Alone in the Heart Land

As far the eye could see there was nothing but flat, scorched land. Land that had finally started to give into the sun. It was a good time to stop and recharge, but there was nowhere to hide from potential opportunists. There used to be a strip mall ten miles down the road but that has been scoured and turned over by so many looking for anything of value. If I go another twenty there is a Big Truckstop, but that’s pretty much the same.

When the grid went down ten years ago during the Great Reset, everybody flocked to the larger metropolitan areas, tribalism really set in. Giving Authorities carte blanche to slaughter masses into compliance.

There was no safe harboring Sanctuary Cities left, they had rallied and fallen to the impulses of one-click desire that was catered to instantly. Weathering a bad review took skill but even the most poised eventually tire.

There used to be a time when you paid for quality which meant you forego low cost and timeliness. Having something wasn’t just to satisfy an impulse, it had a purpose. I wore the same pair of boots once for 5 years and they still hadn’t deteriorated. Now everything is produced at higher quantities and if it breaks you can have a new one tomorrow delivered to your door. But you need to buy a new pair every five months, “but they’re so inexpensive” they say, “who cares”. What they created was an unnecessary shoe economy where you can own every damn kind of shoe. But remember you can only wear one pair at a time.

The days are long when you are alone, time seems as if it is savoring the decay. I set down to recharge at what used to be a rest area, it had a shaded structure, and you could see the horizon in all directions. I sat there with my eyes closed listening for anything other than the sound of nothing, all I needed was 30 minutes and I could be on my way again.

It was near dark when I awoke, the sound of nothingness still surrounded me. I took inventory everything was still there, but I sensed something watching me, what woke me? Was I paranoid? or was my gut telling me exactly what I knew? I made the decision to stay put for the night and did not let myself fall asleep again.

There used to be a stir of sweetness to air when day broke, it was nature awakening as the sun came back around once more. But today When the sun came up it revealed the lay of the land there was nothing, no sweetness to the air, somehow a sense of relief filled me but not long before the numbing feeling of loneliness set back in. I checked everything again, Tire’s check, Relay’s check, ECU check, Moms Locket Check.

I do not normally collect things of sentimental value, but this heart-shaped locket was the only thing I had left connecting me to the old world. It is the only thing that reminded me that I was human and that you need to act with care, a dangerous sentiment nowadays because any sense of vulnerability and would-be opportunists will use that against you.

I drove all day, sunup to sundown I found a more suitable place to park for the night, I think this place used to be a Chevron. My first job was in a Chevron on Ferdinand Street in Baton Rouge, the simplicity of it all, just take peoples money for liquid dinosaur bones and sell them sticks that eventually gave them cancer, pure unfettered capitalism. Cigarettes and Gasoline go hand in hand, you need the gasoline to buy the cigarettes and you need a cigarette after driving all that way to get Gasoline, because dealing with the public somehow became a cumbersome anxiety inducing task sometime around 2020.

I figured I was in Shreveport by the sign that said “Shreveport Industrial Hub” I was out of Texas at last. I felt a sense of relief, but it didn’t matter where I was, I was still alone. I had a choice to make, I had kin in Montana and Florida, but I had no way of knowing for sure if they were still alive.