This World We Live In (The Last Survivors, Book 3) Read Free Page A

the cities were getting food deliveries until everybody got moved out.
    There was some food left over, and it's being distributed to a handful of towns. It's al connections, and we were lucky that Mayor Ford has some. His wife's cousin is married to the governor. We got our share, maybe even more.
    "Only now they don't want us delivering what we get. Maybe it's to save whatever gas we have left, or maybe it's to make sure only the strong get to eat.
    But the letter said we could expect food for the next few weeks at least, and we'd be told when it'l stop.
    If anyone didn't come in for their food, we could take that amount and give it to those people who did.
    Next week maybe you'l get a little more than you've been used to."
    "That's awful," I said. "You're going to let people die."
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    "If it'l make you feel any better, give them your food," Mr. Danworth said. "I don't know anyone else alive on Howel Bridge Road, but there are other places around town you could go."
    "We'l take our food," Matt said. "There are four of us. We didn't al have to come in for it, did we?"
    "No," Mr. Danworth said. "One representative per family. Your bags are right here."
    We took them.
    "I don't like this, either," Mr. Danworth said. "It gave me pleasure to see people's faces light up when I'd bring them their food. But it's the government. It makes the rules, and we have to fol ow them."
    "We're lucky to have what we get," Matt said.
    "And we appreciate your keeping City Hal open this week."
    "Maybe things'l get better," Mr. Danworth said.
    "Al the rain. That's got to mean something."
    "Let's hope so," Matt said. "Come on, Miranda."
    I carried out two of the bags while Matt carried the others.
    "People are going to die," I said as we loaded the bags onto the bikes. "Isn't there something we can do?"
    Matt shook his head. "I think you're worrying about nothing," he said. "The only ones left are strong enough to get to town. The sick, the elderly, they've either moved on or died. Take Mrs. Nesbitt. She was in great health before al this, but she couldn't survive."
    "So it's only people like us," I said. "Young and healthy."
    "Probably," Matt said. "Survival of the fittest. And the luckiest."
    It's so hard to think that, with everything terrible that's happened, we're the lucky ones.
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    But we have food and we have shelter and we have family. So along with no broken bones and less gray skies, I guess that means we are.
    May 4
    We had four hours of electricity today, smack in the middle of the afternoon. It's the longest stretch of electricity I can remember and certainly the best timed.
    Mom and I threw rainwater into the washing machine and washed al the sheets, then shirts and slacks, and final y underwear. The dryer stayed on long enough to dry everything except the underwear, which we hung on the sunroom clothesline. There was a time I would have found that embarrassing, but now I'm used to it.
    We're running low on laundry detergent, though.
    We're running low on lots of things like that: toothpaste and tissues and shampoo. Now that I know we're going to have food a little while longer, I get to worry about not enough soap.
    Since the mattresses were stripped, Matt and Jon piled them up and Matt washed the sunroom floor.
    Then, to push my luck, I asked if we could take the plywood off the sunroom windows. Matt put it up when the temperature plummeted, and it may not be al that warm outside, but it isn't below zero al the time.
    Mom thought about it and then nodded. "Go for it,"
    she said.
    Jon and I got two hammers and we pul ed the nails out, and we have windows again. With the fire going, the rain in the background, and the smel of clean clothes and clean sheets, it's positively cozy.
    Usual y when there's electricity, Mom turns a radio on
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    so she can listen to the news without using up batteries (we're running low on them, too). But today she went upstairs, came down with a CD player, and put on some Simon Garfunkel.
    "I've missed