After the End: The Realization

     I found myself walking down the highway and from the signs on the side, I was heading north. I had a one strap styled sling bag on my back, A hunting knife on my belt and my old rifle with a few cartridges. I have not seen anyone on the highway in some time now. I stopped keeping track of how many days have gone by. I am sure if I sat down long enough I could recount the days since it all ended. None the less, it still eases my mind not to walk right down the middle of the road but rather on the shoulder. It’s not that I am worried about some one driving up from behind me, the roads where covered in cars bumper to bumper. Being seen moving by some one up ahead was my concern. I could easily run into the woods and hide out or move past them. It was starting to get late so before the sun went down I walked into the woods and found a sturdy large tree to climb in. As I got into the tree and made myself comfortable into my hammock I started to realize things. For starters, I am lashed between two tree branches hanging in mid air about twenty five feet from the ground. One day this will break on me and on that day, my luck will have finally run dry. My constant stream of thought put me to sleep without even giving me a warning,

     I was woken by the sound of birds chirping and the wind whipping through the trees. I did a supply count and a gear check while I was still sitting in my hammock. I had not been able to do one for the past couple of days due to a group of bandits. They where moving through the city I was in and in that time I did not have the luxury of stopping to sleep much less make sure that I had enough supplies. I had to make due. With a little bit of mental math and some sacrifice, I came to the conclusion that I had just enough food and water to last me the next four days. My feet where dry, my knife was sharp and my rifle was clean. I climbed over to a branch and untied one end of the hammock then crawled across the to the other side to untie the rest. I got everything ready to go and packed away nice and tight with no worries of making noise when moving. I climbed down the tree after eating a protein bar I had with me. As I walked up to the high way something happened. From the tree where I was sleeping last night and this morning, there was absolutely no movement on the road for as far as I could see in either direction. I had always tried to avoid the highway system since the start but after not seeing anyone on the roads, I decided to chance it.

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