Being high up in a big company had it's benefits, I'd been with my job for 14 years, had worked up to manager and ran a small office with 30 staff under me. It also had it's down sides, when they brought out new training programs and courses we all had to do them and I was stuck taking the 19 year old intern since she wasn't driving yet. She was pretty bright, my hiring manager told me she really impressed him but I was certain after a while it was her breasts he was looking at not her fit for the team. I was out in meetings that whole week and he'd hired her without my final say but I was good at giving chances and the training program was going to help me make a final call. She seemed really different when we were alone in the car though, two hours into the 8 hour drive (company wouldn't pay for flights) and she started opening up to me.
"May I speak freely Mr Cole?" She said after some work related small talk.
"Not if you keep calling me Mr Cole, Marcus will do until we get back to the stuffy office Miss Sarah." I replied.
"Oh, sorry."
"You can relax, really. You're stuck with me for at least another 6 hours then 5 days at the hotel. What's on your mind?"
"When Joe hired me he said I had to act a certain way in the office to get along but I'm finding it's just irritating people."
"What do you mean by a certain way?"
"Like a little schoolgirl almost, like I'm not so smart. I graduated early, was on the Dean's list after being on the honor roll at school and I really don't like it."
"I uh, this is the first I've heard this. I'll be honest with you Sarah in that I'd put you on thin ice, your work is always second to none but getting along with the team is important to me. Does he talk to you a lot, coach you?"
"Yes, is like I'm his personal project."
I sighed, Joe was obsessed with anime and his computer was filled with scantily clad anime schoolgirl pictures. Learning that he was trying to shape my intern to be a live version made me mad. I didn't say anything for a few minutes.
"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." Said Sarah.
"Hey, no, I'm glad you said something. He has certain obsessions I don't like but didn't care since it didn't affect his work but trying to make you be a certain way has crossed the line and I won't have it. I'll be dealing with Joe but it didn't come from you, I'll go about it right. I want you to be yourself from now on okay"
"I uhm, not sure I can be 100% myself but I'll ditch the schoolgirl stuff." She said with a wry smile I didn't understand at the time.
We chatted about more work stuff for a while but I slowed down and turned my radio on when fog seemed to come from nowhere. I slowed further when a State Trooper flagged me down from the side of the road, his patrol car's lights flashing.
"Hello Sir, this fog is causing chaos on the highway ahead, if you can I'd highly recommend taking State Road 19 for the next 50 miles or so. It's a 55 but the highway is at a crawl right now and pretty dangerous." He said when he got to my window.
"We're not in any rush, thank you for letting us know Officer. I'll reprogram my gps." I replied.
A few taps on my gps screen later and we were on our way, the next exit took me to the new road and we continued. The fog was getting worse though, I could barely see 5 meters in front of my car. When we headed into the valley things got worse, a boom from deep underground actually shook my car. When the second one went off I lost all power to my car and just managed to get it into neutral and pull over.
"What the hell was that. My car and the gps is dead. Can you check your phone?" I said, seeing mine was dead despite the full battery that morning.
"No, completely dead, I have it plugged into my batter pack so it should be full." She replied.
"Stay here, I'm going to set out some flares, this fog is nuts and I'd hate us to get hit."
I got the emergency flares from my trunk and set out a safety line, we could barely see the first one that I'd set only 10 meters from my car.
"My emergency radio is dead too, these things are supposed to last 200 years with this crank handle but it has nothing. What clothes do you have in your bag, do you have decent walking shoes?" I said after checking my emergency pack.
"Just these shoes and a few nice dresses, I didn't expect to leave the hotel." Replied Sarah.
"Okay, I'm hoping we don't have to go far but staying here isn't safe, my flares will last maybe two hours but we need to get to safety. You can wear this jacket but lets carry what we can then get moving."
I took the bulk of her stuff from her bag and put in my pack then after leaving a note for Police or Troopers, set out to where I hoped would be a town or some kind of rescue. I'm not sure how long we were walking but Sarah looked miserable and was starting to limp.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm not used to this much walking, I'm sorry."
"Lets take a rest, we can see if there's more of your stuff I can fit in my pack, I'm used to hiking with packs this size so I'm okay."
"I uhm, have some personal things in here." She said, looking away.
"Sarah, I want to lighten your load as much as I can, I'm pretty open minded and I'm sure whatever you have is nothing I've not seen before. I promise you, nothing I see will go beyond you and I."
She took a good look into my eyes then opened her bag. She had quite the assortment of toys but most of the weight came from a huge bottle of lube.
"I have to ask, sorry if I'm being too personal but you need all this for 5 days?" I asked with a smile.
"I have an addiction and they help, I didn't want to run out, most of the toys are um, for my ass."
"Okay. I should be able to take the lube and a few of those glass looking ones, you manage the rest?"
"Yes Sir."
I took most of her stuff and the heavy bottle of lube then we set off again. I gave her some of my water and made sure she was okay every so often. I got concerned when the road turned to a dirt road, didn't remember seeing that on the map but kept walking. Eventually, right as it was starting to get dark we found a small hunters cabin set into the trees, if we'd been an hour later we wouldn't have seen it in the dark.
"It looks abandoned." Said Sarah as we approached.
"Stay here with my pack, let me check it out."
I took my pack off and lit one of my flares for light since my flashlight was dead and took a look around. Sarah was right, by the layers of dirt and dust, nobody had set foot in it for years. The door had fallen off the hinges but looked to be intact and the wood burning stove had a chimney that led outside and looked okay too. I put my flare in it and was happy when the smoke came out.
"It's pretty dirty but it looks safe, lets get some rest." I said.
I found some stuff to shore up the door and actually found some blankets, I set them up as a makeshift mattress and unsealed my own survival blanket from it's vacuum pack and made a bed.
"That's not big enough for both of us." Said Sarah.
"It's for you, I'm going to sleep leaning against my pack. I'll be okay."
"I'm going to be relying on you a lot if we don't get rescued, I'd rather we both got a better sleep, here, we can both fit if we make it one layer thinner."
It was going to be pretty close quarters but she re-arranged and made a more comfortable bed for two. I took my boots off and tried to relax, Sarah seemed pretty antsy and couldn't settle.
"I um, Marcus, may I have some of my personal things? I won't be able to sleep without a release." She said softly.
"Uh, sure. I'll go find a place to pee, give you some alone time."
"Thank you."
I put my boots and jacket back on then went outside, I couldn't close the door properly from the outside and didn't want to go too far, it didn't take long before I was hearing sounds of enjoyment coming from inside. When they subsided I knocked and went back inside, she was laying on her side smiling at me.
"Thank you Marcus." She said as I fixed the door again.
"You are welcome."
We were both pretty tired and managed to fall asleep quickly, I woke up at some point in the night and Sarah had draped her arm and one leg over me but I didn't mind and went back to sleep. We both woke up some time in the morning, I got up as quietly as I could and looked for the ration packs in my bag.
"Morning, my watch is digital so I've no idea what time it is." She said, sitting up.
"Mine too and the fog is still as thick so I've no idea where the sun is. After we both eat you're going to stay here and I'm going to scout the area, I don't want to walk aimlessly if this is our last shelter for miles."
"Okay." "If your feet are okay, look around for some dry firewood in case it starts getting cold but don't wander far."
"Yes Sir."
I set out but didn't get far. I checked back the way we'd came but remembered that being just woods and didn't want to go into them with the fog. I went back to the cabin to take Sarah to what I'd found, she was building a nice pile of firewood.
"This is all dry, it was under a tarp just over here, it was covered in leaves but I heard the tarp when I stood on the corner!" She said with a proud smile.
"There's something you need to see, come take a walk with me."
Sarah had a worried look on her face but it turned to horror when I took her to the edge. The woods and road stopped abruptly, like they'd been cut away with a big shovel, the fog seemed to stop too and beyond it was just piles of charred trees, some burned out buildings and cars.
"Tha... that's the town we were heading for in the car isn't it?" Said Sarah, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I don't know Sarah but coupled with the electronics cutting out I'm pretty worried about what's happened. Lets get back to the cabin."
Sarah and I walked back quietly, she had a worried look on her face but I tried to stay strong. The news for weeks leading up to our trip was full of tensions between a very well armed militia and it's standoff with the government but last I heard they were going to keep trying with their talks. Something sparked my curiosity when we got back to the cabin, the wood didn't seem like it had been there as long as the cabin.
"Sarah, can you show me where you found the wood?"
She took me to the tarp, she'd only pulled up a little corner and under it was a container where she'd found the wood. I pulled more of it up and grinned, it was a 'prepper' stash, supplies and provisions for people fearing Armageddon.
