Chapter 14
When they stopped for the night, it was with five-hundred miles under their tires.
Veronica had planned on stopping considerably sooner, but Bella had proven to be an amazing passenger.
She couldn’t believe the girl’s stories as they rode, and she spoke in Veronica’s ear.
Bella had been surprised to learn that conversations were possible at all on motorcycles.
With each passing mile, though, and the experience she gained as a passenger, Veronica watched the girl’s confidence grow.
By the time they were ready to stop, she knew more about Bella than she ever could have anticipated.
It was wonderful to hear the girl’s stories about her life growing up.
Some of them were incredibly traumatic, reinforcing Veronica’s decision to bring Bella with her.
The child deserved a life surrounded by people who genuinely cared, not simply those looking for a quick government check.
Yet even through the dark stories she told, Bella was adamant that there were still good people in the system.
She told Veronica of a foster family she’d known when she was younger, the mother a kind woman and the father dedicated to the children.
Unfortunately, they had tragically passed away in a boating accident not long after making the decision to adopt Bella.
After that, the girl had been bounced around from house to house.
Not wanting to stick out against the otherwise quiet landscape, Veronica found an abandoned barn on the side of the road they could sleep in for the night.
While she had hoped to make the journey in one day, she could feel her companion dozing off behind her the closer they got to the Colorado border.
Bella climbed off of the back of the motorcycle while Veronica inched it forward.
The woman jerked open one of the heavy doors as the motorcycle’s headlights illuminated the interior.
Crawling into the space, not wanting to lay down her bike, Veronica parked the motorcycle inside before killing the engine.
“Do you really think we’re going to be safe here for the night?” Bella asked. “I remember that you said it’s not very safe to stay in one place for very long, and I was just wondering how you feel about this area.”
Veronica smiled. “With the exception of a few raccoons and maybe a possum, I think we’re in a good place here, and there doesn’t seem to be any danger close by.”
“It’s been my experience that there is always some danger lurking around somewhere. I know a lot better than to believe otherwise.”
“I can’t pretend to imagine what you’ve been through and the things you’ve seen, but I promise you, now that I’m here, I’m not going to let anything happen to you or me.”
Bella nodded. “I want to believe you, and I trust that you think you can protect us. So, I’ll try to keep that in mind. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well, we do need to get a fire started if we’re going to want coffee and a hot meal. Is that something you think you can handle?”
“I’m pretty sure I can manage to find some firewood around the area and help get the fire going. I have to say that I’m looking forward to a hot meal, and coffee definitely doesn’t sound bad right now.”
As the girl scurried off to hunt down some wood for their dinner to cook, Veronica worked on unpacking the saddle bags and backpack.
Not wanting to waste any of their valuable ammunition, Veronica got the canned food out and started opening it one by one.
Once they reach the homestead, she would be more comfortable going out and hunting down game for their meals.
They still had one larger metropolis to pass through, though, and with a limited number of running vehicles now in the nation, Veronica knew there was a target on their back.
She wasn’t going to waste potentially lifesaving bullets on fresh game.
Veronica thought about the many conversations she and Bella had had since she met her.
The girl had obviously been through hell at such a young age, and she was determined to protect her and show her that there was a better way.
A few minutes later, Bella popped through the barn door with an arm full of firewood and extra sticks.
“I think that’ll do nicely,” Veronica said.
Bella smiled and set down the wood. Veronica had already positioned a few bales of hay next to where they were going to start the fire, and the girl sat next to her as she worked on getting the fire started.
She had no idea she was going to run into someone who would be so helpful to her journey, and she was glad she had found Bella.
“If you had to take a guess, how far do you think we are from the farm?” Bella asked.
“We’re not really that far off, although it’s going to sound like it. I would say we’re somewhere around the three-hundred-mile marker if we were to take a direct route. If not, then we’re closer to being around five hundred miles from the farm.”
“I don’t understand why that would be a good idea. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take the direct route so we can get there quicker? Why in the world would we want to add an extra two hundred miles to our trip?”
In the bigger cities, Veronica knew there would be danger all around them.
While she was confident in her ability to maneuver the heavy motorcycle, Bella was still an incredibly green rider.
It was a gamble she wasn’t willing to take.
At the first sign of trouble, Veronica had every intention of turning back and taking the long way around.
She hadn’t yet committed to taking the longer route.
First, she wanted to get to the outskirts of the city and see what it looked like.
She could understand the need for caution, but they didn’t have much spare time to waste.
The longer they were out in the open, exposed and sharing with the rest of the world that they had a running motorcycle, Veronica knew the danger was great.
“Unfortunately, as much as I would like to take the direct route, doing that will take us directly through some cities that I would rather stay far away from,” Veronica said.
“I’d rather not take the chance of running into people in the cities.
Especially knowing that I have one of the very few running vehicles around. ”
“Do you think people really would go crazy over a vehicle?”
“I think everyone has gotten so used to technology that they would be willing to do anything to get what we have. Taking the longer route gives us more of a guarantee that we won’t run into people who are starting to panic.
They’re going to realize by tomorrow morning that the power is not coming back on, and there’s not going to be any government help coming their way. ”
Bella nodded. “I suppose you’re right. It’s hard to believe we’re not going to get the power up and running within a few days, just like every other storm that’s passed through the areas I’ve been in.”
“It’s going to be a while before anything gets back to being even somewhat normal. I think a lot of people are going to have trouble with learning how to live without it.”
“Do you really think that the power is going to be off for weeks?
Veronica sighed. “There’s a really good chance it’s not going to be weeks, but more like months or even possibly years in some parts of the country. I don’t think a lot of people understand that this situation is a lot worse than it appears. It’s not going to be an overnight fix.”
Watching the color drain from her new friend’s face, Veronica regretted saying anything about it at all to Bella.
She didn’t want to scare the young woman but didn’t want her to be unprepared, either.
The reality of their situation as a nation was not a good one.
People were going to take advantage of the government being unable to do its job.
No matter how much she wanted to believe the nation would come together as one, Veronica was not optimistic about that happening.
Their nation was a greedy one, packed with those who would rather work for their own well-being than the greater good.
Veronica, on the other hand, desperately wanted to get back to her family’s home so she could help not only those she loved to survive but the community as a whole.
Now, more than ever, they were going to be relying on each other to make it through the next few months.
It was going to be perilous and downright dangerous at times, but they would survive as long as they had each other.