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“I guess in a city as big as New York, people are just not as aware of each other as they are in the enclave.”
“Where do we go now? That driver took us 30 miles north-west of the bridge.”
“I have a map here that shows the Appalachian Trail nearby.” Lori held a folded geodetic survey map and shone her penlight onto it. “With the good moon tonight, we should make that by morning. If it looks like safe traveling, we’ll continue for a time. I want to put as much distance between us and that city as we can, but we have to travel where we can’t be seen.”
“I guess we can travel by night, if the trail isn’t too wild.”
“We’ll have to just take each day as it comes,” said Lori. There should be plenty of game on the trail. Rabbits or squirrels will make sufficient meat, we can forage for vegetables, and we still have our trail mix and jerky for those days we can’t find anything.”
“You’re a wonder, Lori. Aren’t you just a little bit daunted by the prospect of 5000 miles?”
“We’ve trained for this, Jason. We’re both more than capable of making 50 miles or more a day. 100 days will carry us 5000 miles. We have everything we need to make that walk, and we need to get back to our people.”
“I guess you were right Lori. This was not the right time to try for assimilation. Maybe there never will be a right time.”
“I told you when I accepted this mission I was totally committed to it. It was a risk worth taking. I hold no joy in being right; the loss of Bill is just sinking in. It’s going to set us back a long way in our goal to be self-sustaining. It’s not just the science. We can build on that--make it better. But Bill was the soul of our people. His belief in our mission to save humanity was the driving force behind all of our training and education.”
“I still can’t believe he’s gone. He leaves a huge hole in our community. What are we going to do?”
“First, we have to get home. We must report on our lack of progress, and decide how to proceed. That means we have to start walking.”
They shouldered their packs and started. The land they found themselves in comprised fields of crops, both vegetables for market and silage for dairy herds. It was easy walking along various tractor roads through the farmlands as they avoided houses and headed ever westward towards the Appalachian Trail. Lori was grief-stricken, but covered it with bravura as she strode through the fields toward a line of trees ahead. There will be time for grief later, she thought. Poor Jason! Bill meant the world to him.
October 13, 2027, 07:30
On the Appalachian Trail