Year 27, Day 89
Sera Tallow // Interstate 70 Westbound, Colorado
It was cloudy.
An overcast day just like all those that had come before and no doubt those to come after.
Sunstreaks broke through the gloom from where they could, bringing with them the false promise of warmth, taunting the barren earth as winter crept ever closer. Days already short were growing briefer still and soon the world would freeze as the sun hid away for the darker months, as if turning its back on what little remained of civilization. Tomorrow would be cold as would the day after. Spring would be a long way coming for those who made it through the coming night, and even then the summer would be heartbreakingly fleeting. This world now only knew the cold, and that was unlikely to change in anyone’s lifetime.
“Why am I pushing the damn cart again?”
Mercer looked over to his partner, Drew, pushing a utility cart that was similar to those that could once be found in low-end hotels or school dormitories. Various odds and ends, junk, and other supplies had been piled on top, and while not exceptionally heavy the uphill trek was no doubt taking its toll on the apathetic man. The answer as to why him of all people was agonizingly simple. “Because I told you to.”
That answer was only partially sufficient. “Okay, you’re the boss, fine, but why the fuck am I pushing her scrawny ass as well?” grumbled Drew, motioning to the aptly scrawny girl sitting atop the piles, back turned to face the direction they currently traveled.
“Just stop complaining. Besides, with arms like those you could use the exercise,” joked Mercer with a placid face. Drew wasn’t laughing. “What? You want her to push the cart? Do you really think she’d get it up hill? In comparison Sera here makes you look like a Brute.”
Sera didn’t bother to glance over to Mercer, only flashing a rude gesture in his general direction and being awarded with a small chuckle. She was busying herself by playing with a small calculator that she had found on their scavenging, thankful that the solar cell still worked and that she had gotten a small game to start up in her random pressage of buttons. As for why she was in the cart and not walking, she was simply being lazy and taking advantage of Drew who would complain but, ultimately, not do a damn thing about it.
The two men had been scavenging for years, Sera joining in after she was old enough to not be a liability. It was simple work really. They would go to an area, take what they could, and bring back anything useful for the settlement to use or for trading. Of course there was the threat of bandits or even tribals, but some risks had to be taken if they were to keep Aspen afloat. Unfortunately the need to travel farther and further would make such a living non-viable, and when that occurred the settlement would have to move elsewhere or else wither away. But for now there were still some goods to be found, and with Sera they could get into hard to reach spots without the need to creating a racket and drawing in unwanted attention. Plus, according to Mercer, it allowed him to keep an eye on her, so as to keep the girl out of trouble.
Dark forms flittered across the sky, the caws of crows pausing the little entourage who stood to watch the passage, the birds startled from their roost somewhere deeper in the wooded landscape. Drew watched as the birds flew past overhead as did Sera, Mercer holding his shotgun closer as he peered into the forest from where they had come, the hills and dense foliage not affording any decent view. When all had subsided a tense atmosphere remained, one that had not been there previously.
“Think something’s out there?” questioned Drew, joining his gaze with Mercer’s.
“Probably an animal,” he responded uneasily. “We should get going. Glenwood is not far now. We can rest there for the night if we have to.”
The three continued on up the highway.