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truck.
    Then they headed for Ranger’s house on the outskirts of town. Brody had to do quite a bit of weaving around, avoiding cars whose owners had simply run them until the fuel tanks were empty, rather than parking them with a useable amount of fuel. For emergencies.
    Ranger had Brody stop at a house near his in the darkness. All of the block was dark, except for the house where they stopped. “Better let me go up alone. Harvey is a bit touchy,” Ranger said.
    Rather cautiously, Julie Anne thought, Ranger started up the walkway to the front door of the house. He didn’t get far before several bright lights came on and illuminated the entire front yard.
    Through the open window of the truck Julie Anne and Brody heard the challenge come from the house. “State your business. I am armed and will shoot to kill if you make any aggressive moves.”
    “It’s Ranger. Code word ‘memorabilia’.”
    “Okay, Ranger. Come ahead. I see others. They staying put or coming in?”
    “Staying put,” Ranger replied and entered the house when the front door opened and the outdoor lights went out.
    Ten minutes later the garage door opened and Ranger pushed a bicycle toward the truck. The garage door closed, there never having been any light shown while it was open. Ranger put the bike in the back of the truck and climbed back into the cab beside Julie Anne.
    “Got you a bike,” Ranger said with a smile. “You owe me ten bucks face value junk silver coin. When you can come up with it.”
    “Okay,” Julie Anne said, “Thank you.” Ranger just shrugged and looked out the open window, a slight smile on his lips.
    When they arrived at Ranger’s, all three went in after Brody parked the truck, bed toward the garage door. Ranger turned on a battery lamp in the living room when they entered. “Be just a few of minutes,” he said, heading for the bedroom. “You guys can start moving stuff from the garage. Brody, you’ll know what to take. The containers are marked.”
    “Sure thing,” Brody said, pulling his compact flashlight from a pocket. “Let’s go.” He pointed the flashlight toward the kitchen and led the way to the garage.
    After opening the garage door, Brody checked the shelves against one wall that held much of Ranger’s preps. Checking each container, he pointed out one to Julie Anne and she headed out to the truck with it, followed by Brody with another.
    They met Ranger at the truck. He’d carried another of the totes from his bedroom and headed back for more, as Julie Anne and Brody did the same. By the time Brody closed and locked the garage door and went outside through the kitchen and then living room, Ranger had the last tote he wanted in the truck, too.
    “Get what we need?” Brody asked Ranger.
    “Yep. We should be good for a while, except for water. And we can get that from some of the ponds and lakes in the city parks.”
    “The Mayor made an announcement about not doing that,” Julie Anne said. “People started doing that and got sick, right off the bat.”
    “We won’t,” Brody said. “My filter will clean it up more than necessary for use.”
    “Ditto mine,” Ranger added.
    “I think they may be guarding them, to keep people from getting the water and getting sick.” Julie Anne looked worried, though the two men couldn’t see it, even in the dash lights.
    Brody looked past Julie Anne at Ranger, and then brought his eyes back to the road. “Not going to be a problem,” he said. “Ranger and I will be able to get the water, even if there are guards.”
    “I can be pretty sneaky, if the situation calls for it,” Ranger told Julie Anne.
    “I just don’t want anyone hurt or arrested on my account,” she replied.
    “If it comes to that, we’ll be careful. There could be other options.”
    There was silence the rest of the way back to Brody’s apartment building. It was approaching midnight and all three were exhausted by the time everything from the truck was carried up to