Alone…where do I go from here?

16 April 2016

It’s been six months since the event. The world is in chaos…and I am hiding from it. My family is gone, as are my friends. No one took my advice. Maybe they were right. Get it over with.

Trust….it is a precious commodity. As I looked through the sights of my crossbow, at the white tail deer, I had an epiphany; I realized that we had one thing in common. Survival. But does a deer feel lonely? Can it feel abandoned? Or does it trust its instincts and should I do the same?

If I trust my instincts, I tend to kill everything I see. But that doesn’t feel right. I think of myself as peaceable, but capable of extreme violence, just like many. I just don’t who to trust anymore.

“Screw it…” I think, “It is what it is.” I squeeze the trigger and take down the game. I’m eating well tonight, but in this environment, I will not be able to make jerky out of it. It’s a quick snip and git operation…so to speak. Gotta eat, ya know? But what a waste of meat. I will take the pelt and bury the rest in a shallow pit.

I have seen groups of people, setting up camps, conducting patrols and generally surviving through teamwork. I actually envy them, and fear them at the same time, with good reason. Chances are that they are family, or maybe some to type of club…and worse, a militia. Militia’s are the most untrusting of the bunch. That is definitely a close knit group. But if you are not from their area…they’ll never trust you fully. And they have worse politics than DC. That is when DC still existed.

There is a group south of me about 10 klicks, and for some reason, it seems that they are following me. They have been on my trail for 20 days now. They stay within striking distance, but have yet to actually do anything…that makes me nervous.

26 April 2016

The “Family” still continues to follow me. I have doubled back and even laid ambushes for their scouts but always come up dry. They’re good….or maybe, I’m not as good as I thought. I have taken the hardest routes but in the end, they are nearer every night. It has turned into a chase…and I’m getting hungry. I’m leery of hunting until I shake these people.

1 May 2016

Well, there I was…with a squirrel in my sights and then I felt a prick in the back of my neck, followed by a, “get up.” My first thought was, “This sucks.”, but then I started thinking of escape. Turns out, they didn’t want me….they wanted my fieldcraft, even though they had it in abundance. And it turns out that I wasn’t so alone after all. One of their leaders knew me from my prior service and for some odd reason, thought I could lead “The Clan”, as they called themselves to better days. He knew who he was following. Would have been nice if he at least shouted out my name..ya think? "Hey Dude!, We're lookin' for ya!!'

12 July 2020

I am now the defacto leader, and even though we hold elections and I never run for office, I am always still elected. Once again, my first thought is, “This sucks.”. This is not a job I wanted, but still feel obligated too. People must survive.

I take stock of my life and find that while I now have a family, I still have have no friends….and am now more alone than ever.

If this is history…you can keep it.

Tdawg

Pretty despondent. As any tale of post apocalypse.
No fantasy endings.
Do you know TS Elliott's "The Hollow Men"
It ends with the lines
" This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. "

reply to post by TDawgRex


Trust is a precious commodity, even in today's world. How sad.

Great short story. Be careful what you wish for, heh?