Roger's Story: Chapter 1: One Last Breath*
Rating: PG (Later chapters may have a higher rating)
Disclaimer: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following story is intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.
Notes: This story was not beta read, so all mistakes are my own. Feedback is always appreciated.
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Roger Hammond collapsed against a fence post along a deserted country road. The cold January wind cut through his coat as he rested on the hard frozen ground. He looked out across the barren white prairie. In this moment, he felt truly alone. The sun wasn't even his companion today as the sky was overcast. He didn't have a watch, but he estimated that it must be close to midday.
He'd spent the past two weeks trying to make his way across the Kansas prairie in the middle of winter. Jake Green had suggested New Bern as a possible destination and Roger had gone there but hadn't made it past the road block. Even the mention of Heather and Eric's names made no difference. He was told there was no place for him there. Knowing it was pointless to argue; Roger worked a new strategy together and hit the roads again.
Roger shrugged off his backpack and pulled it in front of him. He didn't even feel the cold ground below him. Roger opened the front zipper and pulled out the last of some crackers he'd found in an abandoned farmhouse a couple of days before. He looked at the almost empty plastic lunch bag and counted the number of crackers left. He was down to two and some crumbs. He debated whether to eat it what was left now or wait. He knew it could be days before he would get more to eat, but he also knew he wouldn't last much longer on the roads.
Finally deciding that he might as well eat it now, he took a bite trying to pretend that it was a piece of his favorite Chicago-style pizza. As he imagined the tempting flavors of the pepperoni and cheese, he was able to ignore the fact that the crackers were stale and dry. As he finished the crackers, ingesting each crumb in the bag, he reached out for a bit of cold snow eating some of it to help wash the cracker down. The snow melted shooting pain through his teeth. He was still thirsty, but the snow provided no relief.
He next pulled out his map trying to gauge where he was. Roger knew he was somewhere near the border of Kansas and Nebraska. He wasn't sure on which side of the state line he was, but he knew he was headed in the right direction. Roger figured that most people would be heading south at this time. If he was going to make it, he'd have to think outside the box. His plan was to keep walking along these country roads until he hit Kearney. He had a couple of friends from college who lived in the town. If he had any shot at finding a safe refuge it was there, but he hadn't anticipated how cold it would be or how long it would actually take him.
Roger knew that his time left was short. There was no way that he was going to make it that far in light of the situation he was in. He looked at the map and calculated that he was at least one hundred miles away. He wasn't able to travel more than a few miles a day which meant at best he'd get there weeks from now. In the spring, the trip would've been nothing, but in the current temperatures, he wasn't going to make it that long.
Physically and mentally he was drained. He already wondered through this country once with the definite purpose of getting home to Emily. Now he was headed in the opposite direction; away from home and away from Emily. She'd offered to come with him, but he couldn't let her do that. As he told her, he'd faced down Gary Anderson to protect the people he loved. He wasn't about to put the person he loved the most in danger. The other issue was that she wasn't in love with him. Sure she loved him, but it seemed at every turn, she wasn't the same loving woman he'd known before Roger had left for Chicago. With the return of Jake Green, Roger knew deep down in his heart that Emily was no longer his. Without a guiding star, he felt adrift.
On top of his mental fatigue, he was physically in pain. His body ached from the long days of walking and he was physically exhausted from the few hours of sleep he managed to get when he could find shelter. He was pretty sure his toes were frost bitten as every step he took shot pain through his foot. It wouldn't be much longer before he stopped feeling anything at all.
Then there was his food situation. Those crackers were the last of what he had to eat. He looked across the prairie, but didn't see a house anywhere in his line of sight. Maybe it had been a mistake to stray so far from the main roads, but then if he'd stayed nearer to civilization, he would have been prey to road gangs.
It happened in an instant; the decision to quit. What did he have to live for? His parents were more than likely dead, having been in Chicago when the bombs went off. He'd been exiled from his home, leaving his beautiful Emily behind. He had no one left in the world. He'd done what he'd set out to do. He made sure that those he'd loved were protected. What was left for him to do? Closing his eyes, he drifted off into painless oblivion.
To be continued….
* Title of Chapter comes from song "One Last Breath" by Creed.