Schism by Britt Holewinski Page B

well?”
    “Like a rock. You?”
    “The same. I think I was asleep the second my head hit the pillow.” As he sat beside her, she asked, “Think you and Jim will stick around?”
    He combed his fingers through his hair in that now-familiar way and cracked his knuckles. “For now.”
    “For now? What else are you looking for?”
    Ben faced her, his expression stern. “Nothing. I’m just saying that this place will do for now.”
    ***
    There was a knock on the door. It was Brian. “Wow, nice house you guys got,” he said after stepping inside and giving it a once-over. “One of you must’ve done something right for Nataliya to give you this place.”
    Andy raised her hands. “Definitely wasn’t me.”
    He immediately understood her full meaning. “No, probably not. She doesn’t like most other girls her age, especially those who are pretty.”
    She wasn’t sure whether or not he had just complimented her, but she didn’t dwell on it. “Come in,” she said, closing the door behind him. “Where’s your sister?”
    “She’s at home. She wanted to come, but she had to take care of the horses.”
    “How many do you have?”
    “Four. They can be a pain to feed and care for, but we need them to haul things into town, especially with gas from the refinery being so hard to get.”
    Andy opened her mouth wide in disbelief and then asked, “Gas is being made ?”
    “Yeah, but it’s a work in progress. It was only six months ago when it started being produced again, but since there’s only one refinery in Colorado, we have to bargain with nearby towns to get some. Luckily, most people here in Aspen don’t drive much. Everyone just uses their bikes or walks. Whatever gasoline we get is mostly for people who need to drive outside of town, like me and Susan.”
    Andy led Brian into the living room and gestured for him to take a seat. “Still, I’m surprised gas is being made at all.”
    “Why? The technology exists. We just had to figure out how to do it ourselves, like everything else.”
    “I guess.” Everyone knew that performing brain surgery or building skyscrapers was possible; the hard part was learning how when there was no one left to teach.
    Morgan descended the stairs just then and headed toward the living room. She held out her hand to Brian and introduced herself. “So I hear you live on a farm.”
    “Yes. It was our childhood farm. After our parents died it was all we had left. Susan was so young, so it was up to me to take care of it and figure out how to keep the animals fed and healthy. But eventually we got the hang of it and began exchanging food for things in town.” Knowing that any useful commodity produced before the virus would soon run out, he and a few friends decided that if they could learn how to make things and perform the same jobs that adults had, they would survive indefinitely.
    “So is that how you became a member of the council? Because you helped start everything?” Morgan asked.
    “That plus I was one of the oldest survivors, so others were willing to listen to me, I guess. Age and experience were everything back then.”
    “Who are the others on the council?” asked Andy.
    “Five of them are friends that I went to school with. Two of them work as mechanics and repair things. The other three have farms like me, two for agriculture and one for livestock.”
    “I assume Nataliya isn’t one of those friends. She doesn’t seem the mechanic-farm girl type,” said Andy with a chuckle.
    Brian hesitated before answering, indicating there was a story involved, but just as he was about to answer, the front door opened. Jim, Charlie, and Ben entered.
    “Afternoon. Are we interrupting?” asked Jim.
    “No, we were just talking about how the council here was formed,” Andy said.
    “How did Nataliya get to be a part of the council?” Morgan asked.
    “Well,” Brian began. “I’m sure you all guessed that her family was insanely wealthy. Her father had to have been