“Son of a bitch!” Quinn cursed, running fingers through his short brown hair.
“Yeah, and the crap news is that there are vast dead zones. Even if we wanted to leave here, we’d not know where to go or what route to take to get to the other side. You could walk for weeks and then run into an area that has nuclear fallout and get a nice juicy dose of radiation poisoning.” Bart grunted.
“Those rotten bastards. Where did all the nukes hit?” Quinn asked, leaning forward and looking sideways at Bart, his hands hung between his knees.
“That’s just it, the government isn’t saying. It’s like they don’t want anyone to know, some big goddamn secret. Why? I don’t know.”
“Because it keeps us trapped here. I’m sure it is a shit show, about now. People who can move are moving and they’re moving east, or wherever they think there’s help or food. Especially, if they don’t know about the nuclear detonations. I’m pretty sure they don’t have the radio capability you have. If they don’t know about the dead zones and where they are, then they’re walking right into them and they’ll be dead soon enough. I have a feeling the government doesn’t want to deal with the millions that are trapped or dying. We’re being cut loose to live as best we can, or die.” Quinn speculated darkly. He sat back and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the tightness of the muscles in his neck, a dull ache beginning in his head.
“I was thinking the same thing. Cut and run. We’re fucked and left to our own survival.” Bart grunted.
“You and Milly going to be okay?” Quinn asked.
“Now that you ask, I’ve come to invite you to come live at the house. Laura and the girls are there as well.”
“What about your son-in-law? Hobart, was it?”
“Hogan, and no, my son-in-law was leaving Kansas City when the shit hit the fan. Laura and the girls walked to the house the other day. The thing is, I’m pretty sure that things in the city are getting desperate about now, if they weren’t destroyed. Which means they’ll be heading our way, looking for food and resources. Winter is around the corner and the temperature is dropping.”
“You’re right about that and I’m sorry Hogan isn’t home with his family. I take it that Laura and her girls are all right?” Quinn asked, concerned about the children. He’d never met Laura, but he knew the girls, giggle boxes, the both of them.
Bart waved his hand and nodded. “She’s a capable woman, my girl. She learned from her mother. But we’ll need more eyes than just me and Milly. When those people come, we both know, it’s gonna get real unpleasant. You come stay with us, we’ll feed you and house you, you in turn help us with guarding the place. Milly is setting up the study for you. You’ll bunk there. Oh, and you’re house trained, right? What do you say?” Bart grinned.
Quinn looked at his friend and knew the man was right. There would be hundreds, if not thousands moving out from the city. Hopefully they’d fight each other, kill each other before making it out this far. It was only about a three or four-days’ walk, not nearly far enough. Luckily, Bart’s farm was off the beaten path, there were easier targets on the main roads. For himself, he didn’t care, but for Bart’s granddaughters, Milly and for Laura, he’d go.
“Yeah, I’ll come. There’s nothing here that holds me. Let me go pack some clothes and you get whatever you can find in the kitchen. Then we can go to the barn, I’m sure I have some equipment and such that we can use at the farm. We can head to your place after we load up the trailer.” Quinn said, standing up.
“You got it.” Bart grinned and both walked into the house.
Ӝ
Topeka, KS
Megan Arya and Tilly Planter had just arrived in Topeka, Kansas. Both women were exhausted. It was so cold, and they’d not seen the sun for so very long. The thought of a warm place to sleep was all that kept Megan going. They’d been walking for over two weeks, from west of Salina, Kansas. It had been a long and tedious journey. There were others on the road as well, all hoping that Topeka woul have help there, some kind of set up and answers as to what happened.
Their meager food supply had been stolen, along with their water. They’d not had much water; it was too heavy to carry. Fearing more assaults, they found a large group of twenty or so people, heading toward Topeka. An old man from the group showed them how to use one of their socks as a filter. This helped stave off the desperate thirst.
“You’ll want to drink from moving streams. Not something stagnant. Rain puddles are pretty good, but not as good as a moving stream. Use the sock to filter out most of the yucky stuff. It isn’t foolproof, but it beats drinking directly from the source.”
“Thank you. How long have you been walking?” Tilly had asked the old man.
“Oh, just a few days, I’ve not walked like this for years, so I’m sure it will take me a bit longer to reach Topeka, but I’ll get there.” He’d chuckled in a dry raspy way. Megan wondered if the man had made it. The group had little food and water to spare but had given them a few morsels. It wasn’t much, but it beat complete starvation. She and Tilly had also found old dandelions, the leaves still green,
