Read Mad Swine (Book 2): Dead Winter for Free Online Page B

said, if there is something you think we should be doing, tell me what it is. Right now, we have no other news, so let’s talk about what’s going on in the community. Al, let’s start with Grounds. What’s happening with your folks?”
    Stanley blustered and his face grew a darker shade of red, but before he could respond, Al stood and addressed the group.
    “Well, as you all know, my team has been dumping our refuse on the northwest side of our property lines. The spot was chosen because the area was under construction and there are no lived-in homes at that location. We’ve been using the ramps Paul designed—thank you, Paul, my team blesses you every day for your invention—but with that said I have concerns that we need to address for safety reasons.”
    “What are your concerns?” Kat asked, her ears perking.
    “Right now, the trash is accumulating at an alarming rate. You can smell it a bit if you’re downwind, but what I’m mostly worried about one of those things climbing our garbage and getting in.”
    “Why is it accumulating?” Stanley asked. Once again, everyone eyed him warily. “I mean, this wasn’t a problem before, so why is it suddenly a problem now?”
    Albert sighed softly and it must have taken great effort for him not to roll his eyes at Stanley. When he answered, he did so in a monotonous tone, stating the facts. “We used to burn the trash once we dumped it over the walls. We haven’t used fuel for burning trash since we were rationing it to make Molotov’s when we were fighting Providence. For the last month we’ve used what remained of the fuel to keep the roads and sidewalks clean. We’re basically out of fuel at this point.”
    “Did we know about this?” Stanley looked around the table, his face looked shocked. “This is the first I heard that we’re out of fuel. What does this mean for the community? How will this affect us?”
    Al looked at me and raised a hand in my direction. Taking the meaning of his gesture, I nodded my head and stood up. “Yes, we’ve known about our low fuel supply for a while now. Before Paul rigged up the solar panels, we were running the CP with several generators and we were burning through fuel pretty quickly.
    “If you remember, Stanley, we had folks siphoning fuel from all of the vehicles and Sam stockpiled what we were able to gather. She’s worked closely with Al and his folks to make sure that all fuel we used was necessary. Last week Al briefed us on the supply of fuel. You were here.”
    Stanley continued to stare at me, as though he hadn’t realized I’d finished speaking. Suddenly he blinked his eyes rapidly and then nodded his head. “I remember now. Do we have a plan to replace our fuel source?”
    This time everyone rolled their eyes and made some sort of sound of disgust. Again, Kat addressed Stanley before I could respond. She said, “There’s nothing we can do right now to replace our fuel, unless you want to run to the local gas station with a couple of gas cans and get some refills.”
    “You don’t have to be sarcastic, Kathryn,” Stanley shot back. “I’m just asking the questions that the rest of the community would be asking. I am here to represent their interests, not to support the agenda of the people in this room.”
    “Did you swallow some stupid pills before the meeting?” Al asked.
    Stanley stood up from his seat now and leaned forward, his pale white hands planted squarely on the dining room table. To Al he said, “Every time you open your mouth, you just show us how ignorant you really are, Albert.” Turning to Kat he said, “One day someone is going to knock you off your high horse.”
    This meeting was obviously spiraling out of control. Although there was always tension at our meetings, most were uneventful and ended peacefully. Today was definitely not one of those days. I had to intervene before things got physical.
    I slammed my fist down on the table hard enough to rattle folk’s drinks.