Sloane opened the cooler beside me.
“It’s almost surreal,” she murmured. “Monday, this placefed three hundred people.”
“And today it feeds us.”
We inventoried everything. She wrote while I counted—perishables first, then dry storage; canned goods, pasta, rice, protein bars, shelf-stable supplies portioned for crowds.
“We could stretch the dry goods for years,” she said, scanning the numbers. She looked up, realizing what she had just said, and grimaced.
“If we ration,” I agreed, pretending not to have noticed the “years” comment.
Her eyes drifted toward the tanks visible through the kitchen doorway.
“And then the fish.”
I nodded. Neither of us liked that part.
* * *
We returned to the director’s office. I stood in the doorway for a moment before entering.
I spoke first.
“I’ve been thinking about the generators.”
Sloane looked up.
“They’ve got enough fuel to last over a month at full operational load.”
Her eyebrows rose. “That’s better than I expected.”
“It gets better. If we start shutting down nonessential systems, we can extend that. Significantly extend it.”
She straightened. “What would we shut down?”
“Everything that isn’t keeping us alive.” I stepped forward and traced the building blueprint pinned to the wall. “Tanklights off at night. No exceptions. They’re visible from outside. Even with storm shutters, light leaks. Anything out there that sees light will investigate.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed.
“We kill all visible indicators that we’re here,” I said.
“Hide,” she said quietly.
“Exactly.”
I moved to another section of the blueprint.
“We consolidate living space. Cafeteria. Locker room. This office. Everything else gets sealed off. And the AC goes.”
She grimaced. “It’ll get hot.”
“It’ll keep us alive longer.”
She didn’t argue.
“We also cook everything that’ll spoil,” I continued. “Use the kitchen while we still have stable power. Prepare it, portion it, freeze it. If the power fluctuates later, we’ve already preserved what matters. I know a trick for drying meat in the oven.”
She nodded slowly. “Reduces waste.”