Peregrination to the Promised Land

by Alden MacManx

Chapter nine- Oh, Hi, Oh!

That night found the team camping outside of Cadiz, Ohio, at a hospital they found. Linz wanted to replenish her medical supplies, and the going on the roads was slow, many trees and branches down, along with mud. Joe dozed much of the way, leaving the others to clear the roadway to allow passage. By morning, he was feeling much better, able to walk without staggering, and fly with no issue. The team refueled at the first opportunity, then made their way down US22 to where it linked up with I-77, going down to reconnect with I-70 westbound. Joe had called both New York and Alexandria, giving them a full report about the mad Doctor Petermann, and all should avoid the area of Ohio west of Wheeling until it is proven that the dog had been removed.

The team did find a gun store along the way, and outfitted themselves with several boxes of ammunition, another pistol, a rifle and a cleaning kit. Ben kept himself busy for a while, cleaning the weapons as they drove.

Two days of steady travel had the party in Columbus, Ohio at nightfall, where they set up camp at a truck stop east of town. Seeing as rain and chill was moving in, they decided to take a day off from driving and camp, baking bread and scavenging, restocking their consumables. Joe took off to search for survivors and traces of occupation. To his rather pleasant surprise, he DID find a trace, a large Target that had a back door kicked in. Examining the store showed obvious signs of raiding. He called in the sighting and started scouting around, looking for the kicker.

Ten minutes of searching led him to a house about a quarter-mile from the Target that had smoke coming from an impromptu chimney punched through the roof of the garage. Curious, he flew down and knocked. He heard a startled gasp from inside and furtive whispering. “Hello! Fire Department!” Joe shouted.

Some more whispering followed before a young voice called out. “Who are you?” came from behind the door.

“Fire Department! Is everyone all right?” Joe said.

The door opened, and a young pony appeared, a little blue and pink earth pony filly. “You with the fire department?” the filly asked.

“Yes, I am. Not from here, but I AM a fire pony. Is everything all right?” Joe asked.

The filly smiled and nodded. “We’re trying to stay dry and warm. Who are you?” she asked, sounding a little suspicious.

“I’m Joe Velloti, from New York. Me and my friends are passing through, heading for Alexandria. Who all is here?” he asked.

The filly smiled in relief. “I’m Mary Contreras, and with me are Danny Storting and his sister Sara. Come on in!” she invited, and Joe did so. Looking around the dim garage, he saw a yellow unicorn colt and a white and blue pegasus filly, both a little smaller than Mary, towards the back of the garage near a pile of sleeping bags, tucked next to an old camper trailer, a compact one.

“How old are you, and how long have you been back?” Joe asked.

“I’m nine, they’re eight,” Mary said.

“And three-quarters!” Sara chimed in with.

Mary sighed. “And three-quarters. We were all camping out here together, and when we woke up, we were all like this! We’ve been here about three weeks, more or less.”

“I’d know for sure if Mary hadn’t stepped on my watch!” Danny said petulantly.

Joe held up a wing. “Easy, kids. I’m going to call my friends and see if they can come pick us up. You look a bit hungry,” he said to them. Truly, he could see ribs on all three of the little ponies. “We got food and a car with heat. Can someone give me the address here? I flew in and didn’t look at the street signs.”

“You flew here?” Sara asked. “I can’t get these wings to work. How do you do it?”

“I’ll show you, once we get settled together. If I can do it, you can too. Now, where are we?” Mary told him the house address, and Joe touched his mic with a wing. “Eight-Nine to Eight-Patrol…” he started. When Linz answered, he told her what he found, and asked for pickup.

“Give us about half an hour, Joe. I have to break out the maps, and I don’t know how the roads are. Who should I bring, Marsha or Ben?” Linz asked.

“Ben. We may need a couple of hands to help out,” Joe ordered.

“Okay. Half an hour. Eight-Patrol out.”

Until the Patrol arrived, Joe talked with the kids, finding out they were friends since kindergarten, and when they woke up to find themselves changed and everyone gone, they stuck together. They raided the grocery store every couple of days, finding less and less available they knew they could eat. They didn’t want to go too far, but they all admitted to being scared. The fire they had because Mary found a big butane lighter, and they had been burning anything dry they could find to keep warm, in her father’s coal forge. Joe told them his story of waking up on a cold night, finding Lindsay, and all that had been happening that brought them to Columbus, and where they were going.

When the Patrol arrived, the kids were eager to get going. They delayed for a while to allow them to gather some belongings they wanted to take with them, with Ben’s help. Each could bring one pack of treasures with them before finding places in the Patrol, where they were kept occupied with some decent food and having Trixie examine them.

While the kids ate, Linz and Joe got some flashlights out and checked over the old camper pod. The wheels appeared sound, and the hitch worked, although it was stiff from lack of use. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Linz?” Joe asked.

“I think so, otherwise the Patrol is going to be rather crowded. We’re going to have to move the car out of the driveway to hitch it up, and I want to find some new tires for it,” Linz replied.

“I agree. They look sound, but it has been sitting for a year or more. One bad bump and we could blow a tire. Let’s get the kids back to camp, and I’ll scout around for a place to get some more tires. Right now, we have three scared, lonely kids who can use friends, adult supervision, and feeding up. Think we can do that?”

Linz smiled with warmth. “Of course, we can! It will mean more work for us, but I’m sure we can work out something to get them to Alexandria. Now that we know they are here, it would be sinful to leave them behind!”

Joe gave Linz a long look. “You sat through Father Netter’s sermons too, I see.”

Linz nodded. “Quite a few of them. Mom and Dad brought me to church every Sunday, except when we were out of town.”

“Well, let’s get a move on, okay?” Joe asked, giving Linz a wing hug.

Linz gave Joe a quick kiss on the cheek. “Let’s get it done!”

Author's Note:

As if getting shot in the ass wasn't enough, he now has three kids to look after. Can't Joe catch a break? We know he can catch bullets...