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zapsplat_foley_footsteps_heavy_shoes_boots_walking_wooden_floor_83707.mp3I decide to take a shortcut through the woods. I am familiar with a few of these trails but not well enough to navigate without a map. Just as I find a trail I think I know, I see a black truck turn the corner on the road. I try to wave him down from the side of the road, but he doesn't seem to see me. I wish I could just talk to somebody, anybody, right now. Nothing makes sense, and nothing feels right. I wait a few minutes to see if the car will turn back, but he doesn't. I sigh and continue into the thick woods.
[11]
I come across a cabin. The cabin is made out of wood, and it seems old. The roof is slightly slanted, and one of the windows has a tarp covering it. There seem to be people here. I smell smoke, and as I get closer, I can see the smoke climbing above the trees after it escapes the chimney. I knock on the door.
A man answers the door.
“Whatcha want?” He asks, peering down at me.
“I have been walking all day, and I just need to borrow your phone or a charger, even!” I say while pulling out my phone.
He laughs. “Oh man, yea, right. And I’m King Arthur.”
I look at him, puzzled.
“You really don't know?”
I shake my head.
“There’s no more electricity. I have a little set of cabins, though some people are staying in them now." He gestures towards the back, where I can see other cabins.
[12]
We talked well into the night; they told me all they knew, which wasn't much. They were trying to find answers, though.
"We sent somebody up the mountain. There's a military base on the other side, and we thought that maybe they could help." Greg said.
"Wait! Was it a black truck?" I look at him as he seems a little surprised.
"Yea, it was. How did you know?"
"I passed him on the way here. I stopped, but he kept on driving." It was interesting to know that the one person I passed earlier was from this small group.
"His son was just deployed overseas, and not being able to get in touch with him made him pretty anxious." One of the other members of Greg's group spoke up.
We continued to discuss how strange everything was. Only older vehicles were still working; there was no service, no electricity. It felt like I had become unfamiliar with the world in days, and I didn't recognize it anymore.
Thinking about how little time seemed to pass, I asked, "What day is it today?"
"It's Friday."
"Friday?" I felt confused, and I left on a Friday. There is no way I have been gone for a whole week.
"Yea, we've been keeping track on our calendar." Greg shows me the calendar that is on the wall behind him.
"Ah, okay. Thanks." I don't want them to know how confused I am. This doesn't seem right, but nothing does. I ask about the city, but nobody knows what has become of it.
Greg, the owner of the cabins, said that when everything first shut down, people went crazy. He was at a gas station when it happened, and it seemed like a scene out of the purge. People were stealing anything they could get their hands on and breaking windows.
I asked which gas station, and he said it was the one just up on the main road and the one I had been at. Who knows what’s happening in town if people act like this? It could be chaos for all I know.
Greg offered to let me stay. I felt a little uncomfortable staying with a group of strangers, but I was also worried about what might happen in town. I decided I wanted to visit the city before deciding. Sean, one of the men in the other cabins, showed me to town. It took a whole day to get down to the city. All we saw was a group of men with guns walking through the city's outskirts. Neither of us thought it would be wise to go any further. We went back to Greg's cabins. I decided to stay for now. Greg offered a room to me, and I have been wedging a chair against the door, just in case.
Greg's group has animals and a garden, and they think it's best if we do what we can to stay away from town for now. We have no clue what's going on, and when Greg did see a bunch of people together, it was chaos. We are probably safer here until we figure out what is going on.
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