Peregrination to the Promised Land

by Alden MacManx

Chapter Five- Moving On

The rest of February and all through March, Joe and Linz prepared for the great move out. They hosted salvage crews from the city, who told them the forage up here is remarkably rat-free, compared to the urban environments further south. The two mechanics, Sarah Petoski and Allen Berkowitz, a unicorn and an earth pony respectively, spent a day working on the Patrol bus, converting it to a hoof-controlled vehicle as well as making sure the engine was good to go. Once that was all arranged, they moved the Patrol bus up to Linz’s place, where Joe and Linz spent two weeks, working odd hours between housekeeping and foraging chores, converting it from a passenger bus to a mobile home of sorts, with a sleep area, food prep and storage, and most important, a place for Trixie’s litter box that would not be under hoof.

April fifth, twenty-sixteen, dawned to clouds and intermittent rain. Joe made sure the vehicle was ready, while Linz checked the loading and Trixie supervised from one of the seats. An earth pony, Marsha Bivens, who elected to join the pilot team because she was nimble as well as strong, and she was an associate professor of botany at CCNY before the flash. She knew which plants were good to eat and which ones were not but would readily admit she never could keep a garden going for long, at least, not then. “I mainly want to get out of the cold and wet and go to a place that’s warmer!” she had said when she first came up to Nanuet to help get ready, and many times after that. It was like a mantra to her, to keep her spirits up and focused on getting out of town.

“You know that the weather in Alexandria is not too much better, Marsha,” Linz told her as they checked the packing.

“Anything would be better than a concrete jungle, Linz. Feeling the ground under my hooves is invigorating.”

Joe came around after doing the preflight. “Okay, ladies, are we good to go?” he asked.

“Everything looks like it is, Joe. All we have left to do is brew a couple pots of tea and coffee to have on the trip,” Linz announced.

“And make sure the fire is out before leaving,” Marsha added.

“Sounds like a plan to me! Let me call Fred and let him know we’ll be setting out in about an hour. I’ll also call Alex and let them know as well.”

“Why can’t that teleporting pony they told us about come and get us?” Linz asked.

“Two reasons. One, he’s readying for a trip to see the Toronto group and two, Alexandria is not ready for a sudden influx of refugees. Making our own way there gives them time to get ready, while we learn about the country,” Joe said gently.

“To think, he’s from here, but left decades ago,” Linz mused.

Joe nodded in agreement. “His grandfather was the first owner of Charlie’s Market, his father the second. I know they were members of the fire department years ago. In fact, Charlie Junior still is, a Life Member. Dad knew him, but dimly. He remembered him from the store,” he said before snorting. “Dad was fourteen when they left town. He was a freshman when this Dominic was a senior at South.”

“Unusual, for sure, but we can back-burner that discussion. Let’s get the coffee made and let’s get going!” Marsha urged. She and Linz did just that while Joe made his phone calls. By nine o’clock in the morning, they were ready, and the trio set out.

They had not gone far before a problem raised its ugly head- the highways may be free now, nobody to collect tolls, but they had not been maintained in almost a year. Potholes and such were not too bad but having to stop to clear debris or slow down to go around a fallen tree really slowed down their progress. Joe had wanted to reach Pennsylvania on I-78 by sunset, but by mid-afternoon had only got as far as Clinton, New Jersey. The whole time driving, they were looking for other people, or traces of people, but so far, no luck.

They camped at a truck stop, where the first thing they did was refuel the Patrol bus, by means of an electric pump, a long length of tubing, and a tub to pump the diesel into, allowing sediment to settle out before pouring it into the tank. The chore seems onerous, but with the three of them working together, it did not take long, and the chore went smoothly, with no major bumps, drops or spills. Once that was done, Joe took a pack loaded with spray paint and went to mark the trail to the campsite, while checking for habitation. Linz checked out the nearby grocery while Marsha set up the tent and checked the local vegetation. This early in April, there was not much to be found, but she felt the need to see how well things could be later in the year.

Joe flew back to the camp about a half-hour before sundown, with news. “I did not find any people, but I did find a horse farm a few miles back. I checked it out, and it has something we can use,” he reported eagerly.

“Like what? Oats and hay? Blankets?” Linz asked.

“Even better! Harnesses! Harnesses designed for a small horse, so we will be able to pull wagons and such without choking ourselves half to death doing so!” Joe said with joy. “I’m not knocking your sewing skills, Linz, but the harnesses you made, well, we never could get them to fit right.”

Linz nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know. I did the best I could, but I had no pattern.”

“We will tomorrow!” Joe said as he got out of the backpack, the spray paint cans clanking a little. “Trail here is marked, and I’ll call Fred after dinner to pass on the news. Tomorrow, Allentown!”

Author's Note:

Short one before the fun starts.

Comments

[Dances With Unicorns]

That chapter is a nice way to get this travelogue started. I wonder what or who our protagonists will encounter in Allentown? I suppose that is what Alden MacManx will show us in the next chapter.

[erictheblue]

oh, that made me think of "the dark night strikes again", where Batman tells Luthor that his people had just destroyed Luthor's blackmail files..."and the backup in Allentown, Pennsylvanian, too."