Chapter 405
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The walk was grueling, cold, always fearful of stepping on danger. They wished they could just take a bus to the Ark. But even if they found a working vehicle, they didn't have a clear path to drive it. They barely stopped, only two five minute rests the first day. They walked while eating, couldn't even stop to relieve themselves. Major Cox told them to either hold it, or just go while walking. It was disgusting, but what choice did they have? They lost three of their own this first day. Didn't even stop to bury them. Cox just examined the body after they fell. After pronouncing the individual dead the group just left the corpse where it lay. During the march some might say a few words about the deceased after they died, but always while moving. Cox never specifically said it but they all knew. For everyone who fell along the way. their own odds of being taken in increased. Eve remembered being in Texas, wishing she were in Alaska. She never doubted that there were oil workers in Alaska wishing they were in Texas. Now, in this ice age, she almost longed for the hot July days before impact. Cox said it was a three day walk to the Ark, in what used to be West Virginia. Eve saw the transmitting device, with the date and time. 12:48 am, July 22nd 2036. They'd ben walking less than a full day. It had been two days since impact.
It was likely past noon, not that they could tell without sunlight. There were now thirty refugees still walking. There wasn't much snow on the ground here, but it kept faling. Despite the deaths most of the herd was still making good time. Then Eve saw something. It was another herd of people. Their leader asked to speak to major Cox privately. Eve wondered what they were talking about. Then she noticed that the other group had much fewer rations, likely not enough to sustain them for the journey. Their leader was clearly asking major Cox for food. But this group barely had enough to sustain them. And if they were rejected, with nowhere else to go, Eve had a pretty good idea what they'd do to survive. Albert Einstein was asked once what kind of weaons would be used in World War III. Einstein admitted he didn't know, but he did know what kind of weapons would be used in World War IV, sticks and stones. Eve thought of this quote now. The other herd was likely getting ready to kill her group for food. The freezing cold might make using their fire-arms difficult. Eve and the others began collecing rocks, ice, whatever scatterred remenants of humanity were simply lying around. The other herd was also gathering similar weapons. It seemed that war had survived the world itself. Maybe the center could never really hold.
After the meeting between Cox and the other herd leader the two groups fought each other. They threw ice at each other and used whatever crude weapons they could find. Many fought each other with just their fists. Eve wasn't sure how much time had passed. Five minutes, maybe ten. Then the herd leaders signaled for their teams to stop. Out of sixty there were only forty survivors, ten were seriously wounded. Eve was confused when both leaders took ration off the dead, distributed them to both sides. The apparent point of this battle had been that these groups had limited rations, they had to thin the herd overall. Now, they were apparently expected to all go off to the Ark together.