Chapter Summary: A Short Story

They’re blessed with two weeks of peace as they travel with several other families headed towards Columbus, Ohio. They’ve barely made it to Louisville when they begin to hear rumors about this new Militia and it’s rulers. About how they’re trying to help by getting rid of the clans that have risen up since the lights went out, trying to make order out of chaos. By the time they actually reach Columbus, rumors are flying that the newly fledged Militia are on the west side of Pittsburgh. Even closer than they initially thought.

They’re on their own after that and it really is safety in numbers they quickly learn, as everything goes downhill from there. The first time they’re forced to kill to protect themselves and the children, the sisters cling to each other in
In the short span of two weeks, Cynthia's done things she knows she’ll never talk about to anyone and after the incident in an abandoned barn four nights ago, the kids have both gone mute. Charlie refuses to let anyone but Danny touch her and Angela's empty eyes haunt her every decision.

It’s dusk on the evening they make it to the town of Bridgeport, located on the Ohio River. Deciding to spend the night before determining how they’ll get across the river, they're setting up camp when they somehow get caught up in a skirmish.

Men are suddenly all around them, screaming and shooting as Cynthia and Angela scramble to get Charlie and Danny shoved down low, as they shoot the men that venture too close. Looking at her sister and the children she thinks of as her own, Cynthia wonders if this is the end, when just as quickly, men on horseback come barreling through, pushing back the men on foot.

When a voice in the chaos grabs Charlie's attention, she pops her head up, looking for the owner of the voice, ignoring Angela and Cynthia's pleas to stay