of my life, but I nodded. "One day, George, one day is all I'll be able to stand being in the same area with those animals. One day, George and then we leave. End of story." I turned and walked away, not really sure of where I was going but knowing I needed to be alone. We'd laughed and talked for quite a while so I wasn't sure where anyone was. I was not going to have any guilty feelings in the future over this trip so 24 hours from now I was leaving out that damn door in the mountain with anyone else or not. I wasn't going to feel guilty about it either. Just making that decision lined the Karma up on my side for a change, just where I wanted it.
Chapter 5
I wandered around for awhile, getting lost, backtracking, walking in on people doing things no one else should see. I finally found my way back to the Mess Hall, got a cup of lousy coffee and looked around. I sent Mason the message of where I was and to find me when he got around to it. That reminded me of the time Ken got into trouble for not taking out the trash. He was around 10 or 11 at the time. When asked when he planned to do it, he said when he got around to it. Near dark, my dad presented him with a wooden disk, painted all pretty, that said 'to it' in the middle. There was a bright blue, ribbon attached to it and when my dad put it around his neck he said "Now you've got 'a round to it'. Take out the trash." He did and never used the term again. I wondered if he still had that pretty round disk. Mason finally sauntered in after about an hour and we shared lousy coffee together. "I sure miss that stuff at the lodge. I'm not sure what this stuff is." "It's wet, that's what it is. That's about all it is. I think the self destruct will do these people a favor if they have to live on this very long." Mason gave me a look and I was sorry the instant the words left my mouth. Many of these nice people were going to die because their general wouldn't listen to reason. We sat in silence for a bit until a stranger came over and sat with us. Mason and I looked at each other but sat silently until some unseen signal prompted the man to speak. The words rolled around and over each other as if he was in a hurry. "We know about the self destruct Sunday evening. We plan to leave that morning and was wondering if you had any words of wisdom for us." I nodded to Mason and he began, "Don't go east, the winds will blow the radiation that direction. Go north or west, California maybe but not the coast. Stay away from high population areas because high population means a high population of walkers. Take the state roads or even gravel roads. Hit the army/navy stores and small mom and pop stores. Most of the bigger warehouse stores were hit when the virus began and you won't find much except walkers. Electronics like night vision cameras, motion detectors and weapons of any kind are a must but forget assault weapons. After the first shot, the recoils screws with accuracy and to kill a walker it has to be a head shot. A RV is great just reinforce the doors and paint the bottom of the windows just in case a herd comes your way you can be quiet and they won't know you're there. Watch out for anyone wanting to be your friend, he will probably kill you. Get as much drugs and MRE's you can carry and study survival and first aid books you can get from the library. Education is your best friend." The man's mouth had begun to droop when Mason started speaking and by the time Mason was finished his jaw was hanging wide open. He shook his head when Mason quit speaking and looked at his watch. Giving us his thanks he stood but stopped when Mason grabbed his arm. "You planning to go out