Before I took my kids off the bus, we had a quick “dinner” of ration bars and water. Carrying food inside past starving people seemed like a terrible way to avoid notice.

Part of me just wanted to stay on the bus, even if it would be uncomfortable for sleeping. Unfortunately, until we got the Shop set up, the bus and truck would be this area’s first source of food and water in God-knows-how-long. It was basically the opposite of a safe and unobtrusive hideout. Not to mention, there wasn’t a bathroom on-board, so I’d be getting off frequently to help my kids find a spot to relieve themselves, pushing through whatever crowd had gathered.

Staying was basically the same as putting on shirts saying “Perfect Hostages: Kidnap Now, While Supplies Last!”

No one approached the bus while we ate. People seemed nervous about us, and I hoped that was just because we were strong and unknown; I didn’t want to deal with another group like the Dragons. Better to just slap the Shop down any old where and run than bring my kids into the middle of a conflict like that.

Colonel Zwerinski had finished his ration bar. “Meghan, your kids ready?”

I glanced over. Cassie hadn’t finished her bar, but the boys had. “Pretty much. they need to get their backpacks on.”

“Alright. Here, take some fresh Signal sticks. You need anything, you break one and I’ll check in on you. Chester, you’re with me. We’re gonna walk out into the middle garden. You do a couple of mass Draw Attention, and I’ll start a short-range Announcement. Meghan, you use that distraction to get your kids off the bus and into a building.”

“Got it,” I said.

“I’m sending orders to our squad of soldiers. They’re going to clear any monsters and then form a perimeter around the apartment complex to be sure no one leaves when they hear our news. I don’t want guests until we’ve gotten the defenses and Shop up. Sueann, Clarice, Rick, and Matthew. I want you to go through the buildings. Look for potential trouble and anyone who might need help. Stick together. Everyone else, stay with the bus and the truck. You’re on guard and ration handout duty. We’ll give two free ration bars to anyone and charge for the ones after that.”

With his orders delivered, the colonel walked out into the courtyard to begin his Announcement.

Attention, residents of Cozy Grove Apartments! We will be erecting a Shop here this evening, where food and water can be purchased with alien Money. We will need your assistance-

He continued speaking, but I stopped paying attention. I hustled my kids across the greenery and into the back door of the nearest building.

A woman was emerging from her apartment as I arrived. She held a baseball bat and wore an umpire’s vest over her torso, but her arms were frighteningly thin, and she leaned on the wall for support. She eyed us warily - either because we were strangers, or because we were so well-armed and apparently healthy, I wasn’t sure. I hastened to distract her.

“They really do have food! They’ll give you some and sell you more, if you have the alien Money.”

The distraction worked. She nodded and headed toward the door, our presence clearly unimportant compared to food.

Life Sense’s range was big enough to let me check if an apartment was occupied from the hallway. All the units on the first floor were occupied, and we met several other residents in varying states of ill-health. Many simply ignored my family, and those who didn’t were easily redirected toward the food: a woman with three kids isn’t high up on most people’s list of potential threats.

I had more luck on the second floor; the first apartment I checked was empty, although its door had been shattered into splinters.

That door definitely isn’t fixable. But I bet all the unoccupied apartments were broken into, so they’ll all have doors that are at least partially broken. I’d rather not sleep someplace without any door… Maybe I can get one from inside the apartment? How hard is it to re-hang doors? Probably too hard. There might be a bedroom that locks from the inside...

I did a quick circuit of the apartment; there was a lockable bedroom. This could work, if I didn’t find anything better. I could check the other apartments on this floor, but there was no reason to take the kids along with me. I could have them wait in here.

A loud crash echoed from the hallway. Cassie’s voice rose in fear. “Mommy!”

I burst back out of the apartment, heart pounding. I hadn’t wanted to bring them inside until I’d been sure it was empty, but I was cursing myself for leaving them in the hall. Why hadn’t I asked the colonel for a specific empty apartment to head to? He could have found one for me. Stupid. Stupid!

I scanned my kids quickly. Nothing was threatening them, although they all seemed upset. Only after I confirmed their safety did I look for the source of the crash.

A man lay awkwardly on the ground at the bottom of the staircase from the third floor. He had clearly fallen, and I could see abrasions on his arms and face where his skin had rubbed on the rough staircase carpeting. Even as I arrived, those abrasions started fading as Gavin rushed past me to heal the poor man.

Even as the redness faded, the guy looked terrible. Not only was he as gaunt as everyone else we’d seen here, his face looked pale and bloodless. His clothes were ragged and stained, and I could see dozens of the parallel cuts I’d come to associate with leafenrat claws.

Gavin sat back on his heels. “Okay. I’m all done healing you!”

The man moaned and tried to pull himself to standing, but he was clearly struggling.

“I don’t get it. I healed him all up.” Gavin was confused.

“Can’t heal hunger.”

The man’s voice was hoarse, but I felt like I had heard it before. Did I know him? The hair didn’t seem familiar, and neither did his face. His clothes were generic jeans and a simple T-Shirt. The only thing vaguely eyecatching about him was the Texas-star buckle on a belt which was clearly a couple sizes too big for him.

Wait. Texas? I looked at his face again, and tried to imagine him with a buzz cut instead of a month’s growth of hair. Suddenly I did recognize him. He’d been part of Vince’s section at work for years. I’d seen him dozens of times at company picnics and office holiday parties. He always brought an enormous bowl of banana pudding, and it was always completely devoured before any other dessert.

“Holy crap. William. That’s you, William, right? What happened to you?”

The man’s gaze had been locked on the ground, focused on the next flight of stairs. At my question, he looked up. “Meghan? What are you doing here? No… never mind that. I need to get food while I still can.”

He took a step toward the next flight of stairs and almost fell again.

I made an executive decision. The colonel had told us to keep a low profile, but we were already involved.

“We’ll help you. Which apartment is yours?”

He told me, face uncertain and scared. I lifted his arm over my shoulder and practically carried him back up the stairs and into his apartment. “I’ve got food. Do you have water to drink? You’ll need it.”

“We collected water during the storm a few days back. Is there… really food?”

I unslung my backpack, unwrapping around for one of my secret food packages and thrusting a ration bar at him. “Yes. Here!”

He looked at it in awe for a moment, sinking shakily onto his couch, then took a bite. “Didn’t know if I’d ever get to eat again. My neighbor, she had her baby in June… Gave her a lot of the food I had, and I helped them through that Mandatory Trial a few days ago. She’s been healing me up when she could, but… I got pretty injured getting us all through there, and she’s got an infant to take care of. Could I ask y’all to get me some water?”

I moved aside the bookcase he’d used to block the glass door to his balcony and found the tarp and a bucket he had rigged up to collect rainwater. When I saw it, I made him wait. William had been heavily injured and weak, and the water had been sitting stagnant for several days. Mildew rimmed the top of the bucket, and something was floating on the surface.

I strained the water through a cloth into a pot, then had Micah bring it to a boil and cool it down. It was a hassle for drinking water, but I didn't want William to wait until the Shop was set up to sell him something more convenient. He looked terrible. Once we’d carried him to the couch, he barely moved other than to take tiny bites of ration bar. I was worried we’d have to tell him to slow down - I’d heard about the effects of big meals on starving people - but he ate as though even chewing was an effort. Every crunch of his jaw was a deliberate exertion, undertaken with all the determination of a hiker’s steps up a mountain.

It was minutes before he spoke again.

“I thought… I thought I was a goner.”

“You’re not,” I said firmly. “We’re putting up a Shop, right in your backyard. You’ll be able to buy food and water. It’ll cost you about four or five Money a day. We were going to leave tomorrow, but I’ll make sure you’re back on your feet before we go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Back home. We live in Madison.”

“Did you come out here to get Vince?”

My throat tightened. “No. He’s in Colorado. On a business trip.”

William stared at me, then closed his eyes. “That’s right. He had to make that presentation. I’d forgotten. I’d been outta work a couple days. Caught some kind of stomach bug from my sister’s kid. I’m… sorry, Meghan. I’m sure he’s okay.”

“Yeah. Of course he is.” I didn’t want to talk about Vince’s absence. Not with the kids around. Not when I had to pretend that everything was alright. “Are any of your neighbors injured, that you know of?”

There was no response. With food in his stomach, William had fallen asleep.