It's Friday and time for the next chapter in the story of RC and Alyx. For those who have missed any prior installments, you can find the entire story as it is thus far on this PAGE.
Memoirs
From the End of the World
Entry
#24
The winter passed agonizingly slowly in
some respects. Trudging through the snow
banks with an entire group of people in tow made avoiding detection that much
more difficult. An ignored set of
footprints could easily draw unwanted attention from the wrong people. They would also be that much easier to spot
from a distance. They did what they
could to alleviate this problem by traveling on windy days when they could
count on the shifting snow to somewhat obscure the traces of their
presence. A light snow also worked well
for this purpose. Upon getting the group
settled in their next temporary home, RC and Alyx would venture out to sweep
over whatever else they needed to cover in order to feel safe for the night.
All in all, they spent those months
freezing cold. There was no way to get
warm, except during trips spent hunting for new sources of food, when the
laborious nature of tromping through the snow drew out a sweat regardless of
air temperature. This was actually one
of the reasons why RC preferred to go on those little expeditions. Remaining sheltered only guaranteed a chilled
existence.
At night, they sat together and discussed
a variety of topics. Sometimes they told
stories from their pasts. Sometimes they
discussed survival strategies. And quite
often, they talked of what it might be like when they finally escaped the city
and didn’t have to worry about the constant threat of patrols, both robotic and
human. RC often felt distinctly
uncomfortable when this particular conversation would arise, because she didn’t
like getting her hopes up. Not when the
possibility of failure was so real. Not
when they couldn’t even think of attempting such an escape until the weather
improved in early spring. Isabel, on the
other hand, glowed when this topic arose, and she was frequently the one to
broach it. She clung to the hope of better
things like a starving man might cleave to a loaf of bread.
Though Ollie’s progress was slow, he
steadily recovered from the illness that took him down. The children also exhibited some signs of
sickness as well, but they bounced back much more quickly. RC silently decided the old saying “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”
might indeed be appropriate in this case.
Either way, his recovery brought a sense of relief. At least, for the time being, no lives were
in imminent danger.
Except, of course, for the constant fear
that they would be spotted. One time,
while RC and Alyx were out gathering, hoping with everything they had that they
could gather enough supplies to last them for a couple days, they actually
crossed paths with Gas Can and a couple of other guys from the group. RC’s heart almost leapt from her body when
she saw them standing in the street.
Fortunately, RC and Alyx saw them through a dirty window before exiting
the building they’d just finished searching.
Well hidden and reasonably safe, they huddled there until the boys moved
on.
“That was too close,” RC breathed as she
watched them disappear around a distant corner.
“Not nearly as close as last time,
though,” Alyx replied.
RC laughed. “That’s true.”
Each month that passed also brought with
it also brought a whisper of truth they all wanted to ignore. There was less food to find. The routine scavenging trips confirmed this
fact. There weren’t that many strays
left on the streets, at least not as far as RC knew, yet the need to eat daily
guaranteed that the day would eventually come when they would find nothing. They
had to carefully ration each meal, and they often tried to err on the side of
caution in eating less than they thought they could get away with. After all, who knew when the weather might
turn on them, making the next trip outdoors impossible? Or maybe Alyx and RC wouldn’t come back one
day. No sense in the others starving while
they waited.
If anything, this diminishing supply of
food solidified the already rather solid conviction that they needed to
eventually make it completely out of the city.
If they didn’t, they would die.
Yet, that conviction wouldn’t feed them
for the remainder of the winter. It
might warm some of them with a spark of hope, yes, but that spark would surely
die if they stopped gathering for mealtime.
One night, as they sat together by a
window, basking in the light of a brilliant full moon, Alyx broke through a
peaceful lull in the banter with an annoyingly obvious observation. “We can’t go on much longer like this. None of us has had enough to eat in weeks.”
RC gaped at him. Of course she knew this was true, but
pointing it out would only make the hunger pangs more difficult to ignore.
“Do you have any bright ideas?” Ollie
demanded. “Because I think we’d all like
to have a full meal for a change.”
“I actually do,” Alyx replied, “though it
might be a bit dangerous.”
This did nothing to reassure RC, who knew
Alyx would insist on being at the forefront of whatever dangerous mission he
had in mind. “What’s your plan?”
Alyx shifted his gaze to indicate both RC
and Isabel. “Remember the safe house we
were taken to?”
RC nodded. It was a safe house for their captors to go
to, but it had been anything but safe for them.
“They were well-stocked with all kinds of
things, and I’m sure that included plenty of food,” he continued.
Isabel shrank back. “Yes, of course, but it would be suicide to
go back there.”
“Maybe, but we need more to eat,” Alyx
insisted. “There are several safe
houses, right? We’ll just go back to the
one we all know and hope no one else is there that night.” He sighed.
“I know it’s risky, but it’s better than starving.”
Go to Entry #25
Go to Entry #25
