羊毛战记 Part 5 The Stranded 57

　　57,　　• Silo 18 •,　　… was the year the Civil War consumed the thirty-four states. More American lives were lost in thisconflict than in all the subsequent ones combined, for any death was a death among kin ¹. For fouryears, the land was ravaged ², smoke clearing over battlefields of ruin to reveal brother heaped uponbrother. More than half a million lives were lost. Some estimates range to almost twice that. Disease,hunger, and heartbreak ruled the life of man …The pages of the book flashed crimson ³ just as Lukas was getting to the descriptions of thebattlefields. He stopped reading and glanced up at the overhead lights. Their steady white had beenreplaced with a throbbing ⁴ red, which meant someone was in the server room above him. He retrievedthe loose silver thread curled up on the knee of his overalls ⁵ and laid it carefully into the spine ⁶ of thebook. Closing the old tome, he returned it to its tin case with care, then slid it into the gap on thebookshelf, completing the vast wall of silvery spines ⁷. Padding silently across the room, he bent ⁸ downin front of the computer and shook the mouse to wake the screen.,　　A window popped up with live views of the servers, only distorted from such wide angles. It wasanother secret in a room overflowing ⁹ with them, this ability to see distant places. Lukas searchedthrough the cameras, wondering if it was Sammi or another tech coming to make a repair. Hisgrumbling stomach, meanwhile, hoped it was someone bringing him lunch.,　　In camera four, he finally spotted ¹⁰ his visitor: a short figure in gray overalls sporting a mustacheand glasses. He was slightly stooped, a tray in his hands dancing with silverware, a sloshing glass ofwater, and a covered plate, all of it partly supported by his protruding ¹¹ belly ¹². Bernard glanced up atthe camera as he walked by, his eyes piercing Lukas from a level away, a tight smile curling belowhis mustache.,　　Lukas left the computer and hurried down the hallway to get the hatch for him, his bare feetslapping softly on the cool steel grating. He scrambled ¹³ up the ladder with practiced ease and slid theworn red locking handle to the side. Just as he lifted the grate, Bernard’s shadow threw the ladderwayinto darkness. The tray came to a clattering ¹⁴ rest as Lukas shifted the section of flooring out of theway.,　　“Wow. ” Lukas felt his stomach rumble ²⁰ at the sight of the meat. He lifted himself out of the hatchand sat on the floor, his feet dangling ²¹ down by the ladder. He pulled the tray into his lap and pickedup the silverware. “I thought we had the silo on strict rations ²², at least until the resistance is over.
”,　　He cut a piece of tender meat free and popped it in his mouth. “Not that I’m complaining, mindyou.” He chewed and savored ²³ the rush of proteins, reminded himself to be thankful for the animal’ssacrifice.,　　“The rations haven’t been lifted, ” Bernard said. “We had a pocket of resistance flare ²⁴ up in thebazaar, and this poor pig found himself in the crossfire ²⁵. I wasn’t about to let him go to waste. Most ofthe meat, of course, went to the wives and husbands of those we’ve lost.
”,　　“Mmm?” Lukas swallowed. “How many? ”,　　“Five, plus the three from that first attack.
”,She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。,a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家