John D. Stanton's Story

"So where are we going next?" The cityscape that Alice saw out of window was just a desolate shell of what Knoxville had once been. The sky was grey and weeping, the only sounds John could hear was the tapping of water droplets against the windshield and the humming of the Escalades engine. In the trunk lay compiled the food that they had found so far, extra ammo along with the fire arms that they had. In the back row of seats were the extra clothing they had scrounged up, blankets and pillows, books and other miscellaneous objects, and finally there packs with the essentials Alice's was loaded with water bottles and medicine. "We can siphon what gas these cars have left, there seems to be a pool of rainwater where part of the road collapsed." John stopped the SUV, got out opened up the trunk and handed Alice a homemade purifier and a bucket, "Remember run it through three times and watch your six." Ali nodded, accepted the tools, and made for the pool. Just as John had said there was a giant hole in the road, filled with algae green rain water. As Alice went for water, John took a rubber tube from the back of the rig as well as a red plastic gas can. The first vehicle was a weathered taxi cab which only gave him a gallon of usuable fuel. The second car was a mid-sized sedan, from it he got eight gallons.

"I've found water, and I also found a back road leading out of this shit hole, and it has no giant holes in the road or vine growth. Alice explained the direction in which the road was and after refilling their four canteens and fueling up with the five siphoned gallons of gas. "Okay lead the way little missy." They took the exit 95 that said it would lead to Addison in 46 miles. "You can sleep if you want Ali, it's been a busy day for us all." Taking her uncles advice Ali dozed off, her dreams were more pleasant than usual. In her dream John and Alice were miles away from DC, but when they reached the military built wall the man at the check-in station had no face, instead what she saw was what the face of death must look like. He had an obsidian skull for a head and his eyes were two purple lights shining intensely, from his mouth erupted purple flames as he said in a reptilian like voice "welcome to hell my dear!" And the walls crumbled away leaving just the two of them alone in the world.

She woke up to peculiar smells and a rough wet thing rubbing against her face, a tongue that's it. But who the fuck was licking her. Before she opened her eyes she reached up to feel hair, not human hair no it was too soft to be human. She opened her eyes and saw two pairs of blue puppy dog eyes, a snout nuzzled against her cheek, and the shaggy black mane of a very friendly black-lab. "Mornin' Alice, this here is Buck. I found him in this ranch house all alone, still guarding his masters property waiting for him to return. He isn't a very good guard dog though, he is too damn friendly for that." THe dog must have been 130 pounds, he gave a another big lick at Alice's face and a soft friendly bark. "Where are we, have we reached that Addison place yet?" Alice yawned and stretched her arms over her head. "We are at the Addison community ranch, a nice little town there is a small group of survivors a few miles into town, when you were out I bargained and traded with them. I gave them two double A batteries and offered to sharpen their knives and blades in exchange for a local map and extra fuel."

Alice had found a few musty old blankets and a cardboard box and made a bed for buck that could fit in the rig. Also there was some preserved dear meat that they finished in the three days that they were there. John found a bolt action 44' magnum rifle and a little 22', "Here is something for you, it's more your size and doesn't kick too bad. It is a 22caliber semi auto, it has a scope so that's always good." The rifle that John chose was less petite and more monstrous, a 44caliber magnum with a suppressor on the muzzle, and as scope that probably made the gun foot out to a thousand yards, and it could probably still fly for another thousand.
They fed Buck scraps is deer meat and bone each night, and in just three days he had become a member of their family, the two of them laughed a lot and were much more happy than they had been in a awful long time.

"We'll we should pack up, make sure Buck does his business now and that goes for you too Ali." In an hour they had fully packed all the belongings that they needed, they left a frying pan and a few spices behind."The local survivors say that there is a large group of survivors who are headed to Maryland, they are staying in Birmingham so that's where we are going." John said this with more confidence than usual in his decision making ability. From what they said there was woman and children among them, they have an custom armored bus and stack piles of food, fuel, and weapons. And being in a large group for more than half of the remaining journey was an offer that he wouldn't let slip away. "We'll it settles it then, we are off to the magic city."

John, Alice, and Buck had been on the road for two days and a rusty road sign said that Birmingham was 32 miles away. The days seemed to stretch on forever, they rarely stopped but when they did they searched the area for hunters and restocked their supplies. When the sun was setting they stopped and started a fire with the flint and steel that was in Alice's pack. "John, do you ever wonder if things will ever go back to normal?" Alice asked as she stared at the stars in all their glory. "It really depends on what your opinion of what 'normal' is I guess, and eventually a new government might rise or the military some how wins. I believe it will all things have an end even the end itself."

And with that she fell asleep, John picked her up and put her in "shotgun". He drove for what seemed to be four hours. But then he saw the worn sign reading: Birmingham 1 mile. All of a sudden an armed man stepped into the middle of the road a put a hand motioning for him to stop the vehicle. He gently applied the breaks and got out of the car. "What is your purpose here? Are you here to intercept our journey? State your business!" The man had a short beard and seemed to be frightened of John he pointed a shotgun at John's head.

"My name is John Dale Stanton, I am ex navy seal I served for twelve years, my niece is in the Escalade her name is Alice. We heard of a group of survivors heading to Maryland, we are headed to DC. We have weapons in the car, Alice has a switch blade on her and I have a Bowie on my left leg." The man checked the weapons and food supply and told John to follow him. The man mounted a Harley and motored ahead dodging the obstacles easily.

John was escorted into a large building that seemed to be an old shopping mall, one of the survivors offered to park the car in the underground parking center for him, John accepted when they told him that Alice would be taken care of. He was lead into a old candy store, sitting at the counter was a group of people all eyes turned to John, so you're the tourist who would like to join our group."

Alice woke up in a soft bed with a full belly it felt so good not to worry any more, they had been with the group for only eight days and yet they were already at the border of Alabama and Tennessee, with Nashville in their sights. There were about four other children about Alice's age but she was the type who rather hang out with those much older than her. It almost seemed as if everything was going to be okay.

But the world is just full of surprises and tricks.