Myron a bottle of aspirin, some heavy-duty pain killers, a dozen rounds of .22 ammunition, four shotgun shells, and two of the four remaining ounces of silver that I’d held onto in exchange for a box of assorted fruit that contained pineapples, oranges, lemons, as well as a couple coconuts. We also got four gallons of fresh drinking water and talked Myron into throwing a bag of dried fish into the deal.
“So where you headed?” he asked as we finalized our transaction and exchanged our goods.
“For the coast,” I told him.
“Be careful,” he said. “The guys that swept through here not long ago are headed east towards the ocean from what I understand. They seem like the sort to shoot first and ask questions later, so if you run into them, stay out of their way. I would advise doing your traveling at night if all possible…although then you have to watch out for robbers and cutthroats.”
“Great,” Will frowned. “Sounds like we’re screwed either way.”
“Just keep your guard up and be ready to duck into the shadows if you see someone coming. Best at this point just to try to stay out of the way until all this mess shakes itself out. There are a lot of people around here who want someone to lay down the law and put some order to the chaos that’s been going on. But some are happy with the way things are. And those people are willing to fight to keep it that way.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I shook his hand. “We aren’t looking for any trouble. We’ve had more than our fair share.”
“Haven’t we all,” nodded Myron grimly.
By the way,” I said as I picked up the box of fruit and fish, and grabbed a gallon container of water, “you have any insulin?”
“Insulin?” Myron shook his head. “No. Don’t see many medical supplies like that through here,” he said. He held up the aspirin bottle we’d traded, “Mostly stuff like this…aspirin, vitamins, cold medicine, sometimes some penis pills, occasionally some antibiotics, but rarely anything like insulin…sorry.”
“Thanks anyway,” I said. “Thought I’d try. You know of anywhere they might have that kind of stuff?”
He thought for a minute, “Might try downtown. That’s where the main market is. Lot of the specialty goods show up there.”
“Thanks again,” I said as we headed back to rejoin the rest of the group.
“My pleasure,” Myron waved as we left. “Come back any time!”
We sheltered for the rest of the night in the little ranch-style home. We ate fruit, dried fish, and tried to rehydrate while at the same time conserving some of our water supply for the remainder of the trip. We only had a few more miles until we reached downtown, but with all the fighting that was supposedly going on, we didn’t have any idea of just how long it would take us to make it there.
We heard gunfire and caught the sounds of distant explosions later that afternoon. It kept up throughout the evening and as we tried to sleep that night as the fighting wore on in the Miami area. Will, dad, and I shared the night watch.
The next morning, we took a vote as how best to proceed. We wanted to get moving again, but we also didn’t want to get caught up in the fighting taking place around the city.
The group as a whole decided to shelter in place until the fighting died down. We could afford to wait a little while, and we all admitted that we needed the rest. The area around us seemed relatively calm for the moment; therefore, we hunkered down in the little home for almost two weeks. We bartered the few remaining excess supplies we had to Myron at the nearby market for meager amounts of food and water, and continued to gather information about what was going on in the rest of the city until it sounded as though the fighting had diminished – or at least moved on to places far enough away – for us to safely proceed.
We waited until night to depart on what we hoped would
“So where you headed?” he asked as we finalized our transaction and exchanged our goods.
“For the coast,” I told him.
“Be careful,” he said. “The guys that swept through here not long ago are headed east towards the ocean from what I understand. They seem like the sort to shoot first and ask questions later, so if you run into them, stay out of their way. I would advise doing your traveling at night if all possible…although then you have to watch out for robbers and cutthroats.”
“Great,” Will frowned. “Sounds like we’re screwed either way.”
“Just keep your guard up and be ready to duck into the shadows if you see someone coming. Best at this point just to try to stay out of the way until all this mess shakes itself out. There are a lot of people around here who want someone to lay down the law and put some order to the chaos that’s been going on. But some are happy with the way things are. And those people are willing to fight to keep it that way.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I shook his hand. “We aren’t looking for any trouble. We’ve had more than our fair share.”
“Haven’t we all,” nodded Myron grimly.
By the way,” I said as I picked up the box of fruit and fish, and grabbed a gallon container of water, “you have any insulin?”
“Insulin?” Myron shook his head. “No. Don’t see many medical supplies like that through here,” he said. He held up the aspirin bottle we’d traded, “Mostly stuff like this…aspirin, vitamins, cold medicine, sometimes some penis pills, occasionally some antibiotics, but rarely anything like insulin…sorry.”
“Thanks anyway,” I said. “Thought I’d try. You know of anywhere they might have that kind of stuff?”
He thought for a minute, “Might try downtown. That’s where the main market is. Lot of the specialty goods show up there.”
“Thanks again,” I said as we headed back to rejoin the rest of the group.
“My pleasure,” Myron waved as we left. “Come back any time!”
We sheltered for the rest of the night in the little ranch-style home. We ate fruit, dried fish, and tried to rehydrate while at the same time conserving some of our water supply for the remainder of the trip. We only had a few more miles until we reached downtown, but with all the fighting that was supposedly going on, we didn’t have any idea of just how long it would take us to make it there.
We heard gunfire and caught the sounds of distant explosions later that afternoon. It kept up throughout the evening and as we tried to sleep that night as the fighting wore on in the Miami area. Will, dad, and I shared the night watch.
The next morning, we took a vote as how best to proceed. We wanted to get moving again, but we also didn’t want to get caught up in the fighting taking place around the city.
The group as a whole decided to shelter in place until the fighting died down. We could afford to wait a little while, and we all admitted that we needed the rest. The area around us seemed relatively calm for the moment; therefore, we hunkered down in the little home for almost two weeks. We bartered the few remaining excess supplies we had to Myron at the nearby market for meager amounts of food and water, and continued to gather information about what was going on in the rest of the city until it sounded as though the fighting had diminished – or at least moved on to places far enough away – for us to safely proceed.
We waited until night to depart on what we hoped would
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