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“A fragile network of trade between settlements expanded. There were some closed settlements that had previously provided for the government that were now able to open theirs to the rest of us.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
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NICK WATCHED THE WOMAN wolf down her food. She kept an eye on the men in the room. Her gaze tracked to Nixie and Ted, then she scanned the room again. “You’re safe,” he said for the fifth time. He knew she wouldn’t believe him, but he felt the need to repeat it. Her companions were resting upstairs. The man had a gunshot wound in his arm. The bullet had gone right through the forearm, just above the wrist. Istvan had cleaned the wound and bandaged it. The women had little enough strength to drink some water before collapsing into sleep. They were so thin and worn, he figured that they would need weeks to recover.
He looked up as Wisp came into the room. He’d asked him to do another check of the perimeter.
“Nothing,” Wisp reported.
“No one followed you,” Nick told the woman.
She huffed out a grunt of disgust. “There wasn’t anyone to follow us. That’s why we got away.”
“From where?” Nick asked patiently. She’d ignored all of his questions on the way in, not even sharing her name. He hoped that a dry place to sleep, food and security would loosen her tongue.
She helped herself to another packet of Crunch. “The processing plant,” she mumbled with a mouth full.
A tingle of excitement charged through Nick. “Stew-goo?”
She looked at him under her lashes, reaching for another packet of food. “You can’t get anywhere near it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I’m just trying to figure out where stuff comes from,” Nick explained.
She tucked the Crunch into a pocket. Someone had given her a sweater that was too large for her. She pulled it close around her as if chilled. “Not much longer.”
“Why?” Nick asked.
She shrugged.
“You should rest,” he suggested.
Everett stood watch by the door. Nick gestured to him to escort the woman upstairs to the room where her friends were sleeping.
Istvan, Nixie, Ted and Wisp settled in dusty chairs around the room waiting for Everett to return.
“Is she all right?” Ted asked.
“Just hungry and tired, I think,” Nick said.
Everett breezed into the room and took a seat. “Is it what you thought?”
Nick rubbed his chin. “Sounds like it. She’s escaped from the Stew-goo factory.”
Ted jolted up, his face a mask of horror. Wisp reached over to put a hand on his brother’s arm. “As a worker,” he said.
The implications made Nick shiver. He might not be able to eat it again with that thought lingering in his brain. “Yes, a worker. She said there wasn’t anyone to come after her.”
“That’s not true,” Wisp countered.
“Do you know where the factory is?”
“Approximately. I didn’t scout it. There are people there.”
Ted raised a hand, as if asking to speak, waiting until Nick gave him permission. “Maybe she meant that there weren’t any guards left to come after her. Just the workers. And maybe they don’t want to leave. If they are surrounded by food...”
“I don’t think I’d want to be surrounded by Stew-goo,” Everett grumbled.
Istvan made a face.
“It’s a good point,” Nick said, ignoring Everett’s comment. “If they have food and weapons, why would they leave? Whether there are guards there or not. They might have all chosen to stay.”
“If the factory is now being held by the workers, I doubt they will continue production.” Wisp said.
“If the slaughterhouse isn’t operating, what would they make it out of?” Nick turned to Istvan. “You said you knew the ranchers that raised cattle for the slaughterhouse. Is this the last one?”
“I think so. There were six of them,” Istvan said with grim expression. “The herds were small. Devastated by the Hoofed Flu. They used them all up.”
“Because they think in the past,” Nick muttered. “They think there will always be more somewhere that they can take. Like their plans to tithe the settlements.”
“They’re wrong,” Everett said. “If they didn’t leave enough for breeding, there won’t be any more.”
Istvan shuffled a foot and twitched a shoulder. “There might be a few that went missing.”
“And I think I know of some more that will go missing also,” Nick said.