he should get onto the houseboat.
______________________________
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As the houseboat approaches a narrow inland bay, the dark, dead trunks
of trees can be seen sticking up here and there at the entrance. Waves
are slapping the pontoons of the houseboat, the wind is starting to
whistle. The sky is darkening. Joey is standing on the roof in his
usual position, his clothes starting to whip now and then in the wind.
He is signaling Finegan, pointing to the water to the side and
motioning with his hand to move in the other direction when he sights a
flooded tree that could snag the houseboat.
The seamstress and the man who vacated the island had been sitting in
the rear, facing Finegan, but now go into the house on the boat. The
seamstress covers the baby’s face with the blanket edge. The baby can
be heard starting to cry due to the wind in its face.
______________________________
The houseboat is now moored well into the inland bay, where the
waterway is so narrow the houseboat barely made it between the flooded
trees. Finegan is tying the houseboat as well as mooring via the
grappling hooks, anticipating a hurricane. The gangplank has been
lowered.
The seamstress and baby are hustling up the hill toward a farmstead in
the shelter of the hills. Joey is carrying her bundle of diapers and
the deaf man from the island is at the lead, carrying the suitcase.
Their clothes can be seen blowing in the wind now and then, but not to
the extreme as out on the open water. Finegan is pulling the gangplank
back onto the houseboat and jumping down into shallow water, wading
ashore, hustling to catch up to the group going up the hill.
______________________________
Twenty or so people are huddled under the shelter of a barn roof, which
has been hoisted up by posts to form a large lean-to. The group
includes children of all ages. The straw that had been in the upper
floor of the barn has spilled out onto the ground, so forms a soft
seating area. Twenty or so sheep are also huddled under the roof, to
one side, a section of fence pulled around them. This fence had been
pulled from a field, is made of posts and wire fencing between the
posts, and has been rolled up to make it portable.
The sheep are lying down, almost on top of one another, and include
spring lambs. Blankets have been thrown on top of the straw in the
seating area for people. The people are likewise very crowded, trying
to stay out what is becoming hurricane force winds and torrential
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rains. The wind can be heard whistling and moaning amid the thunder of
raindrops on the roof.
The seamstress is in the middle of the group, which includes normal
folk as well as the deaf that came from the island. Several women are
crowding around her, admiring the baby and cooing at the baby. There is
a particularly strong gust of wind and the seamstress pulls the blanket
up over the baby’s head, moving her body to shield the infant. Finegan
is to the open edge of the lean-to, trying to pull some planks up to
create a windshield. He finally gives up as the planks keep blowing
down, and comes to join the group huddled further in under the roof.
______________________________
The storm has blown over and sunlight can be seen beyond the shade
inside the homestead barn. Birds are singing again. The seamstress is
sitting alone on a blanket in the middle of the straw, nursing her
baby. The afternoon sunlight is shinning into the barn, so mother and
child are in a beam of sunlight. The sheep have been released to return
to grazing, and no one else is around. It is a madonna and child
moment.
______________________________
Finegan and Joey are being given a tour of a community of survivors,
numbering around 300 folks. This is a rural area, so the makeshift
homes are of various materials and styles. One has stacks of used tires
for walls, with a piece of plywood over the top as a roof. Over the
plywood is a tarp, to keep it all waterproof. The doorway is simply
open, with a cloth tied up at top to be dropped at night for privacy or
for warmth. This is true of a couple window openings on either side,
where the top tires are missing but a cloth can be dropped as a
curtain.
Several homes are bermed into a hillside, a former pasture. The earth
that has been dug out is used to form walls on the open side of the
houses, hobbit style. The walls are braced by various boards taken from
the sides of collapsed barns or farm buildings. Doors and window frames
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from these buildings are in place, packed with dirt all around. The
roofs are sections of tin roofs, likewise scavenged from collapsed
