Free Better Lucky than Good (Records of the Resistance) by Shaun Meehan Page B

She's Melanie." Clay said, while nodding in Mel's direction as he spoke.

    Kevin stunk. It was clear to Clay based on that olfactory indicator alone, that he was likely telling the truth. His clothes were filthy, obviously having not been changed since the outbreak. What was once a white collared short sleeved shirt, had been stained beige with sweat and filth. At some point he likely wore a tie and name tag, but were both long gone now.  

    "By the look of you, I'd guess that you've been here a while..." Clay said after making his mental observations.

    "Ever since my co-workers turned..." Kevin replied tiredly.

    "I thought they had you two last night, for sure. Nice shooting Melanie." he added.

    "You were watching us? From where?" Melanie asked.

    "From the security office. There are cameras all over the building. I would have come out to say hello, but my ex-coworkers had become intent on effecting my demise." he answered.

    "Security cameras? This place have a generator or something?" Clay interjected.

    "Generator? No... Wait... You guys don't know, do you?"   asked Kevin, coyly.

    "Know what?" Melanie replied.

    Kevin laughed.

    "Well... This is the first time since the outbreak that I've actually been able to deliver good news. There is still power." Kevin said with a smile.

    "Bullshit. We didn't have power at the last place I was staying." Melanie argued.

    "It's not everywhere. Wow, where have you guys been living during the last month?" Kevin said sarcastically.

    Clay and Melanie looked at one another and smiled.

    "The military has control of the power plants. They needed to keep the reactors operating, or we would not only have infected wandering the streets but also radioactive fall out." Kevin explained.

    "Key buildings, such as factories, or any place that could store supplies, all still have power. The power plants aren't running at full capacity though and something had to go. Residential was of low priority. They figured that most people would congregate around large defensible structures." Kevin continued.

    "The military... Or what's left of it, is still fighting. They've been trying to keep everyone up to date. They don't have the man power to relocate everyone to safe zones though. Mainly because there are no safe zones anywhere to be found, and they're focused primarily on the need to defend some of the key installations they've routed hydro to." he finished.

    "They're keeping everyone up to date? How? Do you have a radio or something here?" Clay asked.

    "No, no. I haven't actually seen any military personnel since the outbreak. They're using email. They sent out a mass email to every known address they could get their hands on. Everyone who replied, essentially got added to the 'survivors of the end of the world' mailing list." Kevin replied, apparently having a good sense of humour, given his situation.

    "Email?" Mel asked, looking to Clay. "Is this even possible?"

    "Very possible. Not all the satellites are working though. Where we are right now, we only get about a five minute window to send and receive messages and the signal is very weak. The messages have to be short. Like a text message." Kevin answered.

    Clay was silent and staring off into the distance. It was obvious to Mel that he was deep in thought about something in particular. She stood quietly and waited for his response to Kevin's explanation.

    "Have you heard from anyone in the big city?" Clay asked distantly.  

    "The big city? No way, man. That place is a dead zone. They estimated that over ninety-nine percent of the population was infected. Like... Survivors numbering in the decimals. The local military here is going nuts about the potential horde that could come crawling out of there." Kevin answered.

    The trio fell silent again. Clay couldn't avoid thinking about home and about Brooke. He was still in no position to reach her, but the new hope of opening a line of communication with her provided some solace. Clay