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Wednesday - September 15

Holding Aunt Ruth's hands tightly as Claire pleads with her, Aunt Ruth replies, "Let me make a call, dear." Claire releases her grip from Aunt Ruth as she exits the living room and heads to the hall closet. Opening the closet door, Aunt Ruth reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out her cell. With her back turned to Claire, she begins to speak softly to someone on the other end. After a few moments, Aunt Ruth hangs up the phone, slipping it into her pants pocket instead. Turning around, she asks Claire, "Can you be ready in three minutes, dear?"

"You bet! Thank you, Aunt Ruth!"

Claire goes to the hall closet to put on her coat and boots. When she's finished, she looks at Aunt Ruth intently, and says, "I hope I'm right, Aunt Ruth."

"I hope you're right, too, my dear."

Both women become silent when they hear a knock at the front door. Quietly, Aunt Ruth goes to the door to peer through the security hole. She sees a tall man wearing a black cap. She turns to Claire, and says, "We better go, dear. They don't like waiting."

Claire opens the door, and the chauffeur helps Aunt Ruth down the snow-drifted stairway. The chauffeur opens the back door, allowing both women to enter the heated vehicle from winter's bitter cold. He closes the door, and Claire thinks to herself how she's been in two cars this week. But as she looks around inside the sedan, she notices that it's only a car. It didn't have the luxuries that Raymond's vehicle had. It's just a car, with a chauffeur she doesn't know.

This journey will be different from the one she had experienced with Raymond. This time she knows where she's going. What surprises lie ahead for her and Aunt Ruth though, is completely unknown to them both.

As the chauffeur winds his way through the snow-packed streets, filled with the inhabitants of Atlanta, Claire tries not to stare at their misery and suffering, which millions upon millions are experiencing. Many are not clothed properly for the cold, and many look like skeletons, barely moving, as they trudge through another day of trying to exist. Aunt Ruth takes Claire's hand and tries to comfort her from the cruelties she's witnessing. Claire continues to stare out the window, being eternally grateful for what her parents and others have done for her. If they hadn't, perhaps she, too, would be one of those lifeless beings struggling to survive.

The chauffeur lets Aunt Ruth know they're nearly there. All of a sudden, the car swerves as the chauffeur tries to bring it to a halt. The snow causes the car to come to a slow skid before coming to a complete stop. Claire and Aunt Ruth look at each other when Aunt Ruth asks the chauffeur, "What is it? What's happening?"

The chauffeur sits motionless as he stares out the windshield. "Wait here," he commands, and gets out of the car. Walking towards a crowd that's beginning to increase in numbers, the chauffeur gasps at what he sees. He turns around, holding his hand to his mouth. But before he reaches the car, he vomits. He removes a handkerchief from his pocket, and uses the sedan's side mirror to make sure he is presentable before returning to his duties.

After composing himself, the chauffeur whispers aloud, "I have to go back. This roadway is... closed." He puts the car in reverse, and begins to back up to the last block, taking a different route. Once we were moving again, Claire asks him, "What did you see?" Being impatient to his none responsiveness, Claire yells, "Tell me what you saw!"

The chauffeur glances into the rear view mirror, and says, "I don't know what I saw. It was... it was... I don't know a dead animal maybe. It looks as if something had eaten it and ravaged its body. I've never seen anything like it. It was... terrible."

Claire is about to ask Aunt Ruth something when the chauffeur says, "Here it is, ma'am, Storage 28."

Both women look out the car window. They see worn out steel storages which seem to be abandoned. The front fence is locked with a padlock, but there's a hole cut in the fence; probably by looters looking for valuable treasures. The chauffeur stops the car at the locked entrance, gets out, and opens the back door. Aunt Ruth grabs Claire's hand tightly and whispers to her, "Are you sure you want to do this?"