The next few hours were a confusion of activity as townspeople rushed to clear space for the supplies the soldiers began unloading from the trucks. Those supplies came in the form of a several bundles of coats, hats, socks, and gloves, only enough for a hundred people at most. That lack of cold weather gear was made up for by an endless line of plastic-wrapped pallets and cardboard boxes full of nonperishable foodstuffs, anything from cereals to jerky to cans of mixed nuts to candy and soda. There were also plenty of instant drink powders and baking mixes.
It looked as if a holding warehouse for a major store chain had been emptied. Not the healthiest food, Trev was dismayed to see, but the sight of the familiar processed foods he’d loved before the world ended set his mouth watering, even if some of them were probably a bit stale by now. Great for a party even so, but he was glad the family had their animals and were preserving a good portion of the meat they hunted, as well as preserving anything they foraged that could be stored for any period of time.
At least a healthy chunk of the supplies came in the form of a wide assortment of canned food, rice, beans, and other uncooked grains and legumes. The sort of stuff he’d loaded into his cart way back on that first day after the Gulf burned, as part of the rush to get what he could from the nearest store before its shelves were emptied by other people similarly thinking ahead.
And along with the bags of wheat and sugar he also saw huge sacks of salt, which were a prize in and of themselves. Salt had so many vital uses that it had often been used as currency in ancient times, and the town always needed more. In fact, he was surprised the military had provided it in such large amounts.
Then again they’d been generous with everything: whatever most of the food lacked in quality, it more than made up for it in quantity. Many hands may have made light work, but there was still a whole lot of it to do emptying the trucks.
Luckily there was no shortage of volunteers, overjoyed townspeople who couldn’t jump to the task fast enough. Trev didn’t even catch anyone trying to make off with whatever they could hide beneath their clothes or sneak away with unnoticed. He liked to think that was the quality of his friends and neighbors, rather than the armed and vigilant soldiers swarming the area along with his own defenders acting as a deterrent to theft.
During that time he got a chance to talk with Matt about taking in veterans. His friend seemed a bit hesitant, obviously thinking of the mouths to feed, although he certainly was willing to do what he could. But, like Trev, he deferred such an important decision until it was discussed by the town’s leaders. Trev hoped that having the Mayor on board would improve their chances, but he still had return to Bryant and let him know the answer was still a “maybe”.
It was late afternoon before the soldiers unloading the trucks finally saw the back walls, signaling an end to the seemingly inexhaustible store of supplies the military had brought. There were mingled cheers and groans at that, cheers for a job nearly finished and groans for the fact that the pallets of food weren’t actually infinite.
About that time Lewis and Jane returned, gawking at the hive of activity around the convoy and town buildings as they rode up on their bikes. From the several garbage bags filling his cousin’s trailer to overflowing Trev assumed the foraging trip had been a success. He hopped down from the truck he was working in and waved, Deb breaking away from where she’d been standing on the sidelines watching to join him, and the couple veered over to meet them.
“What’s going on?” Lewis asked, watching the last of the supplies being loaded.
Trev grinned. “Some good luck, finally. The military found a huge windfall and they’re distributing it to everyone. Six months of food per person, along with a few other necessities.”
His cousin whistled in disbelief, exchanging glances with Jane. “And no strings attached?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“No, but…?” Lewis asked, looking between him and Deb. Deb just shrugged, leaving Trev to answer.
“But they asked the town to take in a few dozen veterans who were seriously wounded or crippled in the fighting. They’ll help out as best they can, but there’s no saying how much they’ll be able to contribute. The town hasn’t decided on it yet.”
Trev expected his pragmatic cousin to take issue with the added burden, but Lewis just nodded. “It might turn out they could be more useful than we expect, if the town agrees to take them in.” He abruptly pointed to a group coming out of the tent. “Is that the leader of the convoy?”
“Yeah,” Trev replied. “Corporal Bryant. He’s a fan of yours, actually, since his squad was stationed just south of where we were below Highway 31.” Deb nodded at that.
“Even better.” Grinning, his cousin set his bike’s kickstand and hurried over to the soldier, leaving Trev, Deb, and Jane behind.
“What was that about?” Deb asked the redheaded woman.
She shrugged and pointed to the overflowing trailer as she got ready to ride off. “Probably about finding supplies and equipment for his reloading venture.”
“Ah, right.” Trev nodded after Lewis. “Shall we?”
Jane shook her head. “I think I’m going to get all these shell casings back home.” She hopped off her bike, setting it on the trampled grass beside the road, and moved over to her husband’s with the attached trailer.
Trev rested a hand on the handlebar. “Want me to ride it back instead so you don’t have to leave yours just sitting here?”
“No.” She quickly hopped on the other bike and started off. Trev knew the tall, slender woman well enough not to be offended by her terseness.
From the looks of it Jane didn’t have to strain pulling the trailer, since even overloaded like it was it didn’t seem very heavy. He supposed that spent brass was fairly light, even in bulk. The question was whether they were valuable in spite of their weight. He supposed they’d find out soon.
Deb gave him an amused look. She’d also been around Jane long enough to know how she was. “I’ll take her bike back,” she offered. “I know you’ve been wanting to be involved in this venture with your cousin. Go on.”
Trev nodded gratefully as she crouched to pick up the abandoned bike, and with a wave as she set off he made his way over to where Lewis was introducing himself to a very enthusiastic Corporal Bryant, who was shaking his hand and giving him a brief description of the fighting farther south of Highway 31.
For a few minutes they shared the highlights of their time down there, then Lewis cleared his throat. “Listen, I wanted to run something by you,” he said.
The corporal gave him a curious look. “Shoot.”
His cousin grinned. “You’re not far off.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shell casing. “I’m trying to get into reloading, but I’m having trouble with some of the supplies.”
Bryant whistled, taking the casing and spinning it on his palm. “Reloading, huh? Not a bad business to get into. I remember seeing just piles of discarded brass at a lot of the positions we held. Sometimes they ended up in the refuse pits, but most of the time they’d just get ground into the dirt. Some of the guys would call the ground around the front fortifications the Golden Carpet.”
Lewis’s grin widened. “I know. We visited the front along Highway 6 to see what we could find. Brought back three garbage bags full.”
That prompted another whistle. “So you’re set for casings. What’s the trouble?”
“Well I’ve got a few potential prospects for good quality reloading equipment, and I think I can get a handle on materials to make the bullets, too. But where I’m drawing a blank is on the smokeless powder and primers. I’m wondering if the military is the place to look. Maybe demolitions teams?”