Hidden

At the intersection, I could go right and head home-- but turning left would take me right into the heart of downtown. It would be a dangerous play but with a potentially handsome payout: antibiotics, wound dressings, pain killers, and maybe even IV bags if I was lucky. High-risk, high-reward. Not the kind of thing I should be doing unless urgently necessary.

Ever since the market crashed and the whole world went sideways it was always such a game of mental chess every time I left the compound. What do we absolutely need right now that we can't grow or forage in the compound? How crowded will the area be? Will I be followed back this time? Luckily there wasn't much that we needed. When everything went bottom-up we were already at home. Nice fenced-in area sitting on a few acres just far enough from town to feel like real country living. We could hunt, grow, or build most everything we needed. Even had a freshwater creek on the property so we never worried about going thirsty.

Medical supplies, however were another issue. We tried to be careful but suddenly becoming completely self-sustaining recluses at the drop of a hat while still raising children was bound to lead to the occasional accident or illness. That's when I had to go into town. Into the lawless sprawl of looting and murder. Total chaos had consumed any populated urban areas instantly after the collapse. Unfortunately, it's not very plausible to "grow" modern medicines so I did what had to be done whenever the need arose.

So far I had been meticulously careful to dodge any human beings and, more importantly, to avoid being followed back to the compound. As nice as it was to be so well prepared for societal collapse, we knew we would be a big, shiny goldmine for all the desperate people looking to escape the madness and save their own skins. That's why the very first thing we did was hide ourselves from the outside world. It wasn't as difficult as it sounds either, I mean, on a little dirt road in a scarcely visited part of the county all we had to do was cleverly place some brush in front of the gate and let the natural woods surrounding us do the rest. We even rigged up a camouflage canopy to cover us from being spotted by any drones. Hey, in this day and age even the criminals are high-tech.

We know one thing though; This is our lifeline. Our continued survival depends strictly upon not being discovered. If nobody knows you're there then they can't target you. That's the idea. I suspect that things will remain in a state of anarchy for the foreseeable future and that little groups of opportunists headed up by "post-apocalyptic warlords" will soon pop up and become an ongoing issue. So, for our own safety, for the safety of our children, we blend in. We quietly become part of the landscape. We hide.

I hesitated for another moment, thinking, then made a sharp turn left toward downtown. Never know when you might need medical supplies. I ditched my truck about five blocks before the first buildings came into view and made my way slowly toward the pharmacy on the edge of downtown, sticking to bushes and back alley paths as I made my way toward my target. Once inside I turned on my night vision goggles and stayed low. A faint glow from the streetlight outside spilled onto the shelves in the front room and confirmed what I already suspected; Someone else had been here first. I decided to take a brief look around anyway and found that it was mostly pain killers that had been cleaned out and there were still a few bottles of various antibiotics laying around. I grabbed them up and then retreated to a dark corner to watch for any signs of life.

After a few minutes passed with no sign of anyone else nearby I made my way back to my truck and started the engine, To my left I noticed a couple of drifters digging through a nearby garbage can. They were intensely focused on whatever they were searching for and didn't seem to notice that I was even there. I headed toward the back roads leading to the compound, making careful effort to drive some circles and take unnecessary turns to throw off any tails I might have. I didn't notice another living soul in sight so I made my way to the turn just before our dirt road and pulled my truck off in the bushes. I sat at the edge of the woods for about a half hour before being satisfied that I wasn't being followed. I covered my truck with brush so it wouldn't be seen and shouldered my pack. Dropping to a prone position I crawled slowly and methodically along the nearby creek bank, stopping every couple of minutes to watch and listen. I would never risk waltzing up to the front gate so I always took the back way in. Much less risk that way.

I looked for the cross I had put near the back gate to reassure me that I was at the right place; Home. As I slowly and quietly approached the gate I could see the silhouettes of my wife and children eagerly awaiting my arrival. I slipped noiselessly through the gate and walked briskly over to them, scooping up my children in my arms. This was my favorite part of an outing; coming back home. I kissed my wife and carried our children over to the fire pit. "Let's have some prayer time to thank God for bringing me safely back home to all your beautiful faces!" I said as I leaned down to start a fresh fire. After a good prayer session and some quiet time of just being together I opened my pack to show them my haul. They were all pleased to have antibiotics as a "just in case." My wife put some deer meat on the grate above the fire to cook. We were in for another peaceful night.

After we had all finished eating I looked at my wife and smiled. "What are you cheesing about?" she said, lovingly. "What? A guy can't be happy to be ho-" we all fell silent immediately and snapped our attention to the front gate. A moment the length of a heartbeat passed, feeling more like an eternity. We all heard it at the same time; the sound of footsteps on gravel followed by a rhythmic metallic knock on the front gate...