From the journal of Manny Stone, May 16

May 16, 2017

On my patrol this morning I found food prints about a mile from the cabin and two valleys over. I followed them as they headed away from the cabin, thankfully, for about a mile, where they ended in tire tracks. The tracks were no wide enough to be a car or truck, but could be from an ATV or 4 wheeler. There were only two sets of foot prints but four sets of tire tracks. I walked beside the tire tracks until I got to the tree line and stopped even though the tracks kept going. I pulled out my binoculars and continued to follow the path of the tracks.

Once the trees stop on the base of the mountains, the hills take over and roll out for a huge distance. I followed the tracks with my eyes for at least five miles and then saw a circle of ATVs and a group of people in a camp. There had to be at least 30 of them with around 20 ATV's set up in a perimeter, forming a sort of barrier around their camp. They had a fire going in the  center, tents, tables, chairs and all the things that people call necessities, even when camping. There were women cooking and men in a group looking at a map and having a discussion. They had sentries set up at four points in the perimeter with rifles and binoculars, keeping an attentive eye on their quadrants. Good thing I stayed hidden in the trees.
I know they are looking for Alex and Marny, and by extension, me. Of course, they don't know who killed their men, if they have already found them, and so have no idea who they are really up against. I'm an ex-marine with loads of combat experience. Yeah, I live on a mountain in an old mining cabin and have kept to myself for the last few years but that doesn't take away from what I know I can do, when push comes to shove.
I slowly eased back, farther into the trees, to keep my shadow from shifting in an obvious way, in case the sentry for this quadrant was looking at the area I was in. Then I made my way back to the cabin, taking a circuitous route and concealing my tracks. It took almost twice as long, but the precaution was needed now.

Once back, I explained what I had observed to Alex and Marny, then told them it was time to go. We packed up all the supplies we could carry in our back packs and I packed up all the gear I didn't want to leave behind, and put it all by the back door to the cabin. I made a big lunch and we ate in silence, all of us thinking about what we are getting ready to do.
We are leaving the relative safety of my cabin. For them it was only for a couple of days, but for me, it has been my sanctuary for years now. We are heading out into this new world, created by the pandemic and the collapse of the government. We don't know where we are going, but we can't stay here.
We are going to go to sleep early and I've set an alarms for, as Marny puts it, the butt crack of dawn. We are leaving before the sun comes up and will hopefully be able to slip down the part of the mountain where I live. We are about seven miles away from their camp and are planning to head in the opposite direction from them when we leave. I'm going to take us to where old man Rawley lived. He was 96 when all of this sci fi shit started happening. I did my usual weekly check on him and found him undead in his bathtub. He was the first zombie I saw and the first one I put out of their misery. His truck is still there and should work and we are going to take it and get out of here.
and Marny thought, at first, that we should go to the nearest town and settle on the outskirts of it, for awhile. But with those men so close, we're going to have to leave this area of the Rockies and find somewhere else to settle. We really don't want to be too close to those men.
For now, we are going to head West and will stop when we need supplies or rest. Eventually, we will find a place to stay and will make a secure home then.

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.