O Brave New World - Chapter IX

I awoke to splashing water upon my face. At first I thought perhaps my companion was tossing water on me to wake up, but when I finally opened my eyes and my senses came to me, I realized what was happening. I was propped up against a vehicle, a rain poncho over me, sitting on the highway in the pouring rain. A flash of lightening and then thunder; it rumbled off into the distance, but it was a precursor to the danger I was in. I was alone.

I staggered to stand, holding onto the car that I was propped up against, and looked around at my surroundings again. The red vehicle that my companion and I were traveling in was nowhere to be seen, nor was my companion. I looked at my feet and found a pistol. I picked it up and checked the clip; nothing. There was, however, one in the chamber. It became quite clear as to what unfolded here before me. There was yet another thing of mine; my pack. But the only thing that was in it was The Complete Works of Shakespeare Revised. I picked up my pack and slung it over my shoulder.

My companion had left me for dead. Finding that I was wounded, he feared that I had contracted what ever had driven these people mad. I could not have blamed him at the time; we did not know that we were yet immune to this sickly disease. It, however, did not stop me from being thoroughly angry; my only weapon was left with a bullet for me to call my last supper.

I looked up above at an overhang road sign that dictated future exits. Detroit was still fifteen miles away. I sighed and leaned against the car, gathering my bearings and contemplating on what to do next. I could not follow the highway without a vehicle, lest I would wish a short life to live, but I also could not traverse across the land, for fear of coming across an urban area and then into the concrete pavement of the city; that would certainly then spell my doom.

I looked behind me across a foliage median and some open green area. It was a gigantic airport—quite possibly the metropolitan airport. I suddenly felt a deep sinking feeling within the pit of my stomach when I realized that I was most likely in an area that was heavily traversed by the damned. If it were not for this weather I would have probably been taken into the shadow myself.

However, what had caught my eye was that, alongside the airport, there were train tracks, and as it can be laid down as a maxim, the train tracks would lead to the main city with the hopes of being far away enough from civilization to not attract enough attention. At least I had hoped. Most cities had planned their structures and transportation systems so that the noisy railroad would not overflow into the city, but there were still plenty of cities whose planners opted out for smaller budgets instead. Either way, it seemed like my only viable hope.

And so I began my trek into Detroit on the tracks. It was a very slow journey. The rain was still pouring, thundering and lightening still crashing about, so I had to make due with low visibility. But as I look back on it I am still thankful for it, as it was probably the reason why the damned were not able to find me so easily. That, or perhaps they took to an animalistic custom to seek shelter in the time of a storm.