by Angie West
***
“Claire, I wish you wouldn’t do this.”
“I have to.”
“Maybe not…maybe you could stay here. We could put out fliers. We could do…something. You don’t understand how dangerous this is.”
“There is no other choice, Faith. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” I smoothed my borrowed t-shirt over my new blue jeans and bent to tie my sneakers.
“Well…at least let me make you a map before you go.”
“Thanks. That would help.”
Faith made a pot of coffee while I double-checked my bag and looked over her world map. She slid two mugs onto the table and poured the rest into a red plastic thermos before dropping into the chair next to mine with a heavy sigh.
“All right, if you are going to do this, at least try to be careful in these areas.” She circled large areas on the map. “And stay away from these.” She added several ‘X’s to the page.
“The ‘X’s are the unprotected settlements. There will be guard stations scattered through all of the unprotected areas. I’m sorry, but I don’t know where those are. You should be safe enough if you stay by the fences, though, and don’t venture in too deep. That way, if you get into trouble you can jump the fence.”
“Can they?”
“No.”
“Good.” I drained my cup and gathered my possessions before I lost my nerve.
Faith and I stood facing each other on the porch, silent and grim.
“Here’s your coffee.”
“Thanks.”
“You have your gun?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful.”
I nodded solemnly. “Goodbye, Faith. Give Wilson a kiss for me.”
