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Well, Sam, she thought as she stepped onto that ruined altar, you can have this job back any time you like.
The crucifix that long ago Caine had used to crush a boy named Cookie had been propped up and fallen and propped up again. It now lay on a pile of debris. It hurt Astrid to see it there. She considered asking for volunteers to lift it again, but this was not the time. No, not the time for her to ask anything of anyone.
Edilio came in with Albert, but neither rushed to the front to stand in solidarity with her.
“If you guys will all sit down and stop trying to talk at once, we can have a town meeting,” Astrid said.
The response was loud and derisive. A wave of bitter words washed over her.
“Hey, the mall is closed, there’s no food!”
“No one brought any water down, we’re thirsty!”
“Hurt…”
“Sick…”
“Scared…”
And again and again, where is Sam? Where is Sam? Things like this happen, Sam should be around. Is he dead?
“As far as I know, Sam is fine,” Astrid said calmly.
“Yeah, and we can totally trust you, right?”
“Yes,” Astrid said without conviction. “You can trust me.”
That drew laughter and more insults.
Someone yelled, “Let her talk, she’s the only one even trying.”
“All Astrid does is lie and do nothing,” a voice shot back.
Astrid knew the voice. Howard.
“All Astrid can do is talk,” Howard said. “Blah blah blah. And most of it lies.”
The mob of kids was silent now, watching as Howard stood up slowly, stiffly, and turned to face the kids.
“Sit down, Howard,” Astrid said. Even she could hear the defeat in her tone.
“Did you write some kind of law that made you boss of everyone? Because I thought you were all about laws.”
Astrid fought the urge to walk out. Like Sam had apparently done, just leave town. No loss to anyone.
“We need to figure out how we’re going to organize and deal, Howard,” Astrid said. “People need food.”
“Got that right,” a voice said.
“How are you going to make that happen?” Howard
demanded.
“Okay, well, tomorrow everyone will work their regular job,” Astrid said. “It will be bad for a couple of days, but we’ll get food and water going again. The crops are still in the fields. The fish are still in the ocean.”
That had a calming effect. Astrid could feel it. It helped to remind the kids that not everything had been lost in the fire. Yes, maybe she could reach them after all.
“Tell us about the zombie,” Howard said.
