by Eric Vall
“Cool, so Paige and I are sparring this morning then, yeah?” Anna asked.
“Not today,” I said as I shook my head. “Paige, I need you to gather up any area maps you might have found. That is your first priority, but after that I want you to go out and work on the garden. Bailey got it started and marked out but I am sure there is some work that still can be done.”
“What are the maps for?” Paige asked. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I am,” I said. “And Anna is going with me.”
Everyone turned to look at Anna who sat there with a grin of barely hidden excitement.
“Where are we going?” The athletic redhead asked.
“Well, now that the campus seems safe again I think it is time that we go and explore the surrounding area,” I said. “We should be able to find some isolated houses tucked into the mountains that could provide more guns, ammo, and other valuable supplies.”
“Why are you taking me?” Anna asked. “I am sure any one of us could be of use to you out there.”
“Yes, but you are the strongest, and we want to be able to carry back as much as possible,” I explained. “I have no idea what sort of loot, if any, we might find but for this initial adventure, so I need someone who can carry as much as I can.”
“I appreciate, like, not being picked for this duty,” Tara said.
“I thought you might,” I said with a small laugh. “You will all go out with me at some point. These trips are a great chance for me to teach you about pathfinding and how to read maps.”
“Oh man, that sounds like fun,” Paige said.
“The hiking part of this sounds fun,” Bailey added. “Not sure how well I would do with the map stuff though, I usually stuck to trails.”
“It's not as hard as people think it is,” I assured her.
“Don't worry, I will let you know how true that is later today,” Anna said with a grin.
“I don't think you will get the chance to do it today,” I said.
“What do you mean?” The athlete asked.
“People generally don't build isolated houses less than a day’s trip from a college campus,” Rolly chimed in.
“Exactly, we will probably be gone a few days.” I said.
“Why does that sound like such a long time?” Tara asked.
“Because it is,” Paige said. “We haven't gone a single day without Tav since he first saved us.”
“It's alright,” I cooed. “You are far more capable than you were when I first met you, and we have a great home established here.”
“What if something goes wrong?” Bailey asked as her eyes went wide.
“Nothing is going to go wrong,” I assured her.
“Yeah, but, like, what if it does?” Tara asked.
“Come on now,” Rolly said as he rolled his eyes. “We got along for a long time before Tav came alone. We can do it again for a couple days. We are set up way better now than we were back then.”
“What if the bikers show up?” Paige asked?
“Then you hide like we talked about the other day,” I said. “You let them poke around and then you let them leave. All we have to do to stay safe from people like them is to stay hidden. They have no reason to bother us if they don't know where we are.”
“That makes sense,” Paige said with a nod. “Sorry, I just got nervous at the thought of you not being here to protect us.”
“It's okay, but that's why I have been training you all how to protect yourselves,” I said. “You are not defenseless children. You’re badass women who have managed to survive all that has been thrown at them thus far.”
“Yeah, we have been through a lot,” Anna said. “Come on, we are better than this.”
“You're right,” Tara said. “There is no reason to worry anymore. As long as we keep doing what we have been doing everything is going to be good. After all, we are getting pretty damn good at this.”
“That's the spirit,” I said with a grin. “I wouldn't be doing this if I felt you wouldn't be safe while I was gone.”
“This is also a good chance to show him what we can do without him,” Rolly said. “We have a list of stuff there, and books on how to do anything we don't already know. I see no reason we can't maybe knock a project or two off the list before he comes back.”
“Alright, now I'm getting a little excited about this whole thing,” Paige said with a large grin.
“Yeah, plus I want to see what sorts of goodies they can, like, find out there,” Tara said. “My dad has a ski cabin in Aspen, if they find half as much cool stuff as his cabin has it will be awesome.”
“Good, then I think we are done here for now,” I said. “Let's get to work.”
The girls cheered headed to get their tasks done. Bailey and Tara grabbed their spears, put on their backpacks, and headed outside. Paige disappeared into the library in search of maps, and Anna waited close by with a grin.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked with a smile.
“Well, you never told me what I should bring,” she said.
“I suppose I didn't,” I started. “But I would say that you want enough food and water for three days, your pistol and spear, a flashlight, and a compass.”
“Is that it?” She asked before she raised an eyebrow.
“We want to pack light,” I explained. “The less we take with us the more we can shove into our packs. I'm going to hollow out a few duffle bags and throw them in my backpack so we have more storage.”
“But like, do I want a change of clothes or a tent or something?” Anna asked.
“Nope, with any luck we can stay in the houses that we raid,” I said. “If we don't find any, then I can build us enough shelter to sleep comfortably.”
“Alright, I guess I better go get packed,” the athletic woman said with a grin. Then she hopped up and sprinted from the library.
“Anything in particular you want me to get done while you’re gone?” Rolly asked when we were alone.
“I trust you judgement,” I said. “You know what needs to be done around here.”
“It's nice to know you have faith in me,” The handyman said. “What about our morning meetings? You want to write out tasks for everyone while you are gone or something?”
“Not really,” I said. “I think that the girls can govern themselves for a little while.”
“Sounds good,” he replied with a nod. Rolly then sighed and pushed himself away from the table. He struggled to his feet and let out a groan. “I hope your trip goes well.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Have a productive few days without me.”
“Oh I will,” the old man said as he started towards the door. “I always do.”
Shortly after Rolly left the building Paige emerged from the stacks with several rolled up maps tucked under one arm. She held her glasses on with the other as she sprinted towards me.
“You find anything good?” I asked
“Oh yeah,” she said as she set the maps onto the table. She spread our four individual maps and each one had the campus property lines on it along with several other parcels of owned land nearby marked. “I cannot guarantee that anything is in any of these marked spots but the fact that someone owns that land should be a good sign, right?”
“It should be, yeah.” I said with a nod. “These maps will be perfect for these little adventures.”
“How many do you think you will try to hit?” Paige asked as she leaned over the table and studied the maps. “Some of these places are really far off the beaten path.”
“I think the goal will always be to scout out one or two locations,” I said. “If they are full enough, we will take a group trip there at a later point.”
“Well I am excited to see what you guys find,” Paige commented. “Who knows what sort of places or people you might find out there.”
“Let's hope that all the stories we return with are good ones,” I said with a chuckle. “Thanks for your help. I have what I need from
you for now. You can head off and start working on the garden.”
“Alright,” Paige said before she got up and left the building.
I rolled up the maps once more and headed back to my room. Then I emptied my pack of everything that had been in it before and gathered what I felt I would need for the trip. I packed the hand charged flashlight, my small first aid kit, and I tucked two compasses into my vest. I made sure both my spare magazines for the black 9mm Springfield XD were loaded and added them to the bag as well. I carried the Springfield in the holster in my waistband and had my knife sheathed on my vest. I decided against bringing the shotgun in the off chance that they needed it here. I was more than sure that Anna and I could take care of any trouble we ran into with nothing but our pistols. The last thing I added were two empty duffle bags.
After my bag was packed, I headed out to the courtyard and checked the smoker. The meat strips had turned into a nice dry jerky overnight, and I wrapped a bundle of them in foil and added them to my bag along with three cans of beans and the same number of water bottles. I planned to forage while on this trip, but I wanted to ensure that if we found nothing we still had food.
Everyone met back up around noon. Anna stood there with a grin on her face as she clutched at both straps of her backpack and rocked on her heels. She was clearly excited that I picked her to go with me.
“Okay, we are ready to head out,” I said to the others. “As I said earlier, we will be gone a few days. That means that you don't need to worry if we don't come back tonight.”
“Question?” Bailey asked. “When is it okay to worry, exactly?”
“Give us three days,” I said with a chuckle. “If, at the end of the third day, we haven't returned then you could think about maybe coming in after us.”
“Alright,” the blond hippie agreed with a nod.
“You'll be fine,” Rolly said. “Plus it will be hard to miss you when we are having so much fun here.”
“Oh man, that was such a grandpa thing to say,” Paige said with a smile as she shook her head.
“He’s right though,” Tara said. “There is a lot for us to do here still and without you here to distract me I might get more of it done.”
“Well I’m sorry I slow you down so much,” I chuckled.
“I don’t think it’s your fault that this one can’t stop daydreaming about you naked,” Paige said with a grin.
“On that note, I think we should get going,” Anna said with a laugh.
“Probably a good idea,” I agreed with a nod.
“Have fun you two!” Bailey exclaimed as she waved wildly at us.
“Thanks,” I said as I returned the wave and started off towards the woods.
“Just don’t have too much fun,” Tara teased.
“We’ll see,” Anna replied as she turned back and winked at the platinum blond.
The girls giggled, and Rolly rolled his eyes as we disappeared into the forest.
The first plot I had chosen to investigate was about four hours south of the campus. The land had been purchased over forty years ago, and there was little to indicate what sort of plans the buyers had for the land. My hope was that it was a simple cabin. It would give us a place to sleep for the night and should house some camping supplies if nothing else.
“I have never been out this direction,” Anna said as she picked her way through the forest behind me. “I always wanted to explore the area but had never really had the chance to slip away before the world kinda ended.”
“It sounds like you kept yourself a bit too busy back before the EMP,” I said as I stopped to check the map.
“Back then it seemed important to stay busy,” she responded with a shrug. “I needed to be the best so I could further my athletic career. It feels silly now.”
“Hey, that seemingly silly choice prepared you for this whole scenario,” I said. “Leave the past in the past and worry more about what’s in front of us.”
“You’re right,” Anna said “Sorry, something about being in the forest and taking nice long hikes gets me all introspective. “
“I know that feeling,” I said with a grin. “It’s alright though we have quite a bit of hiking ahead of us and plenty of time to talk. My solutions are usually just a little simpler than most people want. Turns out the answer of, just don’t do that, that doesn’t always go over well.” I looked back at Anna and grinned.
“You just like to be direct,” the redhead chuckled. “But I think I'm good for now. I would rather learn about this pathfinding stuff.” She walked up beside me and pulled out her own compass. “Tell me how to make sense of this map.”
“Well, what we have here is a topographical map,” I explained as I handed her the map. “These rings help to denote elevation and give you an idea of the terrain you might be going through.”
“I know some of this,” Anna said. “This here is the compass rose. That helps gives us cardinal directions to make the map easier to understand, and this over here is the map key to explain the symbols such as roads and railroads. How am I doing so far?”
“So far so good,” I said with a nod. “One of the important parts of navigating with a map is to orient the map with your compass. To do that just turn the map until north on the map is pointed in the same direction as north on your compass.”
“Oh, yeah that is pretty easy,” Anna said as she shifted the map around in her hands. “So, assuming the place we are heading for is the spot you have circled, we need to keep heading south. The direction we’re pointed.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Can you tell distance?”
“Um….” Anna scanned the map for a moment before she found the distance key on the side. She used her finger to try to estimate distance but with little success. “Alright, what simple trick makes this thing easier?”
“Use your compass,” I said as I tapped the tool. “The marks on the side are there specifically to help you judge distance.”
“Doh,” Anna sighed. “I should have known that the answer was something dumb and simple.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a chuckle. “This is a learning experience. Until we can find any landmarks, there is not much more we can do with the map except to head south. If we can find some landmarks, I will show you how to try to triangulate our position on the map.”
“That sounds slightly more complicated,” Anna said. “But let me guess, it’s all done with this compass?” She held up the item for emphasis and grinned.
“Yes it is,” I said with a grin as I folded up the map and continued on. “Really, the most important part of navigation is to know your directions. With a compass that is easy, but you cannot always count on your compass.”
“Right, sometimes magnetic metals can mess it up,” Anna said. “I remember that from when I was a kid.”
“Yeah, but as long as you can get your bearings and find north you can get out of most situations. Like right now we know that home is north of here.”
“Well how do we know where north is without our compass then?” Anna asked. “Does that moss thing actually work?”
“No, moss seems to grow pretty much where it pleases,” I said. “I don’t know where that idea started but I am sure it has done more harm than good at this point. My favorite way to find direction is the sun.”
“Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that’s simple enough,” Anna agreed. “So you just check the placement of the sun and oriente yourself from there?”
“More or less,” I said. “Though the sun only rises true east on two days of the year. Right now we are heading towards summer so the sun is rising and setting northeast and northwest.”
“Huh, people really never go over that part of the saying.”
“It’s not generally important,” I shrugged. “At least you don’t have to worry about any area besides this one. The slant of the rising and setting sun is different depending on your location and Hemisphere.”
“Oh geez, did you have to learn all
of this in the Rangers?” the redhead asked.
“Yeah, we never knew where we were going to go next and had to be ready to navigate through any sort of terrain with very light supplies,” I explained.
“Damn, that sounds pretty hardcore,” Anna mused. “How on earth did you remember all of this stuff?”
“Well we did a lot of applied learning,” I said with a laugh. “Getting to test what I learned in potentially life ending scenarios helped to galvanize the information in my mind.”
“That makes sense,” Anna said. “It has been easier to learn knowing that my survival depends on it.”
“You have all adapted well to the situation,” I said. “I have been impressed with all of you.”
“Thanks,” Anna said before she smiled, went red, and focused on her feet as we marched on.
An hour into our hike, we started to head uphill. Most of these locations were set on the top of small mountains or hills, and our first stop was no exception. The trees thinned out around us as we climbed higher, but never disappeared completely. The ground was rougher and more rocky and we found ourselves having to move slower to ensure that we didn’t misstep and tumble back down the hill.
Anna stopped and took a deep breath as she looked at the sky. She pulled out a water bottle and took a small drink. She wiped the sweat from her brow and continued onward.
“Doing alright?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Anna huffed. “I’ve done far worse hikes, but I was also in a little better shape then.”
“Yeah, I figured this would be a nice workout,” I said.
“I have been wanting to do more of that,” Anna admitted.
“Come on, the first place should be up at the top of this hill,” I said. “Wanna race me to top?”
“You’re on,” Anna smiled wider than I had seen her smile since my arrival. She took a second and stretched as I started to sprint up the hill.
Each of my long strides carried me farther up the hill and farther away from my athletic companion. I kept my eyes fixed forward on the path ahead of me so as not to misstep.