Gobbo

"Dad! Dad!"   

At the shout, Andy "Gobbo" Wosa looked up at the hurrying figure of his youngest “child”.  Astrid, all of 20 years carried herself with a seriousness that belied her age. As she drew closer, Gobbo could see the worry etched over her face. Straightening up, he turned from the wooden post that he had been strengthening the perimeter fence of the animal sanctuary with and faced the young woman. 

"What's going on hon, how's the inventory coming?" 

"erm...." Astrid paused to consult the notebook that she habitually carried, "Not great" she admitted. 

With a sigh, Gobbo fixed his daughter with a pointed look, prompting her to continue. 

"The good news is we have enough dried pet food to last the animals housed here and our dogs for the next two years!" 

Gobbo sighed again... 

"More good news, according to mum the water supply is isolated from the mains and is drawn from the local reservoir which is less than a half mile away, so we've got loads of fresh water!" 

This time Gobbo's sigh came with a side order of frustration... 

Astrid coughed to clear her throat, stalling for time that she knew she didn't have. 

"Ok, so the ambo was pretty trashed from the time just after the storm hit, your colleagues must have been awfully busy.  First aid supplies are pretty crap, according to the SOP loadout your make-ready guys provide on the vehicle, you're down most of the dressings and nearly all the drugs, including all the pain relief and most of the fluids. The truck is down to less than a quarter tank of fuel and the one car that Colin, the santuary manager had left here has almost none." 

She paused and finally looked up from her notes and met her father's gaze. 

"It's the food that concerns me most dad, we've used up nearly all of the supplies that we managed to bug out with.  According to my calculations we have maybe a day or two before we run out." 

With a nod, Gobbo indicated that Astrid should follow him back to the centre's out building, where he knew he would find his wife and son, as they tried to figure out the emergency generator.  Turning to his daughter, he saw a grim determination in her that swelled his heart with pride. 

"Grab that bloody awful crossbow of yours hon, we’re going shopping!"