"I can imagine," Lana said. "But this is so much better than anything I expected."
"Mike says along the Mississippi, all the towns are like this. We've been trading experts with the neighbors. No one here knew how to plant crops, but the next town over was made up of farm laborers. It's working out better than any of us expected."
"Winter will be rough," Lana said.
"It will be. We've got plenty of wood, though, from the forest. That's how they did it in the olden days."
At least now they'll have real heat, she thought to herself. The generator would be more than the town needed, even for winter.
"Has Kelli showed you around?" Melissa asked.
"A little."
"These are the kitchens. These buildings here each have a different purpose. Meat preparation there, breads and everything else there, then the last building is where we cook. We centralized all the ovens from the town into one area. The kids get snacks twice a day," Melissa explained, leading them into the building smelling of bread.
"Where do you get fruit and vegetables from?" Lana asked, gaze skimming over the oranges in crates.
"We trade for them or get them from the military. Not sure how they ended up with so many oranges."
"So the PMF and military really are helping."
"They are. We invite them for dinner, but for the most part, they just do patrols and bring us supplies. Mike handles the coordination with them."
Melissa motioned to a crate of oranges. Lana took one side and the redhead the other. They carried the crate back to the building acting as a nursery.
"I still can't believe how nice it is here," Lana said. "It's not what I expected."
"I think we all just want to make our new home as pleasant as possible. Most people didn't get a second chance like we did. Kids, come eat!" The toddlers left Jack at her cheerful voice and crowded around the crate.
Lana watched, feeling more alone than she thought possible. The people of the town had barely survived an apocalypse Mr. Tim and others should've prevented. She should've prevented. Maybe if she'd paid more attention to the information coming in or been a better analyst … part of her knew there were no indicators she missed. Another part of her found that to be impossible.
"Jack," she called. "Thank you, Melissa."
Melissa smiled in response, her hands full with a toddler trying to steal another's oranges.