From the journal of James Cohen, June 7

June 7, 2017

We got back on the road today and I think everyone was ok with moving on. Last night, Jackie spent lot of time with the rest of our elderly people. We still have Walter, Marvin, Ralph and Ginger with us and they all talked about how they see things.

Marvin started it off by talking about a recent conversation he'd had with Esther. She had told him about her family and how she missed them. She said she knew she was on borrowed  time and was ok with dying, whenever it happened. She was enjoying the experiences we'd all been having since going on the road and said it was the most exciting time since she was in her 30's.
Ginger told Jackie that Esther was a realist, she knew what was coming. The more difficult it got for her to breath, the more water settled in her ankles, she knew. Without modern medicine and hospitals and such, her time was limited, and she was ok with that. She would get to be with her wonderful Albert again soon and any of her family that hadn't survived the pandemic. She was actually looking forward to it.
Ralph and Walter told her that all of them had discussed it and were enjoying the ride but were ready when the ride came to an end. But, they all wanted to share as much knowledge as they could before they left. Smart of them. It's been decided that we will spend our evenings once we are done traveling, with out elders and they are teach us stuff they think we should know, like cooking with wild edible plants and canning food to help it last longer. The guys are going to teach us the unarmed combat techniques they remember from their time in the war. I'm willing to learn whatever they want to teach.

We pulled out the maps today and figured out the next part of our route, still heading for the Greenbrier. I still think it's our best option and what else are we supposed to do, anyway? Everyone says that we should keep our eyes open for someplace we could make work on the way, but really, where else could be better? The Greenbrier has the bunker and the supplies for surviving. If the hotel gets overrun, we could close ourselves in the bunker and be safe and survive for however long it takes for the area to clear out. Eventually, even the undead will move on when their prey has completely disappeared, it just takes a long time.
So, for now, we are sticking with the plan and planning routes out as we go to take into account any detours we've had to take along the way. Please, let this be the right thing to do. I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of our entire group.

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.