Read Shortage (Best Laid Plans Book 2) for Free Online Page A

life.
    Lewis finished chewing the last bite on his skewer in record time and leaned back with a sigh of contentment, crossing his hands behind his head. “Savor these moments, Trev.”
    “Okay, Mr. Greeting Card.”
    His cousin glanced over at him and grinned for a moment, then his expression grew serious. “I mean it, though. I know it seems like it's just been a bad thing and then a worse thing and then outright disaster ever since the attack, but we can't just look at the evil in the world.” He pointed vaguely in the direction of the little icehouse they'd built, where the rest of the venison and Trev's trout waited packed in snow. “We can conquer our environment, same as our ancestors did, and not just survive but thrive. The future might be difficult but there's more good times than bad ahead.”
    “If we can survive this winter,” Trev said, but after the exceptional day they'd had his heart wasn't in the dour words. And as he took another bite off his own skewer he paused for a moment to enjoy the taste, same as he had for every bite, and feel some satisfaction that this meat was about as fresh as it came and he'd cooked it. He'd be even more satisfied with the next deer, perhaps even one he brought down himself, knowing he'd be the one to do everything to prepare it the way his cousin had this time.
    Lewis leaned over to clap him on the shoulder. “We'll survive it,” he promised. “And when we do we'll know we can survive anything.”

 
    Chapter Two
    Civility
     
    The ration line Ferris had set up at the town storehouse allowed anyone who came through it to receive a day's worth of food once a day, no restrictions or reservations.
    Assuming you were a refugee, of course. The residents of Aspen Hill had to be green-lighted to get on their own special list, and the only way to do that was to allow the FETF soldiers to “inspect” their house. Ferris's justification was that if they were hoarding in excess of two weeks' worth of food then they didn't need the ration line.
    Considering that FETF was giving out the townspeople's own food that reasoning rang completely hollow to Sam, but incredibly enough there were plenty of Aspen Hill residents who accepted it. The Larsons hadn't, thankfully, and although Ed had hidden what food the family had he still refused to submit to an inspection, or for that matter try to get rations from the line. He wasn't about to give up their food, but he wouldn't lie and claim they didn't have any, either.
    Sam admired their independence and integrity, but she couldn't join them in their silent boycott. For all of the family's insistence that she was one of them she couldn't shake the knowledge that she was a burden, so she used her refugee status to stand in line every day and receive her pound and a half of coarsely ground wheat flour. Between that, Mona's garden which they harvested the moment things in it became ripe enough, and whatever foraging of weeds or other edibles they managed in town, they'd managed to keep the hidden food in reserve.
    As for Trev's cache up on Highway 6, one of their main topics of conversation was finding a way to get it down to Aspen Hill. That was hundreds of pounds of food they had to move, not only having to worry about actually transporting that much but also avoiding those who'd want to steal it from them.
    Since Matt's father had lost his hunting rifle at the roadblock and Matt's pistol had been confiscated in Spanish Fork they had nothing but the bear spray to defend themselves. Even more worrisome was the knowledge that Razor and his goons were waiting out beyond the town's limits. Even though there'd been no reports of attacks by them in the last week Sam had no doubt that they were still there, working their villainy quietly and in ways that avoided notice.
    Mona, April, and Terry argued that between their garden, what they could forage, and the little remaining in their pantry they could last a bit longer, and maybe wait until there