Previous Chapter: “Understood, chief,” George grunted and walked out of the tent.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Sara said.

“He challenged me, of course, I did. Especially with times like these,” Erik hissed.

Sara sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, "That's so childish.”

“The hell does that mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. It’s not good to make enemies, especially with time like these.” Sara mimicked. “I’m going to go check on my brother.”

Erik watched as she walked out and looked back at the map. Ahead of them was a long and risky journey. ‘We have to make it,’ Erik thought.

Forsyth, Georgia

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

6:00 P.M. EST - Apocalypse Day 3

"Dear goodness, we've been traveling for three days and just now reaching Forsyth!? It usually took me an hour in a car!" Tonya exclaimed. "I really hope this isn’t a permanent thing. My feet hurt so much."

"Tonya, I honestly don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. We have to hope that things go as well as we want them to be. Let's keep our minds on Mikael’s farm. When we get there, it’ll be worth it," Ariel said calmly.

"My farm is the last thing from a haven. When we get there, it’s not going to get any easier," Mikael told Ariel walking up behind them in their conversation.

"Wait, what?! Why, not?" Tonya groaned.

“We need to sustain ourselves somehow, and sitting on our asses or relying on this canned food won’t last forever Tonya,” Mikael said matter-of-factly.

“... I knew that,” Tonya grumbled.

"All in all, everyone's pretty tired,” Ariel stated. “We should make it to your farm with enough food in reserve to survive these few months, but we need to rest, or the food we have won't even matter."

"We're close to Forsyth; we can stop up there and rest... It seems they already have a welcoming party." Mikael nudged both of them. Ahead of Ariel's band of refugees was a small group of various men blocking the entrance to Forsyth. They were all wearing normal civilian clothes and holding makeshift weapons, bats with nails, poles, crowbars, etc.

One of the men whistled abruptly and yelled,” Turn back the other way. Now!”

‘Looks like the leader of the group. It's only been two days, and they have people blocking the entrance? Something must've happened…’ Ariel thought. She put her hand up, motioning the group to stop.

"I got this," Mikael said as he cleared his throat and shouted, "We just need a place to rest! We’ll only be here for a night. My highness here-"

"What the fuck are you trying to do?! Why call me that?" Ariel hissed at him but not loud enough to stop him.

"We are only here to rest and then leave the next day! Please, we came from Atlanta and have traveled for two days! Our people are sore and tired!" Mikael continued.

The group’s assigned leader paused and murmured to his group and then turned back around, "Only for the day and night, and then y'all will leave?"

"Of course!" He responded.

"Come on and pass through. We may be able to spare some room!"

Ariel sighed, rubbed her temples, and whispered to Mikael as she motioned the caravan to start again, "What was that, Mikael!?"

"What was what!?" Mikael responded cockily.

"You know what! The 'My highness'?!"

"Listen, I don't know how long things are going to be this way, but being the weirdos in this world will keep people away from us."

"What are you talking about? What does me being a faux queen have to do with this?”

"The world as we know it is changing, for better or for worse, Ariel. I’m scared that we won’t ever return back to normal, and for a chance at this new world, we might have to start pretending,” Mikael stated. “Now, trust me, okay?”

Ariel paused and looked Mikael in the eyes,“... Alright, I trust you.”

...

Ariel and her group entered the Forsyth City Hall; they were shocked to find hundreds or more people already there. ‘Maybe they’re having an emergency meeting; it has been a couple of days since the world went to shit,’ Ariel thought.

"What's happening here?" Ariel asked the man who stopped them on the road.

"The last couple o’ days were a total mess, but because of our small community, we were able to get most of the citizens here together. The police helped get everyone in check. Apparently, the mayor should come up ‘ere soon with news and what's going to happen next," The guy said, "Oh, and by the way, the name's Logan. You are?"

Ariel noticed his thick southern drawl that wasn't so noticeable before. As a matter of fact, a lot of things weren't as apparent as they were before. He was a couple of inches taller than her and a bit lanky. His eyes were a bright green and his hair gold as the sun. "Ariel..." Ariel hesitantly continued. "... the leader of my community."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "What's that about, by the way? The guys and I were talking ‘bout that earlier... Are you some cult or something?"

Ariel chuckled, "No, not a cult. We are just, well, people from Atlanta who help others in any way we can.”

"And they call you a queen ‘cause of it?"

"… Every woman should be treated like a queen, right?" Ariel winked.

"Hey, good for y'all, I’m not judgin’. My momma always told me to treat my women with respect and care."

"Your mom seems to be right about that one, huh..." Ariel lost her thought for a second before coming back to her senses. "What about those weapons? Did you guys make them overnight or what?"

"Yea, we did," Logan swung his nailed bat around him cockily. "The police in our area needed help, so we gave it however we could and made some pretty deadly weapons. The mayor here had some of us cover the entrances to the city just in case this was more than just the town, and stragglers would come and leach."

"Ah, I guess we should've thought of that... traveling has just been so gruesome, we’ve only been on a one-track mindset. We wouldn’t survive at all if we were to encounter some thieves."

"Maybe we can help you with that?"

"Really!?" Ariel smiled. "I don’t wanna be trouble?"

“Ah, don’t worry about that, m’lady,” Logan awkwardly bowed.

As their conversation ended, the doors opened with a small entourage of police officers entering right behind the Mayor of Forsyth. He was of average height and chubby, maybe even a tad overweight. He wore a traditional suit and tie and walked with a small limp up to the makeshift podium. The crowd stood still and silent, waiting for his announcement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention. As you all know, I am Mayor Crawford. You have elected me to represent and protect y'all, and I will do just that. My team and I have been waiting for a response from the National Government, but none has come. I may be afraid to tell you that we might be on our own for a while," The audience started to complain and yell, but Crawford was able to calm the crowd. "We've already got this town under control after last night, and y’all don't have to worry about your safety. The police and its volunteers have set up checkpoints and will keep dangerous and hostile people outside of this city. We'll just have to bunker down and ration 'til we do get answers y'all."

"What about the food?! None of the refrigerators work, which means our food is going bad!"  A woman complained. It looked like she ran a business of some kind.

"We will be rationing until we find a better solution, I promise you that. No one will go hungry for a long time," Mayor Crawford promised. The crowd seemed to die down a bit with reassurance.

"... Do you know for sure? Do you know for sure that everything will return back to normal?" Another man said. This one caught Ariel's eye. He was about 5'8 with a lean build, dark brown eyes, and hair. His skin tone dark olive like he's seen a lot of sun in his days. His eyes wrinkled from time.

"No, not essentially. But this isn't the apocalypse! I don't see any zombies around!" Mayor Crawford joked, grabbing a comedic relief from the crowd. "Now back onto what I was saying... we have it all under control. Please just go back to your homes or stay close to the court, but know that my team and I have your back. We will get back with you guys in a few days!"

"Tssk, my ass," The man said, annoyed, walking away. Logan came up behind the mayor and whispered in his ear, searching for someone until he landed his eyes on Ariel. Slowly the mayor trod off the podium and towards them; he came with Logan right behind them, "Hello there, sweetie."

‘He’s a bit creepy,’ Ariel thought. "Hello, Mayor Crawford. Nice meeting you!".

"Logan, here tells me you and your group come from Atlanta? What is it like over there? How bad is it?"

"Well, it's not good," Ariel chuckled uncomfortably. "It's... burning right now probably. Sad to say, but it's true. It was bad when we left. Fires were everywhere, especially because of the planes... oh those poor people. Then, people around us started panicking, and looting began. It felt like the end of the world, but my group and I left before it got any worse."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. It sounds like it had to be hell. It must've been a tough journey, just leaving like that. How'd y'all get here? It must've been a struggle."

"Well, we had walked here, no other mode of transportation, sadly. We just got what we could in bags and carts. On the way here, it was mostly silent. Some people on the road passed us, but the cars were sitting there piled up or in the trenches..."

"Ahh, and y'all plan to stay here?"

"Well, no. We are set for Savannah."

"What y'all going to Savannah for?"

"We don't know yet, though we know to go there," Ariel lied.

"Well, good luck with your travels. I know it'll be hard, and may God bless you through it."

"Thank you," Ariel thanked. “Now, is there a place my people and I could sleep?”

"I think we can find a place for you guys to sleep, but as of right now, I have a request, come with me," Mayor Crawford stated as he left for his office. Ariel reluctantly followed suit while Logan went to find his friends to talk about the new arrivals.

...

Ariel and Mayor Crawford left the courthouse pleased with the deal they just made; they were to give a letter to a man in Savannah, and in return, they’d be given some small supplies. Logan ran up to Ariel with a smile, "Hey, Ariel. I got your group situated in some of the rooms in the town's college dorms."

"Thank you, Logan! Do you think you can take me there? I'm new here," Ariel joked.

"No problem... also, may I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"So... this Savannah trip. Why are you going there?"

"Oh, you and everyone here would like to know!" Ariel smiled as they walked to the college dorms.