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  Leo and Bill had split the supplies as evenly as they could, keeping one stockpile in a large shed on Bill’s lot, and another stockpile on the other side of the lake in a shed belonging to a couple who lived on the lake year round.

  Although Leo had felt guilty that he had so little to offer, as the only doctor, he had been assured he would earn his keep tending to anyone’s illnesses and injuries.

  In addition to food and supplies found in the vacant homes, all medications, whether expired or not, were stockpiled with Leo. All over the counter pain relievers were counted and every household given a minimum number and warned to use it only if absolutely necessary. A mild headache didn’t warrant three tablets of ibuprofen when that might be the only painkiller they could offer someone with a more serious injury.

  His main concern was for a man across the lake who had type II diabetes. He hadn’t been on insulin, though, so he had that going in his favor. For now, the man had a few more weeks’ supply of medications that helped control his blood sugar. After that, he had nothing. Leo had created a very strict diet for the man to follow and it hadn’t been easy. Many of the supplies they had were snacks and sweets since most people came up here for vacations. Still, with the lake supplementing their diet, the guy should do okay. With any luck, the lack of sweets, alcohol, and carbs, plus the increased exercise would have the man in better shape than he’d been in a long time.

  It had only been two weeks, but along with the rest, Leo had cut back on calories and spent most of his time bicycling or walking. His jeans already felt a bit looser.

  “Hey, hon…are you going to take a break soon?”

  Leo set his pen down and rubbed his eyes. He’d made health records for everyone in the group, all forty- two of them. In addition to being the leader, he was also in charge of healthcare, such as it was. “Yeah. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  There were three children under a year, five under the age of six, and ten kids between the ages of six and fourteen. He’d cut that off as the children’s group. Anyone over the age of fourteen he considered an adult because they would all be doing adult work. That was important when rations were doled out.

  Thanks to the Thompsons, various vegetable seeds had been distributed and gardens quickly planted. Thankfully, it was still early June and there was time to plant many of the vegetables even if they were a week or so late. He didn’t expect a huge yield, but a few of the absent homeowners had planted gardens so they also planned to cultivate those plots.

  Most of the gardens had beans, tomatoes, spinach, pumpkins, zucchini, and squash. Two of the absentee owners had planted potatoes and Leo hoped the yield would be high. Five more gardens had rows of sweet corn.

  Yesterday, Kris and the kids had taken bicycles and scouted for wild strawberries based on advice by some old timers in the group who remembered berry picking years ago. While Kris and the kids’ efforts had only yielded a few quarts of berries, they had noted several blueberry and blackberry bushes for later harvesting.

  In addition to food and medicine, the other big worry was protection. Being Wisconsin, and the Northwoods, most of the homes had at least one rifle, but many had more than that. Hunting was big and bears weren’t uncommon, and lately, there had been camps deep in the woods where marijuana was grown, or worse, meth labs. The people who ran those camps were dangerous and many people had taken to carrying a firearm whenever out in the woods in case they stumbled upon a camp. He wouldn’t mind stumbling upon a marijuana camp now though, as long as it wasn’t manned. The plant had a lot of medicinal qualities that they might need with the absence of prescription drugs.

  Counting all the rifles, shotguns, handguns and hunting bows, they were fairly well armed. He just hoped they’d never need to use them.

  Even Leo had a couple of handguns he had permits to carry. The hospital where he worked was in a sketchy part of town and he always had one weapon on him and one hidden in a compartment in his trunk. The handguns wouldn’t be much use for hunting, but might come in handy to protect their supplies.

  Sighing, he finished organizing all of his notes, wondering what good it would do to know the health history of everyone when he had little so few supplies. Still, everyone seemed to think it was a good idea and counted towards his family’s share of the food. They had agreed that everyone over the age of fourteen had to work in some way to help out, and even the older children could help weed, watch the younger kids, and pick berries.

  With a loud, back-cracking stretch, Leo stood and went out on the deck to join Kris on the cushioned bench. It had become their favorite spot in the evenings to recount their days.

  “Did you get any more berries?” He’d been able to snag a few and his mouth watered at the thought of their tart sweetness.

  “Sorry, not today. We went with the lady from across the lake, Debra. She showed us how to forage for stuff I never even knew grew up here.”

  Leo sat beside her, throwing his arm across the back of the bench and onto her shoulders. She snuggled back against him, her actions reminding him that they still hadn’t had a chance to connect like he’d hoped to this vacation. Absently, he stroked her bare shoulder revealed by her tank top. “What did you find?”

  “Ramps, can you believe it? I’ve paid a fortune for them in the farmer’s market, and here they’ve been all along in the woods for free!”

  He chuckled. “Anything else?”

  “Yep. Watercress and morel mushrooms.”

  “Wild mushrooms? You aren’t going to poison us, are you?” He was joking. Mostly.

  She laughed. “No! At least, I hope not. Debra seemed pretty confident. She showed us an imposter so we knew the difference. Same with the ramps.”

  “How’s Amy holding up?” He was worried about his daughter. She’d freaked out when they had told the kids that the electricity would be out for weeks, maybe longer. While Michael had taken the news silently, being older, he’d known something was up.

  “She’s doing okay. Misses her friends, of course, but hasn’t asked too many questions about them. I think she assumes they are all just fine.”

  Leo sighed. One of the men in the group was a ham radio operator, and had received word that the cities were in shambles and people were dying. There were fights for food, fires that burned uncontrollably, and people who relied on medical care dying by the thousands every day.

  “Hon? So what’s going to happen? I mean, after the summer? How will we survive?” All laughter had drained from her voice, and her shoulders were tense.

  Leo thought for a moment. “You know, we’re actually pretty lucky that this happened when it did and when we were up here. If we were back home we’d be fighting for the barest of supplies to get by. Here, we have good people to help us. Food we can forage. Fish, deer, bears—they tell me they taste pretty good—and with your ramps and morels to enhance the flavor, we’ll be eating well.”

  Kris chuckled as he’d hoped she would. If she was laughing, they would be okay. The fear hadn’t won out yet.

  Leo squeezed her shoulder and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m just thankful that we’re all together, and healthy.”

  Her head bobbed, her hair brushing his cheek as she nodded. “Me too. In a way, it’s been good for the kids. They’re not fighting as much, did you notice that?”

  He had been too busy to notice, but now that Kris had mentioned it, Leo couldn’t recall the last time the two had bickered. Michael had taken it upon himself to make sure there was always water in the bathroom to flush the toilets. He’d even left a smaller bucket in there so Amy could take care of her own disposal.

  At some point they’d have to build an outhouse when the septic tank was full, but he’d just had it emptied at the end of last summer so it should be good for at least a year. Maybe by then things would be back to normal. He knew he should wish that things would be back to normal as soon as possible, but as the sun lit the surface of the lake on fire with a fiery sunset, and Michael stood s
ilhouetted on the dock with Amy at his side, fishing poles jutting in front of them, he hoped that normal didn’t return for a few more weeks.

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  Acknowledgments

  A big thank you to Felicia Sullivan for her stellar editing and for the inspiration to work on this story. She challenged over a dozen authors to come up with some kind of disaster story for the anthology, but with the cavaet that it had to have a hopeful ending. I tried to do that with this short story.

  About the Author

  M.P. McDonald is the author of supernatural thrillers and post-apocalyptic science fiction. With multiple stints on Amazon's top 100 list and over 150,000 copies sold, her books have been well-received by readers. Always a fan of reluctant heroes, especially when there is a time travel or psychic twist, she fell in love with the television show Quantum Leap. Soon, she was reading and watching anything that had a similar concept. When that wasn't enough, she wrote her own stories with her unique spin.

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  She lives with her family in southeastern Wisconsin. On the days that she's not taking her car ice-skating, she sits huddled over a chilly computer, tapping out the stories of reluctant heroes charged with overcoming extraordinary challenges.

  You can reach M.P. McDonald or look for more books by visiting the author's website:

  http://www.mpmcdonald.com