Title: Welcome to the New Age Chapter 20
Author's Note: For disclaimer, see the prologue.
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Chapter 20
Exterior – The Road – Day 75
They travel with nothing but the clothes on their back and the two knapsacks they were able to grab as the house toppled on them. Luckily, their bags are filled with food. Unluckily, they don't have blankets to serve as shelter when the day fades to night.
The day drags on as Alex, Kathy, and Oliver trudge east on the deserted highway. They pass exit after exit advertising some fast-food restaurant or a hotel or two, but with no way to defend themselves, the desire to investigate these presumably abandoned places is virtually nonexistent.
Oddly enough, they do not encounter anyone else traveling the Interstate, nor do they stumble upon any bodies.
They stop to eat their meager rations – one-third of a can of chopped carrots each – when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. The small amount of food is not nearly enough, but it will have to make due until dinner.
They take a break a couple hours after lunch to collect snow. They pack the snow into the three empty cans they have saved and wait for it to melt.
"Water," Alex says, handing Kathy and Oliver each a can. She takes a sip from her own can and smiles. "It'll do."
Oliver drinks the water in his can quickly, a good amount missing his mouth and covering his shirt. Alex takes off her extra sweater and helps Oliver into it.
They continue walking until the sun begins to set.
With nowhere safe to camp, they decide to take their chances and spend the night in one of the many deserted cars littering the highway.
Alex chooses a black minivan parked at the edge of the highway against the sound-barrier wall. The seats and driver's-side door have been ripped from it, but the carpet flooring remains and it will serve as decent bedding.
Long after Kathy and Oliver have fallen asleep, Alex lies awake, her mind filled with fantasies of what life would be like if they hadn't found themselves in this post-collision world.
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Exterior – The Road – Morning – Day 79
It snows overnight. When Olivia wakes up, she is covered in a thin layer of it. She sits up slowly, not wanting to irritate the ever-present headache in her eyes. Looking around, the familiar pang of loneliness hits her hard, making her stomach churn and tears cloud her vision.
She wipes angrily at her eyes and stands up. She packs her bedding into the cart and continues on.
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Exterior – The Road – Morning – Day 97
Oliver's shoes are creating blisters on his heels and toes. Every step is painful and after three months without proper nutrition, Alex is finding it impossible to carry him as much as he'd like.
Setting Oliver on the ground for the fifth time since they set out early this morning, Alex says, "We gotta find a better way, baby."
Thankful they saved it, Alex rips two pieces of the carpet flooring from the minivan off the folded piece in Oliver's arms. Placing the remainder of the folded piece on the ground, she has Oliver sit down and take off his shoes. His socks are frayed down to nothingness and there are holes in the lining of his shoes. Alex pulls the rest of Oliver's socks off very carefully, knowing the skin underneath is going to be raw and sore.
She is not prepared for what she sees.
Oliver's feet are bright red and covered in blisters – some popped, some not, some oozing blood.
"Oh God," Kathy says. She takes her knapsack off her back and rummages through it. "I know it's in here somewhere," she mumbles. Moments later, she pulls out an unmarked, white tube. She opens the cap and pours some sticky-looking, yellow substance into her hand. "Honey," she says, kneeling down in front of Oliver, "is a natural antiseptic. Many types of bacteria can't survive in honey" – she begins to smooth the honey on Oliver's feet – "so the wound heals, swelling eases, and the tissues can regrow." She wraps the carpet floor – for lack of better bandaging – around his feet. Slinging her knapsack back onto her back, she picks Oliver up.
Alex quickly packs Oliver's socks and shoes into her knapsack, and the group continues on.
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Exterior – The Road – Day 101
It is said that the day your life changes forever starts out like any other day.
The morning of January 28, 2002 starts out like any of the past twenty-six: Alex wakes up long before Oliver and Kathy, and walks away from their camp to use snow to clean herself up. When she gets back to camp, she prepares a meager breakfast of cold green beans and water.
She wakes Oliver and Kathy and they eat in near silence. After breakfast, she cleans Oliver up, and then the group packs up camp and continues on, silently praying for a bit of good luck.
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Exterior – The Road – Day 101
Twenty-six days ago, pieces of shrapnel embedded themselves into Olivia. The piece in her shoulder had been impossible to remove on her own without fear, and the one in her thigh hadn't been noticeable.
Until right now.
Olivia is limping cautiously down the road, using the cart to keep her upright. The pain is alternating between stinging and throbbing and it is almost as bad as the headache in her eyes. Her refusal to use any of the salvaged medical supplies is less noble and more out of fear of needing them for something more important.
So Olivia continues walking until the pain in her leg is so intense that she cannot see straight and then she nearly collapses. She manages to push the cart to the edge of the road and into the forest. Hiding the cart as best she can, she leans against a tree and lowers herself to the ground.
She rips at her pants and exposes her leg; the wound is red and oozing, infected. She sighs and closes her eyes. I'm going to die here, she thinks, letting unconsciousness claim her.
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Exterior – The Road – Day 101
Alex stops, squinting in the bright afternoon sunlight, and stares at the looming building just down the road from where they are standing.
The building is tall with boarded-up windows and surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. As they approach the building, they can see the guard station by the gate. The sign over the gate reads: SALVATION
Alex and Kathy look at each other and pray silently for a bit of good luck.
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End