Well, I know, it took me some time(almost two year or nearly?)to keep on. I hope someone is still interested in the story despite the series being over. Honestly, the writers really disappointed me in season 5,there could have been so much more storylines to the characters! However, it gives us fic writers some room for imagination. This chapter might be a bit boring but I will try to make it brief. The series made looking for supplies look so easy, women's hair always looking gorgeous and their outfits cool and sexy. I decided to describe a more realistic vision of non-war existence.

Lily was riding Russell's old and slightly rusty bycicle on some bumpy half rural road. There were still some settlements that she hasn't scavenged yet. They were not on the old road map Russell had, as the man had it probably since Noah's arc times...Oh well, not exactly, the map was dated 1979. The young woman had the placed observed for Skitters before and found no activity. Lizzie was left outside the cabin on purpose; Lily knew that in case something happens to her, the cat would be able to find water and rodents in the forrest. She would go wild instead of dying quietly of hunger in the cabin...

Some of those houses in one of the small towns(which only had a couple of streets) were relatively intact. Lily stopped and hid the bycicle in the bushes. Scavenging had two sides, as finding supplies and small usefull trinkets were like Christmas gifts but it always been mentally painful for her. The memories of invasion horrors and burned down houses were getting vivid every time. Her mind would constantly wander to the day Russell was killed, to the invasion day when in panic was trying to call her mom and uncle... Being inside of those usual suburban small houses would make her sob, remembering the normal life and thinking of what had happened to her closest people.

The first house did not have anything interesting in particular. It probably belonged to some middle aged bachelor or a divorced workaholic: big sized clothing, work boots, cigarette buds and newspapers on the dusty table and a lot of microwavable containers that the owner did not even bother to throw away before the invasion day. However, Lily made a comment about the house contents in her notepad, as some things that cannot be taken now can be useful for later. Newspapers and cartons could be used for making fire or Lizzie's litter, old chairs can be broken into firewoods. The guy had some alcohol bottles and cigarettes in the living room which Lily only considered for treating cuts and bartering in case she meets other people. Drinking and smoking has never been attractive to her. There were even some porn magazines and DVDs under the TV stand. The young woman closed the house door with a grin thinking if the glossy porn magazines would burn well in the stove.

The next house looked like an old lady's home, with crotcheted napkings under vases with fake flowers and picture frames all over the place. Some frames were missing the pictures, probably the granny removed it in the rush on her way to escape. Lily looked at one of the greeting cards on the drawers. «Dear grandma Agnieszka!...» Agnieszka! Yes, some old lady, gotta be from Poland. Lily opened Agnieszka's pantry and gasped. The shelves were full of slightly dusty jars of pickles and jams! There was a bit of rice on the bottom of the 20-lb bag, thankfully without any bugs in it, as it was tighly closed. The nearly empty flour bag nearby was not so lucky, and Lily cussed aloud. Excited, she put some jam jars into the backpack and opened one with shaking hands. The jams had made last year for herself were finished recently. Raspberry! She rushed to the kitchen and jerked one cabinet door looking for a spoon or fork. The jam was divine, not even a bit of mould. While eating the jam right with the spoon, Lily thought of how her mother would react at seing ''that sort of barbarism''. Grandma Emma would probably timidly ask her is she wanted a descent meal before(yes, Nana, always YES!), and uncle Roger would probably turn the kettle on and join her over coffee and his peanut butter cookies...

The Kadars family life revolved around food like the Earth revolves around the Sun. They all have never been perfectly slim but not obese. Having great appetite did not help the waistlines. Thritfy Emma grew up after the Depression, so she adopted the attitude when food was never thrown away. She widowed when Roger and Kate were still teenagers. Getting jobs for teenagers was helpful but Emma put education as priority. Thus, money has always been pretty tight. Later, when Kate gave birth to Lily and thus became a single mother, they still were having tight budget. Little Lily enjoyed listening to Emma's Depression stories and thought of how much food and money is being wasted on unnecessary things and ''keeping up with the Joneses''. She awfully missed her grandma who died of cancer when she was about to finish high school.

She suddenly thought of Cochise. She was pleasantly impressed with the tall alien and his gentle manners. The shock after his slightly ugly looks went away after the first 5 or 10 minutes, then she even stopped noticing it. Would not it be nice if he came again? But what are the chances? Maybe yesterday's encounter was just like having a nice company on the plane and she won't see him again and will never ask more questions? Maybe he just visited her place out of courtsey?

Lily abruptly turned around the opened more cupboard cabinet doors. There was coffee and tea,too! ''God, how I hated you before and how I love you now!'', she exclaimed as she saw dry milk powder. Will go well with her coffee! Old Agnieszka also had raisins and nuts in the glass jar. ''I will save it in case he drops by''. The backpack was full with food from Agnieszka and gas lighters from the porn guy's house. The old lady had a nice bathroom stocked with toilet paper, soaps and pads. Lily happily thought of having some days off washing the bloody small rags she used for the periods. She could barely carry the goods. She will be back later for more. She stopped by at the living room and looked at the old woman's picture. ''Thanks, Agnieszka!''