were leaving the warehouse compound. Hope stirred in their eyes: hope of food and the nightmare of hunger coming to an end. They began to move forward, and then they started to run. It was turning into a stampede when Adrian fired a burst of fully automatic fire just over their heads, sending them diving for the ground.
Adrian shouted, “You civilians! Back up now or die right there—your choice! You don’t get a second warning!”
The mob began backing up, hatred written large on their faces, and as soon as they did, Adrian and his squad stepped out through the middle of them. The civilians turned and watched resentfully until they marched out of sight.
Chapter 7
Roman quickly acclimated to the new reality. He had been thinking about it long enough that it came as less of a shock to him than most; a fulfillment of a prediction. He had a lot to do and he knew that there wasn’t anyone else to do it, so he got to work.
The first thing was building his sand-filtration system for the water; a four-legged wooden box with a sloping bottom, standing four feet off the ground. He filled the box with clean sand and began pouring water through it. The box had a small hole in the bottom. The water would flow through the sand slowly and out the hole into a bucket. This was the first of three steps. The sand filter removed the majority of the debris that was in the water; small pieces of moss or other items. It did not make the water fit to drink.
The second step was to distill the water. While the river was crystal clear, it could still retain harmful materials, items either dissolved or just too small to see. Normal distilling required a lot of heat, and that meant burning a lot of wood. That required burning a lot of calories collecting and burning the wood. Roman had a better idea: a solar still. It would not require any more energy than the sun shining and very little human effort.
He dug a shallow and wide hole, which he lined with plastic sheeting. Roman had two large rolls of 6 mil, clear, plastic sheeting that he had purchased because the stuff was always handy. Once lined, a clean bucket was set in the middle of the hole on top of the plastic. The filtered water was poured into the hole with the plastic acting as a large bowl. To keep the bucket from floating, Roman put a weight inside.
Roman placed another sheet of plastic over the top of the hole and drew it almost tight. This plastic was allowed to sag an inch in the middle. He weighted the edges of the top plastic with rocks and dirt for an airtight seal. He placed a small rock on top of the plastic directly over the bucket, causing the sheet to droop in a shallow cone shape with the low point over the bucket. The hole had been located in an area that received sunlight all day.
As the sun heated the water between the layers of plastic, the water evaporated, leaving behind minerals and metals. The upper sheet blocked the evaporated water, where it condensed into droplets that, following the slope of the plastic, reached the low point where the rock held it down and dripped into the pot. It could take a single hot day, or up to three or four cool days to evaporate and condense into the pot. Because of the slowness of it, Roman set up multiple stills. By tending them every day, they had a constant supply of filtered and distilled water.
There was yet a third step to follow. Roman wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the water did not contain some biological agent that could cause sickness. While evaporated water wouldn’t normally carry biological contaminants, the low temperature of the evaporation still system, and the fact that contaminated water was close to and sealed up inside with the collection bucket, meant to Roman that bacteria could still get into the drinking water. Carefully collecting the water and putting it into mason jars, he then pasteurized it to kill any stray biological contamination. Using the cardboard and aluminum foil solar
Adrian shouted, “You civilians! Back up now or die right there—your choice! You don’t get a second warning!”
The mob began backing up, hatred written large on their faces, and as soon as they did, Adrian and his squad stepped out through the middle of them. The civilians turned and watched resentfully until they marched out of sight.
Chapter 7
Roman quickly acclimated to the new reality. He had been thinking about it long enough that it came as less of a shock to him than most; a fulfillment of a prediction. He had a lot to do and he knew that there wasn’t anyone else to do it, so he got to work.
The first thing was building his sand-filtration system for the water; a four-legged wooden box with a sloping bottom, standing four feet off the ground. He filled the box with clean sand and began pouring water through it. The box had a small hole in the bottom. The water would flow through the sand slowly and out the hole into a bucket. This was the first of three steps. The sand filter removed the majority of the debris that was in the water; small pieces of moss or other items. It did not make the water fit to drink.
The second step was to distill the water. While the river was crystal clear, it could still retain harmful materials, items either dissolved or just too small to see. Normal distilling required a lot of heat, and that meant burning a lot of wood. That required burning a lot of calories collecting and burning the wood. Roman had a better idea: a solar still. It would not require any more energy than the sun shining and very little human effort.
He dug a shallow and wide hole, which he lined with plastic sheeting. Roman had two large rolls of 6 mil, clear, plastic sheeting that he had purchased because the stuff was always handy. Once lined, a clean bucket was set in the middle of the hole on top of the plastic. The filtered water was poured into the hole with the plastic acting as a large bowl. To keep the bucket from floating, Roman put a weight inside.
Roman placed another sheet of plastic over the top of the hole and drew it almost tight. This plastic was allowed to sag an inch in the middle. He weighted the edges of the top plastic with rocks and dirt for an airtight seal. He placed a small rock on top of the plastic directly over the bucket, causing the sheet to droop in a shallow cone shape with the low point over the bucket. The hole had been located in an area that received sunlight all day.
As the sun heated the water between the layers of plastic, the water evaporated, leaving behind minerals and metals. The upper sheet blocked the evaporated water, where it condensed into droplets that, following the slope of the plastic, reached the low point where the rock held it down and dripped into the pot. It could take a single hot day, or up to three or four cool days to evaporate and condense into the pot. Because of the slowness of it, Roman set up multiple stills. By tending them every day, they had a constant supply of filtered and distilled water.
There was yet a third step to follow. Roman wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the water did not contain some biological agent that could cause sickness. While evaporated water wouldn’t normally carry biological contaminants, the low temperature of the evaporation still system, and the fact that contaminated water was close to and sealed up inside with the collection bucket, meant to Roman that bacteria could still get into the drinking water. Carefully collecting the water and putting it into mason jars, he then pasteurized it to kill any stray biological contamination. Using the cardboard and aluminum foil solar
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