Solar Reboot by Matthew D. Hunt

Author:Matthew D. Hunt [Hunt, Matthew D.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction | Post-Apocalyptic
Publisher: Matthew D. Hunt
Published: 2017-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

The wide open plains of South Dakota made their road west an easy one. They walked on open land for the most part. Alex noted that Denny always kept a road in sight, but never too close. It was the same thing Alex would have done. With the road in sight, they could take advantage if they saw an abandoned car, or maybe a truck carrying useful supplies. Meanwhile, by keeping it a safe distance away, they could get out of Dodge if anyone spotted them and headed out to investigate.

But they didn’t see any abandoned vehicles, and no one spotted them or came out towards them. In fact, they didn’t see anybody at all. The roads were eerily abandoned, both the freeway and the smaller country roads they passed. They walked wide around the farmhouses and microtowns in their path, but Alex began to feel like they didn’t need to worry about it. No one seemed to be home to see them pass.

After lightening the morning they met Denny, the rain grew stronger again as the day wore on. Alex broke out the rainproof jackets he’d purchased for himself and Piper. He’d brought a spare, and after only a moment’s hesitation he gave it to Denny. It seemed like the least he could do after Denny was willing to guide them, and even if Denny snuck off with the jacket, it was only a spare.

As their journey went on, however, passing into a second and then a third day, Alex grew less and less convinced that Denny was the type to sneak off and leave them high and dry—or high and soaked, with the weather being what it was. Whenever they stopped to eat, Denny provided his own food, and shared some with Alex and Piper as well. He had tastier provisions than the almost military rations Alex had stocked up on, and the bacon in particular was a welcome addition to their diet. As they walked together, Denny would tell them stories about the lands they were passing through, about his personal experiences there or the bits of history he’d picked up from his time on the road. Pretty soon Alex became convinced that Denny was just glad for the company, and wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize the presence of the first people he’d traveled with in a long time.

It wasn’t long before even Piper began to warm up to the old hobo. Alex was glad to see it, though he knew he was the reason she’d started off somewhat paranoid in the first place. By the middle of the second day she was laughing at Denny’s lame jokes, and she’d engage him in small snatches of conversation as they walked, or when they ate. And Max had warmed to the old man almost from the moment they’d met him, so that the whole group’s journey together became a pleasant one, despite the darkness of the circumstances that had driven them together.

“How long have you been homeless?” asked Piper, on the morning on the third day.

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