Day Seven Hundred Twenty Four #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We exercised the usual caution today.  At first light Tomas went into the city to scout, while we stayed on the outskirts.

The Captain was focused on the fruit trees that were indeed on the approaches to the city. Very little fruit was left to glean. What there was, was green or in one instance mealy.

Tomas brought an end to our foraging upon his return. With a long explanation he hustled us into the city.

The city was in the throes of preparing to stave off an invasion.  He convinced us that we needed to be settled as soon as possible.

Thankfully we found an inn. Though Stan’s image was everywhere no one asked if we bore the mark.

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Day Six Hundred Forty One #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We covered much less distance than usual last night. I think that the Captain and I slowed our pace consciously, both for the sake of Elijah and to hopefully keep the distance between Tomas and us as short as possible.

When Elijah joined us later, as has been his habit lately, he made no comment on this fact. He simply slowed to our pace.

It was still dark when we came upon the perfect place to pass the next two days. It was an unanimous decision.

The Captain oriented himself to best advantage to observe the quarter from which we expect Tomas.

And I exercised more caution this time, making sure that no scorpion nests were in my chosen spot.

Day Four Hundred Seventy Six #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Tomas has relieved me from all watch duty. The danger from pirates has past. Though we still exert caution not to call undue attention to ourselves from the patrolling naval vessels which seem to be everywhere.

The Captain estimates that we are three days out from our next port of call. Therefore he asked me to prepare the list of containers that will be offloaded there.

In the process I discovered a listing for a container with no destination information on its original paper work. I queried Tomas about this. He told me he had discovered the same anomaly when he was filling in as purser, but hadn’t had any time to investigate.

I put it first on my list.

Day Three Hundred Thirty Four #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Elijah and the Captain came to a compromise of sorts. Records on the grain ship indicate that it was also headed for our next port of call. So Captain and crew are exercising salvage rights and now have it in tow while a skeleton crew tries to get it operational again.

The locusts aside, the Captain is of the opinion that there may be a substantial amount of grain beneath the weight of their carcasses.

Elijah is confident that this action will prove out to everyone’s benefit. He has one caution, however. He recommends that we only partake of the locusts in immediate contact with the grain, and avoid completely those found near human flesh.

We will see to it.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Nine #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

The Captain came down yesterday and kept vigil with me. It is strange – for all Elijah’s caution about not reacting to any sight or sound from within, there was nothing but that wisp of smoke at the beginning.

The crew still gave the area a wide berth, keeping the Captain fearful about it becoming a festering problem if things are not resolved quickly. I did my best to give him hope that it would be soon done and forgotten.

At that very juncture as if to emphasize the point, Elijah emerged from the cabin. He seemed to have just awakened and to be surprised that the Captain was present.

He declared that all that was needed was a good scrubbing.