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Ryan is absorbed reading a report from his CFO when his charter plane jerks. He looks up. Turbulence, he thinks and keeps reading. A second later, the plane twitches to one side, then the other. He checks his seat belt, it is fastened. The plane is going down and tumbling. Mary is yelling. What’s happening? The bright light from the window is suddenly brighter. Kaya looks out. Nothing. There is a rumble, Kaya looks out again. Several cars have crashed. Kaya goes down the stairs. Her father is embracing her mother. Is something wrong? An exceedingly bright light in the sky. Unexplainable accidents. Everything stops working. No sirens, no alarms. Phones do not work. What happened? Is this the end or a new beginning? For many, it is the end. For a few, it is the beginning of a new life, Nonetheless, life will be challenging for all. “This is the story of the survival of the few.”
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 Vignettes Nine days walking along 17. The road has been desolated, and our fears have subsided. I assume the few people who remain in this area are surviving with the food they can find. Vegetables, hunting, fish, whatever. And the exodus has stopped. Our map shows we are entering the city of Sudbury, in Canada. Our map shows that 17 does not go through town, therefore we are going to keep going on 17. I give Ryan a dozen raspberries. He eats them in one gulp. I smile. We have been harvesting berries to avoid secondary effects from our carnivorous diet. Ryan checks his map. “Junction with 144,” he says. “We are three miles from Sudbury.” Suddenly, three people appear from the ramp in front of us. I see two more a little bit distant. They stand in front of us. Blocking us. The other two join them. “Gives us all the food you have,” a girl says. “Give us everything or we kill you,” a man adds. Five meters away. I unfasten my handgun and bring it up. I hear a shot. Baamm! Ryan was faster. The man who threatened us is on the floor. The other four are looking at him. I lift my gun and point it at the heart of the girl. Baamm! The kickback is hard. I point my gun again. Baamm! I hear another shot. I shoot. Baamm! One guy is running away. I point carefully. I shoot. Baamm! … Baamm! I hear. I look at Ryan. His gun points rigidly up front. He lowers it. |