A Future To Die For || Nano 13

18

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Chapter Eighteen

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"This is the plan, " I hunched over the table, swirling my pen above the large city map. "We are here. Blake and Cole found out that we are roughly ten blocks from the east edge of the city and who the hell knows how far on the west and north. My Aunts farm is to the east. If we can get over there, we can find a base camp? I have no idea how far my aunts is from the city, whether it's farther north a little or back south a bit."

"So is this sort of a wild goose chase?" Nate asked in all seriousness.

"No, not at all.  I remember a couple major roads we drive on and I believe the one they live on."

"What if you are wrong?" he asked.

"Trust me, he isn't wrong," Cole clicked his tongue. "Drew is a master at memorization."

"Even if you are right, the sicty is massive. Even if we do follow the roads to the edge, there is a slim chance we'll get there," Nate sighed.

"Listen. We have to get to Gardner. The highay runs along the side of the city. If we are passed Gardner, we are very off course. If we hit Gardner, we are safe." I explained.

"Okay.. Do you have any attractions that will give us an idea how far down the highway we are?"

"The turn into the street my aunt is on has an abandoned building on the corner," I offered a hesitant smile.

"Funny, because the building we are in now and oh, you know, every building, isn't abandoned." Nate quipped. 

"Just keep an eye out for Bullock, Harvest, Saint and Queen. That's what my parents always did. On my Aunts road there is thick forest."

Cole tapped his fingers on the table, "So we're heading to the edge of the city. We'll create a makeshift shelter that we can take cover in while we score the highway?"he asked.

"But on the edge, we might not be safe from the wall. We'll have to be more careful over there, unless we check that out too," Blake observed.

"What if we split up when we get there? Two of us going north to check the wall, the other two going south to check for the gardner if we aren't already on it," Cole decided.

"I'm good with that," I told them, looking around for their approval.

"Now, we can go." I laughed. Nate jumped to her feet, grabbed his backpack off of the back of his chair and bolted for the garage where the horses are.

Cole followed shortly after. Blake looked at me for a second, studying my expression with his dark brown eyes. I offered a light smile and stood up. He followed my movements.

"We'll be fine, Drew. Don't worry about it."

I didn't respond. I didn't think he expected a response. I walked towards the door, looking around. The shelter has only been our home for a couple days but it already felt warm and used. I hated to move again. But in order to find my family, we had to go.

So we tacked up the horses and moved on. We rode those 10 blocks quickly, for the roads were still swiped clean. No cars, only some random rubble we could pass. Even as we got to the edge, it was eerily empty. This close to the forest you would expect much more activity then there was. Was the wall really that secure?

We split into our two groups. Cole I heading for Gardner, Blake and Nate heading for the fence. We weren't far from Gardner, because I know we hadn't traveled more then 15 miles into the city. We rode for about five minutes when the cleared roads stopped. About ten minutes of a steady lope, I saw the overpass. The road was held up by thick pillars, crumbling from the previous neglect from road crews.