Survival pt. 1

The grasses of the plains knelt in reverence to the passing winds. There were still patches of snow here and there and puddles splattered across the landscape. Keisha straightened up with determination. She hugged her sweater closer as the icy wind nipped at her skin. She climbed onto her quad. It was slow going with the trailer in tow but she knew she was better off than a lot of folk. She raised her hand to the horizon, gauging how many hours of daylight she had left. She would need to find a place to camp for the night soon. She started the ignition and her dog, Tier, ran into view. He jumped up into the trailer, panting with excitement. At least someone is having a good time, she thought grimly. She started off across the fields searching out shelter among the trees that grew along their edges. She could only guess her journey would be another 300km and she wasn’t sure she’d have enough fuel in the jerry cans sitting in her trailer. Even worse, she feared the countryside would become hostile if she came too close to any settlements. She had been as prepared for this as she could be but at the moment it didn’t seem to be enough. It had be a strange couple of months, riddled with natural disasters and human catastrophe. It seemed that the world was falling down around her, and she would have to weather these changes. She smiled bitterly as she thought about how she had been living. Perhaps she deserved this. People on this land had been living beyond their means for too long. Regardless, it was going to be a long and arduous journey if she was forced to continue on foot at some point and she would have to leave behind a lot of her supplies.

To the east she saw a likely spot to make camp and she started towards it. The sun was creeping lower in the sky as she came to a stop and pulled out the little pup tent in the trailer. She stuffed a piece of dehydrated meat in her mouth and chewed while she set it up. She gave one to Tier, who gobbled it down greedily and looked up expectantly. “No more,” she said, “We need to conserve our rations.” Tier whined slightly. “Sorry boy, but you should go hunt a squirrel if you’re still hungry.” She said. She took the bag with all the food and began hoisting it into a nearby tree. Tier whined again but sat down with some resignation. Keisha’s stomach grumbled its own complaints for the tiny meal. She sighed and crawled into the tent. Tier followed closely at her heels so that they were soon cramped into the tiny tent, uncomfortable but warm. Keisha lay there for awhile listening to the sounds of night falling before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.