Part 14 - May 21 - Morning at the University
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Nancy lay in the bed listening to the quiet. Two of the babies had woken up wanting a bottle and a clean diaper during the night, and, amazingly, there had only been five nightmares to soothe. Nancy thanked her lucky stars for Helen; even though the woman didn’t seem to be rowing with both oars all the time, there was nothing wrong with her motherly instincts.
Nancy decided to get up and try to get ready before the children woke up. She had no idea what she would do today. How would she even start to take care of the children? How would she get clothes, food? What would she do if someone got hurt? The list of “what ifs” started to overwhelm her, so she tried to shake off those thoughts, pulled her clothes back on, and headed down the hallway. She passed the room where she and Helen had put Sam. She had apparently slept through the night—no wonder, considering how long she had been awake. But under the circumstances, the night had gone fairly smooth.
The babies were still asleep, so she took this opportunity to jump in the shower. She cringed when she realized she would have to wear the same clothes today that she had worn yesterday. She again started that mental list of things to do. Put laundry and clothes on that list; she wondered, top or bottom of the list? Well, we’ll just have to see how things go. But the first thing is to get breakfast for the children. She had been taken aback when Sam told her that she and the children had walked around the neighborhood and collected blankets and food from the houses, but it became clear afterward that it had been a good decision. She remembered seeing boxes of cereal in the piles of food. Now, if they just had some milk.
They would have to organize a system, and the children would have to be given responsibility for themselves. She had always maintained complete control over her classroom, and to relinquish that control was a completely alien concept to her. Even when it appeared that her students were operating independently, she had orchestrated the scripts, and the students had followed that plan. Well, I’ll have to write a whole new lesson plan: End of the World Dorm Life Survival 101.
The dorm was almost silent. There were the sounds of breathing children, some moans and whimpers as they slept or started to wake. Nancy decided to see if there was any tea left in the common room. She walked as quietly as she could to the common room door, and as she approached, she could hear movement from inside—then the smell. She found Helen already up, with toast and coffee prepared. Nancy stopped in the doorway and just inhaled the fragrance for a moment. Coffee and toast—it smelled wonderful.
Helen whispered, “Come get a cup before the hordes wake up. This may be your only quiet moment until they all go back to sleep tonight, dear. I remember some of my overnight field trips—I would be exhausted for days afterward.”
Nancy just nodded and practically grabbed the offered cup and slice of toast. She looked at the clock, and it was working! Had the systems come back online? Then she realized the clock was an old battery-operated model, and it was almost 6:00 a.m.
Helen said, “Frank and Carl brought back milk from the barn last night, and it’s been in the refrigerator all night. I don’t know how the children will respond to raw milk after drinking that processed stuff they’re used to. But at least they can have breakfast.”
Nancy asked around a mouthful of toast, “Where did the milk come from?”
Helen raised her eyebrows and replied, “Cows, dear.” Then she laughed brightly as Nancy closed her eyes and winced.
“Okay, so there are ‘cows’ on campus?” Nancy asked.
“Oh yes, the university has one of the best agricultural and veterinary colleges this side of Boston. Granted, we’re not talking about a large number of animals, but with Carl and Frank managing things, we will have milk and eggs, and then—well, we’ll see.” Helen smiled and sipped her coffee. “My boy loves working in the barns with Carl and Frank.”
“You have a son?” Nancy asked Helen.
Helen’s face took on a blank stare. “Yes, our Bobby. He’ll be home next week—it’ll be his birthday.” Helen blinked and said, “Would you like some more toast, dear?”
Nancy got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach about the way Helen spoke about her son and decided not to press the woman with any more questions. She would speak to Carl later, when or if she got a chance. The last thing she wanted to do was inadvertently cause this generous, sweet woman any discomfort. Helen had stepped up last night and helped Nancy when she thought she would not be able to keep going one more minute. Nancy would not repay the woman with thoughtlessness.
Frank and Carl entered, mumbled “good morning” to the ladies, and helped themselves to coffee and toast. They sat quietly for a while, each with their own thoughts, clutching a cup of coffee.
Nancy spoke first. “We need to get more supplies for the children if we’re going to stay here for any length of time.”
Carl nodded and stated, “We’re staying here. Whatever happened apparently is still ongoing. We went around campus and down to the athletic complex, and people are still affected. I can’t think of any other place to take the children that will provide them the safety and facilities we have here.”
Nancy looked at the man. He looked tired and drawn. The day before, she had repeatedly noticed, with some annoyance, how he had appeared so damn calm and collected, how he took each event with a cool, easy-going demeanor. Now she could see that the take-charge persona was not inexhaustible. She looked into her empty cup and decided to get another refill. She had not been a big coffee drinker, but today she thought, Piss on it, I’ll need every drop of caffeine I can get. I’ll just have to deal with the caffeine jitters later. There would be no leaning on this man today; he had come in and taken control and brought them all here to safety and new friends. She needed to figure out what she could do now.
Carl spoke up. “Sam and I need to go and pick up the horses. We could stop at Elmwood and pick up supplies at that big department store. If you want to make a list, we’ll load up the bus.”
“We need to search for the children in Elmwood and South Bend,” Nancy said, looking around the room for support.
Helen spoke first. “I’ll stay here, dear, and you could take some of the older children to collect supplies.”
Nancy shook her head. “There will have been people shopping at that time. I don’t want to expose the children to whatever is in there.”
“Nancy, the children know what is going on, the older kids—” Carl was cut off before he could finish.
“NO!” Nancy snapped. “They have lost enough—their friends and their families, their childhood—damn, they’ve lost everything. I won’t subject them to more horror by dragging them through a store full of… zombies.”
The group sat silently for some moments.
Frank spoke gently. “You’re right, we need to protect the children. But, Nancy, we’ll need to teach them to survive, too. We don’t know what is in the future for any of us. Hell, no offense, but we four are not spring chickens anymore, and if anything happens to us, who will take care of these children?” Frank paused and looked at Nancy, then quietly added, “Nancy, you took on the task of caring for these children, and you’ve done a great job. But now we have to think about what to do next. You can’t keep taking care of every single child all by yourself—you cannot shelter them from whatever this is forever.”
Nancy looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. “I know,” she groaned. After a moment she finished, “Just let them have some time to adjust, okay?” She looked at Carl. “I’m sorry I snapped.”
Carl smiled. “You’re doing great, Nancy. We—all of us—will figure this out together.”
“So,” Frank said, “what will our plan be for today?”
Helen had found a notepad and started to make a list:
Pajamas—200 sets of varying sizes
Baby bottles and diapers—all you can carry
Socks, lots of underwear—all sizes
Shirts, pants…
…and the list went on for the next five minutes until the first little voice from the door announced, “I’m hungry.”
The adults all turned to face the first demand of the morning.
