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Thunder cracked overhead making Ted flinch while he was trying to settle his newcomers. They were nervous to begin with. The storm just made things worse. And it felt totally wrong to not have Nixie at his side. She was sleeping in their room. He’d heard that the clinic was too full, so he’d kept her home. Actually, he was afraid to let her go. There was something about sending someone off to a medical facility that scared him badly.
“What should we do?” a skinny teen asked shrilly.
“Well, I’m going to need a hand in the kitchen.” He knew it would be chaos to bring them all into the kitchen while he tried to get a meal together, but he didn’t think he had an option. There were five girls and seven women, two of which had already fallen asleep in chairs in the lobby. That left him with ten scared people.
He assigned tasks randomly, but as soon as everyone was busy, they seemed to calm down. The storm was getting worse. Hail pounded on the roof so hard that he worried that it was going to break through.
A few more of his regulars wandered in to lend a hand. Tables were set, food was served and the evening progressed in a normal fashion. Except nothing was normal. He gave away his dinner to a big-eyed youngster who was much too thin. He checked on Nixie, but she was the same. Sound asleep and not interested in food. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to wake her up and make her eat.
He was sitting on the bed, holding Nixie’s limp hand when William arrived in a dripping slicker to check on him. “Some of the new girls are raiding the kitchen.”
Ted reluctantly left the bedside. He went downstairs to find a group of youngsters eating their way through the pantry. “You’ll make yourselves sick,” Ted said trying to shoo them out.
One kicked his shins while another hit him over the head with a pot. He saw stars and almost went down. William waded in snarling and shoving until they finally left.
“You’re going to need some better security,” William said pulling out his radio.
Ted didn’t know if there were any Watchmen available considering the circumstances. “Everyone is probably busy.” It felt too insignificant, in the scheme of things, to call in people who were probably needed elsewhere.
Luckily, a few of the older and less active ones answered William’s call for assistance. Ted had never had to put a guard on the kitchen. His kids knew him and would ask for food. The newcomers were too hungry for civilities. They just took.
“Do you want me to stay?” William asked.
“Yes, please,” Ted said shakily. He rubbed the lump on his head. The pantry was a mess. They had thrown tins and sacks on the floor. He got down on his knees to make sure that nothing had been spoiled. “They don’t understand,” he grumbled.
“I’ll make them understand,” William said.
Ted stared up at him. The kids were so much stronger now. He was surprised at how angry William seemed. “They’re not used to us yet. Don’t scare them.”
William picked up a jar of sorghum that had rolled across the room and handed it to Ted. “I think some of them need to be scared.”