Cracking was not the worst job. There were latrines to deal with, after all. But cracking was hard.

Ellie brought the hammer down. The black stone was a little bigger than her head and it was defiant. She hit it again. And again. Finally it cracked. Ellie dropped the hammer and looked.

She smiled.

The inside was geode like, full of crystals. They were harder than diamond and conducted electricity better than anything. You couldn’t eat them or fill a half track’s tank, but you could trade them for food and gas.

Ellie sat and watched the sun go down.

Chapter 8

Chapter 10