Lee

Tuesday- Is that low, dark , foggy clouds of a storm brewing, or is it the smoke still lingering from where the gases burned up everything on the grounds? I wake up to the same kind of darkness everyday, not knowing.

I would be alone in this new desolate world, had I not ran into some people, that were as I, walking around in the shock of the nothingness. I have been able to travel with them in search of food and water that is safe enough to consume. There is a couple, Brad and Sarah. They seem to know what is, and what is not safe. I wanted to ask them what they did before the darkness set in, but conversation does not happen much. I guess, like me, everyone is lost in their own thoughts of the new "now".

This couple, I suppose, is considered to be the leaders of our little group. Their knowledge is overwhelming, and the others seem to trust them. We are all of various ages. Except, there are no little ones. There is a man, he is in his 60's, and everyone else from their late 20's to 40's.

We all have boxes or bags that we were able to grab up at the last moments and throw some things into real quick. Some got cd's and players, some pictures and others just what they could get their hands on. The older man, he has nothing. But every morning before he gets to moving around, and every night before sleep, he gets this heart shaped locket out of his shirt pocket. He will look at it for a few minutes and a smile will come across his face. That is something I've not seen from anyone in a whole. I am so curious as to what makes him so happy. He doesn't seem to get as discouraged as most of us are. He hums a tune and keeps right on going.

Wednesday-Today we've gotten up and ate a bite to get us moving. but first, Brand and Sarah wanted to have a meeting of sorts with us. Well, I had already noticed that the smoke is not as thick as what we woke up to yesterday. That is what they wanted to discuss. It seems the farther East we go, the clearer it is going to become. It is storming on the east coast so the gases are dissipating. That brought about alot of encouragement, and laughter. Things there had been no reasons for, since the first bombs were released.

The old guy, who I've since found out his name, Lee-started humming that same tune that keeps him going. Except today, it had a settling sound to me as well.

Sarah and I, and a few others in the group had gathered around the fire last night. Lee had been one of them, so we got to hear something about everyone and of course their names.

Tired of walking, and all we were running across were those electric cars. The gases had eroded some of the components, that made them run. Brad had tried to explain, but all I was able to gather is these cars would not start! Just as we were about to call it a day, we stumbled across a fuel station. The gasoline engines RAN!

Thursday-Well, I am guessing that it is Thursday. I still can't tell night from day. The darkness, even with the clearing of the air, is still overbearing.

We topped off the fuel in four of these automobiles, found some gas cans, filled them up and took them along. Gasoline stations were few and far between. We can now get farther in less time.

Sarah and I both made sure we rode with Lee. He is a very interesting man, with fantastic story-telling abilities. I still want to know about that heart-shaped locket, that he looks at every morning and night as if a faithful ritual. It brings him such joy.

We left Illinois and made it to the Arkansas state line by driving today. I think they are discussing the change of drivers, so we can keep moving through the night.

After some time of stretching our legs and discussing we decided to keep going. Lee, Sarah, and I were in the backseat, while Brad and another man was in the front. The other man knew where he was going, so he navigated.

I finally got up the nerve to ask Lee about that heart-shaped locket. He smiled as he reached into his pocket and took it out. It was so shiny and sparkly, a woman's locket. He explained. He had given it to his wife on their 31st anniversary. She wore it from that time, and then only took it off once.

"You see", he said. "When the pandemic came about a few years ago, we did everything that 'they" ( and he emphasized "they"), "said to do, wash hands, wear your masks, don't go anywhere unless you had to, and all of that-I guess I was immuned, because my wife caught a real bad cold. I was fine. She was sick a few days, so we had her tested. We got back home, and she handed me the locket and asked me to hold on to it. She died three hours later." He handed me the locket that I had been so curious about. "Open it!" he said. With tears in my eyes I did. Inside the locket said, "When you see the sun, that is me." As I looked up, I noticed the sunshine was almost blinding, the waves were crashing, we had made it to the Atlantic Ocean. I looked at Sarah, she was laughing with tears rolling down her cheeks-Lee, he had such a proud, loving smile of contentment on his face. He wasn't humming anymore, he was singing.."you are my sunshine, my only sunshine...". The song he had been humming this whole time. Brad and the navigator, although there were no tears flowing, they were filling up their eyes, and we all started singing with Lee. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.."