire had hit from the west. There was so much fog, but the air had a dry acrid taste. We walked around stunned by the number of our neighbors who had failed to find shelter in time. There was much weeping from the women. The men did better, but I suspect they cried a lot in secret although when we gathered to bury over half the town in the graveyard, there wasn't a dry eye. So many, many people dead.
end log.
Benton Harbor looms ahead of me as I cruise in slow between the machine gun nests. Anxious eyes watch me. The man in the lighthouse, who signaled me comes down to the dock edge as I coast in next to him. He is quite old, wears an old uniform that looks sewn back together several times over.
The launch drifts to a stop.
We consider each other.
For me, he is the first civilized person I have ever seen. I mean, he's not trying to kill me at the moment and he's actually clean shaven.
"Ahoy, there!" He calls out. I wave back. Check the auto switch on the assault rifle strapped to my chest. Check on the machine guns which haven't moved, hold up my white flag and step out and away from the wheelhouse.
"Hello," I reply. I notice several men in the shadows relax and shift their own weapons downward.
"What brings you to Benton Harbor, stranger."
"I came to trade for parts."
"Oho, parts?" The man says as the grin redraws his weathered face. "What would that be exactly?'
I frown, always the question is how much do you reveal to anyone.
"I need to fetch 3 Asus X987 Motherboards, a box of K45 Ram, 4 Quad Core I-9's, and 3 Mach Ten hard drives."
The man gives me a blank look. Reluctantly he looks over at his compatriots. They all shrug.
"Why do you think they are here?" He asks.
"They are in the D39 Bunker under the City Hall building....unless someone has removed them."
Almost as one, all hands return to their weapons. Many of which are military grade submachine guns.
Silence.
"How, how do you know about the D39?' The lead man calls back. He is trying hard not to grasp the gun hanging at his side, but his hands keep straying for it.
Now I lie.
"Found a report in The City of Steel that listed them being brought here before the war."
Silence.
Slowly the weapons are raised towards me. Chances of being shot before I can duck into the wheelhouse or dive overboard run through my head.
"Wait!" A voice calls somewhere behind the man. A woman's voice.
"Hold your fire!" It repeats.
The guns stay pointed in my direction as a woman comes into view, she is dressed in urban camo and has the bearing of someone who is in charge. She is also the most attractive woman, I have ever seen. I haven't seen many women and all of them were dirty and terrified. She is not.
"Where exactly in The City of Steel would one find anything about D39 or Benton Harbor?" She asks.
I must be staring at her. She gives me a hard look and crosses her arms. The woman is trim, well built, I'd daresay muscular even, no fat showing, sharp face, bright looking eyes, her lips are redder than anything I can imagine. In fact, I have never seen anyone with lips that red. Even in the poor light, the lips stand out. I just cannot take my eyes from those lips.
My mind has gone blank.
I was expecting this place to be like the other places, burnt out ruins with scavengers.
Now I am presented with an idea of civilization that for me has only existed in books all wrapped up in a single beautiful woman glaring down at me.
"We could just shoot him, Ma'am," One of the Machine Gunners remarks adjust his assault rifle on my left.
She considers this before shaking her head slightly.
I glance at him, he looks disappointed.
When I look at her, she has one hip cocked and her right hand is resting on it.
I try to swallow but feel only the sandpaper thickness that comes with a dry throat.
I feel the grin spreading across my face even as I try, unsuccessfully, to stop it.
One eyebrow goes up on her face.
There is always the truth, a voice says in my head.
"I am not sure you will believe me," I say, my voice sounding foreign.
"Try me."
"I got the info from a secured bunker about 250 feet under the City of Steel."
"You're right, I don't believe you."
"Alrighty then," I say as I walk back to the wheel house. "I'll be on my way then."
I can feel the guns going back up.
She takes her damn sweet time, though. I even have the launch in a tight turn.
"What are you trading?"
I look back at her. She smiling a slight quirk to her lips.
I am tempted to lean against the wheel house and shrug. I suspect this might be what the books call flirting.
"We could just shoot him and take it." One of the gunners says.
I make a mental note to kill him first.
She shakes her head slowly.
There is new tension and it's between her and the men.
"We will not.....be savages." She says softly, but everyone hears her just fine. The man hangs his head.
"Sorry Ma'am."
She looks back at me. The moment has passed.
"You'll dock in town, look for wharf 9, it's clearly marked?"
I nod.
She hesitates for a moment and I think she must be considering joining me on the launch. Again, the moment passes. Instead, she turns on her heel and marches off into the darkness as the sun continues its climb into the morning sky.
I shift the SPC forward and cruise in at 15 knots. Leaving the Lighthouse behind
log begins.
November 14th, 2205.
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
Many of us are sick. Rick says it's some kind of radiation sickness. More people have died.
I am saddened to say, several of them found guns and shot themselves. Others succumbed to despair and just faded away. I watched them go. All in all, there's less than 500 people left in a town that once had over 15000 people. People I grew up with. I have run out of tears, I think we all have.
end log.
My first view of Benton Harbor proper is impressive from a survival point of view. Much of the downtown has survived intact. no bombs would have fallen here or anywhere nearer than the City of Steel. Still, some of the taller buildings of 7 and 8 stories still show signs of the Burning. Blackened, cooked stone facades face the lake. I see the Wharfs, all four of them that are still intact. There are others but little remains of them other then their posts jutting up out of the waters. Wharf 9 is readily apparent with a small collection of trawlers and fishing vessels moored at them. Wharves 10-15 stand silently beyond that. 14 and 15 have container ships docked at them that appear to have not moved in 200 years. This is readily apparent by the impromptu housing that has collected along their decks plus the new structures that cover those 2 wharfs.
log begins.
December 7th, 2205
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
We have begun to rebuild, the good news is that almost everyone has adapted to the new air, which is exceedingly dry. The lake has become an ocean of thick mud which clings to everything. No one has tried to take a boat out. Rick says that we might have to dredge it or even dig it out. Most everyone survived the radiation sickness except Jenny Parsley who overdosed on radiation pills and was dead before anyone noticed. I was elected Mayor mostly since Rick refused to take the role. I think he hated having to be the one to make life and death decisions. At least we managed to restock out food stores from the container ships which has at least 200 containers that had shield food stuff that escaped being cooked to ash or irradiated.
Rick has just come into my office looking sick and grave. Oh my god, he says there is a civil war that has broken out across the US and that the military has been ordered to storm the Whitehouse bunker!
I have called everyone to return to the bunker, I am afraid, so afraid.
log ends.
The town itself looks inhabited, some of the inner city seems to be intact and rebuilt. This translates to what appears to be 9-10 blocks of buildings along the river/harbor front. Beyond that is empty space, that from the little I can see has been cleared, probably for farming purposes. Still, this is civilization, unlike anything I found in my wandering through the southeast country until I cam north to the City of Steel. There were some fortified "towns" but they didn't amount to much more than a couple of blocks of walled off burnt out buildings with survivors clinging to the remains and chasing everyone else away.
There is a small squad of armed men and women waiting for me as I pull the launch into a mooring. One of the women throws me a rope and I tie off as several of them sneer and my paltry knot skills.
I look straight at them and shrug.
"It's my first boat," I say to their surprise "I've only had it two days."
One of the men laughs before hopping down to the launch to re-tie my knot. He suddenly straightens, looks back at me looking back at him and relaxes. I guess he just realized he had turned his back on the enemy.
log begins.
May 4th, 2206
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
The insanity will never end. I had thought I could never cry again. I guess we all thought that. We have been holed up back in the bunker. We managed not only to get everyone back into the bunker and the other 3 fallout shelters in town in time but also a handful of refugees from a few nearby towns. Why?
Because the world has gone mad again.
Richard sat at his desk in the bunker and told me with a straight face that the US President ordered a class one nuclear missile attack on his own people for the uprising, then his beautiful face crumpled and he sobbed into my arms.
The nuclear fire returned and so many more Americans are now dead, Richard is fairly sure that the majority of his fellow soldiers are now ash. There had been a last ditch attempt to disable the missiles. It had almost succeeded. President Drumpf had somehow gotten the missile strike to go forward, though.
We will survive but there will be no more U.S. We will truly be on our own when it's safe to return to our beloved Benton Harbor.
Colonel Henson has assured us that we have enough provisions to last up to 4 years in each of the bunkers and shelters.
Sargeant Williams informed me that they have found another bunker under this one. Several of the men are trying to find a way in as no one has the codes.
Richard is broken. That last order proved to be too much for him. They all look to me now to lead. Who'd have thought this girl with a community college degree in business would be the last leader of the free world?
end log.
June 12th, 2205.
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
I haven't written much since the marriage. Commander Jarvis and I spent much of our time underground bumping into each other until we stopped making excuses. A few months later, he came to my tiny room and asked me to marry him. Once, the all clear was given we returned to our burnt out city. It looked like a flash fire had hit from the west. There was so much fog, but the air had a dry acrid taste. We walked around stunned by the number of our neighbors who had failed to find shelter in time. There was much weeping from the women. The men did better, but I suspect they cried a lot in secret although when we gathered to bury over half the town in the graveyard, there wasn't a dry eye. So many, many people dead.
end log.
Benton Harbor looms ahead of me as I cruise in slow between the machine gun nests. Anxious eyes watch me. The man in the lighthouse, who signaled me comes down to the dock edge as I coast in next to him. He is quite old, wears an old uniform that looks sewn back together several times over.
The launch drifts to a stop.
We consider each other.
For me, he is the first civilized person I have ever seen. I mean, he's not trying to kill me at the moment and he's actually clean shaven.
"Ahoy, there!" He calls out. I wave back. Check the auto switch on the assault rifle strapped to my chest. Check on the machine guns which haven't moved, hold up my white flag and step out and away from the wheelhouse.
"Hello," I reply. I notice several men in the shadows relax and shift their own weapons downward.
"What brings you to Benton Harbor, stranger."
"I came to trade for parts."
"Oho, parts?" The man says as the grin redraws his weathered face. "What would that be exactly?'
I frown, always the question is how much do you reveal to anyone.
"I need to fetch 3 Asus X987 Motherboards, a box of K45 Ram, 4 Quad Core I-9's, and 3 Mach Ten hard drives."
The man gives me a blank look. Reluctantly he looks over at his compatriots. They all shrug.
"Why do you think they are here?" He asks.
"They are in the D39 Bunker under the City Hall building....unless someone has removed them."
Almost as one, all hands return to their weapons. Many of which are military grade submachine guns.
Silence.
"How, how do you know about the D39?' The lead man calls back. He is trying hard not to grasp the gun hanging at his side, but his hands keep straying for it.
Now I lie.
"Found a report in The City of Steel that listed them being brought here before the war."
Silence.
Slowly the weapons are raised towards me. Chances of being shot before I can duck into the wheelhouse or dive overboard run through my head.
"Wait!" A voice calls somewhere behind the man. A woman's voice.
"Hold your fire!" It repeats.
The guns stay pointed in my direction as a woman comes into view, she is dressed in urban camo and has the bearing of someone who is in charge. She is also the most attractive woman, I have ever seen. I haven't seen many women and all of them were dirty and terrified. She is not.
"Where exactly in The City of Steel would one find anything about D39 or Benton Harbor?" She asks.
I must be staring at her. She gives me a hard look and crosses her arms. The woman is trim, well built, I'd daresay muscular even, no fat showing, sharp face, bright looking eyes, her lips are redder than anything I can imagine. In fact, I have never seen anyone with lips that red. Even in the poor light, the lips stand out. I just cannot take my eyes from those lips.
My mind has gone blank.
I was expecting this place to be like the other places, burnt out ruins with scavengers.
Now I am presented with an idea of civilization that for me has only existed in books all wrapped up in a single beautiful woman glaring down at me.
"We could just shoot him, Ma'am," One of the Machine Gunners remarks adjust his assault rifle on my left.
She considers this before shaking her head slightly.
I glance at him, he looks disappointed.
When I look at her, she has one hip cocked and her right hand is resting on it.
I try to swallow but feel only the sandpaper thickness that comes with a dry throat.
I feel the grin spreading across my face even as I try, unsuccessfully, to stop it.
One eyebrow goes up on her face.
There is always the truth, a voice says in my head.
"I am not sure you will believe me," I say, my voice sounding foreign.
"Try me."
"I got the info from a secured bunker about 250 feet under the City of Steel."
"You're right, I don't believe you."
"Alrighty then," I say as I walk back to the wheel house. "I'll be on my way then."
I can feel the guns going back up.
She takes her damn sweet time, though. I even have the launch in a tight turn.
"What are you trading?"
I look back at her. She smiling a slight quirk to her lips.
I am tempted to lean against the wheel house and shrug. I suspect this might be what the books call flirting.
"We could just shoot him and take it." One of the gunners says.
I make a mental note to kill him first.
She shakes her head slowly.
There is new tension and it's between her and the men.
"We will not.....be savages." She says softly, but everyone hears her just fine. The man hangs his head.
"Sorry Ma'am."
She looks back at me. The moment has passed.
"You'll dock in town, look for wharf 9, it's clearly marked?"
I nod.
She hesitates for a moment and I think she must be considering joining me on the launch. Again, the moment passes. Instead, she turns on her heel and marches off into the darkness as the sun continues its climb into the morning sky.
I shift the SPC forward and cruise in at 15 knots. Leaving the Lighthouse behind
log begins.
November 14th, 2205.
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
Many of us are sick. Rick says it's some kind of radiation sickness. More people have died.
I am saddened to say, several of them found guns and shot themselves. Others succumbed to despair and just faded away. I watched them go. All in all, there's less than 500 people left in a town that once had over 15000 people. People I grew up with. I have run out of tears, I think we all have.
end log.
My first view of Benton Harbor proper is impressive from a survival point of view. Much of the downtown has survived intact. no bombs would have fallen here or anywhere nearer than the City of Steel. Still, some of the taller buildings of 7 and 8 stories still show signs of the Burning. Blackened, cooked stone facades face the lake. I see the Wharfs, all four of them that are still intact. There are others but little remains of them other then their posts jutting up out of the waters. Wharf 9 is readily apparent with a small collection of trawlers and fishing vessels moored at them. Wharves 10-15 stand silently beyond that. 14 and 15 have container ships docked at them that appear to have not moved in 200 years. This is readily apparent by the impromptu housing that has collected along their decks plus the new structures that cover those 2 wharfs.
log begins.
December 7th, 2205
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
We have begun to rebuild, the good news is that almost everyone has adapted to the new air, which is exceedingly dry. The lake has become an ocean of thick mud which clings to everything. No one has tried to take a boat out. Rick says that we might have to dredge it or even dig it out. Most everyone survived the radiation sickness except Jenny Parsley who overdosed on radiation pills and was dead before anyone noticed. I was elected Mayor mostly since Rick refused to take the role. I think he hated having to be the one to make life and death decisions. At least we managed to restock out food stores from the container ships which has at least 200 containers that had shield food stuff that escaped being cooked to ash or irradiated.
Rick has just come into my office looking sick and grave. Oh my god, he says there is a civil war that has broken out across the US and that the military has been ordered to storm the Whitehouse bunker!
I have called everyone to return to the bunker, I am afraid, so afraid.
log ends.
The town itself looks inhabited, some of the inner city seems to be intact and rebuilt. This translates to what appears to be 9-10 blocks of buildings along the river/harbor front. Beyond that is empty space, that from the little I can see has been cleared, probably for farming purposes. Still, this is civilization, unlike anything I found in my wandering through the southeast country until I cam north to the City of Steel. There were some fortified "towns" but they didn't amount to much more than a couple of blocks of walled off burnt out buildings with survivors clinging to the remains and chasing everyone else away.
There is a small squad of armed men and women waiting for me as I pull the launch into a mooring. One of the women throws me a rope and I tie off as several of them sneer and my paltry knot skills.
I look straight at them and shrug.
"It's my first boat," I say to their surprise "I've only had it two days."
One of the men laughs before hopping down to the launch to re-tie my knot. He suddenly straightens, looks back at me looking back at him and relaxes. I guess he just realized he had turned his back on the enemy.
log begins.
May 4th, 2206
Kathy R. Jarvis, Mayor of Benton Harbor.
The insanity will never end. I had thought I could never cry again. I guess we all thought that. We have been holed up back in the bunker. We managed not only to get everyone back into the bunker and the other 3 fallout shelters in town in time but also a handful of refugees from a few nearby towns. Why?
Because the world has gone mad again.
Richard sat at his desk in the bunker and told me with a straight face that the US President ordered a class one nuclear missile attack on his own people for the uprising, then his beautiful face crumpled and he sobbed into my arms.
The nuclear fire returned and so many more Americans are now dead, Richard is fairly sure that the majority of his fellow soldiers are now ash. There had been a last ditch attempt to disable the missiles. It had almost succeeded. President Drumpf had somehow gotten the missile strike to go forward, though.
We will survive but there will be no more U.S. We will truly be on our own when it's safe to return to our beloved Benton Harbor.
Colonel Henson has assured us that we have enough provisions to last up to 4 years in each of the bunkers and shelters.
Sargeant Williams informed me that they have found another bunker under this one. Several of the men are trying to find a way in as no one has the codes.
Richard is broken. That last order proved to be too much for him. They all look to me now to lead. Who'd have thought this girl with a community college degree in business would be the last leader of the free world?
end log.
