From the journal of James Cohen, May 13

May 13, 2017

This is our third day on the road and we haven't heard or seen anything of the bikers. We have stuck to the back roads and are headed in the right direction, but it is adding more time for traveling. But that is better than getting back on the main road and running into that biker gang. Neither Mr or Mrs Hairy seemed like nice people and none of their group looked like they were willing to help anyone but themselves. I bet, if it came right down to it, they would kill and eat each other before dying or helping anyone.
Our  group is doing well. The elderly people have handled leaving their home better than I thought they would. None of them have complained about not being as warm or comfortable or about having to leave some of their lifetime possessions behind.I think they are handling it better than some of the others are, like Brenda and Melissa. The two of them are so jumpy, if a pin drops in the trailer, they jump a foot into the air! It's like they think the zombies can hide in anything, even a soda can, and they just don't know how to handle it. They complain all the time about not having their beds, space or stuff. Breanda even tried to stop cooking for everyone, but we put a stop to that. Everyone here has to contribute something, or why are they here. Melissa has been better about helping out, but complains so much, it makes me almost forget that. It might have been better to leave them behind, but I will only think this and write it here. I will never say it out loud.
I don't think Jackie knows what to think about it all. She had been their leader since it all went to hell and she feels out of her element now that they are no longer in the Care Home. I know she feels some relief at not being the only one in charge, she told both Rebecca and myself that at the Care Home. But, she is having trouble sharing the leadership role. Jackie starts to make snap decisions and then realises she needs to talk it over with the rest of us before a dicesion is made. She is trying to keep everyone on the same schedule; breakfast at 8:00 am, lunch at noon, dinner at 7:00 pm, then lights out by 10:00 pm. It's not working well.
I usually start the truck and get us moving as soon as I am awake. Sometimes it's 5:00 am, others it's after 8:00 am. She gets frustrated with me, but we need to make as much distance every day as we possibly can. Like I already said, sticking with the back roads is adding travel time and we only have a set amount of food and water. We need to make it to another town to resupply as soon as we can. Water is the main issue, since there was a pallet of snack foods and soda. But the elderly ones can't drink that much soda, it's bad for them. So, we need water and other healthier food items. I would love to be able to hit somewhere that would have canned veggies and fruits, but that might be asking too much. Most places like that are going to have been looted long ago.

For now, we need to keep moving and keep the morale as high as possible. Everyone is taking turns riding the cab with me, navigating by the maps we have and keeping an eye out for any signs of other living people. The trailer has been reorganized a couple of times now and is more comfortable than when we pulled out. During the day, a laying/sitting area is made with all the mattresses near the doors and that area is kept lit so people can read or play cards while we are going. At night, we move the mattresses out so everyone can have space to sleep and still get between them, if someone needs a bathroom break in the night. We have people posted to keep watch all night in shifts and so far, we have been lucky.

Walter, one of the former patients, said his grandson lived out this way for a few years and there are some pretty large ranches. We are going to have to stop at one and see if we can find any supplies if we don't run into a store to search soon. We might have better luck with houses and ranches, since stores would've been one of the first things looted and houses might not have been looted at all. We need to call a meeting tonight to make a plan and look at the maps to see what is coming up in the way of towns out this way. Hopefully, we find what we need and not something dangerous or deadly.
Right now, I am going to get up and start driving. It's still early, so Jackie will be annoyed, but better to put miles under our belt and we can stop for food a little later.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.