Gleanings

by Alice Sabo

  A deep thundering sound climbed in volume as the sky went black.

  Someone yelled a warning. Bridget tumbled to the floor where Jace had tackled her. An uprooted tree slammed into the front of the building cracking the glass and effectively locking them in. Then the floor shook, and she felt more than heard pops and cracks sound from inside. The roaring of the wind was deafening.

  Bridget knew the building had been designed to withstand anything short of a direct bomb blast. The fact that the walls were shaking was a very bad sign. Internal crashes meant that the infrastructure may have been damaged. Most of the building was underground, but if the entrance collapsed, they wouldn’t be able to access the lower levels.

  Their rescue was foiled. They couldn’t get out the front door without a couple of chainsaws. That meant they should report back for new orders, but Bridget was hesitant to move. The thunderous noise of the wind and the popping of the building made her want to crawl underneath something.

  Lightning flashed, three times in rapid succession. The thunderclaps were barely heard over the wind and pounding rain. Jace pulled on her hand. She realized the lobby was pitch dark. That was a bad thing. She hoped the power outage was isolated. She let him pull her to her feet. There was a flashlight waving across the room. It was a simple back and forth calling them all out. She stumbled over broken glass and fallen plaster. There was more damage here than she’d realized.

  She followed in line down a hallway and then down a stairwell. The sound of the storm faded as they moved lower. They came out into another hallway that had emergency lighting. It was only then that she saw that Jace was bleeding.

  Chapter 29

  Our history teaches us about the fall of Rome and other societies that collapsed from their excesses. In each case, the vacuum was eventually filled by a competing or subjugated society. Our disaster is worldwide. There is no one waiting in the wings to rebuild from our demise.

  History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss

  JUST AFTER DAWN, NICK stood at the window in the cafeteria watching the Garden Committee pull back the storm sheeting. The sun sent low rays through the trees lighting a half-drowned world. Puddles on the driveway flashed with sparkles from a gentle breeze. Rags of dark clouds were blowing away across the sky.

  Pots banged in the kitchen amid quiet banter, but Nick had most of the cafeteria to himself. A stray thought of Jean whispered around his mind and clung. It would be nice to share a cup of coffee with her, but he knew she was sleeping. It had been a rough night for anxious people. She’d spent most of it handing out food, water and smiles. Soft footsteps drew his attention. Wisp was at the coffee urn, helping himself to a cup. It made Nick feel better to see him on his feet. He walked over with a firm step. Definitely stronger than he had been last night.

  “Did the missing Rovers check in?” Wisp asked.

  “Not last night. Martin’s still waiting on the relays. He’s hoping they’ll report in this morning.” Nick felt bad for Martin. It was always hard to lose men.

  “If not, Angus will want us to go out.”

  Nick nodded. “Hopefully Martin will be able to narrow the search area.”

  “Is there a forecast?” Wisp asked.

  “Clear for the morning. Probably the usual thunderstorm this afternoon. I don’t think there’s another of the super-cells cooking up yet.” He glanced at the sky to see a larger wedge of clear blue than earlier.

  “We need to plan how we’re going after Ep. If we’re back to this kind of storm cycle, we’ll need to stay within a couple hours of safe haven.” Wisp pulled out a chair, carefully lowering himself into it with a stifled grunt.

  Nick took the hint and joined him at the table. “Has he come any closer?”

  “I haven’t checked.” Wisp tipped up his mug of coffee then glanced over to the urn.

  “You can have a refill.”

  Wisp shot him a mischievous look. “Who put you in charge?”

  “You missed a couple servings while you were unconscious.”

  Wisp chuckled but didn’t move from his seat.

  Eunice peeked into the cafeteria from the kitchen door. “You two need to eat now?”

  Nick walked over to the line, so he needn’t shout. “Nope. Just enjoying the quiet.”

  “You wait a minute,” Eunice said raising a finger. She was back in a flash with a muffin in each hand. “Testing this out. I’d appreciate some feedback.” She handed one to Nick and walked over to offer the other to Wisp.

  The little cake was warm and heavy in his hand. He sniffed it, but the smell didn’t tell him much. Wisp made a yummy noise. Nick took a small bite. Hot cherries burst on his tongue followed by a hint of mint and rosemary. “Very good,” he said with his mouth full.

  “Not wheat?” Wisp asked.

  “Mostly barley. We’ve got a lot coming in, and I wanted to test out a couple recipes before we were hip deep in it.”

  “It’s a winner,” Nick assured her.

  Eunice gave them a warm smile. “Thanks.” She ducked back into the kitchen.

  “I could eat a dozen more of those,” Nick murmured.

  Wisp shuffled back to the coffee urn. “Have another cup.” He turned to look out at the fields. The sun had cleared the clouds and was brightening the day. “Once we get away from here, I can check in on him again.”

  “How are you feeling?” Nick asked as casually as he could although he knew Wisp would be able to sense his concern.

  “Much better.”

  A clatter of small feet preceded a herd of kids stampeding into the cafeteria. That was the end of the quiet time. As soon as a line formed trouble, broke out in shoving and angry words.

  “They’re afraid,” Wisp said.

  Nick knew what was causing the trouble, or maybe he should have said who. The same jumped-up troublemaker from before was standing in the doorway whispering to people. Nick started across the room, but a couple of men from the Watch beat him to it. They obviously were keeping an eye on him. Once the doorway was cleared, people poured into the cafeteria and mobbed the food line.

  “Make a line,” Nick yelled, waving his arms to indicate where. “There’s plenty of food. Please make a line.”

  Wisp and a couple men from the Divvy Committee came over to help herd people into some sort of order.

  Eunice must have been working on perfecting the process because there were twice as many servers today. The food had been already assembled on trays. Each one had a big bowl of porridge, a small saucer of cherry preserves and a mug for coffee or tea. Nick felt nostalgic for the days of chatting down the food line as his plate was filled. There were too many people to get fed for that. Once the lines were set up, he and the others joined the servers handing out filled trays. There was an assembly line of workers in the kitchen setting them up. Once people had food in their hands, things got calmer.

  When the line thinned out, Nick took a tray for himself and headed for Angus’s office. The cafeteria was a wall of noise, and he needed some quiet. He wasn’t surprised to see Wisp follow. Angus had his own tray on his desk and was discussing the cherry preserves with Tilly.

  “Will you eat them separately or mix them into the porridge?” he asked as Nick settled in the discussion circle.

  “Mixed.”

  “Wisp?”

  “Separate.” He sat next to Nick.

  “What about you?” Nick asked.

  “Oh separate, definitely. After all those years of Stew-goo and Crunch, I need as many different flavors as possible.”

  Tilly nodded her agreement as she spooned up the last of her preserves. “What does the cafeteria look like?”

  “Total chaos,” Nick grumbled. Then raised a hand to calm Tilly. “Sorry, I meant, too many people. Eunice has it all in hand. Went very quick. But we’ve still got a couple of jerks trying to stir up trouble.”

  “How so? Angus asked.

  “Spreading rumors there isn’t enough food. That kind of thing.”

  �
��Why? There’s plenty of food right now,” Tilly said.

  Nick didn’t like hearing that qualifier but chose not to call her on it.

  “It’s a power issue,” Angus said softly. “Something we need to nip in the bud immediately.”

  “How?” Nick asked. He was surprised by the porridge. It was more than just oats and very creamy. He wondered if they’d had a delivery from Creamery that he hadn’t heard about. It was also just a little salty, which made an amazing contrast to the sweet preserves. He made short work of it.

  “People are scared,” Wisp said. He put his empty dishes on the tray to one side. “There’s nothing you can do until they learn to trust you.”

  “That takes time,” Angus began, but Tilly cut him off.

  “Not necessarily. A couple good meals, a hot shower and sleeping in a safe place can totally change a person. I could name a dozen people that started right in.”

  “When we were smaller,” Angus said. “When we outnumbered the newcomers, and they could see how this place was run. Now we are flooded with refugees who can only see that they are surrounded by more of the same. This isn’t home for any of them yet. And for some, it might never be that.”

  Martin entered, talking on his radio, but his smile was all the report Nick needed. “The shelters worked.”

  “Excellent!” Angus said.

  “We had one that lost an upright and partially collapsed, but no one was hurt. The relays got the warning out in plenty of time for people to take shelter. Some of the outposts have set up sirens, and they took in a couple of people for the storm.”

  “How did they know what the siren meant?” Tilly asked.

  Martin shrugged. “It was the outpost that set up in an old firehouse. It has a storm shelter. People were probably using it before.”

  “That means that they understand our presence and are willing to use our services.” Angus chirped happily.

  “I think our supplies interested a lot of people.”

  “Good neighbors...” Angus said with a fond smile.

  “What about the Rovers?” Nick asked.

  Martin’s smile melted away. “No sign yet.”

  “You want us to do a circuit?” Nick asked.

  Angus glanced to Wisp. “Are you up for it?”

  “It will give me a chance to check in on Ep.”

  “You’re still set on going after him?” Martin asked.

  “I have to,” Wisp said firmly.

  An uneasy silence settled on the room until Angus broke it. “Will you be gone long?”

  “I hope not,” Wisp said. “If I’m careful, I should be able to get in and out without too much trouble.”

  “In and out of what?” Tilly asked. “How do you know where he is?”

  “I don’t. But I can feel him strongly. I’ll be able to find him easily enough.”

  “And once you get there...” Martin began.

  “We’ll assess it,” Nick interjected. “Because I’m not going to let you go off alone.”

  “No.” Angus shook his head. “We don’t want you to be alone Wisp. Please take anyone you need to make this trip fast and safe.”

  Nick stood, ending a conversation that he wasn’t happy to continue. “First, we need to find those men.”

  Chapter 30

  As the final factories collapsed, there was no remaining authority to move people into communities. The workers were stranded without food or security. They were left on their own to find a settlement that might take them in.

  History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss

  BRIDGET WAITED WITH Jace until he got stitched up. She had some small cuts and a lot of bruises but nothing that required any of their dwindling medical supplies. They slept under the dim glow of emergency lighting. In the morning, she was part of one of the teams assessing the damage. They all reported back in proper order to each sectional head who would then bump it up the line. Bridget hoped that the damage wasn’t too severe, although, the rebuilding would give them something new to do.

  Dunham made the announcement during lunch. The mood was restrained despite the increased rations. The building was still intact. The damaged entrance would be walled off. The repair team thought that the damage to the foyer had caused the short to the electrical system. Once that was attended to, the main system should be back up and running. All six men that had gone out to the plum tree were assumed dead even though only four bodies had been found.

  On a brighter note, the monthly check of the train station was to proceed as usual. Cougar Squad was chosen to take the twelve mile, cross-country hike out to Fielding Station. They still had a couple of functioning vehicles, but finding usable roads tripled the trip. Nobody liked being gone that long. In the back of her mind, Bridget was hoping that the train food would be back. And despite trying to not think it, she couldn’t stop her mind from calculating what six fewer mouths to feed would do to their existing supplies.

  After lunch, she was assigned to one of the clean-up teams. She spent part of her shift dragging containers of broken glass and plaster out to the garbage dump outside the fence. Then she went back out on patrol. The path along the fence was solid mud. There were branches down everywhere. Another crew was collecting them for a bonfire. Although she was pretty sure that secretly everyone was hoping for another wild boar that they could roast over it.

  At the side of the building, a swath of fencing had been knocked down and dragged. It was twisted, part of it sunken in mud, the other tangled in fallen branches. Yet another crew was sorting out what might be reusable.

  The damage to the building had deeply shaken her. This was her home. Her safe haven for the past six years. But the damage to the fence frightened her. She hadn’t realized how fearful she’d become of the outer world. It was an unbounded, unreasonable fear. There wasn’t much that six feet of chain-link fencing could keep out. It didn’t stop the flu. Wouldn’t stop a determined squad of men. But it was a boundary, an edge, a mental perimeter that separated chaos from order, the unknown from the familiar. She hoped that they could scavenge enough bits to repair the fence properly. It felt like a broken front tooth in the face of a friend.

  Chapter 31

  Now that it has come down to food as the sole key to survival, the farms must be guarded like gold mines.

  History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss

  TILLY WALKED INTO THE kitchen to catch Eunice and Bruno with their heads together over Eunice’s desk. Sarah was stacking ingredients to start lunch on a work table. Mary was elbow-deep in dough. Tilly checked in with Mary first. “What kind of bread?”

  Mary smiled. “Eunice has decided that everything has to be easy to portion, so I’m making rolls.”

  “That’s a good idea. Can you keep them a uniform size?”

  Mary gestured to a scale. “I’m going to weigh the first couple until I can get the feel for it.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Tilly saw Bruno leave. She headed over to Eunice. “I heard that breakfast went smoothly. That was a great idea to fill the trays in here.”

  “Thanks, but it just about ran us off our feet. I’m going to need more people to set up for lunch.”

  Tilly pulled out her notepad. “How many do you need?”

  “I can probably round them up, don’t worry about it. Rumor has it that kitchen workers get an extra serving,” Eunice said with a wink. “But I do want to talk to you about what Bruno just told me.”

  “Should we go to the office?”

  “Please,” Eunice said as she led the way. “Bruno found a shopping mall,” she added over her shoulder.

  “I hope he didn’t go in alone,” Tilly said with a shiver. Most malls were hulking caves of unknown circumstance. They could hide an entire army of raiders or wild animals or long dark corridors strewn with broken glass and sharp metal.

  “I didn’t ask. He thinks there are kids in there. But the good thing is, he thinks that most of the stores are still intact.” Eunice sank into one of the armchair
s with a pleased sigh.

  “Clothing?” Tilly asked brightly. Although Claude was making great progress, they now had a lot more people to clothe. She took the chair across from Eunice.

  “All sorts of things. Including a kitchen store. I told him I want everything in it right down to the butter knives.”

  Tilly felt a thrill of excitement. Depending on what kinds of stores there were, and how many looters had been through, it could be quite a haul. “If there’s a sporting goods store, Martin’s men could use the camping gear.” The look on Eunice’s face told Tilly that they’d been thinking along very different lines.

  “And he said he saw a food court, so he might be able to get some of those racks on wheels...” Eunice gave her a wistful smile. “Can’t blame a girl for dreaming, right?”

  “Where is Bruno now?”

  “Off to talk to the Divvy Committee and Martin. He wants the Watch to go with him. Oh, and Lily, too.”

  “What?”

  “Because of the kids.”

  Tilly felt a deep shame when she realized she’d let the thought of all those goods push aside the news of more children on their own. “Yes, of course. Maybe we should send Ted with a couple of his kids along, so that they know it’s safe. He’s so good with them, and I’m sure a van full of armed men will scare them back into some dark corner.”

  Snowball, the white kitten came rocketing into the room with a puppy on her tail. They chased around the room until Eunice neatly scooped up the pup. Then Sarah burst in calling them to come see a delivery.

  Tilly grunted to her feet. “Were you expecting something?” she asked Eunice as she led the way back to the kitchen.