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Brody’s third story apartment.
    Brody showed Julie Anne the bathroom and chemical toilet, along with the small basin for hand washing. Brody opened up some meat spread and a box of crackers for their late supper and then changed the sheets on his bed for Julie Anne to use. He and Ranger would flip for the sofa. The loser got the floor. They were all asleep by one in the morning.
    They were all also up at six the next morning. Julie Anne had been more than a little concerned for her privacy, but both men went well out of their way to give her all she wanted and then some. Brody had breakfast ready for them when Julie Anne and Ranger had finished in the bathroom and were dressed. He did the same while they ate.
    Since they were going to fuel up Brody’s truck, they all rode it, with the bicycles in the back. Brody dropped Julie Anne and her new bicycle off at City Hall, and he and Ranger went out the rest of the way to the cemetery. The first thing they did upon arriving was refuel the truck and the equipment. Ranger dropped the measuring stick in the tank and read it. Less than fifty gallons.
    They’d barely finished when the first semi showed up. Things were get-ting worse. The truck had fuel for its engine, but none for the reefer trailer. The bodies would no longer be frozen, or even chilled. Even with the PPE on it was a terrible experience. The driver of the truck, after the first whiff when he opened the trailer doors, began to throw up and ran to the cab of the truck to get away from the smell.
    It wasn’t the first time they’d laid a baby to rest, but under these conditions the three that they did that morning were harder than any of the others. The two men could see the tears in each other’s eyes when they looked at one another after the last one was set down. Brody and Ranger covered the bodies with an inch or so of earth just as quickly as they could after they were in the trench and then slowly worked to finish filling the section.
    That was the last semi. Apparently there was no more fuel for the big trucks. That is not to say the bodies quit coming. They didn’t. But it was one or two at a time, in whatever city vehicle had a little fuel. Ambulances, street maintenance trucks, even some commercial trucks that still had a little fuel had been commandeered for the cemetery runs. More than one vehicle was left at the cemetery parking lot, without enough fuel to get back to their assigned station. A few of the drivers took off walking. Some caught rides with vehicles that still had fuel.
    Brody had made a point of parking his truck in the cemetery garage and closing the door that morning. It was noon time, and Brody and Ranger were sitting outside the garage, eating their MRE lunch. There was only one more MRE left.
    Julie Anne showed up on her bicycle, looking what could best be described as disheveled. She obviously wasn’t a regular bike rider. At least she’d decided on wearing pants instead of one of her usual business suit skirt, blouse, and jacket combos.
    “I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had,” she said, stepping off the bicycle when she got up to them. “I guess it’s better than walking, but re-mind me not to plan any trips on one.”
    Brody and Ranger looked at one another, and then back at Julie Anne when she continued.
    “How are you guys holding out?”
    “It’s tough,” Brody said. “Without the reefers… It’s just bad.”
    Julie Anne’s face fell. “They’ve already run out of fuel and started using the small stuff?”
    Ranger nodded and swept an arm to include the vehicles on the lot. “Small stuff is running out of fuel, too.”
    “What are we going to do?” Julie Anne asked, accepting the MRE and bottle of water that Brody held out to her. She sat down on an upturned bucket the way Brody and Ranger were to eat.
    “All that we can do,” Brody said, after taking a sip of water. “If the city can’t get the bodies here, we can’t bury them.”
    “But what