The Liddy Scenario by Jerry D. Young

body, Brody and Ranger insisted she stay in the truck while they handled the bodies. They appreciated her effort, but they needed her in condition to drive.
    All the past efforts had been to handle the bodies as respectfully as possible, never putting one on top of another, but that went by the wayside. Brody and Ranger had to stack the bodies like cordwood in the bed of the pickup, and then again in the slit trench to minimize the amount of dirt work they would have to do with the equipment.
    Julie Anne had brought, along with her PPE, ID tags and personal effects bags with her. Brody and Ranger quit trying to check the bodies where they found them. The few people that were about nearly went ballistic when they saw Brody and Ranger going through the clothes of the bodies, looking for ID.
    Brody had Julie Anne write down the description he gave her of each body and the location found. The bodies were searched at the cemetery, and ID’s found, where they existed, and personal effects were bagged and tagged before the bodies were put in the trench.
    Many of the bodies had already been disturbed, some with indications they’d been searched and valuables taken. Some had suffered depredation from the many feral animals that were roaming the streets of the city. Some were in their homes or apartments. Many, like the two the team had seen that morning, lay abandoned on the street, placed there by people fearful of disease.
    None of the three could stomach a lunch, though they went through the rest of the bottled water Julie Anne had provided. They finished picking up each body on the list that Julie Anne had been given, but it was al-ready late in the day and none of the three were up to going back to the EOC and to get another list. The bodies they’d recovered were covered, filling the trench they’d been using. Brody drove Julie Anne and Ranger back to the apartment.
    Brody insisted they all eat something, though, like the other two, he didn’t eat much. But they consumed several bottles of water between them.
    “Time to get more water,” Brody said, surveying his remaining supply. “Before we go traipsing out at night, let’s try the boiler and hot water heater in the basement.”
    “Is that water safe?” Julie Anne asked. She’d started to protest on other grounds, but decided they really did have to find some water.
    “Should be, anyway, but we’ll filter it all, just in case,” Ranger said. He pointed at the stainless steel appliance on Brody’s kitchen counter. “That’s a Crown Berkey purifier. We just pour the water we recover into the top, and draw off the filtered water at the bottom.”
    “Nice,” Julie Anne said. “I use a Brita pitcher to get the bad taste out of the water. I guess that’s just a big version.”
    “Little more process than a Brita,” Brody said, “but yes, essentially the same thing. A Brita would probably work for the water we’re going after tonight, but I’d be leery of it for water from the lakes, ponds, and the river. We may have to resort to that pretty soon.”
    As they made their way down to the basement, carrying several of Bro-dy’s now empty water containers, Julie Anne asked, “What about the other tenants. Won’t they need some of this water?”
    “First come, first served,” Ranger said. “If there were babies… or pregnant women… I might try to see that they get some. But people are responsible for themselves. It’s not up to me to provide for all their needs because of their shortsightedness.”
    “I see,” was all Julie Anne said, and let the subject drop.
    Brody set down the two five-gallon containers he was carrying and pulled out his keys when they got to the basement access door.
    “You have keys for the basement in your apartment building?” Julie Anne asked.
    “Uh… Unofficially,” Brody said. “This basement will provide good shelter space in case of a nuclear attack. I want to be able to get into it easily. I kind of borrowed the