Okefenokee
Preparations

Robert McFadden showered in his barracks. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked pretty average other than his height at six foot. He was thin, the army kept him in good shape and he was young. His short black hair could grow out now that he had finished his enlistment.

The reflection didn’t show where he had been or what his future would hold. His last tour of duty was a fighting hell battling tribes in rural mountainous Asia. The future seemed bright.

He put on his dress uniform since it was his last day. Being honorably discharged brought on a feeling of wanting to look good. He was on duty long enough to report to the admin officer for his release papers.

His truck was already packed. His good friends were shipped off over seas so there were no goodbyes to be had. It felt a little lonely, but it was a good lonely.

The process went quickly with a lot of signatures needed. He made a final drive through the front gate leaving Fort Stewart, Georgia. The weather was beautiful, sun shining, birds singing and squirrels gathering food for a rainy day. He was in the Army when he woke this morning but was now a civilian again, not far from where he grew up in Homeland, Ga.

He stopped at a diner he frequented just outside the gate, went inside. He looked around noticing the place was near empty between the breakfast and lunch crowd and he sat at the counter.

A pretty young waitress came in front of him smiling and said, “Well?”

He replied, “Let’s see. I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries,” without showing any signs of his new found freedom.

“Not that, silly,” she said grinning with a southern accent.

“Oh, well I have been discharged. I’m a civilian.”

She ran around the counter as he stood and embraced him. She tried to squeeze the stuffing’s out of him she was so excited. “I was afraid they would talk you into staying in.”

“Nah, I had enough.”

She returned behind the counter and put his order in with the chef. It wasn’t busy so she went in the back and talked with the manager while Rob’s food cooked. He could see her standing there in her form fitting uniform, but couldn’t hear what she was saying. When she returned with his plate she said, “I’m going to clock out when you’re finished. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

He grinned, “I like surprises, but if I’m going to stay around here I have to replace a place to live and a job pretty quick.”

She said, “I know.” She looked at a co-worker, and then she pointed at her only remaining customer.

Coworker, “OK, I got it Cyndi. See you tomorrow.”

Rob and Cyndi got in his pickup truck. Rob said, “Where is the surprise?”

“At Mom’s.”

“OK.” They drove to her mother’s house on the northern edge of Darien, a small coastal town not far away that harbored a shrimp fleet. The house was older and in need of some updates but otherwise in good condition. There was an RV parked on the left side and a detached workshop deeper in the yard on the other. Rob, “are we going in?”

“Not yet, I wanted you to see the surprise.”

Rob looked around not sure what she was hinting at. “Well, I think you are going to have to tell me.”

Cyndi, “It’s the RV. You can stay here for a while, you know till you get settled. It’s hooked up with power and water. It has a bathroom with a shower.”

“Really, wow that’s great. I’m no longer homeless.” He was happy and hugged her.

Cyndi, “Listen, Mom’s not been feeling well lately. Just wanted you to know.”

He nodded and they went inside. Rob thanked Mrs. Rhoades for her generosity.

Mom, “It will be nice to have someone close by with Cyndi staying at her friend’s house near work since they got orders sending them overseas. I guess that could have been you had you re-enlisted.”

Rob, “I don’t know how long it will be till I replace work but I’m pretty handy around the house so I can do the chores and any maintenance that is needed.”

Mom, “Sounds good. I’m tired so I’m going to my room to rest for a little while.”

They sat in the living room. Rob picked up the paper and looked through the classifieds. Cyndi turned on the TV and set the channel to the news. She was caught off guard by what the expert guest was telling the news anchor.

Guest said, “It appears that one side in the conflict may have released a biological weapon, a virus that is. A doomsday operation, where if they are going to lose the whole world will share in their loss.”

The program anchor Jonathan Brett, a well known national figure from the mainstream network replied, “Doomsday, really. I undestand that there are flu like symptoms before death. Do you think this could have consequences for other countries in the region?”

Cyndi talked over the conversation, “Did you hear that. What are they talking about?”

Rob, “Are you having any sypmtoms?"

"No."

"We always expected that a nuclear bomb would be the weapon of choice in this scenario. If either side in the conflict was losing badly and we can not believe anything being released to the news on either side, who knows. There were bio-labs reported there before the conflict. I heard they were US and China backed labs there but the former Soviet state may have Russian labs as well.”

“That sounds scary,” said Cyndi with hers eyes glued on the set where maps of Europe and Asia were being displayed with overlays showing the speed at which the sickness was spreading.

“Yeah. Here is a position advertised for a landscaper operating one of those sit down lawn mowers. If I can get that one I will be sitting on the job all day, not bad. I wonder what it will pay.” He seemed indifferent to the news on TV feeling safe back at home.

The news anchor read a report on the air that thousands of citizens in Eastern Europe were coming down with an unknown illness and many were passing away before being diagnosed. Some didn’t make it to the medical facilities. The doctor’s from one large hospital said they were perplexed and looking for more guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) which had issued a statement saying to stay home for now.

Cyndi stood and clicked off the set, “come outside for a moment.”

Rob followed along behind her admiring her flowing light brown hair and slender frame still neatly packaged in her waitress dress as she walked out onto the grass highlighted by several yellow butterflies hovering and enjoying the flowers on a bush next to her. What a day he thought. It was beautiful every day since returning from deployment six months ago. His life had changed.

Once outside she said, “All the woods and nature back here, I love it. It would be a great place to put a home. A good home to raise our family like we talked.” She hugged him and he smiled.

“Let me show you your living quarters.” They went inside the RV. It was in really good shape.

Rob, “Your father took good care of this.”

“Oh yeah, it was his mistress you could say. He loved taking Mom and I camping. We would park it and fish for a couple of days at a time in pretty remote places. There was a place near your hometown we would go sometimes. The black swamp he called it.”

Changing the subject, “Are you still going to being staying at your friends house near work now that I’m right next door here?”

“They are kind of counting on my being there some of the time and it really helps not having to drive the hour both ways. We can replace a schedule that works, maybe Tuesday and Thursday I’ll stay. If you get lonely you can come there and visit me.”

Rob seemed content and said, “Okefenokee, My Dad and I spent all our free time there. With a rowboat we went places most locals down there didn’t know existed. There are small islands out there some with high ground that can only be reached by small boats without much water displacement because it was so shallow. He was a real outdoors man. Hunting and fishing with and without modern technology. He could net fish and bring dinner home with only a bow and arrow which he made from natural resources. He was a survivor when it came to the wild but didn’t fair well against age. Neither him nor Mom made the average life expectancy.”

Cyndi, “You know we can start working on our family right now,” she kissed him. They sat on the small couch that was in the vehicle and continued enjoying each other.

Cyndi returned inside and found her Mom up sitting in her favorite chair directly in front of the TV. “Rob’s unpacking, it’s funny he only has two duffle bags. His entire world belongings and one is his military stuff which he doesn’t need anymore unless there is a large war and they call him back to active duty.”

Mom looked at her and said, “You know the ten acres behind the house has a separate deed. Your Father separated the parcels to pay less property tax. If you and Rob marry I will gift you the land. You can build and have your own place back there and you will be close by.”

“That sounds great Mom, thanks. Hopefully Rob will get a job quickly and we can start planning a wedding and a home soon.”

The next morning Rob was up early and entered the kitchen from the rear end of the home where he found Cyndi having coffee watching the news. He bent down and kissed her before helping himself to a cup.

Cyndi, “This is starting to sound really serious. They are saying there is a large void where no information is coming out. Crews have been sent in to report on the crisis but never come online from their satellite communications. The news show reports tens of thousands of people may have already died centered in eastern Europe. The mysterious deadly sickness was spreading rapidly out in all directions. Do you think we have anything to worry about here?”

“Don’t know,” he sat and peered at the small kitchen TV. “I have to concentrate on getting that job I saw advertised right now. The governments of the world can handle the health crisis.”

“You know, I left my car at work yesterday.”

Rob, “I can take you.”

“I’ll get ready,” she went back toward the bedrooms.