Free The Quest: Countdown to Armageddon: Book 6 by Darrell Maloney

people of Baker Street got together and went to City Hall, they could say they had a plan to open up a small bakery in one of the houses here, and would bake bread until the flour ran out. Then they’d trade the bread to other residents of the city in exchange for something they were making or growing.
         “In that case, City Hall would evaluate the request, and if they deemed it was for the public good they would grant it. And we would set up our bakery and bake our bread and trade it for other goods and services.
         “In that way, the law has encouraged small businesses to take root. We still don’t have a dollar yet, but they say that trade is the first step in reestablishing the economy.
         “And in the meantime, nobody starves. Even those who live too far away to scavenge themselves from the trucks and stores can barter for goods from the traveling merchants, as long as they have something to trade.”
         “Okay. Something to trade like what?”
         “Well, in our case, we grow four times the amount of corn we need in a given year. Word has gotten around that we have extra corn to trade, so when the traveling merchants come around, we look at the goods they have and barter with them.
         “They all take gold or silver or gold coins, of course. That’s their bread and butter and why they’re in business to begin with. But say we have no precious metals to give them. They’ll still deal with us for something we have that others may be looking for.
         “So, maybe they have some winter coats, and a couple of our people are looking for some. We’ll barter with them. We’ll say we have no gold or silver, but we can trade fifty ears of sweet corn for the coats. The merchants know that on another street, where they haven’t been able to raise corn as well as we have, they might actually have some old silver coins they can trade for the corn. So they’ll give us the coats for the corn, and then they’ll go back to the other street and sell our corn for the coins.”
         “That’s actually a pretty good idea,” Tom observed. “Probably the only good idea the United States Congress ever had.”
         Scarlett laughed.
         “I’ve heard that a lot. I guess it was inevitable, that eventually they’d stop thinking of themselves and do something good for the country.”
         “Yeah. It’s just a damn shame it took a worldwide blackout to make it happen.”
         Sara asked, “So, is that why you grow so many different crops? So you have extra to trade?”
         “Yes. But that’s only part of it. We also have a couple of businesses set up. Tony’s got his bicycle shop, and Jessika and I have our sewing shop. Word has gotten around this part of town that anyone needing bicycles or alterations can come by Baker Street to barter for our services.
         “Tony used to repair bicycles as a hobby, and he can basically put a bicycle together using a bunch of different parts.
         “So right after they made the proclamation, he commandeered one of the abandoned houses we were getting ready to tear down and claimed it. He put a big sign out in front of it that said, Tony’s Bicycle Shop .”
         “I saw that when Scott brought me by for the barbeque,” Sara said. “I was going to ask Tony about it, but he wouldn’t stop talking about how pretty my eyes were.”
         Scarlett laughed.
         “That’s our Tony. The only thing that interests him more than bicycles is trying to get into everybody’s pants.”
         “Scott told me he’s particularly bad after he’s been drinking.”
         “Yep. After he’s been into the whisky you want to steer clear of him. Sober, he’s a great guy and a good friend.
         “Anyway, after he claimed the house as his bike shop, he petitioned the city for a permit to build and trade bicycles for other goods. They gave him what they call a ‘rolling permit’