'Their farm was west of Longley. We lived there for about five years, until the virus came. We thought we'd be okay. We were used to killing our own stock and growing food. We had milk, eggs, and Stan grew spuds. But after a couple of months people started coming out from Longley, turning up at the gate and asking for food. Wasn't long before they stopped asking. There were people on the road. I don't blame them - everyone was hungry. But they brought the disease. You know about the women?'
'Yeah, it was the same here.'
For some reason the virus affected women more than men. One of the last bulletins we heard before the internet went down said ten women were dying for every one male.
1