Page 18 of The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand

LOCKDOWN

Bev Vincent

The hall also saw occasional use as a church, but only for major religious holidays and no preacher had made the six-mile journey by boat for years.

There had been a few wakes and an affirmation ceremony when Nancy and Dottie solemnized their relationship.

These days, it was mostly used for parties and for the occasional town meeting.

It wasn’t often Seacliff Island’s thirteen residents needed to assemble to discuss something.

Life here normally proceeded at a leisurely pace, with few disagreements other than the usual squabbles among neighbors who lived in close proximity.

On this Friday afternoon, the meeting hall held fifteen people.

The honeymooners from Kentucky staying with the Bouchards, who rented their spare room to the occasional tourist, had been invited to attend, since the matter under discussion impacted them as well.

Dick Collins, the retired historian, author of three books that did not appear on the shelves of anyone else on the island, had requested the gathering.

He felt the situation was too urgent to let another day pass.

The stacking chairs had been assembled into a sweeping arc by Margaret Gagnon, who tended to appoint herself to such tasks.

There was another chair at the focus of the curve.

Dick occupied it now, but that did not imply he was the leader of the community.

He had called the meeting, so he would speak first.

Once everyone was seated and the last breath mint had been unwrapped, Dick stood.

He swiveled slightly in each direction to take everyone in.

The fourteen faces before him were, without exception, grim.

He knew these people well—except for the honeymooners, who looked more frightened than everyone else.

The others had all lived here for years—decades, even.

Several of the residents had been born here.

He drew in a breath and released it. “We’ve all seen the news from the mainland, and I’m sure you’ve heard from friends and relatives as well.

It’s a lot to take in, and I think it’s safe to assume that we don’t know everything.

Politicians never tell the whole story and sometimes they out-and-out lie. ”

Several members of his audience murmured their assent. People who chose to live in such a remote location generally had less trust in the government than the average citizen.

“No one here is old enough to remember the pandemic of 1918—although Mildred would have been alive back then.”

“Barely,” Mildred Turner said with a shy smile. “You too, maybe?”

Dick pursed his lips. “Well over half a million people died, and it took two years for it to clear up. Based on what I’m hearing, this is far worse.

Anyone who comes into contact with an infected person gets this so-called superflu.

If you get it, you die. No exceptions.” He took another deep breath.

“Things are falling apart over there. Looting and rioting. I know the president said the disease isn’t lethal and everything’s under control, but I don’t believe him. ”

There were grumbles in the audience. The few people on the island who’d bothered to vote in the last election had likely supported the man in the White House, but he wasn’t rising to the occasion during this time of national crisis.

“My proposal is simple, but imperative. Seacliff Island is well provisioned. The supply boat arrived a week ago, and our pantries and cellars are well stocked. Our gardens are planted. There are plenty of fish and lobster in the gulf and there probably won’t be any game wardens to enforce the daily bag limit.

In a way, this is the sort of crisis we’ve always been preparing for.

” He paused before delivering his conclusion.

“We have to lock the island down. No one gets on. That’s the only way to keep us free of the virus. ”

“A lockdown?” Charles Bouchard asked. “For how long?”

Dick shrugged. “Until it’s safe. We have fuel for our generators and the wind turbine is cranking out more electricity than we need.”

“What about my sister?” Evelyn Martin asked. “She’s over in Ellsworth, and when I talked to her last night she seemed fine. A few sniffles, that’s all. Can she come here? We have room.”

Dick shook his head. “We are disease-free today. Even if Jocelyn—that’s her name, right?

Even if Jocelyn is healthy, she could be a carrier.

Or whoever she hires to bring her over.” He sighed.

“I’m sorry, but that’s my proposal. I don’t want to sound overly dramatic, but it’s do or die, literally.

” He stepped aside and took a seat at the end of the semicircle. The floor was now open for discussion.

For a while, no one said anything. Finally, the young man from Kentucky stood.

Dick wondered what the folks back home thought of him.

He looked like a rock musician—long, stringy hair, shaggy beard, and tattoos covering his legs and arms. “What about us?” he asked.

“We both have jobs, and our families are expecting us back home next week.”

Bob Williams walked slowly to the speaker chair.

He was in his late fifties, but moved like a much older man.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I like to think we’d all welcome you to stay on the island.

We look after our own, even if you’re from away.

It would be up to Helen, of course. And Charles.

We aren’t a Christian community, for the most part, but I think we’re a charitable one. ”

“Stay?” the young man, James, said. He had a confused look on his face. His new bride took his hand, but remained seated. “On the island with all of you?”

“You are free to leave, of course. Someone would probably let you have a boat. We have no shortage of those.” There were nods from several people in the room.

“But if what Dick is saying is true—and I have no reason to doubt him—it seems likely Seacliff Island is the safest place for you. If you got to the mainland and didn’t like what you saw… ”

“You couldn’t come back,” Wally Martin said.

It was a breach of protocol, but Bob was happy someone else had delivered the verdict instead of him. “So, think long and hard before you decide. You may not have a job or a family to go back to anyway, to be honest. I know that’s hard to hear, but that’s how it sounds to me.”

“Might as well stay until the end of your honeymoon, at least,” Helen Bouchard said. “See if the situation changes.”

Bob returned to his seat. The formality of the speaker chair now seemed needlessly foolish.

This wasn’t a town hall where they had to decide what to do about the increased cost of having provisions delivered from the mainland or an argument over installing the wind turbine.

They were discussing their future—their very survival—and it seemed pointless to keep shuffling back and forth to the chair.

“I have a question,” Dottie Phillips said after raising her hand.

She taught school on the mainland before meeting Nancy and moving to Seacliff seven years ago.

“How do we keep people from coming here? If it’s so terrible over there, they’re going to be looking for somewhere safe.

We’re not the easiest place to get to, but we’re not completely off the grid, either. ”

Dick stood. “There’s only one way onto the island—the jetty.

The cliffs are too steep for anyone who hasn’t climbed Mount Everest, assuming their boat didn’t get swept onto the rocks first. I propose we keep someone stationed at the dock—armed, of course—to fend off anyone approaching.

We can take shifts. I suspect, though, that before too many days pass, we won’t have to worry about intruders.

” He paused as if considering what to say next.

“I think this is it, everybody. The big one. We’ll be lucky if a few percent of the population is still alive by the end of the week. It’s spreading that fast.”

“On the East Coast?” Alice Williams asked.

Dick scrunched his lips.

“You mean… everywhere?”

“That’s right.”

“The whole country?”

“Yes. The whole country.”

“What about…?” Alice paused as if unsure how to formulate the question. “What about everywhere else? The rest of the world?”

“The president said the virus has been reported in both Russia and China. I’m not surprised.

” He pointed at the hall’s tall windows and the sky beyond.

“Back in 1918, people hardly traveled, so the spread was slow. We have tens of thousands of flights, both national and international, every day. They’ve probably closed the airways by now, but I doubt it was in time.

All it would take is a few infected people getting on overseas flights.

Now, I’m not saying the disease started here and we’re spreading it across the globe.

At this point, it doesn’t much matter where it came from.

It’s here and it’s deadly.” Dick inhaled and exhaled before continuing. “Even if the president says otherwise.”

More grumbles. The president was the man who, only two years ago, had loudly proclaimed, Read my lips—no new taxes!

Look how that had turned out. It was ironic when Dick thought about it.

Less than a month ago, the president and his Russian counterpart had signed a treaty to ban chemical weapons. Fat lot of good that did.

“Where’s Governor McKernan?” Bob asked. “Why aren’t we hearing from him?”

Dick straightened up. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s sick, too.

Anyhow, like I said, my feeling is that we won’t have to keep watch for long.

We don’t have anything the folks over there need.

Our only asset is isolation, but that won’t matter for long.

Any survivors on the mainland will soon have all the living space and supplies they need. ”