On day 1158, Basen tested the first samples from the rebuilt filter for the known contaminants and wrote the results on a board. A second sample went to the clinic for its own check. Only after the accepted results returned did Fen drink a permitted cup in front of the queue. It tasted of stone and charcoal. No one called the intake restored; the smaller bed could supply only a measured share of what the upper quarter needed, and its flow had to remain slow enough for the layers to work.
Sivet stood beside the outlet with a clay pitcher. “How much for four people?”
Fen showed her the mark on the measuring jug. “This much for drinking and cooking today. Bring the pitcher back for the second collection this evening.”
“And washing?”
“Lower well, or water you’ve already used for cooking if it’s clean enough.”
A man farther back in the queue protested that his household had seven people and an elderly woman who could not walk to the lower well. Fen asked his name, wrote it down and gave him an additional portion. She asked him to send someone to the clinic so a volunteer could carry water to his house the next day. The line moved slowly, but it moved.
