The leather-bound book contained a historical record.
Fifty-three, fifty-two, and fifty-one years ago, there were three years of favorable weather.
The camp had bumper harvests, and the faces of the people in the Outer City were no longer ghastly white or sallow. They regained some color.
Just when everyone thought the good days would last forever…
Fifty years ago, in May, a torrential downpour began and didn't stop for a month.
The seedlings in the fields all died. Stored grain sprouted or molded. Many who ate the spoiled food died from diarrhea.
Then, a plague spread.
In the camp's Outer City, nine out of ten homes were empty.
In the camp's Inner City, the population was halved.
The situation improved forty-nine years ago. Over the next five years, the camp took in many Scavengers fleeing from disasters.
The population gradually recovered.
Then, forty-four years ago, a great drought struck.
