--- An imaginary situation that turned into the plot of an annoying-literature-class novel between 4 and 6 PM on the same day...
I've already written some of this elsewhere, so I'm starting from our arrival in Chicago here. ---


Once everyone was updated, it was looking like we would have to keep moving--especially with the mounting chaos across the nation. Since a friend of my family had lived in the area before the chaos, and I was still hoping to look for Wolfstar, we decided to head out to another location that ally's brother knew of, taking along a couple acquaintances of his as well.

But before we could get far from Chicago, the riotous battle between the people and the enforcers erupted. Though I'm all for helping a good cause, the interest of the group was on escape, and you can debate whether jumping into that madhouse is bravery or stupidity. At any rate, we kept trying to get out via obscure paths. However a band of agitated civilians made to forceably take our truck (ok, somewhere in the yelling they might have asked first), and we had to get out and fight them off. We managed to talk them out of the fighting and they got organized enough to take control of a military vehicle instead. (These people were unarmed, as evidenced by our success against them... we didn't hang around to contribute any further to the battle.).

There was enough chaos created by the rioters that we managed to pull away from the battle and drive out to the outskirts of a nearby town where a house was waiting. We received word that the owner had set up a place to keep away from any changes in enforcement (it was still unclear just what was going on, only that we were doubting the decisions made by the enforcers.).

So we kept driving and managed to find this "safehouse" of sorts. There were only a couple people there at the time, so we were let in without much hastle. While it wasn't the most luxurious place in the world, it was setup so that we wouldn't have to keep moving.

It wasn't long after we arrived at the safehouse that the chaos in Washington and other major cities took place. Stability was practically out the window after that, but there was the last attempt to enforce order. That didn't turn out well, and wound up making most regard anyone in uniform as an enemy until they could prove their good intentions. even then trust was limited. More than once the enforcers came near, and once they forced entry, spewing out search and seizure commands and demanding resources and licenses and things that weren't acceptable to demand in this situation. I had lingered near a hallway at the time, so I didn't participate much in what followed, but suffice it to say, guns or no guns, they only enforced our security policy.
A few days later a soldier happened by, claiming that he was currently stationed in the town but had no other orders. Supposedly he didn't have access to the base (any guessses to why would still be speculation), and our host allowed him to stay with us for a few days. He was no trouble--in fact he was rather nice to have around. He didn't stay long though, only about five days, then he left and we didn't see him again.

On the third evening of the soldier's stay with us, my friend from Westminster and I decided we would look around, hoping to find Wolfstar, or at least find someone that we could help. On the fourth day of the soldier's stay, we went out in ally's truck and started checking out the surrounding area as stealthily as we could.

We kept on like that for weeks, filling the gastank of the truck every chance we got. By now, most economic structure was broken, but that didn't mean that it was possible to just take gas from any station--most were watched by someone, either what remained of the broken enforcers, or civilians that were harsh with the need to keep civilization in place.

It happened that one day on our way back from another sweep of the state line, we came across a couple of guys fighting off in an empty lot--one of them wielding a sword, the other seeming to have something like a gun with its bayonet. We decided to stop the truck as quietly as possible and try to help, although we didn't quite know anything about the situation. Ally had taken to carrying his sword at all times, so he went out to part the two with it. In this way it was clear who the aggressor was--the one with the bayonet--and I took him from behind, getting a deep cut in my arm in the process and promptly screaming like a little girl. This prompted my ally to sever the aggressor's weapon hand and give him a nasty-but-non-lethal slash across the lower right side of his chest. Since the man was capable of saving himself at this point, we confiscated his weapons and left him with cloth to tend to his wounds.

The swordsman returned with us to the truck. After a few comments on his style, I asked of his identity, and it turned out that he was none other than Wolfstar. We returned to the "safehouse" and the obligatory catchingup commensed.

There were around nine people staying with us at this point. The enforcers were starting to fade into the population, their purpose and command falling away into the chahos. It was quiet, but life seemed to be missing from the world. (feeling-wise, at least).

Time went by, and Wolfstar and I discussed what we might do. We both knew that our families were distant and hard to reach, and at this point we weren't even sure how to go about searching for other parts to our lives. But we did have Gotenks and Azuri in common, and after some time we finally decided to head out.

Though Gotenks had been at home when I contacted him from Westminster, it had been many weeks and cataclysms since, and we finally decided that we should start our search in New England. I was uneasy about going through the area, since both coasts were very active during the times of cataclysm. But still the two of us went, tuning up Wolfstar's own vehicle.

What I feared of the aftermath were the people that take advantage of apocalyptic events to do evil. Clearly these people had existed at one time, but as we traveled through the remnants of cities, we found that foolish criminals were being wiped out, either by the people that were trying to maintain sane lives, or by peculiar natural events. The only crimes that occurred were committed because the criminal felt it necessary for survival. Anyone that stood in the way of survival was an enemy, and everyone else could be an ally if they kept out of the way.

These conditions weren't all that inviting, and seemed to be evenly distributed. Any major cities that weren't too radiated to get close to were only half alive, thrown into disarray by the enforcements and conflicts in the wake of the great chaos. Even places that had been free of radiation and meteors weren't free of the social shockwave. And any cities that had survived couldn't be inviting to outcasts; the outlanders usually didn't come with money, and needed resources. If they were welcomed, what economy remained would fall apart once jobs ran out (which was usually the case before the last of the cataclysms of this time).

So we kept on moving further south and westward. We kept to the west of the mountains, drawing back toward the Mississippi river. Since fuel was becoming more difficult to acquire, we started parking and spending much of the days looking around the area we stopped in. The temperature was increasing from day to day, but it did little to slow us.

Here the towns seemed to have broken up as well. Civilization survived in small communities, some retaining pre-chaos infrastructure while others simply dotted the countryside. We happened upon Gotenks when calling out to a house that sat in one of the communities that managed to keep its structure. We were answered by an adult that was probably the sum of Wolfstar's and my ages, making generous enough statements while keeping a strong threat in the background (In the case that we were up to no good). After a few words we asked of Gotenks, and discovered that he was in fact staying in the house. Apparently the frequency of enforcers and travelers in the past conditioned him to not pay attention to our voices while he was away from the door. We left our greetings and took the advice to continue on our way. We also left a message: we would look for Azuri now.

It was getting hotter, and the direction we were traveling didn't lend itself to cooler climates. The traces of civilization we found were much like they had been since we left the coast, though the farther we went the more nature seemed to take up space between communities.

We kept searching as we had been, eating of whatever safe plants we happened upon during the day. The days of searching were taking their toll on our minds and bodies, especially in the increased heat, but having found Gotenks and heard of Azuri's safety (however long ago) kept us going.

We found Azuri resting disheveled under a bridge. Sometime after I had left Westminster, the chaos had forced her out and got in the way of her attempts to get to anyone. The bridge ran over a dirtier section of a vegetated gully, which served as both a decent and dangerous habitat.

Azuri came back with us to the truck and we made our way to the first gas station we could find. Gas stations in the time during and following the great chaos had become sought after by all that wished to maintain stability, and if they were anywhere near a surviving community they were guarded. So it was with the one that we found.

Before approaching the guards, we discussed our options. Since the second leg of the chaos had taken its toll on this area, and we were so far from anyone that Wolfstar knew, we considered heading back for my hometown. I reasoned that since it had been abandoned early on, and the threat of radiation and later enforcers was well advertised, few if any people would be there and it would likely be in tact if it hadn't been demolished by meteorites. So we approached the guards and requested ten gallons of gas. Amid the searching and driving we had kept the truck working as best we could (working on vehicles was definitely not my area of expertees), and we had managed to run on various sources of fuel (certain abundant plant products, for example). Still, to keep our trip moving smoothly, we needed a good supply of gasoline.

The guards told us that the only way to obtain gas was to work for it. Ten gallons was about two weeks' worth, but they agreed that the three of us could work and it would only take about a week to pay for ten gallons. The work we did was mostly physical labor, digging, clearing debris, not much that took us into the community, but not anything that sent us far away either. Though it was still getting hotter and we were working rather hard, the  ache of that work was overshadowed by the fact that we were together, and we had a means of getting somewhere. That week helped to revive the conversations that had brought us together after we had stumbled into the same fanfiction site (being Azuri's site), and that kept negative things away  from us for the time.

Nonetheless, the week of work didn't go by quickly, and we were all glad of its end. This gave us a day's worth of rest without much to worry about, since the work we had done entitled us to enough food to last a couple more days.

We drove in the afternoon of the day after our work was completed to avoid using the airconditioning too much, maximizing our gas milage for the time. It wasn't long before we reached the bank of the Mississippi, where we were forced to stop. We stayed on the bank for a whole day, moving north in search of a bridge (though the odds of finding an unguarded one were slim). Early the next day, we noticed a large boat heading along the river, close enough to shore that we could signal those that were in the open. We drove further down the river and stayed near its edge, signaling the messenger that had answered us on the upper deck. The ship allowed us to drive onto its loading deck and farry us to the otherside of the river as it continued its journey. The ship was apparently on a mission to bring relief to any communities it could find at the ports and to transport anyone that needed it.

Once we were on the other side of the river, we began driving north. We had conserved much of our fuel, but it would run low before the journey was complete.

There seemed to be less natural aid than there had been on the east side of the river. There seemed to be more communities that had survived the chaos on the west side, though they were well aware of its effects by then. We found a gas station on the edge of a town that seemed a little shaken up by the past months, and our lack of money prevented our refueling, though the people were kind enough to provide a little bit of food.

We moved on into more rural communities and lingered for a few hours, finally managing to obtain a supply of a few plants and alcohols that could be used for fuel. (We got a little bit of cooking grease as well...).

Since we had to store all of this and maximize gas milage, the next part of the journey wound up sluggish. We managed to reach the state line pretty quickly, but refueled shortly after using or supplies. Since we were running on unconventional fuel, we couldn't go as long without stopping and had to do a little work on the system once.

We had to take a slight detour to avoid the heavily radiated areas. This path took us through a few small communities that were indirectly affected by the refugees of places hit by events of the chaos. Life went on more normally in these places, though they showed varying ways of dealing with the strangers.

In those days there were three kinds of people: those that were about survival, those that were searching for ways to mend what was broken by the chaos, and those that were trying to avoid being the first two. I wish I had been more of the third kind in those days, and I wished it then.

We asked about people--mainly my family. No one seemed to know anything, other than most of them having answered similar questions before from other travelers looking for relatives and friends.

We kept moving northward as directly as we could without running into trouble. With our fuel issues and detours, we had to take a break to rest.  We stopped in a shaded area on the edge of a forest, and Azuri noticed a light in the distance. Wolfstar went with her to investigate the light while I stayed to watch the truck. They came back a few minutes later with David, who was a friend of my family. (Wolfstar and Azuri must have relayed the questions of their whereabouts to him and he realized I was with them.).

David confirmed my belief that my hometown remained rather deserted and little additional damage had occurred. He didn't know much about where my family had gone, only that they had been forced to head toward Oklahoma some time after the major cataclysms began to end.

We stayed with David through the night and then continued our journey northward. The air was hot by the time we reached the city limits of the deserted town. The radiation levels had not changed much, so we decided it was safe to return to my old house.

Once there, we discovered that the water still worked, although the electricity had long since ran out. We took advantage of the water and checked out the status of the electricity of the house. We managed to get it working long enough to get the airconditioning running, but it was running on the energy that remained in the grid after the evacuation and wouldn't last very long at all.

Since it was a nice place to stay for the time being, we went to work at setting up the electricity to maximize incoming power. Since even luters had left by now, we had access to a few materials (though the most valuable and manageable materials had been evacuated in the first wave). We stayed there and worked for several days until we had set up a system that could run on limited solar power and what excess energy sources (batteries) we could find. This gave us enough to keep the airconditioner running frequently through the day, and as we worked to improve the system, we gained more and more power until we could turn on the computers that had been left behind as well. (Finally, we had video games! Though they took most of the best ones when they left in the beginning.).

Though our living conditions were the best they had been in months, we still had the issue of food and water to deal with. Though the radiation levels were low, they were only low enough to prevent us from being affected by staying there; we weren't sure how it would affect us if we ate from the supply of insects and amphibians in the town. (Most of those probably weren't that great for eating in the first place. t.t.).  The crops in the area were mostly inaccessible, though there was enough clean vegetation to last a while. Most reserves of food had been taken away in the evacuation, and anything that hadn't wouldn't have been edible by then, leaving us to find our own food.

Still, there was less to worry about now that we had a self sufficient place to live and had finally found enough time for leisure. We still had to maintain our electric power and we still had to obtain food (time to turn the tables on those millions of mosquitoes that are born of the ricefields in and around town), but when that was done, life was free again.

But as we had to work less, we became increasingly aware of the stillness of the place. Even if a few people had stayed in town, they were no where near us and we hadn't found them. We were alone, and somewhere out there, there were people that we couldn't contact. We had enough power to run televisions and computers, but cable was inactive, and phonelines could do little. (Though we did try to pick up surviving radio stations with limited success).

Since my family had been heading toward Oklahoma, it seemed likely that they were heading for my mother's realatives (apparently they were the closest people that seemed easy to locate). Even if they hadn't, the odds that someone could be found to the west seemed reasonable, and we considered heading out after the temperature started to decrease. (get the most out of that electricity setup, and don't waste energy on the air in the truck.).