Red Death: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by D.L. Robinson

She needed to talk to Lee about it. They were safer in numbers. They could pool their resources, and although Mary was an extra mouth to feed, she was also a huge help. Lee’s leg was nearly useless and he still hobbled on one crutch. Tara needed another hardy person around. She had rationed food and water as much as she could, and both she and Lee were thinner now. They had gone down to splitting a can of soup per day. Mary mentioned she was down to her last few cans too.
    It was time to make a trip to the river for water, and wood for the stove. There were snow flurries yesterday, and they would need a source of heat. She swallowed her fear as best she could while imagining all that this might entail. Tara was still frightened, but she existed in a kind of shell shock, barely remembering the scaredy-cat she used to be. She had been through a lot since those days. Tara had begun to think maybe that’s all courage really was; simply becoming numb to fear.
    ~
     
    Tara stood at the cupboard looking at the lone Campbell’s Chunky Steak and Potato soup. Her mouth watered just seeing it. It was the last can and it was for their supper. She’d put off talking to Lee about Mary, but now it was time. Mary usually came over just after noon, and she wanted to be able to ask her then.
    Tara happened to see the book on foraging she’d bought at the yard sale what seemed like a lifetime ago. She picked it up and stared at the delicious looking berries on the bright front cover: Backyard Foraging by Ellen Zachos. The tagline below the title said: 65 familiar plants you didn’t know you could eat.
    Well, Ellen, let’s hope you’re right because otherwise we’re gonna have a big old plate of dead for Christmas.
    Tara turned the pages, looking at the plants inside, and suddenly hope flared. We have many of these! And I’ve seen others growing everywhere. She recognized the chestnuts—a tree grew just down the alley where she took her regular walk. Yes, of course, they belonged to the owners whose yard they were in, but the majority of them spilled onto the alley. She could help herself if someone hadn’t already. A walnut tree was just across the alley.
    Next, she read that acorns could be soaked and ground into flour. She knew where plenty of those were located. Her dahlias, dug up every year and stored in the basement, could be eaten too, tasting a lot like radishes according to the book. Wild garlic grew out back, and the bulbs and stems could be used like onions.
    If she and Lee survived the winter, dandelions were plentiful in their yard. Both the leaves and blooms were edible. So were daylilies. The shoots could be eaten in spring, and the buds and petals in summer. Tara’s heart leapt when she read that their tubers were delicious, like fingerling potatoes in fall. Tara wondered if she could dig some up now in December. The book said to coat them in olive oil, and roast them at 450 degrees. Of course, they didn’t have an oven working, but Tara thought maybe they could adapt the wood stove. That is, if Lee could get it hooked up and she could rustle up some firewood.
    Next, she looked at the mushroom section and realized they had an edible mushroom growing right on their tree. The book said the best way to avoid poisonous ones, was to avoid any with gills. Stick with strictly pores and “teeth” on their underside. That was simple enough to remember.
    Her mom had given her the ground cover planted all around their house. Now Tara learned it was edible: Bishops Weed. The aggressive grower had to be trimmed back frequently. The variegated green and white leaves could be eaten as a salad, or used like spinach in a pita or pie. They’d also planted many hostas all around their shady yard, and apparently every variety was edible too, shoots, leaves and flowers. Their lacy ostrich ferns, the spiderwort plant at their back steps, the Rose of Sharon’s leaves and flowers, and the rose hips on Tara’s prize rosebush—all