“How was it out there?” one woman asked.
“A little nerve-wracking,” I answered honestly. “But the fey handled everything the infected threw our way. It’s worth going out there.”
She glanced at the food near my feet and nodded slightly before her gaze shifted over my shoulder. I glanced back and saw she was looking at Nat. Did she know he would be a potential problem if she went out? If so, how did so many people know and let him continue his stealing?
I reached into the tote, plucked up a can of something, and tossed it to her.
“Give it a try tomorrow. I’ll be going back out.”
“If you’re giving handouts, I’ll take some,” a man behind her said.
“It’s not a handout. It’s proof that you all can do something to feed yourselves if you stop letting fear rule you.”
He blustered and tried making excuses. Bad back. Bad knee.
“The fey carry you. All you have to do is grab the food from the cupboards and put it in the totes. They carry the totes out.”
“I ain’t letting some man carry me around.”
I shrugged and picked up my food.
“Hope your pride keeps you company while you slowly starve to death.”
He flipped me off and would have likely come at me if that wouldn’t have meant losing his place in the handout line.
I managed to give away five more cans of food, which didn’t seem to lighten my burden much before I reached the end of the line. They all went to people who were curious about going outside the walls. Hopefully, they would join tomorrow’s group of supply runners.
By the time I reached the house, my arms were burning. I set the tote down, opened the door, and pushed my haul inside, too tired to try lifting it again.
Tor and another fey were speaking quietly by the stairwell as I shut the door and dragged the tote to the kitchen.
“They are in Matt’s basement. He will watch over them until we have the rest,” the other fey said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Five men came here, looking for yesterday’s supplies. They were angry when they saw no food and the paper with writing. They read it and left again. Turik was watching from outside and followed them to their homes. When they came out again, he took them to Matt. Matt is keeping them.”
“What do you mean ‘took them?’ Turik grabbed them off the streets in front of everyone?”
The other fey flashed his teeth at me, showing me his humor.
“Turik made sure no one saw. He said that others are looking for the men and are angry that they can’t be found.”
I wasn’t sure I found it as funny. Especially when those men disappeared after coming here for food. Although, maybe this is what we needed to push the haters into acting rashly.
“Tell Turik thank you for me. Did any of the men see you when they came in?”
The fey shook his head. I asked him to wait while I downloaded all the footage from the cameras. The men were clearly visible from several angles, including when they snuck in and their reactions to the missing food. As soon as I had it downloaded, I gave the memory stick to the fey to deliver to Matt. He left through the back door.
“How often do the fey sneak around Tenacity?” I asked.
Tor grinned at me then pulled me into his arms to hug me close.
“This is where most of the single females are.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
“Isn’t it?”