She stared in confusion. Why would he have her do something on her own while he sat doing nothing? She decided it was some kind of test. So, she nodded and began walking. She walked first to the south end and looked around. The embankment was at a steep angle and had heavy growth, which would have made it next to impossible to climb up by itself, but it was currently all covered in ice.
Cursing under her breath, she walked to the opposite side and found more of the same. In addition, there was a concrete barrier wall. There was no way she could have climbed up that embankment. She walked back to Fred, who was sitting on a wooden pallet that he’d found from somewhere.
“There is absolutely no place to walk up to the interstate from here,” she declared.
“What do you suggest then?” Fred asked.
Nikki scoffed. “Why don’t we mount up and ride to the on-ramp like they did back when there were people and cars?”
Fred finished eating the last morsel of jerky before speaking. “That’s an excellent idea, so let me ask you, why didn’t you notice all that before we walked under this here overpass?”
“Notice what? You mean how it’s impossible to walk up the embankments?”
“Yep.”
She suddenly realized what kind of test Fred was administering. “Um, I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention I guess,” she grudgingly admitted.
“Yep. So, what have you learned?” Fred asked.
“To always pay attention to your surroundings.”
“That’s true, but why?”
Nikki squirmed, trying to form the right answer. “Situational awareness,” she finally said.
Fred looked around before fixing her with an indefinable stare. “That doesn’t really answer my question.”
Nikki squirmed some more. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for.”
“While you were riding, I imagine you were watching for zeds and humans, which is good, but otherwise you weren’t doing anything else other than enjoying the scenery, right? Don’t answer, I know I’m right. What I’m trying to teach you is to look at everything and remember what you looked at. Suppose we rode here and took a breather, only to hear a big ruckus going on up on the interstate. You’d know it would be almost impossible for anyone to climb over the retaining wall and come down here. Instead of panicking, we could stay put right here, be as quiet as a church mouse, and wait for them to move on down the road before safely leaving. It’s the little things that’ll keep you alive out here when you’re on your own.”
“Gotcha,” Nikki said.
“Back when you were a little kid, things were different. People in my age bracket had a hard time adjusting to this environment. You have a little bit of an advantage because most of your life has been centered around survival, but you need to take it a step further if you want to be a leader among your people.”
“I’m not looking to be a leader, I just want to know how to survive,” Nikki said.
“You want to be some kind of lone wolf? What kind of life is that for a young filly like you?”
Nikki found herself fidgeting under Fred’s hard stare but did not reply. Fred stared a moment longer before making a head nod toward the road.
“The Occoquan River is up ahead. Let’s go look things over. Can you swim?”
“Uh, no,” she said.
“Then don’t fall in,” he deadpanned. Nikki wasn’t sure whether to laugh or glare at him.
Fred mounted Aisha and began riding. Nikki hopped on Leeroy before the lovestruck horse took off without her.
Chapter 30 – Fred and Nikki at the Occoquan
“The Occoquan River is a tributary of the Potomac River, which flows into the Chesapeake, and eventually into the Atlantic,” Fred said.
“How far are we going?” Nikki asked.
Fred pointed toward north. “If we were to get on a boat, we could go right up into the heart of DC, but we’re going to stay out of that rat’s nest. Remember Patient Eve?”
“Yeah, I heard about her. What about her?”
“Before Zach took off, he told me there was a big concentration of zeds in that area, even to this day. He also thinks there is a possibility that is where Patient Eve is currently living.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. “No shit? How does he know that?”
“He’s got his ways,” Fred said. Nikki waited to see if he was going to explain. He didn’t.
“I wonder what they do for food these days?” she mused.
“Rats and other vermin, most likely,” Fred replied. “All major cities are infested with critters these days. Alright, our mission is not about her or DC, so we’re going to stay out of there and concentrate on this area.”
Nikki stared out at the river. The brownish green water wasn’t frozen and flowed slowly. There was the occasional log or piece of debris flowing by, but nothing alarming.
“Okay, what do we do now?” she asked.
“We’re going to ride the area, hug the waterways, look around, see what we see. Our goal is to stay hidden. If we’re spotted, we hightail it out of here. Oh, if you see an opportunity, use that bow to snag our supper.”
“You got it,” Nikki said.
They rode in silence for almost an hour. Suddenly, Fred stopped, causing Nikki to stop. The dip of his head toward the west was almost imperceptible, but Nikki saw it.
“No sudden moves,” he whispered.
On the west side of the river were several dozen zeds.
“Stillness,” Fred emphasized in a whisper. “That’s the key. They don’t see so well anymore, but they can still spot movement. If the wind shifts, they’ll smell the horses, so let’s wait it out and see what happens.”
The two of them sat, not moving a muscle. Leeroy started to nuzzle the ground, but Nikki slowly tightened the reins. The zeds turned in unison and began walking south. If they had been spotted, they gave no indication of it. Soon they were out of sight.
“Tell me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t
