Freegans part 17

Matt
"I wonder why these boots were thrown away," said Lucy, looking at them. "They seem to be in good condition to me."
Cara gestured to the right one, which had a splash of what looked like purple nail polish on the toe(Yes, we had nail polish back at the camp. Lucy's little sisters were always putting it on). She rolled her eyes in disgust. "These consumerist people are so wasteful! It's sickening!"

We headed in the opposite direction in the pipe, away from the drop off. Cara led the way, holding Madiza's candle. I went up by her in case of any more accidents, and Madiza came behind me. Lucy and Ben were in the back. I could tell that something was on Cara's mind, because she was muttering under her breath, and her forehead was puckered with deep thought.
"If you keep doing that you'll end up like Madiza," I said. Cara smiled. It was the first time I'd seen her do that since this adventure had started.
"Well, I see a potential problem in our escape plan. Namely, food and water. Where are we supposed to get any? We can't survive in this tunnel without them. And light would also be good. This candle isn't going to last forever."
"That's more than one potential problem," I said.
"You know what I mean!"

At that moment, I noticed something up ahead. "Hey, what's that?" I asked. Cara stopped short, and peered into the darkness. Because of the sudden halt, Madiza bumped into me from behind, and it was only by the grace of God that I didn't bump into Cara.
"It's a pack!" she said. Cautiously she walked forward. It seemed normal enough. She kicked it lightly with the toe of her boot. When nothing happened, she reached out and picked it up, carefully bringing it back to us.
"Be careful," I warned, "it might have a bomb or something."
" I know that," Cara replied. The others tried to get a look, but the lack of space in the tunnel made it difficult. Finally, we managed to form a circle of sorts, and looked at the pack. It was made of burlap, and had a clasp holding it shut. With trembling fingers, Cara undid the clasp. We could not believe what we saw inside.

"Food!" said Madiza in delight. Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed a piece of bread, a roll, from the pack and stuffed it into her mouth! "Madiza!" said Lucy in shock. Ignoring her, the crazy girl chewed vigorously, then gulped it down. She grinned, showing needle-sharp teeth.
"Well," wrote Ben on his paper, "it doesn't seem like she's about to keel over and die. I suppose we could try it."
"Let's wait a minute," said Cara. After the minute was up and Madiza still hadn't exploded or turned green, we each helped ourselves to some of the food. Most of it was pretty hardy stuff, cheeses and bread, and there was even a jar of honey and some water. The water was a little warm, but nobody cared. We hadn't tasted food in a long while, and hadn't even realized how hungry we were. Madiza and Ben ate as if they had been through a three-year famine, which they pretty much had. I sat by Cara as we ate, and helped her look more through the pack.

There was also a rope, grappling hooks, and some pieces of chalk. But there was something else more intriguing.
"Paper!" said Cara in surprise. "And several pencils! It's almost as if whoever left this pack knew we would have a mute person with us!" We looked at each other. This was strange.