The Borrowed World: A Novel of Post-Apocalyptic Collapse by Franklin Horton

the road had troopers show up to make sure no gas was being sold.”
    “There’s no gas here to guard,” the minister said.  “All the tanks sold out this morning.  I think there’s a little kerosene left and that’s it.”
    “Are the hotels accepting guests?” Alice asked.
    “I think so,” he said.  “There’s a rumor that FEMA is supposed to charter some buses and come through and deliver people down the interstate.  One rumor is that they’ll bus people closer to home. Another says they’ll bus them to FEMA camps to sit out the worst of this.   Because of that a lot of people are just sitting around waiting for the buses to show up.  Some have checked into the hotels.  They don’t have power and I’m sure the water is probably down to a trickle by now but I guess it beats sleeping in the bushes.”
    At the mention of FEMA, I caught Gary’s eye and fought back a grin.  While we were both a little paranoid, FEMA inspired severe paranoia in many in the prepper community.  They were attributed with all manner of powers specifically tailored to taking our liberties.  FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security were alleged to be evil incarnate.
    “Are people behaving themselves?” I asked.  “There are a lot of people here.”
    The minister considered this.  “They are for now,” he said after a moment, “because they think buses are coming to get them.  When it gets dark and there are no buses, I’m not sure how they’ll act.  Not everyone has the means to pay for a hotel, even if they are accepting plastic.  There have also been a lot of folks purchasing alcohol from the convenience stores and sitting around drinking it since they don’t have anything else to do.  We tried to discourage that by saying we wouldn’t serve anyone who was intoxicated, but some prefer the bottle to the burger.”
    “I agree that things might not be so pretty here when people realize that the rumor was just that,” I said.  “When people get desperate, they get ugly.”
    “Yes,” Alice agreed.  “We’ve seen that today already.”
    “You folks have seen the face of man’s ugliness today?” the minister asked.
    “We lost a member of our group this morning and it’s still upsetting to us,” I said.
    “I’m sorry if I’ve hit a sore spot,” the minister said.  “I do a lot of spiritual counseling and prying is in my nature.”
    “That’s okay,” I said.  “No harm done.  We definitely appreciate the hospitality.”
    “You’re most welcome,” the minister said.  “I see more hungry folks coming so I better get back to the serving line.”
    “Sir?” I said.  “One more thing.”
    He turned back around.  “Yes?”
    “You mentioned ATVs,” I said.  “We passed an elderly couple about two miles north of here on the interstate.  They were out of gas and the woman was in medical distress, unable to walk.  Do you think that someone might be able to go pick them up and bring them back here?  I’m really concerned about them.”
    “I’m sure that we could,” the minister said.  “We have a side-by-side ATV that holds three people and has a cargo bed.  We also have a trailer attached to it.”
    “I would be glad to go with you,” I added.  “We hated to leave them, but we couldn’t carry them without a vehicle of some sort.”
    “Why don’t you folks go see if you can secure a hotel room after you’re finished eating?” he said.  “Come back here in about thirty minutes and I’ll have someone available to pick them up if you can show us where they are.”
    “I appreciate that,” I said.
    The minister smiled, turned, and walked back to his station, patting shoulders and greeting more hungry faces.
    We decided to start with the hotel farthest from the interstate.  We’d had a short discussion about it and Gary pointed out that it was likely to be the least crowded since tired travelers would probably stop at the first hotel they came to.  We walked in