The first schoolbus had arrived just as Lionel and Judd completed the erection of the small windtrap; the storm front hadn't showed any sign of moving, which meant that it probably wouldn't any time soon and that the wind in the area would stay constant. Chicago had gone back to being the Windy City. It meant a steady income of electrical power, if they could harness it properly... Judd waved at Vicki; she was expecting the vehicle, and was already moving the gate.

The bus itself was in rough shape; Vicki could see no bullet holes in the frame or window, but mud and scorch marks that she couldn't identify had turned the bottom half of it black. The gasifier fuel trailer made it look like some sort of Mad Max prop, and for a moment she found herself scanning the horizon for raiders. She hadn't heard of any in the area, of course, not even rumors, but it fit the picture a little too well.

Vicki waved in the bus into the parking lot's central area, which had been kept clear, and opened the door to receive the vehicle's precious cargo. Judd and Lionel climbed down to help.

Children - anywhere from one to six years old - orphans of the countless disasters that had made up the Tribulation, or orphans of the last, brief war at the Mount of Olives whose parents had been Jewish rebels or Global Community soldiers. "Facility looks good" shouted the bus driver over the noise of the engine. "Sorry, but if I turn this off, I don't know if it will come on again. Says here you've checked in for sanitation and supplies. Staff?"

"That's me, my husband Judd and my friend Lionel up there. Tanya's out scavenging. Chang and Naomi work at the network node, but quarter with us and already said they'd help part time."

"You're short. We were told there'd be eight people here. I count six, two part time. This is thirty human kids, they're scared, they'll need personal attention."

"We've signed up others, they'll be here in days."

The men had opened the side door on the school bus, and were herding the older children into the double-wide, where a welcome meal of dry cookies and UHT milk had been scavenged.

"You won't have time to do reclamation. I'll try to vector some supplies in for you, but if you're hoping to get disposable diapers or anything like that, odds are low."

"Thank you! Don't worry, God will provide!" Vicki smiled.

The bus driver flipped Vicki off, then dismounted. He was shaved bald, a good foot inches taller than Vicki, and covered in soot from operating the gasifier. "Look here, you. I have no reason to like you people. I'll help you guys, for the kids' sake, but give me an excuse and I'll -"

"Is there a problem?"

The driver turned toward Judd. "Yeah. Your front door sign's got too much fish on it for my taste. You unload the little ones, I'm too damn dirty to touch babies."

The bus driver pointed at the side door, then got to the rear of the bus and started shoveling scrap wood into the fuel pod. It smelled like barbecue.

Lionel gave a sideways glance to the man, shrugged, and helped Vicki and Judd get the babies off the bus. Thirty children, precious, irreplaceable. He didn't exactly sign up for this - the original plan was to help the Thompsons get situated, and then work with a reclamation project in the area - but it was pretty obvious that his friends and their charges were going to need a hand for longer than anticipated. Two hands. Lionel looked at his right arm, miraculously regrown during the Glorious Appearing. He knew that he was not the only one to be so blessed on that day, but had heard that similar things had happened since - both to believers and nonbelievers. Hard to verify ethernet rumors and markerplace gossip, though...

Someone had to watch the older kids as they settled in, and Judd ended up with the job; half of the double wide had been emptied out so as to make a living room of sorts, and a nearby store had been ransacked of pillows and blankets. Soon he had two dozen children quietly munching on dry cookies and UHT milk. He introduced himself, loudly enough to be heard but trying to keep gentleness in his voice. Reading up on the relevant literature hadn't been very helpful; he couldn't exactly pair younger kids with older ones to share responsibility, since the stark reality of it is that there was nobody on Earth older than 7 and younger than 19.

"All right kids! Introductions! I'm Judd. Start from... you, tell me your name and how old you are, okay?"

"I'm Hakim, and I'm five!"

"I'm Cindy, and I'm seven!"

"I'm LeandrrRRra, and I'm fourrRRr!"

"I'm Indiana! I'm six!"

"That's not a people name!"

"Is too! The guy who gave me my hat said so!"

Judd smiled to himself. This was a decent start...

Crying in the other room and an unmistakable smell told him that someone would shortly busy with COT's first diaper change. "I got it!" Vicki called out. "Leo, send the guy on his way!"

Outside, the modified school bus returned to the refugee camp for another load of resettlers. The ion storm front had barely moved, and a gentle but persistent whiff of ozone soon drove away the carbon monoxide from the gasifier.

Tanya Spivey came back from the scavenging run with a significant find - a sack of Eden fertilizer - only to find that, due to general exhaustion on everyone else's part, she'd have to take up laundry duty... after a bunch of little kids had been on a long bus trip. Fertilizer, indeed.

The double-wide was packed with life, to the point that Lionel and Tanya had started making use of some of the other living space they had reclaimed or built; to save on heating, they settled for bunking together in one of the derelict RVs, with her on top of the cab and him in the rear section.

"Is every day gonna be like this?"

"Reckon we'll get used to it. Last time I had to look after a kid was Ryan Fogarty, and that was just for a few hours..."

"That's fine, but I don't -want- to get used to it. My kids, when I have them, different story of course, but... Wait, wasn't Ryan Cheryl's kid?"

"Cheryl had to be talked into letting the Fogartys adopt Ryan. I think they're still in Jerusalem. Haven't heard of her since the Appearing."

"I pray that they are okay."

"Me too. That was not a happy situation. I hope she can find some peace now."

And pray they did, in thanks that the kids were safe and in concern for their friend, after lights out and before turning in.