Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Trade Goods

Gabrielle would like me to make it very clear that she has only been able to produce a very small amount of antibiotics so far, and that they're far inferior to the stuff we used to get back before the world went crazy. She's not even sure they'll work, and there are all sorts of kinks to work out.

I want to assure you that I'm way more excited about some of the other stuff she's learned how to make. Yes, the possibility of Gabby turning her little lab experiment into useful medicine to fight disease would be awesome. Just as important is something she figured out along the way--how to make large quantities of topical antibiotics from natural sources. I was almost shocked at how easy it was once she explained it to me. The only problem we'd have is coming up with a material to act as a carrier, but Jess thinks she's got that covered.

I may seem a little more upbeat today, and there is good reason: yesterday one of our hunting parties found a church about sixty miles from here that was absolutely packed with cans of soup. The place served as a community pantry of sorts, taking donations and handing them out to people in need. I guess they also bought in bulk from the good people at Campbell's, because our folks found two pallets stacked with the stuff.

All told, there were almost eight thousand cans. That seems like a lot, and it is. One of the pallets was old, really, old. The cans stacked on it were expired by ten months, and we don't think chicken noodle soup is worth the risk...

However, the other one still has a year to go, so we've got almost four thousand cans of tomato soup ready to roll. With the number of people we have right now, they'll go quick given how short we've been on food. Still, it's a good feeling to know we can regain some of our strength.

The hunting parties have been doing fairly well, though it's getting difficult to find easy game around here that isn't fish. The woods south of the compound were stripped almost bare by the zombie swarm that nearly killed us. We've decided not to hunt in a wide area between here and Shelbyville, where our departing citizens will be taking up residence. The council, or at least the members we can gather at present, have a strong desire to see them succeed in building a place for themselves, so we're leaving off hunting in that direction if we can help it.

Small victories, but we'll take them. We're only desperately hungry rather than teetering on the edge of starvation.

I've got a meeting with the council in a few minutes. They have something important to discuss, and since I'm *technically* a member, I should be there. I haven't got the slightest idea what it might be, but it would have to be a big deal to pull even the dozen folks that will be there away from hunting. It seems as though some things are getting back to normal, or at least moseying toward it. It may not be long before we can get organized again, and have people working on projects like they used to. I know my protective equipment could use a little repair...

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