April 3, 2012

4:00 A.M. I've been up all night, trying to find some clue or trace of the light's source. And I got nothing... No tracks, no broken branches, not a blade of grass out of place. Back at the camper now, maybe I'll try to sleep a little.

6:30 A.M. All I managed to do was toss and turn for 2 hours. Kept looking out the window for the light. Never saw it though... So I got up and have breakfast cooking. I would call it an omelette, but I think that's giving it too much credit, ha ha. Powdered eggs, thin sliced Spam "bacon", and some sauteed mixed veggies from a can. I'm so glad I found a few jars of picante sauce at the store yesterday, it'll help me choke this down...

11:00 A.M. Managed to cover 45 miles since I rolled out this morning. I'm nearing Birmingham, and the roads are starting to become more cluttered with derelict vehicles. Even the side roads. It's not like I'm on a schedule or anything, but I do like to cover some ground. And now this light thing has me wanting to keep my head on a swivel, rather than watching the road for the next obstacle. Anyway, my sleepless night is catching up to me, so I think I'll take a nap for a bit.

2:30 P.M. Woke up hungry. I want to get rolling, so I ate a can of ravioli. Didn't even bother to heat it up. A couple jerky sticks for the road, and I'm gone.

3:50 P.M. I topped a little rise, and as a small valley opened up below, a flash caught my eye. Like sunlight reflecting off of glass. I stopped and got out of the truck for a better look. Saw it one more time, maybe a mile away. Whatever it was, it was definitely in motion. I'm beginning to think I have a shadow, one which is always just a little bit ahead of me. I'm beginning to think I'm not alone after all. Which makes me wonder, if someone is shadowing me, why don't they want to make contact? Are they trying to determine if I'd be hostile or not? Or infectious? Or something else...

6:30 P.M. Pulled into a truck stop on the edge of Birmingham. As good a place as any I suppose. Here I can top off my fuel for tomorrow, which will likely be a long day winding my way through the mess of a big city. Dinner in a can awaits, then it's time to go on watch for the light.

8:45 P.M. It's really odd, being in a city, yet it's dark as pitch. I can hear dogs barking all around, and fighting. Got my .45 and my shotgun handy, along with a few boxes of buck shot. So far I've seen nothing, and the dogs seem to be keeping their distance. Interestingly, it's only big dogs I hear. No small yappers. Guess the little guys became chow for the big 'uns. They always said life in the city was "dog eat dog", ha ha ha. Yeah, I know. That wasn't very funny. But a little gallows humor never killed anyone. Ha, I did it again...

10:30 P.M. Still no light. Has me wondering if whoever it is knows they've been spotted and are being more careful, or maybe they broke off the chase. Or if I even saw the lights at all... I know I did. I know for sure I did. And I saw that something shiny in motion today. I saw them for sure.

11:45 P.M. Dammit, no light. Nothing at all. I can barely keep my eyes open now, so I guess I'm off to bed. Tomorrow will be a tough one...