I felt the need to remind them: “Just because you’re on the other side, doesn’t mean that what you want isn’t important. Nothing we decide now is set in stone. First we’ll get everyone accommodation and a regular food supply, then we can start sorting out other things. Every voice counts.”
They nodded and smiled.
“Are you really a lumberjack?” Billy leaned into me and added, whispering: “I would have taken you for a politician.”
I put on an exaggerated offended face and he burst out laughing. I certainly had no intentions to dabble in politics, and I didn’t think I’d be good at being a leader either. But I could do it temporarily. Luckily, our small group was seemingly made up of reasonable, wise characters. One of them will surely rise to become the leader… or the community could have a vote.
“I think we should take a look at and seriously consider what kind of people The Collective chose and why they sent us here of all places,” said Billy. “So far nothing, no instruction, no plan seemed to be random. We mustn’t forget that. Our community is made up mainly of farmers and orchardists, we have vets, beekeepers, shearers. The Collective clearly meant for us to create a new life in nature, and live in harmony with it. We wouldn’t be able to achieve that in a city.”
The group murmured in agreement.
“I may not agree with what The Collective did, by which I mean releasing the plague,” Billy continued, “but we should choose to make the best of the situation we’re in. If they thought that this would be the ideal place for us to meet, I think we should build our base here.”
For the most part I felt like my head was going to burst, what with all the things to consider and plan out. I wished that I could also just sit aside and wait for someone to give me instructions. But I couldn’t back down, at least not right now. But I wasn’t surprised when others did. After the plague, the death of their loved ones and the six month quarantine, no wonder nobody felt like making any important decisions. I was glad that Billy and I volunteered.
I liked the guy more and more by the minute, our characters were well-balanced. Despite all the terrible things he’d been through this year, Billy had kept his good mood, always found some time for a smile and a joke, he was clever and thoughtful. Of course, following the old phrase two heads are better than one, I was glad I had him there when the dreaded question What do we do next? came up.
Billy and I and a group of others went to look at the cottage settlement. As it turned out, Nadia and her daughter, Megan, who were on the census list right under Billy and me, had a shelter in the basement under the kitchen and cafeteria next to the settlement.
The settlement consisted of fifty small cottages housing four to ten people, and could accommodate us all comfortably.
“It can’t be a coincidence that we were supposed to meet so close to a settlement with enough beds for all…” María said after our entire community including our modest bags moved there.
“I don’t think anyone doubts that anymore,” I answered and again wondered at how well The Collective thought everything through. According to Connie, they were putting it all together for ten years, so they had enough time for the tiniest of details.
The next morning after breakfast we exchanged our letters, at least those of us who hadn’t done it yet. It was a good way to remember more names and realise a few things. Mainly, that we were missing six letters–and also six keys. I was incredibly disappointed and grumpy when it turned out that I was one of the unlucky ones who didn’t get theirs. Who wrote it and what did it say? But there was no point in dwelling on it, it wasn’t going to make the letter or the key magically appear.
In an unusual moment of quiet and solitude, I was watching all the people around me and thinking about the score of our new community. Three hundred and seventy five people present. Six missing letters–not counting the one that was stolen from Stanley–without him paying enough attention to the recipient’s name, which was infuriating!–so twelve other people didn’t make it to the tree.
What had happened to them? Were they not able to get to New Zealand? Or did they die of a serious illness, unrelated to the plague?
I remembered my own panic when I got to the tree and didn’t find anyone else there. What if these people only made a mistake in their calendar or for some other reason couldn’t make it there on time?
I suggested we send someone to the tree every day for a look around. Several people volunteered, they were happy to place a sign there for any latecomers, and went over every day to keep guard.
The cooks and bakers assured us that despite electricity being out, probably never to be recovered again, the kitchen was ready for decent cooking and baking. Some of the equipment was old fashioned and relied on fire to heat up the stoves and ovens. According to Nadia, this part must have been used for storage because the other one was modern and ran on electricity.
Apart from fruit and vegetables, we were suddenly able to enjoy soups with various herbs, mushrooms and roots from the nearby forests, thanks to the improvisation of the people in the kitchen. We had keen campers
