Wednesday, September 17
th
I am stopping just prior to this big bend in the river. I might have to move deep into the woods to travel from this point on. There was some bizarre activity and I don’t have any idea what to do.
I saw the gliders first. Both swooped in just around the middle of the day. (By the way, it has been sunny but cold the last two days.) Of course, I immediately found a spot to hide out. I thought they might be headed east again, but they kept circling well to the west of me. I can’t begin to guess how long they circled, but with the strong winds through here, they could’ve gone all day long.
Once the coast was clear, I resumed my journey. There were some subtle differences in the landscape; especially on the other side of the river.
So, the reason that I finally called it quits for the day and am considering moving up into the woods is that there was a gang of people out ON the river riding windsurfers. It took me a bit to realize what I was seeing, but one of the Travellers that passed through the Corridor had one on his wagon. I remember him trying to explain it to a bunch of us kids with very little success. However, I also remember quite well that Mama Lindsay knew exactly what they were.
In any case, there were a bunch of them out there—at least twenty. I never saw them come very near to shore on this side of the river, but they were zipping around a lot and coming close enough that somebody was exhibiting enough concern to start lobbing big rocks from a huge catapult.
Eventually, the windsurfers headed back across the river and disappeared into a small cove. It looks like there is some sort of small settlement on that side, because as it gets darker, a soft glow is coming from that general direction. I wonder if it is a new settlement. And if it is…where did they come from? Are they on the run from the NAA?
In the morning, I will start the very arduous hike up the hill. The advantage is that I really doubt that I will see any walkers. However, I think I will increase the likelihood of running into the living. Given what I’ve seen lately…I’d rather take my chances with walkers.
Thursday, September 18
th
It took all day, but I am walking what I think is the ridgeline. No sign of anything…living or undead. Game is back to being plentiful. Just in time since I haven’t had more than a handful of pine nuts in over forty-eight hours. I set a snare and climbed up into my tree for a nap. When I woke…it was time to start a fire and make dinner.
I had a nightmare that I returned to Corridor 26 and they wouldn’t let me in. Mama Lindsay even came to the wall with Phaedra and said that I was no longer her daughter…that I was Meredith’s and that she never wanted to see me again. Needless to say, I am not very happy right now.
Friday, September 19
th
Oh my God.
That was the first thing that came to my mind when I made it to this point overlooking the gorge below. The dam is almost completely gone now. I guess I only witnessed the beginning of the event.
Most of the town where I found Natalie is simply gone. Also, across the river on the Washington side, there is more of the same. A town on that side looks to have taken a beating. I am terrified of what I might find further down the river.
I wonder if this is what all the activity from the gliders and the windsurfers was all about. Bad weather has moved in, and I don’t know if that is what is keeping them away today, but the wind is terrible, the rain is coming down almost horizontally, and the flashes of lightning combined with the rumble and crash of thunder has me seeking cover under this big rocky overhang. It’s not quite a cave…but pretty close.
I feel something building…like there is a horrible storm coming and it is focused on me. I really can’t explain it any better than that.
Sunday, September 21
st
I’ve met up with a trio of people. Travellers. They were actually camped in another niche in the rocks about three or four hundred feet from me during the incredible storm that raged through here yesterday.
The way we met was almost humorous. I was at this waterfall filling my canteens when I heard something coming through the bushes on the other side of the little stream. Of course I was at my most vulnerable, straddling the stream with my hands full. I tried to step to one side and slipped. When the three people came through the trees with weapons out ready for action, all I could do was stare up at them with a stupid look on my face.
The two men relaxed and one even made the effort to come help me. Of course I didn’t know him and thought the worst. I had my knife out and up to his throat as he bent down. So that was how I met Bob Hall. The other guy started to come at me in defense of his friend (and twin brother), but the girl grabbed his arm. She started giving him the what for about “coming at a young girl all by herself in the woods, and what did they expect me to do?” Then she stepped forward and introduced herself. That is how I met Felicia Hall, Bob’s wife. She was kind enough to also introduce me to Kenny—the twin.
They are from Florida! I’ve never met anybody from so far away. All three of them keep their hair cut down to just stubble. Even so, Felicia is very pretty. She has skin that is a light brown which makes her hazel eyes seem to glitter all the more. The scar that runs across her throat looks a bit sinister.
As for Bob and Kenny, they are very dark. Both have eyes that are so dark brown, they almost look black. Bob has a healed bite on his arm. It is mostly just angry scar tissue now, but even the scar looks painful.
All three are probably some of the tallest people I’ve ever met. They are decked out in leathers with nasty spikes sticking out all over…kinda like a porcupine. I guess they use their entire bodies as weapons if it comes down to it. I almost want to see them in action to get an idea how all the stuff they are carrying works.
They have these wheeled sleds that have harnesses (all equipped with quick releases) with all their goods. I asked them where they were headed and that is when Felicia pulled out tattered copies of Sam and Meredith’s journals. She said that they were actually headed to Corridor 26 because some of the other Travellers have been circulating a rumor that there is a third book. I didn’t say anything.
I asked them if they’d seen any type of army in their travels. That was when things got interesting. It seems that they had figured out where Irony was located and made that the first location they would check in to see if perhaps anybody there knew anything about Meredith. They said that the place had been hit hard by something, and that there was definitely some sort of organized occupational force in control. They didn’t bother to venture in and were smart enough to not be seen.
As far as that area where I saw those raiders, they said that the area is well known to all Travellers, and it is simply a place that you skirt unless you have a death wish. They were strangely impressed by my having actually been inside a “No Man’s Land” and survived. I think perhaps I got luckier than I realized. I told them about what I saw. According to Felicia, there are a half a dozen tribes in the area, and they are always at war. Women are traded like a commodity, and they even do exchanges to dilute the gene pool.
I asked them about the dam, but they had no ideas. Kenny said that others have failed all over the country. However, he said that is a relatively small catastrophe compared to the areas around the various nuclear power plants around the country. I guess there are parts of the country that nobody dares venture into. Some of the stories coming from survivors who do manage to escape are pretty horrifying. Zombies that don’t die or are so radiated that proximity exposure to them causes violent illness.
Of course, as we sat around the fire and I listened to these stories, I wondered how many of them were retellings of rumors that have grown farther away from the truth with each exchange. Some of it was so far-fetched that I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Still, there is a saying that every rumor has a grain of truth to it.
I have to admit, while I sit by the fire and hear the sounds of Kenny snoring…it is nice to no longer be alone. I realized as we sat and ate and laughed and shared stories (they had most of the stories), it was comforting.
Monday, September 22
nd
We had to come down out of the hills today. The woods simply became too dense to travel through. We were spending all of our time hacking through the dense vegetation.
It didn’t take long for trouble to show up. We were moving parallel to the highway when we saw them. It was a group of five heading east. Apparently Travellers has a secret sign. If the hand-signal isn’t returned, then strangers are greeted with more reservation. I had no idea that Travellers had a society…they have rules and all kinds of customs. Not at all like the selfish “grave robber” persona I have grown up hearing them painted with.
So when the secret signal was not returned (which they have not shown me since they know I’m not a Traveller), Kenny told me to keep a hand on my weapon. Felicia did one better, she drew the long sword from over her shoulder and Bob had a pair of pistol-sized crossbows.
The five spread out so that there was several feet between each one, and one of them dressed all in pieces of metal that were fastened to each other by what looked like strips of leather wrapped in wire came forward. Kenny asked us to stay put and went to meet the guy. They talked for a few minutes and it didn’t look very friendly. When Kenny came back, he said that these guys were demanding a toll. When asked what the toll was, apparently it was me.
I have to admit that I felt a surge of fear. After all, I’d only known these people for a day. They didn’t owe me anything. Plus, all the stories that you grow up hearing about Travellers say that they believe everything has a price and they would sell their own mother if the offer was right.
Kenny looked right at me when he said, “I told ‘em they better have an army hidin’ in them trees, ‘cause ain’t none of those rednecked bastards gonna lay one grimy finger on you, little girl.”
I know my fear was probably on my face. However, not one of them mentioned it. I guess they didn’t have an army, because they let us pass. A few of them said some pretty nasty stuff, and one guy stuck his tongue out at me and wiggled it around. Did he think that would make me suddenly want to jump into his arms or something?
The rest of the day, Bob sort of vanished. Kenny said he was always close, but I never saw or heard him until we got ready to make camp. I talked a bit with Felicia through the day. I guess she was fifteen when it all happened. She said that her daddy was a fireman and just never came home from work one night. Her mom took her to a shelter at a local high school, but things went bad there in a hurry. A group of soldiers that were at the shelter helped everybody escape when people in the shelter started turning. That was when she lost her mom. She said that one minute they were running across this swampy field, and then her mom fell. A passing soldier scooped her up and kept running, refusing to let her go or see what was happening. She heard a scream that she was pretty sure was her mom.
Of course, all of that eventually brought up questions about me. I just said I never knew my real mom. I was raised by a community of people. I explained that I set just out after my eighteenth birthday in search of some missing friends. I felt bad. Especially after all she shared with me about her mom and dad. I just didn’t want the fuss I was certain would be made if they knew exactly who I was. I really wish that they didn’t have those damn books.
Tuesday, September 23
rd
Today I walked mostly with Kenny. Felicia stayed in the woods and was just as silent as Bob had been yesterday.
Kenny wasn’t as talkative. I did learn that he was in what he called a “youth detention center” when it all happened. It took me a while to realize that he meant jail for kids. It wasn’t that I don’t know what jail is…we have two jails in Corridor 26. It’s just that we don’t make a special one for kids or women. Jail is jail.
Anyways, I guess he and two other boys figured out what was going on and decided that they would rather get in trouble for escaping if things ever returned to normal instead of staying in a place that locked you in a tiny room at night. He made his way home to discover Bob was gone. They wouldn’t find each other for almost a month. When they did, it was because Bob had hung a bunch of spray painted signs all over their neighborhood saying: “Ken, meet me at Gran’s house.”
Their mom had never returned from her shift at the paper mill the first night. Bob had managed to get to their grandmother’s house, but she was already dead and turned when he arrived. Unable to kill her, Bob had lured her into the basement. Since their grandmother’s house was out in the sticks, Bob had decided to try and stay there in hopes that his wayward brother would find him.
Kenny saw the signs a few days after escaping and sought his brother. He said he went back to the youth facility two years later because he just had to see for himself. I guess a bunch of kids died of starvation locked in their cells when nobody came to let them out one morning. He stopped a bunch of times while he was telling me things and I could tell he was seeing it in his mind as he told me.
If I felt bad about not telling Felicia the truth...I felt even worse after Kenny told me his story. Still, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t think it has anything to do with trust, or lack of it. I simply don’t want to tell them and have them think I might be anything like Meredith…or Sam.
Wednesday, September 24
th