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them as if they were wolves. You’re sick .” Ruth pushed Juliana aside.
    “I told you how I got these things. I’m about to cook dinner right now, and it isn’t you. Look,” she said, pulling an industrial sized can of tomato sauce down from the shelf, “it’s spaghetti, okay? Quick and easy to throw together and the carbohydrates will calm them down. I’m a— I was a Home Ec teacher, remember? Part of that is nutrition. That’s why I asked people for fresh stuff, it’s why I grew it in the garden. Even if growing fresh food wasn’t the best thing for us, the cans are running out. We have to start producing our own stuff if we’re going to survive. That’s not a miracle sitting in those bins over there, that’s several months of sweat and toil.”
    “If that’s true, then you shouldn’t be showing it off to every stranger who wanders in here. It makes this place look like it houses the crown jewels.”
    Juliana laughed and pointed to a huge case of pasta. “Grab that for me,” she picked up another can of spaghetti sauce and walked back into the kitchen. “Nobody just ‘wanders in’ to a mental institution Ruth. Not even after everything is gone. Besides, this place was abandoned for years before I got here. And I told you about it, because you had the opportunity to steal what’s left in the garden this morning and you didn’t. You didn’t even try to find out where the vegetables were. I’m prepared to defend this place and the food if I have to, but I’m not bloodthirsty. Or sick. Not the way you mean anyway. You’ve been in this city too long, it’s made you paranoid.”
    Ruth shook her head. “If what you’re saying is true, and you got these things the way you said, then how can you possibly think all the kindness has gone out of the world? There’s enough food there to feed an army for months. Most of the time, my family is lucky if we eat a meal each day. And this place is warm. Not just above freezing, actually warm. You must go through a ton of wood. I doubt you had time to cut it yourself.”
    “No, another helper brought us several cords this fall. He said after the gas goes bad, we’ll have to make do with less because he won’t be able to use the chainsaw, but I’ve had several more folks volunteer to help him. I guess you’re right. I should be very grateful for the people who are helping this place out. They aren’t getting much in return, just a bed and care for one of their loved ones and they bring far more than feeds and clothes just that one person.” She plunked the cans down on the thick wooden counter and cranked away at them with a large can opener. Ruth slid the case of pasta in next to her. “So, are you staying?” asked Juliana.
    “For now,” said Ruth, and sat down to watch how Juliana served something as messy as spaghetti to restrained people. Half an hour later, a cart full of mellamine bowls was rolling down the hallway while the inmates shrieked and scratched. Juliana stopped at the first door, opened it, placed the bowl on the floor and slid it in with the handle of an old broom. Then she shut the door again. She did it so fast, that Ruth didn’t even see the person inside. They continued down the hall, sliding bowls into tiny cells and Ruth occasionally caught a glimpse of wild hair or an outflung arm or the flash of teeth or eyes. When they got to the last room, the hall was silent and Ruth thought she’d never heard anything more beautiful. She wondered how Juliana slept through the night after they started again.
    “Okay,” said Juliana, turning the cart around, “clean up time. And a chance for you to inspect them.” She rolled the cart back to the first room. She pulled out a bucket of soapy water and some rags. She handed Ruth a tray of labeled toothbrushes. “Here, can you put some toothpaste on each?”
    “How do you brush their teeth? I have to wait until Charlie passes out from exhaustion to do it.”
    Juliana held up a teething