The first round came from the seventh level, fifteen minutes following Makara’s announcement. Meanwhile, Ashton was ready to pick up anyone at the north face of the mountain.
As the minutes and hours passed, the barracks filled with survivors. When the head count passed one hundred, they still kept coming. There were far more survivors than we’d thought; they’d all been separated by the Lords’ relentless attacks. Michael and Julian started passing out canned food they’d found inside a kitchen connecting two of the barracks. As Damian had said, many were women and children. And they were hungry.
I helped with a can opener I’d found in a kitchen drawer. I was in the middle of uncapping a can of pineapple when it happened.
“Daddy!”
Callie crashed into Michael’s leg, wrapping it in a viselike grip. Michael pulled the little girl free and held her to his chest.
“Callie, baby, you’re alright!”
The girl laughed and Michael looked past her to see his wife, whose blue eyes were flooded with tears. Blood and dirt were smeared on her face, and her cheeks were gaunt. She gave a small, pained smile.
“Lauren…”
Michael walked forward and embraced his wife, holding her like he’d never let go.
Callie walked up and looked at the half-opened can of pineapple I was holding. I continued to open the lid, and when it fell off, I tossed it aside and handed the can to her. Immediately, Callie gulped it down. By the time I had another can open, this time beans, she was already done with the pineapple. Others in line watched hungrily as Julian worked quickly to open all the cans he could.
“Share this one with your mom, alright?” I asked.
Callie nodded, carefully taking the can of black beans and returning to her parents.
Michael parted from his wife. I opened a few more cans, one with beets and another with spinach. I know it wasn’t gourmet, but it would have to do. The food had nutrients and calories, and that was what everyone needed.
As the people ate, I continued opening cans. We had only found two can openers, so we worked as quickly as we could. After about fifteen minutes, everyone had eaten one can of food. Still, we continued to open them. Lauren and Michael went to the kitchen to see if they could find any more can openers.
When they came back, Lauren had another can opener, while Michael toted another armful of cans. She set to work as people came by for round two.
“Is Ruth alright?” I asked.
“I think so,” Lauren said. “We were together…until we weren’t. We got separated in the chaos.” Lauren paused, reaching for another can of food. “She knew how to work Hydroponics, so they couldn’t do anything to her.” She paused, opening another can of beans, which was quickly taken by a muscled Raider. “I’m worried about her for other reasons.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine what those reasons might be. Ruth was a good-looking woman, and she was surrounded by a bunch of unscrupulous men — men without honor and principles.
“We have to get her out of there,” I said.
Lauren nodded. “I know. It isn’t going to be easy. I don’t think Rey is going to accept Makara’s terms.”
“So Rey is the one in charge?” Julian asked.
Lauren nodded. “Yeah. Jade is sort of their lackey, but they do give him some rein. It’s more Rey and Cain working together. To what end, I don’t know. They must know they’re done, with Makara back. They still hold some pretty powerful cards. Ruth is one of them, and they also have Char and Marcus.”
“If they’re still alive,” Michael said softly.
“I think they are,” Lauren said. “They need that leverage, especially now when the balance is shifting so much.”
I hoped Lauren was right. I couldn’t imagine the Lords keeping either Char or Marcus alive. Still, maybe they’d agree to parley sometime in the next few hours, as Makara had laid out.
“We’ll find a way,” Michael said.
Finally, we were opening cans faster than people could take them. A minute later, we gave our hands a break. I took a can of pork and beans, grabbed a nearby spoon, and started to eat. It was the first food I’d had since breakfast, all the way back in Los Angeles.
With the realization of how busy my day had been, I felt a wave of fatigue. I checked my watch, seeing that it was 21:00 on the dot.
I uncapped another can, taking a cue from Callie and favoring pineapple. Callie watched with wide eyes, sitting on Michael’s lap.
I ate the pineapple, draining the rest of my juice, and set the empty can on the floor. I noticed that a lot of people were hanging around, even if they didn’t want more food for the moment. It took me a minute to realize why they were.
“They want to take some of the food for themselves,” I said. “We should probably keep it in a secure location.”
“Can’t we just trust people to take the right amount?” Lauren asked.
Julian and Michael answered at the same time. “No.”
“Alright,” Lauren said. “What do we do, then?”
“We could keep everything in the Command Center, where it would always be under watch,” I said. “Most people would take the right amount, but some will hoard, which would punish the people who follow the rules.”
“I agree,” Michael said.
“I’ll talk to Makara,” I said.
I left the barracks, following a short corridor leading to the Command Center. Once there, I found Makara, Samuel, and Grudge on the Command Center floor. I went downstairs. They saw me coming down and waved me over.
As I approached, Makara gave me an update.
“Ashton picked up twenty or so, and they should be heading down soon. You might want to get some more food ready.”
“About that,” I said. “We were talking about keeping the food in the Command Center. It would prevent people from taking more than they need. We could take inventory and hand it out only at mealtimes.”
Makara nodded. “Yeah, good idea. Find a way to move it in here.”
“That won’t stop people from going out and finding their own,” Samuel said.
“No, we can’t stop them from doing that,” Makara said. “But we can forbid anyone from leaving level three without an escort. We can widen our range once we start securing more floors.”
“We’re probably good down to level six or so,” Grudge said.
“Probably,” Makara agreed. “But I’m not taking any chances. And that’s too much ground to cover with what we have.”
“Alright,” Ashton’s voice said, coming out of the computer speakers. “I’ve landed outside the canyon. The refugees are worried about the snow, so I’ll be escorting them to the entrance. I’ll be out of touch for the next ten minutes.”
“Copy that,” Makara said. “Good job, Ashton.”
“What’s the head count?” he asked.
“122, so far. 142 once yours arrive. About half can use guns.”
“Copy that. I’ll make one more flyby before calling it a night. I think I got everyone I could on this round, but another sweep won’t hurt.”
“We’ll make the announcement for the last sweep,” Samuel said.
“Copy that,” Ashton said. “Out.”
No emissary arrived from the Lords below, at least not within the first four hours. I wouldn’t have known if any had arrived, because I woke up around midnight, despite my tiredness.
I kept thinking of Anna, hating how I couldn’t see her and how she was locked away on Perseus.
Which was when I realized that I could go see her. True, it meant going through the empty corridors of Bunker 84 alone. But the lights were on, and level three and above were secure.
It would be cold outside, but I had my parka.