Ch 1 - Eva - Oramos Mountains
I’m tired. I’m on day 2 of my 4 day drive. It’s 7 am but I’m no more awake than I was when I started driving at 6am. I sip at my terrible, cold, powdered coffee. I hadn’t been a coffee drinker before the war. Now I’m addicted.
This morning I finally started into the mountains and it is gorgeous. It reminds me of a movie called Colorado Cowboys or something like that. I remember watching with my good friend Georgia and she was practically drooling over the handsome lead. I smiled at the memory-- finally something happy to think about. The last time I had thought about her was at her funeral. I pushed those thoughts away and fiddled with my car’s music controls. I had been bored of my playlist, but now the radio was having trouble getting a signal. I tried to switch between stations but had no luck. I sighed, and switched it back to my playlist.
“What the fuck” I said to myself. Very far ahead, the highway had a bunch of large junk in it. As I got closer, I could see it more clearly -- the highway was completely blocked off on both sides. Giant metal anti-tank obstacles stood guard.
I had seen no one on the highway all morning, but I thought that was because of the war. While I was in the city I had seen plenty of the anti-tank obstacles, but there was always a way around them. I took my foot off the gas pedal and coasted to a gentle stop. I put my car in park and hopped out…. I was going to have to push one out of the way.
Fifteen minutes passed and I had nothing to show for it. I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn’t shift any of them even a centimeter. Logically, it made sense, it would be dumb if 1 person in 1 small car could move an anti-tank obstacle. But I was angry and getting increasingly desperate -- finally I drove my little car up against one, but all I got was a broken fender.
“FUCKIN SHIT” I yelled, then caught myself and checked my backseat --- I had forgotten about my poor cats. They looked terrified. I signed, turned off my car, and moved to sit with them. I tried to coax them out of the pet carrier but they were still too scared, so I reached my hand in and petted them in what I hoped was a soothing manner.
After some time, I pulled out my cell phone and began to look through Joogle maps. Since the war, the internet has been spotty everywhere. Luckily I had thought to download all the regional maps for my trip.
As I had suspected, there weren’t any convenient detours. The huge Oramos mountains stretched along the entire west border of Solana. There were a couple of other possibilities, but they were all labeled for “4x4 and off road vehicles only”... something my little car definitely couldn’t handle. I didn’t dare take any chances --- if I got stranded, literally no one would be able to help me.
I considered calling my parents, but I decided against it. They had driven this road 8 months ago while they were fleeing to Solana. I chatted with my mom a lot prior to my trip and she would have warned me. I had been driving to join them… but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.
I got out of the car and looked around again. On my side of the highway, the line of anti-tank obstacles ended at the cliff with a huge drop-off. But on the other side, the carved out mountain had a small area of trees and bushes just before the extremely steep slope. I clambered over the highway divider and investigated the area. It was small and inclined, but the trees weren’t that big. If the trees and bushes were cut down, there would be a small passageway -- and while a tank wouldn’t fit, my car definitely would. A small flame of hope curled inside of me.
The problem was that I had no tools to cut down the foliage. Our tourism economy was nonexistent since the war, so all the rural stores and hotels near the Oramous Mountains had shut down long ago.
I hadn’t seen any cars on the road, but in the morning dark I had seen some distant lights. Someone was here. I didn’t know where they were, but I was going to find them. Surely they would have some tools, considering they lived in such a rural area. I switched my Joogle Maps to “satellite” view and looked around for any type of structure. There were some small cabins and big mansions dotting all along the highway. I put some location pins in places that might be near where I had seen the lights. Then I spoke to my cats.
“Buckle up girls, we’re getting through this.”
