We had two hands, but they'd been scared off by the Turners."The house was dim, and as Jake approached the girl, he could see more details. In additio... to the bleeding forehead, she had a black eye, and her left arm was cradled on her knees. She had a fat lip; her dress was torn and he could see her thighs. There was blood there as well.Jake had seen such scenes before, and he held his temper. For some reason, though, he felt a sharp wave of guilt. It was as though he was supposed to prevent. The strap around her waist was first, then the one that went over her bent legs and lastly the one around her shoulders. Wes made sure they were nice and snug before zippering the top shut.Now for the fun part.Wes was glad he kept fit and lifted weights because it came in handy at times like these. Dragging the bag to the edge of the bed, he put the carrying strap over the opposite shoulder and lifted with his legs. The woman inside struggled but the straps kept her in place. Slowly he made his. All the furnishings were comparable to what had been in their bedroom, old, worn out, stained and ready for the junkyard. Only the living room had any carpet at all and it was badly frayed. All the other floors were covered in the same kind of worn-out linoleum as the bedroom that had been used by the owners of the house. Ruthie put her arms around me and snuggled her head against my chest. ‘George, I have another really big favor I want to ask of you.’ I hugged her against me. ‘Ruthie, I have. "I saw a lot of nods at that, a few people were even taking notes."As a group, what is our biggest asset in surviving the loss of most of the world's people, and possibly its infrastructure?" I asked. Dad knew the answer, as we'd had this conversation already, but he remained silent. When nobody spoke, or raised their hand immediately, Carlos raised his."Carlos?" I acknowledged, giving him a nod."The river," he answered. "Water is life." Carlos has hit it on the head," I confirmed. "Water is.