EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival by Hunt, James (acx book reading .TXT) 📗

Sarah shoved Nancy in the arm, and the pair started to walk over to the women. The nurse who had come back with them, the woman who had run the clinic, Shelby, had become their official spokesperson.

“Hey, girls,” Shelby said. “What’s up?”

“Well, we know the living situation hasn’t been ideal for you and the other women,” Sarah said. “But we had a few ideas that we wanted to run by you.”

Shelby smiled. “I think anything would be better than what we have, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll gather the ladies.”

Nancy and Sarah hung back while Shelby made the rounds. The woman emerged from their tents, looking as though they had slept most of the day. Despite the rest of the facility having been assigned work, Mrs. Riker hadn’t gotten around to getting any of these women jobs. It was starting to upset the rest of the community who were working shifts to keep this place running.

“Okay, ladies,” Shelby said. “Nancy and Sarah wanted to run a few things by us in regards to our living situation, so let’s hear them out.”

Shelby gestured to Sarah, who stepped forward. While Nancy might have become more comfortable handling weapons and learning how to fight, public speaking wasn’t her strong suit. She was thankful Sarah was willing to take on that role.

“I know the living situation here hasn’t been ideal for everyone,” Sarah said. “But my family and I appreciate you making do with what we are able to give you.”

“How come we can’t be in one of those portables?” one of the women asked.

A few grumbles from the other women echoed a similar sentiment, and Nancy felt the shift in the meeting growing toward an unfavorable outcome.

“We’re working on a more permanent solution,” Sarah answered, trying to find her footing in the conversation. “And I think we’ve come up with something that will—”

“Are you the one in charge?” another woman asked.

Sarah was thrown off guard, and she stuttered in her reply. “Um, I don’t think—I’m in charge of finding you better accommodations.”

“But who runs the facility?” another woman asked, and again it triggered another echo of murmurs.

“My parents,” Sarah answered. “Liz and Ben Riker.”

“And where are they?” the first woman from before asked. “Because it seems to me that looking for housing shouldn’t be the responsibility of two kids.”

Nancy knew this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. The tide was turning even harder in the wrong direction for a productive outcome. Still, to Sarah’s credit, she stood her ground, and that caused Nancy to stick around.

“Ladies, please!” Sarah raised her voice, upping her intensity. “I understand your frustration. But none of you are being forced to stay here.” She looked out among the crowd, and the fervor died down a little bit. “We have provided you food, shelter, and protection. Has it been hard? Of course, it has, but look around! The world has changed, and we need to change with it if we want to survive. We can’t sit around and wait for something to come to us. We must go out and find it.”

The murmurs continued, but this time Nancy saw most of the women nodding in agreement.

“There you go, Sarah,” Nancy said, whispering to herself.

“I was an engineering major before all of this happened, and I did some work with Habitat for Humanity,” Sarah said. “I think I can help construct a more permanent solution for everyone if we manage to find the right materials. And when I say we, I mean all of you.” She gestured out to the women. “If you want to improve your situation, then you all need to start pulling your weight. Anyone willing to come with Nancy and me to the city to look for supplies and actually help us put something together will be offered a place to stay in what we build. Everyone who doesn’t help—” Sarah gestured to the tents around them— “Looks like you’ll be roughing it for a little while longer.” She dropped her hands and then turned around and walked away, leaving the women to chat amongst themselves.

Nancy caught up with Sarah, smiling. “Hell of a speech.”

“Yeah, well, I was winging it, so…” Sarah shrugged. “You think I turned them off?”

“I think you lit a fire under their asses,” Nancy said. “Hell, I think I’m ready to build my own house.”

Sarah chuckled. “Well, we need to find the materials first. I think if we start—”

“Nancy?”

Both girls turned around to find Carolina jogging after them. She was wheezing by the time she caught up with them, and she hunched forward to catch her breath. When she lifted her head, her cheeks were still flushed red.

“What’s up?” Nancy asked.

“I just wanted to—whew, sorry.” Carolina took another deep breath, and she was finally back to normal. “I just wanted to see if I could learn a few things from you.”

“Learn what?” Nancy asked.

Carolina pointed to the rifle on Nancy’s arm. “I saw you practicing the other day with that thing, and I thought maybe I could try it out.” She pointed to the other women behind them. “I think it would be helpful for the other women as well. Maybe you could show us a few pointers?”

Nancy had never considered herself a teacher, and since most of the women from the clinic were twice her age, she didn’t even think any of them would want to learn from her simply because she was so young. Still, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to take on something like that. She was just now starting to get the hang of everything herself.

“But if you can’t, I understand,” Carolina said, quickly shutting herself down before Nancy even had a chance to reply.

Carolina’s disappointment was evident as she looked away, and Nancy immediately felt guilty for even considering keeping her skills to herself. Here was a woman who needed a way to protect herself from violence, and Nancy was withholding the key that could unlock a whole new world