“I can’t do that. I’d just be making it all up!”

“No worries. Everybody should see a doctor. If you say that, you won’t be hurting anybody. You might even save a life.”

The forward motion of the chopper stopped and my stomach stayed up as we dropped. Steve set his chopper down gently on the ground.

“There, perfect landing,” he said.

“I hardly felt it.”

“Years of ferrying around tourists gives you a gentle touch.”

Almost instantly the back door was flung open and a man jumped in and started to grab the bags of supplies.

“Sorry I can’t get you any closer to the resort area than this,” Steve said.

“This is just great. Maybe I can get a ride from here.”

“Not likely. Can’t get a ride from here without explaining who you are. Besides, lots of the roads leading to the resorts are blocked. Walking is the only way to get around. It’s not far. Two, maybe three miles.”

I undid the seat belt and wiggled the door handle, trying to get out.

“Push it down and then out,” Steve said.

I followed his instructions and the door opened.

“What have you got in those bags?” he asked.

“Clothes, personal things…why?”

“No food or water?”

“No,” I said. “I thought I could pick up something when I got here.”

“Nothing to get. Dump out most of it. I’ll go and see if I can rustle you up some stuff.”

Steve climbed out of the cockpit leaving me alone—that is, except for the men who were unloading the helicopter. They were moving incredibly fast, passing the sacks from person to person and then piling them up on top of a wooden skid. I tried not to let them see me looking, tried to avoid eye contact. I didn’t want anybody to ask me any questions.

I took everything out of my backpack except one change of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, and my toiletry items. I tried to fold the rest into a little pile at my feet and then thought better of it. What was the point?

Steve came back with his arms full of…something. “Here you go,” he said. “These will keep you hydrated and fed.” He had five large bottles of water and lots of little foil packages, which he dumped on the helicopter’s seat.

“Don’t drink the water, any water that isn’t in a bottle,” he said. “The whole filtration system is filled with seawater and sewage. And these are army rations.” He held up one of the little packages. “Each energy bar is a meal. They taste like sawdust but they’re filled with energy. Two of these are good for a day’s worth of calories.” There had to be twenty or thirty of them on the seat.

“I won’t need that many.”

“Better to take more than not have enough when you need them. Besides, you might be providing food for your whole family, and who knows who else. No telling what the food situation is like where they’re holed up.”