Pilgrimage (The New World) (29 page)

BY THE TIME
the autumnal equinox of September signified the passing of summer into fall within the northern hemisphere; a few more American citizens were beginning to accept the inevitable. Throughout much of the previous month, astronomers and scientific teams had focused a tremendous amount of attention onto the path of the asteroid. They had been able to ascertain that impact seemed imminent, and were now attempting to determine the overall mass of the object.

During the same time, Ross and other world leaders had begun to have a more open and meaningful dialogue with regard to what should be done about it. Many had now read through the proposal set forth by Ross, and a few had made some welcome additions to the overall plan. Construction was beginning to get underway on building shelters in caves throughout several mountain ranges in different regions of the world, but Ross knew enough to let other governments and countries develop their own systems of how to proceed.

In the United States, a sizable budget towards the efforts of the project had been approved by Congress, and Ross was hopeful that would encourage more people to get involved. Interviews were being conducted at hundreds of locations throughout the country to determine who was a candidate for the multitude of jobs such an undertaking would need for success. Unfortunately, the overall number of applicants was still rather meager. At first that was puzzling to Ross, because with each passing day more and more people seemed to believe that the impact of the asteroid was indeed going to take place. He knew that generally speaking, the culture of Americans was to almost blindly follow the hottest trend. In spite of all the posturing about individuality, Ross knew that most people wanted to fit in with a group somehow. Why then were they not following each other in droves to the interview locations for an opportunity to work for their own survival?

Suddenly the truth hit Ross like a brick, and he began to break the American citizens down into their respective groups or demographics. In time there would be a large demographic that would become dedicated to the project, which would not surprisingly grow in numbers as the time of demise grew near, but they had not yet formed. For the time being, most people were still trying to figure out which group would be the “coolest one” to hook up with.

Ross began with the senior citizens, to which he, Patty, and Jessica had somewhat reluctantly become. Ross didn’t feel much like a senior citizen, because he was still both very healthy and active, but he nevertheless was part of that demographic. He tried to put himself into that collective mindset, so that he could further understand what those millions of people might think of the shelters.

It occurred to him that many of the elderly may simply want to live out their time that was left on Earth in peace and quiet. A large contingent of seniors may have lived in the same house for much of their lives, and therefore had no desire to go anywhere else. It was a safe bet that many had lost their spouse in recent years, and might look upon this as a noble way to join them again in the afterworld. To them all the hardship associated with relocating to, living in for who knows how long, and then with vast amounts of luck emerging from the shelters to a world that would have very little if any resemblance to what they left behind was simply too much to handle. Certainly seniors would not be turned away if they possessed a needed skill set and wanted to participate, but Ross didn’t expect many of them to do so. In general, that demographic could not be looked down upon for their thought process, but serious dedication to the shelters was probably not a priority to them.

There would be one huge demographic that would span all ages, and that would be the religiously devout. Ross admired anyone who had developed and maintained a belief system in whatever had given them inner peace, but he also knew that some had taken that passion to another level. Many people would stand firmly behind their God of whatever religion they practiced, and Ross had no intention of trying to sway them away from their devotion.

Millions within the United States, and in other parts of the world, would believe to their core that it was part of God’s master plan to save them from the peril of the asteroid, but Ross had no right or power to condemn them for it. After all, he believed with all his being in the existence of extraterrestrials, and many felt that was crazy. The only difference between the two was that Ross had actually come face to face on a few occasions with an alien, but he didn’t know anyone who could actually claim to have met God. It was not a subject for debate that Ross intended to get into with anyone, because it would most probably end badly, but it was interesting to think about. Ross realized that in spite of the words often spoken of, “Love and help thy neighbor”, many of the religious faithful would also stay in their homes without an interest in the shelters.

Moving to the opposite end of the scale, Ross knew there would also be a demographic that would be much more dangerous. Without actual confirmation, he knew there were probably already a large amount of people that had become “panic movers”. Those were the individuals or families that had taken everything upon themselves for survival. They would have packed up whatever they deemed to be most precious into their cars, and made a run for the hills. Many would then fall victim to outrageous price gouging by those they met along the way who could provide goods or services to what would obviously be desperate people.

The lucky few would find a cave or something similar, and then defend it with everything they had. That demographic was dangerous because there would be theft of supplies needed for their own needs, and that would inevitably lead to violence in order to obtain or protect the supplies. They would be acting as individuals instead of taking part in a team effort, and eventually the strain would probably become too much for them to handle. If small bands of these people did somehow unite, they would become even more dangerous as vigilante groups. That could cause a threat to the people who were fortifying the shelters with supplies, and Ross would need to convey that to other world leaders. It now seemed most prudent to have armed military personnel escorting any supply vehicles in the future, and guards posted at the shelter entrances to protect what had been stored.

Another demographic to consider would be that of the financially affluent. There would be many among that set of people who, out of nothing more than habit, would feel a natural entitlement to a place within the shelters. Although some had worked hard during their life to gain their fortunes, the majority had simply inherited the wealth. Even those who had earned their own way, probably had never done much, or any, of the physical labor associated with what would be needed to maintain the shelters. Ross could visualize a bidding war from certain members of that demographic at the entrances to the shelters, as they would wave stacks of cash in the face of the guards to gain entry. Of course he knew that would not be true for all of them, because with this, or any other sect of society, there would always be exceptions to the rule.

Unfortunately that same sense of entitlement would probably be seen within many of the elected officials at both the national and state levels. While some, like Ross, had come from humble beginnings, many had become accustomed to the comfortable financial lifestyle that their positions provided for them. Ross couldn’t really fault those individuals, because he had also fallen into that trap during his many years of public service to the nation. Sadly, the line of who gained automatic entry to the shelters would need to be drawn somewhere.

Ross and his entire Cabinet, several leading members of the federal government, and all of their families had been guaranteed a place deep within the Colorado mountainside fortification of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. However, most other elected officials would be left to fend for themselves. It occurred to Ross that although his group would be kept in America’s most secure underground location for the sake of maintaining the constitutional chain of succession, it would be wise to disperse the remaining members of Congress and state Governors to multiple shelters. That would increase the probability of at least some of them surviving, while at the same time providing a built in leadership role within each of the shelters throughout the nation. Ross would also need to make it clear to his own family, and to the entire aforementioned group, that this gift of automatic entry came with a price. Each one of them would be required to set the proper example for everyone else in the shelters by working hard at their given tasks to help ensure order and harmony.

The final major group of American citizens would be those who took the entirety of the situation seriously. They would be the people who interviewed for various labor positions, and then did their part by working hard to build or fortify the shelters. Once inside the shelters they would also work to maintain a harmonious lifestyle as best as could be expected, while everyone waited for a hopeful emergence. As Ross thought through all of this, it became obvious to him that this demographic would be the most important, but he hoped it wouldn’t be the smallest.

With reluctant acceptance, Ross ultimately realized that the number of people in the United States who would be helpful to the cause of building, fortifying, and maintaining the shelters were vastly outnumbered by those who wouldn’t. He also knew that something needed to be done in order to properly identify and protect those who were helpful, so he asked Mrs. Patterson to please place a call to the Surgeon General.

WITH THE UNMISTAKABLE
tune created by toasting with fine crystal still lingering in the air, Ross and Patty each took a sip from their champagne glasses. Then they raised their glasses towards the rest of the assembled crowd within the White House, and wished them all a Happy New Year. The blizzard conditions over the past few days had not deterred anyone on the guest list from attending the celebration to usher in 2022, but this was not the normal crowd to attend such an event.