Plans

Josh Harrison was not your typical ‘son of the mayor’ or ‘quarterback of the football team,’ instead of acting like a stuck-up prick who thinks the world is his to manipulate and control, just like his mother; instead, he chose to go a different route by sticking up for the little guy, being a man of his word, and always trying to make sure everyone around him is happy and healthy; choose is the wrong word to use, Josh was naturally a good person and refused to allow the circumstances of his privileged birth play a role in the person that he wanted to be in his life.

For the past two days, Josh was going around town making sure that the younger kids had someone to watch over them and that they were safe and healthy. He wasn’t sure how long they were going to be alone but either way, he knew that the younger ones were going to need protecting, he was just going to need more people to assist with keeping track of them all and finding permanent solutions for them to live in until their parents come back. That was his plan for today, to rally a few people who would be willing to help take care of them for the time being.

Josh was walking the town streets when he saw Jocelyn and Christopher, he didn’t know them, they were both a grade younger than him, but he did know that on the first day, when everyone was confused and standing around, they went around town gathering any children that were left alone; they were the type of people he was looking for, proactive, protective and natural leaders, he jogs up to them hoping that they would be reciprocating to his idea.

“Hey, what’s up, do you mind if I chat with you two for a minute?” He asks when he’s a few feet away but still in hearing distance, Jocelyn and Christopher glance at each other, shrug, and Christopher responds. “Yeah, of course, Josh, what do you need?” Both, he, and Jocelyn stop walking and wait for Josh to reach them.

“Thanks, so, I saw you two the first day helping the children that were left on their own, and I was wanting to make a better plan for the smaller kids in town, something a bit more permanent and safer, at least until we can find a way back to our parents. I will need a few volunteers to help with finding a new place for them all and taking care of them, I was hoping, you two would be interested in helping” he says looking between the two of them.

“Yea, that seems reasonable, and of course, we will, we were just trying to gather everyone at the football field that way we can make a few announcements. We were thinking, instead of just hanging around and waiting for a rescue that may not happen,” started Jocelyn.

“And let’s be honest, rescue from what? We don’t even know what is going on.” Christopher adds, and Jocelyn rolls her eyes at his remark.

“Which is one of the reasons why we wanted to talk to everyone,” she continues without missing a beat “We were debating asking for volunteers to head out of town to see if the other towns around us are affected as well, and to also see if we can find alternative methods to feed ourselves in case, we run out of what we already have. Prepare for the worst, that way if it comes, we’re prepared for it.” Jocelyn finishes with a grim smile.

This was exactly the way Josh was hoping this conversation would go, he knew when he saw their priorities that first day, that they would be some people with whom he would inevitably come to trust and align himself, and now that they were speaking, he realized just how much they were all going to need to rely on each other and work together to survive.

“Those are great ideas, yea it’s best to ask for volunteers for multiple things at once, that way people can weigh their options and pick what they believe they could contribute best to. Let me grab a few of the football players, we can grab everyone in town quickly and gather them at the field so we can all discuss everything as a group.” He says before running off in the direction he had come in, to gather the citizens of our now smaller, small town.

Forty minutes later, Josh and the football players had gathered everybody on the field, and even a good amount of the university students had been persuaded to join everyone.

“Thanks for gathering everyone Josh, we couldn’t have done it without you,” Jocelyn said while looking around the football stadium at all the kids, teenagers, and young adults that had been left in the town to fend for themselves.

“Not a problem, anything I can do to help, these past few days I’ve felt pretty useless, not knowing what is happening and not being able to answer any of the questions that I’m asked has been weighing on me, I just want to be able to tell people that things are going to be okay and give them some hope, yunno.” He replies also looking around at all the people amassed at the stadium.

“Yeah, I get it, uhm, if you wanted, I’m sure we could always use your help. Your influence has people listen and trust you, we could use that when trying to implement some rules in town to ensure we survive until we figure out what’s going on and our parents come back. What do you think?” Jocelyn asks, hoping he agrees so that there would be a person that most people knew and trusted to help with setting rules around the town.

“I’m not sure, don’t you think we should have everyone in town decide on whom they want to implement rules and whatnot? I’m not trying to be difficult or anything, I just believe that the people, err, or kids in this case, should have the choice to choose their leaders, and not just have them thrust upon them because ‘they were wanting to do it’ or some nonsense like that. You know what I mean?” He explains looking Jocelyn in the eyes and continuing. “That’s how my own family came to run this town and to be honest, it never really sat well with me. I would be willing to help for sure, but only if the people choose it. So, I believe, we should hold some type of election to allow everyone to not only choose whom they want to lead but to also give anyone else the opportunity to put themselves forward as a potential candidate for leadership.” He finishes, as a matter of fact, carefully studying Jocelyn’s face to see how she would react.

“Shit, that’s a great idea, yeah, I agree, how do you suppose we go about that? We have everyone here now; do we announce while finding volunteers for the exploration and scavenging parties or do you think we should wait and save it for a time when the focus is the “election” Jocelyn asks agreeing with Josh and seeking his opinion on how to proceed.

“Yeah, like we were talking about early, it will be easier to get everything done at once, so people can consider all their options. We have the microphone all setup, we just need to decide who’s going to do the speaking.” He says, looking at Jocelyn and then at the other kids who had already volunteered for one of the positions that they were going to be announcing.

“I mean, you got everyone here, so, I feel like people would listen to you more than any of us,” Christopher explains and everyone else agrees. Josh then nods and grabs the microphone, reciting the words they all had come up with together.

“Thank you, to every single one of you, for joining us here today. We know that the past few days have been scary with not knowing what is going on, where our parents have gone, and if we will see them ever again. That is the reason, we called you here today; since everything is currently unknown, we thought it would be a wise idea to create some stability for our little town while trying to figure out what is currently going on."

"To do that, we have come up with a few different ideas and were needing some volunteers to help carry them out; first, we have a search party that will explore the wilderness outside the town, and figure out if the other towns are experiencing the same thing or not; we also have a scavenging party that will go out and looks for farmable land for an alternative food source; we also need some people to help care for the little ones since they are unable to care for themselves."

"Additionally, we were also wanting to create a council that will act as speakers for the population of the entire town, these individuals will take people’s opinions and ideas, and voice them in meetings that way, everyone gets a say in decisions made in town; when it comes to the council, you may put forth someone else’s name, but they must be aware and willing to take the position, once all the names have been put forth, we will hold an election to select the individuals that the town wants to be their voice. So, if anyone is interested in any of the aforementioned groups, please feel free to come to the front and sign your name on the designated sheet that has the group you wish to participate in. Anyone who signs up, be here tomorrow at 9 am, we will start everything then.” Josh finishes the speech, and a chorus of murmurs erupts throughout the stadium as the kids all stand to leave the field or go to the front to sign up for the group in which they were interested in participating.

The sign-up sheets had a decent amount of people sign them; they had five people for the search party, six were interested in helping with scavenging, four people were interested in helping with childcare, and twelve people were put forward for council. Tomorrow they would decide on the council and start with the different expeditions.