Day One Thousand One Hundred Forty Six #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Just as Elijah had forced us on day and night, so now that we have reached the village at the edge of the wasteland, he has forced us into a prolonged rest.

The village is still deserted, yet strangely, any vestige of the sentry camps at either end have all been removed.

We had our pick of accommodations in the inn off the square. Reuben took the first watch and the one after that. To me the heaviness of desolation hangs over the place. Reuben felt this keenly too, a fact he confessed to me when I relieved him. And the reason he took the two shifts. I think he dreads the thought of closing his eyes in this place.

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Day Three Hundred Ninety Five #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

I was relieved to leave the desolation behind. And I think I speak for Elijah too. He hasn’t commented directly about it, but for a while there, he was holding his arm across his face. Now he walks unencumbered and without stumbling.

The last long stretch before the riverfront town, though lonely was a refreshing walk. I still wonder why there are no villages on its outskirts. They have the look of prime farmland.

The riverfront town has emptied out, comparatively speaking. We were probably the only ones around that could be considered refugees. We had no trouble finding a place to stay, an inn down beside the river.

We as yet have no leading as to our next step.

Day Three Hundred Ninety Four #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Another long day. Though we had left the bush country behind, the bleakness continued, only changing in tenor. Our senses were overloaded with the sights, the sounds and the smells of desolation left in these fields laid waste by the locusts. I’d forgotten my first passage through them because they look so much worse than at that time. Something else has happened since then.

The stubble that was evident everywhere before, I believe has all been burnt away, if I have judged aright that the marks in the soil are indeed signs of scorching.

Elijah just made faces and kept on walking. It dried up the conversation between us.

I did find Mawuli’s snake carcass again, so we’re not lost.