[MF] High Ground
One day it started to rain and just never stopped. There was some sun here and there but for the most part there was rain, and more rain until the ground couldn’t absorb it and the flooding became a daily event. Cars swept into ditches, roads completely washed away. Areas that had never seen flooding were now lakes. When it began people joked about building arks and the end of the world. No one jokes about that anymore. In fact most people were living on their 2^(nd) floor if they had one or had moved in with family and friend who lived on higher ground. But the higher ground was getting scarcer and scarcer. People were dying from the floods but also from starvation. You see, it wasn’t just our part of the country or even the world where the rain never ended. It was everywhere.
Or at least I think it is. When the sun stopped coming out, the news reports told us that it was raining every day in every place on earth. No one could explain how it was happening, just that rain clouds had covered the globe. There was no wind so the clouds sat, blocking the sun and pouring rain down on the planet. We lost contact with the world two weeks ago when the solar batteries and generators ran out. But we had a boat and gasoline, and we finally decided that sitting around waiting for something to change wasn’t going to change anything. We were leaving, looking for, well we didn’t really know what we were looking for but we wanted to find something to give us hope.
The “we” I am talking about consisted of me, Ari and Drey. I’d known Ari since we were kids but Drey was a newcomer. He showed up a year ago out of nowhere and Ari had fallen in love. I wasn’t fully convinced but two women alone are more of a target than two women and a man. At any rate I didn’t have a choice- Ari wasn’t going without him and I didn’t want to set out alone.
Ari was an avid kayaker and knew how to read currents, that would come in handy as we navigated the uncharted waters. We placed everything we owned into the waterproof sacks she had collected over the years. Ari had three Kayaks. two we had on board and one we filled with supplies and pulled it behind the boat. We were making our way West on a pontoon boat- which gave us shelter and some (if only slight) personal space. It wasn’t fast but at least it was defendable- and if we needed to flee we had kayaks although only two ready to go. I tried not to think about that.
We had guns and ammunition along with knives and spears. Our only navigation tool was a compass. We started in Southern Kansas , we went North until we could see the skyscrapers of Kansas City and then headed West knowing that would need to go north again but we didn’t want to get anywhere near the city. I am sure that people had moved into the tall buildings but I knew that there wasn’t enough room for everyone, and I didn’t trust that humanity enough to believe that people weren’t killing each other over high ground and limited supplies.
The Colorado mountains were our best bet, the rising water would allow up to reach parts of the mountains that weren’t inhabited , by humans anyway.
I wish I could say that the journey was pleasant but right from the start there were problems. Ari and Drey were seemingly of one mind and I was outvoted at every turn.
As we headed west the water levels were dropping with the elevation gain. I started to worry that we might run aground and if that happened we would be forced to take the kayaks and find some place to set up.
I was also worried about what we would find in Colorado. I wanted to try to get past the front range and out to a less inhabited area- preferably a fourteener out in the middle of nowhere. Drey wanted to be where people were and so we were headed straight towards Denver. Ari wanted whatever Drey wanted and so I was outvoted.
I really should have chosen different travel partners.
It was about 2am when I heard a scraping noise, it sounded like the boat hitting something below. Or at least I thought it was the boat, we never slowed or rocked so I wasn’t so sure.
Yesterday Ari and Drey put a small tent up so they had some privacy- apparently it was fairly sound proof because I didn’t see or hear them stir.
I got up with my flashlight to see if there was any damage. When I got to the back of the boat, I saw what looked like the sharp point of a tower to the right of us. we didn’t hit it directly but the kayak did, it was now half sunk dragging behind us.
I pulled it out of the water and examined it. The tower had sliced it open and there was a wide gouge from front to end. All of the supplies were gone and repairing it was out of the question.
I glanced towards the tent and found it to be completely still and quiet. At that instant, I decided that I needed to take a kayak, some supplies and head south before Ari and Drey woke up.
It had become abundantly clear to me that I was a 3^(rd) wheel that would be cast off if it came down to it and two kayaks as we approached shallow water meant I would be the one abandoned on the boat when it inevitably ran aground.
I stealthily grabbed a dry bag and filled it with my share of the money, food and supplies. I would never take more than what was mine, but I still felt like a thief sneaking away in the pitch black night. And maybe I was, I was leaving the two of them with only one kayak but it was Drey who insisted we head toward Denver and the two of them haven’t really seemed concerned about me since we set off, we wouldn’t have been in this position if they has listened to me. I tried to think through everything and they just ignored me. I have to save myself now. I keep telling myself this, pushing the guilt back down so I can move forward.
I carefully eased the kayak in the water and pointed the kayak southwest and started paddling.