of the more intelligent variety.
Usually Dora kept a person or two out there to watch for them and give warning to the others. Tim had grand ideas about building a concrete bunker out there too, but the man's knowledge of construction didn't seem to match his knowledge of having other people do the work.
'Okay so tell me your brilliant idea about firing Tim.'
'You sure you want it now?' asked Paige while Dora quickly brushed her teeth.
Dora nodded, foamy toothpaste dripped from her lips into the sink.
'Alright, use Alex and fire Tim. No, that isn't right…ah, promote Tim to materials scavenger, first send him out with a small crew and a truck to see if he can find the pre-constructed roof trusses we need. Have Alex handle the day to day stuff in Tim's absence.'
Spitting Dora looked up at Paige, 'Alex? What experience does he have?'
'Practical experience actually working. Plus, he is not too stubborn to read a Goddamned book.' The group had also raided a book store and taken a plethora of home improvement and construction books covering everything from plumbing to roofing. Tim had not cracked the cover of even one so far that Dora knew.
'Okay I think I can make it work. Promote him? That is a good one. I bet that goddamn bunker in the wasteland would get built faster if I promoted him to that.'
Despite being the leader of the people, Dora had not endeared herself to anyone, she still tended to say what was on her mind and political speeches were not her style. This made for some rather fiery weekly town meetings, with everyone either in the street listening or using walkie-talkies to hear the theatrics. There were also daily meetings of the 'council members' a select group of people close to Dora, these meetings were shorter and more critical to the survival of the town. Tim had been trying to get a seat on the council for about two weeks, Dora had shot him down, telling the other members to just wait. 'You know I never liked that asshole.'
'Duh. I think every time his name comes up your face turns red, it gives you away. It's amazing to me, but you really are a good judge of character.'
'Amazing to you? I don't know why I wanted you to chair the council. Maybe because you always vote the way I tell you to.'
'We all always vote the way you tell us to.'
'True enough, because I am always right.'
'No…more like because it is easier and you are never too wrong.'
'Thanks for the vote of confidence. What are we doing with the flu bearing kids we got in yesterday?'
'They are still downstairs. Mike is on guard over them.' Through experience they had learned to keep watch over all new arrivals. They were not zombies, a blood test could prove that every single time, and Mary had the equipment to check when newcomers arrived. However, the kids were always skittish and sometimes it was not so much that they volunteered to come into Doraville as they were captured and brought in.
'Six weeks, you know?' asked Dora.
Paige nodded knowingly, it was a common discussion between them with only the number of weeks or days going up.
'These kids have been on their own for forty days and are little barbarians who would knife their doctor for a candy bar.' It had happened, Mary was handing out granola bars to a group of kids and one wanted more and had stabbed her in the arm to get it. That was two weeks ago and the incident kept coming up for Dora.
'I know Dora, kids…they are flexible, which is probably why we get more kids now than adults. Kids adapt, the next generation is going to be very different from us.'
'Preaching to the choir here. Say, that reminds me, no news of Father Cruz?' While on a scavenging mission Alex had come across Saint Assisi's Church, the man had not thought there was anything useful there, but he was Catholic and had gone inside to say a quick prayer to Saint Jude before he continued looking for the solar battery chargers he had been sent out to find. To his surprise Father Joseph of the Cross had come out of the church hall and greeted him.
The man lived alone and had professed to never being bothered by the undead plaguing the area, claiming God protected him. So far as Dora knew he was right. They had tried to get him to come to Doraville, but the old priest had refused, saying God's plans for him were at St. Assisi. Mary had gone to see him for a checkup, bringing along a few others who wanted to celebrate a mass and take communion. The priest had obliged, but refused to come with his new flock even after that.
'Cruz? He still alive? No I don't know, it's been a week. Sounds like just the thing for Tim to look into. I mean he will be out looking for trusses and the lumber yard is over in that direction. We'll have to have him check into it.'
Dora looked at Paige again, and raised her hand to her chin, 'Hm, you know the water main thing is bothering me too. All those blown up buildings, you know, those are going to drain that tank faster than anything. I think Tim should go to where ever we paid our water bills and see if he can come up with some plans or something.'
'Not bad, not bad at all. How long do you think it will take him to realize he is on shit detail?'
'About a week, that is enough time for Alex to make some progress.' Dora picked up one of three walkie- talkies and spoke into it, 'Mary?'
A child's voice came on the line, 'She is here, gimme a minute.'
'This Katie?' Dora asked.
'Yep.'
'Mary on the pot making poop again?'
The girls voice laughed back at her, 'No!'
The eight year old was helping Mary with everything, the girl had come in with her mom and dad before the big horde from Denver arrived, her parents had not lived through the fighting. She had been with Mary, Peter and Alex ever since. 'Here she is, it's Dora.'
'Dora? What's up?' asked Mary.
'No medical emergency, sorry to get you worked up, I need to speak to Alex, could you send him over?'
For a moment Dora thought the other woman was going to lecture her, again, about only using the medical walkie-talkie for 'Medical Emergencies', but instead she just said, 'I will send him right over, can he eat first?'
'He can eat here if he wants, we have eggs.' Dora said, with a frown that caused Paige to laugh.
'Okay, he'll want coffee.'
Dora set the walkie-talkie down and turned to Paige, 'Chop-chop! Make the coffee girl!'
Paige flipped Dora off on her way out of the master bedroom.
The day flew by without incident and that afternoon the council members had another meeting in the clinic at Dora's house. There were seven of them altogether, including Dora. Mary, Paige and Dora made up the only women on the council; the men consisted of Alex, Leon, Steven and Freddie. Each person had their own skills, Mary was in charge of all things medical, she was the only person with any sort of training in Doraville, the group hadn't even scored a nurse or paramedic.
Alex was good with locksmithing and mechanical equipment, plus he was the newly crowned construction czar. Leon was a retired African American computer programmer who was sixty years old, he had taken pains to read up about electrical wiring and had been invaluable at keeping the local electric grid running off of the generators. Steven was an ex-military man officially 'on loan' from the National Guard, the fact that his wife lived in Doraville and would not leave was the real reason he was here.
Freddie was the last male on the board, he was Hispanic and a jack of all trades, he spoke Spanish, French and English all very well and had been making ends meet by hanging drywall when z-day came around. Finally there was Paige, her job was more to be Dora's keeper than anything else, although she displayed remarkable skills organizing and managing things too. Dora did not do much on the council, she brought up new issues, said her piece on what she thought the group should do and entertained any questions the other council members might have. She was also the public face of the group. When someone wanted to bitch, they sought out Dora, when speeches needed to be made, Dora did it. The other council members directed every other problem to her. Freddie was particularly good at deflecting attention Dora's way, so much so that he had the nick name of 'Teflon Freddie' when the council was in private.
'Okay I hope everyone had a good night and morning, any new business?' Dora asked to the group seated
