Quote from Jeanette on May 12^th, 2017, 7:53am:

 
Lieutenant Benson explains, “It is not like we are giving you half a cow and several giant mutant chickens fresh from the butcher shop. Three months of food for a group like this is not much, maybe a quarter ton of supplies, mostly dry goods as in pasta, grains, cereals, powdered eggs, cheese and canned fruit. The stuff lasts for years when properly stored, but unless they are starving, nobody wants to know they are eating something that was on the shelf for five or more years. The military and the Youth Corps. have a 20 year supply of this stuff. Giving them a bit of this is not going to put a dent into the supplies. The problem is to get fresh perishable supplies like milk, eggs, and meat to supplement this. The other problem is that we cannot sell this to the town; we can give it away in times of need but we cannot sell it. So from the grains, cereal and powdered eggs, you can make your own bread – a perishable product, but you will need water, milk and yeast to make the bread, which are perishable. After you make the bread, you can make cheese sandwiches but if you want meat in that sandwich, you need to get the meat from elsewhere. I’ll make sure that there is a couple days worth of meat and other perishable supplies in their supplies but that is all I can do.”
 
She pauses for a second to let that sink in before adding, “Also a lot of the food here goes to waste. Much of it is recovered and recycled but not all of it. Like you seen, the kids finding food from the waste bins to bring it and eat, if it were not for them, that food would have gone to waste, and it is still good food. A restaurant might make a special meal for their menu but no one ends up buying despite being an excellent meal; all that food is going to go to waste. The news of the upcoming winter being harsh has not hit the town yet, and the Town Council is already in session as to what it has to plan for when it comes. I will say that the market prices will go up greatly and people will waste less when it happens, but people will not be starving in the street, except for people already living in the street like this group – for them the winter will be hard and some of them will even die when no food could be found.”
 

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Quote from Hondo I. Sackett on May 11^th, 2017, 10:48pm:

 
“What the #$@! is wrong with you Hondo?” Fernando tells him after General Jatrey leaves and closes the door. “You and Val are my Number Two. I do not give up on my Number Two’s, not ever. I lost my Number Two’s because they gave up on themselves. Right now you have given up on yourself, Hondo. You need to remember that between You, Val and I that nothing is impossible. Nothing.” Fernando tells him, “Things look dark but they always come out for the better, and you know that. So stop riding that horse named Despair and walk on your own because that horse aint nothing but trouble.”
 
“This is Val we’re talkin’ ‘bout!” Hondo lets out.
 
“And? Who do you think the Sacketts are, Hondo? Really. They do not take shit from anybody. We are stuck in this world until I can figure something out, but until then, we are going to take everything that is wrong in this world and make it right because that is what we do. If we leave a town that is celebrating, then good for them and us. If we leave a town that is burning, then even better. But I’m telling you, when we leave this crap hole of an excuse for humanity, we are going to leave behind soldering craters and just enough survivors to spread the word not to ever #$@! with us. Now that is a reason to drink. Not wallow in your sorrow. I’ll be back, I need to deal with Macey.” Fernando tells him.

Lieutenant Benson explains, “If a baker bakes 200 loaves of bread and 150 loaves are sold during the week, the following week the loaves not sold will become stale. From those stale loaves, Bread Pudding, French Toast and other items are made. Sometimes the homeless are given this food or they get it by other means, like your children here. Of those that are not sold, and bread that has started to mold over, goes to the pig farmers to feed their hogs. But like I said, since the farmers have not been heard from, who knows what has happened to their live stock. So there is no one to pick up this stuff and the food is wasted.”
 
She continues, “If there are leftovers from tonight’s meal, you can have it. You just got to figure out how to pack it for the next day mid day meal.”

A voice comes on Lieutenant Benson’s radio, “We are here behind your SUVs.”  

 
“We will be there in a minute.” Lieutenant Benson replies. She then turns to the Housemother and Moro, “They are here to pick us up. Get your things and let’s get out of here. We got children to feed and things to acquire.”

Lieutenant Benson tells everyone to follow her outside. Once outside, she tells the Housemother, “You and the children go into the bus. Moro, you and Jade in the SUV like before. Let’s get these children fed first.”

It only takes about a minute to get to the main market area.
 
Lieutenant Benson tells Moro, “Have Jade stay in here and find out what she would like to eat for lunch. Then wait for me outside while I request the Housemother to do the same.” She then steps out of the SUV and heads to the bus vehicle where the House mother and the children are seated in, “Think what they would like for lunch and then meet me outside. We’ll order the food and eat to our next destination.”
 
The Housemother nods and before she could give a verbal answer Lieutenant Benson steps out of the bus. She takes to her radio and calls the Youth Corp Base, “Lieutenant Benson to YCB...”
 
A voice answers on the walkie talkie, “Yes, Lieutenant Benson?”
 
“I need a rolling back pack for around 16 children and 1 adult. Most of the children are young pre-teens, but there are six young teens; about half are girls. Plus items of clothing for them: the basic Youth Corps uniform and dress uniform without patches for them all. How fast can you get set up?”
 
“Set up can be in 5 minutes.” The voice on the radio answers.
 
“I’ll be there in 10.” Lieutenant Benson says on the radio.
 
“Anything else is needed?” The voice on the radio asks.
 
“Pillows, blankets and sleeping bags, but those can be brought in later to our savior’s camp when they bring in their vehicle.” Lieutenant Benson answers.
 
“Understood.” The voice on the radio answers.
 
Looking over her radio, Lieutenant Benson switches the channel to the Merchant’s frequency and calls on it, “Lieutenant Benson to Mrs. Clean. You there Mrs. Clean?”
 
After a few moments of silence, a voice answers, “Mrs. Clean is on the convoy heading to the first southern town. I’m her assistant Lavender. How can I help you?”
 
“Well, Lavender, I need some basic clothing for a group leaving the town later tonight. Mostly children – 10 younger ones, 6 teenagers and 1 adult. About half are girls.  A couple pair of jeans, t-shirts, underwear, sox, a couple of skirts and a dress for the girls, and a white shirt for the boys. Whatever you got in the clean reclamation (recycled) pile is fine.”  
 
“I’ll see what we have. Give me about 30 minutes.” Lavender replies on the radio.
 
“I’ll see you then.” Lieutenant Benson replies before turning off her radio and putting the channel back to the military frequencies.
 
Moro and the Housemother were in front of her as she turns off the radio.
 
“You done?” Moro asks.
 
“Yeah. Let’s talk to these sellers about making some sandwiches for these kids.” Lieutenant Benson tells them.