Page 140 of Hell Breaks Loose

Even.

Evan…

Jarred from my stupor, I spring to my feet. When I reach the door upstairs, I’m already running, out across the lawn and through the gate.

28

TELL

“Ithought I ate a lot. How the fuck are we supposed to feed that many mouths?”

“Simple math. Calories, body weight, effort.” Gavin shrugs, checking another rabbit trap.

“Then we should have everyone foraging for their own food.”

“Then no one would catch anything, run all the critters off.”

“Please don’t call my future dinner ‘critters’.”

At a distance I spot other pairs of gatherers, hunters. Fucking weird.

To think that just a few weeks ago, we were all cellphone addicted, TV watching, latte-guzzling dead-heads. Now we’re neophytes to post-civilization survival. Like we’re supposed to just turn the switch off and morph into flower children.

Wow. I am turning into a philosophical dweeb.

I need to get back to doom scrolling social media, or pretty soon, I’ll start growing a beard and playing bongos. My brain is not designed for ‘quiet.’

“What’re Hellena and the ladies up to? Pillow fight? It is camp, so I was thinking?—”

“Tell.” Gavin presses one finger to his lips for silence.

Right.

Can’t catch shit if I’m blabbering all the time.

I really should have gone with the groups trying to get power back on in town. Ever since Marco bit the dust, we’ve finally started looking toward moving back down the mountain.

With the addition of so many of the Vice crew, we have way more access to guns and vehicles to guard the civies and send out patrols.

Ventures to the powerplant, water station, and city gas require protection from the bands of Rachelle’s psychos. Then they have to be protected so they don’t undo the fixes we get in place.

It’s far from finished. It’s just the beginning.

The extra hands go a long way toward assessing the damage and seeing what we need to do to get the city back on its feet. All hands on deck means, well, just that.

My problem is that most of my surveillance skills, info gathering, etc., are energy dependent.

Computers.

Cameras.

So I got stuck here on food duty with Grizzly Adams. No offense to Grizzly the biker. Love that guy. He and Tomlin are like the little brothers I never wanted. But in the best way possible.

They’ve sort of got their own language, though, which limits my assistance. Plus, their area of expertise sits closer to the ground.

They can fix anything with wheels. Super useful.

Unlike what Gavin keeps volunteering for.

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