“I’m up, Max...I’m up.” The Sheppard/ Lab mix danced excitedly as she rose from the cot, his nails tapping against the concrete floor. Shannon walked slowly across the room of the tiny shelter to her rations bin and opened it. “Shit...” Inside the bin she saw what was left of her emergency rations: four bottles of water and food enough for three days, at most. She glanced around the room, illuminated by a few LED lamps, and stopped at the calendar. Three weeks. Each day ticked off by a giant X. She had been in this hole for three weeks. She hadn’t thought about the water. Half of her supplies had been used to flush a toilet that was no longer attached to a working main line. She had thought the power and plumbing would have been restored by now. After all, this was an earthquake shelter...but what if the alert from the EBS wasn’t an earthquake? “It sure felt like an earthquake, didn’t it, Max?” He cocked his head to one side, ears up, and wagged his tail. Shannon smiled and turned back to the rations bin.
