Home Coming (The Survivalist Book 10) by A. American (ebook reader .TXT) 📕

to a clean five-gallon bucket. The kettle was just too big to tip and pour. Once the bucket was about half full, she carried it inside.

Chris Yates, the medic that took the lead after the rocket attack, was tending to the wounded when Jess came in with the bucket. She told him what it was and asked where he wanted it.

“Put it on this bench over here,” he replied, pointing to a long bench against one wall. “This will be great. Whose idea was this?”

“Mine. I figured since they would be out there smoking that beef all day, I could use the time to make this broth. It’s really good for you and these people in here need all the help they can get.”

“You’re right about that,” Chris replied. “Hang on a sec. I’ve got something for this.”

He disappeared and returned a moment later with a plastic bag full of Styrofoam cups. “I found these in a desk drawer the other day. Figured they’d come in handy.” He pulled a rolling cart over and Jess started filling the cups with broth and placing them on the cart. Once they were out of broth, Chris started to wheel the cart around the gym, offering broth to anyone that wanted it.

In some cases, it was a family member that took it to slowly and carefully feed a loved one. It was eagerly accepted by all and soon there were calls for more! The poor people in the gym were only eating what their family members could bring or what the limited staff could come up with. All they were able to muster was one meager meal a day and it was having a severe impact on those trying to recover. So, the broth was having a tremendous effect on all.

“I think they’re liking it,” Jess said.

“They’ll like anything they can get right now,” Chris replied.

“I have more out there and I’m going to start another batch. You want to throw some pieces of meat in this one? We have plenty. The guys are out there smoking some, but that will be a while before it’s ready.”

“If it’s cut small; these people can’t handle big hunks of beef. But I can, and I can’t wait for some of that beef to be done! I haven’t had beef since The Day and my stomach is grumbling for it. I’m not even going to go out there. If I smell it, I’m done.”

“I gotcha,” Jess said and picked up the bucket and left the gym. She went out to the smoker and leaned on the table where the guys were deboning and said, “Is there any way you guys can get a small piece, or a few small pieces, and like grill them? The staff in there is really hungry. It’d be nice to give them a little something.”

“Sure thing, Miss Jess.” Cecil said. “I’ll cut a few pieces and cook them over the firebox. Have them ready shortly.”

“Can I also get some small scraps to throw in the broth?”

Thad smiled broadly, “You just causing all kinds of work.”

“It’s for the people inside, Thad. I just feel so bad for them.”

“I know who it’s for and it’s not a problem. Give me a few minutes and I’ll chop a couple of pounds up.”

“Great! I’m going to take the rest of what’s ready inside and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

We walked down the street towards the clubhouse. It was supper time and Mom and Dad were hungry. “We have community meals,” Dad said. “It’s just easier that way. I do a lot of fishing and we have a couple of nets we made. It keeps us in fish. There were gators early on, but I haven’t seen one in months. But we do get turtles from time to time too.”

“You’re lucky to have the river. I lived on Suwannee when it all went down, and the river kept me and my neighbors fed as well,” Sarge said.

“When we had to move out to Alexander, the river fed us pretty well too,” Danny added.

“Yeah, I kind of miss those mullet,” I said.

Getting to the clubhouse created quite a stir. Everyone there wanted to talk to us, to hear what we’ve seen and heard. We were swarmed by people. An old man ushered us to the front of the line, saying, “Here, you boys go first.”

I held my hand up. “No, no, we’re not going to burden you folks. We have our own food. You folks go ahead, and we’ll eat what we brought.”

Danny had gone to the boat earlier and filled a pack with MREs with this very situation in mind. He’d also made sure the boat was secure. As it turned out, the community had assigned someone to watch it, so it wasn’t an issue. Danny slid the pack off his shoulder and opened it. Taking an MRE, I said, “See. We’re good. You folks go ahead. We’ll go take a seat.”

Sarge grabbed a meal as well and looked at Mom and Dad. “You folks want one? We’ve got plenty.”

“Why not,” Dad said. “This’ll be interesting.”

As we walked to a table, several people asked, “Where did you get those?” We were a little elusive about how we came to have them. Simply saying they were found. The four of us helped Mom sort out what to do with the package and soon we all had something heating as we nibbled on some of the other contents.

“There’s a lot here,” Mom said.

“Better than C-rats,” Dad added.

“Anything’s better than those damn cans!” Sarge nearly shouted.

“You guys could have eaten what was fixed,” Mom said.

“I know. But it didn’t look like they had a lot there. And three of us bellying up to the buffet wouldn’t look good in my opinion. Every bite we take is one less that someone here can have.”

Mom smeared cheese spread onto a cracker and looked at Danny, “I’m so sorry about Bobbie. I was looking forward to seeing