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kidney transplants and other numerous surgeries had taken their toll on the man. You wouldn’t know it, though, because of Paul’s can-do attitude to all problems and his willingness to volunteer for any assignment to which he felt he could offer a solution. And with a background in mathematics, Paul was always certain that there was a solution to any problem. His ingenuity and inventions saved our lives and made living in a post-apocalyptic world easier than it would have been otherwise. Paul’s health, however, continued to deteriorate. With limited supplies, Paul was unable to get the medications he needed; his supply was running very low and Ravi was unsure of how quickly his condition might deteriorate without medication and treatments. She was monitoring Paul closely.
    Ravi currently occupied the chair beside Paul. Although she declined a role of leadership three months ago when I’d offered her the job, things had changed with the war with Providence, and Ravi had quickly adapted to a leadership role into which she’d been thrust. She’d become a vital member of the council, not just because of her medical expertise, but because of her honesty and critical thinking skills.
    To Ravi’s left sat Stanley Cohen, formerly the president of the Randall Oaks Community Association and all-around douchebag. Although not a leader of any particular unit, Stan felt strongly that he was the representative of the people and was given his place at the table for the sake of normality. The fact was, Stanley was a pain in the ass, and it was easier to let him have a seat at the table than to listen to him bitch and moan about our leadership and try to rally the community members against us.
    The final member of our council was Ray Colon, our communications lead. Ray attended the first several meetings, but soon felt that his time was better served monitoring the amateur radio than listening to the gripes and misgivings of the rest of the committee members. Also, Ray had a mean streak in him, and he took thorough enjoyment from eliciting angry responses from other council members. By the third week, Kat and I barely succeeded in stopping a physical altercation between Ray and Stanley Cohen. Suffice it to say that Ray no longer sat with us at the table, and I took it upon myself to provide the group with a briefing on his behalf.
    Clearing my throat, I opened our meeting with Ray’s communications briefing. “I just heard from Ray that there was a devastating tsunami off the coast of Japan. Most of the mainland is underwater and survivors are saying that the tides have swept the infected from the island and out to sea. Ray says the crazies can’t swim and they don’t float.”
    “Lucky Japs,” Albert said and looked around the table to see if his colleagues were in agreement.
    “Did Raymond provide us with any news on the weather or anything that could actually be considered useful ?” Stanley questioned.
    “Sorry, Stan, that’s all the news for today,” I said. “In all fairness, there is no new media out there, and Ray is privy only to what is being broadcast on the amateur radio.”
    “There must be some other way to get news,” Stanley continued. His face turned bright red beneath his bushy white beard. “What is the government doing? Is there even a government left? Are they planning attacks on the major cities to try to kill those crazy things, or what?”
    “Stanley, we’d all like to have answers to those questions, but frankly we have no means to communicate with anyone who can provide those answers. I’m not sure what else you think we should be doing that we’re not.”
    “Well, I don’t know,” Stanley said. His eyes would not meet mine suddenly, a sign that he was defeated but yet he could not let the subject go. “But there has to be something. We have to know something. Our residents want answers and we should be doing more to give them some.”
    “I’m open to suggestions, Stanley. Like I