father.
Thinking of her Dad made Alex check the time on her old windup watch. It was just after five o’clock and being surrounded by all this food made Alex’s belly rumble. Deciding to stay here until closer to dark, she closed the door to the rest of the basement and found a desk to put her things on. She didn’t think it would be too bad to help herself to one meal from Mrs. Moore’s stock as all she had left in her pack was water and some beef jerky. She grabbed one of the small fuel cans and a cooking frame to go over it and selected a can of chunky beef stew for her meal. The stew warmed in its can as she did some more exploring. Seeing all the food on the shelves made her think of Dr. Mack’s weight loss
The guards obviously weren’t feeding the workers much and she wished she could find a way to get food to them but her pack would only carry so much and she wanted to take the handheld radios with her. Boxed cases of power bars caught her attention and she pulled one from the shelf, testing the weight. The box contained fifteen bars and hardly weighed anything. She might not be able to feed her neighbours a real meal but she could at least give them this.
Alex emptied her backpack and sorted out what she would need to keep. The handgun would go in a holster on her belt and she would wear the extra sweat shirt she had brought. She repacked the hand held radios and medical supplies and then filled her bag with seventy power bars. Thrown in loose the bars didn’t take up more than half her bag so she started to hunt through the shelves for something else she could take the half-starved townspeople. Alex found what she was looking for in cellophane wrapped sesame snaps. They were small but high in sugar and protein. She dumped them in on top of the power bars, added the binoculars and closed her pack. She lifted it to test the weight and was happy to feel it only slightly heavier than before she had started.
The smell of her dinner filled the room and she found a spoon and dug in. It was far from gourmet , but the warmth filled her and satisfied her after a long day of walking. She cleaned up her small meal as best as she could and topped up her water bottle from one of the many jugs stored in the room. Alex couldn’t stop thinking of her dad. The guard had told Dr. Mack that he wouldn’t eat if he didn’t make a quota but she hadn’t seen her father working at all. Doing another quick search of the room, she found a small camping pot and filled it with water before placing it on the stove frame to boil. There were four stainless steel thermoses on the camping gear shelf so she grabbed one and carried it over to the desk. Once the water was boiling she added six bouillon cubes and made beef broth before pouring the mixture into the thermos and adding it to her pack.
Alex checked her watch and saw that she still had an hour before she wanted to head back to her farm so she searched through the desk and found sheet after sheet of inventory on the supplies in the room. Alex spent the next thirty minutes leafing through the papers and contemplating what would happen in the night to come. She was getting more anxious by the minute and finally gave up waiting and moved around the room, shutting down the lanterns she had lit.
When she left the room and secured the door , she took another look around the rest of the basement. Her footprints stood out clearly in the spilled laundry soap so she picked up the half-filled box and started to toss soap flakes over her prints as she walked backwards to the stairs. As she stepped onto the lowest step she tossed the empty box into the corner and continued up the stairs. Before she left the house, she found the key under the sink to the cellar and stopped in the mudroom where there were blue boxes for recycling. She selected an empty glass jar with a lid and peeked out the backdoor to scan the yard. Finding it clear, she strode across the overgrown grass to the shed and
Thinking of her Dad made Alex check the time on her old windup watch. It was just after five o’clock and being surrounded by all this food made Alex’s belly rumble. Deciding to stay here until closer to dark, she closed the door to the rest of the basement and found a desk to put her things on. She didn’t think it would be too bad to help herself to one meal from Mrs. Moore’s stock as all she had left in her pack was water and some beef jerky. She grabbed one of the small fuel cans and a cooking frame to go over it and selected a can of chunky beef stew for her meal. The stew warmed in its can as she did some more exploring. Seeing all the food on the shelves made her think of Dr. Mack’s weight loss
The guards obviously weren’t feeding the workers much and she wished she could find a way to get food to them but her pack would only carry so much and she wanted to take the handheld radios with her. Boxed cases of power bars caught her attention and she pulled one from the shelf, testing the weight. The box contained fifteen bars and hardly weighed anything. She might not be able to feed her neighbours a real meal but she could at least give them this.
Alex emptied her backpack and sorted out what she would need to keep. The handgun would go in a holster on her belt and she would wear the extra sweat shirt she had brought. She repacked the hand held radios and medical supplies and then filled her bag with seventy power bars. Thrown in loose the bars didn’t take up more than half her bag so she started to hunt through the shelves for something else she could take the half-starved townspeople. Alex found what she was looking for in cellophane wrapped sesame snaps. They were small but high in sugar and protein. She dumped them in on top of the power bars, added the binoculars and closed her pack. She lifted it to test the weight and was happy to feel it only slightly heavier than before she had started.
The smell of her dinner filled the room and she found a spoon and dug in. It was far from gourmet , but the warmth filled her and satisfied her after a long day of walking. She cleaned up her small meal as best as she could and topped up her water bottle from one of the many jugs stored in the room. Alex couldn’t stop thinking of her dad. The guard had told Dr. Mack that he wouldn’t eat if he didn’t make a quota but she hadn’t seen her father working at all. Doing another quick search of the room, she found a small camping pot and filled it with water before placing it on the stove frame to boil. There were four stainless steel thermoses on the camping gear shelf so she grabbed one and carried it over to the desk. Once the water was boiling she added six bouillon cubes and made beef broth before pouring the mixture into the thermos and adding it to her pack.
Alex checked her watch and saw that she still had an hour before she wanted to head back to her farm so she searched through the desk and found sheet after sheet of inventory on the supplies in the room. Alex spent the next thirty minutes leafing through the papers and contemplating what would happen in the night to come. She was getting more anxious by the minute and finally gave up waiting and moved around the room, shutting down the lanterns she had lit.
When she left the room and secured the door , she took another look around the rest of the basement. Her footprints stood out clearly in the spilled laundry soap so she picked up the half-filled box and started to toss soap flakes over her prints as she walked backwards to the stairs. As she stepped onto the lowest step she tossed the empty box into the corner and continued up the stairs. Before she left the house, she found the key under the sink to the cellar and stopped in the mudroom where there were blue boxes for recycling. She selected an empty glass jar with a lid and peeked out the backdoor to scan the yard. Finding it clear, she strode across the overgrown grass to the shed and
Similar Books
