There was no real response except darkening faces at the mention of the compound many of them had secretly hoped would be standing and willing to take in survivors, but the muttering was continuous. The large group wasn't even completely silent while Adrian was talking.
Adrian took the towel-wrapped bottle with a nod, "Okay, any new business?"
"Yes." Alex Ford, a young math teacher from Montana stood up nervously. "Are we gonna... I mean... Can we celebrate the holidays? Some of the kids have asked and we're not sure what to tell them."
The well-dressed, bald man sat back down and Adrian appeared to be considering, but this was easy, one of the things he'd covered in his own head over a month ago.
"Only the ones that matter, I think. The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, New Years, for sure. Memorial Day."
"What about Easter and Christmas?" Cynthia asked, hurriedly hand-copying as much of the meeting word for word as she could, and Adrian shook his head.
"Not as a whole camp. Hardly anyone believed in them, just used them as an excuse to indulge or buy off loved ones rather than spending real time with them. I won't even get into the money and stores and what they did to our lives. Each person can do what they want and I won't be upset to see kids hunting eggs or dressing up for Halloween, but I won't let a few force it on everyone else either."
There were nods and frowns, again about evenly split, and Adrian took a moment to open his beer and take a healthy swallow, wisely giving his sheep a minute to settle in with the idea that even the holidays had changed for them.
"Guess we might all like Halloween a little more if one of you guys could do some magic," his common joke drew smiles, but his eyes didn't tell them how much he wished it were true. "All right, anyone else have new business?"
"I have some suggestions," the doctor's voice was respectful and Adrian waved a hand, liking the hard intelligence in the short, rounded man's faded blue eyes. Very new in camp and just out of a self-imposed quarantine, the MD had already made friends.
Adrian gestured with his bottle. "Suggest away."
The aged healer stood up, sending a strong, menthol whiff of Ben-Gay over the gathered crowd.
"There should be more fruit and juice for everyone, along with daily vitamins. We're being exposed to a lot of poisons, especially in places like this, and the antioxidants in the fruits and juice will boost our immune systems."