Day One Thousand Twenty #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We are across. I feel as if I were swept up in a whirlwind. It all happened so fast.

The road was still throttled with traffic when Elijah turned to me and said that it was time. He directed me to summon the others.

I was glad for those dry runs.

When I arrived back at the relay point, Reuben already had his people alert and prepared to move.

Time seemed to standstill as we raced back to our waiting friends.

Elijah was then in the middle of an empty road holding aloft his staff, and commanding us to cross.

Quasimo met us on the other side and guided us around a platoon of sleeping soldiers.

Soon we ourselves rested.

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Day One Thousand Nineteen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We are up against it. The road is a solid mass of slow moving traffic in both directions. How any of the groups ahead of us got beyond this point is a mystery.

Reuben took everyone back to the relay point, except Elijah, Quasimo and me. Thankfully it is not that far away. I shall summon them if circumstances arise favorable to our passage.

Our observations so far are not promising. The few breaks in the traffic were filled by attending drones keeping vigil overhead.

Throughout the day I made two trips back to the relay point to familiarize myself with its turns and doglegs that I may all the easier navigate it in the dark.

Now we must wait.

Day One Thousand Seventeen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Since we had not arrived at the third relay point before halting last night, I asked Reuben to make a quick reconnaissance. What looked deceptively close higher up he had found to be much further away. Quasimo was at a loss for he does not remember it being more than one day’s journey distant from the second.

And a thornier problem had intruded.

Another outpost had been set up on the direct route.

He and Quasimo put their heads together and came up with another route.

And that is how we came to backtrack up the hill and down its other side. From there we have paralleled our intended path to keep hidden from the observation of the enemy’s outpost.

Day One Thousand Twelve #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Quasimo assures us this first part was easy. The challenging difficulties still lie ahead – this after one passing patrol kept us pinned down for longer than was comfortable.

During that particular episode my attention was drawn to our problematic hothead, the one so filled with wrath. Something furtive in his manner seemed out of place then, as though poised to act at a signal.

At the end of a long day we came to Mei’s first relay point. One of Elijah’s pupils from the first twelve was waiting for us, or more precisely, for Elijah.

Afterwards Elijah collected Reuben and a few others to seize the hothead. He saw them first and bolted.

One should not run in the dark.